Speed takes first Truck victory

The Red Bull driver held off veteran Ron Hornaday on a late restart and drove away from his pursuers to win what was only his sixth race in the Truck Series and also his first ever at the 'Monster Mile'.

The 25-year-old, who drives for Bill Davis Racing, took the lead from former Truck Series champion Todd Bodine with 51 laps remaining, following his last pitstop where he got right-side tyres only.

He was third at the green flag, quickly got by Shane Sieg and then overtook Bodine, who had not pitted for new tyres. The former Formula One driver stayed commandingly in control of the field from then on despite a late caution flag 28 laps from the end.

"I was telling them since the beginning to do something crazy," Speed said. "Our car was blisteringly fast and I was driving at 80 percent and pulling away. It was the call to take two tyres that put us in that position so hats off to the team."

Three former Truck Series champions finished the race behind Speed. Jack Sprague took second ahead of three-time champion Ron Hornaday Jr, while 2003 title winner Travis Kvapil was fourth.

Sprint Cup Series leader Kyle Busch had initially dominated the event but ran into transmission problems, which forced him to pit from the lead and lose 18 laps while repairs were made to his truck.

Speed had won earlier this season in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, which means he now has two stock car wins under his belt, less than a year since he left Scuderia Toro Rosso and F1 last July

"Today we had a good strategy and we had an awesome truck," Speed added. "We got everything we could out of it. If our truck was a fifth place truck and we did the race and finished fifth, I would be just as happy with myself.

"The hat's off to the team, they're really the ones that won this race. I'm pretty confident that anyone in this truck at the last 50 laps after the pit stop would have done exactly the same thing.

"For me, I'm learning step by step it's going to be a long process and just to have the experience to know what to do on the trucks or on the cars when I go to the [Cup car], you can't just learn it right away. It's something you have to feel and something you have to learn. The learning curve I've had has been amazing and I've learned a tonne everywhere."

The Californian was the third driver in as many consecutive Truck races to take his maiden win in the series.