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Category: Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series news and information

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview: Texas-Spring

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview: Texas-Spring

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads to the Lone Star State this weekend, home to Texas Motor Speedway.

    Texas Motor Speedway has played host to the Truck Series since 1997 and has had two races there since 1998.

    Since the first race there in 1997, the list of drivers who know what it takes when it comes to winning at Texas, is impressive. It includes names like Kenny Irwin Jr, Tony Raines, Jay Sauter, Jack Sprague, Jeb Burton, Ty Dillon, Brendan Gaughan (who won four in a row), Todd Bodine, Clint Bowyer, Ron Hornaday, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton, Erik Jones, William Byron, Christopher Bell, and Justin Haley just to name a few.

    So who wins this time around? Here are five potential contenders that just might take home the trophy on Friday night.

    1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter has had quite a bit of success at Texas Motor Speedway. A bit might be an understatement. In 21 starts dating back to his first start in 2005, his first start for Thorsport since 2015, Sauter has five wins here at Texas. Two of those came with ThorSport Racing in 2012, where Sauter swept both races that season. He would have to wait again until 2016 he would revisit victory lane. Since then, he has won back to back from fall of 2017 and spring of 2018. Sauter has four poles, 10 top fives and 16 top 10 finishes with 361 laps led and an average finish of 6.3. He has currently been on a small winless streak dating back to Martinsville last fall, the last time Sauter won, but he is currently adjusting after rejoining his old team. It will only be a matter of time before Sauter visits victory lane again.
    2. Kyle Busch – Surprise, surprise! Busch has been on a roll lately in the Truck Series, winning three consecutive races and he does not look to slow down anytime soon. Texas Motor Speedway has been a so-so track for Busch. The last time he competed there was in 2014, where Busch won after leading 80 laps. Overall, he has three wins and four DNFs. He even won the fall 2009 race and the fall 2010 race to sweep the fall races. In total, Busch has led 356 laps and has eight top fives and eight top-10 finishes with an average finish of 10.9. It’s hard to stop someone who is on a roll, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Busch ends up in victory lane again on Friday night.
    3. Grant Enfinger – After a quiet day at Martinsville last week and losing the points lead, Enfinger will be hungry and looks to heat things up again this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. He only has four starts here, his first in 2017 where Enfinger finished third, his best finish since then. Despite finishing 12th last fall, he has had great finishes at the 1.5-mile track. In those four starts, Enfinger has two top fives and three top-10s to wind up with an average finish of 6.5. Look for him to be a contender this weekend.
    4. Todd Gilliland – It’s easy to say Gilliland should have won here last November where he led 60 laps only to finish a disappointing fourth. In fact, he should have swept both races after finishing sixth last spring after starting second and leading 60 laps. With the pressure to perform well this year, Gilliland could use a much-needed win and he just might break through Friday night.
    5. Stewart Friesen – Speaking of first-time race winners, Texas Motor Speedway could be the site of Friesen’s first career win if everything goes as planned. He has momentum after taking the points lead following Martinsville and even sitting on the pole there as well. So far this year, Friesen has two top fives and three top-10 finishes. Last year, he has five top fives and two top-10 finishes at mile and a half tracks with a best finish of second twice. In the summer race, Friesen finished second and eighth in the fall race with 25 laps led combined to raise his average finish to 11.6. Should be breakthrough, this weekend at Texas just might be the place.

    To note, Joe Nemechek is back in the No. 8, Bubba Wallace remains in the No. 22 for AM Racing once again, Angela Ruch begins her stint with the No. 44 Niece Motorsports truck, and Anthony Alfredo is back in the No. 54.

    On-track action begins on Thursday afternoon for the truckers with two practice sessions. The first one is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. CT and final practice at 5:05 p.m CT, both sessions lasting an hour each with no live coverage.

    Qualifying is slated for Friday afternoon at 4:10 p.m CT live on FOX Sports 1.

    Race coverage begins at 7:30 p.m CT with the Vankor 350 falling shortly after 8:00 p.m. CT for 147 laps live on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio.

  • Shout Out Of The Week – Martinsville-Spring

    Shout Out Of The Week – Martinsville-Spring

    Overlooked in the running order of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway could be Austin Dillon, who drove the No. 8 Phone Skope Chevy for Nemco Motorsports. Dillon finished 13th after starting 12th.

    It was a quiet day for the No. 8 group, considering they won this race last spring. Dillon managed to finish ninth in Stage 1, but fell out of the top-10 for Stage 2.

    It was Dillon’s 71st Truck Series start of his career dating back 10 years to 2009, where he made his Truck Series debut that year for Richard Childress at Iowa finishing 12th. He won the championship two years later in 2011, after collecting two wins, 10 top five finishes and 16 top 10s that year.

    It was Dillon’s first Truck Series race since Atlanta Motor Speedway last year, where he drove the No. 20 Young’s Motorsports entry finishing 10th that day.

  • Four Takeaways from Martinsville-Spring 2019

    Four Takeaways from Martinsville-Spring 2019

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series had what some would call a home race this past weekend at Martinsville, where it’s just a little over a two-hour drive for most of the teams. So far this year, it was the largest entry list of the season and we saw six trucks not qualifying for the race. Three drivers withdrew from the race and two teams saw driver changes.

    However, that didn’t phase Kyle Busch who completely dominated the race and won the 54th race of his Truck Series career on Saturday afternoon.

    So, for the fourth time this season, here’s this week’s four takeaways from the TruNorth Global 250.

    1. Kyle Busch Dominates – Busch went three for three this past weekend at Martinsville and put a whooping on the field. It was his second career Truck Series win at Martinsville and his first since 2016. He didn’t miss a step winning Stage 1 and finishing third in Stage 2. Oh yeah, he also led 174 laps of 250. Not bad for the 33-year-old who has amassed six wins in total this year already. Cue the song, “All I Do Is Win” by D.J. Khaled.
    2. Clean Race For Martinsville – Normally, when the Truck Series comes to a track like Martinsville, you expect a lot of beating and banging. Not this time around, as the race was unexpectedly clean for the most part. There were only seven cautions for 50 laps and the race was run under green 28.6 percent, while the yellow was flown 20.0 percent. Last spring, the race saw 16.5 laps under green and 27.2 percent under yellow. This spring was pretty unusual for the trucks as we did not see many yellows.
    3. Rough Day For Johnny Sauter – While the finishing results show Sauter ninth, he had to earn it. He finished third in Stage 1, but it all went downhill from there. During the stage caution, Sauter went down a cylinder and reported, “it’s a plug wire, I don’t know.” The ThorSport team got the Truck somewhat turned around and Sauter stayed in the top-10 for Stage 2 winding up seventh. Another issue arose, however, as he had a left-rear tire go flat late in the going. Fortunately, Sauter and company rebounded to a hard-fought ninth, but a disappointing ninth considering he won here last fall.
    4. Raphael Lessard Solid In Truck Debut – Canadian Raphael Lessard made his first Truck Series debut this past weekend, driving the No. 46 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry. The young 17-year-old is labeled as “Canada’s Next Superstar” on his website. The Canadian finished 14th after starting seventh. Lessard is a breakout star on the late model circuit, winning four races in 2016 in the CARS Tour. He also made a couple of ARCA starts for Venturini Motorsports in 2017 and last year, he began his relationship with Kyle Busch as Lessard competed in Busch’s late model and, he still does. If the opportunities line up for Lessard, he’ll be a Truck Series regular in a couple of years. He was just the second Canadian in the field, the other being Stewart Friesen.
  • NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Power Rankings – Martinsville – Spring

    NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Power Rankings – Martinsville – Spring

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series returned to action from a few weeks hiatus at the famous Martinsville Speedway.

    Kyle Busch continued his dominance by winning his third consecutive race in 2019 and is looking for four in a row this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

    A few other drivers had a shot at the win, but trying to take down the all-time wins list leader in the Truck Series is not an easy task. In the end, it wasn’t enough for the truckers and they had to settle for a good points day instead, which could make the difference when it comes to the Playoffs later in the year.

    Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings.

    1.Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a somewhat quiet day at Martinsville, where he finished in the third position. He did rattle a few fenders in trying to make something happen. Track position, however, is what mattered the most in keeping Moffitt from scoring the victory.

    “We were able to get them (GMS Racing) a good finish, felt like we had a truck we could’ve gotten to victory lane, but just wasn’t in our cards today,” Moffitt said in a GMS Racing recap. He finished seventh and fifth, respectively in both stages after starting 16th. Moffitt sits third in the points standings.

    Previous Week Ranking – 1st

    2. Ross Chastain – While Chastain in years past May have been a Cinderella story, he has proven himself to be a contender for the race win if given the right equipment. It’s a shame what happened in the off-season with sponsorship woes and we’ll never know how well he would have fared given a great car that Chastain would have been in this season in the Xfinity Series. However, while racing for the same team as he has been doing the last several years in the Xfinity Series (JD Motorsports), he saw an opportunity with Al Niece of Niece Motorsports to drive the No. 45 Truck, who is quite possibly having their best season as well. From Daytona to Martinsville, Chastain has had finishes of third, sixth, 10th, and fourth, respectively. However, he elected Xfinity points at the beginning of the season, therefore Chastain is not collecting any points. In another aspect, we’ll never know how he would be doing in the Truck Series points either. But sometimes, when things don’t work out, other things work out unexpectedly. Nice showing for Chastain and the No. 45 team who finished fourth and led 53 laps, and finished fifth in Stage 1 while winning Stage 2.

    Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked

    3. Stewart Friesen – Friesen continued to be a consistent driver week in and week out, but he’s getting somewhat tired of not being able to close the deal just quite yet. The same was said for Saturday, where he started on the pole, led 18 laps, finished second and fourth in both stages, ultimately finishing fifth. Friesen had to begin points racing late in the race. It’s not a matter of if he’ll win, but when he will win. Still another solid showing for the No. 52 Halmar Racing Team who continues to be consistent, but at the end of the day, it’s the wins that matter in this sport.

    Previous Week Ranking – 2nd

    4. Ben Rhodes – After dominating the race last year, winning both stages and leading 134 laps, Rhodes wound up with a disappointing 12th place finish. This year, he turned that around by finishing second, and though he finished second in Stage 2, Rhodes didn’t quite dominate like he did last year. He still had a solid points day and is now looking forward to Texas Friday night.

    Previous Week Ranking – 4th

    5. Grant Enfinger – It was a quiet, but solid day for Enfinger and the No. 98 team who finished seventh after starting 19th. He didn’t finish in the top-10 in either stage, but worked hard all day thus earning his third top-10 of the season, Enfinger’s 38th of his career.

    Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked

    Fell Out

    1. Harrison Burton – Not the day Burton and the No. 18 team needed. He finished 11th and was not a factor at all in this race. Though, Burton made the most of his day earning some stage points by finishing sixth in Stage 2.
    2. Sheldon Creed – A forgettable day for the No. 2 GMS Racing team. Creed and company finished 17th after starting fourth. He did not finish in the top-10 in either stage.
  • Kyle Busch continues winning streak at Martinsville

    Kyle Busch continues winning streak at Martinsville

    If you were thinking that Kyle Busch was going to slow down, you thought wrong.

    Busch started on the outside pole in Saturday’s 21st Annual TruNorth Global 250 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS) race at Martinsville Speedway and dominated the race by winning Stage 1 and leading 174 of the 250 laps en route to his 38th win for Kyle Busch Motorsports and his 54th victory in 148 NGOTS races. It was also his 201st national series win.

    However it didn’t come easy for Busch with late race restarts and he also had to hold off Ben Rhodes. Nonetheless, after all was said and done, Busch continue his winning ways at Martinsville.

    “It was a case of being patient,” Busch told MRN Radio. “You know, obviously going 150 laps on one set of tires is a long way to go. We just kind of wanted to bide our time and take it easy, and not push too hard. We didn’t need to go up there and get any stage points. The opportunity to ride was kind of given to us and we knew the 52 (Stewart Friesen) was going to pit and I let the 99 (Ben Rhodes) go, and I inherit third on the restart.”

    The race got underway with the first stage being 70 laps. And surprisingly enough, it was caution free for the most part, which is unheard of at Martinsville. It wasn’t until seven laps to go when Gus Dean’s truck caught fire and brought out the first caution. With the limited amount of laps left for a restart, the stage ended under caution and Busch won Stage 1. Johnny Sauter also had issues with his truck that possibly saw a cylinder going down.

    Stage 2 was green on Lap 79 and was pretty much the same as the first stage. Ross Chastain went to second on Lap 91 and another caution flew on Lap 117 for Daniel Sasnett, who spun around. Busch pitted with a few others under caution, while Stewart Friesen and Ross Chastain stayed out.

    Chastain took the lead with 10 to go in the stage and on Lap 140 and won stage two.

    With 99 to go, the green flag was back out for the third and final stage. Chastain led until 65 to go when the eventual race winner, Busch retook the lead.

    But it wasn’t easy for him for the rest of the way. Sauter had a left-rear tire go down with 63 to go and Sasnett spun again one lap later.

    Another incident took place with 40 to go, as Cory Roper spun in Turn 2 setting up another restart. Rhodes moved into second place and spent his time trying to catch the No. 51 of Busch.

    It looked liked Rhodes had his chance with eight to go, when Tyler Dippel spun, bringing out the caution and setting up a late race restart with three to go.

    Rhodes gave it all he could, but his truck wasn’t enough for Busch as he went on to win his second career Truck Series race at Martinsville under caution.

    “Awesome day,” Busch said to MRN Radio. “These guys gave me a great Cessna Beechcraft Tundra it was awesome to drive. Wasn’t so awesome yesterday, we worked really hard to make this thing better and improve this truck, and our program. All the other trucks too with the three teammates that were out here today.”

    “It’s cool to be able to put KBM in victory lane, Toyota in victory lane, thank TRD for their support and Rowdy Manufacturing, Incredible Bank, Monster Energy, Adidas, DVX Sunglasses, Black Clover, Gander Outdoors. It’s cool to have Gander folks on this year and being a part of this series and of course the fans. All the fans here at Martinsville, it’s pretty cool to come out here. It’s cool to win at Martinsville and cool to get to take home a clock. Rowdy Nation is out there loud and proud.”

    Busch has now won three consecutive Truck Series races this year. He will have two more left at Texas and Charlotte.

  • Ben Rhodes comes up short at Martinsville

    Ben Rhodes comes up short at Martinsville

    Ben Rhodes was looking to put that Martinsville finish from a year ago behind him when he won both stages only to finish 12th. One year later, he almost pulled it off but was one spot short, finishing second to race winner Kyle Busch.

    He started 16th but wasn’t a factor until Stage 2 when Rhodes finished second in his new No. 99 Carolina Nut Company Ford F-150 for 2019.

    With 52 to go, the No. 99 team went to second and was trying to chase down Kyle Busch for the win. Rhodes had a couple of chances to get to Busch, and was closing in, only a half second behind Busch.

    Unfortunately, that’s the closest he got to Busch and wound up finishing second when the race ended under caution after Reid Wilson spun on the last lap.

    It’s what could have been for Rhodes and the No. 99 ThorSport team. If the race has restarted, he might have had a shot to win.

    “I don’t know, we just kind of got up there,” Rhodes told MRN Radio. “I give a lot of credit to my pit crew and the decisions on the pit box today. They gave me some track position and did a phenomenal job on that. I give them an A+, but our Carolina Nut Company Ford F-150 had speed, just not quite enough to get by Kyle Busch.”

    “You know, we got beat by the best in the business,” Rhodes continued in his post race interview with MRN Radio. “Just experience. He’s (Kyle Busch) very smart on pacing himself and every time we get out there with him, I’m logging something in my memory bank. A lot of our team is really young. My crew chief is like 27, engineer is 24, a lot of our mechanics are under 27. So we’re building together and learning together, just building a notebook and building set ups. This is our first season and we’re just getting better as we go from where we unloaded this season.”

  • Stewart Friesen and Ross Chastain have solid day at Martinsville

    Stewart Friesen and Ross Chastain have solid day at Martinsville

    After starting on the pole and not yet winning a race, Friesen was looking for his first career win today at Martinsville Speedway.

    He remained steady by finishing second in Stage 1 but dropped a few spots, finishing fourth in Stage 2. Friesen led twice for 18 laps, however, it was a quiet day for the No. 52 Halmar Racing Team as they wound up fifth for Stewart’s second top five of the season and the 13th of his career.

    He also bettered his Martinsville finish from one year ago, where Friesen finished 20th that day after starting fifth. It was also his best Martinsville finish of his career this far.

    “Yeah, that’s cool,” Friesen told MRN Radio. “I like to go win races though. It’s a tough pill to swallow when you go points racing for stage points and aren’t doing what the fast guys are doing getting track position. We battled back with the 24 (Brett Moffitt). The 24 dropped a blade on me a couple of times and I was a little timid, and knocked some guys out of the way. At the end, I was just trying to salvage a decent finish there because it was getting pretty wild.”

    For Ross Chastain, the same story could be said, but just a higher finish than Friesen. At some points, it looked like he could win but late race cautions and Busch having the better truck ultimately cost him. Still, Chastain has been on a roll this season finishing third at Daytona, sixth at Atlanta, 10th at Las Vegas, and following it up today with a fourth-place finish at Martinsville. It’s his best ever finish and the second top five of the young 2019 season.

    “I would say it’s a huge step for us (Niece Motorsports),” Chastain told MRN Radio. “It’s nice to be aggravated with fourth. Everyone didn’t tell me to come run this truck (No. 45) this year and I saw a lot of potential with Al Niece (Team Wwner), Cody Efaw (General Manager), and the whole TruNorth team. I’m glad I did and stuck with my gut.”

    “Probably went too hard there to get that stage win and that was a big deal, and was wanting to get that,” Chastain continued to tell MRN Radio. “I just ran out of turn there at the end. I just got too tight. Definitely a lot to build on for sure and a clean race truck. We got a brand new race truck to bring to Texas next week and honestly, I’ve been looking more to Texas than here. So it’s a good sign of things to come.”

    Chastain finished fifth in Stage 1 and won Stage 2, ultimately finishing fourth after leading twice for 53 laps.

  • Toyota Racing MENCS Martinsville Race Recap

    Toyota Racing MENCS Martinsville Race Recap

    Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS)
    Martinsville Speedway
    Race 4 of 23 – 131.5 miles, 250 laps
    March 23, 2019

    TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
    1st, KYLE BUSCH
    2nd, Ben Rhodes*
    3rd, Brett Moffitt*
    4th, Ross Chastain*
    5th, Stewart Friesen*
    11th, HARRISON BURTON
    12th, DAVID GILLILAND
    14th, RAPHAEL LESSARD
    15th, TODD GILLILAND
    16th, AUSTIN HILL
    18th, DEREK KRAUS
    19th, TYLER ANKRUM
    25th, KORBIN FORRISTER
    29th, BRENNAN POOLE
    *non-Toyota driver

    TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
    1st, Grant Enfinger* 117 points
    2nd, HARRISON BURTON 111 points
    3rd, AUSTIN HILL 108 points
    4th, Stewart Friesen* 103 points
    5th, Brett Moffitt* 102 points
    9th, TODD GILLILAND 96 points
    *non-Toyota driver

    Tundra driver Kyle Busch won his third-consecutive NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS) event at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday afternoon.
    Toyota drivers have won all four NGOTS races this season – a feat last accomplished in 2014 when Tundra drivers won the first 10 races.

    TOYOTA QUOTES

    KYLE BUSCH, No. 51 Cessna Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

    Finishing Position: 1st

    You fell back as far as fourth in the middle of the race. Was the truck giving you trouble or were you just trying to be patient?

    “It was a case of being patient. Obviously with trying to go 150 laps to the end of the race on one set of tires is a long way to go, so we just kind of wanted to bide our time and take it easy, make sure we didn’t push too hard. We didn’t need to go up there and get any stage points or anything like that so the opportunity for us to just kind of ride was given to us. We knew the 52 (Stewart Friesen) was going to pit, so I kind of let the 99 (Ben Rhodes) go and was riding in fourth and going to inherit third on a restart. All of the battling ended up ensuing there anyways. Awesome day. These guys gave me a great Cessna Beechcraft Tundra. It was awesome to drive. It wasn’t so awesome yesterday. We worked really really hard on trying to make this thing better and improve this truck and our program and all of the other trucks as well too. The other three teammates that were out here today. It’s cool to be able to put KBM in victory lane, Toyota in victory lane, thank TRD for their support and Rowdy Manufacturing, Incredible Bank, Monster Energy, Adidas, DVX Sunglasses, Black Clover, Gander Outdoors. It’s cool to have Gander folks on this year and being a part of this series and of course the fans. All the fans here at Martinsville, it’s pretty cool to come out here. It’s cool to win at Martinsville and cool to get to take home a clock. Rowdy Nation is out there loud and proud.”

    Did you get your Toyota Tundra’s balance where you wanted it?

    “Yeah, you had to have a little bit of freeness to it for the long run. Once you got 50 laps on tires, it just started getting tight, so you kind of needed it to be well balanced. It looked like a few of those guys were getting too tight, but then they were getting too loose as well. That’s kind of the thing that starts happening where we were just a little bit free where we could roll with that for the majority of the run and keep ourselves out front.”

    How important is it to stay consistent over the long run and how is that going to apply to tomorrow’s Cup Series race?

    “It’s challenging to pass. The way the rules are with the gear rule and this engine rule and everything else, it’s hard to pass for all these guys and for some of the young guys. They just drive into one another and knock each other out of the way. I guess that’s fun, but more times than not you can do it in better ways and I felt like we did a good job of that today. We had a good piece though and we did the best with what we had and these guys over here did a great job of working for me and giving me some good pit stops and keeping us out front.”

    What made the difference on your Tundra today?

    “These guys worked really really hard this weekend. We unloaded and I didn’t like where we were at. We made wholesale changes to this thing all weekend long. I just tried to keep improving this Cessna Beechcraft Tundra and make it faster. Certainly want to give thanks to TRD and Rowdy Manufacturing – all these guys. We just kept trying to make it turn the center better. That’s where it’s at at Martinsville. You’ve got to be able to turn the center without getting too lose in and too loose off. There during the race, a couple of times when I was underneath some guys I’d get loose. I saw other guys getting loose in the same kind of aspect. We were able to get by them and get through them and have enough tire there at the end to hold them off.”

    Who decides where your grandfather clock will go? Your crew chief Rudy Fugle seemed pretty excited about winning it.

    “I do. This is his (Rudy Fugle, crew chief) first win here at Martinsville. I’ve won here with two other crew chiefs I think so it’s pretty cool to get Rudy his first win at Martinsville.”

    Does Rudy Fugle get the clock or no?

    “Yes, he can have the clock. Now I just want to give a quick a thanks to Incredible Bank, Monster Energy, Adidas, DVX Sunglasses, Black Clover, Gander Outdoors. I appreciate Gander and all those guys coming this year and being a part of this series and of course the fans. It’s awesome to have Rowdy Nation’s support. We keep digging every week and keep trying to work hard and keep trying to get wins.”

    Talk about your race today.

    “We had a pretty good Tundra. Everything that we did to it yesterday and trying to improve on it and make it better for today was certainly beneficial. Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and these guys worked really hard on some good changes, some smart changes and getting all that stuff done, especially overnight, getting us ready to go for the track conditions for today. Overall a good day. A fast Cessna Toyota Tundra and cool to be up front like we were and to put her in the win there at the end and go get another one.”

    Have you ever been on a win streak like this or is this the best streak to open a season that you’ve ever had across all three NASCAR national series?

    “I’m not exactly sure. I don’t remember what year it was but I remember there being a time when you used to be able to race for the championship in all three divisions and I led the points across all three series early on in the season. I do remember that. Just going out there and doing a good job working with some great people and having the opportunity to drive fast stuff is pretty cool right now and putting ourselves in the right spots and doing the right things when it matters most to win. Seven of 11 (wins) is nice. It could’ve been nine or 10 probably. That’s what the scary part is if it wasn’t for some simple mistakes. It’s been fun. It’s a damn shame I’m only allowed five and seven (races).

    Do you have a target career-wins total for the Truck Series?

    “Yes and no. I’m only allowed five (races) a year so it’s going to be tough to accumulate too many in the foreseeable future. Just keep doing what we do. If we can win four or five of the five each and every year, then it’ll hopefully add up over the course of the next 10 years or whatever. That’ll put you right around 100.”

    You have Texas and Charlotte left this year in the Truck Series. Do you have a good chance to make it five for five?

    “Yes, obviously working with Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) – working with any of our crew chiefs, they’re all really good. I worked with (Mike) Hillman (Jr.) last year and won races. I’ve worked with Marcus (Richmond) before that and won races. Jerry Baxter, every one of our guys that’s been at KBM. Rudy since ’13. I’d like to think that Texas is a good place. We saw how fast Todd (Gilliland) was there last year. He was really really good. I think that our guys have a good baseline. We’ll go to Texas and work on our stuff and try to improve it and practice. The same thing as we always do and put a good piece out there for the race. Charlotte is always one of my best tracks, favorite tracks. I enjoy running there with the trucks especially. There’s a good opportunity to be able to go five for five.”

    Was it a goal to start this year and win every race?

    “No, it wasn’t necessarily a goal. It’s kind of an expectation. We just go out there and do what I said. Just work hard and smart. Today we just kind of let the race kind of play itself out and kind of come to us if you will there when guys were racing real hard and trying to get that second stage and all that sort of stuff. We just kind of bided our time and waited and made moves when we needed to.”

    Over the years, what has racing as much as you do done to you physically and how do you combat that every year to stay in the best shape?

    “Years past there were times where towards the end of the season when I ran the 30 races in Xfinity and the 12 or 15 races I ran in truck and then all of the Cup schedule – those were some heavy years. You could definitely feel it towards the end of the season kind of wearing on you. Even so, the last couple of years and being limited and only being able to run – well running all the Cup races and then only seven or five, respectively, in Truck and Xfinity – that even towards the end of the year you know sometimes you kind of feel it a little bit. Just trying to continue to stay in the gym and do some things in training and whatnot to help the longevity of my body and my career hopefully. It’s no different than Jimmie Johnson has done the last 10 years and Tom Brady has probably done the last 10 or 12 years and so just hoping that it all works out and I can keep digging.”

    Can you tell you get more tire when you run double or triple-race weekends?

    “Your body just senses it’s tired. When you’re done with a Cup race, you’re fatigued and then it kind of takes you a little bit longer during the week. Right now you could probably go through Monday and you’re kind of tired and fatigued and then Tuesday you’re fine where later in the year you get all the way to Wednesday before you’re feeling like you’re fine.”

    If and when the time comes to slow down, would you like to go back and get a Truck championship so you can have the triple crown?

    “Yes, I would. I mean I would welcome it in other facets too. How do I say this? I had thought about years ago when they came out with this five rule and seven rule – like why don’t you let us run as many races as we want to run and then once we miss one, we’re done. So like if I go all the way to Iowa in the trucks and I run 10 races or however many that is and then I can’t go to Iowa, then I’m done. You can race for points. You can race for whatever. If that ever came down like that, then maybe there would be an opportunity years down the road that then you can run multiple series and try to go after a championship that way.”

    RUDY FUGLE, crew chief, No. 51 Cessna Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

    Talk about your view from the pit box?

    “The tires weren’t wearing all that much yesterday so it was kind of – some of it was sitting in our seat as crew chiefs and trying to figure out when we’re going to pit and not to get out of strategy and try to make the right decision with Kyle (Busch) driving to put ourselves where we don’t have to pass too many people, but not be at a disadvantage on a tire strategy. It was a little bit more stressful than some of the last couple of wins have been, but it was fun.”

    What’s it feel like to finally get a win at Martinsville?

    “This place is so historic. We’ve done great as a KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) organization here, but I don’t do an exceptional job at the short tracks. That’s not what I started with so I struggle at them period. I try to get as much practice as I can at it and getting one is pretty cool.”

  • Toyota Racing NGOTS Martinsville Victory Lane Quotes – Kyle Busch

    Toyota Racing NGOTS Martinsville Victory Lane Quotes – Kyle Busch

    KYLE BUSCH, No. 51 Cessna Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

    Finishing Position: 1st

    You fell back as far as fourth in the middle of the race. Was the truck giving you trouble or were you just trying to be patient?

    “It was a case of being patient. Obviously with trying to go 150 laps to the end of the race on one set of tires is a long way to go, so we just kind of wanted to bide our time and take it easy, make sure we didn’t push too hard. We didn’t need to go up there and get any stage points or anything like that so the opportunity for us to just kind of ride was given to us. We knew the 52 (Stewart Friesen) was going to pit, so I kind of let the 99 (Ben Rhodes) go and was riding in fourth and going to inherit third on a restart. All of the battling ended up ensuing there anyways. Awesome day. These guys gave me a great Cessna Beechcraft Tundra. It was awesome to drive. It wasn’t so awesome yesterday. We worked really really hard on trying to make this thing better and improve this truck and our program and all of the other trucks as well too. The other three teammates that were out here today. It’s cool to be able to put KBM in victory lane, Toyota in victory lane, thank TRD for their support and Rowdy Manufacturing, Incredible Bank, Monster Energy, Adidas, DVX Sunglasses, Black Clover, Gander Outdoors. It’s cool to have Gander folks on this year and being a part of this series and of course the fans. All the fans here at Martinsville, it’s pretty cool to come out here. It’s cool to win at Martinsville and cool to get to take home a clock. Rowdy Nation is out there loud and proud.”

    Did you get your Toyota Tundra’s balance where you wanted it?

    “Yeah, you had to have a little bit of freeness to it for the long run. Once you got 50 laps on tires, it just started getting tight, so you kind of needed it to be well balanced. It looked like a few of those guys were getting too tight, but then they were getting too loose as well. That’s kind of the thing that starts happening where we were just a little bit free where we could roll with that for the majority of the run and keep ourselves out front.”

    How important is it to stay consistent over the long run and how is that going to apply to tomorrow’s Cup Series race?

    “It’s challenging to pass. The way the rules are with the gear rule and this engine rule and everything else, it’s hard to pass for all these guys and for some of the young guys. They just drive into one another and knock each other out of the way. I guess that’s fun, but more times than not you can do it in better ways and I felt like we did a good job of that today. We had a good piece though and we did the best with what we had and these guys over here did a great job of working for me and giving me some good pit stops and keeping us out front.”

    What made the difference on your Tundra today?

    “These guys worked really really hard this weekend. We unloaded and I didn’t like where we were at. We made wholesale changes to this thing all weekend long. I just tried to keep improving this Cessna Beechcraft Tundra and make it faster. Certainly want to give thanks to TRD and Rowdy Manufacturing – all these guys. We just kept trying to make it turn the center better. That’s where it’s at at Martinsville. You’ve got to be able to turn the center without getting too lose in and too loose off. There during the race, a couple of times when I was underneath some guys I’d get loose. I saw other guys getting loose in the same kind of aspect. We were able to get by them and get through them and have enough tire there at the end to hold them off.”

    Who decides where your grandfather clock will go? Your crew chief Rudy Fugle seemed pretty excited about winning it.

    “I do. This is his (Rudy Fugle, crew chief) first win here at Martinsville. I’ve won here with two other crew chiefs I think so it’s pretty cool to get Rudy his first win at Martinsville.”

    Does Rudy Fugle get the clock or no?

    “Yes, he can have the clock. Now I just want to give a quick a thanks to Incredible Bank, Monster Energy, Adidas, DVX Sunglasses, Black Clover, Gander Outdoors. I appreciate Gander and all those guys coming this year and being a part of this series and of course the fans. It’s awesome to have Rowdy Nation’s support. We keep digging every week and keep trying to work hard and keep trying to get wins.”

  • Toyota Racing NGOTS Martinsville Quotes – Harrison Burton

    Toyota Racing NGOTS Martinsville Quotes – Harrison Burton

    Toyota Racing – Harrison Burton
    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS)

    Martinsville Speedway – March 22, 2019

    Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Harrison Burton was made available to the media in Martinsville:

    HARRISON BURTON, No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

    You’re only 18 years old and have been racing much of your life. How have you been able to balance having a career and going to school?

    “I’ve had to balance so many things in my life. I’ve been racing since I was four. I’ve been in school throughout the whole time. I’m still a high school student. I have a girlfriend and she helps me a lot with that. I have all these friends and being kind of versatile in that and learning to balance all these different things in my life has helped me a lot with that. I had to grow up really young because I wanted to be a professional race car driver. I’ve had a full-time job probably since I was 11 years old and on top of that, school. I’ve kind of just grown up quickly because of that and I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful for the experiences. Even if racing doesn’t work out, I’ve learned more from the experiences I’ve had racing and had more fun in the experiences that I’ve had racing than anywhere else really and that’s something I’ll value forever.”

    How do you prepare after Texas when there’s a few weeks off in the Truck Series?

    “As a driver, you know I’m always racing. I have that opportunity where I can race ARCA, I can race Super Late Models, I can race trucks, who knows what else I can fit in there. I have the opportunity right now to be racing more than a lot of people, so that’s an advantage I think. The Truck Series has a lot of breaks, but after these first few breaks, it’s game on. A bunch of weeks in a row and we’re rolling through it. I’m excited for that.”

    How did you make your decision on college?

    “For me I’m at a spot in my life where I have an opportunity. I want to harness that and race, but a month ago I just thought there’s not a lot of job security for drivers. If you don’t succeed and do well, no matter what the circumstances are, then your name falls to the bottom of the list. For me, I have to – first off, I have to perform consistently. This is what I love to do. I wake up in the morning excited about race cars and racing and all that, so that’s pressure I put on myself and there’s also the pressure of this is a privilege, it’s not a right. I don’t have any right to be in this race car any more than anyone else. I have to work for it and prove that I’m one of the best. I have to win some races and I’ll work my butt off trying to do it. For me college was important because I want to have something to fall back on.”

    What do you want to major in?

    “I want to major in business. I might minor in sports marketing. I want to be in NASCAR no matter what. I want to be in this sport whether it’s in the driver seat, driver coach, crew member, I just love this sport.”

    Are you ready to graduate high school in June?

    “Yeah, I’m ready. I’m nervously ready. I’m really committed to this racing deal. I’m going to continue my education though on an online program , but I’ll be more focused on racing. I want to pace myself on my college and really focus on my racing. It’s a one-shot opportunity . It seems that if you taper off and don’t really get an opportunity, then it’s really hard to get it back. For me, I have to take advantage of this opportunity that I have. I’m out of the safety net now of high school and going into the real world and becoming an adult. Everyone has anxiety at that when they’re a kid and I have that too. I’m excited, but nervous at the same time.”