LAS VEGAS (AP) — John Wes Townley won the NASCAR Camping World Truck race Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, an event marred by Austin Theriault’s head-on crash into a wall.
Townley won for the first time in the series, getting his Athenian Motorsports Chevrolet home on limited fuel after the other contenders ran out of gas or pitted to keep from running dry.
It was announced Monday Theriault has suffered a compression fracture of his lower back. Theriault was driving Brad Keselowski Racing’s Ford when he made contact with teammate Tyler Reddick’s truck on Lap 14 and hit the wall on a part of the track not protected by a SAFER barrier.
Theriault was helped from the truck and briefly stood before sitting down. He left in an ambulance and was airlifted to University Hospital for observation.
He was released from the hospital and traveled back to North Carolina to meet with an orthopedic specialist for further treatment.
Townley and crew chief Michael Shelton credited spotter Terry Cook for coaching Townley through the deciding laps.
“I would have run out of gas if it hadn’t been for Terry,” Townley said. “This is amazing, awesome.”
The Georgia driver won in his 89th career start.
Timothy Peters was second, followed by Red Horse Racing teammate Ben Kennedy, John Hunter Nemechek, Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric, Tyler Reddick, Matt Crafton and points leader Erik Jones — the last driver to finish on the lead lap. Jones has a four-point lead over two-time defending series champion Crafton with five races left.