Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Author: Briar Starr

NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Preview- Las Vegas I
After a spectacular season opener for the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series, the series now heads west for race 2 of the 2020 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. While the racing won’t be a crash fest like Daytona was, it will certainly still be an exciting actioned-packed event as the Truck Series normally is.

Here is this week’s preview of the Strat 200 and five highlighted drivers that might end up in victory lane in Friday night’s race. Currently, there are 35 trucks on the preliminary entry list for the Strat 200, which means three trucks will be sent home after qualifying.
1. Kyle Busch – It’s really hard to count out the all-time wins leader of the Truck Series, Kyle Busch. Busch is making his first of five starts this year in 2020 and the winning looks like it won’t stop soon. Busch has made two consecutive starts dating back to 2018 and has pretty much swept the two events by qualifying on the pole and winning both races. While he only led 55 laps in 2018, Busch led 110 out of the scheduled 134 laps in 2019 and won both stages as well. He’ll be expected to be up front and challenge for the win Friday night.
2. Brett Moffitt – If there is anyone that can challenge Busch for the win, look no further than the No. 23 team of Brett Moffitt. Since entering the GMS Racing camp of last year, Moffitt has one top five finish and one top-10 finish for Maury Gallagher. In the spring race, the Iowa native finished runner up to Busch and so far, it’s Moffitt’s best finish at the track. He also finished second and 10th during both stages, respectively.
3. Stewart Friesen – Friesen has had mixed results at Las Vegas during his past six starts dating back to 2016. Only once has he wrecked out which occurred in 2017. Since then, it’s either been top five finish or top-20 finish. For last year’s race, Friesen started seventh and finished fourth after leading 20 laps. The Canadian also also finished seventh and second in both of the stages. We’ll see how this year’s race will go, as he finished fifth in the spring of 2018, 17th in fall of 18, fourth in spring of 19 and 19th in the fall race last year. So maybe Friesen will be in for another strong run this time around.
4. Christian Eckes – Hard to base anything off two starts, but Eckes had a strong outing in two races there by finishing third. The New Yorker started first and finished third after leading four laps in the fall 2019 race. Eckes also placed sixth in the second stage of that race. He’ll have crew chief Rudy Fugle and boss man Kyle Busch to lean on should he need any help. Eckes will be piloting chassis KBM-58. This chassis has seen four starts with a win by Busch at Charlotte in May of last year.
5. Sheldon Creed – Speaking of two starts, that’s how many the California native Creed has to his name at Vega and both came in last year’s races. Las Vegas has been kind so far to Creed, who finished sixth in last year’s spring race, while finishing fourth in the fall race. He has not led any laps, but managed to finish seventh in Stage 2 in the spring race, finish sixth in Stage 1, and seventh in Stage 2 in the fall race. Keep an eye on Creed Friday night.
Dating back to 1996, Las Vegas Motor Speedway has seen 25 Truck Series races and since 2018, they have seen two races a year. The winners include Jack Sprague, Joe Ruttman, Greg Biffle, Ted Musgrave, David Starr, Brendan Gaughan, Shane Hmiel, Todd Bodine, Mike Skinner, Travis Kvapil, Johnny Sauter, Austin Dillon, Ron Hornaday Jr, Nelson Piquet Jr, Timothy Peters, Erik Jones, John Wes Townley, Tyler Reddick, Ben Rhodes, Kyle Busch, Grant Enfinger, and Austin Hill.

Chevrolet has the most manufacturer wins with nine, Toyota with eight, Ford with five and Dodge one. Toyota has won the last two races here.

As for qualifying, it has differed in various races. The race winner came from the pole seven times throughout the 25 races, meaning 28 percent of the races have been won from the pole. The lowest a driver has ever come from the back to win was 21st by Shane Hmiel in 2004.

The most lead changes the Las Vegas race has seen was 21 in the September race of 2018, which was won by Grant Enfinger. The fewest lead changes occurred twice with six happening in the first race in 1996 that was won by Jack Sprague and the second in 2004, also won by Hmiel.

Ever since stages were implemented in 2017, Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Noah Gragson, Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger, Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain have all won the stages.

The NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series will only have one practice session that take place Friday morning at 11:05 a.m. ET with no live TV coverage. Qualifying is set for later in the day at 5:05 p.m. ET and can be seen on Fox Sports 1.

The Strat 200 is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages of 30/60/134 laps will make up the 201-mile race.
February 20, 2020
NASCAR Xfinity Series Power Rankings- Daytona
The NASCAR Xfinity Series kicked off their 2020 season opener at Daytona International Speedway on a bright sunny Saturday afternoon in central Florida. It was the first race of the season and it sure didn’t disappoint. Xfinity Series regular, Noah Gragson was finally able to pick up the first win of his Xfinity Series career, which more than likely will be the biggest of his young career. Though there were some other drivers who also had great runs.

Here is the first installment of this week’s Power Rankings for the NASCAR Xfinity Series following the NASCAR Racing Experience 300.
1. Noah Gragson – No surprise here as Gragson dominated the last 20 laps after the final pit stops. He lost the lead briefly to Chase Briscoe for five laps, but was able to take the lead back with two to go before a caution ended the race. The JR Motorsports driver started 12th, finished fourth and ninth in both stages respectively, en route to victory. He led just 15 laps but they were the most important 15 laps of his career.
2. Chase Briscoe – Despite not having a teammate to work with, Briscoe was strong throughout the whole race, finishing 10th in both stages. The Indiana native only led five laps but remained consistent in the top five or 10. Briscoe had no issues and had a flawless race. Sure, he probably wished he could have finished second or won the race as he was in the lead but a top-five finish is still a solid day, especially at a place like Daytona where a big crash can take you out of a good finish late.
3. Harrison Burton – While it’s not his first rodeo in the Xfinity Series, rookie Harrison Burton had a strong first outing at Daytona finishing second. There was a lot of hype with the Burton name having a presence Saturday afternoon and certainly, high expectations in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Burton was able to finish eighth in Stage 1 before missing out on some points in the second stage. He also led nine laps before the race ended. Had the race not ended under caution or if he had a teammate to work with, we most likely would have been talking about a different story right now. Still, not a bad finish for Burton in his first race at Daytona. It will be interesting to watch how Burton progresses throughout the year.
4. Myatt Snider- New year, new ride for Myatt Snider who is racing part-time in the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Even though Snider is a rookie in the Xfinity Series, this was not his first Daytona race as he has had previous starts in the Truck Series. The Charlotte, North Carolina racer looked like a seasoned veteran in this race. Snider started on the pole, led the first 13 laps and laps 15 to 23 before Jeb Burton took the stage win. Unfortunately, it would be the only laps led of the day as Snider was caught up in a Lap 61 accident which took him out of contention. The Richard Childress Racing driver wound up a disappointing 33rd place finish after a strong run early on.
5. Timmy Hill – The underdog Timmy Hill came out of nowhere on the last lap, similar to what Jordan Anderson did on Friday night in the Truck Series race. The Maryland native finished third, earning his best career finish with the Carl Long owned No. 66 Toyota. Hill didn’t place in the top-10 in either stage but had the caution not ended and tandem drafting was allowed, Hill could have been the upset winner and a story we could have been talking about for ages.
February 19, 2020
Four Takeaways from the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona
Daytona International Speedway hosted its 21st NASCAR Truck Series race Friday night on Valentine’s Day for its season opener. As always, the Truck Series does not disappoint wherever they race and one of those prime examples was Friday night. There were a lot of special stories in the field, while the normal front runners had their issues.

Here are this week’s Four Takeaways from the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona.
1. Natalie Decker Is Highest Female Finisher in Series – One of the stories coming out of Friday’s Truck race was Natalie Decker, who finished fifth, the highest a female driver has finished in the Truck Series field since 2011. The previous top finish for a woman was accomplished by current series driver Jennifer Jo Cobb, who finished sixth in 2011. Decker patiently took her time and avoided most of the wrecks to end up with an outstanding finish. Despite running a part-time series schedule, this will certainly be a momentum booster for Decker after a rough 2019 season.
2. Ty Majeski Flips – There hasn’t been a Truck that has flipped at Daytona since 2017 when, now Cup Series driver, Christopher Bell, flipped on another Friday night. Majeski, just 17 laps into the race, was the victim of a bump draft gone wrong when Todd Gilliland made contact with Austin Wayne Self and others. The incident collected Majeski who was sent flipping upside down going into Turn 1, eventually landing upside down on his Truck hood. Thankfully, the Wisconsin native was able to get out and walk away from the accident with no injuries. It was a frustrating finish for sure, but the flip will be a highlight for years to come.
3. Stewart Friesen Has Rough Outing – The first race of the season was looking bright for Canada native Stewart Friesen. He finished sixth and seventh in both stages but was caught up in a couple of wrecks that eventually ended a good run. He was still able to finish the race but wound up 21st after running up front most of the night. The No. 52 team will hope for better circumstances at Las Vegas this Friday night.
4. Strong Field For Daytona – The last couple of years have been so-so for the Truck Series in terms of how many trucks come to the races. There have been times when there were only 28 trucks and other times 32 to 34 trucks. However, at Daytona this weekend, there were 39 trucks on the preliminary entry list which meant seven trucks were sent home. While it’s certainly not ideal for the ones who went home and did not qualify, it just goes to show how competitive the Truck Series can be when a full field comes to qualify. Just for reference, the first Truck Series race at Daytona saw 52 rucks entered and only 36 made the race.
February 18, 2020
NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Daytona
Friday night saw the opening season for the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series. It was no ordinary season opener as the series is celebrating its 25th anniversary dating back to 1995.

Every time there is a Truck Series race, you can normally expect one of two things, an exciting action-packed race or one driver who dominates the entire event. That’s what Friday night’s season opener NextEra Energy Resources 250 featured on Valentine’s day. Race fans saw a photo-finish between underdog Jordan Anderson and veteran Grant Enfinger to the finish line. Enfinger was able to just beat Anderson for the win by 0.010 seconds for the closest Truck Series finish in Daytona history.

While those two drivers certainly stole the show in Daytona, there were others that flew under the radar and still wound up with a great finish. Here are this week’s power rankings.
1. Austin Hill – Hill continued his strong Daytona performance by finishing sixth in Friday night’s race. He led 11 laps and finished seventh and fourth in both stages respectively. It wasn’t the win Hill was hoping for, but the Georgia native did a nice job of avoiding all the chaos that broke out during the race. It will be interesting to watch this team in their second year together with Hill as the driver and see if they can rattle off more wins.
2. Grant Enfinger – No doubt Enfinger was the story of the night when all was said and done. The Alabama native finally got Daytona crossed off his checklist but it didn’t come easy for him. Enfinger had to work his way up to the front several times including getting shuffled to the back from the lead with 24 to go. At that point, a victory seemed unlikely or even a top-10 finish. But a crash with three to go set up an overtime restart with Enfinger in the lead. He had to throw a couple of blocks, one to Ross Chastain and the other to Jordan Anderson, but Enfinger got it done by .010 seconds. It was certainly a nice way to start the season as he now has secured a spot in the Playoffs. Going forward the No. 98 ThorSport Racing team can be a lot more aggressive and take more risks on-track.
3. Johnny Sauter – Sauter had an up and down night in the No. 13 Tenda Ford F-150. He was penalized after making a pit stop after Stage 2 concluded when an uncontrolled tire rolled out of his pit stall. The Wisconsin native also barely missed the big one when his teammate Ben Rhodes spun in front of him with three laps to go. Sauter was able to miss it and brought his truck home with a seventh-place finish. The ThorSport Racing driver finished fifth and eighth in both stages while leading no laps.
4. Jordan Anderson – We would be remiss if we didn’t talk about Jordan Anderson’s best finish of his Truck Series career. Anderson tried all he could to get the first elusive win of his career in what would have been a popular victory for the fans. By mere inches, the team owner finished second to Enfinger beating and banging to the line. Anderson found himself in second on the backstretch on the last lap and came oh so close to for his first career win. This will no doubt be a momentum builder for the No. 3 team who is now in an alliance with AM Racing.
5. Riley Herbst – It looks like the experience somewhat paid off for Herbst and the No. 51 team. The Las Vegas, Nevada native started out on the right foot by qualifying on the pole Friday afternoon. Herbst continued his strong performance by winning Stage 1 and finishing fifth in the second stage. After the first two stages, chaos erupted for Herbst. The No. 51 driver was caught up in two accidents, one on Lap 67 and one with three to go on Lap 99. Still, Herbst wound up with a 12th place finish after leading 21 laps.
February 18, 2020
Hamlin wins second consecutive Daytona 500
It took two overtimes and a 24-hour delay, but Denny Hamlin won the Daytona 500 for the second consecutive time of his career. This is the first time a driver has won back to back 500s since Sterling Marlin in 1994-1995. Hamlin narrowly edged Ryan Blaney to the line to notch his 38th career Cup Series win.

“I just feel like I’m a student of the game,” Hamlin said. “I never stop learning and trying to figure out where I need to put myself at the right time.

“It doesn’t always work [but] we’ve defied the odds here in the DAYTONA 500. I just trust my instincts and so far they’ve been good for me. I can’t do it without the car. That’s [enabling me] to make those race-winning moves.”

The Daytona 500 was originally scheduled to run on Sunday but only 20 laps were completed before rain showers came through the area and postponed the race for the second time in the event’s history. Pole sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr. led all 20 laps before the race was moved to Monday.

Then came Daytona 500 x2 a little after 4 p.m. ET.

Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 65

The race was restarted on Lap 25 after a few drivers made their pit stops. Brad Keselowski took the lead for a couple of laps before Aric Almirola took the lead and then eventually Chase Elliott. The field was in fuel conservation mode for most of Stage 1 before an accident on Lap 60 that involved William Byron and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the backstretch derailed that plan. Byron’s car was totaled in the aftermath and finished in 40th place.

There was a three-lap dash at the end of Stage 1 which saw Georgia native Elliott pick up the stage win. Alex Bowman, Aric Almirola, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney, Stenhouse, Matt DiBenedetto, Chris Buescher and Ty Dillon were the top-10 finishers.

Stage 2: Lap 71- Lap 130

After staying in the back for all of Stage 1, the Toyota’s of Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr. were at the front for the start of the second stage. A 19-lap run to start the second stage was stopped after a wreck on Lap 90 that involved Quin Houff and Reed Sorenson. Kevin Harvick also had some damage to his right-rear and was forced to pit under yellow. Several other leaders also pitted.

Then, there was a long green-flag run of 36 laps to the end of Stage 2. Hamlin was the victor for the second stage after leading the last 42 laps of that stage. Kyle Busch, Stenhouse, Truex, Ross Chastain, Johnson, Elliott, Blaney, Logano, and Buescher completed the top-10 finishers for Stage 2.

After Stage 2 was done pit stops came and there were some mishaps during the stops. Elliott took a gas can with him outside the box, which fell off of the car and onto pit road. Truex then hit the gas can on pit road. Following the incident, Elliott was penalized for removing equipment from the pit box. Harvick was also penalized for pitting too soon.

Stage 3: Lap 135- Lap 209

As we saw in Stage 2, another long green-flag run of 49-laps broke out. During this run, Stenhouse was penalized with 39 to go as he dove below the yellow line while passing someone. He had to serve a stop and go penalty which eventually took him out of contention for the win after having such a strong run early.

Then as in most cases, once the laps wind down, intensity increases and we saw that on Lap 183 where a multi-car wreck happened on the backstretch. A bump draft from Logano to Almirola sent Keselowski’s car spinning into the wall collecting several others. Drivers involved included Johnson, Bubba Wallace, Truex, Blaney, Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Bowman, Chastain, David Ragan, John Hunter Nemechek, Tyler Reddick, Buescher, DiBenedetto, Brendan Gaughan, Logano, and Ty Dillon. Due to the incident, a red flag of 12 minutes and five seconds was seen.

Not much later after a restart with 10 to go, the No. 27 of Sorenson and the No. 66 of Timmy Hill collided with each other bringing out the seventh caution of the night.

Another big wreck occurred with two laps to go. Chastain went to make a move on the inside but came up the track and made contact with Ryan Preece in Turn 1. Logano, Elliott, Reddick, Ty Dillon, Almirola, Bell and McDowell were collected in this one.

Since the wreck happened with two to go, this sent us to NASCAR Overtime where it would be a green-white-checker finish, meaning, once the field takes the last lap, the next flag ends it. But, Bowyer went spinning shortly after the restart because of slight contact with Haley and McDowell.

Then came another overtime and the final restart on Lap 208 with a two-lap dash to the finish. Hamlin had a strong run on the outside coming to the checkered flag. Blaney was also in contention to win but Hamlin narrowly edged out Blaney to win his second Daytona 500.

“I’m the odd man out there,” Hamlin said to MRN Radio about winning his second Daytona 500. “I don’t belong with any of those guys names, those are legends of our sport obviously, Hall of Famers. I’m just the student of the game and those guys are the teachers.”

Hamlin led three times for 79 laps, won Stage 2 and picked up six playoff points following this win.

There were nine cautions for 39 laps and 23 lead changes among 13 drivers.

The end of the race, however, was overshadowed by a wreck on the last lap. Ryan Newman’s car took several hard hits and was engulfed in flames. He was taken to the Halifax Medical Center where he was later reported to be in serious condition but with injuries that were not life-threatening.
1. Denny Hamlin, won Stage 2, led 79 laps
2. Ryan Blaney, led four laps
3. Chris Buescher
4. David Ragan
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Clint Bowyer
7. Brendan Gaughan
8. Corey LaJoie
9. Ryan Newman, led 15 laps
10. Kyle Larson
11. John Hunter Nemechek
12. Austin Dillon
13. Justin Haley
14. Michael McDowell
15. Bubba Wallace
16. Brennan Poole
17. Chase Elliott, won Stage 1, led 23 laps
18. Erik Jones, one lap down
19. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps down
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, three laps down
21. Christopher Bell, OUT, Crash
22. Aric Almirola, four laps down
23. Joey Gase, six laps down
24. Alex Bowman, six laps down
25. Ross Chastain, OUT, Crash
26. Joey Logano, OUT, Crash
27. Timmy Hill, OUT, Crash
28. Tyler Reddick, OUT, Crash
29. Ryan Preece, OUT, Crash
30. Ty Dillon, OUT, Crash
31. Reed Sorenson, OUT, Crash
32. Martin Truex Jr, OUT, Crash
33. Kurt Busch, OUT, Crash
34. Kyle Busch, OUT, Engine
35. Jimmie Johnson, OUT, Crash
36. Brad Keselowski, OUT, Crash
37. Cole Custer, OUT, Rear end
38. B.J. McLeod, OUT, Crash
39. Quin Houff, OUT, Crash
40. William Byron, OUT, Crash
Up Next: The NASCAR Cup Series heads out west to Las Vegas for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, live on FOX at 3:30 p.m. ET.
February 17, 2020
2020 Daytona 500 postponed to Monday
After a challenging day of fighting off and on rain showers, NASCAR officials were forced to postpone the 2020 Daytona 500 to Monday at 4:05 p.m. ET live on FOX. Just 20 laps of the Great American Race were completed with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leading all laps from the pole position.

As soon as the completion of Lap 20 came, the sky opened up once again and soaked the track. NASCAR almost had the track dry and ready to go before the next shower arrived with heavy rains and NASCAR made the decision to postpone the race.

Parking lots will open at 11 a.m. ET with the Gates and UNOH Fanzone to open at 1 p.m. ET, while hospitality opens at 2 p.m. ET. All tickets along with parking passes will be accepted.

This will be the first time since 2012 that the Daytona 500 was postponed to Monday.

Running order as of Lap 20 of 200, Lap 20 of 65 in Stage 1.
1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2. Joey Logano
3. Aric Almirola
4. Ryan Newman
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Brad Keselowski
7. William Byron
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Ty Dillon
10. Timmy Hill
11. David Ragan
12. Chris Buescher
13. Matt DiBenedetto
14. Chase Elliott
15. Ross Chastain
16. Alex Bowman
17. Kyle Larson
18. Kurt Busch
19. Austin Dillon
20. Cole Custer
21. Michael McDowell
22. Tyler Reddick
23. Ryan Blaney
24. Bubba Wallace
25. Reed Sorenson
26. B.J. McLeod
27. Corey LaJoie
28. Brendan Gaughan
29. Ryan Preece
30. Justin Haley
31. Martin Truex Jr.
32. Kyle Busch
33. Erik Jones
34. Christopher Bell
35. Denny Hamlin
36. Clint Bowyer
37. John Hunter Nemechek
38. Quin Houff
39. Joey Gase
40. Brennan Poole
February 16, 2020
Decker, Kraus and Rohrbaugh earn career-best finishes at Daytona

We’ve all heard the expression, “if you are in it, you can win it.” Although they did not get to victory lane, Natalie Decker, Derek Kraus and Codie Rohrbaugh all scored career-best finishes in the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series career Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

Rohrbaugh competes for his family-owned team and accomplishes so much with few resources. Previously, his best finish was last year at Martinsville Speedway where the No. 9 team finished 10th. Tonight, however, the Petersburg, West Virginia native knew he had a chance to win and he came close to a victory.

When Grant Enfinger and Jordan Anderson were battling at the line, it almost allowed Rohrbaugh the chance to sneak by for the win. But he had to settle for a third-place finish, falling 0.084 seconds short. It was a remarkable rebound after getting turned around coming to pit road on Lap 35.

“It got really exciting,” Rohrbaugh said to MRN Radio. “First off, thank the good Lord for giving me the opportunity. Thanks to all my family, Pat, Grandma, the guys did an incredible job at the shop all winter to get us here. Just really, really thankful.”

The third-place finish was Rohrbaugh’s first of his career.

Stratford, Wisconsin native Derek Kraus also had an interesting night in Daytona beginning as early as Lap 9. Kraus had to come down to pit road while running inside the top-10 after a reported issue with the truck. As it turns out, there was a potential left front tire going down on the No. 19 Toyota. Pitting took the Wisconsin native out of a good stage finish for Stage 1 as he would finish 21st.

As the event went on, Kraus had to rally from the back and avoid some major wrecks late in the going, especially the big one with three to go. When the race went into overtime, the Wisconsin native still had a shot to win but he had his work cut out for him as he did not have any teammates to work with. Even so, Kraus still had a solid day and earned the best finish of his Truck Series career with fourth place.

“Just surviving really,” Kraus said to MRN Radio. “We survived all night and kind of rolled in the back there, and kind of had a strategy going at the end of the race. We executed the strategy and we ended up fourth.”

Momentum means everything to the No. 19 team of Bill McAnally.

“This is a really big start to the season, especially for my No. 19 Shockwave Toyota Tundra,” he added to MRN Radio. “Can’t thank Shockwave enough for coming on-board for this race and I look forward to the rest of the season.”

Kraus’ previous best finish was eighth at Dover last year.

As for Natalie Decker, she earned the best finish by a female driver at Daytona. The feat was last accomplished by Jennifer Jo Cobb who finished sixth in 2011. Decker started 30th and finished fifth to earn the best career finish of her career.

“It’s amazing, I’m so thankful that N29 has been with me since the beginning,” Decker said to MRN Radio. “Thank you, Carl and happy birthday, and I’m just so happy I got to have my best finish here with Niece. I just think that’s so wonderful.”

The run wasn’t all that easy for Decker as she had to dodge some melees throughout the race.

“Yeah, there was a big wreck right in front of us and got some flat tires just to try, and stop from it,” she added to MRN Radio. “We rode around the back and that was our plan. I just had to ride, but it was so worth it, those last two laps being able to race up front there and get a good finish.”

February 15, 2020
Enfinger wins in photo-finish at Daytona over Anderson
After an overtime restart, Grant Enfinger narrowly won in a photo-finish against Jordan Anderson coming to the line. The two drivers beat and banged off one another until the checkered flag flew at Daytona International Speedway. However, in what was the closest Truck Series race in history, the Alabama native, Enfinger, broke a two-year drought dating back to Las Vegas.

“It would have been a good story for Jordan to win, but it was a better story for us,” Enfinger said to MRN Radio. “He gave us some good shoves there and I knew he was going to try and make a move and he did. I wasn’t confident the bottom line was going to carry or not, but I was 100% confident in my spotter Chris Lambert as he talked me through there good. I gave some shoves and tried to block his momentum, and get off of him and I kind of stalled him to eventually beat him back to the line. Just an unbelievable Ford F-150 we had here, 100th win for Ford in the Truck Series, the 25th anniversary for Duke and Rhonda Thorson. God has blessed me with an incredible opportunity and maybe this season is the year for us.”

Tonight’s race at Daytona was the season opener for the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series. Though race fans would have to wait a little while after the scheduled start time as a small rain shower moved through the area delaying the start of the race by more than half an hour.

Stages were broken into 20/20/60 laps to make up the 100-lap race and rookie Riley Herbst was on the pole.

Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 20

It appeared Stage 1 was going to be calm and collected with no incidents. However, a big incident occurred with five to go, as the No. 45 of Ty Majeski’s truck went upside down on its roof going into Turn 1 causing a red flag. Based on a replay, the No. 38 of Todd Gilliland made slight contact with the No. 12 of Tate Fogleman who then bumped into the No. 22 of Austin Wayne Self, while the two collected Majeski’s truck which made him flip. This incident would cause a seven-minute and 59 seconds red flag.

A one-lap dash would set up a restart in Stage 1. Pole sitter Herbst took the stage win, while Tyler Ankrum, Christian Eckes, Brett Moffitt, Johnny Sauter, Stewart Friesen, Austin Hill, Grant Enfinger, Raphael Lessard and Todd Gilliland completed the top-10 for Stage 1.

Stage 2: Lap 25- Lap 40

There were no incidents in this stage as it went green the whole way. However, the No. 21 of Zane Smith had a window net down and was black flagged, and had to come down pit road to fix his issue. Then on Lap 35, the No. 9 of Codie Rohrbaugh got turned coming to pit road but saved the truck from crashing and no caution was thrown.

Enfinger would wind up winning the second stage as Ben Rhodes, Ankrum, Hill, Herbst, Lessard, Friesen, Sauter and Sheldon Creed were the top-10 finishers in Stage 2.

Stage 3: Lap 45- Lap 104

There was a 20 lap green flag run taking place from Lap 45 to Lap 65. In fact, a few laps after lap 65, several drivers were thinking about making their last pit stop of the night in the coming laps. But a caution slowed the pace when the No. 00 of Angela Ruch spun in Turn 3 and caused a multi-vehicle wreck. Fogleman, Bryan Dauzat, Eckes, Smith and Brennan Poole were among the ones involved in the incident.

A restart came with 25 to go and things were shaping up for another exciting finish at Daytona, especially in the Truck Series. The Trucks were racing hard all night and some drivers were making big risky moves in hopes of winning the race or pulling off the upset. In fact, in the first time around it looked like there was going to be a photo-finish as the trucks were three wide several rows back. As normally happens with Daytona late in the race, a caution came out for a big wreck in Turns 1 and 2.

The No. 99 of Ben Rhodes got loose and almost took out race winner Enfinger in the process, but instead took out several other drivers including, Ankrum, Tanner Gray, Sauter, Herbst, Crafton, Gilliland, Friesen, Gus Dean, Jesse Little, Korbin Forrister and Eckes to name a few.

Eventually, this put some drivers who had been riding around in the back the whole race up front at the end with a shot to win.

The caution set up an overtime restart on Lap 104, just four laps past the advertised distance. On the white flag, the No. 40 of Ross Chastain had a huge run on Enfinger but Enfinger blocked and Chastain got shuffled out of the draft. The racing wasn’t done yet. This set up an unique opportunity for fan favorite and a potential upset, Jordan Anderson, who was running second with a head of momentum.

Eagerly trying to find a way and time his moment to make the move, Anderson pulled out just a few feet from the finish line to try to pass Enfinger. Enfinger saw Anderson on the outside and the two bounced off one another, but in the end, it was the Alabama native Enfinger who took home the checkered flag just inches ahead of Anderson.

“We had a good Ford F-150 last year,” Enfinger added to MRN Radio. “We could push pretty good, but we couldn’t lead. We tried to make improvements for Talladega, but we were terrible there. The guys at ThorSport Racing cut everything off of here. The roof, the chassis, everything in sight and we came back with a really good piece, and that was the difference. I fell into the sucker hole with 20 laps to go and I thought I lost my opportunity. Then I thought they were going to wreck, so I tried to get to an escape root to the bottom and they didn’t wreck. When it was time to go, I shot to the outside and was able to avoid that mayhem.”

The win was Enfinger’s third win of his career and his first since Las Vegas in 2018, breaking a two-year win drought. He led four times for 41 laps and picked up six playoff points en route to victory.

As Anderson watched the replay on pit road and his excitement was evident.

“Grant, Grant, what are you doing door-slamming me man? I came here in 2015 and emptied my bank account to try to come down here and run. To be in a position to even go for a win at Daytona, man, I’m a kid that just wanted to go racing from South Carolina.

“I thought we set him up good. We tried to follow Ross (Chastain) there and push him. I know he got loose, and I got up on Grant’s bumper there in (Turn) 4 and got a good run. It was like NASCAR Thunder 2003 all over again. I’m like, ‘God, I can do this!’ And I pushed him out of the way, and I thought we had it.”

There were five cautions for 26 laps including one red flag along with 15 lead changes among seven different drivers.

Official Results
1. Grant Enfinger, led 41 laps, won Stage 2
2. Jordan Anderson
3. Codie Rohrbaugh
4. Derek Kraus
5. Natalie Decker
6. Austin Hill, led 11 laps
7. Johnny Sauter
8. Ross Chastain
9. Sheldon Creed, led two laps
10. Jason White
11. Zane Smith
12. Riley Herbst, led 21 laps
13. Brett Moffitt
14. Cory Roper
15. Matt Crafton
16. Todd Gilliland
17. Brennan Poole
18. Korbin Forrister
19. Spencer Boyd, one lap down
20. Raphael Lessard, one lap down
21. Stewart Friesen, one lap down, led 13 laps
22. Christian Eckes, one lap down, Stage 1 winner
23. Tanner Gray, OUT, Accident
24. Jesse Little, OUT, Accident
25. Ben Rhodes, OUT, Accident, led 17 laps
26. Gus Dean, OUT, Accident
27. Tyler Ankrum, OUT, Accident
28. Angela Ruch, OUT, Accident
29. Bryan Dauzat, OUT, Accident
30. Tate Fogleman, OUT, Accident
31. Austin Wayne Self, OUT, Accident
32. Ty Majeski, OUT, Accident
February 14, 2020
NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoor Truck Series Preview-Daytona
It’s almost time for the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoor Truck Series drivers to hit the track for their season opener at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, February 14 under the lights. The last time we saw the Trucks was the Championship 4 race at Homestead Miami Speedway, where Matt Crafton collected his third Truck Series championship of his career, just one away from tying series legend Ron Hornaday Jr.

However, everything resets at Daytona and we will see if Crafton can continue his momentum from 2019 into 2020 and if he wins his fourth title in the series. Before we get that far though, let’s take a look at this week’s annual Nextera Energy Resources 250 and highlight five drivers that might have a shot at winning Friday night.

Currently, there are 41 drivers entered on the preliminary entry list for 32 spots and many new drivers in new places. We’ll highlight those later.
1. Johnny Sauter – After his win at Dover last year, Johnny Sauter went cold for the rest of the year scoring no wins and missed out on advancing to the next round of the Playoffs after a part failure at Las Vegas. Though, with a new year comes a reset for Sauter. 2020 will mark Sauter’s 17th year in the Truck Series and he looks to have a better season and that could start Friday night at Daytona. The Wisconsin native has 11 starts dating back to 2009 with three wins in 2013, 2016, and in 2018. Sauter, however, has one win under the ThorSport name that occurred in 2013. When he returned last year to the stable, Daytona did not fare well for him. A crash on lap 60 hindered his efforts in hopes of starting the year with momentum. In those 11 starts, Sauter has led 139 laps, earned four top-fives and five top-10s with an average finish of 14.3. Sauter also won Stage 2 last year. After a dismal 2019, Sauter hopes to start the year on the right foot in victory lane Friday night.
2. Sheldon Creed – His Daytona outing did not fare well last year but when he came back for another superspeedway race at Talladega Superspeedway, Creed finished ninth after starting fifth and leading 20 laps. This year Creed will also have help from a stout GMS Racing stable with teammates Zane Smith, Brett Moffitt and Tyler Ankrum. During his ARCA outings, the GMS driver finished third in 2018. Creed can sometimes be a sleeper in a race and wind up getting a good finish. Don’t be surprised if the California native can get the victory to open up the season.
3. Grant Enfinger – While his superspeedway stats may be up and down, Enfinger could snap his winless streak Friday night in Daytona. The Alabama native has five starts going back to 2012 but has made four consecutive starts since 2016. He has a best finish of second that came in last year’s race and in the previous year, Enfinger finished sixth. The finishes have created an average finish of 11.2 with an average start of 9.0. Despite those stats, some of that can be meaningless when it comes to tracks like these. But don’t get caught off guard if the ThorSport driver wins the season opener.
4. Austin Hill- Speaking of getting off guard, Austin Hill somewhat shocked the world last year by winning the season opener last year in his first outing with Hattori Racing. The Georgia native was strong by leading 39 laps and finishing second in Stage 1. By winning at Daytona, Hill continued his superspeedways effort by finishing sixth at Talladega last fall. Watch out for Hill and the No. 16 Hattori Truck Friday night.
5. Angela Ruch – She might not win the race Friday night but she most certainly can be a spoiler. Angela Ruch is back full-time this year, but with a new entry fielded by Reaume Brothers Racing, as she will pilot the No. 00 Chevrolet. In last years race, she finished eighth after leading for two laps. We’ve heard it for many years and we’ll hear it for years to come, all you have to do is start the race to have a chance to win the race. If Ruch can avoid the wrecks and find herself up front at the end, an opportunity may present itself where she might wind up in victory lane.
As we mentioned above, there are many new drivers in the series along with current series drivers in different places.

Truck Series newcomer Tate Fogleman pilots the No. 02 entry for Youngs Motorsports, Raphael Lessard in the No. 4 for Kyle Busch Motorsports, Korbin Forrister returns with his team in the No. 7 for All Out Motorsports, Christian Eckes in the No. 18 for KBM, Derek Kraus full-time in the No. 19 for Bill McAnally, Zane Smith in the No. 21 for GMS Racing and Brett Moffitt moves to the No. 23 with no owner points.

Tyler Ankrum moves over to GMS Racing in the No. 26 and Bryan Dauzat is back for his annual Daytona race in the No. 28. Jason White will compete in the No. 33 for Reaume Brothers Racing, Todd Gilliland in the No. 38 for Front Row Motorsports, Ross Chastain in the No. 40, Natalie Decker in the No. 44, and Ty Majeski in the No. 45 for Niece Motorsports. Riley Herbst will be in the No. 51 for KBM, Gus Dean in the No. 56 for Hill Motorsports and Todd Peck in the No. 96.

Daytona International Speedway has seen 20 Truck Series races going back to 2000. Drivers Mike Wallace, Joe Ruttman, Robert Pressley, Rick Crawford, Carl Edwards, Bobby Hamilton, Mark Martin, Jack Sprague, Todd Bodine, Timothy Peters, Michael Waltrip, John King, Johnny Sauter, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Kaz Grala, and Austin Hill have all visited victory lane. Toyota has the most manufacturer wins with nine (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2019). Ford has five wins, while Dodge and Chevrolet are tied with three wins.

Only four times has a winner come from the pole. The first was in 2001 with Ruttman, 2006 by Martin, 2007 with Sprague and Grala in 2017. The lowest ever a driver has started was 36th back in 2005 by Hamilton.

Superspeedway races are known for upset winners. As for the Truck Series, John King scored that upset in 2012 and to date, it is his only win in NASCAR. Kings’ last race was in 2014 coming at Daytona.

Flashing back to last year’s race, only nine cars finished the race with the rest wrecking out of contention. The race was extended 11 laps into overtime and the event was finally completed on Lap 111. Austin Hill took the win after leading 39 laps. Grant Enfinger, Ross Chastain, Spencer Boyd, Matt Crafton, Josh Reaume, Timothy Peters, Angela Ruch, Austin Wayne Self, and Stewart Friesen completed the top-10.

In Stage 1, Sheldon Creed won the stage followed by Hill, Christian Eckes, Brett Moffitt, Enfinger, Austin Wayne Self, Clay Greenfield, Myatt Snider, Brennan Poole, and Todd Gilliland were the top-10 finishers for Stage 1. In the second stage, Johnny Sauter collected 10 additional points with Friesen, Ben Rhodes, David Gilliland, Spencer Boyd, Enfinger, Snider, Todd Gilliland, Harrison Burton, and Wayne Self completing the top-10 for Stage 2. Eleven cautions slowed the pace for 55 laps with 15 lead changes.

There will be two Truck Series practices tomorrow afternoon. The first practice takes place at 4:05 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 2 lasting until 4:55 p.m. ET. Final practice is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. – 5:55 ET and will air live on Fox Sports 1. Qualifying is slated for Friday at 3:10 p.m. ET with an impound and one-lap procedure and will be televised live on Fox Sports 1.

The NextEra Energy Resource 250 race will kick off the 2020 season Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET with coverage on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. The event will see stages of 20/40/100 laps to make up the 250 miles.
February 13, 2020
Busch set for five-race schedule in the Truck Series

Kyle Busch Motorsports announced today that the all-time winningest driver in the Truck Series, Kyle Busch, will once again be back in the Truck Series field for 2020. The Las Vegas, Nevada native is set to do a five-race stint in his famed No. 51 Toyota Tundra. That’s the most Busch can do due to the five-race rule limit set by NASCAR.

Busch is scheduled to compete at the following races. His first race will be February 21 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, March 14 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Homestead Miami Speedway on March 20, Texas Motor Speedway March 27 and his final Truck Series race will be at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night May 30.

Last season, Busch was able to go five for five, winning in all five of his starts including three tracks that are on his schedule this year as well, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Texas. However, you’ll have to go back to 2014 almost six years ago when Busch last competed at Homestead. In that race, he started fifth and finished fourth after six laps led. As for Kansas Speedway, it will be the first time in over two years since Busch last raced in the Truck Series there. He came up just shy of winning the race that night, finishing second to then KBM teammate, Noah Gragson.

February 11, 2020