Tag: Ben Rhodes

NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Las Vegas – spring preview
The NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series makes the trip west this week to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for it’s first outing of two races this season.

It’ll be somewhat of a learning weekend, as the second Las Vegas race will be in the Playoffs and racing at night as well.

Last fall saw a thrilling finish take place late in the closing laps on a restart as Grant Enfinger took the checkers, and advanced on to the next round.

So who will take the checkers this time around?

Here’s a look at who could end up in victory lane this weekend in Sin City.

Currently, there was 34 trucks on the preliminary entry list, but due to an incident last week at Atlanta after the race, Chad Finley’s hauler driver went to the wrong tunnel and accidentally damaged the Las Vegas truck. As a result, the team withdrew from the Vegas race. Ray Ciccarelli has also withdrawn from the event.
1. Johnny Sauter – It’s hard to imagine counting Sauter out at any given race, especially when he has the second most starts among active drivers, with 11. However, his only win at Vegas came in 2009, his first start at he track, driving for ThorSport Racing. Since then, Sauter has not visited victory lane, but has finished second the past two times. Overall, he has four second place finishes, along with six top fives and eight top-10 finishes. Sauter has led 121 laps with an average finish of 7.0. He also finished second last weekend at Atlanta and looks to go back to victory lane.
2. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger won the last time the Truck Series visited Las Vegas. In the fall race, he led 40 laps and finished seventh in Stage 1 and won Stage 2. Enfinger has only one finish outside the top-10 that came in his first start there in 2012. In total, he has two top fives and four top-10 finishes, along with 45 laps led, and an average finish of 7.2. His driver rating was 91.5 percent in the 2018 fall race. Enfinger has 73 green flag passes and 66 quality passes equaling 90.4 percent. Look for Enfinger to contend for the win Friday night at Vegas.
3. Kyle Busch – Kyle is back in the No. 51 this week for his second of five Truck Series starts. He is coming off a historic win at Atlanta and he’ll be looking to continue his winning ways Friday night. He only has two starts, but his first start was all the way back in 2001 driving for Jack Roush, where he finished ninth. It wasn’t until the spring race of last year, where Busch was finally back in a truck at Vegas. To no one’s surprise, he went to victory lane after leading 55 laps and starting on the pole. He finished third in both stages. It’ll be hard to count out the winningest driver in the Truck Series.
4. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes has four starts at Vegas and won in 2017. In the 2017 race, he led 20 laps and finished sixth in Stage 1 and won Stage 2. Overall, Rhodes has two top fives and three top-10 finishes with an average finish of 6.0, and 24 laps led. His driver rating is 90.2 percent and he has made 65 quality passes. When Rhodes won in 2017, he had 27 quality passes and a driver rating of 124.4.
5. Ross Chastain – Chastain only has three starts at Vegas in the Truck Series. To many, he may not look like a threat to win, but he is certainly someone to keep an eye on as he is a sleeper. Last fall, he won the Xfinity race and finished seventh in the Truck Series race. Chastain has been on a strong roll as of late. He finished third at Daytona and sixth last week at Atlanta. At Vegas, Chastain has just 11 laps led. He may not win, but look for him to be inside the top-10 when the night is over.
Other Notables

Angela Ruch is back in the No. 8 truck for Nemco Motorsports. Her previous start came in Daytona a few weeks ago, where she finished eighth.

Stefan Parsons returns to the series this weekend for Tracy Lowe in the No. 1 machine. This will be Parson’s first truck race since Phoenix last fall where he finished 20th.

Ryan Reed is back driving the No. 17 DGR-CROSLEY truck. It’ll be his first start since 2012, where he also competed at Las Vegas for Wauters Motorsports. Reed finished 17th that day.

Jesse Iwuji will drive Josh Reaume’s No. 34 entry and Scott Stenzel is set to pilot D.J. Copp’s No. 63 machine.

Two practices are scheduled for Thursday afternoon. The first will begin at 5:05 p.m. ET wth the final practice at 7:05 p.m. ET but there will be no live TV coverage. Friday afternoon, it’s qualifying at 5:10 p.m. ET, live on FOX Sports 1. The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Strat 200 is slated for 9 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio.
February 28, 2019
Ben Rhodes settles for top-five finish

After a strong run in both stages of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway Ben Rhodes had to settle for a fifth place finish.

“I checked up between Harrison Burton on the restart,” Rhodes said to MRN Radio. “The inside lane obviously has the grip at the racetrack, I knew on the outside it was going to be an issue, Kyle (Busch) was really good on making everyone unexpected and catch them off guard.”

“So he (Kyle Busch) did a good job on the restart, I just got held up behind the No. 18,” Rhodes explained to MRN Radio. I thought the Ford F-150 had a ton of speed tonight, but we got some stuff we need to work on overall as a team and also some stuff on the truck. We got some good areas to work in on Las Vegas and missed it a little bit. I just needed a better restart there at the end.”

Rhodes finished sixth and second, respectively in both stages.

His top five finish was Rhodes’ 18th of his career.

February 24, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Preview – Atlanta
The NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series continues their schedule momentum this weekend by hearing north of Daytona and just right off of I-85 south to Atlanta Motor Speedway for a Saturday afternoon doubleheader with the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

There are many storylines to watch this weekend at Atlanta, where the trucks will be making their 18th appearance at the 1.5-mile speedway since they began hosting Truck Series races in 2004.

Currently, there are 34 trucks on the preliminary entry list for 32 spots for Saturday’s race.

Here’s a look at who to watch for this weekend during Saturday’s race.
1. Kyle Busch – Busch will be making his first Truck Series start since his win at Pocono last year, tying Ron Hornaday’s all-time wins record. He’ll be looking to break that record this year and Busch will more than likely do it. He has won pretty much everywhere on the schedule. Last season, Busch averaged a 2.6 start with a 5.4 average finish in the series total. He also had two wins in 2018, but Busch finished second at Kansas and Charlotte, where he could have broken Hornaday’s record. He has four wins out of 10 starts at Atlanta, his first win coming in 2005 and winning three in a row until 2008. Busch’s last victory came in 2009, 10 years ago. He has completed 99.7 percent of the laps with 387 laps led, earning seven top fives and eight top 10 finishes, with an average start of 3.0 and an average finish of 6.6. Recently, however, Busch has not found his winning ways as he had in the past. Last year, a tire fell off the truck after a late-race pit stop, relegating him to a 21st place finish after starting on the pole. In 2017, he finished 26th. He’ll look to get back to his winning ways in Saturday.
2. Ben Rhodes – After wrecking out of the lead last week at Daytona, Rhodes looks to get back in victory lane this weekend since his win at Kentucky last year. He has a good shot, as Rhodes has two top fives and three top 10 finishes. Rhodes has three starts at Atlanta since 2016, all finishing in the top 10. He has a driver rating of 99.9 and 30 quality passes with 42 green flag passes in 2018.
3. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt will look to recapture that Atlanta magic as he did a year ago, which propelled him to winning the championship. He is the defending race winner after leading just two laps. Moffitt finished fourth and third in both stages last year.
4. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland will be making his first truck start this weekend at Atlanta, but will have an experienced crew chief on top of the box, Marcus Richmond. Richmond has one win back in 2012 with Ty Dillon. The truck Gilliland will be using races at Pocono, Chicago, and Texas. Busch also used this chassis last year at Kansas, where he finished second. Gilliland will have practice time, an experienced crew chief and an veteran owner to rely on throughout the weekend. It’s hard to imagine counting Gilliland out of winning.
5. Matt Crafton – Crafton is looking to snap that long winless streak this weekend and Atlanta could be the place to do it. He has the most starts out of all active drivers with 17, won in 2015, has one DNF, six top fives and 10 top 10 finishes, along with an average start of 13.0 and an average finish of 11.6. In the past five races, Crafton has finished fifth, second, 30th, first, and ninth. Crafton also has 180 laps led. Look for Crafton to be back in victory lane this weekend on Saturday.
Who To Keep An Eye On:
1. Parker Kligerman – Kligerman is making his first Truck Series start of 2019 this year at Atlanta with Henderson Motorsports. The team has surprised the field a few times, especially winning at Talladega a couple of years ago. At Atlanta, he has five starts, one top five and two top 10 finishes with a best finish of fourth in 2012. The No. 75 team finished 11th and 31st the past two times.
2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter will be looking for his first Atlanta win this weekend and it’s hard to believe he does not have a win at the track yet. He has two top fives and four top 10s with a best finish of third twice.
Anthony Alfredo will be making his truck debut for DGR-CROSLEY and Jesse Little returns with his family owned team.

There have been 17 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway since their first event in 2004 with 13 different winners. Ron Hornaday is the only series regular to win multiple times with two victories while Kyle Busch has won four times at Atlanta.

The lowest a race winner has come from was 18th set by Ron Hornaday in 2005 and John Hunter Nemechek in 2016.

A winner has came from the pole in 2006 by Todd Bodine, Mike Skinner in 2007, Kyle Busch in 2009, Ty Dillon in 2012 and Christopher Bell in 2017.

There has been five different winners in the past five races.

The Truck Series get on track Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. ET on nascar.com/live and final practice at 4:05 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

Qualifying will take place Saturday morning at 10:40 a.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1.

The Ultimate Tailgating 200 is scheduled for Saturday afternoon following the Xfinity Series race live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio at 4:30 p.m. ET. Stages are broken down into 40/80/130, all weather permitting.
February 22, 2019
Ben Rhodes Places A Quiet Second At Texas

After qualifying for the Playoffs with his win at Kentucky earlier this season, Ben Rhodes and the Camping World Truck Series No. 41 Thorsport team were looking to compete for their third championship. Unfortunately, Rhodes got caught up in an incident at Talladega which left him eliminated from the Playoffs.

However, NASCAR is a sport like any other where you can still compete even after being eliminated from competing for the championship. Rhodes and company were determined to finish the season strong and hoped to collect more wins. Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway almost saw them do just that.

After race leader Todd Gilliland had fuel issues on the last lap of the Jag Metals 350 and fell off the pace, eventual race winner Justin Haley drove by to pick up the win. But lurking close by was Rhodes who finished second after all the craziness.

“Yeah, we pretty much had to start last after scruffing the wall in qualifying,” Rhodes told MRN Radio. “Disappointed in that, but very proud of how the team has rallied and put this Carolina Nut F150 up in second place. I feel like overall this race was run on track position and managing restarts, and pit stops. The disappointing part for us is I feel like we were even better than where we finished tonight.”

“We just burn the tires up. A lot of people were blocking tonight and you know, blocking was the name of the game it seemed like for everybody, except us. It was just a weird race on how that all played out. Congrats to the 24 getting the win and to Homestead. We’ll continue to do our best to compete for the owner’s championship.”

Rhodes’s second place was his eighth top five of the season.

November 3, 2018

Noah Gragson Claims Pole for the World of Westgate 200

With a dominating time of 30.331 seconds at 178.036 mph, Noah Gragson will start in the top spot for this evening’s World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He was only 0.005 seconds shy of the qualifying record.

Stewart Friesen will start to his outside in the second position. Grant Enfinger, Chris Eggleston and Riley Herbst rounds out the top five. The other drivers to make the final round of qualifying include Johnny Sauter, Brandon Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Brett Moffit, Todd Gilliland, Tanner Thorson and Justin Haley. All drivers will start in that respective order.

“We were fast there earlier on in the spring with my Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra,” stated Gragson as he reflected on his race earlier this year. “We restarted the final restart in second place, but the left-rear tire was chorded, so we didn’t get the result that we showed all throughout the race, but we ran in the top three the whole time. It’s another opportunity to chase a checkered flag.”

Gragson was fastest in the first round of qualifying at his hometrack, with Stewart Friesen and Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Brandon Jones rounding out the top three starting positions. Gragson was fifth fastest in final practice, but only 16th during first practice; however, he set the fastest 10 consecutive lap average over Matt Crafton. All four KBM trucks made the final round of qualifying.

Two playoff contenders did not make the second round of qualifying. Ben Rhodes was only able to place himself in the 18th starting position in his No. 41 The Carolina Nut Co. Ford. The other was Matt Crafton, who starts 30th with an unusual qualifying run, and puts him in an uphill battle being one of the playoff contenders. Earlier in the day, the No. 88 Ideal Door / Menards Ford was fourth and third fastest in both practices respectively.

Some trucks were required to qualify on speed, but the unfortunate three that did not make the field included Tate Fogleman, JJ Yeley and Norm Benning.

Tune into the only September Truck race of 2018 by listening live on radio with MRN (Motor Racing Network) or watch on television with FS1 later this evening at 9:00pm ET.

Time Trial Results
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
22nd Annual World of Westgate 200
Qualifying Round: 2

Pos	Car	Driver		Team	Make
1	18	Noah	Gragson (P)	Safelite AutoGlass	Toyota
2	52	Stewart	Friesen (P)	We Build America	Chevrolet
3	98	Grant	Enfinger (P)	Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records	Ford
4	54	Chris	Eggleston	H2O Fire Protection	Toyota
5	46	Riley	Herbst	Advance Auto Parts	Toyota
6	21	Johnny	Sauter (P)	Allegiant	Chevrolet
7	51	Brandon	Jones(i)	Delta Faucet/Menards	Toyota
8	8	John	H. Nemechek(i)	Berry’s Manufacturing	Chevrolet
9	16	Brett	Moffit (P)	TZ	Toyota
10	4	Todd	Gilliland #	JBL/SiriusXM	Toyota
11	20	Tanner	Thorson	GO Share	Chevrolet
12	24	Justin	Haley (P)	Fraternal Order Of Eagles	Chevrolet

Qualifying Round: 1

Pos	Car	Driver		Team	Make
1	18	Noah	Gragson (P)	Safelite AutoGlass	Toyota
2	52	Stewart	Friesen (P)	We Build America	Chevrolet
3	51	Brandon	Jones(i)	Delta Faucet/Menards	Toyota
4	54	Chris	Eggleston	H2O Fire Protection	Toyota
5	8	John	Hunter	Berry’s Manufacturing	Chevrolet
6	4	Todd	Gilliland #	JBL/SiriusXM	Toyota
7	46	Riley	Herbst	Advance Auto Parts	Toyota
8	21	Johnny	Sauter (P)	Allegiant	Chevrolet
9	98	Grant	Enfinger (P)	Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records	Ford
10	16	Brett	Moffit (P)	TZ	Toyota
11	20	Tanner	Thorson GO	Share	Chevrolet
12	24	Justin	Haley (P)	Fraternal Order Of Eagles	Chevrolet
13	13	Myatt	Snider #	Century Container	Ford
14	25	Timothy	Peters	Kingman	Chevrolet
15	2	Cody	Coughlin	GOD	FALSE
16	02	Austin	Hill Young’s	Building Systems/Randco	Chevrolet
17	17	Bo	LeMastus #	Crosley Brands	Toyota
18	41	Ben	Rhodes (P)	The Carolina Nut Co.	Ford
19	04	Cory	Roper	Preferred Industrial Contractors Inc.	Ford
20	7	Korbin	Forrister	TruClear	Toyota
21	30	Austin	Theriault	Cross Insurance	Toyota
22	87	Joe	Nemechek	Harrah’s	Chevrolet
23	38	TJ	Bell Niece	Equipment	Chevrolet
24	15	Ross	Chastain(i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet
25	22	Austin	Wayne Self	GO TEXAN	Chevrolet
26	97	Jesse	Little	JJL Motorsports	Ford
27	10	Jennifer	Jo Cobb	Waldo’s Painting Company	Chevrolet
28	OP	83	Bayley Currey		Chevrolet
29	OP	88	Matt Crafton	(P) Ideal Door/Menards	Ford
30	OP	45	Justin Fontaine #	ProMATIC Automation/Superior Essex	Chevrolet
31	OP	49	Wendell Chavous	Sobriety Nation	Chevrolet
32	OP	3	Jordan Anderson	Commercial Property Services	Chevrolet
33	12	Tate	Fogleman	Solid Rock Carriers	Chevrolet
34	33	JJ	Yeley(i)	Reaume Brothers Racing Inc.	Toyota
35	6	Norm	Benning	H&H Transport	Chevrolet

September 14, 2018

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series power rankings-Canada
The Round of 8 and the third annual NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs began this past weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Some drivers upped their A game, while others had a frustrating day in another thrilling finish.

Here’s a look at this week’s power ranking following Canada and the first race in the Playoffs.
1. Noah Gragson – Gragson dominated most of the race by starting second and winning both stages. He led three times for 35 laps and earned two playoff points. His day looked to be done after a restart in the final stage as he slipped back and was passed by Johnny Sauter for the lead. However, a late race caution with four to go, set up a NASCAR Overtime restart. Race leader, Todd Gilliland, got out in front and was able to pull away for the most part, until Gragson began to follow in his tire tracks. As noted in recent history, this place has been known for last lap passes and controversial finishes. Sunday proved that once more as Gragson went to make a move on the bottom on his teammate in the final turn. Unfortunately, his move didn’t work, ending up taking out his teammate for the win and he was relegated to a ninth-place finish. With his ninth-place finish and his two stage wins on Sunday, the No. 18 Safelite driver is now fourth in the standings, 24 points above the cut line. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
2. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland proves week in and week out that he has tons of talent and incredible driving ability. Especially since for most tracks, he is making his first starts at racetracks in a truck. Gilliland played strategy at the end of both stages by pitting with two to go in order to have track position for the next stage. His time to shine came on Lap 54 where he took the lead from Sauter. Unfortunately, a caution came out late with four to go, and his four-second lead was evaporated over Gragson who was trying to catch him. He continued to lead until the final lap where Gragson made the move and accidentally took him out in trying to win. With the incident, Gilliland finished in 11th place finish after leading 11 laps. Gilliland will look to rebound and race for the win in the final seven races. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
3. Johnny Sauter – Sauter had a quiet, but solid day at the road course in Canada. The regular season champion started sixth after qualifying in the rain Saturday evening. The No. 21 GMS Racing driver finished seventh in both stages. After a restart late in the race, Sauter took the lead and led once for nine laps and wound up finishing sixth for his 14th top-10 of the year. He leads the playoff points standings over Brett Moffitt by six points. Previous Week Ranking: 1st
4. Justin Haley – What becomes a misfortune for one becomes good fortune for another. This was the case for the No. 24 GMS Racing team with the driver that broke through the last lap melee and earned his second win of the season. Haley started in the eighth position and finished third in both stages. Haley was able to lead once on Lap 34 and of course, came out on top of the wreckage for the first playoff win of his career. With his win, he is now locked into the Round of 6. Previous Week Ranking: 5th
5. Matt Crafton – Crafton showed speed this weekend in qualifying and throughout the race. His day was almost similar to Sauter’s as he didn’t make much noise but got the job done and accomplished what he needed to do and that was to finish the race. Crafton had a decent qualifying effort by starting in the fourth position. He finished fifth in both stages and after the thrilling finish, Crafton finished fifth for his sixth top five of the year. Previous Week Ranking: Not RankedFell Out
  1. Stewart Friesen – Friesen had an up and down day at CTMP. He spun around early on in the race but was able to rebound and finish seventh after starting 16th. He was able to finish sixth in the second stage but did not collect any stage points in the first stage. He sits sixth, one point above the cut line.
  2. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes had a good day at CTMP. He won the pole and finished second in Stage 1, but did not finish in the top-10 at all in Stage 2. Rhodes led six laps, but that was the most noise he made as he finished 14th after he had contact from Sauter on the last lap. He sits seventh, one point behind the cut line. He’ll need to win a couple of stages or win at Las Vegas or Talladega to advance to the next round.
August 27, 2018
Analyzing The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 2018 Playoffs
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs will begin this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. It will be the first time a road course has ever started the Playoffs for the Truck Series.

This will be the third time the Playoffs take center stage for the Truck Series since the first year it was implemented in 2016. Eight drivers over seven races will round out the Playoffs for the remaining 2018 schedule.

These seven races consist of the opener at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, then heading off to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Talladega Superspeedway concluding the Round of 8.

Then the Round of 6 begins with three consecutive races in a row beginning at Martinsville on October 27th. This round goes to Texas Motor Speedway on November 2, and with the finale at ISM Raceway on Friday, November 9th.

After all is said and done, and four drivers advance on to compete for the championship that will be held at the season finale in Southern Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway slated for November 16th.

However, let’s take a look at the eight drivers who will be running for the championship and who might have a shot to be in the final four at Homestead.

The eight drivers competing for the 2018 Truck Series championship are Johnny Sauter, Brett Moffitt, Noah Gragson, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger, Justin Haley, and Matt Crafton.
1. Johnny Sauter- Sauter will be competing in his third consecutive playoff since the first one in 2016. He has 42 bonus points and is seeded No. 1 in the playoff standings. You could say his 2018 season is almost relative to his 2016 championship season. It’s obvious that Sauter has the most experience in these situations. In his 2016 championship season, the Playoffs began at New Hampshire. Throughout the eight races that year, Sauter finished 10th, seventh at Las Vegas and seventh at Talladega. After solid finishes in the first couple of races, his time came as he won two consecutive races at Martinsville and Texas. With his win at Texas, he punched his ticket for his first Championship 4. While current Cup regular, William Byron may have won the finale, Sauter was the one who pulled through by being the highest finisher by finishing third and clinching his first ever title. In 2017, Sauter was the regular season champion and was crowned after winning the race at Chicago. He won two races again at Texas and Phoenix, allowing him to get a Championship 4 spot for the second consecutive year in a row. Sauter came up one spot short in hopes of securing his second championship to Christopher Bell who finished second. Sauter is on pace currently almost having a year comparable to 2016. This year so far, he has collected five wins, twelve top fives and 13 top-10 finishes. His wins at Daytona, Dover, Texas and Bristol locked him into the Playoffs for a third consecutive year. He was also the regular season champion. If everything goes according to plan and his season continues the way it has, it would be to no surprise to see him in Championship 4 again in 2018.
2. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt and the No. 16 Hattori Racing team will be competing in their first ever playoff. Their wins at Atlanta, Iowa, and Michigan put them in the Playoffs this year. It didn’t come without struggle though, as the team fought hard to secure sponsorship for the remaining races. They were almost done earlier in the summer as they didn’t have sponsorship for the following week. And with that, the Hattori team wouldn’t be competing in the Playoffs because they would not have been granted a waiver. The team is still in search of sponsorship for races at Talladega and Texas. If they can get sponsorship for those races and continue to win, they will have a shot at the championship in Southern Florida. Regardless of what is happening at the moment, Moffitt is the second seed with 27 bonus points. It’ll be interesting to see how the No. 16 team fares in the Playoffs after their best season to date and almost closing earlier in the year.
3. Noah Gragson – Like Moffitt, Gragson will be competing in his first playoff as well. 2018 has been a so-so year for the No. 18 Safelite Tundra driver. His 2018 season got off to a rocky start. He crashed at Daytona, finished second at Atlanta, 12th at Vegas, fifth at Martinsville, and almost had a shot to win at Dover until he and Sauter made contact in the remaining laps relegating him to a 20th place finish. He finally broke through at Kansas by earning a pole and winning the race. So far, this has been his only race win of the year. Gragson has been close multiple times by finishing second at Iowa in a thriller, fourth at Chicago after starting on the pole, and eighth at Kentucky, starting on the pole there as well. He’s led 475 laps and has an average start of 5.1 with an average finish of 8.3. But he has collected two DNF’s at Daytona and Dover. On the brighter side of things, he has seven stage wins with six top fives and 12 top-10 finishes. He will be seeded third in the standings with 22 bonus points. Gragson did not qualify for the Playoffs last year, but he did earn a win at Martinsville.
4. Ben Rhodes – With his win at Kentucky, Rhodes solidified a playoff spot. He’s had an up and down 2018 season. He started off the season by finishing fourth at Daytona and Atlanta. Rhodes earned a pole at Martinsville but finished 12th. His struggles began at Kansas by finishing 18th, 16th at Texas, 17th at Iowa and 19th at Gateway, with the Playoffs being a little uncertain for the No. 41 ThorSport team. They collected a second place finish at Chicago and finally won at Kentucky in his home state. This won’t be his first Playoffs as he competed in the Playoffs last year. In one of the rounds, Rhodes won his first ever race at Las Vegas, advancing forward, but he suffered a crash at Talladega. Despite his win at Vegas, he couldn’t continue on to compete in the Championship 4 with a couple of bad finishes. In the end, Rhodes finished fifth in the standings. He’ll be seeded fourth with 14 playoff points to carry into the first round.
5. Stewart Friesen – Friesen is having his best season to date after running off and on for the first few years. This is his first full-time season competing in the No. 52 Halmar team with having a technical alliance with GMS Racing. He’s been close multiple times this year to earn his first ever win. Friesen finished third at Kansas and second at Texas after starting on the pole and leading 13 laps. He struggled a little bit mid-summer, finishing 13th at Gateway and 19th at Chicago. Since then, however, he’s rebounded to finish in the top-five four times including a second at Bristol, where he almost won the race. It’ll be the first time Friesen competes in the Playoffs and the first time competing in the Truck Series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. He is seeded fifth with 12 playoff points.
6. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger could be a sleeper in the playoff run. He’s been steadily quiet but consistent this year. The No. 98 team collected four top fives and 12 top-10 finishes. He’s had an average start of 7.7 and an average finish of 8.2. His best finish this year came at Eldora by finishing second, just .038 seconds behind of his first ever win. Enfinger has had some stage wins this year, especially at Michigan. At Bristol, he locked up his playoff spot during the second stage. In 2016, he won at Talladega which was in the Playoffs but he was was not a playoff contender. He missed out on the Playoffs last year but competed in the whole season. His best finishes came at New Hampshire and Talladega where he finished fourth. At Homestead last year, he finished eighth, ending the season in 11th place in the standings. Enfinger and the No. 98 team are slated as the sixth seed with 11 playoff points.
7. Justin Haley- Like Enfinger, Haley and the No. 24 GMS Racing team have also been quiet this year. With a win at Gateway, his first ever career win, he locked himself into the Playoffs. His season started out with a second place at Daytona but he had a couple of disappointing finishes at Atlanta and Vegas. He got right back on track with his win at Gateway and since then, Haley has collected five top-10 finishes. For 2018, the No. 24 team has collected five top fives and 12 top-10 finishes, along with an average start of 10.1 and an average finish of 9.6. With Martinsville and Texas being in the Playoffs, Haley finished 10th and third, respectively. As the regular season came to an end at Bristol, he finished sixth. In 2017, he finished 13th at New Hampshire, had engine issues at Vegas and finished 21st, collected a 16th at Talladega, an 11th at Martinsville, won the pole at Texas and finished fifth, finished 14th at Phoenix and ninth at Homestead. The No. 24 team is seeded seventh in the standings with nine playoff points. Haley can be seen as a dark horse and could punch his way into the Championship 4.
8. Matt Crafton – 2018 has been an uncharacteristic season for the No. 88 Menards ThorSport driver, almost similar to his 2012 season. This will be Crafton’s third consecutive playoff appearance since the inaugural year in 2016. Through the first two Playoffs, he qualified for the Championship 4 with his best finish of second in the standings in 2016. He was the second highest finisher to 2016 champion, Johnny Sauter. In 2016, Crafton won at Dover and Charlotte to lock himself in. In the 2016 playoff rounds, Crafton finished third at New Hampshire, eighth at Vegas, 22nd at Talladega, 17th at Martinsville, second at Texas, third at Phoenix, then finished seventh at Homestead in the championship race. In 2017, he won at Eldora just a few races prior to the Playoffs. Crafton finished fourth in the standings. He had finishes of sixth at New Hampshire, seventh at Vegas, ninth at Talladega, second at Martinsville, ninth at Texas, 21st at Phoenix and sixth at Homestead to finish fourth in the championship standings. In 2018 though, Crafton has had an up and down year. Stat wise, he collected five top fives and nine top-10 finishes, along with two DNFs and 53 laps led. Crafton also has had an average start of 9.4 and an average finish of 11.4. His season got off to a disappointing start by finishing 19th at Daytona, brake issues which saw him finish 29th at Vegas, and at Martinsville, he finished 15th. Despite those finishes, his season started to turn around a little at Dover, where Crafton finished second. He went on to finish sixth at Kansas, 11th at Charlotte, fifth at Texas, but then had problems at Iowa and Gateway. But he had solid finishes at Kentucky, Eldora, Pocono, Michigan and Bristol. Things did seem a little uncertain about making the Playoffs this year, but Crafton and the No. 88 team pulled through with an eighth-place finish at Bristol and locked themselves in for a third consecutive year. He will be seeded in the eighth position with just three playoff points but believes the team will break through anytime.
August 24, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series begin their Playoffs this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. This track has been a unique addition to the Truck Series since its first race in 2013. Every year, there has been a last-lap pass for the win.

What will be unique this time around is that CTMP will be the first road course in the Playoffs where it had previously been held before the Playoffs start.

Currently, there are 31 trucks on the preliminary entry list.

Here’s a look at who might wind up in victory lane this weekend in the annual running of the Chevrolet Silverado 250.
1. John Hunter Nemechek – While he may not be competing in the Playoffs, Nemechek has competed here since 2014 earning him four starts at the 2.459-mile road course. His first start was not the greatest as he finished 25th after starting 16th. Since then, however, Nemechek earned a win in 2016 after a controversial finish with Cole Custer that saw them go off the race course coming to the finish line. After the race, the two tangled with each other but Nemechek still got the win. At Canada, he has earned one win, one top five and two top-10 finishes, along with an average start of 12.0 and an average finish of 13.8, and 20 laps led. When stages were implemented in 2017, he finished fourth in the first stage but ultimately finished 20th, one lap down. He looks to turn things around this weekend and secure his second victory at CTMP.
2. Johnny Sauter- Sauter is coming off his win at Bristol where he was crowned regular season champion. He has made five starts at CTMP since 2013. In those five starts, Sauter has collected four top-10 finishes, with an average start of 11.4 and an average finish of 11.0, with four laps led. His first outing, Sauter had a gas line issue which saw him finish 28th for a DNF. Since 2014, he has collected finishes of eighth, sixth, seventh, and sixth, respectively. In 2017, he did not finish in either stage.
3. Noah Gragson – Gragson made his track debut last season. In his track debut, the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports driver started sixth and wound up finishing second. He finished sixth in Stage 1 but did not finish in the top-10 at all in the second stage. Prior to the 2018 race, Gragson competed in the NASCAR Pinty Series event at CTMP, where he started 13th and finished third. KBM has visited victory lane before at Canada, where the team won with Erik Jones in 2015.
4. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes has started in the last two races at CTMP. In 2016, he finished 30th due to a crash on Lap 6 but had a much better outing in 2017 where he finished 10th after starting ninth. He has an average start of 9.0, but with the crash, he has an average finish of 20.0. With the stages last year, Rhodes finished 10th and third, respectively, in both stages. He’ll look to up his average finish this year.
5. Matt Crafton – This weekend could be the weekend Crafton winds up in victory lane. He has five starts dating back to the first race in 2013. His finishes at CTMP has been up and down. In 2013, he finished 10th but in the previous race, Crafton had engine issues that relegated him to a 25th place finish. Crafton had a best-finish of second in 2015 after starting third that year. With that said, he has two top fives and four top-10 finishes, with an average start of 9.8 and an average finish of 9.4.
The CTMP has held five races since its inception in 2013 and has had five different winners. The list of winners includes Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, and Austin Cindric. Each race has seen a last-lap pass for the win.

There will be some drivers making their track debut at CTMP this year. Those include Justin Kunz, Austin Hill, Myatt Snider, Wendell Chavous, Max Tullman, Jason White, Jesse Iwuji, Justin Fontaine, Ray Ciccarelli, Harrison Burton, Stewart Friesen, Bo LeMastus and Roger Reuse.

Iwuji will be making his NASCAR Truck Series debut, along with Kunz for Jennifer Jo Cobb. Alex Tagliani’s best finish was fifth in 2015 and he does have two poles at the road course. Spencer Gallagher will return in the Truck Series competing in GMS Racing’s No. 25 machine.

The lowest a race winner has come from to win is 14th set by Ryan Blaney in 2014. The highest a finisher has ever started from was first and that came last year by Austin Cindric.

The first practice is slated for Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. ET and the final practice is scheduled for 11:35 a.m. ET with no live TV coverage. Qualifying is set for 6 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 2.

The Chevrolet Silverado 250 is slated to take place Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio, with the approximate green flag at 2:46 p.m. ET. Stage 1 will end on Lap 20, Stage 2 on Lap 40 and the checkered flag is scheduled to fall on Lap 64, barring any overtime finishes.

This will be the first race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs with the Round of 8.
August 23, 2018
Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Bristol
Bristol Motor Speedway was the home for the 16th race of the season and marked the final event of the regular season before the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs begin this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Here are four takeaways from the UNOH 200.
1. GMS Racing Continue To Be Dominate 2018 – The GMS Racing team, including one ally, continued to dominate last Thursday at Bristol. GMS placed three of their trucks in the top-10 if you include the GMS Racing ally, Stewart Friesen. Johnny Sauter clinched the regular season championship by starting the race. He didn’t stop there as he led 58 laps and finished second in both stages. GMS Racing ally, Stewart Friesen, finished second and Sauter’s teammate, and Gateway winner, Justin Haley, finished sixth. Regardless, they continue to be the team to dominate the 2018 season and the team to beat for the championship.
2. John Hunter Nemechek Gets A For Effort – After starting third, Nemechek looked to be the guy to beat. He won both stages and led twice for 104 laps. Nemechek had a shot to win his first ever race since Martinsville. However, his truck began to experience problems with less than 10 to go and fell back to third, after dominating much of the race.
3. Too Much Emphasis On The Big Three – In the Cup Series this year, there have been three drivers that have visited victory lane the most, including Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr, and Kevin Harvick. However, here lately, the Truck Series has their own big three with those being Johnny Sauter, Brett Moffitt, and Noah Gragson. My opinion is that we should stop with the big three analysis and placing too much emphasis and hype on just three drivers. The Big Three should stay in the Cup Series. There have been multiple different race winners this year in the Truck Series. Those including Moffitt, Sauter, Ben Rhodes, Gragson, Haley, among others, who have visited victory lane. Yes, it seems like there are three drivers who regularly run up front, but that’s not the case for every race. Keep the big three special to one series and let the other series have their own brand identity, and stick out more.
4. Playoff Begin At Canada – After all the hype and with the regular season coming to an end, it’s now time for the 2018 NASCAR Truck Series playoffs that begin this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Eight drivers will go after the gold and the championship at the end of the year in Homestead-Miami. It will be interesting to see how these eight drivers will fare throughout the rest of the season. Will Sauter be able to keep his dominance and punch his ticket into the Championship 4 for another year? Or perhaps there could be a surprise driver that winds up in the final four such as Haley. Either way, it’ll be an exciting seven race run to the championship finale that takes place in Southern Florida.
August 21, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Bristol
As the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series completed their 16th race of the season, the 2018 Truck Series Playoff grid is set and eight drivers will compete for the championship beginning at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday, Aug. 26.

While a familiar foe ended up in victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway Thursday night, others who needed a strong night got their wish and some had their best career finish.

Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings.
1. 1. Johnny Sauter – By just starting the race, Sauter clinched the 2018 Truck Series regular season championship. He didn’t stop there, however, as he went on to win his fifth race of the season. Sauter finished second in both stages. He took the lead twice throughout the race. With 15 to go, he and GMS ally, Stewart Friesen battled each other and raced each other hard for the second position. This allowed race leader John Hunter Nemechek to pull away late, but issues in the No. 8 truck saw him fade to third place and saw Sauter take the lead. He was able to fend off Friesen by .236 seconds and was crowned 2018 Truck Series regular season champion. With his fifth win of the season, he will be able to carry over 42 points into the 2018 Playoffs. Sauter continues to be the guy to beat in the 2018 season. Previous Week Ranking: 2nd
  2. Stewart Friesen – Friesen was a Playoff bubble driver until the middle of Stage 2. With enough points and a couple of stage wins this year, he was able to clinch a spot in the Playoffs which allowed the No. 52 team to breathe easy and gave the okay to chase for his first possible win. Friesen finished seventh and fourth in both stages, respectively. He’ll be racing in his first ever race at his home track this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the site of the first Playoff race. Nonetheless, Friesen will have to have finishes like Bristol this past weekend in order to be a Championship 4 contender at Homestead-Miami. Friesen is placed fifth in the Playoffs standings. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
  3. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland continues to shine in the 2018 Truck Series season in the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra. In a lot of the tracks where he is making his first start in a truck, he looks like a seasoned veteran. After starting in the eighth position, Gilliland fell back quickly due to a loose truck and wound up 13th. In Stage 2, he was involved in an incident when he spun around in Turn 4 collecting the 97 of Jesse Little. While Gilliland didn’t collect any stage points, he was able to rebound to finish in the top five for his third top five of the year. He missed out on the Playoffs, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play spoiler in the Playoffs by winning races. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
  4. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes continued his consistent success by finishing in the top-10 this past week at Bristol. He started second on the front row and finished fifth and seventh in both stages, collecting stage points. With his win at Kentucky, Rhodes was already locked into the Playoffs. He just needed to win and have a solid night in order to prepare for the Playoffs. And after a rocky start to the season, the tide is starting to turn for the No. 41 ThorSport Racing team with a seventh-place finish. This was Rhodes ninth top-10 of the 2018 season. He’ll be a part of the eight driver Playoff grid at Canada, where he is the fourth seed. Previous Week Ranking: 4th
  5. Justin Haley – Haley is another driver who continues to carry consistency in each race. He hasn’t had a bad finish since Iowa where he finished 16th. Since then, Haley has finished in the top-10 with a win at Gateway. The No. 24 GMS Racing team finished 10th and ninth in both stages respectively earning stage points. As the 16th race of the season completed at Bristol on lap 200, Haley and the No. 24 Fraternal Order of Eagles finished sixth after starting 11th. It was his 12th top-10 of the 2018 season. GMS Racing now has two trucks in the Playoffs, three if you include the GMS ally, Friesen. They are the team to beat in the 2018 Truck Series Playoffs. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
Fell Out
1. 1. Noah Gragson – Gragson finished ninth in the first stage, but did not collect any points in Stage 2. But, he did come back to finish ninth for his 12th top-10 of the year and is now in the Playoffs. He’ll be seeded in the third position.
  2. Brett Moffitt – After a thrilling win at Michigan the week before, Moffitt and the No. 16 team was brought back to reality on Thursday night. He had a tough qualifying outing by qualifying in the 14th position. Not all was lost, however, as he was able to finish third in Stage 2. But the night continued to get worse for the Hattori Racing team as they continued to slip back and finish in the 18th position. With four wins this year, Moffitt is now locked into the Playoffs and is seeded in the second position.
August 20, 2018