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Author: Briar Starr

Stewart Friesen and Harrison Burton earn top-five finishes at Chicago

Coming into the 12th race of the 2019 season, Stewart Friesen and his No. 52 Halmar Racing team had not yet won a race, despite being so close many times.

Friesen was looking to change that entering the Camping World 225 at Chicagoland Speedway. He had a decent qualifying spot of 10th and remained consistent in both stages, picking up a couple of stage points. The No. 52 team finished eighth in Stage 1 and sixth in Stage 2.

He never got to lead a lap but was battling side-by-side with Brandon Jones for the second place spot for a few laps. However, the side-by-side battle ended when the last round of pit stops began with less than 35 to go.

Friesen pitted from the top five but was able to get his position back after the pit stops cycled through. He and Jones battled it out again, but it allowed race leader Brett Moffitt to run away with the win. Friesen gave it all he could for the No. 52 Halmar Racing team, but once again had to settle for a third-place finish.

“Just me, I made a bad call in practice yesterday (Thursday afternoon),” Friesen said in his post-race interview with MRN Radio. “Hot and greasy track kept the car pretty tight, kind of bit us in the ass. Trip (Crew Chief) and the boys had to adjust on it all race. Great pit stops by the guys, got us some track position there. Once we got toward the front, we were fast. Just not as fast as Brett (Moffitt) and the 51 (Brandon Jones). Great race for us, thanks to Halmar and Orange County Fair Speedway, big race in August, so it’s cool to have those guys on board.”

It was Friesen’s seventh top-five finish of the 2019 season. He sits second in points, 52 points back behind championship points leader Grant Enfinger.

For Harrison Burton and his No. 18 Safelite Auto Glass Toyota team, it was a solid but quiet night for the Kyle Busch Motorsports entry.

Burton started in the eighth position but showed he had a fast truck through both the stages. In Stage 1, Burton finished sixth while he placed fourth in the second stage. Burton was able to miss all the melee during the race and kept himself in contention. However, his truck wasn’t good enough for the late green flag run, as well as the adjustments made during his final pit stop with 30 to go.

The No. 18 KBM driver would have to settle for a fourth place finish without leading a single lap.

“If I knew, I would probably have a higher paycheck,” Burton said describing his race to MRN Radio. “We’re just working really hard, all the guys at KBM busting their butts, day in and day out, giving us really fast trucks. They’re fun to drive and just lucky to be in this position. We’re fighting our way into the Playoffs. That’s a lot of fun for a team to try and come back to get to the Playoffs, and scratch and claw their way in. If we get in, they better watch out.”

Burton’s fourth-place finish was his fifth top five of the 2019 season. Burton sits sixth in the championship points standings, 111 points behind first place.

June 29, 2019
Austin Hill disappointed with top-five finish at Chicago

Austin Hill and his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series No. 16 Hattori Racing team were hoping to come out of Chicagoland Speedway Friday night with a win.

Hill and company had a great start to their day, qualifying the No. 16 SiriusXM Toyota Tundra on the pole, the first pole of his Truck Series career. But, he was only able to lead twice for 10 laps and had to settle for running in the top five or top 10 for most of the night. Hill finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in Stage 1 and 2.

Despite strong stage finishes, a long green-flag run ensued after a caution on Lap 80. With less than 35 to go, the last round of green flag pit stops began to take place. Hill pitted with 30 to go from the top five. However, the adjustments weren’t quite enough for Hill and the Hattori Racing team, as they would have to settle for a disappointing fifth-place finish after starting on the pole.

“We’re definitely disappointed with fifth place,” Hill said to MRN Radio in his post-race interview. “We thought we had the speed to possibly win tonight, it just wasn’t there. We really thought the track was going to free up throughout the night and our truck just kept tightening up and tightening up. We could never just get on the other side of it.”

“That last pit stop under green, we put a dent in it, but we still needed some more to be able to run with the top three. All in all, it was a great effort. I think we only fell back to sixth one time. For majority of the time, we ran inside the top five. Can’t thank HRE enough, Scott (Zipadelli, Crew Chief), they put a lot of work into these trucks and we want to win. So top five is okay but still frustrated. We’ll work on it.”

This was Hill’s third top five of the 2019 season.

June 29, 2019
Brett Moffitt takes second win of the season at Chicago

A year removed from his first win at the Chicagoland Speedway in 2018, GMS Racing’s Brett Moffitt came in looking to repeat the same success he had one year ago. He succeeded by giving the team their second win of the 2019 season.

But this time, the story was a little different, as Moffitt and his No. 24 machine was unsponsored for the first time this season. The truck was all white with only GMS Fabrication on the truck lid and on the back bumper.

“Just a really good Chevy Silverado, Jerry (Baxter, Crew Chief), everyone does a great job,” Moffitt said in his post-race interview with MRN Radio. “We’ve been struggling on mile and a half’s, on and off. We’ve had speed at times and not at times, and then this pit crew got us out first, you could never complain about that. They did solid all night. I was able to do my job and hang on to it. It was just a full team effort tonight and we executed the race how we needed to, even when we lost track position, we never got down.”

Austin Hill and Johnny Sauter made up the front row for the Camping World 225 after qualifying earlier in the day. The race marked Sauter’s return from suspension last weekend at Gateway.

Stages were broken into 35/35/80 laps to make up the scheduled 150 lap race.

The first stage was relatively clean for the most part but still had some noticeable incidents. On the very first lap, everyone was trying to avoid the No. 99 of Ben Rhodes, who had major smoke coming out of the back end of his truck. Rhodes would eventually go to the garage where the team would try to work on his truck, but later would be out for the rest of the race due to an engine issue that relegated him to a last-place finish.

Then on Lap five, the first caution was brought out by the No. 3 of Jordan Anderson who spun off Turn 4. After that, the first stage remained clean and green for most of the way with the No. 98 of Grant Enfinger leading until the last lap, as the No. 51 of Brandon Jones made a late surge to pass Enfinger in Turn 4 for the stage win.

Right as the stage ended, the No. 6 of Norm Benning was parked for the rest of the night when they ignored the black flag for not maintaining minimum speed. Also during the yellow, Rhode’s teammate, Johnny Sauter, was experiencing the same issue as Rhodes and was trying to diagnose the problem.

Stage 2 saw 35 laps again and had just one incident, but some near misses.

On Lap 44, Todd Gilliland barely nudged the No. 54 of Natalie Decker, which spent her spinning in the frontstretch grass to bring out the third caution of the night. Also during the caution, it appeared that Sauter might have been dealing with a plug wire problem, as he was still trying to figure out what was going on with his Tenda Heal truck.

Right after the restart on Lap 47, eventual race winner Moffitt and two-time series champion Matt Crafton made contact with Austin Wayne Self. The three looked like they were going to wreck out of the race but somehow they were able to save their trucks from spinning out.

That was the only major incident in the stage, as this time the stage win would be flip-flopped when Grant Enfinger won the second stage, despite a rally from Jones.

The last stage began on Lap 77 and it was action packed right from the get-go.

On Lap 79, Enfinger had a hard time getting going on the restart, which saw him dropping back in the field. On the same lap, the No. 44 of Spencer Davis got loose off of Turn 4, which sent Davis back down the track only to get collected by Wayne Self. This would bring out the fifth and final caution of the night. This would also see Enfinger’s chances of winning diminish heavily due to the amount of damage he incurred.

It seemed as more trouble would happen for the ThorSport Racing team as right before the restart, Crafton’s No. 88 truck shut off, which caused the restart to be waved off. A little bit after Crafton’s incident, Wayne Self was parked for the rest of the night due to not maintaining minimum speed.

As the race went back green, so did the action. On Lap 98, Enfinger reported a tire going down. Just two laps later, he had to make an unscheduled pit stop to change the tire that went down.

From there, the race went on a long green flag run to the finish. However, Stewart Friesen and Jones battled for the second spot for quite a while until the last round of pit stops began with 34 to go.

Tyler Ankrum was the one who began the final round of green flag pit stops, however, he was busted speeding on pit road which ended his chances of winning for the night.

Everyone else started coming down on pit road with 32 to go or less. The major critical point in the race was when the race leader Moffitt pitted from the lead with 30 to go. After that, we saw Friesen, Harrison Burton, Hill and Jones pitting from the lead with 29 to go while Sheldon Creed pitted from the lead with 27 to go.

Despite the different strategies taking place all over the race track, in hopes of somehow beating Brett Moffitt, they couldn’t. On Lap 125 with 25 to go, the Grimes, Iowa native retook the lead as the pit stops cycled out.

From that point on, hoping for no late race cautions, Moffitt pulled his No. 24 machine away from the field and won his second race of the 2019 Truck Series season.

“Yeah new tires, we were really fast on the bottom,” Moffitt added in his post-race interview with MRN Radio. “That second to last run there, where the 52 (Stewart Friesen) was gaining on us there on the top. Once I moved up there, it took away his air and it kind of stalled his run. Him and the 51 (Brandon Jones) got racing, they both got really good trucks. You know, I was fast on top, fast on the bottom, but clean air with new tires is just better.”

This was Moffitt’s second win of 2019 and the ninth of his Truck Series career.

There were five cautions for 27 laps, with seven lead changes among 12 leaders.

Grant Enfinger continues to lead the championship points standings over Stewart Friesen by 52 points.

Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series takes a week off before heading to Kentucky Speedway on Thursday, July 11, live on Fox Sports 1.

June 28, 2019
Ty Majeski Puts On Dominating Performance At Chicago

Ty Majeski returned to the Chad Bryant Racing No. 22 Ford Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway and to no ones’ surprise, returned to victory lane for the third time this season.

The turning point came when Majeski made a gutsy call at the end to stay out on a late race pit stop.

“I’ll be honest, I was real nervous,” Majeski said in his post race interview with Fox Sports 1. “We had such a deficit or a gap on the field lap time wise. That was the same call by Paul (Andrews, Crew Chief) especially if we would have gotten a late caution, we would have set left lane.”

The Bounty 150 was delayed due to lightning in the area for well over an hour and a half.

When the race got started, Michael Self was on the pole. Christian Eckes and Travis Braden didn’t get to qualify due to mechanical issues, and both were forced to start in the back. Joe Graf Jr. also started in the rear due to being in a backup car.

As the green flag flew, the race was action-packed from the get-go. Morgen Baird was off pace early but then stalled on the bottom of Turn 4 to bring out the first caution of the night. The No. 1 of Jason Miles also had a flat left front tire go down on the lap eight restart which brought the caution out again.

Majeski started to come in to play on Lap 13, as he and Michael Self battled side-by-side for the lead. However, Majeski would have to wait a little bit before he could run away with the lead, as another caution came out on Lap 17 for the No. 7 of Eric Caudell who spun on the frontstretch grass.

Majeski would go on to lead until the caution flew once more on Lap 52, just past halfway for the No. 54 of Tanner Gray, who hit the wall in Turn 3 after having a flat tire go down. This would set up a round of pit stops and it would see Self stalling on pit road, but eventually got the car re-fired. Unfortunately for Gray, his night was done early.

After the pit stops, Harrison Burton was able to gain the lead and led for a little bit until the fourth caution came out on Lap 65 for Christian Eckes, as he would go spinning around after his left rear tire went down off Turn 2.

One more caution would occur on Lap 76, as Majeski’s teammate, Joe Graf Jr. had his tire go down and spinning on the backstretch. Self would also suffer another issue on his pit stop under caution, as he tried taking off when his left rear tire was not on properly. However, he escaped with any major damage and was able to get back on track.

While Self pitted, so did other racers who were in contention to win the race. However, one did not. Majeski stayed out in hopes of getting the track position he needed to propel him to the win.

Despite staying out and a late race restart, a five-car battle occurred for second, allowing Majeski to run away for his third win of the 2019 ARCA Menards Series season.

“This thing was so dominant, it’s cool,” Majeski added in his post-race interview. “We ran four times already and had different scenarios every race. You know, Charlotte, where we won on a late race restart, Pocono we won on a green flag pit stop and Michigan, we almost won on fuel strategy. This one, we straight up smoked them. I hope people are paying attention, realize that and find different ways to win races. Just a testament to everybody on my team, Paul Andrews (Crew Chief), Chad Bryant Racing, this Crestliner Ford Fusion was really fast tonight.”

This was Majeski’s third win of the season, which also marked his third of his career in the ARCA Menards Series.

There were six cautions for 31 laps, along with four leaders among six lead changes. Majeski led three times for 72 laps en route to his third career victory of the season. His next scheduled ARCA race is the season finale at Kansas Speedway in October.

Official Results

1. Ty Majeski
2. Harrison Burton, 9.179 seconds
3. Bret Holmes, 9.566 seconds
4. Michael Self, 10.528 seconds
5. Travis Braden, 10.607 seconds
6. Riley Herbst, 10.641 seconds
7. Christian Eckes, 12.104 seconds
8. Austin Wayne Self, 15.125 seconds
9. Thad Moffitt, 30.228 seconds
10. Scott Melton, One lap down
11. Joe Graf Jr., One lap down
12. Tim Richmond, Six laps down
13. Morgen Baird, 18 laps down
14. Eric Caudell, Out
15. Tanner Gray, Out
16. Brad Smith, Out
17. Tommy Vigh Jr., Out
18. Con Nicolopoulos, Out
19. Jason Miles, Out
20. Stefan Parsons, Out

Up Next: After a few weeks of racing in the summer stretch, the ARCA Menards Series will take a couple of weeks off before returning on track at Elko Speedway on Saturday night July 13 on MAVTV.

June 28, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Chicago
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series continues their Midwest swing on Friday night by heading north to Chicagoland Speedway for the 12th race of the 2019 season.

Teams who have not won yet will begin to feel a little pressure now that there are only five races left until the Playoffs start at Bristol in August.

There are many drivers who are still winless and they are big names. They include Todd Gilliland, Harrison Burton, Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger, Sheldon Creed, Gus Dean, Jordan Anderson, Natalie Decker, Ben Rhodes, Spencer Boyd, Tyler Ankrum and Austin Wayne Self.

It’s been somewhat of a ho-hum season so far in the Truck Series. It was dominated early by Kyle Busch who won four races in a row, then won his in fifth and final start at Charlotte. The only other non-series regular who won this year was Greg Biffle, who scored a popular win at Texas a few weeks back.

Surprisingly, there have only been four regulars that have visited victory lane. Austin Hill won at Daytona, Johnny Sauter at Dover, Ross Chastain at Kansas and Gateway, and Brett Moffitt at Iowa.

So with that said, who else might finally win on Friday night or continue their season dominance?

Here is a look at the top five drivers on who might win in the Camping World 225.

Currently, there are 32 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list, meaning all drivers will be locked into Friday night’s show. It was 33, but the No. 25 of Ted Minor had withdrawn late.
1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter returns this week to the No. 13 Ford F-150 after serving his suspension last weekend at Gateway. The Wisconsin native has 10 starts at Chicago, earning one win coming two years ago in 2017. Sauter’s track record at the 1.5-mile track has been stellar. He has recorded six top fives and eight top-10 finishes with an average finish of 7.5, and 106 laps led. Sauter does have one pole that came in 2014. Despite his impressive track record, Sauter has no stage wins, but finished second in Stage one and fourth in Stage two in 2017, while he finished seventh in Stage one and fifth in Stage two in last year’s race. What a redemption it would be if Sauter could pull off the win Friday night.
2. Grant Enfinger – Sauter’s teammate, Enfinger could also wheel his No. 98 Protect The Harvest Ford F-150 into victory lane Friday night. Enfinger has been on a tear this year, earning six top fives and 10 top-10 finishes. He has been strong on the mile and a half tracks, placing third at Atlanta, 11th at Las Vegas, fourth after starting on the pole at Texas back in March, seventh at Kansas, ninth at Charlotte and fourth in the Texas June race. At Chicago, however, Enfinger has three starts with a best finish of fifth in 2017. His other finishes include sixth in 2016 and eighth in last year’s race, bringing his average finish to 6.3. Enfinger has no stage wins at the track located in Chicago, Illinois, but has been the championship points leader for most of the season. Look for the Alabama native to continue his hunt for the 2019 Truck Series championship Friday night.
3. Brett Moffitt – You could say Chicago is a special place for Moffitt. Last year at this time when he competed for Hattori Racing, Moffitt and company were facing sponsorship woes and his future was in question. If he had missed the race, he would not have been eligible to compete for the Truck Series championship. Thankfully, a sponsor came on-board early in the week and Moffitt was able to continue his season. If it wasn’t for Fr8Auctions.com, who knows where Moffitt would be now. It was a special race for the Grimes, Iowa native as he would go on to win the race after starting sixth and making a last lap pass on John Hunter Nemechek. Fast forward to a year later, Moffitt is with GMS Racing competing in the No. 24 machine. He has an up and down track record on 1.5-mile racetracks. Moffitt has finished fourth at Atlanta, second at Las Vegas, 19th at Texas in March, eighth at Dover, 19th at Charlotte and 11th at Texas in June. Moffitt and GMS will have three practice sessions to get the truck dialed in to his liking.
4. Brandon Jones – Jones returns to the famed No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck this week. He has one finish that came in the top five, in last year’s race driving for KBM where Jones finished fifth after starting 16th. He’s also made some ARCA starts and earned one top five, and one top-10 finish in those races. Jones will pilot chassis KBM-055. “This chassis has five starts, with three wins earlier this season, two by owner-driver Kyle Busch at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February, and Texas Motor Speedway in March, then veteran driver Greg Biffle won in this chassis at Texas Motor Speedway in June. In a total of five starts, this chassis has never finished lower than fifth.”
5. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes has three starts at Chicago with a best finish of second in last year’s race. The Kentucky native has one DNF, which came in his first outing with ThorSport in 2016, where Rhodes finished 25th after starting seventh. His other finish was sixth in 2017. Rhodes has no stage wins, but surprisingly has one stage finish in the top five that came in 2018, and a top-10 Stage finish in 2017. Look for Rhodes to be in contention Friday night.
Other drivers on the entry list this week include the return of Spencer Davis, who will compete in the No. 44 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet. Davis only has one start in the 2019 season that came at Martinsville where he finished 20th. Davis tried to qualify for the season opener at Daytona but failed. The Georgia native has no starts at Chicago.

Joey Gase is scheduled to compete in the No. 0 for Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing, B.J. McLeod in the No. 1 of Mark Beaver, Dylan Lupton in a new DGR-Crosley entry in the No. 05, Tyler Ankrum returns to the No. 17 DGR-Crosley Toyota, Mason Massey in the No. 32, Josh Bilicki in the No. 33 and Jesse Iwuji in the No. 34 for Josh Reaume. Timmy Hill returns in his family owned No. 56 team, his first race back since competing at Charlotte last month. Joe Nemechek also returns to the No. 87 Chevrolet.

Since stages were implemented in 2017, Ryan Truex, Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek and Noah Gragson have all earned stage wins.

Chicagoland has seen only 10 races in what could be called a new track in the Truck Series. The series first came here in 2009 where the race was won by Kyle Busch. Busch has gone on to win five times at the 1.5-mile speedway. However, Busch will not be competing this weekend.

Other winners include Austin Dillon in 2011 where he won the championship that year, James Buescher in 2012 winning the championship that year as well. John Hunter Nemechek won in 2015, Johnny Sauter in 2017 and Brett Moffitt in 2018.

Qualifying is important at Chicago, where the winner has only come from outside the top-10 twice, set by Buescher in 2012 when he started 11th and Nemechek in 2015 after starting 11th as well.

Since 2009, no winner has ever come from the pole position. However, it seems that if you start in the fourth position, you have a great shot at winning as the winner has come from that position three times. Busch did it in 2009 and 2010, while Sauter did it in 2017.

Other drivers have won from the sixth starting position, eighth, fifth and seventh twice (2013, 2014). In 2011, 2012, 2017 and 2018, the winner of this race has gone on to win the championship later in the season.

The Truck Series will have three practice sessions on Thursday afternoon. The first practice will be at 1:35 p.m. local time, the second practice at 3:35 p.m. local time and the final practice is slated for 5:35 p.m. local time with no live coverage.

Qualifying will be Friday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. local time/5:05 p.m.ET live on Fox Sports 2.

The Camping World 225 will get underway shortly after 8 p.m. local time/9 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages will be broken in to 35/70/150 to make up the scheduled distance of 225 miles.
June 27, 2019
ARCA Menards Series Preview-Chicago

Last week gave us an exciting ending to the race at Gateway as Ty Gibbs, grandson of Joe Gibbs, took the checkered flag in the last corner of the race. This week the ARCA Menards Series stays in the Illinois state as it heads north to Chicagoland Speedway.

It’s been an electrifying ARCA season so far and we are one race past of the halfway point. Believe it or not, Chicago will mark eight races left until the season finale at Kansas Speedway in October.

Chicagoland Speedway is somewhat of a home game for the Venturini’s who originate from the city and look to be successful every time they visit the 1.5-mile racetrack located in Chicago, Illinois.

The same can be said for Michael Self, the previous race winner who won last year’s race. Self visited victory lane two races ago at Michigan (another 1.5-mile track). Since then, his up and down season has continued. At Madison, he followed his win at Michigan to finish second the week after, then finished a disappointing 13th last week at Gateway.

Despite the finish outside the top-10 last week, Self is looking forward to getting to Chicago, as he lists it as one of his favorite tracks and hopes to relive last years special victory for the Venturini team.

“Chicagoland is definitely one of my most favorite tracks on the schedule,” says Self. “It’s such a unique track with so much character. I’ve been fortunate to race there a handful of times now, and every time has been a lot of fun, and last year was definitely cool to bring home a win. It’s a special place for Venturini Motorsports with Chicago being their home town, that definitely adds some excitement and emotion to race day.”

After being out of the car for the last couple of races, as upcoming racer Corey Heim took over, Ty Majeski climbs back into the No. 22 Chad Bryant Racing machine Thursday night for what will be his final ARCA start until his final start in the season finale at Kansas in October.

“I feel really good about heading into Chicago,” said Majeski. “I feel like it is my best 1.5-mile track. It has a ton of character and you’re able to move around and find speed. We went for it in my last ARCA race at Michigan International Speedway and were just a corner short of our third win of the year. I think we can go to Chicago this weekend and look to finish what we started there.”

Majeski has won two races this year and almost has a possible third at Michigan but ran out of gas coming out of Turn 4 and got passed by eventual race winner Michael Self. Heim has piloted the machine the last two races, finishing 10th at Madison and fourth at Gateway. Majeski has two starts at Chicago, both coming in the top-10. His last start came two years ago, driving the Cunningham Motorsports machine where he finished seventh after starting second and leading 50 laps.

The Seymour, Wisconsin driver has one other ARCA start, competing in the Roulo Brothers No. 17 Ford, in 2016 where Majeski finished eighth after leading three laps.

Like Majeski, his teammate Joe Graf Jr. is looking for a top-10 this week after finishing 11th at Gateway last Saturday. Graf Jr. has one start, which came in a Chad Bryant Racing car last year where he finished 13th.

“I’ve learned a lot since last year,” added Graf. “Just about how to handle these cars, move them around the air by myself or around other cars. You are always learning. We’ve shown that our Chad Bryant Racing cars have speed on the bigger tracks this year, I’m hoping to earn our second top-five of the year on Thursday night.”

Another driver who has experience is Bret Holmes, who drives the family owned No. 23 Chevrolet. Holmes has one start, that came in 2017 where he earned a top-10 finish.

This weekend, Holmes will have an exciting sponsorship with Techworks Trailer Sales, a company located in Elkhart, Indiana. Holmes is excited about having the company aboard his No. 23 machine and hopes to celebrate with them in victory lane Thursday night.

“I’m honored to have Techworks Trailer Sales on our Chevrolet this week for Chicagoland Speedway,” said Holmes. They’re a great group of people and are loyal to their Elkhart, Indiana base. It’s really cool to be able to bring them into the sport, and I hope our fans will show them as much support as they show us. I know we’re going to unload a fast Techworks Trailer Sales Chevrolet this week. Our intermediate track program is strong this year. What better way to welcome Mr. Barnes and Techworks Trailer Sales to the BHR family than with a win.”

One driver, Christian Eckes, however, does not have any starts at Chicago and will be making his first one on Thursday night with Venturini Motorsports. Eckes is looking forward to visiting the city, but also realizes his job comes first and that’s to win.

“I wish we had more time to go out and spend some more time in the city,” he said. “For the most part it’s hard to go see the scenes of whatever city we are in. At the very least we’ll go have a good time with the team and go out to dinner but sometimes that’s it. I’d like to go into town and see some of the buildings, go see the lake, go to Navy Pier and all of that. But at the same time we need to stay focused on why we’re here.”

While he knows winning is always a possibility and the expectation going into races like this, Eckes is focused on winning the ARCA championship at the end of the season.

“The biggest thing for the next half of the season is to start putting races together. We have had the speed, we have just lacked in execution. Whether it’s mechanical failures or me dialing out the car, we need to execute better.”

There are 20 drivers entered on the entry list for the annual Bounty 150.

Other drivers entered in the race include Eric Caudell, Jason Miles, Con Nicolopoulos, Tim Richmond, Scott Melton, Tanner Gray, Brad Smith, Thad Moffitt, Austin Wayne Self, Travis Braden, Harrison Burton, Riley Herbst, Morgen Baird and Tommy Vigh Jr.

Chicagoland Speedway has seen 18 ARCA Series races since the track opened up in 2001.

The list of winners include Ed Berrier, Chad Blount, Frank Kimmel, Kyle Krisiloff, Dawayne Bryan, Steve Wallace, Michael McDowell, Scott Lagasse Jr, Justin Lofton, Patrick Sheltra, Ty Dillon, Kevin Swindell, Mason Mitchell, Ryan Reed, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell and the defending race winner, Michael Self.

Qualifying is important at Chicago, where only three times, the winner has come from the back. Berrier won this race in 2001 after starting 34th, Krisiloff won after starting 11th in 2004 and Reed in 2015 after starting 28th.

Surprisingly, there has been no repeat winners since the track opened in 2001.

Race day activities will get underway with the only practice session at 1 p.m. ET. General Tire Pole Qualifying is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. ET. Practice and qualifying will air live on arcaracing.com.

The Bounty 150 race will be televised live on Fox Sports 1 with a scheduled start time shortly after 8 p.m. ET.

June 26, 2019
Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series At Gateway
Gateway was the venue for the 11th race of the 2019 Truck Series season that took place late Saturday night.

It was an uncharacteristic race, with only five cautions, three for actual incidents that took place on the track. There were 14 lead changes, but once someone was up front, the leader could pull away for a while and remain dominant. This was seen with Stewart Friesen who led for 19 laps, Grant Enfinger for 33 laps, Christian Eckes for 12 laps on his first stint out front and 45 laps on his final stint, and the eventual race winner Ross Chastain who led the final 19 laps.

The CarShield 200 was one of those races, where if you had a great truck, you were out front. However, if you didn’t, you would struggle for most of the night.

Ross Chastain took home his second win of the season and continues his climb to the top-20 in points for a shot at the championship. Other drivers like Friesen and Eckes, were left frustrated after making last-lap contact with each other. You could also make a case for Harrison Burton, who also got involved in an incident late relegating him to a 16th place finish when he was running in the top-10 prior to the contact.

What else happened though in the CarShield 200? Here is a look at this week’s four takeaways from Gateway.
1. ThorSport Class Of Field – Throughout the night, especially when the checkered flag flew, race fans saw ThorSport place all four of their trucks in the top-10. Enfinger was the highest finisher out of the camp, finishing sixth after winning both stages. Ben Rhodes and the No. 99 Carolina Nut Company Ford F-150 finished eighth, Matt Crafton was ninth and Myatt Snider (who did well under pressure replacing the suspended Johnny Sauter) finished 10th after finishing ninth and second in both stages. It really would have been quite something if Snider could have pulled off the upset victory.
2. Sauter Has Impressive Showing At Dick Trickle 99 – While the Truck Series was running at Gateway, Sauter spent his weekend and suspension racing the Super Late Model classic in Wisconsin. He finished second behind short track star Ty Majeski. After the race, Sauter stayed to sign autographs for the fans and stated, that he has no regrets for his actions at Iowa. It will be interesting to watch this story unfold, as Sauter returns to the track this weekend at Chicagoland and if it affects his championship chances at all. He is currently 10th in the standings, two positions outside the top eight.
3. Chandler Smith Continues Impressive Drive – In only two starts, the rising star continues to deliver on the track and is impressing the NASCAR world, gaining more popularity. Smith competed once again in a Kyle Busch Motorsports entry Saturday night, this time in the No. 46 entry. He again showcased his talent and finished 14th and ninth in both stages. When the checkered flag flew, Smith was in the fourth position in the final running order. He competed in the ARCA Menards Series race a few hours, but Smith’s chances of winning were cut short due to a broken axle.
4. Too Late Of A Race – When race fans woke up Saturday morning, they more than likely saw an unusual start time for the race of 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. local. When all was said and done Saturday night, it was a little after midnight when the final word was given by NASCAR, stating that Chastain was the official winner. Night racing can be challenging time-wise and even though there were rain showers earlier in the day and that would have delayed the race start, it certainly doesn’t do much for overnight ratings. I hope next year NASCAR will consider an earlier start time for the race. One solution would be to schedule the practices and qualifying the day before and just go racing the next day. Hopefully, NASCAR will look at a different time slot next year.
June 26, 2019
Moffitt rebounds to fifth after engine issues at Gateway

Overlooked in the final running order of Saturday’s NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series race at Gateway was the winner at Iowa, Brett Moffitt. Moffitt’s fifth-place run wasn’t without difficulty, as they didn’t show up near the front until later in the race.

Moffitt finished 10th at the end of Stage One, earning one playoff point toward his championship defense. During Stage Two, Moffitt continued to linger around the bottom half of the top-10, finishing 12th at the end of the stage.

Due to some pit strategy and a late race caution, the No. 24 GMS Racing team was able to get their driver closer to the front of the field, where he managed to hang on to his sixth top-five of 2019.

“It was a pretty good strategy call from where we were at,” Moffitt told MRN Radio after the race. “Jerry [Baxter, Crew Chief] and everyone did a good job. I thought we had a lot better truck then that when we practiced, so it’s pretty disappointing. I don’t know if it’s going from sunshine to nighttime or what, but really thought our [Chevy] Silverado was stronger then that. We salvaged a top five out of it, I didn’t think we were going to end up there. We were lucky to be in the top-10 for most of the race, so we’ll move on and do better.”

Moffitt currently sits fifth in points, 69 back from the leader, with six races left until the Playoffs begin at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on August 25.

June 24, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Gateway
After a crazy week in the NASCAR Truck Series, the series returned to Gateway this weekend. There were many newsworthy items going into the 11th race of the 2019 season:

Johnny Sauter was suspended by his actions at Iowa and was replaced by part-time ThorSport driver Myatt Snider in the No. 13 Tenda Ford F-150. Sauter would, however, participate in the classic Dick Trickle 99 Super Late Model race in Wisconsin during the truck race. Snider would go on to finish 10th after being solid early in the night.

The racing world had its eyes on Ross Chastain and the No. 45 Niece Motorsports team after failing post-race inspection last week at Iowa which led to them being stripped of a win. NASCAR fans watched late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, as Chastain claimed the win at Gateway.

Where did everyone end up after all was said and done in the CarShield 200?
1. Grant Enfinger – Another week, another solid finish for the No. 98 ThorSport team, who placed sixth after a strong run. Enfinger started second due to qualifying being rained out and was strong from the get-go, taking the lead on Lap 22 and never looking back for the majority of the stages. The Alabama native swept both stages but fell off late in the going when it mattered. But despite a sixth-place finish, Enfinger and the No. 98 team still leads the championship points standings by 54 points over Stewart Friesen. He dominated Saturday, leading 52 laps and earned his 10th top-10 of the season.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Third
2. Ross Chastain – Chastain claimed redemption and got another popular win in the NASCAR world Saturday night. It was a statement sent by his No. 45 Niece Motorsports team that they are not backing down without a fight. Chastain took a gamble when the final round of pit stops began, taking fuel only while the other drivers took fuel and tires. Even with a late race restart with seven to go, the Floridian was able to hold off the field for his second win of the year. Chastain currently sits 28 points out of the top-20, in which he needs to make up in order to have a shot at the Playoffs later this year.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
3. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt quietly finished in the top-five after struggling throughout most of the night. The team was nowhere to be found in the previous stages, but with some late race pit strategies and a late-race caution to help the No. 24 GMS Racing entry, they were able to come away with a fifth-place finish. It wasn’t what Moffitt was looking for after winning last week, but it was still a solid points day in his hunt for a second series championship.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
4. Sheldon Creed – Creed placed his No. 2 GMS Racing Chevy in seventh after the checkered flag flew Saturday night. He continues his consistent streak of top-10s since Texas earlier this month. The California native finished seventh and fifth in both stages, respectively, during Saturday’s event. With his seventh-place finish, it was Creed’s fourth top-10 finish of the year.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- Fourth
5. Stewart Friesen – Friesen earned a third-place finish, but not without some controversy on the last lap of the race. The driver of the No. 52 accidentally spun out Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Christian Eckes. Despite the controversy, the team earned a much-needed strong finish after being up and down since Texas back in March, with finishes of 12th at Dover, 15th at Kansas, a third at Charlotte, 20th at Texas, and then a fifth at Iowa. If Friesen and his team continue the top-five runs and possibly win a couple of races, he’ll be sitting pretty in the Playoffs.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
  
  Unranked:
  
  1. Harrison Burton – Burton had a great night going for the No. 18 Safelite Tundra, finishing fourth in Stage 1. However, a late-race incident involving Sheldon Creed took him out of contention for a possible win. Burton was relegated to a 16th-place finish.
  
  2. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes finished third and sixth in both stages, respectively, but finished eighth after having a strong truck earlier in the night.
June 24, 2019
Ross Chastain gets big win and redemption at Gateway

After a whirlwind of a week, Chastain and his No. 45 Niece Motorsports team found redemption in Madison, Illinois Saturday night with a victory at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

Chastain and his pit crew took a late race gamble by taking gas only with no tires, while everyone else took tires. He was able to cycle back out as the leader, but an unfortunate caution came out with 15 to go. This would set up a late race restart with seven to go. However, Chastain was able to hold everyone off and proved that, in the end, track position mattered most, to earn a big win at Gateway.

“Of course, we thought we could,” Chastain said in his post-race interview with MRN Radio about his chances of winning. “If you don’t come to a racetrack expecting to win with an operation like this and people like this…man, you don’t need to be coming here. This is what racecar drivers live for with opportunities like this, you can’t let them slip away.”

“We’re very fortunate tonight,” he added. “We did not have the fastest truck at times, we executed, Phil (Gould, Crew Chief), (Shannon) Rush and the whole brain trust behind me, Al Niece (Team Owner) he’s not here, ah he missed another one, but look at that splitter. That thing is off the ground tonight.”

In what started as a gloomy and rainy day for the Truck Series, with rain showers being persistent across the St. Louis area, qualifying was once again canceled and set by owner points. The teams, however, were given one practice session to get their trucks ready for the race once the rain cleared away.

It was a caution free race for the most part with barely any incidents.

Stewart Friesen broke away early and Led for 19 laps until championship points leader Grant Enfinger took over the lead on Lap 22 in the first stage and never looked back. Enfinger would go on to win Stages 1 and 2, having a dominant truck early on in the race.

There were a couple of minor incidents, as the No. 0 of Gregory Rayl brushed the wall and the No. 1 of Cody McMahan hit the wall off the backstretch on the final lap of Stage 1.

Friesen somehow received back bumper damage to his truck after the restart for Stage 2. Last week’s winner Brett Moffitt experienced issues with his engine but got it fixed in the long run.

After a couple of quiet stages, the intensity and action picked up for the third and final stage that began with 83 to go. It was where Chastain would first be seen battling up front for the lead along with, Harrison Burton and Enfinger as well.

Chastain really began reeling in the race leader and pole sitter Christian Eckes for the top spot with 45 to go, although, everyone had to stop one more time to make it the rest of the way.

The No. 45 crew placed their bet after a short-lived battle with Burton, pitting with 28 to go Eckes also pitted. Then, Chastain recycled back into the race lead with 20 laps to go hoping for no caution, as the team did not take tires, while everyone else did.

However, an unfortunate caution came with 15 to go for Burton and Sheldon Creed who made contact with each other in Turn 4. This would eventually set up a late race restart with seven to go.

Despite all the circumstances and challenges, Chastain and his fan favorite No. 45 Niece Motorsports team earned a popular victory tonight at the 1.250-mile paved track located near St. Louis, Missouri.

“Yeah, I mean, less tires and less fuel, screaming at me to save fuel while I’m out running away from the leaders,” the Florida native described to MRN Radio. “When it’s your time, it’s your time, everything happens for a reason. If last weekend happened for a reason, I’m okay with it, the good Lord is good I believe and he came through for us tonight. My dad is here, came with my girlfriend, my Aunt and Uncle. We normally don’t have much family here. Got my late model crew chief here, man, we came a long way since those days, loving every minute.”

This is Chastain’s second win of the season, his first since Kansas back in May. He also picks up the winning bonus from The Triple Truck Challenge of $50,000.

Chastain led three times for 21 laps and currently sits 38 points outside the top 20. There were five cautions for 30 laps along with eight leaders among 14 lead changes.

Grant Enfinger still holds the championship points standings over Stewart Friesen by 54 points.

Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series will head north to Chicagoland Speedway on Friday, June 28.

June 23, 2019