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Category: RC Truck Series

Race Central NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series news and information

Friesen wins at ISM, Truck Series Championship 4 set

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Stewart Friesen wins at ISM Raceway in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series in Friday’s Lucas Oil 150, as the Championship 4 are now officially set for next weekend’s title-deciding race.

“We’ve got a badass piece for next week, too,” stated a confident Friesen, as he locked himself into next Friday’s championship race.

After facing an opening-lap penalty for beating polesitter Austin Hill to the line on the initial start, Friesen battled his way back to the front, leading 44 laps in the 150 lap event.

“It was a great race car,” said Friesen, who was sent to the rear of the field after getting to the stripe ahead of Hill, who spun his tires on the initial start. “We were able to pass ‘em all, pass ‘em all clean.

“Great race car, great race team. We’ll all celebrate tomorrow, and then it’s game on.”

The other three drivers to join him will be Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton and last year’s champion, Brett Moffitt.

“My main concern for the day was getting us locked into the owner points as well,” Moffitt said. “We got both jobs done today.”

Chastain declared points for the Truck series partway through the season, and now finds his team as one of the four who will race for the 2019 title.

“Man, this is crazy — a dream come true though,” Chastain said.

Crafton was below the cutoff line, but was strong all day and earned many points from Stage 1 and 2 to earn his way into Miami.

“I didn’t have anything to lose and everything to gain,” Crafton said. “And that’s the way I drove it from the green flag to the checkered flag.”

Brandon Jones was the highest finishing non-Playoff driver in the runner-up position. With roughly 30 laps remaining, he radioed to his crew to ask about Friesen’s point status. When his crew chief responded that Friesen was essentially locked in, the No. 19 driver drove more aggressively after the leader. He, however, fell short when they battled through lapped traffic.

At the end of the night, two drivers were eliminated: Hill and Tyler Ankrum. Ankrum missed the first three races of the year but was able to make it as far as the Round of 6 before missing the final round. Even he didn’t realize he would make it this far but looked back on the year with much to learn. As he reflected on his year, he felt some races were missed opportunities but was still proud of what he was able to accomplish as one of the bigger underdogs of the field.

“For me, I think there’s one or two races we should have won, but didn’t win,” Ankrum stated when reviewing his first full-time season as a whole. “I think Pocono is one of those. I think I could have done a lot better at Canada finishing wise. Bristol could have been a lot better with electrical issues there and then Las Vegas, burning up two pistons. Stuff like that I look back on and those things are out of my control, and I think we could have had a really good race, then we didn’t.

“In most people’s eyes, we’ve overachieved or exceeded our expectations, which I’m really proud of. For me, personally, I’m really proud of what we’ve done here this year. Not just based off of what we’ve done on the racetrack, but also between what we’ve done as a team working really well together and become a family.”

As for Hill, he knew he needed to stay ahead of Ankrum and Crafton. He started strong by earning the pole in qualifying earlier in the day and was able to outrun Ankrum during the race, who finished six laps down. But Crafton beat Ankrum overall both in finishing position and with points collected with 15 more points. That gave Crafton the edge over Hill by just a handful of points to push Hill below the cutoff line.

“We were getting eaten up on the restarts, and were put in the middle 3-wide sometimes,” Hill shared after the race. “When we had a really long run, we were okay. That last run, we tried to loosen it up but it was the tightest we ever were. We just didn’t perform; we didn’t execute like we were supposed to. We had high hopes after qualifying on the pole, and we just fell back like an anchor.”

The last race of the season will be held next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

November 9, 2019
Truck Series Playoff Drivers Lose the Brawl at Martinsville

For those focused on the Playoff drivers in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, it became a matter of who would be struck down next.

Todd Gilliland prevailed at Martinsville Speedway in an overtime finish, holding off Ross Chastain, who if victorious would have been the first driver to lock himself into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He instead now sits just 20 points above the cutoff line.

The bright side for Chastain is he was the only Playoff driver in the top five.

With no Playoff drivers yet locked into the final race of the season, Martinsville proved yet again that it is fully capable of shuffling the points standings, creating uncertainty, and causing drama and chaos for all the race teams. After Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, and the paperclip short track on Saturday, the Truck series has just one race left to determine who will race for a championship. How did everyone fare at the short track this weekend?

Stage One Winner Suffers Race-Ending Damage

The Stage 1 winner and last year’s series champion, Brett Moffitt, was involved in several incidents throughout the day. That damage eventually caused fatal issues to the engine of the No. 24 Silverado after only 122 of 200 scheduled laps. He would finish in 29th position after leading 80 laps.

“That’s Martinsville. It’s a bummer,” Moffitt said on Fox Sports.

“People just racing too aggressive too early. Everyone at GMS (Racing) gave me a really fast CMR Construction & Roofing Chevrolet. It’s a bummer to see them like this. This was one of those dominant trucks that we’ve had a few times this year. I felt like no matter what as long as we stayed clean, we were gonna win the thing.”

Moffitt recognized quickly though that he dodged a bullet, as many other Playoff drivers also had issues including a “Big One” that brought out a 15-minute red flag.

“I guess the good takeaway is that we have a nice points buffer depending on how this all plays out going into Phoenix,” said the point leader coming into today’s race and after the checkered flag dropped. “Certainly not in a must-win situation. We just gotta go have a good day at Phoenix.”

Crafton Openly Criticizes Spec Engine for Rough Day

Despite having a competitive truck, Matt Crafton stalled under a yellow flag during Stage 2. With pit cycles in front of him, the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford was forced to come down pit road for evaluation. The pit crew changed the battery, the ECU and more regarding electronic and motor concerns before being able to get back onto the track.

“Yeah, exactly, it was horrible,” Crafton said in response to one reporter’s question. “Three of the six (Playoff) trucks out for similar issues where we’re handcuffed and forced to run. We had a phenomenal truck. When I’d fall back, I could be two tenths faster than the leaders there at the end of the race when we were tire for tire. Something out of our control, again.”

It wasn’t too long ago when the spec engine program was under fire. Several NASCAR Truck Series title contenders faced engine failures in the final race of the first playoff elimination round at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this season. Three of the four Thorsport Racing vehicles — Johnny Sauter, Crafton and Grant Enfinger — finished 29th, 30th and 31st in Vegas, respectively. Sauter and Enfinger were the two drivers eliminated from the Playoffs that round because of the finishes. Crafton slid by on points.

On Saturday, Crafton was faced with a very similar issue and now heads to ISM Raceway where he hopes to slide by on points once again.

Big One Collects Two Title Contenders, Nine Trucks in Total

The “Big One” isn’t just for Daytona or Talladega. A nine-truck crash coming out of Turn 2 brought out the red flag for roughly 15 minutes. When the smoke cleared, two more Playoff drivers were caught up in the incident: Austin Hill and Tyler Ankrum.

A slip by one of the front runners bottled up the middle of the pack on a restart. When some drivers attempted three, even four-wide passing out of Turn 2, chaos ensued. Other drivers involved included the regular-season champion Enfinger and Stage 2 winner Sam Mayer — the 2019 K&N Pro Series East champion.

Hill took his truck to the garage and was done for the day. Ankrum tried to return to the race, but could not make minimum speed. He was eventually black flagged, and would finish the day with a DNF. They would finish 25th (Anrkum) and 26th (Hill).

Friesen Recovers to Sixth After Late Spin

On Lap 149, Martinsville attempted to take on another championship contender. Stewart Friesen was battling Sauter when he knocked into Friesen to send him spinning out of Turn 4. The caution would wave, and Friesen would use pit strategy and other yellow flags to climb his way up to sixth.

Friesen didn’t hit anything, and all his competitors avoided him, so he came down pit road for fresh tires and fought his way back up to sixth. He also avoided other wrecks, including two separate incidents on the final lap.

But looking throughout the race, it could have been a much different story. For now, he sits second in points, 35 points above the cutoff line. Currently, no driver is locked in, but he could join Moffitt to potentially lock himself in depending on how he finishes in both stages at the final Round of 6 race.

After a wild race at Martinsville, here’s how the playoff picture looks with no drivers locked in: Moffitt (+45), Friesen (+35), Chastain (+20), Hill (+9), Crafton (-9) and Ankrum (-15). The Truck series will compete next at ISM Raceway with the Lucas Oil 150 (Friday, Nov. 8 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1). Two drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs at the conclusion of that race.

October 27, 2019
Gilliland earns first Truck Series win at Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Todd Gilliland survived an unpredictable race filled with twists and turns to claim his first NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series victory in 46 starts. It is his sixth top five and 13th top-10 finish this season.

The Kyle Busch Motorsports driver led the last 11 laps of the NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 and held off a hard-charging Ross Chastain in an overtime drive to victory lane.

Gilliland described his emotions after the win.

“It feels amazing,” he said. “This place is really hard to win at. This Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra is not as pretty as we hoped it would be when we crossed the start-finish line, but man, it looks even better with water and Gatorade on it. Can’t thank JBL, Toyota, and all the fans enough. Thank you guys for sticking around. I think that was a good finish.”

He was also asked about a comment he made on the team radio concerning team owner Kyle Busch, saying Busch could “stay in his (expletive) motorhome.”

The remark was made in reference to remarks made by Busch earlier this year that indicated he was not pleased with Gilliland’s overall performance, telling him, “You have got to get up on top of the wheel and make it happen.”

Gilliland posted an apology to Busch on Twitter Saturday night.

“Like I’ve said before we should have won by now and it just hasn’t happened. I want to apologize to Kyle Busch for what I said after the race. My emotions got the best of me obviously and a lot went through my head as I took the checkered. Two more wins to chase.”

Ross Chastain finished second for his 17th top-10 of 2019 followed by Johnny Sauter in third, Grant Enfinger in fourth and Timmy Hill who rounded out the top five. It was Hill’s first top five in any of NASCAR’s top three series. Stewart Friesen, Jeb Burton, John Hunter Nemechek, Codie Rohrbaugh and Sheldon Creed placed sixth-10th, respectively.

While Gilliland celebrated, it was a tumultuous race for many of the competitors including most of the Playoff drivers. There were 12 cautions for a total of 80 laps.

Current points leader Brett Moffitt was involved in an accident on Lap 155 and his No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet was severely damaged. He was unable to finish the race and after completing only 122 laps, finished 29th. Moffitt currently has a 45-point margin over Matt Crafton who is fifth in the standings. Crafton had mechanical issues and finished a disappointing 23rd.

An accident on Lap 123 involved nine drivers including playoff drivers, Austin Hill (currently fourth) and Tyler Ankrum (sixth). Ankrum finished 25th followed by Hill in 26th.

The Truck Series heads to ISM Raceway for the Lucas Oil 150 on Nov. 8. The race will determine the four drivers who will contend for the series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

October 26, 2019
Playoff battle in Truck Series stays close

With just three races left before crowning the 2019 champion, the Playoffs points standings in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series is tight, including one championship favorite now below the cutoff line.

Ross Chastain crashed from the lead with six laps remaining, Stewart Friesen was the only Playoff driver to earn any additional Playoff points by winning a stage, and Austin Hill was frustrated at the field when he was unable to find a drafting partner to score additional points at the conclusion of the second stage. It also didn’t help any of the six remaining drivers as none of the Playoff teams could capture the checkered flag to secure their spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. NASCAR issued a post-race penalty on Johnny Sauter to hand the win to then second-place finisher, Spencer Boyd.

Now, only two drivers have more than a 20-point cushion, while the other four are fighting for the last two spots with the last three drivers separated by just two points.

The Truck Series races at Martinsville Speedway and ISM Raceway during their Round of 6 before two are eliminated. Let’s review what happened Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway that shook up the Playoffs.

Chastain Takes Blame for “Big One” in Closing Laps

With six laps to go, Chastain learned the hard way that he can only block once.

Down the backstretch, the inside lane of Grant Enfinger and Harrison Burton had reached the peak of their momentum on Chastain, so the Niece Motorsports driver moved high to start blocking and using the charge from the outside lane. As the field entered Turn 3, Sheldon Creed and Todd Gilliland continued to work together to make a move around Chastain. They first moved high, then down to the middle lane to peek a bumper inside of the leader.

Chastain blocked high successfully but started the carnage when blocking low.

To no fault of his own, Creed hooked the rear bumper of Chastain to send him spinning. Chastain would then collect nine other trucks to create what would be the only “Big One.”

He took all the blame.

“I definitely turned left on (Creed),” he shared with FOX Sports after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “Sorry to everybody that got taken out. My Niece Motorsports boys and girls deserve better. The Car Shield Chevy was fast enough to go compete for the win.

That one’s on me. I’m so glad we get to go onto Martinsville and Phoenix and redeem ourselves to keep winning and press the attack.”

After declaring for the points championship in the Truck series earlier this year, his focus remains the same: that same Truck championship.

“I will go try to win practice, try to win qualifying and try to win the race, and just go execute. That was poor execution on my part. Again, sorry to everybody involved, but we’ll go on and just execute. That’s my job, and that’s what we’re gonna go do.”

Playoff Drivers Struggle Against Controversial Penalties

On Lap 51, NASCAR issued a penalty on two Playoff drivers, as Stewart Friesen and Brett Moffitt were caught locking bumpers to draft away from the pack. They were leading at the time but came down pit road to serve a stop-and-go penalty. While they rallied back to finish fourth and fifth, they both know it could have easily been a different story if a “Big One” had happened while they marched back to the front. Being eligible for the championship just added more to the drama.

“I don’t really know what to say about anything,” Friesen said. “I didn’t see it. I have no idea, no clue. But we were fortunate to get back to the lead lap and get a fifth out of it.”

Although Moffitt has a 45 point buffer above the cutoff line, he wanted proof of their two trucks locking bumpers. The hard part is that no television coverage could catch exactly when they were locking bumpers.

“I would love to see it, love to see where we locked bumpers because I was very conscious of it and staying off him, giving him a bubble,” Moffitt shared after the race. “I would love to see proof. Everyone’s pushing the limit.

“Now had that played out like Daytona where we (went to) the back and ended up in a wreck I’d be a little more upset about it, but the fact we had really good Chevrolets here and were able to rebound – all three of us. It’s frustrating but ultimately we did our job and out-pointed everyone in the playoffs.”

Sheldon Creed (front) and Brett Moffitt (back) appear to potentially lock bumpers driving through the tri-oval, but no penalty was issued. Photo courtesy of Stephanie McLaughlin with Speedway Media.

To make matters more controversial about the call, there were other instances throughout the race where two trucks would clearly lock bumpers and serve no obligated penalty. Possibly the biggest missed call was on the final lap.

Eventual race winner Boyd locked bumpers with Riley Herbst to create a run to the lead. The attempted pass between Herbst and Sauter caused Sauter to go below the yellow line, which is not allowed at all by the leader. Sauter would be penalized and hand the win to Boyd.

“So those are tough calls and I think there were several instances where we were all looking at each other,’‘Is that too much? Is that too much?’” said NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller who addressed media questions on the officiating calls after the race. “So, there was really no other choice but to make that call (on Moffitt and Friesen).”

However, the same driving that NASCAR claimed Moffitt and Friesen did was also executed by Boyd and Herbst fighting for the win on the final lap. No call was made.

Austin Hill Frustrated with Competition and Lack of Stage Points

While Hill is currently in the third position in the Playoffs, he sure would like to have more of a points gap going into the next two races. He clearly understood how valuable stage points are in a time like now, and with a points structure where each position is just one point, it’s a spot in the season where every point matters.

Austin Hill (No. 16) had trouble finding drafting help, as depicted here. Ross Chastain (No. 45) would get drafting help from behind, while competitors behind Hill would find a way to battle around. Photo courtesy of Stephanie McLaughlin with Speedway Media.

But for some reason, Hill just wasn’t able to find a drafting partner to work with during the race. That cost him valuable spots, and eventually valuable points by not executing strongly at the conclusion of either stage.

“I was really frustrated all day about that,” Hill said. “I didn’t really have any help from anybody – whether a Toyota was behind me or anyone else. It didn’t matter. No one seemed to want to work with me. It was tough all day.

“We were leading that second stage and with two (laps) to go, they had such a big run, there was no way to really block that outside lane coming. I tried to stay on the bottom because I knew I had two Toyotas behind me and then they bailed on me.”

That tough fighting and loss of potential points could be vital as the Round of 6 continues. Hill finished the race in sixth but collected just 35 points. In comparison, Moffitt and Friesen finished fourth and fifth and collected 51 and 48 points respectively — over 10 stage points each more than Hill.

After the race, Hill now sits just 12 points above the cutoff line.

“Still a decent points day, just not what we wanted. At least we didn’t end up on the wrecker like a few of them did. All in all, it was a decent points day and we’ll go on to Martinsville.”

October 13, 2019
Boyd wins Truck Series race after Sauter black-flagged
The Sugarland Shines 250 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race was relatively calm until the checkered flag flew. Originally, Johnny Sauter was named as the race winner. But, in the end, it was Spencer Boyd and the No. 20 Youngs Motorsports who provided the ultimate upset after NASCAR ruled that Sauter forced Riley Herbst below the yellow line. Sauter was penalized after the finish and Boyd was declared as the ultimate victor at Talledega Superspeedway.

“A guy like me was pretty happy finishing second to Johnny Sauter, then 30 seconds later, they’re like you won and I’m like, man, second doesn’t feel so good anymore,” Boyd told MRN Radio. “This is awesome. Tyler Young and the whole Young family, I started out in the 20 Truck this year, we started out strong. Finished fourth at Daytona, had A1 Auto on board for most of the year. I knew we had a good Superspeedway truck and I wasn’t driving this thing two weeks ago.”

“Alabama Roofing Professionals coming on board, putting this deal together. My mom and dad coming out here to watch me race, they don’t make it all of them, it’s awesome! Freedom Warranty, Kickass Beef Jerky, there’s so many people. The Young family is a small team, but they’re making moves, Gus Dean and Tyler Dippel, we got a great group of guys. The guys work hard, the spotter (Freddie Kraft) was amazing, my crew, no mistakes on pit road all day. Really blessed to be here right now, I’m so excited!”

Talladega Superspeedway was the beginning of the Round of 6 in the 2019 Playoffs. After an unfortunate outcome at Vegas, Matt Crafton qualified on the pole. Among the other five playoff drivers Tyler Ankrum qualified second, Brett Moffitt was eighth, Stewart Friesen was 10th, Austin Hill qualified 13th and Ross Chastain will start in 17th.

Stages were 20/20/54 to make up the 94 lap race. Jordan Anderson was the only driver sent to the rear after missing the driver’s meeting.

Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 20

The first caution of the race came out on Lap 8 for the No. 18 of Harrison Burton who spun around in the tri-oval. Ross Chastain had to come down pit road after having a flat tire. There was no major damage to either truck. The red flag eventually was flown as the No. 33 of Mason Massey blew up which caused an extensive cleanup.

Stage 1 went back green on Lap 14 and it remained green the rest of the way until Lap 20 with
Sheldon Creed taking the stage victory. Moffitt, Chastain, John Hunter Nemechek, Friesen, Riley Herbst, Hill, Ben Rhodes, Todd Gilliland and Austin Wayne Self rounded out the top-10 finishers for Stage 1.

Stage 2: Lap 26- Lap 40

Chastain was the race leader to begin the stage as he stayed out under the stage yellow. Speaking of yellows, the second caution flew on Lap 29 for the No. 02 of Tyler Dippel who hit the wall on the backstretch after slight contact with Timothy Peters.

Nemechek also had damage to his hood after a few drivers ahead of him checked up. He eventually went to the garage and wound up with a disappointing 30th place finish.

After the only caution for Stage 2, the leaders were able to race out until Lap 40. Grant Enfinger played strategy by pitting with three to go and assumed the lead when Stage 3 began.

This time around, Friesen ended up winning the stage. Moffitt, Wayne Self, Creed, Sauter, Ankrum, Gus Dean, Anthony Alfredo, Gilliland and Crafton were the top-10 finishers for Stage 2.

Stage 3: Lap 46- Lap 98

A few laps after Stage 3, technical teammates, Friesen and Moffitt were penalized for locking bumpers and had to serve a pass-through penalty.

On Lap 65, the final round of green-flag pit stops began. There were no incidents, other than Clay Greenfield, Ankrum, Friesen and Moffitt who were penalized for being too fast on pit road. After the stops cycled out, Sauter went back to the lead on Lap 74. However, just as soon as stops were done, a caution occurred on Lap 81 for Alfredo who spun prior to the tri-oval.

This set up a restart with eight to go and another caution flag was flown on Lap 87 for a wreck in Turn 4. Chastain went to throw a block to protect the lead but ended up wrecking instead. Codie Rohrbaugh, Timothy Peters, Natalie Decker, Greenfield, Bryan Dauzat and Enfinger were all involved. The red flag was brought out again for clean up.

A late-race restart came with three to go but there was another caution for Dean and his No. 12 machine who went sliding and hit hard on the backstretch wall.

Eventually, this set up an overtime restart with two to go. Sauter was out front and doing everything he needed to do to protect his lead for a possible race win. When the checkered flag flew on Lap 98, Sauter was the first truck to cross the line but it was later determined that he forced a truck (Herbst) under the yellow line coming to the finish, which is not allowed.

Because of this, Sauter did not end up winning and it was later determined that Boyd won instead.

“I knew we could draft up and make a lot of moves, and take the surges pretty easily, it felt really good,” Boyd added to MRN Radio. “We could go from 20th to fifth, back to 20th and we rode for a little bit. The next thing you know, my spotter Freddie, three to go, we’ve got to go and be aggressive when I tell you to fill a whole. We did it, we got to the middle and avoided that wreck, that was crazy. We were taking the runs when we could, I pushed the 51 (Herbst), just pushing them was exciting. Then I was in second and Johnny was up there doing his thing and we ended up winning at the end of the day.”

“I’ll take the call, four years ago I was selling cars. For me to be in NASCAR’s victory lane is amazing, my family has done so much.”

Boyd just led one lap and it was the last one, which was the most important one. Sauter, who was the original victor ended up 14th.

There were seven cautions for 29 laps and two red flags that slowed the Sugarland Shines 250. There were 24 lead changes among 15 drivers.

Playoff Standings
1. Brett Moffitt, +45
2. Stewart Friesen, +22
3. Austin Hill, +12
4. Matt Crafton, +1
  Below the cut line
5. Tyler Ankrum, -1
6. Ross Chastain, -2
Official Results
1. Spencer Boyd, led one lap
2. Todd Gilliland
3. Riley Herbst
4. Brett Moffitt, led seven laps
5. Stewart Friesen, led eight laps
6. Austin Hill, led two laps
7. Tyler Ankrum, led six laps
8. Matt Crafton, led one lap
9. Sheldon Creed, led 20 laps
10. Grant Enfinger, led three laps
11. Harrison Burton
12. Ben Rhodes
13. Korbin Forrister
14. Johnny Sauter, led 28 laps
15. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down
16. Natalie Decker, one lap down
17. Bryan Dauzat, one lap down
18. Norm Benning, two laps down
19. Jesse Iwuji, two laps down
20. Gus Dean, OUT, Crash
21. Jordan Anderson, eight laps down
22. Ross Chastain, OUT, Crash
23. Timothy Peters, OUT, Crash
24. Codie Rohrbaugh, OUT, Crash
25. Clay Greenfield, OUT, Crash
26. Brennan Poole, OUT, Rear end
27. Jennifer Jo Cobb, OUT, 19 laps down
28. Angela Ruch, OUT, Engine
29. Austin Wayne Self, OUT, Overheating
30. John Hunter Nemechek, OUT, Radiator
31. Tyler Dippel, OUT, Crash
32. Mason Massey, OUT, Engine
Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series takes a couple of weeks off once more before returning to the track on Saturday, October 26.
October 12, 2019
Weekend Schedule for Road America and Canada

The NASCAR Xfinity Series competes at Road America this weekend with JR Motorsport’s Justin Allgaier as the 2018 defending race winner. The Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park where Justin Haley won the event last year.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is off this week but will return next weekend at Darlington Raceway.

Please check below for the complete schedule.

All times are Eastern.

Road America

Friday, Aug. 23

1:35 p.m. – 2:25 p.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – NBC Sports App

3:35 p.m. – 4:55 p.m.: Xfinity Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App

Saturday, Aug. 24

11:40 a.m. – Xfinity Series Qualifying – Multi-car/Two rounds – NBC Sports App Live/NBCSN Tape Delay at 1:30 p.m.

3 p.m.: Xfinity Series CTECH Manufacturing 180 (45 laps/182.16 miles) – NBCSN/ MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Canadian Tire Motorsports Park

Saturday, Aug. 24

9:35 a.m. – 10:25 a.m.: Truck Series First Practice – No TV

11:35 – 12:55 p.m.: Truck Series Final Practice – No TV

Sunday, Aug. 25

9:35 a.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – Multi-truck/Two rounds – FS2

2:30 p.m. – Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 (64 laps/157.37 miles) – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

August 23, 2019
Playoff contender Brett Moffitt wins at Bristol
Start first and finish first was the name of the game for the GMS Racing driver Brett Moffitt as he took home the win Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was Moffitt’s third win of the season and locks him into the Round of 6 as the Playoffs continue.

“This is unbelievable,” Moffitt excitedly told MRN Radio. “I’ve had runs in the past where I’m decent but I never felt confident at this track. There’s so much that can happen, but man, getting the first win here and having Junior Johnson on the hood of this truck and to go to victory lane at Bristol, Tennessee up here in the mountains, you know where Moonshine is started.”

“It’s so cool to have him on this truck and honor him at this place, but to win in this round and get locked in is truly unbelievable and the best win of the season thus far. So it’s all good.”

Moffitt and another playoff championship contender, Ross Chastain, started on the front row.

Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 57

Stage 1 only saw one incident that took place on Lap 4 for Sheldon Creed, Jordan Anderson and Jesse Little for an accident in Turn 2. Other than that, Niece Motorsports driver Ross Chastain went on to win the first stage with a dominant truck.

Moffitt, Johnny Sauter, Ben Rhodes, Chandler Smith, Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen, Tyler Ankrum, John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill rounded out the top-10 stage finishers for Stage 1. Sauter, Rhodes, Harrison Burton, Grant Enfinger and Hill were among the drivers to pit under the stage break.

Stage 2: Lap 66 – Lap 112

Stage 2 saw a lot more action. On Lap 68, a caution came out for the returning Angela Ruch who went spinning on the front stretch. Then, on Lap 77, Nemechek wrecked on the front stretch after Sauter got loose off of Turn 4. During the incident, Nemechek also collected Sauter as he turned down on the track with Sauter receiving right front fender damage.

These were the only incidents that happened in Stage 2 but this time Moffitt took the stage win after Chastain nearly dominated once again. However, during the stage break, the Florida native was penalized for a safety violation and was sent to the rear of the field.

Chastain, Smith, Crafton, Friesen, Ankrum, Rhodes, Raphael Lessard, Enfinger and Sam Mayer completed the top-10 stage finishers for Stage 2.

Stage 3: Lap 121- Lap 200

The third and final stage saw the most action. On Lap 131 Tyler Dippel spun in Turn 2 after contact with Brennan Poole. Dylan Lupton and Timmy Hill were also involved. On Lap 137 Natalie Decker brought out the caution again. During the caution, Ankrum reported his engine was skipping intermittently. Burton also had a broken shock mount to his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck.

The caution came out once again with 48 to go for Friesen and Crafton. Both had made contact in one of the turns after Crafton got a little bit sideways and then got into Friesen and sent Friesen into the wall. On Lap 168, Jennifer Jo Cobb went around after Rhodes made slight contact with her. After the incident, the replays showed Rhodes was trying to lift and not make contact but eventually did.

During the last 27 laps, it seemed the race would take forever with a stop and go for caution. Lessard went spinning around in Turn 1 with 24 to go after contact with Chastain. Meanwhile, Sauter made contact with the inside wall. With 17 to go, Gus Dean, Decker and Dippel were involved and had damage to their trucks.

Under the caution, Decker was trying to get the push truck to back off as she had her truck fired but the push truck did not realize it and eventually sent Decker around on the surface. The race was red-flagged with 14 to go due to oil on the track and to allow fans to see a run to the finish.

The final caution of the night took place with eight to go, as rookie Mayer hit the wall. This would set up a three-lap dash for an exciting finish. Moffitt, the 2018 Truck Series champion, was able to fend off rookie Smith in a thrilling battle to the checkered flag.

“We got the next two races where we can go race aggressive and try to get more points for the following round, but this is a lot of pressure off our race team,” Moffitt added to MRN Radio.

With the win, Moffitt moves onto the Round of 6 and will not have to worry about Canada or Las Vegas.

There were 12 cautions for 73 laps with nine lead changes among three drivers.

Playoff Points Standings after Bristol:
1. Brett Moffitt (W, Advanced to Round of 6)
2. Ross Chastain, -16
3. Stewart Friesen, -24
4. Matt Crafton, -28
5. Grant Enfinger, -28
6. Johnny Sauter, -38
7. Austin Hill, -41
8. Tyler Ankrum, -51
Official Results
1. Brett Moffitt, led 65 laps
2. Chandler Smith
3. Ross Chastain, led 78 laps
4. Stewart Friesen
5. Grant Enfinger, led 57 laps
6. Sheldon Creed
7. Matt Crafton
8. Ben Rhodes
9. Todd Gilliland
10. Austin Hill
11. Johnny Sauter
12. Raphael Lessard
13. Parker Kligerman
14. Ryan Sieg
15. Austin Wayne Self
16. Landon Huffman
17. Timmy Hill
18. Gus Dean
19. Brennan Poole, One lap down
20. Tyler Ankrum, Seven laps down
21. Sam Mayer, OUT, Crash
22. Jennifer Jo Cobb, Seven laps down
23. Harrison Burton, Eight laps down
24. Tyler Dippel, OUT, Crash
25. Natalie Decker, OUT, Crash
26. Clay Greenfield, OUT, Steering
27. Dylan Lupton, OUT, Dvp
28. Jordan Anderson, OUT, Engine
29. John Hunter Nemechek, OUT, Crash
30. Angela Ruch, OUT, Crash
31. J.J. Yeley, OUT, Transmission
32. Jesse Little, OUT, Crash
Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads north of the border where they will continue the Round of 8 at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday, August 25.
August 15, 2019
Weekend Schedule for Bristol-2

NASCAR heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend. The Gander Outdoors Truck Series will feature the first race in Round 1 of their championship Playoffs while the Xfinity Series has five races remaining in the regular season. The Monster Energy Cup Series will close out the weekend with three to go.

Kurt Busch is the defending Cup Series race winner, Kyle Larson won the Xfinity Series Food City 300 last year and Johnny Sauter will be trying to repeat his August 2018 win at Bristol in the Truck Series.

All times are Eastern.

Thursday, August 15

9:05 a.m. – 9:55 a.m.: Truck Series First Practice – No TV
10:05 a.m. – 10:55 a.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – NBC Sports App
11:05 a.m. 11:55 a.m.: Truck Series Final Practice – No TV
1:35 p.m.2:25 p.m. Xfinity Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App
4:35 p.m. Truck Series Qualifying Impound (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions) – 7 p.m. Tape Delay on FS1
8:30 p.m.: Truck Series UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics (Stages 55/110/200 Laps = 100.6 Miles) – FS1/MRN

Friday, August 16

11:05 a.m. 11:55 a.m.: Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN
1:05 p.m. 1:55 p.m. Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN
4:05 p.m. Xfinity Series Qualifying Impound (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions) – NBCSN
5:35 p.m. Cup Series Qualifying Impound (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions) – NBCSN/PRN
7:30 p.m. Xfinity Series Food City 300 (Stages 85/170/300 Laps = 159.9 Miles) – NBCSN/PRN

Saturday, August 17

7:30 p.m.: Cup Series Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (Stages 125/250/500 Laps = 266.5 Miles) – NBCSN/PRN

Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

August 14, 2019
Grant Enfinger claims regular season title

Coming into the Corrigan Oil 200, ThorSport Racing driver Grant Enfinger knew he had an excellent chance to win the regular-season title giving him an automatic lock into the Playoffs, despite not winning a single race this year.

Only something catastrophic like not starting the race would have prevented the Alabama native from winning the title. Even though we’ve seen crazier things in NASCAR, Enfinger was able to fire up his truck and was declared the regular-season champion.

“It’s been a hard road for the most weekends out of the year but I feel like we’re making the most out of every opportunity,” Enfinger said to MRN Radio. “I think God has blessed us with everything we need, everything we wanted.”

“We’ve been close to some checkered flags but today was not one of them. We still overcame a lot from yesterday. We had a terrible F-150 yesterday but we had a good one today, capable of running up front. Really big to get this regular-season championship for the driver points, as well as the owner points. That’s a big deal for the Playoffs. I can’t say thank you enough to Duke and Rhonda Thorson, everybody at ThorSport Racing. LTI Printing who came on this weekend, Champion Power Equipment, Curb Records, Protect The Harvest, everyone who lets us do this.”

This is the first time in Enfinger’s career that he has won the regular-season championship.

He finished sixth and third in both stages in the Corrigan Oil 200 to complete what has been a successful season so far for the Alabama native. He has earned seven top fives and 13 top-10 finishes along with two poles and 236 laps led.

Enfinger will be seeded second when the Playoffs begin Thursday night, August 15 at Bristol Motor Speedway. He also is seeded second in the owners’ championship.

August 10, 2019
Austin Hill holds off Creed and Dippel in overtime win
In an overtime restart, Austin Hill in No. 16 Hattori Racing Toyota was able to hold off Sheldon Creed and Tyler Dippel for his second win of the 2019 season.

“I definitely didn’t want to do a green-white-checkered; we were kind of close on fuel,” Hill told MRN Radio. “I got a really good push out the back by the 18 (Harrison Burton), kind of propelled us and put us out front, then I just started to throw blocks and luckily, they were racing two and three wide out back and kind of gave us a gap out front, we were able to keep that gap.”

“I thought the 2 (Sheldon Creed) was going to have a shot at it going into (Turn) 3, he got a really big run but we were able to protect that bottom because that’s the lane he was trying to go. Can’t thank Hino, AISIN enough for coming on board.”

It was the regular-season finale Saturday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway for the Truck Series regulars. Drivers like Sheldon Creed, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland, Tyler Dippel, Gus Dean and Ben Rhodes had one more shot to make it into the Playoffs with a win.

Fan-favorite Ross Chastain sat on the pole in his No. 45 Niece Motorsports truck with Christian Eckes on the outside pole. Playoff potential Matt Crafton had issues with his clutch during qualifying and made an engine change to be the cautious side, therefore had to start in the back.

Stages were broken into 20/20/60 to make up the 100 lap race.

Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 20

Nothing major happened in Stage 1 to bring out the caution. However, Tyler Ankrum and Austin Wayne Self were posted for a start violation and both were black flagged and had to serve a pass-through penalty.

Norm Benning never had the chance to get his truck started when the command to Start Your Engines was issued. Benning unfortunately had to sit out for the rest of the race, not completing a single lap and wound up 32nd.

Chastain went on to lead every lap in Stage 1 to take the stage win. Ben Rhodes, Eckes, Bret Moffitt, Todd Gilliland, Grant Enfinger, Austin Hill, Harrison Burton, Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton rounded out the top-10 finishers in the first stage.

With his consistency throughout the season, Enfinger was able to lock up the regular-season title by just starting the race.

A melee broke out on pit road during the stage break. The No. 9 of Codie Rohrbaugh was trying to pull into his pit for a scheduled pit stop but made contact with Chastain and Sauter who were trying to pull out at the same time. Chastain suffered major damage from the incident and would wind up not finishing the race.

Gilliland was sent to the rear for a crew member over the wall too soon. Wayne Self was also sent to the rear for passing on the left on pit road.

Stage 2: Lap 27- Lap 40

Only one incident brought out the caution during the second stage on Lap 32 as Christian Eckes spun off Turn 2 due to a flat tire. This would be the only caution during Stage 2.

With Chastain out of the race, Moffitt played pit strategy by staying out and taking the lead going into Turn 1 with three laps to go. Moffitt hung on to win Stage 2.

Hill, Enfinger, Jordan Anderson, Rhodes, Self, Dean, Gilliland, Creed and Bayley Currey rounded out the top-10 finishers for the second stage.

There were no incidents during the stage break on pit road.

Stage 3: Lap 47- Lap 105

There were a few laps of green flag racing before the caution flew once again on Lap 56. This time it was the No. 04 of Cory Roper who slapped the Turn 2 wall and suffered right rear damage. Roper would eventually be out of the race with a broken track bar. He finished a disappointing 28th. TJ Bell who was driving the No. 38 Niece Motorsports truck was also out for the rest of the day due to a mechanical issue. Hill was sent to the rear for speeding on pit road.

Moffitt and Self stayed out under caution to assume the lead. However, neither could make it on fuel and would be six laps short to finish if the race remained green the rest of the way. But, another caution broke out on Lap 65 for Rohrbaugh, who spun off the exit of Turn 4. This saw race leaders Moffitt and Self pit under caution with Sauter also making a pit stop.

The race had a short green flag run until 15 laps to go when Eckes found trouble once again with a right rear flat that went down causing him to spin out. During the green flag run, Rhodes suffered a flat tire, ending any chance to compete for the championship.

The restart came with 10 laps to go and it was crunch time for many drivers who needed a win and were close on fuel for the finish. Fortunately, some of those drivers caught a break with another caution flying again for Eckes with eight to go.

This set up a restart with four to go that saw Ankrum, Hill, Crafton and Moffitt in the top spots. When the restart came Crafton accidentally pushed Ankrum a little too hard which then sent him spinning in front of the field collecting Natalie Decker, Alfredo and Sauter. The DGR-Crosley drivers had the most damage with Sauter able to pull away.

With the wreck, the race went into overtime with five extra laps added to the originally advertised distance. Despite the overtime finish and drivers like Dippel and Creed giving it one last shot, the Winston, Georgia native was able to hang on and win for the second time this season.

“Our Toyota Tundra was really fast today, Hill said.”We had to come from the back. I sped on pit road, had issues on getting the right front tire off all day long. We had to fight a lot of adversity. This is a brand new truck for us, to be able to go one for one with it, it’s an awesome way to start this truck off. With playoffs being next week, this gives us a confidence booster going forward.”

There were 11 lead changes among 17 lead changes with eight cautions for 35 laps.

Playoff Seedings
1. Brett Moffitt
2. Grant Enfinger -3
3. Stewart Friesen -8
4. Ross Chastain -10
5. Austin Hill -10
6. Matt Crafton -11
7. Johnny Sauter -13
8. Tyler Ankrum -17
Official Results
1. Austin Hill
2. Sheldon Creed
3. Tyler Dippel
4. Brett Moffitt
5. Austin Wayne Self
6. Bayley Currey
7. Grant Enfinger
8. Stewart Friesen
9. Ray Ciccarelli
10. Matt Crafton
11. Harrison Burton
12. Johnny Sauter
13. Gus Dean
14. Jordan Anderson
15. Christian Eckes
16. Trey Hutchens
17. Codie Rohrbaugh
18. Josh Reaume
19. Jennifer Jo Cobb
20. Joe Nemechek
21. Jesse Iwuji
22. Spencer Boyd
23. Ben Rhodes, Two laps down
24. Todd Gilliland, OUT, Crash
25. Tyler Ankrum, OUT, Crash
26. Anthony Alfredo, OUT, Crash
27. Natalie Decker, OUT, Crash
28. Cory Roper, OUT, Crash
29. T.J. Bell, OUT, Clutch
30. Ross Chastain, OUT, Crash
31. Camden Murphy, OUT, Vibration
32. Norm Benning, OUT, Engine
Up Next: The Round of Eight starts at Bristol Motor Speedway Thursday, August 15 live on Fox Sports 1.
August 10, 2019