05/12/2026
Nicholson Battles Through Dover Chaos, Salvages 12th After Late-Race Trouble
Dover, DE iRacing World -
For Matt Nicholson and the No. 19 CRN Toyota Tundra team, the mission entering Dover Motor Speedway was simple: survive.
At one of the most unforgiving tracks on the NSRLA iRacing Truck Series schedule, Nicholson knew the concrete mile had a reputation for ending good nights in an instant. Instead of chasing unnecessary risks early, the No. 19 team focused on patience, tire management, and staying out of trouble a strategy that nearly resulted in one of the team’s strongest finishes of the season before late-race chaos reshuffled the field once again.
“Going into this race, we just had the mentality of just survive,” Nicholson explained afterward. “Dover isn’t a friend of mine.”
Despite his history with the track, Nicholson gradually found confidence as the race progressed. While passing proved extremely difficult throughout the event due to tight racing lanes and heavy traffic, the No. 19 Toyota steadily improved during the longer runs.
“But we were able to find something within the runs,” Nicholson said. “Outside of being tough to pass, I felt we had good speed.”
That long-run pace became one of the defining strengths of Nicholson’s race.
While many competitors fought loose handling conditions and tire falloff deeper into green-flag runs, the No. 19 CRN Toyota remained relatively stable. Nicholson focused heavily on preserving his equipment throughout the night, allowing the truck to maintain competitive lap times even as the track became increasingly difficult to manage.
“We were able to keep our No. 19 CRN Tundra clean for most of the race,” Nicholson explained. “Late runs brought some chaos when other trucks had handling issues.”
As cautions and incidents continued to stack up around the field, Nicholson quietly positioned himself to capitalize on attrition. Dover’s demanding corners punished aggressive driving styles throughout the race, and several contenders saw promising finishes disappear after battling tire wear or losing control during restarts.
Meanwhile, the No. 19 team remained disciplined.
“We were able to save tires and maintain speed most of the race,” Nicholson said.
But with just five laps remaining, the race took another dramatic turn.
A major late-race wreck erupted ahead of Nicholson during the closing sprint to the finish, forcing the No. 19 driver into a split-second reaction while attempting to avoid the chaos unfolding in front of him.
“Five laps to go with the big wreck, had a run and had to lock them down,” Nicholson explained.
In the process of slowing to avoid the incident, Nicholson made contact with the No. 38 truck something he immediately addressed following the race.
“Have to apologize to the 38 on the contact trying to get slowed down,” he said.
Despite the late-race damage and lost track position, Nicholson still managed to bring the No. 19 Toyota home in 12th place, a respectable result considering the amount of carnage that consumed much of the event’s second half.
More importantly, the race provided another sign of progress for the CRN team, particularly regarding long-run balance and tire management two critical areas that often separate contenders from mid-pack teams in the Truck Series.
“I was happy with our speed and how it held up long run for the most part,” Nicholson said. “We just have to keep pressing on, we will eventually get a clean run in.”
Though Dover once again lived up to its reputation as one of the toughest tracks on the schedule, Nicholson and the No. 19 team left with something valuable: confidence that their speed is beginning to match their ex*****on.
