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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas 1
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was in the heat of the heartland this past Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. There were definitely some thrills and spills, but some guy named Johnny Sauter who has been victorious multiple times this season topped this week’s power rankings.
1. Johnny Sauter – Same song, second verse for the 2016 Truck Series champion. Sauter started fifth in Friday nights PPG 400. While he wasn’t all that dominant as he was in past races, he still found a way to make it to the top. In Stages 1 and 2, Sauter finished fourth and ninth respectively. However, after some late race cautions for incidents, Sauter found himself challenging for the win. It wasn’t until Lap 117, where he ultimately took the lead and led for the final 51 laps. It’s hard to stop Sauter and the GMS Racing No. 21 team at the moment as this was their fourth win of the season. They’ll be hard to beat when the trucks go to Iowa this week. Previous Ranking: 1st
2. Stewart Friesen – Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing team continues to shine this year in the 2018 Truck Series season. The Ontario, Canada driver started on the pole for Friday night’s race. It was just the second pole of his career, his first since Eldora of last year, and his first of the year. After slipping up on the start of the race, Friesen rallied back to the lead on Lap 30 and on Lap 34, where he held on to win the first stage. He was a mainstay in the top three as well for the second stage, as he finished second. Friesen gave all he could challenging Johnny Sauter for the win. However, he came up just .092 seconds short of the win. Previous Ranking: 4th
3. Justin Haley – Haley and the No. 24 team continues to creep up into the top five finishing position week after week. He started 10th and finished eighth and third, respectively, in both stages. He even led just for a short period of time (three laps in total), before ultimately finishing third. It was Haley’s third top five of the season. Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
4. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger scored another top five for the 2018 season. After starting in the eighth position, his No. 98 team fell outside the top 10 for Stages 1 and 2. When multiple cautions fell late in the race, Enfinger was able to capitalize and bring home his Protect The Harvest Ford in the fourth position to earn his third top five of the season. A solid effort by the Fairhope, Alabama driver. Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
5. Matt Crafton – The No. 88 team gets an A for effort in this week’s power rankings. The Menards Ford driver has been having an up and down year so far. Prior to the Texas race, Crafton only had two top five’s and four top 10 finishes coming into the race. He started ninth and was able to power his way up to the second position in the first stage. Late in the run, his Ford F-150 got too tight in order to battle for the win. Despite the tightness of his truck, Crafton brought it home in the fifth position for his third top five of the year. However, he still remains winless in the 2018 season. Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
June 11, 2018
Full weekend schedule for Michigan and Texas

June 7, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Texas 1
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to the mid-west this week at Texas Motor Speedway after having two and a half weeks off.

There are currently 39 trucks on the preliminary entry list. It will be the first of a few standalone races for the series.

In the past five summer races, there have been four different winners and one repeat winner, Matt Crafton, who scored back-to-back wins in 2014 and 2015.

Here is a look at who could be challenging for the win in Friday night’s Rattlesnake 400.
1. Johnny Sauter – While Sauter’s summer races here have been so-so, he has been on a roll this year and will be riding the momentum after being the previous race winner at Charlotte. It’s hard to count someone out who has been the Kevin Harvick of the Truck Series. However, in the past five races at Texas, Sauter has scored eighth, third, fourth, seventh and seventh, respectively. While his summer stats may be okay for the 2016 Champion, he does have four wins here, 9 top 5’s and 15 top 10 finishes. He is also the previous race winner in the fall race.
2. Matt Crafton – Crafton is another guy who you just can’t count out despite the season he is having. If there’s a place he could turn it around, it could be Texas. Crafton scored back to back wins here in the summer of 2014 and 2015. The No. 88 Menards Ford driver will have to turn the heat up if he wants to be in a spot for the Playoffs and start scoring some wins. His average start is 12.2 with an average finish of 9.2.
3. Noah Gragson – This will be Gragson’s second summer race at Texas Motor Speedway. He even started on the pole here last year and ended up with a top 10 finish by finishing seventh. However, the No. 18 Las Vegas native has been on a tear recently on 1.5-mile tracks. He finished second at Atlanta, won at Kansas, 12th at Las Vegas and eighth at Charlotte. The young 19-year-old will be up front once more, challenging for the win at Texas.
4. Todd Gilliland – Gragson’s teammate, Gilliland, will be making his first start at Texas this weekend piloting the No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra. It’ll be a challenge and a real test for the 18-year-old. He does have some testing experience and will be coming off a top-10 finish at Charlotte. Another notable, the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver will be celebrating his graduation at the racetrack during driver intros.
5. Justin Haley – Haley will be making his third start here at the 1.5-mile track in Fort-Worth and his second summer start. And if stats show anything, he will be up front in the top-10. In the previous summer race, Haley started 10th and finished sixth. Qualifying will be important here especially with the track repave being somewhat relatively new. However, before the repave, from 2013-2016, the winners have started third, second, second and 21st.
There will be two practice sessions on Thursday afternoon to get the trucks dialed in for Friday night’s race. First practice kicks off at 4:05 p.m ET with the final practice at 5:05 p.m. ET with no live TV coverage. Qualifying is slated for Friday afternoon at 5:45 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

Race coverage begins on FS1 at 9:00 p.m. ET with the green flag scheduled to drop at 9:19 p.m. ET on FS1 and MRN Radio.
June 5, 2018
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. 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. 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.
May 22, 2018
Four Takeaways From the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Charlotte
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned home to Charlotte Motor Speedway this past Friday night for the seventh race of the 2018 season. Familiar drivers shined while others didn’t.

Here’s a look at this weeks four takeaways from the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.
1. 1. Johnny Sauter Dominant Once More – It seems that Johnny Sauter is becoming the Kevin Harvick of the Truck Series. After he was awarded the pole Friday due to thunderstorms canceling qualifying mid-afternoon, Sauter dominated most of the race by leading five times for 71 laps, earning five Playoff points. It was his third win of the 2018 season and the 20th of his career. But ultimately, it was Sauter’s first ever win at Charlotte. As the season rolls along, it’ll be interesting to see how many more wins the 2016 champion racks up before the Playoffs.
  2. Kyle Busch Has To Wait One More Race – Another race, another wait for the Las Vegas, Nevada driver who is looking to tie Ron Hornaday’s all-time winning record with 51 wins in the Truck Series. Busch had to battle slow pit stops and two pit road penalties Friday night for his crew being over the wall too soon. The last restart certainly didn’t help his chances either, as teammate Noah Gragson spun his tires and backed everyone up. Busch worked his way back up to second but fell 1.34 seconds to race winner Johnny Sauter.
  3. Inside Line Had Trouble Restarting – If it wasn’t for Busch or Sauter being the story of the night, it would have been the inside line not being able to get going on the restarts. It seemed as though after a restart, the second place driver would have trouble going on the restart. Some drivers even took to Twitter to describe how tough it was not to spin out, which ultimately gave the high line an advantage.
  4. Justin Haley Has Save Of The Season – Is it too early to give awards out for a save of the season? If not, then give it to the GMS Racing No. 24 driver who made an excellent save of the night late in the going and just barely kept it off the wall. It is certainly newsworthy or at least worth a mention. It was pretty cool to see, to say the least.
Next Up: The truckers have two and a half weeks off before heading to the Lone-Star state Friday night June 8.
May 21, 2018
Kyle Busch Falls One Spot Short in Tying Ron Hornaday Jr.’s Record

It was a case of ‘what could have been’ for the No. 51 driver of the Cessna Kyle Busch Motorsports machine. Busch was looking to tie Ron Hornaday Jr.’s all-time winning streak Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. However, the Las Vegas native will have to wait for another race.

After starting fourth in the NC Education Lottery 200, Busch remained in the top 10 in both stages finishing sixth and second, respectively. While he was strong throughout the stages, it was the pit stops that ultimately cost him a shot at winning.

“Pure talent, Busch said. “That’s about it. My pit crew did absolutely nothing to help me out tonight. My truck drove like crap. These splitters are absolutely horrendous. You can’t pass in traffic.”

Busch suffered two pit road penalties for his crew being over the wall too soon. At the end of the day, he finished in the second position behind race winner Johnny Sauter. Busch will have to wait another day to earn career win number 51.

“You can’t race alongside anybody,” Busch added. “You can get within five truck-lengths of no one. But somehow, someway, I was able to get back to the front. Had a blast.”

By finishing second, he earned his third top five of the year. He will have three more opportunities in 2018 to tie or surpass Hornaday’s record.

May 19, 2018
Johnny Sauter Earns First Career Victory At Charlotte

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series had a home race Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Johnny Sauter was able to earn his 20th career victory, but he had to earn it with late race cautions and battles for the lead throughout the race

After rain canceled qualifying, it was Sauter and Kansas race winner Noah Gragson, on the front row after the field was set by owner points.

The stages were broken up into 30/30/74 laps.

After battling weather conditions all day long, the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 took the green flag in the first stage with a battle as Sauter and Gragson battled side-by-side for multiple laps until Gragson broke away by Lap 10. An early caution came out, however, on Lap 21 as Grant Enfinger cut down a right rear tire.

During the pit stops, there were a couple of penalties handed out as Myatt Snider pit outside the box and had to serve a one-lap penalty and Gragson was penalized for too fast exiting.

Eventual Stage 1 winner Brett Moffitt stayed out to win the first stage followed by Justin Haley, Sauter, Dalton Sargeant, John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Parker Kligerman, Todd Gilliland, Matt Crafton and Jesse Little rounding out the top 10.

Stage 2 began on Lap 37 with Nemechek taking the lead several laps later. Not much happened for the 23 laps in the stage, as it remained caution free and the No. 8 driver won the stage.

Busch, Moffitt, Gilliland, Sauter, Ben Rhodes, Crafton, Haley, Brandon Jones and Gragson completed the top 10 for Stage 2.

Stage winner Nemechek suffered a slow pit stop and Kyle Busch’s team had another pit road penalty for being over the wall too soon.

Stage 3 was restarted with 67 to go. It wasn’t until Lap 72, where Sauter was able to take the lead back from Moffitt. The race was caution free until 54 to go as Justin Fontaine spun out in Turn 4 to bring out the fourth caution of the race.

Moffitt and Jesse Little stayed out to be the leaders on the initial restart and Busch again, was penalized for being over the wall too soon which set him back.

There were three more cautions in the remaining 50 laps. One for Josh Reaume with 47 to go, debris with 22 to go and again with 11 to go.

Before the last caution with 11 to go, Gragson got loose after a push from team owner Busch which almost spun him out on the restart. A half lap later, Austin Wayne Self spun in Turn 4 while Crafton and Gilliland had a run in with each other as well.

After the late race craziness, Sauter was able to hold on to win his first ever career Truck Series race at Charlotte.

“This is a tough place,” said Sauter. “Everyone wants to win here. I never thought I’d win here. To win this race is just super special. I never thought 40 would be so good.

“This is the biggest race of my career, and I’ve won a lot of big races. We kept making adjustments on the truck all night and made it better and better.”

Sauter led five times for 71 laps and earned five Playoff points. He now leads Gragson by 59 in regular season point standings.

There were seven cautions for 36 laps, along with five leaders among 12 lead changes.

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May 18, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Charlotte
It’s a home game this week for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series as the drivers and teams will compete in their own backyards. One team and driver will show who’s best Friday night in the annual running of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

There are 35 trucks on the preliminary entry list with the No. 1 owned by Tracy Lowe, Clay Greenfield of the 68 and Joe Nemechek of the 87 being the only withdrawals from the race.

A few notables – Timothy Peters is back competing in the No. 92 Ricky Benton Racing Ford and Daniel Hemric will be back for the first time in a Truck since 2016 driving the No. 20 of Young Motorsports.

In the past five races, there have been three different winners with Kyle Busch being the only repeat winner of this race.

Here’s a look at who to expect to be in victory lane at the end of the night.
1. 1. Kyle Busch – It should be no surprise that Busch is on top of the list for this weekend’s race. He has won this race seven times and is the previous race winner. He earned his first win at Charlotte in the Truck Series in May 2005. The only thing that’s different this time is that he’ll look to tie Ron Hornaday’s winning streak. Busch came close last weekend at Kansas by finishing second, but it wasn’t good enough to score the win. In the last four races, he has earned three wins, four top five’s and four top 10 finishes, along with 327 laps led and an average finish of 1.2, not bad for the Kyle Busch Motorsports owner. He’ll be a challenging factor in Friday night’s race.
  2. Noah Gragson – Gragson claimed career victory No. 2 last weekend at Kansas Speedway and that momentum could carry over this week at Charlotte. While he only has one start at the 1.5-mile track with a finish of ninth in the previous race, Gragson has been dominant in most 1.5 mile races this year. With a late race restart in Atlanta, he restarted in the ninth position and almost pulled off the win before finishing second. In Las Vegas, Gragson finished 12th after starting fifth. So don’t be surprised if we see the No. 18 Safelite Tundra back in victory lane again this weekend, as momentum could be huge for the 19-year old.
  3. Matt Crafton – Seven races in and Crafton is still looking for that breakthrough victory of the 2018 season. While it’s hard to believe the No. 88 Menards driver doesn’t have a win yet, you really can’t count him out on any given race weekend. In Dover after Gragson had a late race tangle with eventual race winner Johnny Sauter, Crafton finished second. Last week at Kansas, he led only four laps before battling a tight conditioning truck all night. He could score that first win this weekend as Charlotte is the site of Crafton’s first ever victory back in 2008. He also scored another win two years ago in 2016 after starting 17th.
  4. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek has run okay at Charlotte but has never been considered as a possible upset. However, he could be this weekend. In two starts, he has finishes of 12th and 22nd, respectively. He is coming off a strong run at Kansas this past weekend by finishing fourth. Nemechek could get that first win at Charlotte Friday night and what a win that would be for the family-owned team.
  5. Timothy Peters – Peters could be a real upset this weekend if he could pull off the win tomorrow night in the No. 92 Ricky Benton Racing Ford. In the past five starts, he has two top fives and four top 10 finishes with a best finish of fifth in last year’s race. However, those starts were in the now-defunct Red Horse Racing stable who were contenders for the win week in and week out. It’s no doubt Peters and the No. 92 team will have a battle on their hands Friday night. However, should they play their cards right and have a little bit of luck, they could just be a surprise winner.
Live coverage begins with the first practice scheduled for 9:05 a.m. ET with no live TV. Final practice will be shown on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 10:35 a.m. ET.

Qualifying is scheduled for 4:40 p.m. ET on FS1 with the green flag at the approximate time of 8:49 p.m. ET, all on FS1 and MRN Radio, weather permitting, as there is a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms in the forecast Friday afternoon and evening.
May 17, 2018
Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Kansas
Kansas Speedway was the home for the sixth race of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It was dominated by a young 19-year old.

Here are four takeaways from the 37 Kind Days 250.
1. Kyle Busch Motorsports Strong In The Heartland – It’s no doubt that if it’s not Johnny Sauter or Matt Crafton dominating the races, then it’s the Kyle Busch Motorsports stable. This weekend it was the No. 18 of Noah Gragson and the No. 4 of Kyle Busch. Gragson started on the pole and led most of the race, while his boss, Busch, followed closely behind in second. Gragson cut into the points lead and is now 35 behind Sauter. It will be interesting to see if Gragson can get on a roll after winning at Kansas this weekend.
2. GMS Racing Has Strong Showing – GMS Racing drivers had a strong showing at Kansas Friday night. Last week’s winner Johnny Sauter finished fifth, Justin Haley 10th and Dalton Sargeant 11th. The team continues to be strong week in and week out.
3. John Hunter Nemechek Posts Top Five Finish – In just his fourth race of the season, Nemechek posted his second top five by finishing fourth. Currently, he has three more races for the 2018 season while he is competing part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
4. Brandon Jones Back In The Truck Series – Brandon Jones returned back to the Truck Series this past weekend driving the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry. It was Jones’s first race back since Bristol of last summer where he finished 10th. He started 13th and finished seventh and fifth, respectively, in both stages. When the 37 Kind Days 250 was all done and finished, the Atlanta Georgia native finished eighth.
May 15, 2018
Noah Gragson finds Truck Series paydirt with convincing Kansas victory

Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – There are times when redemption is swift and merciful.

A week after throwing away a chance to win at Dover with a wreck of his own making, Noah Gragson scored his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season, beating his car owner, Kyle Busch, to the finish line in the 37 Kind Days 250 at Kansas Speedway.

Starting from the pole for the second straight race, Gragson led 128 of 167 laps in his No. 18 Toyota, swept all the stages of the event and collected the second NCWTS victory of his career.

“This is such a relief for a driver who had a hard week last week battling for the win,” said Gragson, who was running side by side with Johnny Sauter at Dover when he lost control of his truck and backed into the outside wall. “We came back strong this weekend. Two consecutive poles. We led the most laps today.

“Man, this is a pretty damn cool moment.”

After passing Busch and third-place finisher Stewart Friesen on Lap 157 — thanks to a four-tire call by crew chief Rudy Fugle during a green-flag pit stop on lap 134 — Gragson took the lead for good when Myatt Snider ran out of gas with five laps left.

Snider was one of five drivers trying to stretch fuel to the end of the race. One by one they fell by the wayside, but not before muddying the waters in the closing laps.

“After the pit stop, I thought I was going to be the leader, but they told me that (fifth-place finisher) Johnny (Sauter) was stretching it on fuel,” Gragson said. “So I said, ‘OK, maybe I’m running second.’ Then they said the 52 (Friesen) and the 4 (Busch) are a half a lap ahead of you.

“And I thought that was for the lead when I passed the 4 and I passed the 52, and then they said the 13 (Snider) was the leader. And I said, ‘Dang, how many leaders are there going to be?”

As it turned out Snider was the last one, and Gragson had come full circle from his mistake at Dover.

John Hunter Nemechek came home fourth, followed by Sauter and Matt Crafton. Cody Coughlin, Grant Enfinger, Brandon Jones and Justin Haley completed the top 10.

With 23 laps left, Friesen forced Busch down to the infield grass in the tri-oval, costing Busch a chance to pass the No. 52 Chevrolet and put distance between himself and Gragson.

Busch had taken right-side tires only on his green-flag stop on Lap 139, and Gragson methodically caught his car owner, making what proved to be the winning pass with 10 laps left.

“The truck felt good after about 15 laps, but it took too long to come in,” Busch said. “And there on that last run, we didn’t make enough adjustments. We took two tires and we got way too tight.

“But awesome run by Noah and those guys. They deserve it—they’re fast. They needed a boost and they got one. They’re going to race for a championship, and hopefully, this will help them get going.”

Sauter retained the series lead by 35 points over Gragson. The Camping World Truck Series’ next race is scheduled Friday, May 18 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Race results

May 11, 2018