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Author: Briar Starr

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- Kansas
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series headed west this past weekend to the heartland and the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway and as usual, the Truck Series didn’t disappoint.

Some were worried that it was going to be a single file race. But, in the end, a crowd favorite won the race with a late race thriller while others were left disappointed and still searching for a win.

There are some fresh new names that popped up in the power rankings, while some were able to keep their position. Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings.
1. Ross Chastain – Chastain finally broke through this past weekend by winning at Kansas Speedway. Chastain and the Niece Motorsports team had been running and finishing inside the top-10 all season and have been close many times, especially with a third place finish at Daytona to open the season. Some fans since then have considered the Niece Motorsports a fan favorite and quite possibly, an underdog team in NASCAR. They continued week by week to strive toward their goal in hopes of winning in the Truck Series, or NASCAR overall. That moment came Friday night when Chastain passed Stewart Friesen with three laps to go, as Friesen ran out of gas and Chastain went on by. Chastain and the No. 45 team were hoping for no cautions for the rest of the way while Ben Rhodes was trying to chase him down in hopes of redemption from a couple of years ago, but couldn’t do it. In the end, Chastain and team owner Al Niece won their first Truck Series win. Chastain led three times for five laps and finished fourth in both stages. It was his first Truck Series victory in just 66 starts and Chastain’s first top-10 finish at Kansas Speedway. The Niece Motorsports team will look to carry this momentum throughout the rest of the season in hopes of fighting for the owners’ championship in which they currently sit third, 33 points behind Kyle Busch’s No. 51 team.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 5th
2. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes had a strong No. 99 Carolina Nut Co. Ford F-150 on Friday night at Kansas and came oh so close to capturing the Digital Ally 250 checkered flag. Despite looking at practice speeds after practice was over with where Rhodes slated 12th and 14th fastest in both practices, some probably thought, he may not have the truck to win Friday night. Rhodes and the No. 99 Thorsport team proved them wrong where he finished tenth in Stage 2 and found himself with a shot at the win late in the race. Rhodes was chasing down eventual race winner Ross Chastain, but ran out of time and fell .483 seconds short. It was his third top five of the 2019 season.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked
3. Grant Enfinger – After qualifying 13th, Enfinger and the No. 98 Champion Power Equipment Ford F-150 quickly moved up into the top-10 and led 47 laps until a late race incident with 27 to go when he and Brett Moffitt made contact, bringing out the fifth caution of the race. The team was doing well before then by finishing third in both stages but eventually finished seventh. If things had gone their way, they probably could have finished inside the top five or top three. Nonetheless, Enfinger still holds the points lead over Brett Moffitt by 13 points.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 1st
4. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland and the No. 4 KBM team improved on their finish from Dover by finishing third in Friday night’s race at Kansas. He started fifth and remained consistent, running in the top-10 and finishing seventh in both stages. In an exciting late-race battle for the win, Gilliland and company wound up in the top five. It was a much needed top five after finishing 15th at Dover and his first top five of the year.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
5. Matt Crafton – Crafton was looking to snap the long winless streak this past weekend in the heartland, but once again, fell short of doing so, not without effort, however. The No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 driver showed speed in early morning practice sessions on Friday by placing third and fourth fastest, respectively, in both practices. The No. 88 Thorsport team followed that up by qualifying on the pole, Crafton’s 14th of his career and his first at Kansas. Crafton led early but only led eight laps and was not really seen up front after leading early. He finished sixth in both stages to ultimately finish a disappointing sixth after having such a fast truck in practice and qualifying.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 4th
  
  Fell Out
  
  1. Johnny Sauter – A forgettable night for Sauter and the No. 13 ThorSport team who previously won at Dover before heading to Kansas Speedway. Mechanical issues plagued Sauter early on and he was sent to the garage to fix the problem. He could never really rebound and wound up 22nd after starting 12th.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 3rd
  
  2. Brett Moffitt – Much like Sauter, Moffit and the No. 24 GMS team had a disappointing night and were ready to move on to Charlotte after the race ended. The team started well by qualifying fourth earlier in the day. He even finished second in both stages and led three times for four laps. But troubles came late in the race when Moffitt and Enfinger collided with each other off Turn 2 and spun out. Both would escape without major damage, but the incident more than likely ended Moffit’s chance at the win and he had to settle for finishing eighth. The No. 24 GMS team will look to rebound this week at Charlotte.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 2nd
May 13, 2019
Brad Keselowski wins in a thriller at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Brad Keselowski won in an overtime finish at Kansas Speedway for his third victory of the season and his first since 2011 at the 1.5-mile speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.

“Yeah, this was a great day, and that’s what I’ve been known for my whole career is just never give up,” Keselowski said in his victory lane interview. We were behind big time with just 40 or 50 to go. The yellow came out, we were on pit road, we were trapped a lapped down. We dug out of that hole, and then the restarts, a couple of opportunities, the holes were there, I took it, and it stuck. And the next thing I knew I was running second or third behind Alex Bowman. I was able to make just the right move at the right time to clear him. Alex was super, super strong, and he got a little tight off of Turn 2 and I had the run wall and glued to it and built this big run.”

The Digital Ally 400 was broken into 80/80/107 laps to make up the three stages.

Eleven drivers had failed post-qualifying inspection before the race started and had to line up at the back of the field which meant that several drivers moved up starting positions.

Stage 1 saw barely any incidents. There were was a competition caution on Lap 30 due to overnight rain. The first incident of the night took place on Lap 60 when Denny Hamlin spun off Turn 4 and had the crush panels pushed in. William Byron was penalized for removing equipment, a jack post, on pit road.

Before the stage ended, there was a range of leaders from Chase Elliott to Kevin Harvick. Harvick completely dominated the first stage and wound up winning Stage 1 after leading three times for 57 laps, nearly half the stage.

Stage 2 saw the same thing, but this time there was a little more strategy involved throughout the stage with drivers up front who were normally not up front. This included Chris Buescher and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who were trying a different strategy, however, they eventually had to end up pitting.

There were no cautions throughout Stage 2 as it went clean the whole way with Elliott winning the second stage. Harvick wound up second with Jones third, Bowman fourth, Stenhouse fifth, Buescher sixth, Kurt Busch seventh, Clint Bowyer eighth, Kyle Busch ninth and Kyle Larson rounding out the top 10 for Stage 2 which ended on lap 160.

The third and final stage began on lap 168, and the stage saw several more cautions.

On Lap 219, Ryan Newman’s tire went out into the grass and caught on fire. On Lap 221 during the pit stops, Kyle Busch was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes. After adding some additional laps to get the restart order correct, the green flag came out on Lap 228 with unique names like Bowman, Buescher, Stenhouse and Tyler Reddick up front. Another caution flew with 30 to go for debris in Turn 2.

There was intense side-by-side racing for the lead for 19 laps until the final caution came out with just seven laps to go for the No. 95 of Matt DiBenedetto who was leaking fluid in Turn 2.

This would eventually set up an overtime restart with just two laps to go. There were side-by-side battles with Stenhouse, Bowman and eventually Keselowski, who took the lead on Lap 261 and held on for the last 11 laps to win his third race of the season, his first since Martinsville.

Coming into the race, Keselowski had an idea what to expect during the race.

“It’s hard to say where it will go,” Keselowski said in regards to the rules package. “I feel like the season breaks down into thirds. Maybe I am repeating myself to some of the people in the room. You know, you have the first third, your second third, and the final part with the Playoffs, and with that in mind, Kansas to me is like the break to me in the first third of the season and the beginning of the middle stretch. I think we see things start to settle out by then at the end of the West Coast swing start of the season. There’s a lot that comes and goes, and you try to understand the rules; all the engineering behind it is a little bit tough.

“When we get to this part of the season, you really have to shine because this is what you got. So it’s nice to be able to win right here today, it’s always nice to win, but in light of those thoughts or beliefs I guess, it’s a good sign for us for sure.”

Keselowski led twice for 12 laps and earned five Playoff points.

Bowman, Erik Jones, Elliott, Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Larson, Reddick and Buescher rounded out the top-10 finishers.

There were seven cautions for 41 laps and 23 leaders among 12 lead changes.

Up Next: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads home next weekend to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the annual running of the All-Star Race.

May 11, 2019
Ross Chastain wins in late race thriller at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series visited the Midwest Friday night at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, as usual, it didn’t disappoint.

Ross Chastain passed Stewart Friesen with three laps to go, as Friesen ran out of gas and went on by to score his first career Truck Series win.

“Every win is huge,” Chastain said. “These guys, Al’s (Niece) first Trucks Series win. We each have won a Xfinity Series race, but you can’t rank one above the other. It is so hard to win in NASCAR. I know Kyle Busch has won, winning 200. Like that is incredible, I won two NASCAR races now. I can’t even put it in to words. I know Kyle (Busch) is like, gets up here and he’s mopy and oh well, I only won a Trucks race, but this means so much to all of us. There are so many people in this world that are working toward this goal and I know that, because we went through it. So yeah, I don’t rank one above the other, they all have their place, it only fuels us to win more.”

The Digital Ally 250 saw Matt Crafton on the pole and he led laps early.

The first stage was 40 laps and there were some major incidents. On Lap 23, last week’s Dover winner Johnny Sauter suffered a mechanical issue which saw the truck fall off the pace. He eventually had to take it to the garage for a short while. On Lap 25, Brandon Jones spun out off Turn 4.

After that caution, however, there were no major incidents but some thrilling battles for the lead with Brett Moffitt and Stewart Friesen on Lap 28 with Friesen eventually taking the lead for good on lap 32 and winning the first stage.

Stage 2 began with Moffitt and Sheldon Creed on the front row for the restart. The next caution came out on Lap 52 for Natalie Decker who went sliding coming off Turn 4, getting all four tires off the ground and into the grass. Decker was not injured but her night was done early.

After the incident, there were six laps of racing and Friesen went on to win the second stage.

The fifth caution came out with 24 to go, as Moffitt and Grant Enfinger made contact with each other off the exit of Turn 2. The final incident of the day came with 20 to go for Josh Reaume’s No. 33 Truck, which stalled off the exit of Turn 4.

When the race started to wind down, the battle for the lead started to heat up with Chastain, Austin Hill and Todd Gilliland.

While some were questioning Friesen’s fuel mileage, his crew chief thought they would have enough gas to make it to the finish. But Chastain began to close in and eventually caught him as Friesen ran out of gas with three to go. Chastain went on by and captured the first Truck Series win of his career.

“You always want to win, but you saw Johnny (Sauter) won last week, drove away from Brett (Moffitt) at the end and had perfect handling truck and tonight, I never saw him. I don’t know if something happened to Johnny. Oh did it? I was gonna say, I never saw him. Different trucks come and go each week, and last week we had a terrible week and still finished 10th. I got out of the truck and stretched my back out because it was locking up, and my arms were jello. This week my arms were jello because I was fist bumping so hard. I dented in the roof because I was jumping up and down on it on the frontstretch.”

“Yeah, I mean you just show up each week. This Truck Series is so fun and any racing is fun when you have a team like this, and you show up and have speed. We showed up with this exact race truck in Texas. We walked in that morning of the garage for practice and our chest was out, and we walked out that night our tails were tucked in-between our legs because we were so bad. He (crew chief) was about to cut the dang cross bend out of it, raise it up and cut the frame apart. I wished he (crew chief) would have. You know, it’s like the highest of highs tonight and the lowest of lows in the same truck at Texas, where Al (Niece) had so much invested in that race and we were gonna fifth and we ended up finishing seventh, as the right rear tire ended up going flat at the end, but still a good night saw some promise. Just show up every week, get through practice, try not to have some big moments like I had, you know getting loose and show up and fight.”

Chastain led twice for five laps.

Ben Rhodes, Todd Gilliland, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger, Brett Moffitt, Riley Herbst and Harrison Burton rounded out the top-10.

Enfinger still leads the points standings by 13 points over Brett Moffitt.

There were six cautions for 29 laps with 22 lead changes and a margin of Victory of .483 seconds.

Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads east next weekend to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, May 17.

May 10, 2019
Kevin Harvick wins pole at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — For the third time this season and the 28th of his career, Kevin Harvick earned the pole position at Kansas Speedway on Friday evening.

It was Harvick’s fifth pole at the 1.5-mile speedway located in Kansas City, Kansas. Harvick laid down a lap time of 30.131 seconds and a speed of 179.217 mph.

The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing driver has been quite successful at Kansas Speedway amassing three wins in 26 starts, eight top fives, 14 top-10 finishes, and 751 laps led.

His teammates weren’t that far away, as they took the first four spots. Aric Almirola placed second, hometown favorite Clint Bowyer third and Daniel Suarez fourth.

Talladega winner Chase Elliott was fifth, Dover winner Martin Truex Jr. was sixth, rookie William Byron was seventh, Kyle Larson eighth, Brad Keselowski ninth and Alex Bowman rounded out the top-10 starters for Saturday’s Digital Ally 400.

Other notables include Erik Jones who qualified 11th, Bubba Wallace in 12th, Kyle Busch in 13th, Kurt Busch in 14th, Denny Hamlin will start 17th, Jimmie Johnson in 18th and Ryan Blaney in 19th. Joey Logano will start 20th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 21st, Austin Dillon 22nd, Ryan Newman in 28th and Tyler Reddick in 30th. Reddick, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, will be making his second Cup Series start driving the Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet.

With some unknowns going into Saturday’s race, Harvick explains if we’ll see the single-file racing that Kansas is known for or if we will see something like we did at Texas several weeks ago.

“I think it’s going to be very similar to Texas,” Harvick said. “You’ll see some wild restarts and I think you’re gonna see guys check up with a swarm of cars that they catch you. You know, I think for us the closing rate has been very good when you catch a draft off a car. I don’t think it’s going to be one big pack. You’re going to see that for seven to eight or nine, or 10 laps on the restart like you did at Texas because you do have multiple lanes here but as you run through the night, I think you’re going to see some tire strategy. I don’t think tire fall off is going to be near as bad as it has been in the past. There is still going to be some there, but we haven’t seen a lot today and it’s going to be cooler tomorrow night. I think the exact style of race is going to be hard to tell you, as the conditions are going to be when it is dark.”

Harvick will be looking for his fourth win at Kansas in Saturday’s race.

May 10, 2019
Stewart Friesen Sweeps Both Practice Sessions At Kansas

Two NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series practice took place this morning with the No. 52 team of Stewart Friesen sweeping both practice sessions.

Friesen was fastest in the first practice with a time of 30.40. Brett Moffitt, Matt Crafton, Sheldon Creed, Harrison Burton, Grant Enfinger, Austin Hill, Tyler Ankrum and last weeks winner Johnny Sauter rounded out the top-10.

Final practice was almost similar, but Gus Dean, Ross Chastain creeped in the top-10 with a minor incident with Creed barely scraping the wall bringing out the caution.

Qualifying takes place this afternoon on Fox Sports 1 at 4:05 p.m./local time with the Digital Ally 250 scheduled green flag for 7:40 p.m./local live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio.

May 10, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Kansas
After visiting the Monster Mile this past weekend, the Truck Series heads to the Midwest and Kansas Speedway. Some drivers may follow “the yellow brick road” to victory lane in the heartland and others will leave grateful they are “not in Kansas anymore.”

The sponsor of the race is a Lenexa, Kansas based company Digital Ally, and the Truck Series race will be called the Digital Ally 250.

Currently, there are 27 Trucks entered on the preliminary entry list for Friday night’s race at Kansas Speedway.

While Johnny Sauter won his first race of the season last weekend at Dover, is he ready to set the world on fire or will someone else take over this weekend?

Here’s a look at who might just win Friday nights Truck race at Kansas.
1. Matt Crafton – This weekend could be the weekend that snaps Crafton’s year and a half winless streak since Eldora of 2017. He has the most starts of any active drivers with 18 starts and has competed in every race since the Trucks debuted at Kansas in 2001. Crafton has two wins at Kansas (2013, 2015). Overall, he has completed 97.7 percent of the laps and has led 110 laps. The No. 88 driver also has five top fives and nine top-10 finishes but does have three DNFs with the last coming in 2005. Since then, he’s had inconsistent finishes. In 2018, Crafton finished sixth, 16th in 2017, second in 2016 and 2014, and 12th in 2012. Nonetheless, Crafton could be following the “Yellow Brickroad” to victory lane on Friday night and snapping his long winless streak.
2. Brandon Jones – Brandon Jones will once again pilot the famed No. 51. Jones returned to the Truck Series last weekend at Dover where he finished 13th. He’ll have some pressure to perform well as Kyle Busch Motorsports drivers Noah Gragson and Kyle Busch swept the top two spots last season at Kansas. Jones will also have veteran crew chief Rudy Fugle who has two career wins at the track located in Kansas City, Kansas. The first in 2016 was with William Byron and last year with Gragson. Jones has two starts overall at Kansas with a best finish of ninth coming in last year’s race. He’ll be using chassis number KBM-055 as this chassis has had three outings with two wins, both this season with owner-driver Kyle Busch behind the wheel, at Atlanta and Texas. Jones finished seventh and fourth in both stages in 2018. He also has a couple of ARCA starts as well.
3. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger has been on a roll recently in the Truck Series by taking over the points lead after Dover and he just might continue that momentum this weekend at Kansas. In just two starts, his first coming in 2017, he has a best finish of eighth at the 1.5-mile track. In the first race, Enfinger started 15th and finished eleventh, and led 14 laps led. In 2017, he finished ninth and sixth in both stages, while in 2018 Enfinger finished fifth and eight in both stages, respectively. Enfinger finished inside the top-10 last year on 1.5-mile tracks including winning the Las Vegas race in September. Look for the No. 98 team to continue their momentum this weekend for the Digital Ally 250.
4. Stewart Friesen – Friesen and the No. 52 team will be looking forward to getting back on track this weekend at Kansas, and he might do just that. While his first outing didn’t go well finishing 32nd in 2017, Friesen upped his finish in last year’s race where he finished third after starting eighth and leading six laps. He also finished 10th and fifth in both stages last year. Friesen will be hungry for a win.
5. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt only has two starts at Kansas with a best finish of seventh in his first start in 2017. Last year didn’t fare so well for the defending Truck Series champion, where he finished 16th, four laps down. However, Moffitt has had four top fives and four top-10 finishes this season and he finished second last weekend at Dover after leading 81 laps.
  
  Of note, Angela Ruch will drive the No. 44 for Niece Motorsports, Norm Benning will be in the No. 6, Joe Nemechek will drive the No. 8, Josh Bilicki will be piloting the No. 34 Reaume Brothers Racing Truck and Riley Herbst will be in the No. 46. Natalie Decker originally wasn’t supposed to race at Kansas but added six races to her schedule and will be competing this weekend in the No. 54.
  
  Update – Announced Wednesday, May 9, the No. 30 On Point Motorsports team of Brennan Poole has withdrawn from Friday night’s race due to lack of sponsorship. The team will return to Charlotte next week.
  
  The list of winners at the speedway include Ricky Hendrick winning the first race in 2001, Mike Bliss, Jon Wood, Carl Edwards, Todd Bodine, Terry Cook, Erik Darnell, Ron Hornaday, Jr., Mike Skinner, Johnny Sauter, hometown favorite Clint Bowyer, James Buescher, Matt Crafton who won twice, Kyle Busch who also won twice, William Byron in 2016, and recently, Noah Gragson in 2018.
  
  Qualifying will be critical here at Kansas, as the lowest a race winner has ever started was 10th set by Todd Bodine in 2005, Erik Darnell in 2007 and Kyle Busch in 2017. The highest a race winner has come from was first place three times, the first in 2008 by Ron Hornaday Jr., Kyle Busch in 2014 and Noah Gragson in 2018.
  
  The Truck Series gets on track early Friday morning with the first practice at 9:35 a.m. ET and final practice at 11:35 a.m. ET. Qualifying for the Digital Ally 250 is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1.
  
  The Digital Ally 250 will take place Friday night a little after 8:30 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio for 167 laps.
May 9, 2019
Four Takeaways-NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race-Dover
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series visited Dover International Speedway for their six race of the 2019 Truck Series season. While a season-veteran and champion return to victory lane, what did we learn from the race? Here are four takeaways from the JEGS 200 at Dover.
1. Johnny Sauter Finally Gets Win – If you would have told someone before Dover that two-time Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter would not have a win yet at this point in the season, some would have shaken their heads in disbelief. Despite it taking this long, if you look at last year, he won the season opener at Daytona but wouldn’t win again until Dover. Friday was his first win of the season and his third consecutive Dover win. Now we have to wait and see if Sauter and the No. 13 ThorSport team will set the world on fire or not.
2. Track Position- Dover is not known to have the best races and that’s been seen here recently in the Truck Series. There wasn’t that much excitement that happened throughout the race. While yes, it was somewhat determined as a short track, it didn’t provide much passing for the lead. Also, Brett Moffitt wasn’t able to catch Sauter for the win late. Sauter even said in a post-race press conference, that track position was very important. And you could see why. It seemed like the only way you could pass was either on the restart or on pit road under caution. In last year’s race, there were only nine leaders among seven lead changes. This years race saw a little bit more lead changes with 11, but still, there wasn’t much excitement. There were only six cautions for 35 laps with two of them coming for stage breaks, and four of them coming for actual incidents. Maybe the Truck Series shouldn’t come to Dover or maybe they should but something needs to change.
3. Start Time – There was an odd start time to Friday’s race at Dover with a 5 p.m. ET start on the East coast. It’s hard for someone to who works a 9-5 job to take off early to catch a Truck Series race with a start time like that. Imagine living on the West coast, where the start time would be 3:00 p.m. Pacific. Barely anyone would be able to catch the race live. Thank goodness for DVRs. Still, something needs to change about the race start times. Maybe it’s time for a doubleheader with the Xfinity Series.
4. Derek Kraus Earns Top-10 Finish – Flying under the radar after Friday’s race was rookie Derek Kraus, who currently drives part-time for Bill McAnally Racing in the Truck Series. It was Derek’s third career Truck Series race in his young NASCAR career. He tied his best finish of eighth. Kraus also finished eighth in his first Truck Series race at ISM.
May 8, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Dover
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series returned to on-track action this past weekend at Dover International Speedway, famously known as the Monster Mile.

While it’s known to reach out and bite drivers, the drivers, for the most part, able to tame it. One, in particular, Johnny Sauter, took the lead with 30 to go and went on to win the JEGS 200. It didn’t come without some controversy, however, as Sauter fought an ignition issue early on but he rebounded nicely for the win.

While it was Sauter’s third consecutive win at Dover, how did everyone else fair? Was Stewart Friesen able to keep the points lead?

Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.
1. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger and the No. 98 Champion Power Equipment team had a good day at Dover, finishing fourth after starting sixth and running inside the top-10 all day. Enfinger even finished fourth in both stages and led three laps. Nonetheless, Enfinger had something to smile about after the race was over, as he took over the points lead by four points over teammate Johnny Sauter. It was Enfinger’s fourth top five of the year thus far.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- 2nd
2. Brett Moffitt – Some say Moffitt should have won this race. The No. 24 team got off to a great start Friday by qualifying on the pole. As the race started, Moffitt completely dominated and won Stage 1 and finished third in Stage 2. He consistently stayed up front, led 81 laps and finished second.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked
3. Johnny Sauter – You could say Sauter got the monkey off his back by winning at one of his favorite racetracks. He showed speed in qualifying by starting on the outside pole. Sauter won Stage 2 but faced an ignition issue afterward. The No. 13 team was able to get it fixed and ultimately Sauter went on to win. Believe it or not, it was his first win of the season. Keep an eye on Sauter and company as they just might start to go on a tear this summer.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
4. Matt Crafton – Crafton and the No. 88 Menards team were able to salvage a top-five finish at Dover this past weekend, but not without a tough start. The two-time champion had to drop to the rear after an engine change before the race. Problems only got worse for Crafton as they started to face plug wire issues. Crafton came back to finish fifth. However, the No. 88 team had seen better days and were looking forward to getting out of Dover. Nice rebound, however, for the veteran driver.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 3rd
5. Ross Chastain – Chastain had an eventful day at the Monster Mile. He didn’t have nearly as strong a truck as in past races this year but still managed a top 10 finish, even after some close calls. There was a moment late in the race, where he almost lost control of his truck which would have brought out a caution. A late race caution helped the team get a decent finish to continue their great run in the 2019 season.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 4th
  
  Fell Out
  
  1. Stewart Friesen – After qualifying fourth and finishing fifth in Stage 2, the No. 52 team was really nowhere to be seen throughout the race. Friesen wound up 12th and lost the points lead to Grant Enfinger, and now sits third in the standings, 11 points behind.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 1st
  
  2. Tyler Ankrum – Ankrum quietly finished ninth at Dover but didn’t make too much noise, as he has had in previous races, such as his sixth-place finish in March at Texas.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 5th
May 8, 2019
Harrison Burton quietly finishes third at Dover

In previous years at Dover, Harrison Burton has driven the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Truck to finishes of 13th in his first outing in 2017 and fifth in last year’s outing.

Burton was looking to improve upon those results coming into the 2019 race and hoping that perhaps a win could solidify those finishes.

“I love Bristol and Dover and fast, high-banked tracks — they fit my style very well,” he said before the race. “I enjoy it and hopefully we can continue that success and build on that. Last year, we didn’t have the best truck at the beginning, but we kept working on it and made it pretty good. We just need to start the weekend of better than we did last time, get a good qualifying spot and we’ll be there for the win — hopefully.”

Burton qualified ninth and when it was all said and done, he came up three spots short, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

After finishing fifth in Stage 1 and sixth in Stage 2, Burton made everyone hold their breath, as he made a heart-stopping move for the lead after the restart with 83 to go. He couldn’t make it stick and had to fall back to third.

Evidently, the No. 18 Team had to work their way back up after some various strategies on the late-race pit stop. In the end, the scoring pylon showed Burton and the No. 18 Safelite Autoglass Toyota Tundra winding up third for his second top five of the year.

“It was a lot of fun,” Burton said to MRN Radio. “The truck came in for the second half of the race. We had a shot at it and then we got clear of everyone, except for Ben Rhodes. I got trapped in the idea of running the bottom. I don’t know, I got tight behind him. That’s when we lost the race. I’m upset with myself about that, but we had a good day. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun, and had some big moments. We were able to rebound from that and had a good points day, and we’ll go win the next one.”

May 4, 2019
ThorSport teammates Enfinger and Crafton collect top-five finishes at Dover

Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton each had to settle for a top-five finish as their teammate Johnny Sauter went on to win Saturday’s Jegs 200 at Dover International Speedway.

For Enfinger and the No. 98 team, he would quietly end up finishing fourth after also finishing fourth in both stages.

“Overall a great day for ThorSport racing and for Duke and Rhonda Thorson to be able to come out here and do this,” Enfinger told MRN Radio. “Locked in the Playoffs, so that’s good. Overall, we had a solid Champion Power Equipment F-150 all weekend really. Just not a race winning truck, but I think if we could have had some track position, we could have held him off. That’s about all we had.”

Matt Crafton, who is also a two-time champion, had a difficult day having to deal with a plug wire issue that came off after Stage 2 was done. However, the No. 88 Menards team was able to rebound to fifth. It was Crafton’s fourth top-five of the season but he was looking for a little more and was not satisfied with a top five.

“No not at all,” Crafton told MRN Radio describing his finish. “Just very aggravated with it, to be honest. It’s a damn shame that a plug wire came off, motor problems two races in a row in these things. Just keep digging us out of a hole. It’s good for these guys who work so hard, but I know this Menards Ford F-150 is better than that. I’m super excited for Johnny Sauter and everybody there, everybody at ThorSport. But at the end of the day, I know we could have been racing for the win.”

May 4, 2019