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Author: Briar Starr

  • Matt Crafton survives Daytona melee/still winless

    Matt Crafton survives Daytona melee/still winless

    After all the carnage tonight at Daytona International Speedway, even after getting caught up late in an accident, Matt Crafton found himself with a shot to snap his long winless streak in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.

    Unfortunately, he will have to wait until Atlanta next Saturday afternoon as he finished fifth after starting 15th.

    “Just didn’t have anybody there at the end,” Crafton told MRN Radio. Grant (Enfinger) gave me this huge push, where I wished we would have stayed together, but he did everything he had to do to get me up there to have a shot.”

    “The restart before that, I was the best one where I fell in behind the 16 (Austin Hill) and this was the spot we needed to be. All in all, we finished top five. Usually, I’m upside down or crashed real early at these places. As aggravating as it is, we got here and got a bunch of points. It is my favorite racetrack now.”

    This was Crafton’s 110th top five finish of his career and his second at Daytona. His last Truck Series victory was at Eldora Speedway on July 19, 2017.

  • Grant Enfinger comes up one spot short at Daytona

    Grant Enfinger comes up one spot short at Daytona

    Coming from two laps down, Grant Enfinger almost found himself in contention to win the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway Friday night.

    “We had a check of a Ford F-150 down here,” Enfinger told MRN Radio.”(Crew Chief) Jeff Hensley and all these boys worked really, really hard before they got here, but worked even harder once we got caught up in that wreck.”

    “I had good speed, worked my butt off to get back on the lead lap and just thought we were in position to push (Matt) Crafton, and we just got blocked too much right there and I was going to wreck him if I kept with him. So, that’s when we got shuffled around and just couldn’t get a good run coming to the checkered.”

    Enfinger finished fifth and sixth in both stages. It is the 19th top-five finish of his career.

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Preview-Daytona

    NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Preview-Daytona

    The Truck Series finally gets back on track this Friday night for the first race of the 2019 season. And with the series getting on track, it’ll be the 20th time, every year since 2000, when the first race at Daytona features the Trucks.

    It has been quite the off-season for the Gander Outdoor Truck Series which is the new name for the series. With a new sponsor, dawns a new era. There are familiar faces who return but in new places.

    Here’s a look at who might just end up in victory lane Friday night at Daytona International Speedway.

    Currently, there are 40 Trucks on the entry list for 32 spots.

    1. Johnny Sauter – Surprise, surprise. Well not really, but he’s a guy who you expect to be up front. Sauter returns to Thorsport this season for the first time since 2009. It has been quite the off-season for Sauter, when in January, he was out of a ride at GMS Racing where he recorded six wins last year and was in the championship race at Homestead. He’ll be driving the No. 13 entry where he has found success and which was previously driven by Myatt Snider. In 10 races at Daytona, Sauter has three wins and is the defending race winner. He also won in 2016 both with GMS. However, Sauter got his first Daytona win in 2013 driving for Thorsport. It is also the site of his first Daytona start in 2009 for Thorsport. He has three DNFs four top fives and five top 10 finishes with 127 laps led. Sauter’s average start is 10.7 with an average finish of 13.4. Sauter has a driver rating of 88.6. Expect Sauter to be contending for the win Friday night at Daytona.
    2. Harrison Burton – Unlike the first one, this one could be somewhat of a surprise, but maybe not. Burton will be competing full-time for Kyle Busch Motorsports taking over Noah Gragson’s ride in the No. 18. He will be making his first superspeedway start in a Truck, however, Burton has already visited victory lane at Daytona. As a matter of fact, it came this past weekend when Burton took the checkered flag in the Arca Racing Series. He dominated by leading 48 of 86 laps.
    3. David Gilliland – At Daytona, Gilliland has two starts with a best finish of sixth for Ricky Benton Racing in 2015. He started on the pole last year but finished 21st after leading 30 laps, finishing five laps down. Gilliland also competed in Talladega last fall where he started on the pole again, but this time with a better finish of third. He’s been a strong contender as of late at the superspeedways, so expect him to be at the front. Gilliland will also have his son, Todd, to work with him.
    4. Brett Moffitt – New year, new team for the defending champion Moffitt who is taking over Sauter’s ride, which now becomes the No. 24. Moffitt only has two starts at Daytona, neither a top five or 10. However, Sauter’s team won last year and in 2016. Given the equipment and the right opportunity, he could be at the front in the end. And it shouldn’t be a surprise, as Moffitt tied with Sauter for wins last year. He looks to start off 2019 with a bang by winning.
    5. Matt Crafton – Crafton is looking to put the dismal 2018 season behind him after going winless and Daytona could just be the place to do it and snap his winless streak. He has one top five and seven top 10 finishes with eight laps led. Crafton’s average start is 16.2 with a average finish of 14.9 along with three DNFs. His best finish is fifth in 2010, nine years ago. If Crafton wins, it’ll be the first superspeedway win of any kind. Crafton has also ended upside down on the last lap.

    In 19 races, there have been 16 different winners with Johnny Sauter being the only one to win three times. Todd Bodine is the only back-to-back winner from 2008-2009.

    The lowest a winner has come from to win was 36th set by Bobby Hamilton in 2005. The highest a winner has come from was first, four times with Joe Ruttman, Mark Martin, Jack Sprague and Kaz Grala accomplishing the feat.

    There have been three different winners in the past five races with Sauter being the only repeat winner.

    On-track activity begins Thursday afternoon with two practices, the first at 2:35 p.m. ET and final practice at 4:35 p.m. ET, both on Fox Sports 2.

    Qualifying will take place Friday afternoon at 4:40 p.m. ET with single vehicle qualifying and two rounds on Fox Sports 1.

    The NextEra Energy Resources 250 is scheduled for Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages will be 20/40/100 to equal the 250 mile race distance.

  • NASCAR Brings Unique Twist To NASCAR Gander Outdoor Series/News Announcements

    NASCAR Brings Unique Twist To NASCAR Gander Outdoor Series/News Announcements

    NASCAR is bringing a unique twist to the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Series. Announced on Monday, NASCAR will introduce a Triple Truck Challenge, almost similar to the “Dash 4 Cash” in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

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    The Triple Truck Challenge will span over three races beginning at Texas and ending at Gateway. The other race included is Iowa. Only Truck Series driver’s are allowed to compete in these races and be eligible. A driver has a shot to win up to $500,000 should they win all three races, that’s half a million. A $50,000 bonus will be given to the race winner for one race over those three races.

    Should a driver win two of the three races, they will receive $150,000.

    Also announced is the qualifying procedure. The rules will stay the same, but first round will be shortened to ten minutes, whereas in year’s past it was 15 minutes. This will take place for short and intermediate tracks. Session breaks are also shortened to give minutes instead of seven.

    Finally, NASCAR also announced they will begin teardown inspection at the track instead of the R&D Center as indicated in year’s prior. Should a driver fail post race inspection, the win will be taken away, the driver will be disqualified and lose all benefits such as points and stage points/wins. Everyone will move up in the final running order. The driver will end up finishing last. Each series will have their own dedicated officials in the garage area.

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoor Series takes center stage on Friday February 15th at 7:30 p.m./ET for the annual running of the NextEra Energy Resources 250 live on Fox Sports 1.

  • 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Preview

    2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Preview

    It’s been quite the off-season for the Truck Series. First with a new sponsorship and name change. In the past few year’s, the series has been known as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. However, late last summer, CEO Marcus Lemonis announced that their sister brand, Gander Mountain will be taking over as title brand of the series. Fans will have to get used to the new name, as they have been calling it the Camping World Truck Series. It’s just the fourth new sponsor for the series since its inspection in 1995.

    On the driver side, it has been a major shakeup since the season ended in Homestead. Fans will see some familiar faces, but in new rides.

    For DGR-Crosley, it will be their second full-time season in the series. Tyler Akrum will not be allowed to compete for three races with those being Daytona, Atlanta, and Las Vegas due to age restrictions, but will be able to run the rest of the season starting at Martinsville. Natalie Decker is also scheduled to drive part-time with sponsorship from N29 Technologies. Anthony Alfredo is slated to make starts with the team beginning at Atlanta.

    Young’s Motorsports rounded out their driver lineup in the off-season with Tyler Dippel in the No. 02, Gus Dean in the No. 12, and Spencer Boyd who previously competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series will drive the No. 20. Dippel competed in five races last year with a best finish of 13th at Eldora. Dippel rounded out the season with GMS Racing. Dean will be making his season debut. Dean has made starts in the ARCA Racing Series with two wins. Boyd has competed part-time with three starts, his last with Copp Motorsports at Talladega in 2017 finishing 13th. Boyd has starts at Martinsville, Gateway, Homestead, Kansas and Charlotte.

    GMS has made quite the change in the off-season. In January, it was announced that Johnny Sauter who has competed for them in the past few year’s will not be returning due to financial issues. Instead, last year’s champion, Brett Moffitt will take over. The No. 21 will change over to the No. 24. Moffitt had six wins last year along with Sauter. If Sauter can’t find a ride, it will be the first time since 2007, that he did not compete all season in the Truck Series. Sheldon Creed is also going to compete in the No. 2. Creed comes from the ARCA Racing Series. Former driver, Justin Haley, is moving up to the Xfinity Series to drive the No. 11 Kaulig entry. Moffitt will have crew chief Jerry Baxter.

    Despite questions and sponsorship struggles last year, Hattori Racing will return to the series with driver Austin Hill. United Rentals is the sponsor. Hill previously drove for Young’s Motorsports with a best finish of fifth.

    Also returning to the series is Niece Motorsports. Niece will have part-time driver’s with Ross Chastain and Reid Wilson who will split the season in the No. 45. Timothy Peters returns to the series for three races with Niece.

    On-Point Motorsports announced a few weeks ago that they will compete full-time with former Xfinity Series driver Brennan Poole. Poole has three starts in the series with a best finish of eleventh in 2015 for Maury Gallagher.

    Chad Finley Racing will be increasing their schedule for 2019. Bruce Cook hopes to run the full season with driver’s Chad Finley and Robby Lyons. Finley has just five starts with a best finish of sixth at Gateway last year. Lyons has eleven career starts with a best finish of 12th in 2017 at Phoenix and 14th at Talladega last year.

    Kyle Busch Motorsports has two full-time driver’s with Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland. Burton takes over Noah Gragson’s ride and Gilliland returning to the No. 4. Both will be making their first full time season start this year. Kyle Busch will more than likely break Ron Hornaday’s all-time wins list this year, as he is slated for five races. Those races are Atlanta, Martinsville, Las Vegas, Texas and Charlotte. Busch has won at all of these tracks with Vegas being the latest last year. Multiple driver’s will also drive the No. 51. Those has yet to be announced.

    Jesse Little returns with his family owned team in the No. 97. Little has 22 starts in the Truck Series, seven to 10’s and two laps led. His best finish came in Atlanta, where Little finished sixth last year. The team plans to run 12 to 15 races this year.

    Copp Motorsports announced that they will pay tribute to Truck Series pioneer Mike Mittler in 2019. Beginning with the season opener at Daytona, instead of using No. 83 the truck number will be changed to No. 63 for the 2019 Truck Series season.

    Vizion Motorsports announced late January that Baley Currey will driver the No. 35. Other driver’s are also slated to share the ride as well.

    There are many other teams that have yet to make any announcements regarding their 2019 plans. Those should come within the coming week.

    The Truck Series will be on track Thursday afternoon Feb. 14th with first practice at 2:35 p.m. ET.

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Homestead

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Homestead

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck wrapped up another exciting season of thrilling finishes and fresh faces in victory lane, as well as familiar faces who had a career high season. If this continues next year, 2019 will just be as exciting as 2018.

    Here are four takeaways from the Homestead race from this past weekend.

    1. Harrison Burton Full Time In 2019 – About a week ago, it was announced that Kyle Busch Motorsports signed Harrison Burton full time for next season driving the No. 18 KBM Safelite Tundra formerly driven by Noah Gragson who is moving on. Burton will have big shoes to fill when he takes over after running a partial season this year.

    2. Jesse Little Shines With Top Ten – While running a limited schedule due to funding this year, Little made the most of it after completing just nine races. Homestead was his first race since Fort Worth, a couple of weeks ago. He started ninth and finished ninth. Little also finished ninth and seventh in both stages, respectively. Not a bad night for a team who I believe can compete for wins when the funding is right. Little ended the 2018 season with nine starts, six top 10s and a best finish of sixth at Iowa.

    3. Johnny Sauter and Brett Moffitt End The Season With Most Wins – It was the best of both seasons for Sauter and Moffitt who had the most wins this season. Sauter and Moffitt both had six victories. The only other winners this season were Kyle Busch, John Hunter Nemechek, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Ben Rhodes, Chase Briscoe, Grant Enfinger, and Timothy Peters. In the end, the cream rose to the top with Moffitt winning and collecting his first championship.

    4. Sheldon Creed Shines With Top Five – The 2018 season ended on a high note for the 2018 ARCA Champion Sheldon Creed, who is running full time in 2019 for GMS Racing. Creed finished the race in fifth and placed 10th and ninth in both stages. It the best finish for Creed this season after just making five starts.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Championship Edition

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Championship Edition

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series went to South Florida this past weekend for the final race of the year. It was the site where a new champion was crowned and for the first time ever, the champion won the last race of the year and the championship at the same time.

    So for the final time this year, let’s take a look at this week’s power rankings from Homestead Miami.

    1. Brett Moffitt – It should be to no surprise that Moffitt topped the power rankings once again for the last time in 2018. He continued his dominant season by winning back to back races and ultimately, the championship. It was the first championship of any kind for the Grimes, Iowa native. Moffitt started fifth and finished third in Stage and won Stage 2. He didn’t take the lead until Lap 40 and led for 27 laps for the first run. He fell back a bit late in the going, but not much as he battled with Noah Gragson until Gragson had a tire issue before his regular scheduled pit stop, which would cost him the championship. Moffitt was back in the lead on Lap 106 to lead the final 29 laps to win for the sixth time of the year. It speaks volumes as to how strong the No. 16 Hattori Racing team was this season. It’ll be interesting to see if Moffitt returns to the 16 in 2019 or if they’ll find a new driver. It will be a shame if Moffitt doesn’t return to the team next year, but sponsorships and funding determine that. Winning everything keeps Moffitt at the number one spot.

    Previous Week Ranking: 1st

    2. Noah Gragson – Despite the tire issue, it seemed as though Gragson could have been champion. He started third and finished third after finishing second in both stages. Gragson shone early and traded battles with eventual champion Moffitt. One has to wonder, if it weren’t for the tire issue, how the battle for the championship would have turned out. But if wishes were fishes, the whole world would be an ocean. Nonetheless, Gragson tried all he could to rebound and catch Moffitt, but it wasn’t enough or meant to be.

    Previous Week Ranking: 2nd

    3. Grant Enfinger – One week removed from just barely missing out on the championship race, Enfinger didn’t let that deter him from having a strong finish. He dominated Stage 1 by leading all the laps and wound up third in Stage 2. Enfinger was in contention to win the race but came up two seconds short to finish second after starting on the pole.

    Previous Week Ranking: 4th

    4. Matt Crafton – After a dismal season without a win, Crafton showed signs of running up front from a disappointing qualifying effort of 22nd. He already was in the top 10 when Stage 1 ended, where Crafton finished fifth and then finished fourth in Stage 2. He led twice for four laps and won the race off pit road, following one of the stages. Ultimately, the No. 88 team finished sixth to end 2018 and they are already looking forward to a better 2019.

    Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked

    5. Stewart Friesen – Friesen started second and finished fourth after a quiet night. Friesen finished seventh and sixth, respectively in both stages. A strong season for the No. 52 team who made the Playoffs, won stages and ran up front to challenge for wins, but just couldn’t quite pull it off. However, this team looks to come back next year and contend for wins once more, and perhaps wind up in victory lane.

    Previous Week Ranking: 3rd

    Fell Out

    1. Harrison Burton – Burton finished 11th, but did not finish in the top 1o in either stage and was just off all night. Either they missed the setup or something happened, but it was an odd way to finish the season.

    Previous Week Ranking: 5th

  • Myatt Snider Earns Truck Series Rookie of the Year

    Myatt Snider Earns Truck Series Rookie of the Year

    Say goodbye to the rookie stripes, as Myatt Snider is a rookie no more after this season. Well, at least for the Truck Series. The 24-year-old locked up the 2018 Rookie of the Year award after a 14th place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Snider has three top fives and eight top-10 finishes to round out the season, along with a couple of stage wins. He talked about how excited he was to win the title.

    “Yeah, absolutely,” Snider told MRN Radio. “We started off really loose and loose off. I don’t think I’ve ever been this loose in my life. The whole crew at Thorsport Racing made some awesome adjustments. We made wholesale changes there and they got it handling really good.”

    “Toward the end, I could actually really drive it and we learned a lot tonight, and hope things go well for next year. Just so proud of everybody on the team. They brought me a great Tenda Ford Performance F-150. So happy to have all of our great partners to help us out tonight like Louisiana Hot Sauce. It’s a great night.”

     

  • Johnny Sauter Finishes a Disappointing 12th after a Record Season

    Johnny Sauter Finishes a Disappointing 12th after a Record Season

    Johnny Sauter, the 2016 NASCAR Truck Series Champion, was looking to become a two-time champion after making it to the Championship 4 for the third consecutive year in a row. Unfortunately, the team just missed it Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway and finished a disappointing 12th after a record high six wins in 2018, the most he’s ever had in his career in one season.

    “Yeah, you know, we just missed it,” Sauter told MRN Radio. “I never would have thought we would have been that bad, so I just apologize to all the guys at GMS and they deserve better than that for sure. We were just sideways loose, I don’t know, he was dropping the trackbar, putting runners in the left rear. The balance was just never there. Even if we could get it tight enough, it would chatter the front tires across the center and still snap loose off exit.”

    “I have no idea,” he emphasized to MRN Radio. “Just not our night. You know the last few weeks have been tough and we kind of lost our step a little bit and finished 12th. Congratulations to (Brett) Moffitt, he did a good job and just wasn’t our night.”

    Sauter finishes the 2018 season with six wins, 14 top fives and 17 top-10 finishes.

  • Noah Gragson Falls Short of Truck Series Championship

    Noah Gragson Falls Short of Truck Series Championship

    Noah Gragson was looking to end the year on a high note at Homestead-Miami Speedway before he moves up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2019. However, his night went sour with 33 laps to go. A tire issue on his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota prevented him from winning the championship and the race after a tremendous battle with Brett Moffit.

    He led twice for 34 laps but had to settle for a third-place finish in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Ford EcoBoost 200.

    “I was just way too tight there at the end,” Gragson told MRN Radio. “We fired off pretty good and it was just a battle between having to back out of the racetrack, and not being able to turn. Just devastated for my guys, they worked really hard and this one would have been for them. I give all my credit to Rudy Fugle (crew chief), Kyle Busch Motorsports. Just unfortunate, but on the bright side, I learned a hell of a lot tonight. I raced a Cup rookie of the year for the championship, so that’s pretty cool to say. Just very thankful for the opportunity.”

    Gragson finishes the season with one win, nine top fives and 18 top 10 finishes. Next year he will move to the Xfinity Series, replacing the retiring Elliott Sadler, at JR Motorsports.