Austin Dillon won the 2011 Camping World Truck Series title by finishing 10th in the rain-shortened Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
His closest pursuer in the title chase, Johnny Sauter, won the race, which was stopped due to a rainstorm with 15 laps to go.
Dillon's title clinch was just a tad anticlimactic. As he prepared to be interviewed by SPEED during the rain delay, he received word that the race was over and that he had beaten Sauter by six points.
With 32 laps to go, Dillon restarted in second, but quickly fell to 15th after his truck couldn't get going. He was able to drive his way to 10th before the caution flag flew right after Denny Hamlin attempted to pass Sauter for the lead. Because Sauter was in the lead and eventually won, had Dillon slipped to 17th or further, Sauter would have been crowned the champion.
The rain-shortened race and the title circumstances around it do raise an interesting question: Should NASCAR have waited the rainstorm out?
The race was called minutes after the red flag was shown just before 9:50 ET. The track would have been in race condition ? given a brisk conclusion to the shower on top of the track�? at approximately 1 a.m., according to NASCAR Senior VP of Racing Operations Steve O'Donnell. Is that too late to finish the ultimate race of the season?
Dillon, who at 21 became the youngest champion in Truck Series history, is moving to the Nationwide Series full-time for 2012.
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