With rain canceling Saturday morning's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series qualifying session, the field was set by 2007 point standings, placing Darnell 11th on the starting grid. By the second lap of the race, Darnell had already advanced to the ninth position. He reported in the early going that his Northern Tool Ford was loose on entry into the corners and tight from the center off, but his handling problems did not slow his progress as he passed the No. 88 truck for the eighth position.

When the first caution of the event came at lap 37 for debris, crew chief Matt Puccia called Darnell to pit road for tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. The Northern Tool + Equipment crew got Darnell off pit road in the eighth position for the lap 43 restart. Early in the run, Darnell reported that his F-150 was starting to come around, but he continued to fight a tight condition off the turns. As the laps clicked off, Darnell continued to record fast lap times, advancing his position as he gained on the leaders. The No. 99 showed in the sixth position at lap 72 and held the position until the leaders began to make their way to pit road for green flag pit stops. Puccia elected to leave Darnell on the racetrack allowing him to inherit the lead at lap 131. He would hold the position until he came to pit road at lap 137 for service.

The Northern Tool + Equipment performed flawlessly on their green flag stop, changing four tires, filling the No. 99 with fuel and making a wedge adjustment in good time. The caution flag flew shortly after their stop, resetting the running order. When the balance of the field came to pit road for service, Darnell cycled to the sixth position for the restart.

As the green flag dropped, Darnell continued his assault on the leaders. He quickly advanced to the fourth position and held the spot until he ran down the No. 5 of Mike Skinner for the third position at lap 166. Just as quick as he worked his way around Skinner, Darnell passed the No. 30 of Todd Bodine for the second position. As the laps continued to wind down, Darnell began to close the gap on leader Ron Hornaday. As each lap was completed, Hornaday's lead diminished, but Darnell simply ran out of time to mount a challenge for the leader. Darnell was unable to catch a caution to help erase the six second lead of Hornaday's No. 33, but the finish was enough to leave the Northern Tool + Equipment crew smiling.

"We knew we had a good truck in practice yesterday," said Darnell. "We struggled a little bit, but all the guys on this Northern Tool + Equipment crew did a great job adjusting the truck and getting it to where it needed to be. I'm kind of bummed out that we didn't get to qualify, but we had good pit stops and we were able to come away with a second-place finish. We were definitely hoping for a caution in the closing laps. Looking at lap times, we were a little bit quicker than Hornaday was at the end, but he might have been riding at the same time because he had such a big lead. You never know. I had to push it a little bit though to keep in front of Skinner, though, because he was coming on me so I'm definitely happy with this finish."

Darnell and the No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment team advanced to the ninth position in the Craftsman Truck Series point standings following their second-place finish at Loudon. The Craftsman Truck Series races next at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 22.