Category: Truck Series

Two years ago when NASCAR announced that the Camping World Truck Series would be going north of the border to Canada to turn left and right at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, there were a lot of skeptics on whether the trucks could put on a good show. After a pair of exciting races over the past two years, there’s proof in the pudding that it was a good plan for series officials.

Beyond producing solid passing zones throughout the whole course, whether the bottom of the hill in turn one, or through the middle portion of the track with the carousel, or through the esses as they head back to the front stretch, the finishes to each of the races have been exciting to watch from a fan’s perspective. All the reasons why most fans got into racing could be summed up simply based on the pair of finishes.

The inaugural event featured a late-race duel between Chase Elliott and Ty Dillon that ultimately resulted in Dillon wrecked and Elliott in Victory Lane. On top of that, Max Papis and Mike Skeen were mad at each other for late race contact, with Skeen’s girlfriend giving Papis a slap post-race. The race had everything that gets people involved in NASCAR – close racing, contact, passion and some fighting.

Last season marked another great event, producing a late race battle between German Quiroga and Ryan Blaney. The pair raced for the lead back and forth throughout the final three laps, with Blaney edging Quiroga at the line to leave the fans on the edge of their seats.

“That was a lot of fun racing with German,” Blaney commented post-race. “We raced really hard and really clean, and that’s how racing should be. It was so much fun racing with him. I felt in the back of my mind that we were going to be close on fuel and I kept watching my fuel gauge the last seven laps or so and it would bounce to red every now and again but luckily I held on to it and Chad did a good job calculating fuel mileage. We didn’t qualify really good, but great call and strategy as it paid off in the end. That was a lot of fun.

With neither of the previous two winners entered in this weekend’s event, the series will see their third straight different winner. Who will that driver be?

Championship contenders Erik Jones and Matt Crafton have been fast at CTMP in the past, with previous top-10 finishes, highlighted by Jones’ third place finish last year. Reddick, the current points leader, will enter this weekend racing on a road course for the first time. Depending on how well he adapts will determine whether he has success; notably, he’s racing for the team that won the race last year, and will have road course ace Alex Tagliani as a teammate.

Certainly the Canadian fans will be cheering on Quebec-native Tagliani, but also Calgary, Alberta’s Cameron Hayley. Hayley is currently in the midst of his first full season of competition, racing for ThorSport Racing. He finished 11th last year in his series debut.

Though beyond those mentioned, the possibility of who will visit victory lane at the end of the event is endless as it will depend upon who can keep the rubber on the road, avoid trouble and play the right strategy. Regardless, though, the event has proven to be a fan-favorite of drivers, as John Wes Townley commented pre-season, “It’s nice to be able to do something a little different once and a while; it’s nice to turn right after a whole year of turning left.”

The success of the event has everybody happy, from the drivers who get to take on the unique experience, to the Canadian fans who get to see a show for once on their side of the border. While NASCAR is American-based for the most part, there are many Canadians who follow the series, watching each of the races every week on TV and discuss them among the fans. There’s always been the fact that if you wanted to see a race, you had to cross the border. Certainly, a lot of fans do that as Michigan International Speedway reports that 40 percent of their fans are Canadian. Though for some fans, there’s not enough money to pay for the tickets, the hotel and the fuel to get down there – along with other costs. That’s why having a race in their backyard is a welcome addition.

The success of the event and having over 75,000 people on hand lined along the front stretch grass seating area, as well as in some of the turns to witness the action only NASCAR can deliver certainly also has the track ownership happy, too.

“It’s been a great evolution for us to host one of the three NASCAR major series,” CTMP track co-owner Ron Fellows commented back in March. “I guess we were initially pleasantly surprised with the success the event has had, the Chevrolet Silverado 250. We’re excited to bring it back for a third year.”

With the success of the truck event, there have been discussions stirred around about a possible XFINITY race happening at CTMP in the future. Fellows would love to see the facility host an additional NASCAR event in the future.

Before Wednesday night, Tyler Reddick had never raced at Bristol Motor Speedway. Despite the inexperience, he was able to come away with a solid top-10 finish and the points lead.

“With Tyler in the points lead, ending up in the top-10 at one of the tracks that circled as being as tough one, for him to do just that, it was a good overall day for BKR,” team owner Brad Keselowski commented.

Starting from the 19th spot, Reddick ran outside of the top-10 during the first half of the race, and was only up to 12th when the red flag was displayed for rain falling with 34 laps to go. NASCAR was able to get the track dried and the race restarted, in which through a pair of restarts, Reddick made his way into the top-10, crossing the finish line in the eighth spot. As a result, he continues to lead the Camping World Truck Series standings, six points ahead of Matt Crafton.

Admittedly, Reddick perhaps got a little lucky through the process in keeping the points lead. Crafton was leading the race under the red flag after inheriting the lead when Cole Custer got involved in a wreck. At the time of red flag, Crafton said that he would be fine if they called the race, but also felt that he had a strong enough truck to win the race flat-out

“I’m Indian, so maybe I could do a little maybe Indian rain dance so we’re done here and keep the rain coming,” he added and perhaps, that would’ve been a good idea. Crafton continued to lead the field till the caution came out with two laps to go for an incident just outside of the top-10. On the restart, the No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra burped a little, resulting in the loss of the lead and a seventh place finish. Fellow points counter Erik Jones finished sixth to currently sit seven points behind Reddick.

While Crafton enters this season looking for his third straight championship, this season marks Reddick’s first full-season of competition in the Camping World Truck Series after running a limited number of races last season. He has impressed his boss as Keselowski stated post-race that the young man has showed a lot of poise.

“It’s great to see, especially with loads of talent,” Keselowski commented. “He’s in a really critical stretch and we know it as this is a three, four-race span with tracks that he’s never been too, never raced and he has the points lead. You want to talk about pressure – that’s pressure. Never ran a road course in his life and he’s going to Canada with the points lead in the truck series.

“I give him a lot of credit. He’s a lot less nervous than I would be in his shoes, and he’s doing a great job along the way trying to take it to the next level.”

Keselowski also believes that it’s time for his organization to win their first championship based on the product that they’re bringing to the track.

“This is by far our best year as a company and I don’t think that’s by mistake,” he added. “We’ve grown, whether with people or resources with the help of Ford and time. He’s got a serious shot at winning the championship with the points lead right now. Our teams and trucks have never been faster or stronger, and I think he’s taking that in great stride.”

On Wednesday night, Ryan Blaney experienced both sides of the coin as he was down a lap at one point, but was able to rebound to score the victory in the UNOH 200.

“I remember growing up here, watching my dad race,” Blaney said. “To do it in that fashion, coming from a lap down and being able to drive through the field like that, it says a lot about our race team and what we can do as an organization and it’s really special to get Cooper Standard and Ford back in victory lane.”

Blaney led the first 41 laps of the event after starting second but jumped the restart at lap 41. He then headed down pit road, serving a pass-thru penalty, going a lap down. Blaney commented that he felt that penalty was unwarranted and that Cole Custer had laid back a lot on the restart, saying Custer was a car length behind him.

“To me, he didn’t maintain caution speed at all,” Blaney explained. “As soon as the caution car pulled off, he stopped pretty much and I maintained speed. He was going to try and get a run, which is what you have to do if you’re on the bottom to have a shot at it and I wasn’t going to give him that run. I went as soon as I got to the mark, or maybe half a car-length early and it made it look worse than it was with him as slow as he was.”

Blaney added that he was pretty shocked that he got black-flagged for the restart rather than a simple warning as “every restart you see with someone going early, you typically see people just get a warning.”

Getting the lucky dog at lap 80, Blaney was given his chance to rebound. Blaney would then make a pit stop at lap 113 to have newer tires than the rest of the leaders under his No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford.

“When the caution came out, there were six trucks behind us,” crew chief Chad Kendrick explained. “I was somewhat questioning giving up that track position, but then I was like, ‘Well, as easy as Ryan has made it look coming through there, let’s get some better tires than the other guys’. I knew the leaders if they didn’t come there with the rain being iffy, they weren’t going to come at all. So we came on and took an opportunity to make a small adjustment and got some fresh tires.”

He then worked his way to the front, moving into sixth with 41 laps to go before the caution flew for a spin by Spencer Gallagher. He’d wait out the 40-minute rain delay, before getting a good restart and coming up through the field, passing John Hunter Nemechek for second with 10 laps to go. As he worked at chasing down Matt Crafton for the lead, the caution flew with two laps to go for an incident involving Ben Kennedy and Ty Dillon. Blaney commented post-race that when the caution flew, it immediately went through his mind that he had a chance, and “all you can ask for is a chance.”

“We were coming up through there the final 10 laps once we got to second and probably would’ve been able to get his bumper and he would’ve moved up,” he added. “It would’ve been tough to pass him. It just opened the door of opportunity as you never know what can happen on these restarts. Obviously, the inside is not the preferred lane on the restarts. Luckily, we got a good one and got the lead.”

On the green-white-checkered restart, Blaney would get the restart that he needed, grabbing the lead and not looking back en route to scoring the victory. Brad Keselowski says the performance by Blaney tonight showcases the talent that Blaney has behind the wheel, and how strong Brad Keselowski Racing is as an organization.

“When it comes to those restarts between him and (Joey) Logano, I have a lot of work to do to keep up so that’s good that they’re pushing me and getting into victory lane,” Keselowski added. “Really proud of the effort for everyone on the team. The last few times I’ve driven this truck, I’ve wrecked it so maybe I’m going to have to retire from driving my own stuff. They’re winning races and doing a heck of a job.”

Blaney had driven for Brad Keselowski on three previous occasions this year, winning the pole at Dover International Speedway, but came up short each time as he posted finishes of seventh, third and second. Now, in his final start of the season with the team, he was able to celebrate.

“It feels really good to finally get in victory lane with this team,” Blaney commented. “I’ve had a chance to drive this truck four times this year and we’ve come close each time. To finally be able to get it back in victory lane in my last start of the year in this truck, it means a lot to get (crew chief) Chad (Kendrick) and Brad and this team back in victory lane at a place like this.”

On top of running the four Camping World Truck Series events, he has also ran seven XFINITY events this year for Team Penske, scoring a win and six top-10s, to go with nine Sprint Cup Series starts for the Wood Brothers. He says he’s fortunate to be able to drive great racecars and has learned a lot from the experience.

“Running the Cup stuff has taught me so much in going back to run XFINITY and trucks,” he commented. “It’s taught me a lot of tools that I can use. It’s been a really good learning year for me, and really fortunate to be given the opportunities.”