Kerry Earnhardt avoided the dreaded ‘big one’ in Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series GM FlexFuel 250 at Daytona International Speedway, but fought an ill-handling car for most of the race and finished 18th in the 2006 season opener.

Earnhardt started 21st in the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Chevrolet Silverado, and never found any real trouble. He finished second among Chevrolets, and third among ten rookies in the race.

“We were able to finish the race, and that’s a good thing,” Earnhardt said. “But the truck was tight in traffic all night, and I wasn’t able to really race anybody. We’d get in traffic and lose the nose real bad. I tried everything I could to get the truck to handle so we could pass somebody, but it just didn’t work. So I hung on, rode in line, and finished the race.”