KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? In a race hampered by cautions, Jon Wood heeded none in choosing to take only fuel in his last pit stop.

The move paid off brilliantly for the 21-year-old Wood, who earned his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in 48 starts by winning Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway.

“It’s real big,” said an ecstatic Wood, whose celebratory burnouts after the race left the 1.5-mile track smoking minutes after he drove into victory lane. “I really can’t say enough about it. It’s kind of like a blur.”

That might be an understatement considering Wood capped off his big day Saturday by coming from the back to win the 167-lap race in front of 65,000 fans.

Wood qualified third Friday, but was relocated to the back because he switched engines after qualifying.

“I know I passed every truck at least five times,” said Wood, of the race that featured a Kansas Speedway NCTS-record eight cautions and eight different leaders.

However, it was the last lead change because of a previous pit stop that provided the day’s theatrics.

Wood moved ahead of Brendan Gaughan — who entered the day as the NCTS point leader, but fell to second behind Travis Kvapil after the race when he finished ninth while Kvapil took fourth — on lap 140 when Gaughan pitted on lap 139.

But Wood won the race because of his pitting strategy.

While other cars took two or four tires on their last stop, Wood took only fuel on lap 106 since he had changed all four tires on lap 74.

“I had passed so many trucks all day long,” Wood said. “It was frustrating at the time, but now that it’s all said and done, I think it’s cool because I went to the back so many times.”

What also had to be cool for Jack Roush racing on a day when temperatures reached over a 100 degrees trackside was the fact Wood’s teammate, Carl Edwards, took second.

“I’m definitely not disappointed to finished second to my teammate,” said Edwards, a native of Columbia, Mo. “It was really cool to follow him to victory lane.

Chris Horn (58) spins out in a trail of smoke on the fourth turn as driver Rich Bickle speeds by during the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250. Jon Wood won the race Saturday at Kansas Speedway.

“We work as one unit in the shop and as one as a team on the track.”

Despite a slight ignition problem that slowed Edwards on the straightaways, he was able to hold off Dennis Setzer, who came in third.

Pole winner Chad Chaffin led twice briefly but finished in 14th.

Wood brought recognition to himself and might have drawn some recognition for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., who has a two-race sponsorship with Wood.

Nonetheless, Wood said the win — the first for Roush Racing since October 2001 — and the 1-2 finish with Edwards was a statement for things to come this season.

“I kept saying at the beginning of the year that this was going to be a different team, but nobody seemed to listen to me,” Wood said. “Now I guess they will.”