Category: Truck Series

NCWTS Advance: Texas Motor Speedway

Track: Texas Motor Speedway, 1.5 mile oval
Event: JAG Metals 350 (220.5 miles, 147 laps)
Entries: No. 17 Crosley Brands Toyota Tundra, David Gilliland
No. 54 Crosley Brands Toyota Tundra, Bo LeMastus
Date: November, 2 2018
Broadcast: FS1, MRN Radio

Schedule: Thursday, Nov. 1
4:05 p.m………….Practice
6:05 p.m………….Final Practice
Friday, Nov. 2
4:10 p.m…………Qualifying (FS2)
8:30 p.m…………Race
(all times ET)
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MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 31, 2018) – The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) will head to Texas Motor Speedway (Fort Worth, Texas) this weekend with three races remaining in the 2018 season. DGR-Crosley will field two trucks in the JAG Metals 350 for team owners, David Gilliland and Bo LeMastus. Gilliland will pilot the No. 17 Toyota Tundra, while LeMastus will be back behind the wheel of the No. 54 Crosley Brands Toyota.

Friday’s race will mark Gilliland’s fifth NCWTS start of the season, his third for DGR-Crosley. In his four previous races, he started on the pole twice and secured three top-five finishes. Gilliland has a pair of fourth-place finishes in both of his attempts behind the wheel of a DGR-Crosley truck. While this will mark his first Truck Series start at the mile-and-a-half track in Texas, the veteran driver brings a wealth of experience to the No. 17 team with 19 career Cup Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway. He also tested at the track earlier this spring.

LeMastus will be making his 12th NCWTS start of the season and looks to build off of the experience he gained at Texas Motor Speedway in the spring race. The 55-year-old driver had his best qualifying effort of the season at the track in Fort Worth, Texas after advancing to the final round and securing a 12th-place starting position. After a strong qualifying effort, the Louisville, Ky. native’s debut at the 1.5-mile track didn’t go as planned. He was involved in a race-ending accident on lap 72 and went on to finish 26th. Aside from Texas Motor Speedway, LeMastus has four other NCWTS starts at 1.5-mile tracks, and earned a career-best Truck Series finish at Chicagoland Speedway earlier this season.
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Gilliland on Texas: “I’m really excited to get back in a truck this weekend. Talladega was actually the last race that I had scheduled for this season, but the opportunity came up for me to run the 17 truck at Texas and I couldn’t turn it down. I haven’t been in one of our DGR-Crosley trucks since June, so I think this weekend will really help me get a feel for our equipment and evaluate where we are as team. We had two really fast trucks in the spring race so hopefully we can put together a solid race and get a good finish for the guys. It would be really cool to get Toyota to Victory Lane this weekend with there headquarters being right up the road in Plano.”

LeMastus on Texas: “I’m excited to have another shot at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. We had a very fast truck when we came here in June, but our day was ended early after we blew a tire and got into the wall. I know Bono [Manion, Crew Chief] and the guys will bring me another solid piece this weekend and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be fun having David in a truck and having him to lean on with all his experience at Texas.”

JAG Metals 350 | Texas Motor Speedway Race Advance
Team: No. 45 ProMATIC Automation | Superior Essex Chevrolet Silverado
Driver: Justin Fontaine
Follow the Team: @NieceMotorsport; @driverfontaine

Fontaine on Racing at Texas: “I like Texas,” said Fontaine. “Even though the pavement is still relatively new, and the groove isn’t very wide, the Truck Series puts on a good show and I don’t expect any different on Friday night.

“The competition will ramp up these last three races. There’s a championship on the line, drivers wanting to make a name for themselves and for me – wanting to go out on a high note. I’m proud of what we’ve built at Niece Motorsports this season with the No. 45 team.

“We’ve led some laps, finished inside the top-10 and had some memorable runs. We’ve only gotten better as the year has progressed and that’s comforting to me knowing that I contributed to it.

“When it comes to Texas though – I have laps and that helps. My teammate Austin (Wayne Self) also has plenty of laps – so it’s reassuring that I can talk to him too about what my truck is doing or what to expect during the fall race.

“It’s not going to be as hot as it was in June, so I expect the weather to play a factor in the way the truck handles – but not anything I don’t think we can compensate for. I’m ready for Texas.”

Fontaine at Texas Motor Speedway: Fontaine will make his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) start at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night.

Recapping Martinsville: Rain on Friday canceled practice for the Truck Series, so Fontaine’s first laps of the weekend were in qualifying. The team battled tough passing conditions to earn a 27th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway.

“Despite no practice, I had a good feeling about the race based on the way our No. 45 ProMATIC Automation Chevrolet handled in qualifying,” said Fontaine.

“I know we didn’t start where we wanted to, but we were making some strides during the race before we had a parts failure in the left front that hindered our opportunity to have a good finish.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now. It’s just part of it. I appreciate the work of my Niece Motorsports team and we’ll work hard to have some strong finishes for the final three race stretch.”

On the Truck: Fontaine’s No. 45 Chevrolet will carry the ProMATIC Automation, Inc. colors in this week’s race. ProMATIC Automation, Inc. specializes in the design and build of custom factory automation equipment.

ProMATIC Automation, Inc. has extensive experience in the integration of high-level automation technologies like robotics, laser, vision, and dispensing systems along with many years of combined experience in the design and machining of custom manufactured components.

About Niece Motorsports: Niece Motorsports is owned by United States Marine Corps Veteran Al Niece. In 2018, Niece Motorsports enters its second full season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, fielding two full-time teams with Austin Wayne Self and Justin Fontaine. Niece also owns Niece Equipment, which has for over 30 years provided clients with reliable products at competitive prices. Niece Equipment’s reputation is built on service, integrity and dependability. The company provides water and fuel/lube trucks that are engineered with quality and durability in mind for the construction and mining industry. Follow the team on Facebook and Instagram @NieceMotorsports as well as twitter @NieceMotorsport.

JAG Metals 350 | Texas Motor Speedway Race Advance
Team: No. 22 Sorghum: The Smart Choice | GO TEXAN Chevrolet Silverado
Driver: Austin Wayne Self
Follow the Team: @NieceMotorsport; @AustinWSelf

Self on Racing at Texas: “I always look forward to coming back to Texas,” said Self. “The race will be action packed and I’m really upbeat about the strength of my Niece Motorsports team right now. Whether it’s a short track, a speedway or a superspeedway, we seem to have a lot of momentum and that’s a good trait to have heading to one of my favorite places of the season.”

Self at Texas Motor Speedway: Friday night’s race at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) marks Self’s sixth start at his home track. Self’s best finish at TMS to date is a 12th-place result, coming in 2017. In those five starts, Self has three top-15 finishes and four top-20 finishes.

Recapping Martinsville: Self and the No. 22 team battled track position last week at Martinsville Speedway, ultimately earning as 23rd-place finish.

“It was a frustrating day because we didn’t get the performance we wanted to for everyone that makes this happen,” said Self.

“We made the truck better throughout the day, but because it was so hard to pass, we never could get the cautions we needed to get caught up and make even bigger gains.”

On The Truck: The United Sorghum Checkoff Program will serve as Self’s primary partner for Friday night’s race.

Self, a native of Austin, Texas, began his relationship with the Sorghum Checkoff and Texas Grain Sorghum Board last fall.

Sorghum is the world’s fifth-most important grain crop and is grown on approximately 100 million acres worldwide, including approximately six million acres in the U.S. Currently, Texas and Kansas account for 80 percent of U.S. sorghum production.

In the ethanol industry, the Sorghum Checkoff focuses on developing direct awareness of the benefits of using sorghum as a fuel and feedstock. This serves as the foundation of demand for the sorghum industry, as ethanol producers typically use about one-third (approximately 120 million bushels) of the sorghum crop to produce clean-burning, high octane fuel.

The Texas Department of Agriculture’s GO TEXAN program and AM Technical Solutions will also support Self and the No. 22 team.

GO TEXAN represents Texas agri-business on state, national and international levels by building recognition with the GO TEXAN mark.

Along with its signature mark in the shape of Texas, GO TEXAN celebrates, promotes and supports the business savvy and plainspoken grit Texas agriculture is known throughout the world.

About Niece Motorsports: Niece Motorsports is owned by United States Marine Corps Veteran Al Niece. In 2018, Niece Motorsports enters its second full season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, fielding two full-time teams with Austin Wayne Self and Justin Fontaine. Niece also owns Niece Equipment, which has for over 30 years provided clients with reliable products at competitive prices. Niece Equipment’s reputation is built on service, integrity and dependability. The company provides water and fuel/lube trucks that are engineered with quality and durability in mind for the construction and mining industry. Follow the team on Facebook and Instagram @NieceMotorsports as well as twitter @NieceMotorsport.

JAG Metals 350 | Texas Motor Speedway Race Advance
Team: No. 38 Niece Equipment Chevrolet Silverado
Driver: Ross Chastain
Follow the Team: @NieceMotorsport; @RossChastain

Chastain on Racing at Texas: “I’m excited to get to Texas,” said Chastain. “This is obviously an extremely special track for our team owner Al Niece, and I’m hopeful that we can put on a great performance for him at his home track. The team has been working really hard on this truck, and I know we’ll have a great piece for the race.”

Chastain at Texas Motor Speedway: Chastain has four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) starts at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) and will look to make his fifth this Friday night. In his previous four starts, Chastain’s best finish of 13th came in 2013.

Chastain also has seven NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) starts at Texas Motor Speedway and one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) start at TMS.

About Chastain: Chastain looks to make his second start for Niece Motorsports in 2018. In August, Chastain made his first start with Niece Motorsports at Bristol Motor Speedway. The veteran racer turned in a solid performance in the No. 38 Chevrolet, qualifying 10th and finishing the night in 12th.

The 2018 season has been a busy one for Chastain, who has competed in all three of NASCAR’s major series. To date, Chastain has made 31 starts in the MENCS, 30 starts in the NXS, and five starts in the NCWTS this season.

In September, Chastain broke into the Winner’s Circle in the NXS, after putting on a dominating performance at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, winning each stage of the race and leading 180 of 200 laps.

About Niece Motorsports: Niece Motorsports is owned by United States Marine Corps Veteran Al Niece. In 2018, Niece Motorsports enters its second full season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, fielding two full-time teams with Austin Wayne Self and Justin Fontaine. Niece also owns Niece Equipment, which has for over 30 years provided clients with reliable products at competitive prices. Niece Equipment’s reputation is built on service, integrity and dependability. The company provides water and fuel/lube trucks that are engineered with quality and durability in mind for the construction and mining industry. Follow the team on Facebook and Instagram @NieceMotorsports as well as twitter @NieceMotorsport.

Sheldon Creed, No. 2 A.M. Ortega / United Rentals Chevrolet Silverado
Texas Stats
This will be Creed’s first NCWTS start at Texas Motor Speedway.
2018 Season Stats
2 starts, Best Finish: 15th (Eldora)

Notes:

– Climbing behind the wheel for his first NCWTS start at Texas Motor Speedway, and his second of four races in 2018 with GMS Racing, Creed will utilize chassis no. 312 for Friday night’s race. The No. 2 team has used this particular chassis three times in 2018 with Cody Coughlin, including when the NCWTS raced at Texas earlier this season, finishing a chassis-best eighth.

– While this may be Creed’s first NCWTS start at Texas Motor Speedway, this won’t be the first time the 21-year-old will have seen the facility. In June of 2017, Creed competed in the inaugural SPEED Energy Stadium Super Truck Series “No Limits Rumble” event, leading the most laps and collecting the win in the second race of the weekend.

– Like at Martinsville Speedway, Creed’s No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado will carry sponsor A.M. Ortega onboard this weekend at Texas. A.M. Ortega’s mission is to provide diverse civil engineering solutions for current and future generations with emphasis on safety, excellent workmanship and innovation. Also featured on the No. 2 at Texas will be United Rentals, another partner who has had longtime success as a part of Creed’s racing career.

Quote:

“I’ve been counting down the weeks until we go to Texas (Motor Speedway). I was excited to get in a truck for Martinsville, but I’ve had Texas circled as the track I was most excited for. The air is going to be huge for these trucks there, and I know I’ll have to get us to that compared to racing an ARCA car. GMS has fast mile-and-a-half trucks, and I know that both Johnny (Sauter) and Justin (Haley) have had success there, which helps. I raced at Texas last year in Stadium Super Trucks and got the win on night two. I burned the tires down that night, and I’m hoping to have the chance to do the same this weekend in the No. 2.”

 

Johnny Sauter, No. 21 ISM Connect Chevrolet Silverado
Texas Stats
20 starts, 5 win, 10 top-fives, 16 top-10s, 3 poles
2018 Season Stats
20 starts, 6 wins, 14 top-fives, 16 top-10s

Notes:

– Sauter will run GMS chassis no. 306 at Texas Motor Speedway for the second time this year. The No. 21 team debuted this chassis at Texas in the spring with Sauter leading 51 laps on the way to his fourth win of year. Most recently, this Chevy was raced at Michigan International Speedway where Sauter started seventh and finished second, just missing out on the win.

– The Fort Worth 1.5-mile track has been good to the veteran driver who has won the last two fall events at Texas Motor Speedway. He also won this year’s spring race and has finished no worse than eighth at Texas since joining GMS in 2016.

– Sauter has locked in his position in the Championship Four and continues to lead the point standings after picking up his sixth win of the 2018 season.

Quotes:

“A lot of people would look at our situation and think that it’s a relief to start this round with a win and already have a spot locked up in Miami, but we can’t back down these next two weeks. Six wins is great, it’s something that means a lot to me and this team, everyone back at GMS, but we have a championship to prepare for and if we let our guard down now we wouldn’t be doing ourselves any favors.

“Texas is a track that we’re always strong at. We’ve got the same truck from the spring and we’ve learned a lot since being there back in June, so a strong truck plus the things we’ve been able to figure out along the way should put us in a good position to pick up another win and show that we’re not going to play it safe.”

 

Justin Haley, No. 24 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet Silverado
Texas Stats
3 starts, 2 top-fives, 3 top-10s , 1 pole
2018 Season Stats
20 starts, 2 wins, 8 top-fives, 16 top-10s

Notes:

– The Fraternal Order of Eagles team will unload chassis no. 305 this weekend at Texas, a staple in the No. 24 team’s fleet. Haley has raced this chassis six previous times in 2018, including earlier this year at Texas where Haley qualified 10th and finished a track-best, as well as a chassis-best, third in the Spring.

– After the first race of the Round of Six, Haley closed the gap and now sits only two points below the NASCAR Playoffs cutline heading into Texas with the NCWTS race at ISM Raceway remaining as well before the final field of four is set for Championship weekend in Homestead.

Quote:

“Texas (Motor Speedway) is one of my best tracks we race at. I’ve never finished worse than sixth in three starts there, plus we won the pole last fall. We always bring a fast Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet there and the GMS Fabrication guys have been working hard to improve our immediate trucks in the wind tunnel.

“Texas is a track where in Turns Three and Four you’re wide open all the way. You may be wide open in Turns One and Two if the conditions are right during a mock run, but you’ll lift quite a bit there during the race. I’m confident we’ll show up with the speed we usually have there, but hopefully we can maintain the good finishes we have at Texas. Obviously being below the Playoff cut line in the Round of Six, a good run would go a long way for our championship hopes.”

 

Tyler Dippel, No. 25 Turning Point USA / America First Chevrolet Silverado
Texas Stats
This will be Dippel’s first NCWTS start at Texas Motor Speedway.
2018 Season Stats
2 starts, Best Finish: 13th (Eldora)

Notes:

– The No. 25 team will utilize GMS chassis no. 303 for this weekend’s race. This Chevrolet has been raced eight times this year for two top-10 and five top-15 finishes. Earlier this year, Dalton Sargeant raced this truck to an 11th-place result at Texas Motor Speedway.

– Dippel made his debut at GMS Racing last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, earning a 17th place finish in only his second career NCWTS start. After practice was rained out, Dippel took to the track for the first time in qualifying and locked in the 25th-place starting spot.

Quote:

“After starting off at a tough track like Martinsville, I’m looking forward to heading to Texas with the No. 25 team. It’s another clean slate for me, having never raced a 1.5-mile track, but I know Jerry (Baxter, crew chief) has had a lot of success there and the team has a good plan in place for where we need to be when we unload. GMS as a whole has a strong intermediate track program and Johnny (Sauter) and Justin (Haley) will continue to help a lot with my learning process.”

 

ABOUT GMS RACING

GMS Racing competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with drivers Johnny Sauter, Justin Haley, Sheldon Creed and Tyler Dippel, and in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Since the team’s start in 2014, GMS Racing has grown to occupy several buildings located in Statesville, N.C. The campus also includes operations for GMS Fabrication.

SOCIAL MEDIA

To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow GMS Racing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
Martinsville Speedway
Race 20 of 23 – 105.2 miles, 250 laps
October 27, 2018

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITION
1st, Johnny Sauter*
2nd, BRETT MOFFITT
3rd, Myatt Snider*
4th, Ben Rhodes*
5th, KYLE BENJAMIN
7th, NOAH GRAGSON
8th, HARRISON BURTON
9th, CHRISTIAN ECKES
12th, TODD GILLILAND
15th, JEB BURTON
18th, TYLER ANKRUM
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, Johnny Sauter*# 3102 points
2nd, NOAH GRAGSON# 3073 points
3rd, BRETT MOFFITT# 3064 points
4th, Grant Enfinger*# 3051 points
5th, Justin Haley*# 3049 points
6th, Matt Crafton*# 3041 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings

· Tundra driver Brett Moffitt was the top Toyota-finisher in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Martinsville Speedway after placing second.

· Fellow Tundra drivers Kyle Benjamin (fifth), Noah Gragson (seventh), Harrison Burton (eighth) and Christian Eckes (ninth) also scored top-10 finishes at the half-mile speedway.

· Kyle Busch Motorsports drivers – Todd Gilliland (first), Burton (second), Gragson (third) — swept the top-three qualifying positions to start the race after both practice sessions were rained out yesterday.

TOYOTA QUOTES

BRETT MOFFITT, No. 16 AW NC/Aisin Toyota Tundra, Hattori Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

How would you evaluate your race today?

“From where we started the day, I thought we were really good. We didn’t unload the best, we didn’t qualify the best, but we got better by the end. It’s a bummer that we didn’t get a bunch of stage points like we needed to, but we got a second-place finish. The guys work hard at HRE and I have to thank Toyota and TRD for always going to bat for us. And Mark Cronquist (JGR engine builder) and these Joe Gibbs engines. We’ve had badass tools all year long and I’m just thankful that they let us use them. Also thank Aisin and AW NC for making this happen.”

How did the race play out for you today based on your starting position?

“Obviously this morning we didn’t qualify like we wanted to or expected to and we started 17th so we had to be patiently aggressive. That was our game plan before the race and thankfully it worked out. We stayed out of trouble and Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) did a great job adjusting on the truck and telling the guys what to do on pit road to make the truck faster because we weren’t where we needed to be when we started the race. It’s Martinsville so I guess survival is great, but losing another one to Johnny (Sauter) is not.”

How will you look at this season with the success you’ve had so far?

“It’s great for my career. I’m a competitor so I’m not looking backwards, I’m looking forwards and unless we win the championship I will consider this an incomplete season for myself and for our race team. We’re looking forward and hopefully good things come from it.”

Would you consider yourself a dark horse to make it to Homestead?

“We’ve been arguably the second-best truck all year. I wouldn’t say we’re a dark horse at all, we just missed it this morning. At the mile-and-a-halves, it’s kind of a horsepower game and we know we’re not going to qualify up front. That’s the different engine packages. We race well and we have to execute our race day races like we need to and I feel like today we did that. The past three races I didn’t feel we executed to 100 percent like we were in the preseason so we just need to keep doing that.”

Were you hoping for a caution in the closing laps and do you feel the championship may come down to veterans of the series?

“No, I think there’s been a lot of teams stepping it up this year towards the end of the year. Justin’s (Hayley) one of them, they got off to a rocky start and then they started performing and running well. I think the 98 (Grant Enfinger) has been doing the same thing. I think a win would be huge. I think as far as the caution goes, I was very mixed emotion about it. When I was third, I was hoping for a caution and when I got to second, I was kind of hoping it would just go green. Restarting on the outside, you never know what’s going to happen. I think the win was big for Johnny and it would have been huge for us and we need to go to Texas with our A-game.”

KYLE BENJAMIN, No. 17 Toyota Tundra, DGR-Crosley Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

How did you feel about the race and your finish today?

“I feel pretty good about it. Trying to maximize opportunities and I feel like we did that today. Did the most I could do right there, especially on old tires. I think it hurt us firing off there on restarts. I didn’t have any right-front grip and those 150 laps were a long ways here. I really think we had a second-place truck and I can’t say enough about the guys to bring a truck that fast again with no practice and again to have a shot at it.”

NOAH GRAGSON, No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

Finishing Position: 7th

How was your race today?

“Overall it was a good day for our Safelite Toyota Tundra. We had one goal and that was to gain as many points as possible or obviously win. Pit stops, we got a little behind there and it was almost impossible to pass. Just thankful to be out here racing and I’m happy with the result. With the first two stages, gaining nine points in each is what we needed to do coming here. Moving on to Texas, got one goal and that’s to collect as many points as possible and go to Homestead and race for a championship.”

Did you intend to work with Johnny Sauter on the restarts?

“Just respect to him (Johnny Sauter) and try to benefit myself as well. Just trying to think big picture. I went to the outside of him and raced him hard and pinned him down and jeopardized my chance of getting wrecked or I could have let him go on the top and let him get back in front of me and I felt like that was the safest bet for what our goal for this weekend was. It wasn’t planned before the race, it just was the fact of the matter in the moment. Overall, just a good day for our Safelite Autoglass Toyota Tundra team and Kyle Busch Motorsports. Just thankful to be out here chasing a championship.”

Did you feel tire wear was not an issue today and is that a problem?

“You saw Myatt (Snider), he took two tires and was able to stay out front. He wasn’t worth talking about in the first two stages in my opinion and he ended up running third. Hats off to them, but just kind of a weird weekend here with no practice. I didn’t know if that was going to be a good thing or a bad thing. Everybody was in the same boat. Overall a good day for Kyle Busch Motorsports, we qualified one-two-three and obviously we would like to run up there at the end, but we did what our goal was. I wish that tires were worn more. I don’t like how this Ilmore motor is exiting the corner where you can flat foot it. It’s like a restart at Daytona where you can flat foot it and it doesn’t really go anywhere until about halfway down the straightaway. They need to figure out how to get more wheel spin into it. Either put more horsepower or I don’t know if a harder tire is the key because that’s going to be even less tire wear. Something to get less grip so you can spin the tires off the corner because that’s the only way you’re going to get passing back.”

HARRISON BURTON, No. 51 Morton Buildings Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

Finishing Position: 8th

How was the race today?

“We had a really good qualifying effort to start. The boys had us dialed in really good and we thought we were going to be good in the race. We fired off really tight in the race and I think some of our teammates had the same problem so we were really struggling to get speed through the center of the corner and get the drive off. These trucks, it’s really important to roll the center fast and get good drive up off. I don’t know, that was a bit of a struggle, but I feel like we managed really well and made good adjustments. It was just about track position and it’s so hard to pass here. We’re not far off, but not quite where we needed to be. We can move on, learn and go to Texas.”

CHRISTIAN ECKES, No. 46 Craftsman Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

Finishing Position: 9th

How do you feel about your top-10 finish today?

“Our goal today was to be a little bit better to be honest with you. I’ve had a lot of momentum with other series and we ran really well at Gateway as well. It’s a solid result, but I felt like we should have been a little better today. We’ll move on to Phoenix now and really looking forward to that.”

TODD GILLILAND, No. 4 JBL/SiriusXM Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

Finishing Position: 12th

How was your truck in the race?

“We had a good start to the day with the morning and getting the pole. 40 laps in the race we were super tight and just really couldn’t do anything all day. That’s kind of where we fell or we lost spots. Not where we wanted to be obviously, but still some positives to take away. Just kind of frustrating to know how fast our truck was by itself in qualifying and we’ll just have to work on it for next time.”

Toyota Racing – Harrison Burton, Christian Eckes and Todd Gilliland
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
Martinsville Speedway – October 26, 2018

Kyle Busch Motorsports drivers Harrison Burton, Christian Eckes and Todd Gilliland were made available to the media at Martinsville Speedway:

HARRISON BURTON, No. 51 Morton Buildings Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

How much fun is it to race together all these years?

“It’s a lot of fun. We all work together really well and me a Christian (Eckes) road-tripped up here together. It’s cool. We get to have our really good friends working along beside us and on our team as well so that’s a lot of fun. We all are goofy and have a lot of fun. When it comes time to go to work, we get down to work and we’ll do anything to win and that’s kind of what’s fun is everyone says you can’t have friends at the race track, but we’re all really close and when it comes down to racing, I’ll be the first one to say that we all want to beat each other more than almost anyone else. We have a lot of fun, but we’re also super competitive, so it’s a great balance for sure.”

Talk about being able to run all race tracks now that you’re 18 years old and coming to Martinsville as your home track.

“It’s cool to finally turn 18 and now I can kind of finish the year off strong. I’m running all the last four races with KBM. I’ll be here, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead. We’ve got some big tracks. I just ran my first 1.5-mile last weekend at Kansas in the ARCA car and wound up second, so the doors are opening up, now it’s just time for me to take advantage of those opportunities and go out and get wins on the big tracks. We had a good first start at Kansas with second, but I’m hungry for wins. First, we’ve got to think about Martinsville and focus on that because I feel like we have a chance to win here as well, but it’ll be really really cool to win on a big track early for sure.”

CHRISTIAN ECKES, No. 46 Craftsman Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

What are your Truck Series plans for 2019 after announcing a full ARCA schedule?

“I’m not really sure yet, but I’m really looking forward to getting back in the ARCA Racing Series next year. Hopefully I’ll be able to make more truck starts like this. Really looking forward to having a good race at Martinsville this weekend. It’s not the greatest with the rain right now, but hopefully we can get on track tomorrow and have a good weekend.”

You had a lot of success on short tracks in the ARCA series this year. Can you translate that this weekend in the truck?

“Yeah, I hope so. Like I said, it definitely sucks not getting track time today, but I’ve been here in a Late Model and stuff like that, so hopefully that can translate. Sure, it was a couple years ago, but a short track is a short track, so hopefully I can learn it through qualifying and get a decent starting spot. I think it’s 200 laps tomorrow, so it should be a lot of fun. I’m really looking forward to it.”

TODD GILLILAND, No. 4 JBL/SiriusXM Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

Why does everyone assume you will have the most eventful Martinsville race weekend?

“I don’t know on that one. Maybe they just expect me to do more dumb stuff in the race. We’re just here to win. With all this rain, we have a lot of extra down time so maybe we’ll find a go-kart track or something.”

Has it bothered you that you haven’t won this year?

“Absolutely. I felt like we were going to be a little bit strong than we have been so far. I really didn’t expect it to be such a hard transition, but I feel like we’ve been gaining on it every week since the beginning of the year and I feel like we’ve got competitive speed, top-five speed and now it’s just about getting that little bit extra. As far as KBM-wise, I feel like everyone’s working harder than ever in the race shop and preparing the best trucks possible for these last four races. We were really strong here in the springtime – probably one of our best races and I think with the extra experience I’ve got with my team and everything, I think we’ll be just as good tomorrow. To finish up the season, we’ve got some really strong race tracks coming up for us. I think a win could possibly come this season. It’s one of those things I feel like once you start putting more pressure on yourself, nothing good happens. It’s just about letting it come to us and really just being patient with every race.”

Toyota Racing – Noah Gragson and Brett Moffitt
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
Martinsville Speedway – October 26, 2018

Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Noah Gragson and Hattori Racing Enterprises driver Brett Moffitt were made available to the media at Martinsville Speedway:

NOAH GRAGSON, No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

You won here last year, what’s it going to take to replicate that success and do it here again?
“I feel like this race track itself is different every time you come here. You can come with the same setup for 10 years and you’re going to run differently every single time. It’s just the way the track takes rubber. I feel like the weather and the temperature outside plays a big part in that. I don’t know. I’m coming back with a different setup than what we had in the springtime here, so not getting any practice, you can’t really lean on past success here. Just been trying to work hard with my crew chief, Rudy Fugle. He and I sat down. We had ice cream a couple days ago for about an hour and just talked about this weekend and what we needed to do about this round in the playoffs and then Martinsville and just coming here with a different setup. It’s going to be challenging, so hopefully we can get it dialed in in three rounds of practice and then go race.”

With the track flipped at Phoenix and the restart zone now in what was Turn 2, is that going to present a different set of challenges?
“I think so. I think going off into old Turn 3, new Turn 1 on the first – I don’t know probably the whole race, I think those Cup guys are going to be watching that to learn, but we’re going in there cold turkey. We don’t know how far you can drive it in on a restart. You might have some restarts like the Roval getting in to new Turn 1. Just not knowing how far you can drive it in, that’s where I think working with TRD – Toyota Racing Development – on the simulator side is going to help tremendously.”

Is it a bummer that you’re not going to be running here next year?
“I was thinking about that. I saw some fans outside – it’s crazy there’s fans already out here in the pouring rain. That’s just how much they love Martinsville. I was thinking man, it’s going to be cool coming back next year and then I was thinking, I’m like oh, wait, I’m not. I don’t know. Hopefully I can run a truck race here. I don’t know. Chris (Knight) don’t put that down as Noah is running a truck race. It’s not the thing. It might be on NASCAR Heat 3, I don’t know. I think that’d be cool.”

Being in the playoffs this year, if you were able to replicate your win of a year ago here, how would that position you having a couple of races to get ready for Homestead?
“That’d be huge. Not saying that we wouldn’t have to worry about Texas or Phoenix, but we’d be able to work a lot more on our Homestead truck and kind of have those cards laid out in our favor I feel like and could put a little bit more time and effort into Homestead just as a whole. Definitely try and go and race those guys in Texas and Phoenix, but maybe take bolder chances if that was the case, but right now it’s not the case and we’re not even going to practice here. We might be 30th, we might be first there in qualifying, I don’t know how it’s going to be. Just need to work hard and focus on this weekend and if that does end up happening, then that’ll be great, but right now just got to wait in the rain, eat some hotdogs and hopefully go racing tomorrow.”

How much are brakes still a factor for you guys? How much do you really have to conserve compared to years past?
“Knock on wood, but I’ve never had a brake overheating issue here and hopefully we don’t have that come tomorrow’s race. I feel like in the Truck Series, you’re not really running out of brake pedal as much as you might get them hotter and they get the tire hotter, but I don’t really feel like you can run out of brakes in the Truck Series. I think with 200 laps, 250 laps that we run in the spring, you can’t really go through brakes like you would maybe in a 500 lap race like in the Cup cars. It’s pretty much just balls to the wall in the Truck Series. You might run into a little damage with guys wrecking in front of you and that could create brake heat, but it’s normal temperatures as you’re going.”

Which track worries you the most in this round?
“I’d say either here or Texas. Texas it’s pretty hard to pass. Very slinky tight 1.5-mile racing where you can run up on to a guy and be four tenths faster than him and then get stalled out, so track position is really key there and then anything can happen here. Pretty excited about here and Phoenix. I feel like those are my best two.”

BRETT MOFFITT, No. 16 AW N.C./Aisin Group Toyota Tundra, Hattori Racing Enterprises

Is this reset what your team needed after a tougher race at Talladega?
“Yeah for sure. We ran decent here in the spring. I mean this round in general is just three better race tracks for us. I think for most of the field, you know the road course and Talladega all in one round had everyone nervous and everyone aggressive at Vegas. I think everyone’s going to be a little bit smarter here and we can go back to our past success this season and try to rely on that to get through to Homestead and hopefully fight for a championship.”

Which track worries you the most in this round?
“I’d say here.”

With the track flipped at Phoenix and the restart zone now in what was Turn 2, is that going to present a different set of challenges?
“The whole Turn 3 and 4, I’ll refer to it as, it’s really hard to go side by side into there just because the trucks are so aero dependent and even in the cars they are, so being two-wide for 10, 15 rows on the restart is probably going to be a little bit hairy. At the same side of that, the old Turn 1 and 2 is more of a dive bomb, knocks ‘em out of the way corner, so if you’re coming to a checkered, I would guess that’s going to happen because it’s a tighter corner and you can really get to someone’s bumper there. I’d say it’s going to create a little bit of drama.”

Do you think you can overcome the new rule change if you make it to the Championship 4 at Homestead?
“Yeah, we are really proud of everything we’ve done this year with Toyota and the OEM engine and Mark Cronquist. Right now, we’re just going to continue to do our thing. It’s been working for us. We’ve had – the engine deal has been a moving target all year. We re-evaluate after every race, but as of right now, we’re going to stick with what’s been working.”

What would it mean to have a shot at the championship?
“It would be huge for us. (Shigeaki) “Shige” (Hattori, owner) has built such a great race team. I was blessed with the opportunity to drive for him this year and I think everyone on our team is very deserving of the opportunity to fight for a championship. They put in the work and they deserve it. I feel like Homestead would be a good race track for us and to maybe be able to deliver a championship to Shige would be an honor and it just it would be rewarding for everybody on the race team.”

How much are brakes still a factor for you guys? How much do you really have to conserve compared to years past?
“For us in the Truck Series, it’s really not a problem as long as the crew chief leaves enough of the grille opening open, you’re really not fighting the brake issue much. On a long run you can get them a little bit hot and if you just take it easy for a couple laps, they normally come back right away. In 200 laps, it shouldn’t really be an issue.”

Can you speak to the rules change and how it affects you guys?
“Not really. I don’t really know. I’ve been paying attention to Martinsville. I know this week, we were already prepared for Martinsville here and it doesn’t affect us at all. We got to just go do our thing and worry about our Toyota Tundra and make sure it’s driving good in the few laps we’ll get in qualifying and go for a race win. It is what it is and we’ll move forward.”