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  • Justin Fontaine – Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 Race Advance

    Justin Fontaine – Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 Race Advance

    ​Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 | Kentucky Speedway Race Advance
    Team: No. 45 ProMATIC Automation | Superior Essex Chevrolet Silverado
    Driver: Justin Fontaine
    Follow the Team: @NieceMotorsport; @driverfontaine

    Fontaine on Racing at Kentucky: “The last three weeks we’ve had a really good truck and I think we’ll go to Kentucky this week and pick up right from where we left off at Chicagoland,” said Fontaine.

    “When it comes to Kentucky Thursday night, I remember how bumpy that place is, and we just need to make sure we’re working to get our No. 45 ProMATIC Automation Chevrolet handling through the bumps and carrying the speed off the corners.  If we can do that, it should be another strong night.”

    Fontaine at Kentucky: Thursday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Kentucky Speedway will mark Fontaine’s first in the series at the track.

    Fontaine has one ARCA Racing Series start at Kentucky Speedway, a 10th-place finish which came last season.

    Recapping Chicagoland: Fontaine and his No. 45 team battled extreme heat all day at Chicagoland Speedway to earn a solid 16th-place finish.

    “It was another solid weekend for our No. 45 ProMATIC Automation Inc. | Superior Essex Chevrolet Silverado,” said Fontaine.  “We made some steady gains during the race and that allowed us to have the truck handling the best near the end of the race.

    “I was hoping that we could have another late race caution to allow us an opportunity to grab a couple more spots, but it never came.

    “Still, I’m satisfied with our effort.  We had some good speed and I can’t thank Cody (Efaw, crew chief) and my Niece Motorsports guys enough for their hard work in the extreme heat.”

    On the Truck: Fontaine’s No. 45 Chevrolet will carry the ProMATIC Automation, Inc. colors in Friday’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.

  • NCWTS Advance: Kentucky Speedway

    NCWTS Advance: Kentucky Speedway

    ​Race Advance: Kentucky Speedway

    MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 11, 2018) – The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) will return to action this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. DGR-Crosley will field two trucks in the Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 with the No. 54 Crosley Brands Toyota Tundra for Bo LeMastus and the No. 17 BlazeMaster Fire Protection Toyota driven by Chris Eggleston.

    LeMastus, coming off a top-15 finish, looks to carry the positive momentum from Chicagoland Speedway into his home track this weekend. Though it will be the 55-year-old driver’s first NCWTS race at Kentucky Speedway, he has three previous ARCA Racing Series starts at the one-and-a-half-mile track. LeMastus and the No. 54 DGR-Crosley Brands team also tested at Kentucky Speedway earlier in the season, giving the rookie driver even more confidence and experience going into the race.

    Eggleston returns to DGR-Crosley and his BlazeMaster Toyota Tundra for his third NCWTS race of the 2018 season. In his previous two starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, he was able to secure top-15 finishes with a 13th and 14th-place result respectively. Thursday’s ‘Buckle Up in Your Truck 225′ will mark the first time that the 29-year-old Erie, Colo., native has raced at Kentucky Speedway.

    Track: Kentucky Speedway, 1.5-mile tri-oval

    Event Details: Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 (225 miles, 150 laps)

    Schedule: Thursday, July 12
    9:05 a.m……..Practice
    11:05 a.m……..Final Practice
    5:15 p.m……..Qualifying (FS1)
    7:30 p.m……..Race (FS1)
    (all times ET)

    Broadcast: Fox Sports 1 beginning at 7:00 p.m., ET

    Eggleston on Kentucky Speedway: “I am really excited to go to Kentucky Speedway and race under the lights this Thursday night in our No. 17 BlazeMaster Fire Protection Toyota Tundra. I have never been to this track, but I have been studying up and hope to have good speed off the hauler like we did in Texas.  Beyond speed, I hope to race up towards the front and get a good solid finish like the DGR-Crosley team deserves.  Being that this is truck race #3 of 4 for us on the season, I hope to make the most out of the opportunity and contend for the win or a top five at the end of the night.”

    LeMastus on Kentucky Speedway: “This is one of the most exciting weekends of the season for me. We have a lot going on this week with the race being at my home track. I feel really good about the race on Thursday night – we tested here a couple weeks ago and were able to learn a lot. We didn’t’ start off real strong during the test, but we definitely improved every lap and left feeling really good about our truck. I’ve made a lot of lap around this place and I really think we will have a strong showing and put together a solid finish for the DGR-Crosley guys.”

    ​
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Kentucky

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Kentucky

    It will be the 12th race of the scheduled 22 race season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series once the trucks hit the track Thursday night for the annual Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

    Currently, there are 33 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list this week.

    Here’s a look at who might be competing for the win in Thursday night’s truck race.

    1. Matt Crafton – Crafton has competed in 19 races at Kentucky, earning one win, five top fives and 14 top-10 finishes, along with an average start of 9.9 and an average finish of 10.3 and he has also led 79 laps in his career. He’ll need a win here soon before the Playoffs start at Bristol and Kentucky just might be the place where Crafton will break out and earn his first win of the year. If he doesn’t win this week, the next race at Eldora will mark one year since he has won. In the past five races, he finished eighth twice, won in 2015, sixth, and 10th, respectively. When the stages were implemented last year, Crafton finished third but fell out of the top-10 in the second stage after getting involved in an accident early on. Despite the finishes this year, he could sneak his way into victory lane Thursday night in the Bluegrass state.
    2. Parker Kligerman – While Kligerman might not end up in victory lane, he is certainly the one to watch when it comes to the Trucks Series when running a part-time schedule. At Kentucky, he has made six starts with the best finish of second coming in his first race in 2011 driving for Brad Keselowski. However, times have changed since then, and he now drives the No. 75 Henderson Motorsports entry. In last year’s race, Kligerman started 30th and finished seventh after running as high as sixth. In the 2018 season, he only has four starts coming at Daytona, Atlanta, Dover and Charlotte, with the best finish coming at Charlotte placing seventh. It’s easy to overlook drivers like Kligerman, but he could finish inside the top-10 once more, or possibly earn a top-five finish.
    3. Johnny Sauter – Kentucky hasn’t really been Sauter’s cup of tea, as he’s had mixed results at the 1.5-mile racetrack in Sparta. In the previous five races, he has finishes of ninth, fifth, 12th, ninth, and 12th. His best finish at the track came in 2010, finishing second and his worst finish was 24th in 2011 after having transmission issues. In the past two years, however, Sauter led a combined 40 laps. But with the way his 2018 season has been going so far, it’s hard to stop someone who has been dominant and having his career best season to date. Sauter just might cross Kentucky off the tracks he hasn’t won at yet. If he doesn’t do it this year, Sauter will definitely win here before his career is over.
    4. Brandon Jones – Jones could continue with the Jones name to victory lane this weekend after Erik Jones won at Daytona last Saturday night. He has three starts here earning one top five and three top-10 finishes, with his best finish of second coming in last year’s race. His average finish at Kentucky is 6.3. In the 2018 season, however, Jones has made three starts with two top fives and three top-10 finishes for Kyle Busch Motorsports. His best finish is third at Charlotte. He’ll pilot the famed the No.51 KBM entry with sponsor SoleusAir/Menards.
    5. Noah Gragson – Another driver who has been close to victory lane multiple times this year, has been the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Noah Gragson. Gragson competed in this race last year as a rookie. He started 11th and finished fifth after leading 32 laps. Gragson ran as high as first and as low as 20th. This earned him a driver rating of 95.5 and he has made 22 quality passes. Kyle Busch Motorsports has won the last two races at Kentucky.

    The Truck Series has competed here since 2001 and has a list of who-who when it comes to visiting victory lane. The list of winners includes Greg Biffle, Scott Riggs, Mike Bliss, Carl Edwards, Bobby Hamilton, Dennis Setzer, Ron Hornaday Jr, Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson, Todd Bodine, Kyle Busch, James Buescher, Ty Dillon, Matt Crafton, William Byron, and Christopher Bell.

    Of those winners, only three drivers have been able to repeat. Those include Kyle Busch, James Buescher, and Ron Hornaday Jr.

    Qualifying will be important here as the past five races, the winners have come from second, third, first (twice), and 22nd. The highest a race winner has come was first with those coming in 2015, 2014, and 2009. The lowest a race winner has ever come from was 22nd in 2006 and 2013.

    Thursday’s event will be an all-day show with a busy day on tap. Two practice sessions are scheduled for 9:05-9:55 a.m. ET with the final practice at 11:05-11:55 a.m. ET with no live coverage.

    Qualifying is slated for Thursday afternoon at 5:10 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

    Race coverage is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET with an approximate green flag at 7:49 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages will be broken up into 35/70/150.

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Chicago

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Chicago

    Friday night’s Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway marked the 11th race of the season. It also marked the halfway point of the season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

    Here are four takeaways from the Overton’s 225 race.

    1. Close, but no cigar for Nemechek – John Hunter Nemechek was on pace for his second win of the season. However, a miscalculated pit stop early in the race, cost Nemechek a chance at the win as he ran out of gas on the backstretch on the last lap. This misfortune set him back to a disappointing seventh-place finish.  All was not lost though, as Nemechek led 64 laps and finished first and third, respectively, in Stages 1 and 2. Unfortunately, this does not mean anything, as he selected to earn NASCAR Xfinity Series points for this season.
    2. Brett Moffitt There To Capitalize – When someone has a misfortune, normally someone is there to capitalize on it. This certain someone just happened to be Iowa and Atlanta winner, Brett Moffitt. Moffitt and Nemechek swapped the lead with each other eight times in the last remaining laps. It was Moffitt who came out on top and earned his third win of the season. However, sponsorship still remains uncertain for the team in the remaining races of 2018.
    3. Can anyone stop Johnny Sauter? Sauter has been the most dominant driver in 2018. He has amassed four wins, an average start of 5.5 and an average finish of 4.0, along with 324 laps led. Can anyone stop him? If sponsorship continues for the Hattori Racing team, they could certainly be in the Championship 4 spot at Homestead. Noah Gragson, who has been strong this year, won at Kansas and has been close many times to multiple victories. It’s just a matter of a time before he breaks through and wins more. Stewart Friesen is another driver to keep an eye on for the remaining half of the season. 2018 has been a strong season for Friesen, who has three top fives and six top-10 finishes, along with 105 laps led. His best finish of the season was second at Fort Worth, a track in the Playoffs. One last driver who could surprise and quietly make his way to the Championship 4 is Sauter’s teammate, Justin Haley. Haley fended off Sauter on a late race restart at Gateway to earn his first Truck Series career win. Other stats include four top fives and seven top-10 finishes.
    4. Will Crafton Win? The 2018 Truck Series season has been so-so for the two-time champion Matt Crafton. There’s no question that Crafton has the talent and skills to win. But this is a sport that focuses on, what have you done for me lately? Crafton has only earned three top fives and four top-10 finishes, along with 35 laps led and an average start of 6.2 and an average finish of 13.5. His best finish of the season was at Dover finishing second, but only after Noah Gragson had a late race incident with Johnny Sauter. Crafton’s top fives and top-10 finishes are the lowest of his career since 2007 when he earned one top five and 10 top-10 finishes. Eldora will mark one year since the No. 88 ThorSport driver has won a race in the series, uncharacteristic-like to say the least. He sits seventh in the points currently but will have to win soon and start winning stages if they want to advance further in the Playoffs. If anyone can do it, it’s the experienced veteran and two-time champion. It is interesting to note that if Crafton doesn’t win this season, it will be the first time since 2012 that he hasn’t won a race in a season.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Chicago

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Chicago

    Friday nights Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway marked the halfway point of the season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It was the 11th race of the scheduled 22 race season.

    Once more, the Truck Series put on a thrilling battle for the race win and continued to show that it’s the best of the three national touring series right now. Little did anyone know, it would also set the stage for what would be an exciting weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.

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

    1. Brett Moffitt – After falling out of the power rankings last week due to a late-race incident at Gateway, none of his doing, Moffitt and the No. 16 Hattori Racing team was able to secure sponsorship from Fr8 Auctions and was able to continue at Chicagoland this past Friday night. Moffitt started sixth and slipped back in Stage 1, finishing fifth. In the second stage, he improved his finishing position after finishing second and led for one lap. As soon as the third and final stage began, Moffitt was up front battling and contending for the race win with John Hunter Nemechek. It all started on lap 74, where Nemechek took the lead and since then, the two swapped the lead seven times in the last remaining laps. It was quite an epic battle for the race win with two drivers not backing down. On the last lap of the race, Moffitt made a move to the inside in Turn 1 to pass Nemechek for the win after only, Nemechek’s truck ran out of gas coming off of Turn 2 and thus Moffitt drove away with the race win. It was his third win of the year. The team noted in the post-race media availability, that they do have some races secured later on in the season, but still need full-time funding in order to compete for the championship. Previous Week Ranking: Fell Out
    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter once again continues to prove that consistency is key if you want to win the championship in any of NASCAR’s top three series. He continues to be one of the best trucks on racetrack week in and week out. Despite finishing seventh and fifth in both stages, respectively. Sauter and his No. 21 GMS Racing team fought hard with a tight-handling race truck which wasn’t great in the dirty air, but with a late race caution on lap 122, the team was able to make adjustments only to have the jack fall during the pit stop which sent him to the back. With years of racing experience and knowledge, Sauter fought his way to a third-place finish earning his tenth top-10 of the season. He continues to lead the point standings over second place Noah Gragson by 65 points. Previous Week Ranking: 1st
    3. Noah Gragson – Gragson stays in this week’s power rankings after finishing fourth. It was a quiet but strong night for the No. 18 Safelite Kyle Busch Motorsports Tundra. After earning his third pole of the season, he consistently stayed inside the top-10 for most of the night. Early on in the first stage, Gragson led two times before being passed by John Hunter Nemechek on the last lap in Stage 1 and had to settle for second. The second stage, however, provided a much better opportunity for Gragson to earn stage points. When Korbin Forrister decided not to come in for tires, he restarted on the front row alongside Gragson. As soon as the restart happened, the No. 18 with four fresher tires passed Forrister for the lead and ultimately for the stage win. The third and final stage started to become a challenge for the 19-year-old youngster. It seemed as though his handling had started to go away just a tad before the last caution came out on Lap 122 when he came in for an adjustment like everyone. At the end of the day, the scoring pylon showed Gragson and his No. 18 Safelite Tundra in the fourth position. A decent Chicago outing for the KBM driver. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
    4. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes finally gets a well deserved second place finish this past weekend. After not having the best of finishes and bad luck throughout the season, the cards and opportunity finally fell in his favor Friday night. He started ninth and finished sixth and 11th, respectively, in both stages. With the help of adjustments late in the going, Rhodes was there to capitalize on Nemechek’s misfortune on the last lap and earned his best finish of the season. This is exactly what the No. 41 ThorSport driver needs and it could be a chance to open the floodgates, where they could possibly begin to finish consistently inside the top-10 and peak at the right time of the season. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
    5. Justin Haley – Last week’s winner, Justin Haley, came home in the top-10 after starting 10th. It was a relatively quiet night for the No. 24 GMS Racing driver. It wasn’t the best night for him and his team, but he was able to secure finishes of ninth and seventh, respectively.  Haley is locked into the Playoffs with his win at Gateway and currently sits sixth in the standings. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
  • Johnny Sauter earns a quiet third at Chicago

    Johnny Sauter earns a quiet third at Chicago

    After starting seventh in the Overton’s 225 Friday night, Johnny Sauter was looking for his fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win of the year and his second at Chicagoland Speedway.

    In the first stage, Sauter and his No. 21 GMS Racing team fought handling conditions and slipped back to seventh due to fighting dirty air while being caught in the back. During the stage caution, he and his team took four tires and made an adjustment.

    In Stage 2, Sauter restarted 11th and once more, he fought tight conditions as he reported, “Can’t get anywhere,” during the team radio communications. As Stage 2 came to a close on Lap 70, Sauter finished fifth.

    When the laps started to wind down, the No. 21 Chevy once again was battling a tight-handling truck and had also lost grip. Sauter and his team fought these ill handling conditions all night long. Their struggles continued when, on the last pit stop, a jack dropped and he had to come back and tighten lug nuts that were loose.

    After the night was over and all was said and done, Sauter and the No. 21 ISM Connect Chevy wound up third.

    “Track position is just everywhere anymore,” Sauter said. “You can be a lot of faster than a guy in front of you, but you just can’t do nothing about it. I’m not a high line runner there. So on the end of that long run there before the last pit stop, I just can’t do it. I just got too tight and on the last pit stop, the jack broke. So we lost a lot of track position there and had to come back down pit road to put a lug nut on.”

    “All in all, a great night with our ISM Connect Chevy. The guys did a good job. Everybody at GMS, just had a couple of mishaps in the pit tonight, that’s all. We had really good short-run speed, just needed a little more for the long run.”

  • Noah Gragson places fourth at Chicagoland Speedway

    Noah Gragson places fourth at Chicagoland Speedway

    In what would seem like a repeat of Kansas, Noah Gragson, unfortunately, came up three spots short of the race win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway Friday night.

    After starting on the pole, he led the first lap until taking the lead again on Lap 26. As the stage began to wind down, it looked as though he would score a stage win, however, John Hunter Nemechek passed him on the final lap in Turns 3 and 4 and Gragson finished second.

    That didn’t stop Gragson though, as he continued to stay in the hunt and was in charge once again on Lap 41. He got passed for the lead by eventual race winner, Brett Moffitt on Lap 64, but he regained the lead one lap later and scored his sixth stage win of the season.

    During the pit stop, the No. 18 Safelite Tundra took no tires and restarted in the second position after a close call on pit road with Nemechek leaving the pits. But, after a late race caution on Lap 122, he was able to pit for four fresh tires.

    At the end of the night, the scoring pylon showed Gragson fourth after leading 42 laps.

    “Struggled for grip there at the end,” Gragson said. “I made some adjustments and didn’t feel like they really helped after the sun went down. Just thankful to be out here and all the fans for coming out. A lot of fun to race at Chicago, just came up a bit short. Gained some points, stage points, playoff points throughout the race. Just got to work harder and keep on going.”

    Gragson is 65 points back behind points leader Johnny Sauter.

  • Brett Moffitt gets win number three after Nemechek runs out of gas on the last lap

    Brett Moffitt gets win number three after Nemechek runs out of gas on the last lap

    In what has continued to be a wild season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and  for Brett Moffitt, and Hattori Racing, it continued to get even wilder as they were able to secure win number three of the season at Chicagoland Speedway after John Hunter Nemechek, who led five times for 64 laps, ran out of gas on the final lap on the backstretch.

    As Stage 1 began, Noah Gragson led Lap 1, but Dalton Sargeant took the lead and led for a while until Gragson took back the lead with 10 to go. However, Nemechek would win the first stage.

    One caution slowed the pace as Bo LeMastus spun on the fronstretch on Lap 21.

    When Stage 2 began on Lap 41, Gragson took the lead on the restart, but another caution was flown once more on Lap 51 for Ross Chastain, who had a right front tire go down. Another caution was displayed once more on Lap 59 when Sargeant spun out on the backstretch after slight contact from Stewart Friesen. Gragson went to on win Stage 2 after having a dominant truck.

    The final stage began on Lap 77.

    The race lead was swapped multiple times between Nemechek and Moffitt as they battled it out until a late race caution came with 30 to go for Friesen and Jordan Anderson, who made contact in Turn 1. Friesen suffered the most damage from the incident.

    After the restart with 24 to go, Nemechek had the lead and Moffitt started to close in with 15 to go.

    It seemed Nemechek would get win number two of the year and his second at Chicagoland but the No. 8 Chevy ran out of gas after taking the white flag and Moffitt was right there to go past him for the race win.

    It was Moffitt’s third race win of the year and his first at Chicago.

    “I got a good run off (Turn) 4 there,” Moffitt said. “We took the white and I was kind of committed to what Noah did to me back in Iowa, and then about halfway up the hill, something happened to him (Nemechek). Something blew up or out of fuel and my crew said to take it easy. That’s a great way to drive easy through (Turns) 3 and 4. I just can’t thank everyone enough on this team and FR8 Auctions for coming on board, that even got us here this week.”

    “Tuesday, we didn’t know,” he said. “They really extended a hand and helped us out when we needed it the most and that goes deeply appreciated.”

    There were six cautions for 29 laps, along with six different leaders for 17 lead changes.

     

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Chicagoland-NCWTS-unofficial-results-6-29-18.pdf” title=”Chicagoland NCWTS unofficial results 6-29-18″]

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Chicago

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Chicago

    After another exciting race at Gateway last weekend, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues its season and reaches the halfway point at Chicagoland Speedway.

    Last year, this race was held prior to the eight race Playoffs and decided the regular season champion. However, this year, it is now a summertime race but it is still an important race as stage points and a race win are still up for grabs.

    Currently, there are 33 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list.

    Here’s who to expect on might end up in victory lane in Friday nights Overton’s 225.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek will pilot the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports truck this weekend. He’ll be hungry for a win after exiting the race late last week at Gateway due to an issue. Chicago could be the place where he will break the drought and end up in victory lane. In three races, Nemechek has an average start of 13.7 and an average finish of 7.3. In that time span, he had one win which came in 2015 and he finished 14th and seventh in the last two races. Nemechek will be a prime contender in this week’s race if all the cards fall in the right place.
    2. Johnny Sauter – How could one ever overlook a four-time winner this year going for win number five? Sauter has nine starts dating back to 2009 and is the previous race winner.  He also has an average start of 9.1 and an average finish of 8.0 and has led 106 laps. Sauter earned a pole here back in 2014 where he finished 14th. In last year’s race, the No. 21 GMS Racing team finished second and fourth in the first two stages, respectively, before taking the lead on Lap 123 en route to victory after leading the final 28 laps.
    3. Myatt Snider – While Snider only has one start at Chicago which came last year after finishing 10th, he’ll have his Thorsport Racing teammates to lean on for advice, especially two-time champion, Matt Crafton, who has nine starts. He is also carrying momentum from last week’s fourth-place finish, which was his first top five of the year. .
    4. Todd Gilliland – After turning 18 a few weeks ago, Gilliland has been consistent with his finishes, despite not finishing at Iowa and being relegated to 29th. It will be his first start at Chicago, but it is also another 1.5-mile track where he does have experience. At Charlotte, he finished 10th with a sixth-place finish the following week at Fort Worth, both 1.5-mile tracks. It will be a little bit of a learning curve with it being his first start, but if past finishes say anything, Gilliland will be a contender for the win. He will also be competing in Thursday night’s ARCA race.
    5. Stewart Friesen – Friesen has been a solid contender this year in the Truck Series. If not for issues late in previous races this year, he could have had multiple race victories in 2018. At the 1.5-mile race tracks, he finished sixth at Atlanta, fifth at Las Vegas after leading 31 laps, third at Kansas (led six laps), sixth at Charlotte, won the pole and finished second at Texas while leading 13 laps. He has certainly been a contender for the win this year at these tracks, but for whatever reason, can’t quite get the No. 52 truck to victory lane yet. If he wins this weekend, not only will it be his first win, but it could be the first of many this season and he could be a prime contender at Homestead for the championship.

    The trucks have competed at Chicagoland nine times with five different winners, those being Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, James Buescher, Nemechek, and Sauter. Busch is the only repeat winner at the track with five wins.

    The trucks will have two practice sessions scheduled for Thursday afternoon. The first practice takes place at 5:30 p.m. ET and the final practice will be held at 6:35 p.m. ET with no live TV coverage.

    Qualifying is slated for Friday afternoon at 5:40 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 2.

    Race coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. ET and with the approximate green flag taking place at 9:19 p.m. ET, both on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages will be broken up into 35/70/150 laps.

  • Full weekend schedule for Chicagoland

    Full weekend schedule for Chicagoland