Author: Briar Starr

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Eldora
The time has come for one of the Truck Series most popular races of the year, The Eldora Dirt Derby. It will mark the 15th race of the 2019 Truck Series season as the race to the Playoffs heats up. We will also see some dirt regulars mixing it up with the big boys on the dirt track.

Flashing back, Ross Chastain won this past weekend at Pocono for his third win of the year. He sits 18th in the regular-season standings and more than likely will compete in the Truck Series Playoffs when they began in a couple of weeks at Bristol. However, Chastain doesn’t have much dirt experience and does not have any starts at Eldora.

With that said, Eldora may be a curveball to his Niece Motorsports crew but with practice time ahead of Thursday night’s race, Chastain and his No. 45 team will hopefully have time to figure it out.

While Chastain pretty much has a championship spot locked up, other drivers are still on the outside looking in. With Eldora being a bit of a wildcard race, the Truck Series regulars will be hoping to have a smooth race and clinch their spot in the playoffs Thursday night.

Here’s a look at who might win Thursday night’s Eldora Dirt Derby 150.
1. Matt Crafton – Hard to believe, but it’s been two years since Crafton last won a race in the Truck Series but Eldora just might be the place where he can snap that long winless streak that began two years ago. The California native has six starts at Eldora, winning the 2017 race and finishing fourth in last year’s race. Other finishes include a 10th in 2016, ninth twice in 2015 and 2014, and eighth in the first race here in 2013. The Menards driver has two top-fives and six top-10 finishes along with 24 laps led, with zero DNFs. Crafton has also been racing his dirt modified recently to gain practice for the Truck Series race at Eldora. Look for the two-time champion to be hungry for a win on Thursday night.
2. Chase Briscoe – You can’t count out last year’s winner Briscoe, who returns for another start at Eldora with ThorSport Racing piloting the No. 27 Ford. Briscoe won in a thriller last year with his teammate Grant Enfinger. The Mitchell, Indiana native is a stand out on dirt having competed in 410 sprint cars before making a career jump to stock cars. Briscoe also competed in the 2017 race for Brad Keselowski, finishing third. In 2017, he finished fourth in Stage 1. In 2018, he finished third in Stage 1 and won the second stage. Despite winning in a thriller, Briscoe was dominant leading 54 laps. Never count out the dirt stand out that is seeking another win in a one-off.
3. Stewart Friesen – When you’re talking about dirt racing, you can’t exclude another dirt star Friesen. While not competing in the Truck Series on a regular basis, Friesen is busy racing his big-block modified in the Northeast, particularly in the Super DIRTcar Series. The Canadian native has more than 260 wins on dirt and is normally racing every night at a dirt track. Eldora is also a special place for Friesen, as it was the site of his Truck Series debut in 2016. Since that time span, he has amassed 62 starts, 19 top-fives and 30 top-10 finishes with 437 laps led, and has been a perennial runner up multiple times. After having wrecked out on the first lap in last weekend’s race at Pocono, Friesen will look to turn it around Thursday night with a win. At Eldora, he has three starts with a best finish of second in 2017 after starting on the pole. Other stats include 94 laps led and two top-five finishes with one DNF. Keep an eye out on Friesen who will try to get his first win Thursday night.
4. Kyle Strickler – Despite finishing 31st in last years race, Strickler returns for another start in the Truck Series with the DGR-Crosley team driving the No. 54 Toyota. Strickler has all kinds of dirt racing experience competing in Super Late Models, Dirt Modifieds, Big Block Modifieds and has countless wins on dirt tracks across the country. In the Truck Series, however, Strickler only has one start which came in last year’s race for the late Mike Mittler. Unfortunately, his night was cut short due to a crash on Lap 145. This year, Strickler will have a great chance for a shot at the win. The No. 54 truck finished fourth and fifth in both stages, respectively, in the 2018 race. Don’t be surprised if Strickler has a great run or perhaps even steals the show Thursday night.
5. Sheldon Creed – Someone that might surprise the field Thursday night is GMS Racing driver Sheldon Creed. Creed is on the outside looking in and is paired with his ARCA championship-winning crew chief again. The California native has some dirt experience competing on the tracks like DuQuoin State Fairgrounds and Illinois State Fairgrounds in the ARCA Racing Series. In 2017, Creed finished fourth at Springfield and second at DuQuoin after leading 33 laps in that race. In 2018, he finished second at Springfield after leading 28 laps and 10th at DuQuoin after starting on the pole and leading 44 laps. At Eldora, Creed’s results have been unremarkable with finishes outside the top-10; his best finish was 15th after starting sixth in last year’s race. Creed will have some work to do, but he has been on fire as of late and could use that ARCA dirt track exposure and find his way into victory lane in Thursday night’s race.
Playoff Bubble:
1. Harrison Burton – Burton only has one start at Eldora, which came in 2017. He finished 15th in that race driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
2. Todd Gilliland – Like Burton, Gilliland has one start with a finish of 22nd, but he did earn a sixth place in Stage 2. Gilliland will have to win the race Thursday night in order to have a shot at competing in the Playoffs.
3. Ben Rhodes – Also on the outside looking in is the No. 99 ThorSport Racing driver Ben Rhodes. Rhodes has three starts at Eldora with no finishes inside the top-10. His best finish was 23rd in his first outing, two years ago. Rhodes did start on the pole last year and led 44 laps, and winning Stage 1 before finishing 29th.
4. Tyler Dippel – Dippel has one start with a best finish of 17th.
5. Austin Wayne Self – Self has two starts at Eldora with a best finish of ninth in 2016. Last year he finished 18th after finishing 10th and fourth in both stages, respectively.
6. Gus Dean – Dean is a bit of a long shot who sits 16th in the regular-season standings. He has no starts at Eldora but does have ARCA starts at the dirt tracks of Springfield and DuQuoin. In 2017, Dean has finishes of 11th in Springfield and third at DuQuoin. In 2018, he finished seventh in Springfield after starting on the pole and leading six laps and finished 18th at DuQuoin due to a crash.
Other notables on the entry list include Jake Griffin in the No. 03 for Mike Affarano, ARCA standout Carson Hocevar making his Truck Series debut filling in for Jordan Anderson, Tim Ward in the No. 08, Colt Gilliam in the No. 8 for NEMCO Motorsports, Mike Marlar in the No. 33 for Reaume Brothers Racing and Devin Dodson in the No. 34 for Reaume Brothers Racing. Mark Smith will pilot the No. 38 for Niece Motorsports, Jeffrey Abbey will be in the No. 44 for Niece Motorsports, Christian Eckes returns again in the No. 51 for Kyle Busch Motorsports and Justin Shipley will drive the No. 80 for Jacob Wallace. The No. 74, owned by Lou Goss, has yet to be announced.

Eldora Speedway has hosted six Truck Series races since its first in 2013. Since then, there have been six different drivers that have gone on to victory lane. Those include Austin Dillon who won its first outing, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Matt Crafton and Chase Briscoe.

Qualifying will be important at Eldora as the race winner has come from inside the top five for the most part with the exception of two that came outside the top five. Dillon came from the 19th starting position in 2013, with Wallace coming from sixth in 2014 and Larson from seventh in 2016.

Toyota has the most victories in the Eldora Dirt Derby with three in 2014, 2015 and 2017. Chevrolet follows in second with two victories in 2013 and 2016. Ford only has one victory with Briscoe in 2018.

With Eldora being on a Thursday this year, there will be two Truck Series practice on Wednesday evening. First practice is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET with final practice set for 9:05 p.m. ET, both lasting an hour with no live TV coverage.

Qualifying will be a little different with heat races replacing the normal qualifying format. There will be five qualifying heat races Thursday, each lasting 10 laps. The first heat race is slated for 7 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1. Last chance qualifying, with 15 laps, takes place at 8:15 p.m. ET.

The seventh annual Eldora Dirt Derby 150 will take the green flag a little after 9 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages will be broken into 40/90/150 laps to make up the 75 miles distance.
July 31, 2019
Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series visited Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania this past weekend. Some might say it was an exciting race in regards to track position while others think that it might have been the least exciting race of the season. Despite that, a few drivers who don’t run the series full time earned great finishes, quite possibly their career-best for some.

This week the Truck Series heads to the famous Eldora Speedway on Thursday where the regulars will compete with the dirt track invaders, who normally have a good shot at winning, thanks to their dirt racing backgrounds. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves for the Thursday night Truck Series race.

Here are four takeaways from the Gander RV 150 at Pocono.
1. Ross Chastain Championship Favorite – Chastain picked up his third win of the 2019 season this past Saturday, collecting another popular win among the fans. He has quickly become a rising star over the past year. For those fans who don’t have a favorite driver in the series, Chastain is someone that those fans can cheer for. After doing a burnout, the Florida native got out of his truck and grabbed an inflatable watermelon, tossing it to the fans in the stands, showing his appreciation for them. Chastain is also a championship favorite now with three wins in the series. It will be interesting to see if he can continue this momentum into the playoffs.
2. Too Short Of A Race – I’ve said this again and I’ll state it again, it was too short of a race. Sixty laps does not give the drivers much time to get to the front in order to make something happen. It’s especially true when you have short stages of only 15 laps each for the first two stages, even when the first stage saw only seven green flag laps. That’s not much action for the fans to see. Stage 2 was a little better as we saw no cautions, but still, defending series champion Brett Moffitt noted that it was difficult to pass and it was all about track position. The PJ1 never really was a factor either. Hopefully, with the new schedule announcement this past weekend and the newly adjusted amount of laps, it will give next year’s race more action.
3. TV Coverage – I’m normally not one to complain about the TV coverage, but Saturday’s race broadcast was not the best. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful we have someone covering the whole Truck Series season in what is quite possibly the most exciting series in NASCAR right now. However, the telecast from this past weekend was somewhat disappointing. Whenever there is a race on FOX, it helps give these guys the exposure they need and attracts fans as well, such as those who don’t normally get Fox Sports 1. Unfortunately, we were flooded with commercials, especially late in the going and even missed two restarts. I’m not saying Saturday’s telecast was unwatchable, but there is room for improvement.
4. ThorSport Racing Salvages A Great Day – In what looked liked it was going to be a disastrous day for ThorSport Racing, they were able to turn it around by the time the checkered flag flew. Johnny Sauter had some damage after his contact with Bayley Currey on a restart and had to pit to repair it. Sauter made the best of his situation to finish eighth after starting 16th. Matt Crafton was the highest finisher out of the group, finishing sixth despite at one point running as high as third and having a shot to snap his long winless streak. Ben Rhodes started 15th could only finish fourth in Stage 2, before winding up ninth in his sporty No. 99 Havoline Ford. Regular series points leader Grant Enfinger finished sixth and third in both stages, respectively only to come home to finish 10th. Not the best day for the Ohio based group, but they were still able to make the most out of it.
July 29, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- Pocono
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series came to Pocono Raceway on Saturday afternoon for their 14th race of the 2019 season with just three races remaining until the Playoffs begin at Bristol Motor Speedway in a few weeks.

Drivers like Harrison Burton, Ben Rhodes, Todd Gilliland, Sheldon Creed, Tyler Dippel, Spencer Boyd, Jordan Anderson and Stewart Friesen were hoping to have a good points day or perhaps grab a win at “The Tricky Triangle” to solidify their spot in the Playoffs.

It was action-packed from the start, as we saw most of Stage 1 run under yellow with two cautions. There was even an accident between Friesen and Anthony Alfredo on the first lap. Friesen was unfortunately done for the day after the incident and finished last.

After those two incidents, it was clean and green for the remainder of the race barring the two stage cautions that took place. Fan-favorite Ross Chastain was able to take home the win after completely dominating the race.

Drivers who were coming into the Gander RV 150 on the bubble, still find themselves on the outside looking in. Now the series heads to one of its most popular races of the year, Eldora Speedway, Thursday night.

Before we get there, however, it’s time to take a look at this week’s power rankings following Pocono.
1. Ross Chastain – No surprise here with Chastain taking home the win for the third time this season. The Florida native put a butt whopping on the field leading twice for 54 of the 60 laps. The only time he was never out front was Stage 2, where Chastain made a pit stop in that stage in order to restart out front for the final stage. He is more than likely locked in at this point but the team is searching for some additional sponsorship for the rest of the year. However, Chastain also stated they are good for the Playoffs and just need some help.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Second
2. Harrison Burton – Burton was able to grab a much-needed points day at Pocono, facing possible elimination for the Playoffs. The Kyle Busch Motorsports driver qualified sixth on Friday afternoon. From there, Burton finished third in Stage 1 and won Stage 2. He was able to lead six laps before finishing third. Burton will face some challenges this week as he heads to Eldora for the first time since 2017, where he finished 15th.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Third
3. Brett Moffitt – While disappointed with his fifth-place finish Saturday afternoon, Moffitt was able to up his finish from his disappointing outing at Kentucky a few weeks back. The Grimes, Iowa native started fourth, finished fifth and second in both stages, respectively. Still, Moffitt was frustrated with not being able to pass. It was his sixth top-five of the season.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Fourth
4. Tyler Ankrum – The Kentucky winner followed up with a second-place finish and was close to winning again. Ankrum finished 10th in Stage 1 while not earning any stage points in Stage 2. While the race was winding down, Ankrum found himself chasing down race leader Chastain with less than 15 to go. Chastain started to save a little bit of fuel, which allowed the DGR-Crosley driver to close in. Ankrum then had to save fuel and back off until he was clear to chase after Chastain. Despite his efforts, Ankrum fell one second short of the win. It was Ankrum’s third top-five of the season.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
5. Matt Crafton – Speaking of much-needed points day, Crafton finished sixth in his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 after running as high as third late. The California native qualified eighth, finished 11th in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2. With help of track position, Crafton was close to taking the lead of the race. However, he’ll have to wait until Eldora on Thursday night for another chance, where it will mark one year since his last win in the series.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
  
  Fell Out
  
  1. Stewart Friesen – Tough day for Friesen and his No. 52 Halmar Racing team who didn’t even make a lap in the race. It all started on Lap 1 when Friesen got loose and went crashing up the hill, receiving major damage to his truck. The damage was too extensive to repair and he finished last, not even being able to complete one lap. Friesen will have to hope his dirt racing background pays off in Thursday’s night race at Eldora.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- First
  
  2. Austin Wayne Self – There is not much to be said for the Texan coming out of this race. Wayne Self competed in the ARCA race Friday afternoon in preparation for Saturday’s Truck race. He qualified 18th, finished 10th in Stage 2 and then wound up with a disappointing 15th place outing.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
  
  Honorable Mention
  
  1. Christian Eckes – Eckes won the ARCA race Friday afternoon, dominating the event. Shortly after, he jumped straight into a Kyle Busch Motorsports truck to qualify 13th. The nearby New York native finished seventh in Stage 1 and 22nd in Stage 2 after making a pit stop in the stage. In the end, Eckes wound up fourth.
  
  2. Tony Mrakovich – Looking down the running order, Truck Series fans will see the Pennsylvania native finishing 12th for NEMCO Motorsports. It was just the second Truck Series race of the year for the young 20-year-old and his best finish yet. Mrakovich competed in his family-owned team at Martinsville and Dover earlier this season but failed to qualify. His only other finish was 26th at Fort Worth.
  
  3. Tyler Dippel – Dippel came close to earning his second career top-10 finish Saturday afternoon. He finished ninth in Stage 1 and seventh in Stage 2. Ultimately, the Youngs Motorsports driver came home 11th, just one spot short of the top-10. Dippel is one of the drivers that will have to win in the next two races in order to make the Playoffs.
July 29, 2019
Jones and Truex Round Out Top Three Finishers

Erik Jones and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team were facing the possibility of not making the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as they headed into the weekend at Pocono Raceway.

But Jones was able to improve his chances with a much needed strong run Sunday afternoon after using various pit strategy throughout the Gander RV 400. The Michigan native qualified fourth giving him great track position for Sunday’s race and was able to capture a second-place finish.

However, it was almost a disastrous day for the No. 20 JGR driver. It all started in the first stage during the pit stops when Jones pitted from the top five in order to gain track position for Stage 2 and the wrench broke during the stop. In what could have been a prominent problem for Jones, he caught a lucky break when the wrench did not become an issue. Jones went on to finish seventh in Stage 1.

For Stage 2, Jones would wind up restarting back in the pack and would have to work his way back up through the field once more. With a few lucky cautions and pitting again during the second stage, he would once again finish seventh in the second stage.

Things got a bit more interesting in the final stage when fuel became a concern among the drivers, including Jones, who was in the top three. He was told by his crew that he was two laps short with 33 to go. From there, Jones was trying all he could do to save what he needed in case the race went green the rest of the way.

Jones, who was leading the race, was passed by eventual race winner and teammate Denny Hamlin with 17 to go, then he was passed by Truex a couple of laps later. The No. 20 team caught a timely caution with eight to go, allowing Jones to save fuel under the caution period.

Despite having one more shot at the win, the JGR driver had to settle for a second-place finish, finishing .341 seconds behind his teammate and race winner Denny Hamlin.

“It was hard racing at the end,” Jones exclaimed to MRN Radio. “This package, the late restarts make for an exciting finish and today was no exception. I wish we could have gotten up there to challenge Denny (Hamlin). Martin (Truex) gave us a good push on the restart. The bottom doesn’t have what the top has on a restart. So we did all we could.”

“We overcame a lot in this Reser’s Camry. We were pretty far off at the start of the race and we got way better. Had a chance to win and had things worked out a little better, things would have been a bit different. Can’t ask for a lot more for doing burnouts, but we’re getting close every week. It’s going to turn our way one of these times.”

With the second-place finish, Jones earned his seventh top five of the season.

Despite finishing third after having a shot at the win and not leading any laps, Truex was fairly happy with the outcome.

“It was a good day overall for our Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camry,” Truex told MRN Radio in his post-race interview. “We were trying to save fuel there on that long run. We ran second to the 20 (Jones) and thought we were in better shape than him on fuel, he started to save more, and I did as well.”

“I started thinking, man. I probably should try to pass him here and we got into lap traffic, then the 11 (Hamlin) got by me. Then I got by the 20 and it’s like the 11 had control of the race after that. When the caution came out, he got to lead the restart and I got on the bottom. You just can’t do anything on the front row on the bottom. We got in a sucker hole there and were lucky to come back third.”

Truex qualified his No. 19 machine eighth in Saturday’s qualifying session. And while he did not lead any laps, the New Jersey native finished fifth and fourth in both stages, respectively. Truex was only able to run as high as second in the race before earning his eighth top-five of the season.

The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team sits second in the playoff points standings with four wins.

July 29, 2019
Kyle Larson rebounds to top-five finish after tough start

What a weekend it was for the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team. It all started during the Saturday morning practice session when Kyle Larson wrecked his primary car and had to go to a backup car for the race.

Despite qualifying 23rd, he had to go the back for the start of the race. However, it didn’t take Larson long to get the front with pit stops taking place. By the time Stage 1 ended, the California native finished sixth in the first stage. In Stage 2, Larson fell back just a little bit to finish 10th, only earning one playoff point.

It was a quiet day for Larson and his No. 42 team until the last stage when he became a factor. More so on the final restart, when he was trying to make things happen behind the leaders. However, Larson fell short, but still finished fifth after what could have been a weekend gone bad.

“I was pretty surprised on how fast our car was,” Larson explained to MRN Radio. “The last run there, I didn’t get into the wall but it was close. I kind of bailed out of the throttle and lost the momentum, so fell back to seventh. I was able to get to fifth there, happy about our finish, good points day. It was nice to have a good run with a fast back up car there. That’s two weeks in a row, we’ve been really fast in a backup car.”

“Just shows what we would really be capable of in our primary car if I just would stop crashing in practice. Got to work on that, but happy where our team has been lately. It’s a good time of the season to start running well. We definitely have the speed, I just have to clean up my mistakes.”

With the fifth-place finish, Larson scored his fourth top-five of the season and he currently sits 14th in the playoff standings, +37 above the cut line.

July 29, 2019

Hamlin saves enough fuel to earn fifth career win at Pocono

Coming off last week’s loss at New Hampshire Denny Hamlin had hopes of winning at Pocono Raceway, a track where he has been so successful over the years. Despite fuel concerns and one NASCAR Overtime, Hamlin was able to hold off his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. for his third win of the 2019 season and his first since Texas back in March.

“He (Chris Gabehart, Crew Chief) said we were good to the checkers, but not the green-white-checkered,” Hamlin said in his post-race interview with MRN Radio. “He said, we were going to have to have a different conversation if it went into overtime, but I knew with all of those caution laps with about six or seven to go, I knew we were good to go. It helped us out, honestly, I did everything I could to save fuel there when I got out front. If it was going to be not enough, it was going to be not enough.”

“Proud of the whole team putting me on great strategy there. This is a perfect team effort this weekend. We really identified our weakness from the first race and we went to work, as a driver and a team, therefore we’re better for it.”

Kevin Harvick sat on the pole after Saturday afternoon qualifying with Joey Logano on the outside pole. Several cars failed prerace inspection on Sunday morning. Those included Austin Dillon who failed twice for a rear toe issue, Jimmie Johnson, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Corey Lajoie, Ross Chastain and Reed Sorenson. Everyone who failed the pre-race inspection had to go to the back when the race started.

Also going to the back were Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, who wrecked during Saturday morning practice sessions and had to go a backup car.

Stages were broken up into 50/50/60 laps to make up the 160-lap race.

Stage 1: Lap 1-Lap 50

The green flag for the Monster Energy NASCAR Gander RV 400 was moved to 3:08 p.m. ET Sunday due to the potential threat of rain showers. The PJ1 traction compound was also reapplied to the track on Sunday morning.

It was all Kevin Harvick from the get-go but there were a few minor incidents. Brad Keselowski who had been struggling all weekend hit the wall on the front stretch and had a right rear tire go down on Lap 5.

Just a few laps later, pit strategy came into play with Alex Bowman pitting on Lap 14 in hopes of splitting the stage up. More drivers started to come down between Laps 21-39. Kyle Busch and Jones pitted from the top five at the beginning of the green-flag pit stops. During the pit stop, Jones had an issue with the wrench breaking off which was a potential concern, but it never really became a problem for the No. 20 team.

On Lap 39, Harvick finally pitted from the lead along with Hamlin, from the top two spots. Both would have to stop two more times during the race. On the same lap, we would see Kyle Busch cycle out of the pit stops as the race leader. Busch would hang on to for the rest of the stage and win Stage 1.

Joey Logano, Harvick, Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Jones, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-10 finishers of Stage 1.

Stage 2: Lap 54-Lap 100

Harvick would recycle as the leader after staying out under the stage break. On Lap 61, Blaney made contact with the wall and had to pit for extensive damage. Four laps later, Kyle Busch made his pit stop. Jimmie Johnson also had issues under his pit stop, catching a jack.

A battle for the lead started began to heat up between Busch and Harvick as the weather started to threaten the area. Busch was able to take the top spot on Lap 72, with Harvick pitting on Lap 78. A caution flew on Lap 83 for Chase Elliott, who blew a right-front tire and came to a stop on the frontstretch. Elliott wound up with a disappointing last-place finish.

Kyle Busch stayed out, while a few others like Larson, Logano, Truex, Keselowski, Bowyer, Daniel Hemric, Bubba Wallace, Jones, Austin Dillon and Almirola, pitted.

As the restart came on Lap 87, rain hit the racetrack bringing out the caution again on Lap 91. However, it was a short-lived rain shower and the race resumed with five to go in Stage 2.

Race leader Busch pitted with three to go, as he had fuel concerns. However, an unlucky caution occurred one lap later when Daniel Suarez and Blaney made contact with each other with two to go in the second stage, and sent Blaney spinning, bringing out another yellow.

The Stage would end under caution with Johnson winning the stage, his first stage win since 2017. Harvick followed in second as Logano, Truex, Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Jones, Keselowski, Bowman and Larson all finished inside the top-10. Busch finished a disappointing 25th after leading at one point.

Stage 3: Lap 103-Lap 163

In what would be an exciting third and final stage, Hamlin took the lead after the restart. Busch was back inside the top-10 on Lap 113. Another caution flag was flown, however, on Lap 115, for Ryan Preece who slammed into the Turn 1 wall. Preece wound up 37th after the incident.

From there, it became a fuel mileage race to the finish. Jones reported that he was two laps short with 33 to go. Many other drivers also had concerns about saving fuel, including Hamlin. Anticipating that the leaders could run out of fuel, Busch pitted with 26 to go. Hamlin would wind up passing Jones for the lead with 17 to go and Truex moved up to second a few laps later.

Pole sitter Kevin Harvick also started to close in on the race leaders and was told that he was good to go on fuel to the checkers, barring any yellows. While it looked as though Hamlin would run away with the win, a caution came out with eight laps to go for the No. 53 of Josh Bilicki who stalled on the backstretch.

There was a broad range of different strategies with Bowman, Kurt Busch, Logano, DiBenedetto, Stenhouse and Blaney, among others, pitting, while the top leaders including Harvick, Hamlin and Jones, among others, opting to stay out.

A restart came with four to go, but another caution occurred almost immediately as Kurt Busch accidentally came up and made contact with Stenhouse, causing him to hit the wall off Turn 1. Stenhouse retaliated by wrecking Busch, which also collected Michael McDowell. Also, Suarez was penalized for laying back on the restart.

The incident set up a NASCAR Overtime finish with two laps to go. Despite having some fuel concerns for potential multiple overtimes, Hamlin was able to hang on to tie NASCAR legend Fireball Roberts on the all-time wins list with 34 career wins.

“The lap traffic was a benefit for me,” Hamlin added. “It kind of slowed down the 20 (Jones) and I saw he was letting off early on entry and that allowed me to dive-bomb on the outside into the PJ1 in Turn 1. With the 19 (Truex) he had to go low to pass a lap car. I just decided to take the middle lane in Turns (3 and 4). Once again, I had an extra lane that wasn’t there in the past and I was able to get around him. Just once you get behind, it’s so hard to pass but we were able to get it done.”

Hamlin led twice for 53 laps to earn his third win of the 2019 season. There were seven cautions for 24 laps along with nine lead changes among five drivers.

Playoff Watch

Kyle Busch
Martin Truex Jr
Denny Hamlin
Brad Keselowski
Joey Logano
Kevin Harvick
Kurt Busch
Chase Elliott
Alex Bowman
Aric Almirola, +94
Ryan Blaney, +79
William Byron, +62
Erik Jones, +39
Kyle Larson, +37
Clint Bowyer, +12
Ryan Newman, +12

Below The Cut Line
Jimmie Johnson, -12
Daniel Suarez, -31
Paul Menard, -68
Ricky Stenhouse Jr, -88

Monster Energy Cup Series Race Number 21
Race Results for the 46th Annual Gander RV 400 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, PA – 2.5 – Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 163 Laps – 407.5 Miles

Fin	Str	No	Driver	Team	Laps	S1Pos	S2Pos	S3Pos	Pts	Status
1	9	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Ground Toyota	163	4	5	0	53	Running
2	4	20	Erik Jones	Reser’s Main St Bistro Toyota	163	7	7	0	43	Running
3	8	19	Martin Truex Jr	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Toyota	163	5	4	0	47	Running
4	31	24	William Byron	Liberty University Chevrolet	163	0	0	0	33	Running
5	23	42	Kyle Larson	Credit One Bank Chevrolet	163	6	10	0	38	Running
6	1	4	Kevin Harvick	Busch Beer Gen X Ford	163	3	2	0	48	Running
7	17	8	Daniel Hemric #	Caterpillar Chevrolet	163	0	0	0	30	Running
8	11	2	Brad Keselowski	Alliance Truck Parts Ford	163	0	8	0	32	Running
9	5	18	Kyle Busch	Skittles Toyota	163	1	0	0	38	Running
10	30	12	Ryan Blaney	MoneyLion Ford	163	0	0	0	27	Running
11	13	14	Clint Bowyer	Toco Warranty/Haas Automation Ford	163	10	0	0	27	Running
12	3	10	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Ford	163	8	0	0	28	Running
13	2	22	Joey Logano	Shell Pennzoil Ford	163	2	3	0	41	Running
14	19	6	Ryan Newman	Performance Plus Ford	163	0	0	0	23	Running
15	32	48	Jimmie Johnson	Ally Chevrolet	163	0	1	0	32	Running
16	33	37	Chris Buescher	Kroger Fast Start Chevrolet	163	0	0	0	21	Running
17	10	95	Matt DiBenedetto	Toyota Express Maintenance Toyota	163	0	0	0	20	Running
18	16	21	Paul Menard	Menards/Duracel Optimum Ford	163	0	0	0	19	Running
19	34	3	Austin Dillon	Freightliner Chevrolet	163	0	6	0	23	Running
20	12	88	Alex Bowman	Nationwide Chevrolet	163	0	9	0	19	Running
21	14	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Roush Performance Ford	163	0	0	0	16	Running
22	21	43	Bubba Wallace	Victory Junction Chevrolet	163	0	0	0	15	Running
23	22	36	Matt Tifft #	Surface Sunscreen Ford	163	0	0	0	14	Running
24	7	41	Daniel Suarez	Haas Automation Ford	163	0	0	0	13	Running
25	35	34	Michael McDowell	Long John Silver’s Ford	163	0	0	0	12	Running
26	36	32	Corey LaJoie	Adirondack Tree Surgeons Ford	162	0	0	0	11	Running
27	6	1	Kurt Busch	Monster Energy Chevrolet	162	9	0	0	12	Running
28	24	0	Landon Cassill(i)	Mane N Tail Chevrolet	159	0	0	0	0	Running
29	25	13	Ty Dillon	GEICO Military Chevrolet	159	0	0	0	8	Running
30	37	15	Ross Chastain(i)	Chevrolet	159	0	0	0	0	Running
31	28	77	Quin Houff	Rapid City Rush Chevrolet	158	0	0	0	6	Running
32	38	27	* Reed Sorenson	Lehigh Valley Phantoms Chevrolet	158	0	0	0	5	Running
33	27	51	BJ McLeod(i)	JACOB COMPANIES/Pocono Organics Ford	158	0	0	0	0	Running
34	29	52	Austin Theriault	Trick Shot/Bangor Savings Bank Ford	157	0	0	0	3	Running
35	26	53	* Josh Bilicki(i)	Token 4 Token Chevrolet	146	0	0	0	0	Driveshaft
36	15	38	David Ragan	MDS Transport Ford	123	0	0	0	1	Accident
37	20	47	Ryan Preece #	Kroger Chevrolet	114	0	0	0	1	Accident
38	18	9	Chase Elliott	NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet	83	0	0	0	1	Accident

July 28, 2019

Ross Chastain puts on clinic at Pocono, takes home popular win
With fuel no longer a concern when it came to crunch time, fan-favorite Ross Chastain was able to take home his third checkered flag of the 2019 season and becomes more of a threat for the championship.

“This thing was “Haulin Ballz” all day. Nick Harrison, I miss that guy,” Chastain said in his post-race interview. “These guys brought a flawless truck. The only time we didn’t lead laps was when we pitted to keep our track position. Flawless day, flawless weekend. These guys set up the fastest truck, they get to drive home because we’re not on the budget today. We came and we won, so it’s a dream come true.”

Austin Hill won the pole during qualifying Friday afternoon with Ross Chastain on the outside pole.

Stage 1 Lap 1- Lap 15

The Gander RV 150 got off to an eventful start on the first lap, as Stewart Friesen’s truck snapped loose, wrecking and hit the Turn 1 wall. Friesen would wind up in last place.

Friesen commented added, “Not really sure (regarding the incident), spun around and made contact with the wall. We had a lot of family out here today and we are really disappointed. I’m usually optimistic, but not really sure right now.”

Just as soon as the race restarted on Lap 5, another caution flag flew for the No. 28 of Bryan Dauzat who spun in Turn 1. Bayley Currey also spun around after the Lap 8 restart but no caution was flown as the race remained green. Johnny Sauter would have to make a pit stop due to contact with Currey after the restart.

These were the only three incidents that took place in the first stage. Stage 1 eventually saw Florida native Ross Chastain take the stage win.

Stage 2 Lap 19- Lap 30

With some pit strategy, Harrison Burton stayed out along with Chastain, Sheldon Creed, Brett Moffitt, Christian Eckes and Todd Gilliland.

The second stage was not as eventful as Stage 1 but still had some notable incidents. Right after the green flag dropped for Stage 2, Creed hit the wall on the backstretch after slight contact with Eckes and Creed had to make a pit stop for right front damage.

Pole sitter Austin Hill also had his own issues, as clutch problems would eventually take him out of the race on Lap 22. More strategy broke out just a few laps later, that saw Chastain pitting from the lead along with Eckes and Tyler Ankrum.

By staying out, Burton collected a much-needed Stage win in hopes of making it into the playoffs, earning 10 playoff points.

Stage 3 Lap 34- Lap 60

Chastain was able to recycle as the race leader when the race went back green, as other drivers pitted under the Stage break. From that point on, even with saving a little bit of fuel in case of a green-white-checkered overtime, the Niece Motorsports driver had enough in the tank to take home his third checkered flag of the season, his first since Gateway.

“It all starts with the top of our team,” Chastain added in his post-race interview with MRN Radio describing the victory. “Al Niece (Team Owner), his motto is “Press The Attack”, he is a marine vet. He has done more in his life than I ever could imagine. This whole country could never thank a guy like him enough. But that’s what he instills in us. After everything happened in Iowa, we came back mad and won again. We were mad this week, losing Nick Harrison. Honestly, it’s not fair. Everyone goes to the lord when it’s their time.”

“But man it feels good (to win), yes it’s hard. I’ve had dominant trucks and not won, so to put it all together, it’s so tough. I’m just living my dream.”

With this win, Chastain earned the third victory of his Truck Series career. Chastain led twice for 54 laps and earned six playoff points.
1. Ross Chastain
2. Tyler Ankrum
3. Harrison Burton
4. Christian Eckes
5. Brett Moffitt
6. Matt Crafton
7. Todd Gilliland
8. Johnny Sauter
9. Ben Rhodes
10. Grant Enfinger
11. Tyler Dippel
12. Tony Mrakovich
13. Jordan Anderson
14. Gus Dean
15. Austin Wayne Self
16. Natalie Decker
17. Mason Massey IV
18. Spencer Boyd
19. Ray Ciccarelli, One Lap Down
20. Josh Reaume, One Lap Down
21. Jennifer Jo Cobb, One Lap Down
22. Norm Benning, Two Laps Down
23. Bayley Currey, Two Laps Down
24. Bryan Dauzat, Two Laps Down
25. Sheldon Creed, Four Laps Down
26. TJ Bell, 27 Laps Down
27. Bryant Barnhill, 34 Laps Down
28. Joe Nemechek, 36 Laps Down
29. Daniel Sasnett, 39 Laps Down
30. Austin Hill, 39 Laps Down, OUT
31. Anthony Alfredo OUT
32. Stewart Friesen OUT
Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series inches closer to the start of their Playoffs by heading to one of their most famous races of the year, The Eldora Dirt Derby on Thursday, August 1.
July 27, 2019
Ankrum, Burton round out top three finishers at Pocono

Coming off a big win at Kentucky a couple of weeks ago, DGR-Crosley driver Tyler Ankrum was hoping to carry that momentum to Pocono Raceway, a track he has never raced on before Friday.

Ankrum qualified his No. 17 Truck in the ninth position after Friday’s qualifying session, giving him some decent track position. From there, all Ankrum and the DGR-Crosley team could do is hope to move forward and they did just that.

After an eventful first couple of laps, the California native was able to miss all the drama that took place early. In fact, Ankrum avoided all the turmoil throughout the race, finishing 10th in Stage 1 and 21st in Stage 2 after pitting to gain track position for the third and final stage.

Ankrum restarted on the front row alongside eventual race winner Ross Chastain. He was able to get close to Chastain with 13 to go, with the leader saving a little bit of fuel in case of a caution. But ultimately, Ankrum wound up finishing second. Still, it was an impressive performance at a track he had never raced on before.

“I fought myself there at the beginning of the race,” Ankrum said to MRN Radio in his post-race interview. “I was just kind of stepping on my own toes, overdriving the racecar. That’s really easy to do here (at Pocono). You know, you don’t really feel over driving the truck, but the lap times show it. As soon as I could fix myself, it was smooth sailing from there. I burned my tires up trying to chase Ross (Chastain) down, couldn’t get close enough to him in the draft, but just kind of ping-ponged right there.”

“You know, awesome Toyota Tundra, gotta thank Railblaza, DGR-Crosley and all the people who helped me get here.”

With the second-place finish, it gave Ankrum his second top-five of the season.

For Harrison Burton and company, it was a much-needed finish and a great points day for the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports team who is facing the possibility of missing the Playoffs. (Photo by Kirk Schroll/SpeedwayMedia.com.)

Burton came into Pocono sitting right outside the cutoff line and was hoping to have a good day, and he did indeed have just that.

Burton finished third in Stage 1 and after staying out for Stage 2, he was able to win that stage by not pitting under the first stage break and gained some playoff points.

For Stage 3, Burton restarted ninth and had to really work his way up to the front without any cautions. The No. 18 KBM driver was able to do so, finishing in the third position.

“We had a really good truck, we were really fast,” Burton explained to MRN Radio. “It was fun, we had to charge through the field there. We started ninth on the last restart and just had to go. Just ran out of time there at the end, just frustrating. Those guys had good strategy and we were cutting it close there on fuel. I knew they were riding around a little bit, thinking I could get to them. Driving as hard as I could there at the end and driving my butt off at the end, just couldn’t come our way.”

It was Burton’s seventh top five of the season.

July 27, 2019
Eckes and Moffitt content with top-five finish at Pocono

After winning the ARCA race Friday afternoon at Pocono, Christian Eckes had to jump straight into the famed No.51 Kyle Busch Motorsports to compete in the Truck Series.

With the ARCA Menards Series win, the nearby Middletown, New York native was hoping to take the sweep at “The Tricky Triangle.”

Eckes started 13th at Pocono Raceway and eventually made his way up to the front. In Stage 1, he finished seventh while finishing outside the top-10 in Stage 2 after making a pit stop late in the stage to gain some track position in hopes of winning the race.

After pitting, Eckes restarted fourth for the final stage after staying out under the stage break.

It was clean and green for the rest of the way, and with fuel being somewhat of a concern for the race leaders, Eckes came home fourth.

“You know, it was a pretty good weekend overall,” Eckes said to MRN in his post-race interview. “I wish we could have swept the weekend a little bit, but you know, as a whole, the race was pretty exciting. It was a great weekend and it’s something we can build on for the next two races at KBM.”

Although Eckes was happy with his top-five finish, GMS Racing driver, Brett Moffitt was frustrated after finishing fifth.

Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Moffitt was hoping to put the Kentucky race behind him after running out of gas on the last lap in hopes of taking the checkered flag at Pocono.

The GMS Racing driver qualified his No. 24 Chevy in the fourth spot and placed fifth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2.

He would restart seventh for the final stage but never could catch the lucky break or caution he needed in order to have a shot at the win. In the end, he finished fifth, earning his eighth top-five of the season.

“Very uneventful day here at Pocono,” Moffitt said to MRN Radio. “It’s frustrating, it’s so spread out, the PJ1 didn’t really come into play at all which was unfortunate. I applaud NASCAR on trying something, but we need to do something to make the racing better here. It’s just all about track position, getting out front and staying out front.”

“All in all, we had a pretty good No. 24 Chevy Accessories GMS Silverado. Jerry (Baxter, Crew Chief) and everyone did a great job working on what we had. It felt like we were fighting on some type of engine issue or driveline issue, where I couldn’t make runs on guys like they could get on me. It just plagued us all race on, I wasn’t able to be aggressive.”

July 27, 2019
Christian Eckes wins ARCA race at Pocono, earns essential points victory
After more than an hour delay and threatening skies around Pocono Raceway, the ARCA Menards Series drivers were able to get back on track for the FORTS USA 150 with nearby Middletown, New York native Christian Eckes grabbing the checkered flag.

It was Eckes second career ARCA Menards Series win of the season, his first since Nashville in May and the fourth career victory of his young racing career.

After starting on the outside pole and with a little bit of luck, Venturini Motorsports driver Christian Eckes took the win at Pocono by 13 seconds over Todd Gilliland.

“Once they told me what happened to the 18 (Gilliland) it was all about keeping our heads down and not making any mistakes,” Eckes said. “We knew there was a long way to go and we needed to be perfect to close it out.”

Gilliland qualified on the pole earlier in the afternoon before the weather started to threaten Pocono Raceway as the race start time got closer. Lightning was detected within the eight-mile radius when the race was supposed to start, adding another 30 minutes to the delay.

Finally, after a little over an hour, the ARCA Menards Series drivers were able to take the green flag after 5 p.m. ET and it was all Todd Gilliland, well, almost all Todd Gilliland.

It was an eventful start as Michael Self and Chandler Smith made slight contact with each other. Gilliland put on a dominating performance leading the first 30 laps before making his scheduled pit stop.

Unfortunately, the No. 18 driver got caught with a penalty for going above the blend line before coming back on track safely. Smith was also penalized for speeding on pit road. While that happened, Christian Eckes, who pitted before Gilliland, was able to take the lead on Lap 34 as pit stops cycled out. Willie Mullins, driving his family-owned No. 3 machine, received a penalty as well for the same issue Gilliland faced, and he had to make a drive-through.

Gilliland got set back to the second position, but was well over 15 seconds behind Eckes. The Sherrils Ford, North Carolina native would need a lot of help from the leader, Eckes, or a lucky caution to give him one more shot at the win.

However, Gilliland was unlucky to catch the break he needed and Eckes went on to score the hometown win for the second time this season.

“We need to be perfect from here on out,” Eckes said. “Without missing the race at Salem, we’d be 150 points ahead. Without the last lap at Elko, we’d be within 50 points or so. We were perfect here today and we need to be perfect every week from here on out. I’ve won at three of the five tracks and my crew chief Kevin Reed has won at all five of them so I am confident we can make a run at it.”

Gilliland was able to rebound for a second-place finish after the blend line violation during his round of pit stops.

“The blend line rule is different in Trucks and ARCA,” he said. “In the truck, we can go above the line with the right side tires as long as we keep the left side tires below it. In ARCA they want you to keep all four tires below it until you’re between Turns 1 and 2. It wouldn’t have been a problem for me at all to keep them below the line. I should have known it but I didn’t.”

Championship points leader Michael Self came home in the third spot after giving up a top-five position earlier in the race for a right rear tire that was going down.

“We had a right rear tire go down and we had to pit early,” Self said. “Once the field cycled through and we didn’t get a caution it evened out for us. We weren’t close to second place and we were way ahead of fourth so we were just trying to make sure we didn’t do anything to give it away at the end.”

There were no cautions during the FORTS USA 150 at Pocono, which saw four lead changes among five drivers. Just four cars finished on the lead lap.
1. Christian Eckes
2. Todd Gilliland
3. Michael Self
4. Corey Heim
5. Raphael Lessard, One Lap Down
6. Austin Wayne Self, One Lap Down
7. Bret Holmes, One Lap Down
8. Chandler Smith, One Lap Down
9. Travis Braden, One Lap Down
10. Joe Graf Jr, Two Laps Down
11. Thad Moffitt, Three Laps Down
12. Bobby Gerhart, Four Laps Down
13. Ed Pompa, Five Laps Down
14. Willie Mullins, Seven Laps Down
15. Tim Richmond, 10 laps Down
16. Brad Smith, Did Not Finish, Handling
17. Tommy Vigh Jr., Did Not Finish, Electrical
18. Dick Doheny, Did Not Finish, Vibration
19. Mike Basham, Did Not Finish, Brakes
20. Don Thompson, Did Not Start
July 26, 2019