Mike Bliss looking under the hood before the Chevy Silverado HD 250 at Daytona. (VPS Motorimages Photo)

The first 2-truck effort at the Daytona International Speedway for Key Motorsports was shortened by accidents Friday night, derailing what were solid runs for both veteran NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Mike Bliss and rookie Larry Foyt.

Despite disappointing qualifying efforts that found Bliss starting 32nd in his No. 40 Curtis Key Plumbing/Silestone USA by Cosentino Chevrolet Silverado and Foyt 36th and last in his No. 44 Silestone USA by Cosentino mount, both drivers began finding the groove early in the Chevy Silverado HD 250.

Using the draft to their advantage, Foyt broke the top 20 and Bliss improved nearly a half dozen spots after just 10 laps of racing that was interrupted by two early caution periods. After a brief stop for fuel only on lap 13, the No. 44 and No. 40 Key Motorsports machines were in the 15th and 24th positions, respectively, and moving forward.

"We were really running well and were just killing them through the corners," said Foyt, a veteran of several NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series seasons but who was making his Craftsman Truck Series debut. "The truck really sucked up well in the draft and was handling great," added Foyt, who unfortunately saw his night come to a quick halt just a few laps later.

That is when the hood on the No. 09 Ford driven by another rookie, Joey Clanton, began coming loose. Several other drivers noticed the problem and basically panicked, slowing down suddenly and causing a multi-car incident that claimed Foyt's Silestone USA Chevrolet.

Larry Foyt. (VPS Motorimages Photo)

"I just had no place to go," said Foyt, who slammed into one of the slowing trucks and destroyed the right front of the truck to end his race after just 24 of the event's 100 laps. "I really hated it for the people from Silestone, who were here with us tonight in their first-ever NASCAR race sponsorship, and for Key Motorsports that put me in a great race truck tonight.

"We deserved a much better fate, and who knows how well we would have run if we were able to avoid those slowing trucks. It's pretty tough trying to avoid something like that when you're running better than a 180 miles per hour," added Foyt, who was credited with a 32nd place finish.

Bliss, on the other hand, was able to avoid most of the incidents on the race track, and when he finally got the No. 40 Chevrolet Silverado running the way he wanted, it took off.

Bliss broke into the top 20 by lap 29, and even when he lost the lead pack of trucks on restarts because of a lack of individual truck speed, it would only take a few laps for his machine to catch the affects of the draft and suck right back into the lead draft.

The No. 40 was showing in the 13th spot on lap 38 and finally broke into the top 10 on lap 44, moving to as high as fifth at one point and solidly in the thick of the battle.

So confident was Bliss and his Barry Dodson-led Key Motorsports crew about the strength of their truck that a lap 51 mishap when Bliss was forced to take an extra lap around the 2.5-mile DIS tri-oval after missing his pit stall on a pit stop didn't seem to raise much concern. That mistake dropped the No. 40 from 7th place way back to 19th, but in just seven laps following a restart, Bliss drove his race truck into 12th place and then into 9th by lap 61.

On lap 63, while running sixth and after having just pitted for fuel only following another caution, Bliss reported that the water temperature in his machine had cooled off dramatically. Dodson, realizing that the tape that was installed on the grill of the truck at the beginning of the race to create the heat had come off, ordered Bliss to pit on lap 65 to have tape applied. That decision dropped Bliss back to 23rd on the grid as the race was restarted on lap 66.

In just six laps of green flag racing, Bliss again showed just how strong his truck was, breezing through traffic and back into the top 10 by lap 72. Unfortunately, Bliss reported that his water temperature gauge had pegged, and in an effort to keep the engine from blowing, dropped back into the field and out of the lead pack of trucks trying to cool down the water. It failed to help.

With just 20 laps remaining, the trucks of rookie drivers Kelly Bires and Blake Bjorkland came together coming down the front stretch and right in front of Bliss who was unable to avoid hitting Bires' Ford as he crossed the start-finish line severely damaging the nose of the No. 40.

Several pit stops made under yellow flag conditions were required to try and repair the damaged Curtis Key Plumbing/Silestone USA by Cosentino, but with the engine already running too hot and the radiator broken, Bliss finally had to park his mount after completing 85 of the race's 100 laps. He was credited with a 23rd place finish.

"It is really a shame that we had those problems because this race truck was definitely capable of winning this race," Bliss said after the race. "I passed a lot of trucks out there, and it never really bothered me when we fell back on restarts because the truck was just so good in the draft. It was flying," Bliss added.

Bliss will be given an opportunity to make amends for the curtailed Daytona effort when he climbs back into the No. 40 Key Motorsports machine next Friday night when the NCTS runs its second race of the 2007 season at the California Speedway in Fontana, CA, a 40-mile drive from downtown Los Angeles. Key Motorsports has also entered the 44 truck but has not yet named a driver for that entry.

The San Bernardino County 200 is scheduled to take the green flag at 9 p.m. EST and will be televised live by the SPEED Channel and syndicated broadcast on radio live by the Motor Racing Network.