Auto Club Speedway

Brandon Cowell brought the #85 truck home first at Auto Club Speedway on Thursday night, winning the opening round of the OGRL Old Guy Racing League NASCAR Trucks season ahead of a 32-car field. Cowell started eighth and led 33 of the race's 83 laps — the most of any driver — in a race that saw 17 lead changes and three cautions consuming 10 laps. It was his first win of the season, though the series veteran arrives with 28 all-time wins in this league. Richard Modrich in the #71 crossed second after starting tenth, while Ricky Riley's #17 held on for third from his sixth-place starting spot, leading one lap in the process.

Pole-sitter Javier Zapata in the #24 led four laps early and looked the part of a contender, but a race-high nine incident points on his sheet dragged him back to a fifth-place result — a four-position loss from where he started. Harold Rothery's #7 picked up sixth after starting eleventh, though his ten incident points were the most of any finisher. Up front, #4 Johnny Brug was a significant presence, leading 32 laps and at times looking like a genuine race winner, only to fade to thirteenth at the checkered flag — a six-position loss from his seventh-place starting spot that will sting given how much time he spent out front.

The performance that had every spotter talking was Bryce Grissom in the #225, who earned Hard Charger honors by advancing 17 positions from 27th to 10th. Grissom did it with only one incident point on his ledger, running clean and consistent through all three caution periods. Sharing that same 17-position gain was David Overstreet in the #46, who went from 29th to 12th, also absorbing eight incident points along the way. Frank Caruso's #12 also turned heads, climbing from 17th to 9th while leading five laps — a result that hints at genuine pace. At the back, Charlie Stutzman in the #18 had the toughest night, falling 26 positions from third on the grid to 29th at the finish.

With one race in the books, Cowell's 42 points put him seven clear of Modrich and Riley, who are locked together at 35 apiece in second and third. Ron Walters and Javier Zapata sit just two points further back at 33, meaning the top five are separated by only nine points as the series moves on. With 17 different drivers taking a turn at the lead across 83 laps, the field has shown it won't hand Cowell anything — the OGRL Trucks season is already shaping up as a wide-open fight.