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Author: Briar Starr

  • Truck qualifying and Cup qualifying canceled, lineup set by owner points

    Truck qualifying and Cup qualifying canceled, lineup set by owner points

    Due to rain showers in the area and track drying efforts, NASCAR has canceled qualifying for both the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The field will be set per the rule book by owner points.

    Stewart Friesen will start on the pole for the Truck Series Ford EcoBoost 200.

    The rest of the top-10 includes newly announced Kyle Busch Motorsports and 2018 ARCA Champion Christian Eckes in second, Ross Chastain will start third, last year’s defending series champion Brett Moffitt will start in fourth, Austin Hill fifth, Johnny Sauter sixth, Grant Enfinger seventh, Tyler Ankrum eighth, Matt Crafton ninth and Ben Rhodes will complete the top-10 spots.

    Tonight’s race can be seen on Fox Sports 1, as it is the championship-deciding finale in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series with a green flag start of 9:35 p.m. ET. However, if persistent rain showers continue, an alternative starting time has been set for the Ford Ecoboost 200. The Truck Series finale would be run on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. ET also live on Fox Sports 1.

    Denny Hamlin will lead the field to green for the Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

    Official Starting Lineup – Truck Series

    1. Stewart Friesen, Championship 4 Driver
    2. Christian Eckes
    3. Ross Chastain, Championship 4 Driver
    4. Brett Moffitt, Championship 4 Driver
    5. Austin Hill
    6. Johnny Sauter
    7. Grant Enfinger
    8. Tyler Ankrum
    9. Matt Crafton, Championship 4 Driver
    10. Ben Rhodes
    11. Todd Gilliland
    12. Sheldon Creed
    13. Harrison Burton
    14. Austin Wayne Self
    15. Tyler Dippel
    16. Colby Howard
    17. Angela Ruch
    18. Jordan Anderson
    19. Gus Dean
    20. Natalie Decker
    21. Josh Bilicki
    22. Danny Bohn
    23. Joe Nemechek
    24. Jennifer Jo Cobb
    25. Anthony Alfredo
    26. Tanner Gray
    27. Parker Kligerman
    28. Tyler Hill
    29. Cory Roper
    30. Codie Rohrbaugh
    31. Ray Ciccarelli
    32. Jesse Little

    Not qualifying for the race are Dylan Lupton, Spencer Davis, Derek Kraus and Camden Murphy. Josh Reaume has also withdrawn from the race.

    Official Starting Lineup – Cup Series

    1. Denny Hamlin
    2. Kevin Harvick
    3. Martin Truex Jr.
    4. Kyle Busch
    5. Joey Logano
    6. Kyle Larson
    7. Ryan Blaney
    8. Brad Keselowski
    9. William Byron
    10. Clint Bowyer
    11. Chase Elliott
    12. Alex Bowman
    13. Kurt Busch
    14. Aric Almirola
    15. Ryan Newman
    16. Erik Jones
    17. Daniel Suarez
    18. Jimmie Johnson
    19. Paul Menard
    20. Chris Buescher
    21. Matt DiBenedetto
    22. Austin Dillon
    23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    24. Ty Dillon
    25. Daniel Hemric
    26. Ryan Preece
    27. Bubba Wallace
    28. Michael McDowell
    29. Corey Lajoie
    30. John H. Nemechek
    31. David Ragan
    32. Joe Nemechek
    33. Landon Cassill
    34. JJ Yeley
    35. Reed Sorenson
    36. Ross Chastain
    37. Drew Herring
    38. Josh Bilicki
    39. BJ McLeod
    40. Timmy Hill
  • Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Special Preview- Championship 4

    Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Special Preview- Championship 4

    After 35 races in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, it is now time for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Not only will it be the last race of the season, but it will also be the last championship race at Homestead for the foreseeable future as the season finale moves to ISM Raceway in 2020. 

    The playoff grid is now down to four drivers who will have a chance to win the championship. Three of them will have the opportunity to become a multi-champion, while the other seeks his first title. Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick all have the chance to win a second championship title as Denny Hamlin seeks his first championship in a storied career. 

    While it will be difficult to predict who will win the Championship 4 race due to the new rules package, Speedway Media takes a look in this special preview edition in advance of the championship race at Homestead. 

    1. Denny Hamlin – It’s been a remarkable year for Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team. Hamlin who is quite possibly having his best year ever seeks his first career NASCAR title. When you look at wins, top fives and top-10’s, it’s the most he’s ever had in his career aside from his eight wins in 2010. This will be the first time since 2014, Hamlin will be competing in the Championship 4 race. During that year, he finished seventh, third out of the Championship 4 drivers. Since then, he hasn’t been back until this year, but has run well at Homestead including a win in 2013. Hamlin has two wins at Homestead (2009 and 2013) with four top-fives and nine top-10 finishes with 254 laps led. Looking at the past four races, however, his finishes haven’t been all that great. Hamlin has earned the pole three times but finished 10th in 2015, ninth in 2016, ninth in 2017 and 12th in last year’s race. Out of those four races, the JGR driver has only been able to lead 41 laps, which occurred in last year’s race. Hamlin certainly has a chance to win but will need to improve those numbers by staying out front and not falling behind. This will be Hamlin’s best opportunity to win his first championship.

    2. Kevin Harvick – Harvick is the most experienced driver competing for the championship. This will be the Stewart-Haas Racing driver third time competing in the Championship 4 race. Harvick has competed in 2014, 2015 and previously in 2018. He was the first driver to win in the inaugural Championship 4 race back in 2014. On that day, Harvick had the best car, qualifying fifth, leading 54 laps and winning his first championship after trying to do so for 13 years. In the past few races though, it might what have been the California native. Since 2014, Harvick has finished second in 2015, third in 2016, fourth in 2017 and third in last year’s race, where he also was a Championship 4  driver. The stats speak for themselves accomplishing 10 top fives and 16 top-10 finishes along with 373 laps led, and an average finish of 6.6. Harvick is 43 and with age being a factor nowadays, this might also be his chance to win a second title. There have been some notables that after age 39, performance drops off, but so far, Harvick has proven that wrong.

    3. Kyle Busch – The playoffs have not been the best for Busch and the No. 18 team but he has somehow made it to the Championship 4 race. This will be the fifth consecutive time that the Las Vegas native will be competing in the final race of the season for the championship race. Of course, his crowning achievement came in 2015 where Busch missed the first couple of races and went on to win his first-ever championship. On that night, the JGR driver started on the pole and led 41 laps en route to winning the title. From 2016 on, however, it’s what might have been for the Las Vegas native. Busch has had some close moments on winning multiple titles. One, in particular, was in 2016, where he points out as a missed opportunity. You could even recall the year after where Busch finished runner up, where he could have had a third title to his name. However, after all those races, Busch still only has one championship but has a decent chance of adding another to his Hall of Fame career. In the last three races, Busch has finished sixth in 2016, second in 2017 and fourth in 2018. Overall, he has led 343 laps and has a driver rating of 99.8. If Busch can accomplish another title, he will be added to the names of Terry Labonte, Ned Jarrett, Joe Weatherly, Buck Baker, Tim Flock, Herb Thomas, Dale Earnhardt, Tony Stewart among others to do so.

    4. Martin Truex Jr. – Like his other comrades, Truex also has the chance of adding a second championship to his name. This is Truex’s fourth time making it to the Championship 4 race, one of which he has won that came two years ago in 2017 and was runner up in last year’s race. The New Jersey native Homestead stats has been iffy at best. Truex has only been able to achieve five top-five finishes at the 1.5-mile speedway in Southern Florida and an average finish of 10.8. By already winning one of these Championship 4 races back in 2017, Truex knows what it will take to win on Sunday and the pressure that comes with it. Since 2014, the New Jersey native has finished 17th in 2014, 12th in 2015, 36th (DNF) in 2016, won in 2017 and runner up in last year’s race. With the inception of stage racing since 2017, Truex has had finishes of fifth and second in 2017, while finishing fifth and fourth in last year’s race. Should the JGR driver win his second championship, he will be the 17th driver to do so in the history of the sport. 

    If you want to win the championship at Homestead you will most likely have to win the race in order to do so. Since 2015, the race winner has gone on to win the championship. Kyle Busch did so in 2015, Jimmie Johnson in 2016, Martin Truex Jr. in 2017 and Joey Logano in 2018, are examples in the past couple of years. In the first era of the Championship 4 race, Kevin Harvick was the first driver to win in 2014 in the Championship 4 category. 

    The Championship 4 drivers along with the other drivers will get on-track Friday afternoon for practice sessions. The first practice starts at 3:35 p.m. ET while the final practice is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.ET, both will air live on NBC Sports. 

    Qualifying is Saturday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. ET to set the field and will also air live on NBC Sports.

    Sunday is the big day as Homestead hosts the Championship 4 race. Live coverage begins at 1:30 p.m.ET with NASCAR America, followed by Countdown To Green at 2 p.m. ET with the Ford EcoBoost 400 scheduled to get underway shortly after 3 p.m.ET, live on NBC. Additionally, NBC Sports will carry special live coverage with the annual NASCAR Hotpass at 3 p.m. ET with commentary from NBC analysts along with on-board cameras for the Championship 4 drivers. Fans can also listen to the race via MRN and Sirius XM Channel 90. Stages will be broken into 80/80/107 laps to make up the 267-lap race.

  • Kyle Busch Motorsports announces driver lineup for 2020

    Kyle Busch Motorsports announces driver lineup for 2020

    Kyle Busch Motorsports announced its driver lineup for the 2020 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series season late Thursday afternoon.

    Canadian superstar, Raphael Lessard will replace Todd Gilliland in the No. 4 Toyota Tundra, competing full-time in the Truck Series next season. The Quebec native has just three race starts this year for KBM earning a best finish of 11th at Dover this past spring. Lessard is excited to contend for Rookie of The Year in 2020.

    “I’ve been working really hard the last few years to put myself in position to drive full-time for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series so this opportunity is a dream come true,” Lessard said. “I can’t thank Kyle and everyone at KBM, Toyota and TRD enough for having the confidence to put me in their truck and it wouldn’t be possible without the support of my parents and everyone that has invested in getting me to this point. Being able to drive for such a great organization in one of NASCAR’s top three series is going to be awesome and I’m going to work hard on and off the race track to learn as much as I can to get better every race.”

    Team owner Kyle Busch commented about Lessard’s move to full-time.

    “We’ve watched Raphael grow as both a driver and a person since joining our Super Late Model program in 2018 and we’re looking forward to being a part of his continued progression as he graduates to a full-time role in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series next year,” owner Kyle Busch said. “Similar to Erik Jones and Christopher Bell before him, Raphael joined our Super Late Model program and immediately won some big races. Then, when given a part-time Truck Series schedule, they all proved capable of running up front and earned the right to compete full time. Erik and Christopher went on to win races and a championship in trucks, now Raphael has the opportunity to continue to follow their blueprint.”

    The 2018 ARCA Menards Series Champion, Christian Eckes, will also join Kyle Busch Motorsports full-time. Eckes will take over the No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra, as Harrison Burton jumps to the Xfinity Series to compete with the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team.

    “Returning to KBM to compete full-time for a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship with the support of Safelite AutoGlass and Toyota is an opportunity that I’ve worked my whole life for and I’m ready to take advantage of it,” Eckes said. “Being around the Truck Series the last few seasons, I’ve been able to see firsthand how much effort Safelite puts into their racing program and I’m excited to represent them not only on the track but in the communities that we race in.”

    Busch also commented on Eckes’ move to driving full-time in the Truck Series.

    “Christian has won races and a championship in the ARCA Series and we feel like he’s capable of doing the same driving for us full-time in the Truck Series next year,” owner Kyle Busch said. “He’s shown speed while running a part-time schedule for us the past couple of seasons — he’s won poles, led laps and been in a position to win a few races. We feel like it’s just a matter of time before he puts everything together and starts winning at this level.”

    In his short career, the Middletown, New York native has made 11 starts in the past two years for KBM. Eckes has four poles with a best finish of third this past fall at Las Vegas. The new KBM driver also achieved two top fives and three top-10 finishes. Eckes previously competed full-time with Venturini Motorsports this season and won the ARCA Menards Series Championship at Kansas last month in October.

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Championship 4 Homestead

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Championship 4 Homestead

    After waiting all season, it’s now time for the Championship 4 race in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. For the fourth time since 2016, the Truck Series will compete at Homestead-Miami Speedway to decide another champion, the 25th of the series. While the Championship 4 could be debated, it has the best drivers who have been solidly consistent all year round. Having some of the best racers competing for the title should create an exciting race. 

    Keeping the Championship 4 in mind, here’s a special preview of the final race of the season highlighting the four playoff drivers. 

    1. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt only has one start which came in the Championship 4 race last year. He started fifth, won Stage 2 and won the race to capture his first-ever Truck Series championship. During the Ford 200, the GMS driver only ran as low as 11th and led 59 laps. Moffitt’s stats show he has been decent at best on 1.5-mile tracks this season. Aside from a 19th place finish at Texas and Charlotte, Moffitt has seen consistent finishes. At Atlanta, he finished fourth, second at Las Vegas, eighth at Kansas, 11th at Texas in June, winning at Chicago and seventh at Vegas in the fall. The Iowa native may very well be headed to his second Truck Series championship.

    2. Ross Chastain – Chastain has five starts at the 1.5-mile speedway in Southern Florida, with a best finish of eighth in 2013 driving for Brad Keselowski in the Truck Series. For four years, the Niece Motorsports driver was absent from racing in the Trucks before returning last year, finishing 16th for Niece. And what a difference a year makes. At this time last year, Chastain wasn’t even running for Truck points and was focused on his Xfinity program for JD Motorsports. While his Truck stats may not be much to count on, the Florida native has five starts in the Xfinity Series with a best finish of 16th in last year’s race. What a win it would be if Chastain wheels in the No. 45 Chevy Friday night into victory lane.

    3. Matt Crafton – Crafton is the most experienced driver of them all competing for the championship this weekend. He’s entered in every race he’s started since 2001 at Homestead with a win back in 2015 after starting on the pole and leading 93 laps. Since winning the title in 2015, Crafton has competed in the Playoffs two out of three times.  However, in those times, the California native finished seventh in 2016 and sixth (last of the Champ 4 contenders in 2017). During those races, he’s only been able to lead 10 laps. Counting 18 starts, Crafton has three top fives and 10 top-10 finishes with 145 laps led and zero DNFs, along with an average finish of 10.8.

    4. Stewart Friesen – Friesen, who also will be competing in his first-ever Championship 4 race at Homestead has three starts dating back to his first track start in 2016. The Canadian’s best finish was fourth in last year’s race after finishing seventh and sixth in both stages, respectively. Overall, the Halmar driver has his technical teammate Brett Moffitt to lean on and an average finish of 13.3. 

    During the last four years of the Championship 4 race, the champion has finished third in 2016, second in 2017 and first in last year’s race by Moffitt. 

    Homestead has seen 23 races since its first year back in 1996 and has a long list of winners. Dave Rezendes was the first winner in ‘96, followed by Kenny Irwin Jr., Rick Crawford, Mike Wallace, Andy Houston, Ted Musgrave, Ron Hornaday, Bobby Hamilton, Kasey Kahne, Todd Bodine, Mark Martin, Johnny Benson Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Johnny Sauter, Cale Gale, Bubba Wallace, Matt Crafton, William Byron, Chase Briscoe and Brett Moffitt. 

    The highest a race winner has ever come from was the pole, four times – Hamilton in 2003, Crafton in 2015, Byron in 2016 and Briscoe in 2017. 

    On the manufacturer side of things, Toyota has nine wins, Ford and Chevy have five each while Dodge only scored one. 

    Six times the race was extended to overtime in 1999, 2007-2009, 2012 and the last time an overtime finish occurred was in 2013. 

    Kyle Busch Motorsports has the most wins in regards to teams. KBM has four (2010, 2013, 2014 and 2016), defunct team Ultra Motorsports (1999, 2001 and 2004), Germain Racing with two (2005 and 2008), while ThorSport also has two (2011, 2015). 
    ‘
    To up the ante, Gander Outdoors has offered an additional $100,000 to this year’s champion. 

    It will be a one day show for the Truck Series on Friday. First practice is at 9:05 a.m. ET and final practice is scheduled for 10:35 a.m. ET with no live TV coverage. Qualifying can be seen later in the afternoon at 4:35 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1. 

    The Ford Ecoboost 200 gets underway shortly after 8 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages are 40/40/54 laps to make up the 134-lap race. 

  • Championship Analysis: Stewart Friesen

    Championship Analysis: Stewart Friesen

    In our final piece of the four-part series analyzing the drivers competing in the Championship, Speedway Media takes a look at Stewart Friesen’s chances of winning his first-ever NASCAR Series championship. The Canadian native Truck Series driver’s career has really taken off after going full-time in 2018. Friesen has raced with Halmar Racing since their beginnings at Eldora in 2016 in what was then, supposed to be for fun. From that point on, the team has grown to become title contenders and find themselves in a prime position.

    Stewart Friesen – Friesen could be considered an underdog heading into the championship race at Homestead. Like Chastain, the Canadian will also be challenging for his first-ever Truck Series title.

    How He Got Here: You could very well say Friesen has started the hard way and earned his way up since 2016. In what started out as doing this for fun, things got serious in 2017 when he competed on a part-time basis but it wasn’t all that easy. The Halmar team raced in the first seven races, but challenges arose for the team. The team withdrew from the next two races at Gateway and Iowa, before racing off and on for the rest of the season. From 2018 on, Friesen and Halmar became connected with GMS for a technical alliance, which would also help his playoff chances. Many have come to know, it’s either been win or crash for the Canadian in 2019 and began to wonder if he would ever get his first win. Finally back in August, Friesen got that win crossed off by winning in his dirt backyard at the famed Eldora Speedway. Then came the playoff race at Bristol, where he finished fourth. The Halmar driver pointed his way through the next few rounds, keeping his championship chances alive. By being consistent, Friesen had built up a sizeable points lead to where no matter what happened, he would be locked in. But the Canadian was hungry to win another one. So he did and with that, clinched a spot in the Championship 4 for the first time in his career. 

    Championship Chances: Friesen has competed at Homestead for the past four years and secured a best finish of fourth in last year’s race. But, he’ll have to eliminate the problems that have plagued him from the start of his career. Statistically, this has been Friesen’s best career year to date, earning two wins, 12 top fives and 16 top-10 finishes with one pole.

    Final Analysis: Friesen will have the whole dirt world on his shoulders watching Friday night’s race at Homestead. When not racing Trucks, the Halmar driver can be found racing dirt cars almost every night of the week, even on an off-weekend. This may be his best shot at winning the title currently, as he has said that he doesn’t have any plans yet for next year. Winning a title could help those chances, but will it provide a distraction during the race? Only time will tell.

  • Championship Analysis: Matt Crafton

    Championship Analysis: Matt Crafton

    In Part 3 of the Championship Analysis series ahead of the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami, Speedway Media takes an in-depth look at the Truck Series veteran Matt Crafton. Crafton is competing in his third Championship 4 finale and seeks his third Truck Series title in a career that has spanned over 20 years.

    It’s been a strange season, to say the least, for Matt Crafton and the No. 88 ThorSport Racing team. The ThorSport driver will be chasing his third title for the third time in the Truck Series Playoffs. When looking at the stats for this season, Crafton has only earned six top fives and 17 top-10 finishes with only 35 laps led. He’s come close a couple of times to winning but has never been able to pull it off.

    How He Got Here: Luck. It’s been all luck this past season for the California native, who is chasing his third career Truck Series championship. If it wasn’t for three stage wins, I’m not really sure if we would be talking about Crafton right now. Sure, he’s been consistently finishing in the top-10 but the 2019 season hasn’t been a stellar year for him. Crafton has shined a couple of times, though, finishing second at Fort Worth in June plus earning three poles, at Kansas, Charlotte and Talladega. However, disarray arose when the Playoffs started at Las Vegas in September. Engine issues plagued Crafton to a 30th place finish. Even then, he was facing possible elimination, but somehow made it through to live on another day. Then came Martinsville, where once again electrical issues resulted in a 23rd place finish for Crafton. However, with a sixth-place finish and enough points, the California native will be competing in his third Championship 4 race Friday night.

    Championship Chances: If Crafton can avoid having electrical issues as he has faced in the Playoffs, then he most certainly has a shot like the other three contenders. The ThorSport driver knows how to get it done in situations like these. It wasn’t all that long ago that Crafton took a beat-up truck and won the championship before the playoff system was set in stone. However, I am concerned with the team not yet winning this season which may provide a challenge for Crafton. However, knowing the crafty veteran, he has seen the ins and outs of what it takes to win the title. Being hungry for that first win in two years, he may just pull a rabbit out of the hat and notch his third Truck Series championship.

    Final Analysis: If Crafton can get another championship, it would just be another list of accomplishments added to his Hall of Fame career. At 43-years-old, he has a couple more years left in hopes to get a few more championships to his name in a career that has spanned over 20 years dating back to 2000. However, it has been noted, Crafton hopes to be like Ron Hornaday and keep contending for wins before it’s time to call it a career. 

  • Championship Analysis: Ross Chastain

    Championship Analysis: Ross Chastain

    In the continuation of the four-part Championship Analysis, Speedway Media takes a look at Ross Chastain. Chastain switched to Truck Series points a few weeks after his big win at Kansas Speedway in May. That decision has worked out as the Niece Motorsports driver finds himself competing for his first-ever NASCAR championship after a long and rocky road.

    Ross Chastain – Chastain has a big day ahead of him when Friday comes around as the Niece Motorsports driver competes for the Truck Series title. But he is used to challenges.

    How He Got Here: Chastain was originally racing for NASCAR Xfinity Series points at the beginning of 2019. However, the Floridian found success early on in the Truck Series with a string of top-10 finishes. Chastain picked up his first Truck Series victory at Kansas back in May. Due to selecting to receive Xfinity points, the win did not make him eligible for the Playoffs at the time. But, right before the June race at Texas, Chastain declared he was switching points to the Truck Series, in hopes of challenging for the championship by years end.

    It has not gone smoothly as troubles arose at Iowa when Chastain won the race but failed the post-race inspection and his win was taken away. He did not let this get him down and two weeks later, Chastain went on to win at Gateway. By doing so, he was able to lock himself into the Playoffs. Quickly becoming a fan favorite, the Floridan continued his consistency, winning at Pocono and showing that he was ready for his first Truck Series playoff run. He hasn’t been able to win during the Playoffs but his top fives and 10s have allowed him to move through and he has built a manageable points lead. By securing a ninth-place finish at Phoenix, Chastain found himself with no voice as he was locked into the Championship 4 race for the first time in his career.

    Championship Chances: The Niece Motorsports driver will have to rise up to the pressure in chasing for the title. As noted, this will be the first time Chastain has the opportunity to collect his first NASCAR Series championship. However, that pressure is something the Floridan has experienced throughout his career. Chastain has competed at Homestead before but never for the championship so Friday morning’s practice sessions will have value for the No. 45 Niece Motorsports team. Having already announced his 2020 season plans, Chastain can focus solely on winning the championship. Don’t be at all surprised if he pulls off the victory in Friday night’s race, which most certainly would be the biggest win of his career yet.

    Final Analysis: Chastain has come a long way from his early beginnings in NASCAR. He has been through it all. He has gone from being fired in the Truck Series to racing for a competitive team to competing for an underdog team to literally having no ride at all. The Niece Motorsports driver has faced all kinds of circumstances in his life and nothing would be sweeter than to claim the ultimate prize. It could quite possibly be the most popular victory the Truck Series has seen in a couple of years.

  • Championship Analysis: Brett Moffitt

    Championship Analysis: Brett Moffitt

    As the finale weekend approaches, Speedway Media takes a look at the four drivers running for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series 2019 championship. We analyze their chances to win the title while also flashing back on how they got here.

    In the first edition of this four-part series, we take a look at Brett Moffitt, driver of the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevy. Moffitt is contending for his second straight championship.

    Brett Moffitt – Moffitt has proven that last year’s title reign was no fluke. For the second straight year, the GMS driver returns to the Championship 4 for another shot at the Truck Series championship.

    How He Got Here: The 2018 Series Champion caught a lucky break at Iowa earlier this season when the original winner, Ross Chastain, was disqualified, giving the win to Moffitt. The victory caught him by surprise as he was literally getting ready to climb aboard the team plane and head back to Charlotte. With the win, he was guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs.

    The win at Iowa wasn’t enough for Moffitt. Having something to prove, the Iowa native went on to earn his first “real” win of the season at Chicago back in the summer. Aside from a crash at Eldora, Moffitt opened up the Playoffs hot with back-to-back wins at Bristol and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Since then, however, he has not been back to the winner circle. The GMS driver has had to rely on top fives and top-10s in order to get to the Championship 4. Even at ISM, Moffitt didn’t have the best of performances but he did what he needed to do to lock himself in at Homestead.

    Championship Chances: After competing at Homestead, Moffitt knows what it’s like to race in the championship race and realizes that he has to perform to the best of his abilities to win that second championship. At this time last year, the Iowa native was seen as an underdog heading into the title race But, he was the best truck out of the Championship 4 and went on to win the season finale after leading 59 of the 134 laps.

    Final Analysis: Moffitt is with a new team this time around in the Championship 4 race, but he has shined in 2019, notching four wins, 12 top fives and 16 top-10 finishes. Despite being with a new team in the final round, GMS is no stranger to competing in the final race of the season. This will be GMS’s fourth consecutive Championship 4 race, since the first one back in 2016. Needless to say, Moffitt’s chances are really good and it would not be a surprise to see him captures his second championship. 

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race at ISM

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race at ISM

    The Truck Series visited ISM Raceway for the final race in the Round of 6 this past Friday night, prior to the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The playoff drivers that were already in a Championship 4 spot, had to do what they needed to do in order to move on to Homestead.

    The battle was really for the fourth and final spot between Austin Hill, Matt Crafton and Tyler Ankrum. Rookie Tyler Ankrum was in a must-win situation going in. It wasn’t impossible, but Ankrum fell short with a disappointing 26th place finish. With Ankrum out of the picture, the battle came down to Crafton and Hill. 

    Hill was above the cut line heading into Phoenix and Crafton was below. While both drivers weren’t in a must-win situation, they were in a must-do well situation. In the end, Crafton got the job done with a sixth-place finish, while Hill will have to wait another year to fight for the championship, as he wound up 13th after starting on the pole. 


    With the Championship 4 spots set, a few other notable comments and instances may have been overshadowed in the Lucas Oil 150 Friday night. 

    Here are this week’s four takeaways from Round 21 in the Truck Series race at ISM Raceway. 

    1. Friesen rebounds to win, 2020 not set – After an early penalty, Friesen came back to win and made a statement in Friday night’s race. He didn’t take the lead until Lap 107 but the Canadian proved that he belongs in the Championship 4 race at Homestead by winning. Many have probably thought Friesen had a lot to prove, considering he had not won yet on asphalt aside from his dirt win at Eldora this past summer. With the win, Friesen proved his doubters wrong and now he vies to fight for the title with a team that has pretty much started from the ground up. As Friesen focuses on the Truck Series championship, it was also noted that he does not have anything for the 2020 season right now. Though, winning the championship this weekend could certainly help those causes in a return at Halmar Racing next season.
    2. ThorSport Has Strong Night at ISM – Despite a frustrating playoff run that came to an early end for Johnny Sauter and Grant Enfinger, all four drivers had decent runs when the checkered flag flew. Ben Rhodes won the first stage and led 47 laps en route to a fourth-place finish, his seventh top five of the year. Enfinger qualified eighth and finished fifth with a finish of eighth in Stage 1. Crafton locked himself into the championship race with a sixth-place finish after having stages finishes of third and second, respectively. Sauter rounded out the ThorSport quartet with an eighth-place finish after finishing 10th in both stages.
    3. Ty Majeski Returns To NASCAR – Majeski returned to the NASCAR circuit Friday night in Phoenix for the first time since 2018, when he last competed in the Xfinity Series. The last time the Wisconsin native competed in NASCAR was Phoenix of last year for the now-defunct Roush Fenway Racing Xfinity team, where Majeski started 39th and finished 18th. This time around, Majeski returned to the Niece Motorsports team, piloting the No. 44 Chevy. He started fifth and finished 11th, not bad in his NASCAR return with a field stacked with talent.
    4. Championship 4 Set – It’s hard to believe that we are now one race away from closing the 2019 Truck Series season. It feels like yesterday when we were all in Daytona for the season opener, trying to figure out who would win this season and who would be fighting for the championship come season end. Now the time has come to settle it among the top four drivers who are going to be competing for the Truck Series championship Friday night. Brett Moffitt challenges for his second title in a row, while fan-favorite Ross Chastain competes for his Truck title. Matt Crafton returns for the third time in the playoff format since 2016 in hopes of a third Truck title. Should Crafton win, he would be the only driver winning his third championship but will join the likes of Ron Hornaday to have more than two. Finally, the most likely underdog coming into this race is Stewart Friesen. Friesen has been quietly consistent this season, earning 12 top fives and 16 top-10 finishes with an average finish of 8.4. It certainly would be quite the story if Friesen could pull off the victory Friday night.
  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- ISM

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- ISM

    ISM Raceway hosted the conclusion of the Round of 6 this past weekend for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. The Lucas Oil 150 from Phoenix was quite a different race than the one we saw two weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway. Only five cautions slowed the pace for 30 laps, but in reality, there were only two if you remove the stage cautions. Not much action, but that was more than likely a welcome sight for the playoff drivers who were fighting for a spot in the Championship 4. 

    While one playoff driver rebounded from an early penalty, a couple of drivers who were not in the playoffs continued to shine and made their names known. 

    With that in mind, here are this week’s Power Rankings following the Lucas Oil 150. 

    1. Brett Moffitt – When you look at the results and see that Moffitt finished 10th, it might not seem too impressive but the No. 24 GMS Racing team got the job done. That job was to lock themselves into the Champ 4 at Homestead. By having such a large points lead at one point in the race, the Grimes, Iowa native clinched a spot early in the race. Even if something catastrophic happened, Moffitt would still be in the championship race. The 10th place finish is what might have been for the GMS driver, but the focus is now on Homestead as Moffitt chases his second Truck Series title. Don’t be shocked if the team is able to pull off another championship when the season closes Friday night.

      Previous Week Ranking – First
    2. Stewart Friesen- In what looked liked was going to be a troubling race for Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing team, the Canadian rebounded to his second win of the season. Like his GMS technical teammate Moffitt, Friesen was solidly locked in barring any circumstances. It took most of the race to do it, but on Lap 107, the Halmar driver took the lead and led the last 44 laps en route to a Championship 4 spot this week. He may slide under the radar going into the race but Friesen just may be the spoiler in the championship race.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
    3. Chandler Smith – The Talking Rock, Georgia rookie Chandler Smith continues to impress in his short Truck Series stint this season. Smith qualified the No. 46 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck in the sixth position and remained consistent in the top-10 throughout the night. In fact, the Georgia native was close to winning the first stage by finishing second. Smith followed Stage 2 up with a third place finish. In the end, the KBM driver ultimately finished third after leading just one lap. With most of his racing season wrapped up in the ARCA and Truck Series, Smith most likely is focusing on the 2020 season where he will continue to make starts for Kyle Busch Motorsports. The future NASCAR star doesn’t turn 18 until June 26. In retrospect, he may very well challenge for the title next year, should NASCAR grant him a waiver if Smith ends up winning a race in the second part of the season.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
    4. Ross Chastain – It was a valiant ninth-place effort for Chastain and his No. 45 Niece Motorsports team who now find themselves battling for their first ever championship. The Florida native didn’t have the best qualifying spot of 14th, but a stage finish of fourth in Stage 1 and avoiding trouble helped Chastain chase for the Truck Series title. Now the pressure is on Chastain to perform well in hopes of winning the championship before focusing on his Xfinity efforts in 2020 with Kaulig Racing.

      Previous Week Ranking – Third
    5. Grant Enfinger- It was a quiet fifth-place finish for Enfinger and the No. 98 ThorSport Racing team after starting eighth. The Alabama native didn’t lead any laps or win any stages but Enfinger notched his 10th top five of the season.

      Previous Week Ranking – Fifth

      Fell Out 
    1. Todd Gilliland – After breaking through for his first career Truck Series win a few weeks ago at Martinsville, Gilliland and the No. 4 team struggled to finish in the top-10 at Phoenix. While the North Carolina native had stage finishes of sixth and seventh in both stages, Gilliland wound up a disappointing 14th place finish. Not the night the KBM driver was looking for in hopes of following up Martinsville with a strong finish.

      Previous Week Ranking – Second

    2. Timmy Hill – Hill did not compete in the Truck race as rookie Carson Hocevar piloted the No. 56 Hill Motorsports Chevy to a 23rd place finish, one lap down.

      Previous Week Ranking – Fourth