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  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Gateway

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Gateway

    After a crazy week in NASCAR’s third division, the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series will head to the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

    The track was formerly known as Gateway Motorsports Park and is located in Madison, Illinois. Earlier in the season, World Wide Technology bought the track naming rights. There were 33 trucks on the preliminary entry list, however, the No. 30 of Brennan Poole has withdrawn from the race and the No. 0 of Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing has yet to be announced.

    After being suspended on Tuesday afternoon, ThorSport Racing has announced that part-time driver Myatt Snider will occupy the No. 13 for this weekend while Johnny Sauter is serving his suspension.

    Also, it appeared as if Greg Biffle, who won at Texas a couple of weeks ago, could be in the race, but he later found out that he was not eligible for The Triple Truck Challenge. Biffle had three starts at Gateway with one win and two top fives along with two poles at the track.

    Here’s a top five look at who might wheel it into victory lane Saturday night.

    1. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes has had a strong couple of finishes in the past few weeks and is carrying that momentum right on through. Since Martinsville, Rhodes has finished second, 10th at Texas, sixth at Dover, second at Kansas and fourth at Charlotte He had a transmission failure at Texas and previously finished second at Iowa. At Gateway, Rhodes’ first outing was in 2016, three years ago. In his first start, he started on the pole and finished second after leading four laps. The second year, he finished eighth while Rhodes finished 19th last year. Despite the finish last year, he has been finishing better in recent races. Rhodes average finish at Gateway is 9.7.

    2. Todd Gilliland – Gateway could be the place where Gilliland might break through for a first career win. He did not fare well here in his first outing after starting fourth and finishing 21st. But he finished fourth in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2. Last year’s race was a better turnaround for the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports team. Gilliland started eighth, finished third in Stage 2, and wound up second even after being involved in an incident mid-race. This time around, Gilliland will be piloting the “KBM-060, a brand-new chassis,” according to the KBM press release. Look for the Sherrills Ford, North Carolina driver to finish one spot better on Saturday night.

    3. Brett Moffitt – After a crazy turn of events following post-race inspection at Iowa, Moffitt was declared the new race winner. This happened after Ross Chastain who had been declared as the winner failed inspection. Last year’s champion could continue that winning streak at Gateway Saturday night. Moffitt has just one start, that came last year. Despite the finishing results not showing his strong efforts, the Grimes, Iowa native finished sixth in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2, respectively. He even led 18 laps, but finished a disappointing 14th. Moffitt and his new GMS Racing team will look forward to continuing their winning ways this weekend.

    4. Myatt Snider – Snider will be back in a truck for the first time since Martinsville earlier this season. He has one other start that came at Daytona, where Snider finished 21st after crashing out on Lap 62. He only has one start at Gateway, coming last year where he finished fourth, despite not earning a stage finish in the top-10. This weekend, however, despite unfortunate circumstances, the Charlotte, North Carolina driver will try to make the best of his ability to shine and turn a negative into a positive.

    5. Chandler Smith – After impressing the NASCAR world last weekend at Iowa, Smith returns to the Kyle Busch Motorsports team this weekend at Gateway. However, he will be competing in the No. 46 Toyota Tundra instead of the famed No. 51. Smith will also be having extra track time and doing double duty on Saturday by also competing in the ARCA Menards Series prior to the Truck Series race.

    Also on the entry list, we see the return of Christian Eckes who will be back in the No. 51. Cody McMahan will drive the No. 1 of Beaver Motorsports and Bryant Barnhill will be in the No. 34 for Josh Reaume. Ross Chastain will also look to rebound from a disappointing Iowa weekend in the No. 45 and Lou Goss is entered in the No. 174.

    After a four year hiatus, the Truck Series returned to the 1.250-mile paved track in Madison, Illinois in 2014. Since then, the track has seen five different winners and will see their sixth on Saturday night. Before the four year hiatus, however, World Wide Technology Raceway has seen 18 races with its first race in 1998.

    There’s a who’s who of winners that have won here.

    Rick Carelli was the first winner in 1998 and Greg Biffle won in 1999. Other winners include Jack Sprague, Ted Musgrave, Terry Cook, Brendan Gaughan, David Starr, Todd Bodine, Johnny Benson, Ron Hornaday, Mike Skinner, Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace, Cole Custer, Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek and Justin Haley. The last five winners have gone on to competitively compete in the Xfinity Series.

    Surprisingly enough, Ted Musgrave has been the only repeat winner at Gateway, winning in 2001 and 2005.

    Qualifying is also important, as the lowest a race winner has ever come from was 14th set by David Starr back in 2004. The highest a race winner has ever come from was the pole position, three times, Musgrave in ’01 and ’05, and Harvick in 2010 before the track went on a hiatus.

    It will be a one day and night show for the Truck Series at Gateway. The first practice will be live on Saturday at 10:35 a.m. CT while final practice is scheduled at 12:35 p.m. CT. Qualifying can be seen live on Fox Sports 2 at 6:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. ET.

    The CarShield 200 is set to take the green flag shortly after 9 p.m. CT/10 p.m. ET, Saturday night, live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio.

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Ganders Outdoors Truck Series race at Iowa

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Ganders Outdoors Truck Series race at Iowa

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series returned to Iowa Speedway this weekend for their 10th race of the 2019 season.

    It was quite a newsworthy race with original winner Ross Chastain being disqualified and Brett Moffitt being declared the new winner, along with Johnny Sauter being parked by NASCAR officials for an incident with Austin Hill under caution. The Truck Series race was quite possibly one of the most talked about events in recent NASCAR memory this season.

    It was the first time in nearly 25 years that a race win has been taken away. What’s more amazing is that Moffitt became the first winner to not lead a single lap in 66 years.

    On the other hand, we had a young, up and coming phenomenon who is making a name for himself in the ARCA Menards Series and is considered a future NASCAR Cup Series star in the years to come.

    So what else happened in the event? Here’s a look at this week’s four takeaways.

    1. Chandler Smith Impressive In Rookie Debut – You’ve probably already heard a lot about Smith from this past weekend, but seriously, this kid is impressive and is the next real deal. Sure, qualifying was rained out which gave him the advantage of the pole position but he remained strong throughout the race. Smith led the first 55 laps of the event before a late stage caution forced him to come down pit road to fix his radio issues. Despite those radio issues, he continued to work his way back into the top-10 to finish fourth in Stage 2. However, another unfortunate circumstance took place at the end of the stage, as Smith was caught speeding on pit road which sent him to the back of the field. The highest position Smith was able to obtain after that was fifth, but he eventually had to settle for an eighth-place finish. Not bad for your first time out in a Truck Series start. Expect more big things to come from Smith in the future. He’s also setting the ARCA world on fire earning four career wins, 11 top fives and 14 top-10 finishes, along with seven poles over a span of 14 races. It’s quite impressive for a driver who is only 16-years-old.

    2. ThorSport Racing Continues Strong Championship Run – Despite Sauter being parked and finishing 28th, ThorSport Racing continued their run toward a championship this season. Both drivers Ben Rhodes and Matt Crafton each won a stage respectively. Crafton won the first stage and Rhodes the second. Grant Enfinger was up there as well finishing second in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2 after post-race inspection. Before Sauter was parked, he was up there as well, finishing third in Stage 1 and 10th in Stage 2. ThorSport has three of their four drivers in the top five point standings. Enfinger leads over Crafton by 47 points, with Rhodes in fifth. Sauter now sits on the cut off line in eighth, 103 points behind. He will be suspended for Gateway, but will still remain playoff eligible, despite the suspension. Now, Enfinger, Crafton and Rhodes all just need a win to help their chances even more.

    3. Johnny Sauter Suspended – Well, we’ve all been waiting for it and Sauter has been suspended for the upcoming race at Gateway this weekend but at what cost? I’ve always learned, while one is at fault for their actions, the other is too. I think it would have only been right for both drivers to be suspended this weekend to learn from their actions. Oh by the way, if you’re near Dells Raceway Park Saturday night, Sauter will be there as well, as he tweeted below.

    Change of plans…Dells Raceway Park Saturday night Dick Trickle 99! Ya know a Real Racer #DickTrickle #SupportYourLocalShortTrack pic.twitter.com/SIxEDeUIbv— Johnny Sauter (@JohnnySauter) June 18, 2019

    4. Stewart Friesen Gets Top Five Finish – Lost in all the controversy following Sunday’s race is Friesen and his No. 52 Halmar Racing team, who earned another top-five finish this season. Friesen and his team finished 10th, and sixth in both stages respectively. It was his six top-10 finish of the season and he currently sits third in the point standings, 49 points behind Grant Enfinger.

  • ThorSport Racing places two trucks in top-five

    ThorSport Racing places two trucks in top-five

    Another race, another solid weekend, as ThorSport Racing was able to place two of their trucks in the top five at Iowa Speedway.

    Ben Rhodes placed highest, finishing in the third position after starting seventh. Rhodes fought hard throughout the race by finishing fifth and second in both stages, respectively. It was the fifth top-five finish of the year for Rhodes and the No. 99 Carolina Nut Company Ford F-150

    “Yeah, we were just struggling to run the top all day,” Rhodes said in his post-race interview with MRN Radio. “Ross Chastain (Race Winner) did a really good job getting his truck to the top yesterday in practice. We tried to run both, I think we should have committed to the top in practice and set it up for that spot. We learned and learned a lot. We’re building a big notebook here for Carolina Nut Company F-150, we’ll come back next time and be a truck to beat. We got a lot of good ideas to make ourselves better and it’s easy stuff too.”

    Grant Enfinger and the No. 98 team continued their season championship playoff run by earning another top-five finish. With qualifying rained out, the No. 98 qualified on the outside pole.

    The Alabama native finished third and fourth in both stages and finished the race in fifth for his six top-five finish of the year.

    “It was just tough to pass,” Enfinger described to MRN Radio in regards to the racing. “It’s a lot of fun, slipping and sliding by yourself but it’s really difficult to pass, even when you’re two-tenths faster than somebody. It was all about how you were going to get those restarts in the first couple of corners there. I feel like we had a really good Ford Protect The Harvest F-150, probably a third place truck today. I don’t know if we could have played a factor with the leaders up there, but I think if we could have got track position, they wouldn’t have got back around us.”

    Enfinger continues to lead the championship points standings over his teammate Matt Crafton by 47 points.

    Matt Crafton earned another top-10 finish this season, finishing eighth and collecting his ninth top-10 of the season.

    Johnny Sauter was parked by NASCAR after an incident with Austin Hill and is credited with only completing 137 laps. He wound up finishing 28th.

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- Texas II

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- Texas II

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series visited Texas Motor Speedway this past weekend for race number nine of the 2019 season. It also marked the beginning of The Triple Truck Challenge, where racers can win $50,000 over the next three races should they win. Win all three and they have a shot to win half a million dollars.

    Regarding The Triple Truck Challenge, it started off with a bang last Friday night when former series champion Greg Biffle returned to the field and won the race. It was Biffle’s first win in the Truck Series since Phoenix of 2001 and his first Truck Series win at Texas since 2000. It was a popular win across the NASCAR world Friday night and created a social media buzz. Marcos Lemonis (CEO of Camping World and Gander Outdoors) even weighed in on social media as well.

    The win was so popular that fans and people inside the NASCAR industry wanted to see Biffle back in the truck again for the upcoming race at Iowa Speedway. Unfortunately, the Washington State native will be ineligible to compete as he did not submit an entry blank in time before the deadline hit last week.

    Kyle Busch Motorsports already has four trucks entered in the race at Iowa, so it would have been hard for them to include a fifth entry for Biffle. However, Biffle is eligible to compete at the conclusion of The Triple Truck Challenge at Gateway, should KBM decide to offer Biffle a ride.

    While Biffle’s win was popular throughout the NASCAR garage, there were some familiar faces found inside the top five at the end of the night, including driver Tyler Ankrum who had his best career finish in his young career thus far.

    Without further ado, here is a look at this week’s power rankings.

    1. Matt Crafton – The two-time Truck Series champion came out of nowhere at the end of the race, lining up at the front on a late race restart with 10 to go. Crafton had a solid qualifying effort of 10th earlier that day. However, it was probably not what he was looking for after starting on the pole for two consecutive weeks in a row. He finished fifth and eighth, in the first two stages. The No. 88 Menards ThorSport driver also managed to miss all the chaos that happened around him during the race, which allowed him to have a shot at snapping his long winless streak that dates back two years. Crafton tried all he could to catch Greg Biffle for the late race charge but had to settle for another second-place finish. It was his sixth top five this season and he now sits third in the points standings, 41 points behind his teammate Grant Enfinger.

      Previous Week Ranking: 2nd

    2. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger is back in the power rankings this week. He had a solid outing at Texas, finishing in the fourth position and earning his fifth top-five finish of the 2019 season. He started third and stayed there for most of the night, finishing third in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. What hurt the No. 98 team the most was when there was an incident late in the going when a truck spun off Turn 4. Enfinger noted in his post-race interview that he saw the yellow flag start to come out, but then it was put back away after he had slowed. This allowed a few more drivers go on by him, which kept him from having a more solid finish. Regardless, it was still a good points night as Enfinger still leads the Truck Series points standings over Stewart Friesen by 37 points.

      Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked

    3. Harrison Burton – While his teammate Todd Gilliland had a rough night, crashing out and finishing 27th, Burton placed fifth, rounding out the top five finishers. Burton started 11th, finished 10th in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2. It was his third top five of the season and tied his fifth-place finish earlier this season at Las Vegas.

      Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked

    4. Ross Chastain – Chastain was in the news again this week, but in a big way, as the Niece Motorsports driver elected to receive points in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series. It was big midweek news after having early season success with the team, finishing inside the top-10 in all the races and earning a big win at Kansas. However, per NASCAR rules, the win at Kansas does not count toward Chastain’s run for the championship and he had to start all over at Texas this past weekend. Niece already had three trucks in the field with Angela Ruch piloting the No. 44, Kyle Benjamin in a return to the Truck Series in the No. 45, and T.J. Bell in the No. 38. Niece was able to work a deal out with Chastain to place him in the No. 38 to compete at Texas. Chastain qualified 15th, certainly not the best qualifying effort, but he finished 10th, earning another top-10 in the 2019 Truck Series season. The Niece Motorsports driver finished fourth in Stage 1 and seventh in Stage 2. Chastain currently is nowhere to be seen in the top 20 points standings, so he will have a lot of ground to make up with just eight races remaining.

      Previous Week Ranking- 4th

    5. Sheldon Creed – Creed matched his best finish of sixth Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway after starting in the seventh position driving the No. 2 GMS Racing Chevy. He finished eighth in Stage 1 and 10th in Stage 2. It was Creed’s best finish since Las Vegas earlier this season in March, where he finished sixth. This earned him his second top-10 finish of the season.

      Fell Out

      1. Ben Rhodes – When people looked at the final results from Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 400, they were probably left scratching their heads when they didn’t see the ThorSport driver in the top-10 running order. But his finish was a result of a transmission failure late in the going, which took Rhodes out of contention to win the race. The No. 99 Carolina Nut Company team tried to get back to the front but the damage was too severe and Rhodes had to suffer a disappointing 21st place finish after winning Stage 2.

      Previous Week Ranking- 1st

      2. Todd Gilliland – The hits keep on coming for the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver. Gilliland and Burton received more critical comments from their team owner in a media press conference Friday, where Busch stated, “If you can’t get it done in a KBM truck, might as well go home.” Despite those comments, Gilliland was having a decent race going for him after he started on the pole. He finished seventh in Stage 1 and led 31 laps before a crash on Lap 70 took him out of the race which put him 27th in the final running order. It will be interesting to see how much longer this can happen this season before Busch finally drops the hammer down.

      Previous Week Ranking- 1st

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Charlotte

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Charlotte

    After taking a trip to the Midwest, the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series team headed home to Charlotte Motor Speedway for their eighth race of the season.

    While some drivers consider Charlotte home, Kyle Busch and the No. 51 team found themselves home in victory lane Friday night for his 56th career Truck Series win. It was a remarkable feat winning five races in all five starts this season. The Truck Series regulars remain trying to chase down the all-time winningest driver but fell short once again. However, there is some good news for those series regulars. This was Busch’s last Truck Series race of the season due to NASCAR’s restriction on how many races in which he can compete in the series.

    So, how did the other Truck Series regulars stack up? Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings.

    1. Ben Rhodes – After coming up short a couple of weeks ago at Kansas, Rhodes and the No. 99 Carolina Nut Company Ford F-150 was looking to carry that momentum over to Charlotte this past Friday night in hopes of a win. He started fifth and pretty much stayed in the top-10 throughout the night, finishing fourth and eighth in both stages respectively. Rhodes would even be up front to contend for the lead but only led a couple of times. However, despite a late race restart, Rhodes and the No. 99 Thorsport team finished fourth for his fourth top five of the season and equaling the fifth-place finish that he earned at Atlanta in February. Rhodes now sits fourth in the standings, 34 points behind teammate Grant Enfinger.

      Previous Week Ranking – 2nd

    2. Matt Crafton – Crafton and the No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 team came to Charlotte with momentum after securing the pole at Kansas and finishing sixth there. He was also hungry and hoping to snap his long winless streak dating back to Eldora in July of 2017. When the team unloaded on Friday they were fast right out of the gate, sitting on the pole for the second consecutive week, the 15th of his illustrious career. However, Crafton was not able to keep the lead as Rhodes, Todd Gilliland and Kyle Busch would go right by him. It wouldn’t be until Lap 30, where we would see the famous No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 back out front, although, he had to pass Todd Gilliland in a thriller off Turn 4 for the stage win. Crafton and the No. 88 ThorSport team stayed consistent throughout the night finishing fourth in the second stage. Ultimately, he still found himself winless as Crafton finished in the fifth position to round out the top five finishers. You’d have to imagine that he is even more hungry for a win as we approach the two year anniversary since of his last win at Eldora.

      Previous Week Ranking – 5th

    3. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland and the No 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports team had a slight setback this week after finishing third at Kansas, but it was still enough to keep them in the power rankings. He started third but lost the first stage win in a thrilling battle with Crafton, then he finished 10th in Stage 2. Still, as much criticism as Gilliland has faced this year, it looks as though things are beginning to turn around little by little for the No. 4 team. However, they will have to get going if they want to be a serious championship contender in the Playoffs, as there are only nine races until the run to the championship starts. Gilliland sits eighth in the points standings, while his teammate Harrison Burton sits one point behind in ninth.

      Previous Week Ranking- 4th

    4. Ross Chastain – Chastain was still coming off a win high at Kansas when he and the No. 45 Niece Motorsports team rolled into Charlotte Thursday afternoon. It is quite understandable considering that it was the first win for Al Niece and his team who has come a long way since their first truck entry in 2016. It was also a new truck for the team and it showed, as he qualified 13th Friday afternoon. Chastain didn’t take long to get inside the top-10, finishing fifth in Stage 1 and he even placed second in Stage 2 to Kyle Busch. He was hoping for a caution later on in the race, as he was the only one to have one set of fresh tires left. His break finally came with eight to go but it might have been a little too late. The caution came out with eight to go and it, of course, saw Chastain and the No. 45 team pit for those tires with a last chance effort. He would line up in the back on the restart with three to go, but one truck stalled on the start and Chastain was behind him. This slowed and eventually cost him the win or late race rally to finish a disappointing 10th. Chastain extended his streak, however, finishing in the top-10 in all Truck Series starts this year.

      Previous Week Ranking – 1st

    5. Brennan Poole – When fans look at the results for this past weekend’s race, they will notice an unfamiliar driver and team who just broke ground this year in the Truck Series. After missing Kansas due to sponsorship woes, Former Xfinity Series standout Poole and the No. 30 On Point Motorsports team was looking for redemption this past weekend at Charlotte and they almost did just that. They didn’t finish in the top-10 at all for either stage but found themselves restarting second to Kyle Busch with three laps to go. What a story it would have been if Poole and the small underfunded No. 30 team had pulled it off and were able to beat Kyle Busch. However, Poole fell 1.115 seconds short to Busch for his shot at the win. And to make it more impressive, Poole raced with a broken sway bar. That’s a pretty remarkable feat to accomplish especially with a small team. If they can keep this up and get more strong equipment like this, Poole and the No. 30 On Point Motorsports team will quickly become another fan favorite in the Truck Series.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked

      Fell Out

      1. Grant Enfinger- Enfinger had a solid night finishing ninth after starting ninth. He finished third in both stages but it wasn’t enough to stay in the top five. Nonetheless, Enfinger and the No. 98 Champion Power Equipment Ford F-150 team can still hold their head high as they continue to be the points leader over Stewart Friesen by 15 points.

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- Kansas

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- Kansas

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series headed west this past weekend to the heartland and the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway and as usual, the Truck Series didn’t disappoint.

    Some were worried that it was going to be a single file race. But, in the end, a crowd favorite won the race with a late race thriller while others were left disappointed and still searching for a win.

    There are some fresh new names that popped up in the power rankings, while some were able to keep their position. Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings.

    1. Ross Chastain – Chastain finally broke through this past weekend by winning at Kansas Speedway. Chastain and the Niece Motorsports team had been running and finishing inside the top-10 all season and have been close many times, especially with a third place finish at Daytona to open the season. Some fans since then have considered the Niece Motorsports a fan favorite and quite possibly, an underdog team in NASCAR. They continued week by week to strive toward their goal in hopes of winning in the Truck Series, or NASCAR overall. That moment came Friday night when Chastain passed Stewart Friesen with three laps to go, as Friesen ran out of gas and Chastain went on by. Chastain and the No. 45 team were hoping for no cautions for the rest of the way while Ben Rhodes was trying to chase him down in hopes of redemption from a couple of years ago, but couldn’t do it. In the end, Chastain and team owner Al Niece won their first Truck Series win. Chastain led three times for five laps and finished fourth in both stages. It was his first Truck Series victory in just 66 starts and Chastain’s first top-10 finish at Kansas Speedway. The Niece Motorsports team will look to carry this momentum throughout the rest of the season in hopes of fighting for the owners’ championship in which they currently sit third, 33 points behind Kyle Busch’s No. 51 team.

      Previous Week Ranking – 5th

    2. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes had a strong No. 99 Carolina Nut Co. Ford F-150 on Friday night at Kansas and came oh so close to capturing the Digital Ally 250 checkered flag. Despite looking at practice speeds after practice was over with where Rhodes slated 12th and 14th fastest in both practices, some probably thought, he may not have the truck to win Friday night. Rhodes and the No. 99 Thorsport team proved them wrong where he finished tenth in Stage 2 and found himself with a shot at the win late in the race. Rhodes was chasing down eventual race winner Ross Chastain, but ran out of time and fell .483 seconds short. It was his third top five of the 2019 season.

      Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked

    3. Grant Enfinger – After qualifying 13th, Enfinger and the No. 98 Champion Power Equipment Ford F-150 quickly moved up into the top-10 and led 47 laps until a late race incident with 27 to go when he and Brett Moffitt made contact, bringing out the fifth caution of the race. The team was doing well before then by finishing third in both stages but eventually finished seventh. If things had gone their way, they probably could have finished inside the top five or top three. Nonetheless, Enfinger still holds the points lead over Brett Moffitt by 13 points.

      Previous Week Ranking – 1st

    4. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland and the No. 4 KBM team improved on their finish from Dover by finishing third in Friday night’s race at Kansas. He started fifth and remained consistent, running in the top-10 and finishing seventh in both stages. In an exciting late-race battle for the win, Gilliland and company wound up in the top five. It was a much needed top five after finishing 15th at Dover and his first top five of the year.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked

    5. Matt Crafton – Crafton was looking to snap the long winless streak this past weekend in the heartland, but once again, fell short of doing so, not without effort, however. The No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 driver showed speed in early morning practice sessions on Friday by placing third and fourth fastest, respectively, in both practices. The No. 88 Thorsport team followed that up by qualifying on the pole, Crafton’s 14th of his career and his first at Kansas. Crafton led early but only led eight laps and was not really seen up front after leading early. He finished sixth in both stages to ultimately finish a disappointing sixth after having such a fast truck in practice and qualifying.

      Previous Week Ranking – 4th

      Fell Out

      1. Johnny Sauter – A forgettable night for Sauter and the No. 13 ThorSport team who previously won at Dover before heading to Kansas Speedway. Mechanical issues plagued Sauter early on and he was sent to the garage to fix the problem. He could never really rebound and wound up 22nd after starting 12th.

      Previous Week Ranking – 3rd

      2. Brett Moffitt – Much like Sauter, Moffit and the No. 24 GMS team had a disappointing night and were ready to move on to Charlotte after the race ended. The team started well by qualifying fourth earlier in the day. He even finished second in both stages and led three times for four laps. But troubles came late in the race when Moffitt and Enfinger collided with each other off Turn 2 and spun out. Both would escape without major damage, but the incident more than likely ended Moffit’s chance at the win and he had to settle for finishing eighth. The No. 24 GMS team will look to rebound this week at Charlotte.

      Previous Week Ranking – 2nd

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas 1

    NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas 1

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series visited the Midwest this past weekend to Texas Motor Speedway.

    It was the fifth race of the 2019 season and from the get-go, the Vankor 350 was a wild event. Turn 2 was the trouble spot for the night with four cautions taking place in that turn.

    The action didn’t stop there though. The end of Stage 1 saw Thorsport teammates make a nervous moment for the team owner as Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes battled it out for the stage win.

    When the race was winding down, Stewart Friesen found himself chasing down Kyle Busch for his first career win. Friesen was only able to get to Busch’s back bumper, but once he did, Friesen’s truck got tight and went away. Ultimately, a familiar foe played the same song, fourth verse. Fourth verse as Kyle Busch continued his winning dominance in the Truck Series.

    While Busch won again for the fourth time this year, Truck Series regulars had to settle for a solid points night and look forward to a win at Dover, where Busch is not competing.

    Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings following the Vankor 350 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    1. Stewart Friesen – Another second place finish for the No. 52 driver out of Canada. He came close to snapping Kyle Busch’s win streak, but just got tight at the end. Only a slip up on Busch’s part (which is rare on his part) or a late race caution would have given Friesen another chance. As much as he wanted to win, the Canadian still had a solid night and continues to be the Truck Series points leader by six points.

    Previous Week Ranking- 3rd

    2. Grant Enfinger – A top five finish for the Alabama driver who finished fourth after starting on the pole. The highlight of the night came at the end of Stage 1 narrowly edging Ben Rhodes to win the stage. For Stage 2, he finished seventh. In the end, the No. 98 team wound up fourth after “almost wrecked all three restarts,” Enfinger said coming to the checkers. It was his third top five of the year.

    Previous Week Rankings – 5th

    3. Matt Crafton – The winless streak continued following Texas for Crafton and the No. 88 Menards team finishing fifth. However, since the Vegas race, it’s all been about consistency for Crafton who has finished inside the top-10 in all races this year, except Atlanta where he finished 14th which he had come down pit road for a loose wheel under caution. Crafton finished 12th and second in both stages, respectively. Ultimately, the No. 88 Thorsport driver finished fifth. He’ll look to Dover, where Crafton won a couple of years ago.

    Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked

    4. Ross Chastain- While it wasn’t the night Chastain wanted, he still had a great finish and was able to claim another top-10 of the season. It was a relatively quiet night for the Floridian who finished seventh. Chastain finished 13th and fourth in both stages, respectively. He never really contended for the win, but momentum is everything in NASCAR and it’ll carry to Dover.

    Previous Week Ranking- 5th

    5. Tyler Ankrum- A great run for the No. 17 DGR-CROSLEY driver who finished sixth, despite his teammate Anthony Alfredo’s truck who caught on fire in a scary crash in Turn 2. Alfredo would be okay and have no serious injuries. Ankrum, however, finished seventh and tenth in both stages, respectively. Ankrum tied his best finish of sixth Friday night in his young career. The last time he finished sixth was last November at ISM Raceway.

    Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked.

    Fell Out

    1. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a great night going until, with 20 to go, he had a tire go down and was forced to pit. The No. 24 GMS Racing team finished 19th, four laps down. If you look throughout the race, the results don’t reflect how well Moffitt was running before this unfortunate mishap. He started on the front row in second and finished sixth in both stages. After a forgettable finish, Moffitt will look forward to Dover in May.

    Previous Week Ranking- 1st

    1. Ben Rhodes – After an eventful ending to Stage 1 where Rhodes finished second to Enfinger and going on to finish third in Stage 2, he really was not seen for the rest of the night. The Carolina Nut Company Ford F-150 ThorSport team wound up in 10th place.

    Previous Week Ranking- 4th

  • Solid Night for ThorSport Racing

    Solid Night for ThorSport Racing

    It was a solid night for most of the ThorSport Racing drivers. The finishing order saw Johnny Sauter, Grant Enfinger, and Matt Crafton all finish in the top five. Ben Rhodes finished 10th.

    Sauter started seventh and had a somewhat good truck. He finished ninth in Stage 1 but didn’t finish in the top-10 for Stage 2. He led once for seven laps after taking fuel only after Stage 2 to gain track position. Sauter was even in the close battle after the restart but fell to third. He was too far back to catch the race leaders or even challenge for the win, but it was still a good points night for the No. 13 Tenda Heal Ford, as he finished in third place.

    “I don’t know, it was an eventful night to say the least with our Tenda Ford F-150,” Sauter told MRN Radio describing his night. “I couldn’t thank the guys at Thorsport enough for busting their tails. Really a hard-fought third place finish. We battled for track position and then at the end there, we just decided to put four tires on it to forego track position making one last adjustment on it and it kind of came to life.”

    “So yeah,” Sauter continued in his post race interview with MRN Radio, “I don’t know if I ever had that kind of night, where you just feel like nothing you could do was right and you end up finishing third. So, we’ll take it and learn from it obviously. Man, what a crazy night. They bailed us out for that one.”

    It was Sauter’s second top five of the season.

    For Crafton, it was a different story. He started 12th and finished fifth. There were some moments during the race where he found himself battling with Kyle Busch for the win after a great pit stop by his crew. Ultimately, Crafton came home winless and is still looking for the win.

    “Second round of being back with Ford,” Crafton told MRN Radio. “Just trying to figure out everything that they want and just balance wise, we were off. We still need to be better on the short run and have better short run speed that we didn’t have tonight. We were able to catch up with Kyle (Busch) for a minute and he would just drive away. We sucked at restarts. But all in all, not a bad day for our Menards Ford F-150 Thorsport crew.”

  • 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.
  • 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.”