Canadian J.R. Fitzpatrick exploded onto the NASCAR stage with a stunning fourth-place run in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway on Friday night.The 21-year-old from Ayr, Ontario (Canada) started 14th in the Nextera Energy Resources 250 at the Daytona Beach, FL superspeedway and led 17 laps (71 through 87) before losing the lead and being forced to pit for new tires with less than 10 laps to go in the 100-lap race.
After his pit stop, Fitzpatrick's Mammoet Chevy Truck took the final restart in 13th place with seven laps to go. From there, he charged through the pack to finish fourth. Fitzpatrick was the top finishing rookie and his finish was the best for a Daytona rookie since Ricky Hendrick took second in 2001.
Fitzpatrick received several awards for his performance, including the Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award (28 places); The Raybestor Rookie of the Race Award, and the Wix Filters Lap Leader Award (17 laps).
Todd Bodine won the race for the second year in a row and was followed across the finish line by Kyle Busch and Terry Cook.
