Tag: Brett Moffitt

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Gateway

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Gateway

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues their midwest swing this weekend by visiting Gateway Motorsports Park located in Madison, Illinois just outside of St. Louis, MO.

    Currently, there are 34 trucks on the preliminary entry list.

    Of those 34, there are 11 drivers who have never made a start at Gateway. Those drivers include Myatt Snider, Bobby Reuse, Brett Moffitt, Dalton Sargeant, Justin Fontaine, Christian Eckes, Riley Herbst, Chad Finley, Stewart Friesen, Zane Smith and Jesse Little.

    Two of those drivers, Riley Herbst and Zane Smith will be making their Truck Series debut.

    Here’s a look at who just might be contending for the win in the Villa Lighting Delivers the Eaton 200.

      1. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek will once again be piloting the No. 8 Chevy for Nemco Motorsports. He is the previous race winner at Gateway after scoring an emotional win in last year’s race. In four starts, he has one win, two top five and three top-10 finishes, along with 99 laps led. In last year’s race, Nemechek led just 46 laps en route to victory after starting in the second position. He won Stage 1 and finished third in the second stage. If he does get to victory lane, it shouldn’t be surprising as Nemechek has an average start of 7.5 and an average finish of 6.5. Look for the young Mooresville, North Carolina driver to be challenging for the win in Saturday night’s race.
      2. Noah Gragson – Gragson might be a little bit of a wildcard this weekend at Gateway, considering he only has one start here which came in last year’s race. He started seventh and finished ninth, but after almost collecting win number two last week in Iowa after a dive bomb move, Gragson will be hungry to go to victory lane for the second time this year. He’ll have tons of track time with three practice sessions scheduled to take place, but as seen this year, Gragson should be a prime contender for the win.
      3. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt is coming off a momentum win at Iowa last weekend. It was his second win of 2018 and with the team still fighting to secure sponsorship for the rest of the season, the No. 16 Hattori Racing team will be wanting more and be up front challenging for the win. If he wins on Saturday night, it’ll be win number three and it could help him get more sponsorship for the season. In last year’s race, the No. 16 raced with Ryan Truex, who now competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. They started 11th, finished fifth and ninth, respectively, in both stages.
      4. Johnny Sauter – It’s hard to ever count out Sauter who is a four-time winner this year. At Gateway, he has competed in six races earning a best finish of second in 2009. Since then, Sauter has had finishes of third, fourth, third, fourth, and third in last year’s race. In addition, he has an average finish of 3.2 and has led 33 laps in total, including six top fives and six top-10 finishes. While he doesn’t have a win here at the 1.250-mile track, it will give him that much more motivation to get this track crossed off the list and continue his dominant season.
      5. Ben Rhodes – While Rhodes has had trouble as of late in terms of performance, Gateway could be the site of his first win and get him into the Playoffs this year. He only has two starts coming in 2017 and 2016, both for Thorsport. Both of those races have been solid races for him. In 2016, he started first and finished second. In last year’s race, Rhodes started 12th and finished eighth, giving him one top five and two top-10 finishes with an average finish of 5.0.

    There have been 17 races in total at Gateway Motorsports Park. Former Truck Series driver, Ted Musgrave, has been the only repeat winner, with victories coming in 2001 and 2005. In the past five races, there have been five different winners including John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell, Cole Custer, Bubba Wallace, and Kevin Harvick in 2010.

    The lowest a race winner has ever started was 14th which came back in 2004 and David Starr was the winner of that race. Qualifying will be important as the last five winners have started second, ninth, second, second, and first, respectively.

    Three practices are on tap Friday afternoon with the first practice scheduled for 3:35 p.m. ET. The second practice is at 5:35 p.m. ET, while final practice will be aired on FS2 at 7:35 p.m. ET.

    Qualifying is slated to take place at 5:25 p.m. ET and will be tape delayed on Fox Sports 1 at 7 p.m. ET.

    Race coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio, with the approximate green flag taking place at 8:48 p.m. ET.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Iowa

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Iowa

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continued their mid-west swing this past weekend by visiting the .875-mile track located in Newton, Iowa.

    It was the ninth race of the 22-race season and with the season getting into the hot summer months, the M&M’s 200 sure didn’t disappoint in a thriller finish with the Truck Series regulars continuing to put on a great show.

    Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

    1. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt earned another huge victory this past weekend in the corn state of Iowa. It a hometown victory for the Grimes, Iowa native. While winning in your hometown is sweet, the No. 16 Hattori Racing team continues to search for sponsorship for the rest of the season. Nothing would be sweeter to see the team who has worked hard this season secure a full-time sponsorship for the rest of the 2018 season to compete for the Truck Series championship. After starting 16th, he worked his way up to eighth in the first stage. Moffitt continued to work his way up in the second stage by finishing third. After a late race caution and strategy being played, he took the lead on lap 125 and held on for the final 76 laps to collect the third win of his career and the second of 2018.
      • Previous Week Ranking: Not ranked
    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter slips back one spot in this week’s rankings by finishing fifth. He still remains win-less at Iowa Speedway after 12 starts. While it wasn’t a bad night by any means, he was able to battle for the lead multiple times but never quite got the hang of the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevy and he never led a lap. However, he finished fifth and eighth in both stages, respectively. Sauter still remains a powerhouse in the series and the one to beat every week. He leads the series standings over Noah Gragson by 71 points.
      • Previous Week Ranking: 1st
    3. Noah Gragson – Gragson will be the talk of the week after his thrilling move late in the M&M’s 200. After fighting hard all night and finishing sixth, and fourth respectively in both stages, he found himself contending and challenging for the win with five laps to go. Gragson continued to rally and get to the back bumper of eventual race winner Brett Moffitt. In fact, he made a dive bomb move or a “video game style” as Gragson referenced going into Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap. Gragson almost made it stick, but ended up bouncing off the wall yards before the finish line and ended up .333 seconds short for his second win of the career. An A for effort in the continuously growing popularity of the 19-year-old.
      • Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
    4. Jesse Little – For everything that went on last night and this season, it’s hard to overlook a team who continues to impress people quietly. This season Little had only competed in three races prior to Iowa. In two of those races, he earned two top-10 finishes at Atlanta and Dover by finishing eighth and ninth. He upped that finish and earned the best finish of his career so far by finishing in the sixth position, earning his third top-10 of the year in the limited schedule that he has been running. But as seen in the series, under the right circumstances and situations, Little could provide to be an upset winner whenever the trucks race. And whenever the race team gets that victory, it will be a huge win for the small underfunded No. 97 team.
      • Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
    5. Harrison Burton – Burton rounds out the power rankings this week after a strong showing at Iowa. The 17-year-old proved his talents once more this past weekend. He topped the practice charts in the final practice and continued that momentum by earning his first ever Truck Series pole. Burton led early in Stage 1 by leading the first 30 laps and that would be the only 30 laps he led for the rest of the night. In the first stage, Burton wounded up finishing third. However, problems with the ECU unit mounted after the first stage and resulted in putting him deep in the field for the second stage. That didn’t stop him, however, as he worked his way up to finish sixth in the second stage. Just like his teammate, Gragson, Burton found himself competing for the win late in the going. Ultimately after some issues early on, he found himself third at the scoring pylon earning his career-best Truck Series finish. Burton continues to shine early in his career.
      • Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked

    Fell Out

    1. Matt Crafton – An accident on lap 135 saw Crafton’s left front tire blow out and resulted in him finishing in the 26th position. The No. 88 Menards team continues to struggle to find that first win of the season.
    2. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger was involved in the first wreck and had a bit of damage, thus relegating him to an 11th place finish.
    3. Justin Haley – Haley wasn’t quite as sporty this week as he finished 16th, four laps down.
    4. Stewart Friesen- Friesen was also involved in the same incident as Crafton, but managed a ninth-place finish.
  • Brett Moffitt Wins In A Thriller At Iowa

    Brett Moffitt Wins In A Thriller At Iowa

    Hometown hero Brett Moffitt was able to collect win number two of the 2018 season after a last lap thriller Saturday night at Iowa Speedway.

    “We had to fight all day,” Moffitt said after the race. “Qualified where we didn’t want to and first stop, we had a lug nut get caught between the wheel and the hub. And so we went all the way back there. The guys worked hard. They executed at the end and to have this Destiny Homes Toyota in victory lane is unreal. You know, it was certainly faster at the end and I was just fortunate enough to hold them off.”

    Harrison Burton and Matt Crafton set the front row early on in the day after qualifying for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series M&M’s 200. Sixty laps in Stages 1 and 2 and 80 laps in the final stage made up the 200 lap running of the event.

    Burton started off Stage 1 strong leading most of the way. The very first caution slowed the race on Lap 24, where Todd Gilliland scrapped the wall in Turn 2. After the restart on Lap 30, another caution came out when Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes, Austin Hill and Ben Rhodes were involved in a melee on the backstretch slowing the pace once more.

    As the stage was winding down, there was a five-way battle for the lead which included Crafton, John Hunter Nemechek, Stewart Friesen, Burton, and Johnny Sauter. However, Nemechek was able to take the lead and held on to win the first stage.

    Stage 2 began on Lap 68 and went to Lap 120. Kansas race winner, Noah Gragson, took the lead on the restart and held on for a short while as there was once again multiple battles for the lead. The fourth caution came out just past the halfway mark for Gilliland, who once again bounced off the wall ultimately ending his day.

    “A mistake by me,” Gilliland said. “We were really free and just got into (Turn) 1 a little too deep and I was running up, and got a little too free and wrecked. We blew a right front. Something was messed up. I don’t know, I’m not sure if I just hit something, caught a part or what, but just hate it. That was my fault, should have been running top five right now and I guess there’s nothing else you can do, except learn from it.”

    This was the only incident in Stage 2 and Friesen ran away with the stage win.

    The final stage went back to green with 71 laps to go and Atlanta race winner, Brett Moffitt took the lead. One caution slowed the final stage, as Matt Crafton’s left front tire went down and was unable to turn going into the Turn 1, taking out several others. Crafton and Nemechek’s night was done as they suffered the most damage from the wreck.

    A restart came with 56 laps to go and Moffitt was able to take off like a rocket ship leading almost of the stage. With less than 30 to go, Gragson was starting to reel in the race leader.

    As the race came to an end with less than five laps to go, a three-way battle for the win heated up with Moffitt, Gragson, and Burton. On the last lap, Gragson tried making a dive bomb move on Moffitt and took the lead for a split second but ended up bouncing off the wall coming to the line, allowing Moffitt to collect his second win of the season in a last-lap thriller.

    There were six cautions for 44 laps and eight leaders among eight lead changes. Moffitt led once for 76 laps for the third win of his career.

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues their mid-west swing by visiting Gateway Motorsports Park next Saturday night.

     

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Iowa-NCWTS-Unofficial-Race-Results-6-16-18.pdf” title=”Iowa NCWTS Unofficial Race Results 6-16-18″]

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Charlotte

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Charlotte

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series had a home race this past Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was the seventh race of the season with a first-time winner at the track, but it was a familiar foe that ended up in victory lane.

    Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

      1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter tops off the power rankings list this week by notching his third career win of 2018, the 20th of his career and his first time ever at Charlotte. He continues to dominate the 2018 season by having six top fives and six top 10 finishes. Sauter even started from the pole after qualifying was washed out due to thunderstorms earlier in the day. With a 59 point lead over Noah Gragson in the regular standings, the sky is the limit for the No. 21 GMS Racing team and they will be tough to beat for the championship. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
      2.  Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a solid career night at the 1.5-mile track. After starting sixth based on owner points, the No. 16 Hattori Racing driver worked his way up to the lead by Lap 27, with just four laps to go in Stage 1. Moffitt was able to remain in the lead for those four laps to win the first stage and collect 10 championship Playoff points. He would take the lead two other times in the race to lead 28 laps and ultimately finishing in the fourth spot for his fourth top five of the year. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
      3.  Ben Rhodes – Rhodes finished in the fifth position rounding out the top five in Friday night’s race. It was just his third top five of 2018. While only finishing sixth in Stage 2, Rhodes battled changing track conditions all night long and had a tough time restarting on the inside for the restart. Nonetheless, it’s only a matter time before the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford driver breaks out and earns his first win of the season and career. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
      4. Stewart Friesen – Friesen continues to be part of the talk this year finishing inside the top 10 once more after almost winning the previous week at Kansas. He didn’t finish in the top 10 in either stages, but Friesen worked his way up to finish sixth and earned his fourth top 10 of the year. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
      5. Noah Gragson – Gragson comes down in the power rankings this week with his finish of eighth, but that wasn’t from the lack of trying. For most of the race, it was him and Sauter battling for the race lead, at least in the early laps. From Laps 1-22, Sauter and Gragson traded the lead five times before Sauter took over. When Gragson took the lead on Lap 10, it would be the last time he led for the rest of the night. He didn’t finish in the top 10 in Stage 1 due to a pit road speeding penalty, which set him back to finish 14th in the first stage. Stage 2 was just a little better for the No. 18 Safelite Tundra, finishing 10th. However, it was the last restart of the night that cost Gragson a shot at winning as he spun his tires and he almost spun out. After losing a few spots on the restart, the 19-year-old driver climbed his way back into the top 10, finishing eighth. Previous Week Ranking: 1st

    Honorable Mentions:

      1. 1. Parker Kligerman – After a disappointing finish at Dover a couple of weeks ago, Kligerman rallied back to finish seventh. He even finished seventh in the first stage. While the team doesn’t run all the races, they seem to be a potential threat to win when the cards fall in their favor.
      1. 2. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland will finally be able to race full time after turning 18-years- old this past week. It was his first start on a 1.5-mile track and he did alright for the most part. He finished eighth and fourth, respectively in both stages. Gilliland was running well until late race contact with two-time champion Matt Crafton. This ultimately put the Pedigree driver 10th on the scoring pylon at the end of the night.
      1. 3. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger is once again in the honorable mentions this week. He was one of the first cautions of the night after cutting down a right rear tire and leaving debris on the racetrack. It was an uphill battle for the Thorsport driver the rest of the night as he didn’t finish in the top 10 in either stage. Enfinger finished 12th.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Dover

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Dover

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series finally returns to action this week at Dover International Speedway after a five-week off period.

    So far for 2018, there have been four different Truck Series races with four different winners. Drivers will be itching at the bit to get back behind the wheel after a long rest period.  At Dover, there have been five different winners in the past five races.

    There are 34 trucks listed on the preliminary entry list this week.

    Here’s a look at who might end up taking the checkered flag tomorrow night at Dover.

      1. Matt Crafton – Currently in 2018, Crafton and the No. 88 Ford has zero wins to start the season. However, Dover just might be the place where he’ll snap a winless streak just like Joey Logano did last weekend at Talladega. In five races, Crafton has one win, three top fives and three top 10 finishes, along with 181 laps led with an average start of 6.0 and an average finish of 8.4. The last time he went to victory lane was two years ago. Dover could be the track in which Crafton punches his ticket into the Playoffs. He’ll need some work to do so as he was 13th and 10th, respectively in the two practice sessions on Thursday.
      2. Johnny Sauter – Dover is another one of Sauter’s best race tracks. He is the defending race winner from last year’s race after leading just 33 laps and he still has momentum from the Daytona season opener win. Sauter will have to pull double duty this weekend after Spencer Gallagher was indefinitely suspended from NASCAR. Sauter is the highest active driver among all drivers when it comes to Dover. He has one win, three top fives and three top 10 finishes with 33 laps led. Sauter has an average start of 11.6 and an average finish of 4.8. In the two practice sessions today, he was second and third fastest respectively. Keep an eye out for the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevy team.
      3. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland will return this weekend to drive the No. 4 Pedigree Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports. In his only start at this track which came last year, he was running a smart race until an incident took place on Lap 115 as Gilliland had suspension issues. Despite the woes, he was able to lead 25 laps after starting 15th. He’ll look to rebound and challenge for the win on Friday night. Gilliland was fourth in both practice sessions Thursday afternoon.
      4. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt is having a stellar 2018 season so far. He collected the second win of his career at Atlanta back in February and collected three top fives, and three top 10 finishes this year. While Moffitt will be making his track debut in a truck at Dover, he does have some experience racing cup cars and in the K&N East Pro Series. In fact, Moffitt has even taken the checkered flag here way back in 2009. His first cup start here was for Jay Robinson Racing and he ended up finishing 22nd. While he doesn’t have any race experience with a truck, Moffitt will be using his past experiences to figure this place out. He was eighth and first fastest in both practice sessions.
      5. Noah Gragson – Gragson has one start here at Dover in the Truck Series which came last year. After starting eighth, he finished fifth in Stage 1 but fell outside the top 10 in Stage 2. Gragson stayed around the top 10 for the rest of the race, as he would wind up finishing ninth, one lap down. He was sixth and second fastest in two practice sessions.

    Qualifying will be especially important at Dover. In the last five races, the winner has come from a starting spot no lower than 11th which happened last year when Johnny Sauter took the checkered flag.

    Qualifying is slated for Friday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1.

    The JEGS 200 can be seen live on FS1 with race coverage beginning at 5:00 p.m ET and on MRN Radio. The approximate green flag is 5:18 p.m. ET.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Martinsville

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Martinsville

    After two postponements due to rain and snow, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series resumed action on Monday morning after completing just 23 laps before being red-flagged Saturday afternoon. There are some new names on top of the power list rankings and some who fell out, while others get honorable mentions. Here’s a look at this week’s truck series power rankings.

      1. John Hunter Nemechek: After having a dismal start to 2018 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Nemechek sure turned that around Monday by collecting his first ever grandfather clock. After starting eighth, he finished sixth and fifth in both stages, respectively. Nemechek didn’t take the lead until the final 31 laps of the race and held off a hard-charging Kyle Benjamin by .106 seconds. However, Nemechek didn’t collect truck points as he is collecting NASCAR Xfinity Series points this year.
        Previous Rankings: Not Ranked
      2. Brett Moffitt: Moffitt continues to impress in the Truck Series. In the previous race outing at Las Vegas, he finished third after starting sixth.  This week at Martinsville, Moffitt finished third once more after starting seventh. He finished ninth in Stage 1 and finished sixth in Stage 2. Hattori Racing and Brett Moffitt continue their momentum from their Atlanta win a few weeks ago. The No. 16 driver sits third in the point standings, 31 behind leader Johnny Sauter.
        Previous Ranking: 2nd
      3. Ben Rhodes: After earning his first pole of the season, Rhodes led 23 laps until the red flag came out Saturday afternoon. Once the race resumed Monday, he was the dominant truck to beat. Rhodes won Stages 1 and 2 after leading most of the laps in those stages and collecting 10 playoff points each. Unfortunately, losing positions on pit road was the issue that ultimately cost Rhodes the race win. The scoring pylon at the end of the race showed the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford 12th.
        Previous Ranking: Honorable Mention
      4. Kyle Benjamin: Benjamin and the No. 54 David Gilliland Racing team almost scored an upset victory Monday at Martinsville. Benjamin started fourth and stayed in the top 10 for Stage 1 to finish fifth. In Stage 2, he, unfortunately, did not place in the top 10.  After Stage 2, however, Benjamin took the lead on lap 146 and led for 74 laps until Nemechek took the lead on lap 220. The No. 54 driver stayed up there with Nemechek especially in the remaining laps and gave everything he could for the race win. He came up .106 sec short, finishing second in his first ever career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
        Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
      5. Grant Enfinger: Enfinger earned another top-five finish of his career at Martinsville. A strong qualifying effort placed the No. 98 Tundra third. Enfinger finished third and ninth, respectively in Stages 1 and 2.  Ultimately, he wound up fourth for his second top-five of the year.
        Previous Ranking: 4th

    Honorable Mentions

    1. Noah Gragson: Fall winner Noah Gragson finished fifth after starting 11th.
    2. Timothy Peters: Peters was back in a truck for the first time this year driving the No. 92 Ricky Benton Racing Ford. He would come home inside the top 10 finishing seventh.
    3. Cory Roper: Roper competed for the first time ever in the Truck Series driving for his team Roper Racing. The No. 04 Ford finished 13th in his first ever NASCAR start. Not bad for a place like Martinsville.

    Fell out of the Power Rankings
    1.  Johnny Sauter: Sauter was looking for his second win of the season at Martinsville on Monday. However, he brought out the caution on lap 225 and collected competitor, Matt Crafton. Sauter collected a disappointing 19th place finish.
    2. Dalton Sargeant: While not a dismal day, Sargeant battled a difficult truck as he did not place in the top 10 in either stage. He wound up finishing 11th.
    3. Stewart Friesen: Friesen looked like he had the truck to beat early on. He qualified fifth and finished seventh in Stage 1. Unfortunately, Friesen was collected in two incidents. One on Lap 87, which was an accident that involved others in Turn 2 and again was involved in an incident on Lap 117. This ultimately placed him 20th.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Las Vegas

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Las Vegas

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series headed out west last Friday night for the first inaugural spring race held at the 1.5-mile speedway.  It was a familiar face on top of the scoring pylon at the end of the day. Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

    1. Johnny Sauter: Sauter continues the GMS Racing momentum after finishing second in the Stratosphere 200. After starting third, he remained in the top 10 in both stages while finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. Sauter was up front for the win at the end, but just fell one sport short and finished behind race winner Kyle Busch .437 seconds. This gave Sauter his third top five of the season and he is the series points leader over Brett Moffitt by 39 points.
      Previous Week Ranked: 2nd
    2. Brett Moffitt: Moffitt added another strong finish for Hattori Racing after visiting victory lane last weekend in Atlanta. The No. 16 AISIN Group driver started third and finished eighth in Stage 1, and fifth in Stage 2. Moffitt also led twice for 27 laps throughout the race. He is second in the standings behind 2016 champion Johnny Sauter.
      Previous Week Ranked: 1st
    3. Stewart Friesen: Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing continue to shine with another top-five finish in the 2018 season. He started second alongside pole winner and eventual race winner Kyle Busch. That was his best starting spot since winning the pole at Eldora last year. The team worked hard to stay in the top 10 during both stages. In Stage 1 he finished fourth. Friesen ended up winning the second stage, which could help him out later in the season should he make the Playoffs. Ultimately, the No. 52 driver ended the day fifth, leaving him with his third top five of his career and the first of the season.
      Previous Week Ranked: N/R
    4. Grant Enfinger: While it shouldn’t be a surprise, Enfinger had a nice solid top-five finish outing at Las Vegas. While working a challenging truck early on in the race, he worked hard to get to the front. He didn’t place at all in Stage 1 but did earn some points in Stage 2 finishing ninth. When the checkered flag flew, the Curb Records driver finished fourth, giving him his first top five of the year and the 12th of his career.  Enfinger sits third in the standings, 40 points behind Sauter.
      Previous Week Ranked: N/R
    5. Dalton Sargeant: Sargeant, in just the ninth race of his career, earned a career-best sixth place finish at Vegas. As the race started, he worked his way up to the middle half of the field from the rear. After a couple of adjustments to the truck, Sargeant finished 14th just four spots short outside the top 10. The No. 25 truck continued to struggle for most of the night with handling issues and wound up 13th in Stage 2. In the final stage, the GMS Racing team continued to work on the truck to get it to Dalton’s liking and he finished sixth for the best finish of his career.
      Previous Week Ranked: N/A

    Honorable Mentions
    1. Ben Rhodes: Rhodes came home with another top 10 finish by placing seventh.
    2. Justin Fontaine: Fontaine stood out in the top 10 finishing ninth with the Niece Motorsports entry. He gave the team their second top 10 finish of the year with the first one coming at Daytona.

    Fell out of the Power Rankings
    1. Matt Crafton: Brake issues limited the No. 88 team for a good finish to a 29th place finish.
    2. Noah Gragson: Gragson and the No. 18 Switch Tundra finished 12th after finishing second last week at Atlanta.
    3. Jesse Little: Did not compete in this week’s race.

  • Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Atlanta

    Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Atlanta

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited the 1.5-mile racetrack in Atlanta, Georgia this past weekend for the annual Active Pest Control 200. Here are four takeaways from that event.

    1. Brett Moffitt Shines In Last Lap Restart – Moffitt hasn’t won a race since Michigan of 2016, where he scored his first career win with Red Horse Racing before they ended up closing their doors. However, for Hattori Racing, it was the first time for them to end up in victory lane. With a late race restart that came with two laps to go, Moffitt was there when it counted and led the only laps that were the most important. With that win, Moffit and the No. 16 team are now locked into the Playoffs. It will be interesting to see how he and the team carry this momentum.
    2. Noah Gragson Finishes Runner-Up – When there’s a restart with two laps to go in any race, you can expect it to be a wild finish. That statement rang true for Gragson. The No. 18 Safelite Tundra restarted ninth and finished second in just two laps. You could say it was almost like a video game for the No. 18 driver.
    3. Busch Will Have To Wait Another Couple Of Races To Tie Hornaday’s Record – It looked like Kyle Busch could have been one step closer to tying NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday last Saturday night. However, under caution, Busch’s left rear tire fell off due to miscues on pit road with the late race caution. He led 67 of the scheduled 134 laps and even won Stage 2, but was relegated to a 21st place finish. It’s no doubt though that Busch will most likely either tie or surpass Hornaday’s record as he sits at 49 wins. Busch is currently scheduled to compete in Las Vegas this weekend, Kansas in May and Charlotte.
    4. Stewart Friesen Earns Top 10 Finish – The No. 52 of Halmar Racing continues to impress in the Truck Series. Friesen started seventh, ran ninth in Stage 1 but was outside the top 10 in Stage 2. However, he rallied his way back in the remaining laps to wind up sixth on the scoring pylon. This was Friesen’s sixth top 10 finish of his career. The No. 52 team could surprise the field and the fans by ending up in victory lane at some point this season.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Atlanta Motor Speedway

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Atlanta Motor Speedway

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series came to Atlanta Motor Speedway this past weekend following the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the only doubleheader of the season. The Active Pest Control 200 sure didn’t disappoint as it came down to the wire and the last restart of the race.

    Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

    1. Brett Moffit – Moffit surprised the field Saturday night by taking home his second career Truck Series victory. A late race caution came out on Lap 126 when Dalton Sargeant and Josh Reaume got collected to send the race into overtime. Moffit led the most important two laps of the race and won for the first time since 2016 at Michigan. With this win, Hattori Racing and Moffit are now locked into the Playoffs.
    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter came into a track where he had no wins in the previous seven races. It looked like that streak could have ended Saturday, but he scored another third-place finish. This was Sauter’s second consecutive third-place finish at Atlanta. He will have to wait another year to check this track off. Sauter started ninth and finished seventh and second respectively in both stages, along with leading three times for 12 laps.
    3. Noah Gragson – Gragson scored his career-best track finish this past weekend. In last year’s race, he finished 14th after starting 10th. This year, Gragson started third, won the first stage and finished fifth in Stage 2. Gragson only led 43 laps before ultimately finishing second after restarting ninth with two laps to go.
    4. Matt Crafton – Crafton headed to one of his favorite tracks on the truck series circuit, Atlanta, in hopes of locking himself into the Playoffs early. After starting second, he took the lead on lap 44 and led for seven laps. This would be the only time Crafton led in the race. He finished second in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. However, the No. 88 Menards driver ultimately finished fifth at the end of the day. Crafton sits second in the point standings, 31 points behind Daytona winner Johnny Sauter.
    5. Jesse Little – Little competed in his first race of the 2018 season this past Saturday. The last time the No. 97 driver raced was at Phoenix where he started 24th and finished 18th due to a crash on lap 134. Atlanta saw Little make his track debut. After starting 12th, he finished fifth in Stage 1 and eighth in Stage 2. After a late race restart, the scoring pylon showed the No. 97 team eighth. It was a solid outing for Little’s first start at Atlanta.
  • Driver Analysis: Camden Murphy, Tyler Young and Brett Moffitt

    Driver Analysis: Camden Murphy, Tyler Young and Brett Moffitt

    The 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver analysis continues with drivers Camden Murphy, Tyler Young and Brett Moffitt. Here’s a look at how the trio did in the 2017 season.

    Camden Murphy made eleven starts in the 2017 season. This would be his fourth season racing part-time in the Truck Series and the season was challenging for the young 21-year-old. He finished only two races (Bowmanville and Las Vegas), while the other nine races were not finished and he was out early on in the race. Murphy’s best starts came at Chicago and Las Vegas. In his 10th race of the season at the 1.5-mile track in Vegas, Murphy scored his best career finish of 17th.

    Next up in this trio of drivers is the driver of the No. 02 of Young Motorsports, Tyler Young. Young was making his sixth career season start in the Truck Series. He made just eight starts and had one top 10 finish that came at the wild card track of Talladega Superspeedway. Otherwise, his 2017 season was made up of three top-15 finishes that came at Kansas, Michigan and of course, Talladega. He also had Truck Series veteran Timothy Peters fill in from time-to-time at Las Vegas and Homestead, where he finished 10th and 11th respectively. A solid year for the Young Motorsports team who will look to come in strong for the 2018 season.

    “Timothy did an awesome job for us,” Young said. “I can’t thank him (Timothy Peters) enough. I was really impressed with the way he drove Homestead. He has a niche for that place and he really kept us pumped up. He certainly put us in the spotlight and proved that we’re going in the right direction with our program. No doubt his effort really boosted the spirits of everyone on the team.”

    “I feel like we’re making some big gains, especially towards the end of the season. We’ll keep working on it, making tweaks-building new trucks and more. The future looks pretty bright for us and I can’t wait to see all unfold in less than 90 Daytona.”

    The final driver of the trio is 25-year-old Brett Moffitt. Moffitt only made five starts as his 2017 season was cut short after Charlotte. Unfortunately, Red Horse Racing announced a couple of weeks after his final start of the season that they would shut down. This left him without a ride, despite only making five starts. Moffitt had a best finish of sixth at Martinsville and led two laps. Here’s hoping he gets a ride in the 2018 Truck Series season.