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Author: Briar Starr

  • Four Takeaways From The Buckle Up 225 At Kentucky

    Four Takeaways From The Buckle Up 225 At Kentucky

    The 10th race of the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took place at Kentucky Speedway this past Thursday night. There were some drivers/teams who had an up and down night. Here are my four takeaways from the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky.

    1. Christopher Bell continues his strong season. Bell collected his third win of the season and fifth of his career. He now has seven top fives and nine top-10 finishes this season. Before Kentucky, he was sitting 42 points behind point leader Johnny Sauter. Now after his win, Bell is 28 points behind. After the off weekend, there will be six races left before the playoffs begin. Bell will be looking to cut into Sauter’s points lead. He could lock up another win this season, as Bell is the defending race winner at Eldora, which is the next scheduled race on the circuit.
    2. John Hunter Nemechek finished a disappointing 18th after two consecutive wins. Needless to say, this was a race to forget about for Nemechek. He and eventual race winner, Bell, were battling side by side for the lead late in the going. However, Nemechek had to pit after getting right side damage with 15 laps to go, thus ending any hopes for going three in a row. He now sits eighth in the points standings. Hopefully, sponsorship keeps up for the rest of the season and Nemechek can continue his run to the championship battle.
    3. Air Titans/Track officials/NASCAR did a great job with the weather. NASCAR and Kentucky Speedway had been battling off and on rain showers all day/evening at Kentucky. With pop up rain showers continuing through the evening, it looked like all was lost. However, the Air Titans and the new drain off area did their jobs and were able to get the race in a little bit past 10 p.m. ET.
    4. Thorsport Racing continues its up and down season. If Thorsport wants to be in the championship battle at Homestead, they’re going to have to kick it up a notch starting at Eldora.  So far in 2017, Cody Coughlin has no top fives or top-10 finishes. Matt Crafton only has two top fives and six top-10 finishes and no wins. By this time last year, Crafton already had two wins and was locked into The Chase. For Ben Rhodes, after coming up short at Kansas due to a blown engine, his season has been somewhat fair with three top-fives and five top-10 finishes. To add on to that, he’s had two DNF’s with the last one coming in Kentucky. This team is going to have to need a win soon in order to be a strong championship threat.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings – Kentucky

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings – Kentucky

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took center stage at Kentucky Speedway Thursday night. Barring a three-hour rain delay, it was an action filled race. Here are the power rankings following Kentucky.

    1. Christopher Bell – While Bell was the dominant truck throughout the race, it did not come without issues. On lap 28, Bell took a spin in turn 3 bringing out the second caution. Bell had another issue in Stage 2, by being involved in a wreck on lap 43, but came away with no damage. He rebounded by the end of Stage 2 to finish sixth. In the remaining laps of the race, Bell swapped the lead with John Hunter Nemechek until he took the lead for good on lap 114. He eventually held off a hard charging Brandon Jones with just a few laps remaining to score his third win of the year.

    “This is pretty special man,” Bell said. “This is an extremely tough race for me. We had our ups and downs there and through practice yesterday.” “We had such a great Toyota Tundra that I knew, I knew if the right circumstances came up we could do it and Rudy (Fugle) did a great job on top of the pit box just getting me track position after I made a mistake there and spun out.”

    2. Brandon Jones – Jones’s race came with issues as well. After starting sixteenth, Jones slipped back to finish seventh in Stage 1 and ninth in Stage 2. However, on lap 115, Jones and Ryan Truex made contact to bring out the last caution. It took him several laps to rebound, but he challenged for the win and eventually settled for second behind race winner Christopher Bell.

    “Yeah, I’m dying for a win right now for sure,” Jones said. “I was trying everything I could to get to the 4 (Christopher Bell) at the end. Eventually, I finally just started holding my line and you see him trying to move around stuff and try to mess us up a little bit. It was all fun and games for sure. I enjoyed it. It was a great start so far.”

    3. Justin Haley – Haley made his fourteenth career start last night and a career-best third. After starting 10th, Haley had a solid Stage 1 finish by finishing sixth. During Stage 2, Haley led only four laps to finish third. Haley eventually held on to finish where he finished in Stage 2, third.

    “We had a really good night in the No.24 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevy,” Haley said. “We knew track position was going to be key and Kevin (Bellicourt, Crew Chief) worked out great strategy for us.”

    4. Noah Gragson – Gragson had a solid night at Kentucky. After starting eleventh, Gragson finished just two spots ahead in Stage 1 as the truck needed adjustments to get to Gragson’s liking. When Stage 2 began, Gragson started second and assumed the lead on lap 41 to win his first ever stage of his career. However, issues came in Stage 3. Gragson brought out a caution on lap 77 for a collision between him and Austin Cindric but started to work his way to the top. He was up to seventh with 10 laps to go, before eventually finishing in fifth place.

    “We led some laps during the second stage and were in a really good position running seventh to start the third stage,” Gragson said. “I just made a rookie mistake down there running the apron. Not running this track before, I didn’t know there was a bump there and I had a little bit of wheel into it down there in the front stretch and spun out.”

    5. Parker Kligerman – Kligerman has been solid recently in the truck series in 2017. Before Kentucky, Kligerman had only competed in three races and scored just one top 10 coming at Charlotte. Kligerman started in the 30th position after qualifying was rained out. While he did not finish in the top 10 in the first two stages, circumstances worked out for him and he came home to finish seventh, his best finish of the year.

    “Glad we had a solid night and we will take this and keep building on runs like this,” Kligerman said. “Good momentum going into our next few races.”

    Next up: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes a week off, before heading to the famed Eldora Speedway on July 19.

  • Cody Coughlin Nabs Top-15 Finish At Kentucky

    Cody Coughlin Nabs Top-15 Finish At Kentucky

    Cody Coughlin was able to nab a top-15 finish in Thursday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway.

    In the first stage, Coughlin finished in the 20th position after running seventh earlier in the race. In the second stage, he improved his finishing position to sixteenth.

    In the remaining laps during the final stage, Coughlin was inside the top 10 but fell back quickly after his engine let go on the back stretch. Nonetheless, he was able to get to the start/finish line to finish 15th in the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225.

    “That was a bit weird, I had no warning that was going to happen until the engine just let go,” Coughlin said. “It’s disappointing because we had another top-10 finish within our grasp. It was fun racing up there for much of the night. It was certainly wild at times. I’m glad the rain stopped and we were able to get this race in.”

    This was Coughlin’s sixth top-15 finish of his career and his fourth this year.

    Coughlin sits 13th in the driver standings after Kentucky.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview – Kentucky

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview – Kentucky

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action this week after a weekend off. It will be the 10th race of the season for the Truck Series, just six races before the playoffs begin.

    There are 34 entries on the preliminary list for Thursday night’s truck race. In the past five races at Kentucky Speedway, there have been five different winners. Only two of those winners are entered in the race, Matt Crafton and Kyle Busch. Here are some drivers to keep an eye on for tomorrow night’s race.

    1. Kyle Busch – You better believe that whenever Kyle Busch is entered in any race, he’ll have an automatic shot to win. In the past five races, Kyle has raced in three of them with one win and two top fives. However, in his previous outing at Kentucky, Busch crashed out on lap 56, ending his night early.
    2. Matt Crafton – Crafton has had a sour season so far with only two top five and five top 10 finishes in 2017. At Kentucky, he is the highest active driver stat wise. In five races, Crafton has one win plus one top five and one top 10 finish and has led 43 laps. Crafton’s turning point could take place at Kentucky.
    3. Johnny Sauter – Sauter has been decent at Kentucky. He has one top five and three top 10 finishes at Kentucky. Sauter has been strong this season and is looking to continue building his momentum for a chase at the championship.
    4. Christopher Bell – In two races, Bell has one top five and one top 10 finish. With two wins already this season, he’ll be looking to secure a third win as he has no career wins at Kentucky.
    5. John Hunter Nemechek- Nemechek has been on a roll in the past two races, securing two consecutive wins. Nemechek’s track record at Kentucky has not been too shabby with one top five and one top 10 finish. Nemechek has a best finish of second which came in the 2016 race.Qualifying is slated for 5 p.m. ET Thursday, while the race is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET, both on FS1.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings – Iowa

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings – Iowa

    Iowa Speedway was the site for the ninth race of the 2017 season. The race featured a variety of pit strategies and a back to back winner.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek started the race in the fifth position, but quickly fell back in the early going. In Stage 1, he finished in the seventh position. Stage 2 was a better turnout for Nemechek, however, as he worked his way up and finished third. When a late race caution fell, the race leader Sauter stayed out, when the rest of the field, including Nemechek, pitted. Nemechek took four tires on the last pit stop. It wasn’t until six laps to go when he made the pass for the win on Sauter. He would go on to win his second race of the year and it was the first time he went back to back.

    “That’s definitely special,” Nemechek said. “All year, we felt really good about this whole stretch, Gateway, Iowa and Kentucky. So hopefully, we can go to Kentucky and make it three in a row.” Nemechek led once for six laps.

    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter had the truck to beat but in this case he was beaten on a final restart with six laps remaining. After starting fourth, Sauter stayed in the top five for Stage 1 by finishing third. In Stage 2, however, Sauter dominated by taking the lead on Lap 116 and went on to win the second stage. Although, when the late race caution came out with 13 to go, Sauter and his team elected to stay out. This would be costly as he would lose the lead with six to go and finish second.

    “Yeah, you know, obviously, tires prevail here, but we made a great call,” Sauter said. Chase (Briscoe) actually took me to school there. That kid is a hell of a wheelman.”

    Sauter continues to lead the point standings by 42 points over Christopher Bell.

    3. Brandon Jones – Jones was quiet all night until late in the going. It wasn’t until Stage 2, where he finished 10th. Along with the rest of the field, Jones pitted late and took fresher tires. He would rally to finish third, giving him his first top-five of the year.

    “I feel like our Soleus Air Chevy was a strong truck from the drop of the green flag tonight,” Jones said. “Track position was key the whole race, and it got to where you really couldn’t pass anyone once the field strung out. Shane Huffman made a great call to take four tires there with a handful laps left and that was really the difference that let us get up there in the mix. If we would’ve had just a few more laps, I think we definitely could’ve had something for them.”

    4. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger had another decent run this season. He started in the 10th position, stayed around for Stage 1 by finishing ninth. In Stage 2, Enfinger fell outside the top 10. Toward the end of Stage 3, it brought some controversy between Thorsport Racing teammates. Enfinger had accidentally bumped Matt Crafton in Turn 4, thus sending Crafton hard into the wall and ending his night. However, Enfinger went on to finish a solid fourth, but not the best fourth place finish.

    “Yeah I mean, I’m just embarrassed,” Enfinger said. “I was going for the bottom and I thought he (Matt Crafton) was going to go in the middle, and I just came down, it was completely my fault. I mean I just ran him over. I feel terrible.”

    5. Christopher Bell – Bell was a contender throughout most of the night. He would go on to sweep Stage 1. Bell led early in Stage 2, before handing the lead over to Johnny Sauter on Lap 116. Bell went on to finish fourth in Stage 2. After leading early in the race, Bell had to settle for a fifth place finish.

    “We had really fast Toyota Tundra, man”, Bell said. “Out front, it was just lights out- we were really, really good and on the short run too, but the long run was where we excelled. I don’t know man,” Bell continued, “It’s so tough to pass whenever it’s on the bottom and, finally, the top came in and then we could finally start passing guys, but still it’d take way too long to pass them and then- but the yellow came out and that gave us a shot at it and just didn’t work out.”

    Bell continues to be second in the point standings 42 points behind Sauter.

    The race featured four cautions for 34 laps, with five leaders among six lead changes.There is no NASCAR Camping World Truck Series action next weekend as the series is off, but the action returns to Kentucky Speedway Thursday, July 6.

  • Johnny Sauter Comes Up One Spot Short At Iowa

    Johnny Sauter Comes Up One Spot Short At Iowa

    Johnny Sauter was looking for his second win of the year and it looked liked it might come in Iowa.

    After qualifying fourth, Sauter was working his way up quietly. When Stage 1 ended, Sauter wound up in the third position.

    The turning point in the race came during Stage 2. When a caution came out on Lap 108 for a spin on the backstretch, there were varying pit strategies. Eventual race winner, Bell, stayed out, while the rest of the field, including Sauter, pitted.

    After a restart on Lap 113, Bell, on old tires, slipped back, and this saw Sauter take the lead on Lap 116. A caution came out late in the stage, thus ending the race under yellow conditions, which gave Sauter the Stage 2 win.

    In Stage 3, another caution flew with 15 laps to go. It was a carbon-copy of what happened in Stage 1. Sauter was the only driver that stayed out during the final round of pit stops. With the late race restart that came with seven laps to go, Sauter tried holding off the field on old tires. He did so for one lap, then held on to finish in the second position.

    “Yeah, you know, obviously, tires prevail here, but we made the call,” Sauter said. “Chase (Briscoe) actually took me to school there. That kid is a hell of a wheelman.”

    “Great day for GMS and our Allegiant Travel Chevy,” Sauter said. “We probably should’ve had tires there and I should’ve been communicating better with my spotter. All in all, a great day. We just had a good truck, just not good enough.”

    Sauter continues to lead the championship point standings forty-two points over Christopher Bell.

     

  • John Hunter Nemechek Goes Back To Back In 2017

    John Hunter Nemechek Goes Back To Back In 2017

    John Hunter Nemechek won the M&MS 200 at Iowa Speedway Friday night, capturing his second straight victory.

    Noah Gragson set the pole in qualifying, alongside him was Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Christopher Bell, who has won twice this season. Sixty laps each made up Stages 1 and 2, while 80 laps made up the final laps.

    When Stage 1 began, Gragson led early, but it was Bell who took the lead on Lap 17 and never looked back. Bell would go on to win the first stage, which was incident free.

    Stage 2 took place on lap 69; Bell and Chase Briscoe were on the front row after pit stops. While it looked like the stage would remain incident free once again, problems began on Lap 95 for Ben Rhodes, who had a vibration and had to pit from fifth place. The second caution came out on Lap 108 when Mike Senica spun off Turn 2.

    This caution brought many varying pit strategies. The race leader Bell stayed out while the rest of the field pitted.

    Stage 2 went back to green on Lap 113 and Johnny Sauter took the lead away from Bell three laps later. Toward the end of the stage, Kaz Grala and Cody Coughlin made contact on the backstretch to bring out another caution. Rhodes was also involved, getting a flat tire due to contact. NASCAR made the decision to end the stage under caution, to allow clean up due to extensive fluid laid down the track. Sauter ended up winning the second stage.

    Stage 3 got underway with 68 laps to go. Sauter was setting the pace until Briscoe took the lead with 17 laps to go. It looked like the race was going to remain green but Matt Crafton wrecked and hit the wall hard in Turns 3 and 4, due to a bump by his teammate Grant Enfinger. Under this caution, we saw the race-winning call. Sauter stayed out, while others pitted. This also saw eventual race winner, Nemechek, take four tires and restart in the fourth position.

    With seven to go for the restart, Sauter was on old tires as Briscoe made a pass for the lead and held on for one lap. Nemechek made the winning pass with six to go on the backstretch. When he took the checkered flag, there was a wreck involving Harrison Burton and Justin Haley. Both drivers were uninjured.

    “That’s definitely special,” Nemechek said. “All year, we felt really good about this whole stretch, Gateway, Iowa and Kentucky. So hopefully, we can go to Kentucky and make it three in a row.”

    “I can’t say enough,” Nemechek said. “Thank you to all my guys. They’re so determined. They work as many hours as needed. This is fun getting to victory lane.”

    Sauter, Brandon Jones, Enfinger and Bell rounded out the top five. Current Truck Series champion Sauter is the points leader by 42 over second place Bell.

    This was Nemechek’s second win of the year and his fifth career win. He led once for six laps.

    There were five leaders among six lead changes, with four cautions for 34 laps.

    Next Up: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes next weekend off, before heading to Kentucky Speedway Thursday, July 6.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Iowa-NCWTS-result-6-23-17T1709_UNOFFRES.pdf” title=”Iowa NCWTS result 6-23-17T1709_UNOFFRES”]

     

     

  • Camping World Truck Series Preview – Iowa

    Camping World Truck Series Preview – Iowa

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Iowa Speedway this Friday night for race number nine of the 2017 season.

    Currently, there are 34 trucks on the preliminary entry list. In the last five races, there have been three different winners. Erik Jones, who is not entered, is the only repeat winner with victories in 2014 and 2015.

    Here are some of the drivers to keep an eye on during Friday night’s M&M’s 200.

    Matt Crafton – Crafton has one win at Iowa which came in 2011. However, in the last three races at Iowa, he has two top fives and three top 10 finishes, with 33 laps led. Crafton ranks number one among active drivers at Iowa Speedway. He has not won yet this season but looks to turn that around at Iowa.

    John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek is coming off his first win of the season last week. In the last three races at Iowa, Nemechek has one top 10 and one pole, along with 53 laps led. His average finish 15.0, but a win carries momentum into the next race. Keep an eye on Nemechek once again this week.

    Christopher Bell – Bell is having a strong season so far. In Iowa, he has competed in the last two races with a finish of ninth or better. He has one top five and two top ten finishes. Bell is always a threat week in and week out.

    Johnny Sauter – Sauter has been decent in his recent Iowa outings. In the past five races, he has one top five and two top finishes. In his championship season last year, Sauter finished 10th in the 2016 race. Sauter might just sneak a win out on Friday night.

    Ben Rhodes – Rhodes only has one start at Iowa coming in 2016, earning a fourth place finish.

    Drivers To Watch:

    Ryan Truex -Truex has been strong as of late. This season he has placed two top fives and six top 10 finishes, although, Truex has never competed in the Truck Series at Iowa.

    Brandon Jones – Jones is competing in the Truck Series once again this weekend. He has competed in two races at Iowa with the best finish of second in 2015.

    Chase Briscoe – Briscoe has been oh so close this season regarding victory lane. The driver of the No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing F-150 has finished second in the last two races. In 2016, Briscoe competed at Iowa in the ARCA Racing Series and notched a win at the track.

    Noah Gragson – Iowa might be a breakthrough point for Gragson. During his K&N Pro Series days, Gragson has a finish of third, second and sixth, respectively.

    Coverage starts on Friday morning with the first of two practices beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET on Fox Sports 1. Qualifying is slated for 6:05 p.m. ET Friday evening. Race coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. on FS1 and the Motor Racing Network with the green flag scheduled for 8:47 p.m.

     

  • Top Five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings-Gateway

    Top Five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings-Gateway

    The NASCAR Camping Truck Series headed to Gateway Motorsports Park on Saturday night. It was the fourth race for the track since its return in 2014. The race was action packed and featured different pit strategies. Chase Briscoe won his first career pole in the series, alongside him was race winner John Hunter Nemechek.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek had a decent track record coming into Gateway but never had won. Nemechek set the pace early by taking the Stage 1 win. He faltered a little bit in Stage 2 after pit stops but wound up finishing third. After a late race caution with eight laps to go, Nemechek made the pass for the win with six laps to go and held off Chase Briscoe for the win. It was a gutsy pit call by taking fuel only but it paid off.

    “Incredible,” Nemechek said, “I felt like we had the truck to beat if we had track position.” Nemechek led three times for 46 laps.

    2. Chase Briscoe – Briscoe was another contender for the win all night long. After Nemechek took the  Stage 1 win, Briscoe had the dominant truck in Stage 2, ultimately winning the stage. However, a pit stop with 27 laps to go, cost him the win after a miscommunication with his crew. A late race caution came with 13 laps to go, this saw Briscoe come down pit road and take four tires. After the restart, he tried all he could to get to Nemechek, but eventually, settled for second place once again for the second week in a row.

    “Tonight was a really great night for Brad Keselowski Racing and I’m proud of this team,” Briscoe said. “We’ve had fast Ford F-150s at every single race this year, but this was the first time we really dominated.” Briscoe now has five top-five finishes of the year.

    3. Christopher Bell – After starting third, Bell was quietly in contention all night. In Stage 1, he finished fourth, while he finished fifth in the second stage. Bell made his pit stop with 30 laps to go by taking four tires. He was headed straight for the leader with 13 laps to go by taking second before a caution ultimately slowed the pace. Bell was second with two laps to go when Chase Briscoe made a dive bomb move and moved Bell up the track. He eventually got a flat tire and finished sixth.

    “We had a really, really good truck there on the long run after we made our pit stop,” Bell said. “The other guys didn’t take tires and we did so that definitely helped us there and I felt like we were going to have it. We had a really strong JBL Tundra there at the end, but I didn’t get it done on the restart and I feel bad for my guys because they worked really hard.”

    4. Matt Crafton – Crafton was finally looking to break through at Gateway after three years of bad luck there. He finished third in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2. After a miscue by Chase Briscoe’s pit crew, Crafton took the lead with 25 laps to go. A caution came out, however, with 13 laps to go for a stalled truck. He held the lead for two laps after the restart, before eventually getting passed by race winner John Hunter Nemechek. Crafton fell back to a disappointing fourth.

    “Those guys just took two tires, and I was on no tires,” Crafton said. “You win some, you lose some. Everybody is upset, but at the same time, they knew we were here tonight.”

    5. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger was nobody’s pick to win, but he quietly had a solid night finishing in the fifth position.

    “It turned out that way because these guys busted their tails all day,” Enfinger said. “We had a better truck,  I feel like, than fifth, but it gets dicey on the restarts, and you’ve got to put yourself in compromising situations to even have a shot at it.”

    The race featured only three cautions for 17 laps, with five leaders among nine lead changes.

    Johnny Sauter continues to lead the point standings by thirty-eight points over second-place Matt Crafton.

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series now heads to Iowa Speedway Friday night June 23.

  • John Hunter Nemechek Wins The Drivin For Lineman 200 at Gateway

    John Hunter Nemechek Wins The Drivin For Lineman 200 at Gateway

    John Hunter Nemechek won the Drivin For Lineman 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park. It was his first win of the 2017 season and the fourth of his career.

    Thirty-five laps made up stages 1 and 2, while 90 laps made up the final stage.

    Chase Briscoe and John Hunter Nemechek made up the front row in qualifying late in the afternoon.

    After Stage 1 got underway, Nemechek set an obliterating pace and went on to win the first stage, while Briscoe finished second. Varying pit strategies already came into play, with Nemechek taking four tires when Briscoe only took two tires and won the race off pit road. Todd Gilliland was hit with an uncontrolled tire penalty.

    Stage 2 began on lap 43, with Briscoe and Matt Crafton on the front row. It was a battle of track position, as Briscoe got out in front and never looked back. He would go on to win Stage 2 and pick up 10 championship playoff bonus points. More strategies once again took place, as Christopher Bell won the race off pit road by taking two tires, while Nemechek came out fifth.

    Stage 3 was set on lap 77, with Bell and Ryan Truex for the top spots. The race was clean and green, trouble free until Gilliland broke a transmission for the second time of the year, and ended up not finishing the race. Pit stops started to begin with 33 laps to go with Ben Rhodes the first one on pit road. Bell pitted with 30 laps to go and took four tires, Crafton with 29 and the leader Briscoe with 27 laps to go by taking fuel only.

    A miscommunication by the No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing car cost Briscoe a few seconds on pit road and eventually the win. After the pit stops, Crafton went on by and took the lead with 25 laps to go. Bell was coming, going to second with 13 laps to go. However, a caution came out on the same lap for Josh Reaume for stalling on pit road. Chase Briscoe was the only truck among the leaders to come down pit road and take four tires.

    The race was would set up a restart with eight laps to go. Crafton on old tires was able to remain the leader until six laps to go when John Hunter Nemechek took the lead. Nemechek held off Crafton to win his first race of the season.

    Nemechek led three times for 46 laps.

    There were only five leaders among nine lead changes, with three cautions for 17 laps.

    Next up is the Iowa Speedway Friday night June 23 for the Iowa 200.

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