It was quite the day for Chase Briscoe and his No. 98 team at Dover International Speedway. Briscoe had qualified on the pole for the race, however, they experienced electrical problems during his qualifying run. Therefore, due to unapproved adjustments, the Stewart-Haas driver had to go the rear prior to the start of the Xfinity Series race.
Briscoe didn’t take long to get to the front during the first stage and finished seventh in Stage 1. In Stage 2, he improved his finishing position with a third place. It wasn’t until the final stage that began on Lap 96 when Briscoe would take the lead two laps later. He led for 71 laps before making his final pit stop of the day.
However, late-race cautions and varying pit strategies by everyone else in the field shuffled them back a little. In the end, Briscoe finished fifth for his 11th top five of the season.
“I think it was certainly a really good day as far as our speed goes,” Briscoe said to MRN Radio. “When you’re in the lead, it’s so tough under green. You never know if the caution is going to come or not.” He continued, “Overall, really proud of our SHR guys. We had a really good Ford Mustang. Like I said, we were able to drive through the field multiple times.”
“It’s one of those situations where it’s all about when the cautions come and we just missed it today. Going to Kansas, I feel like we got as good a racecar than anybody right now, which is encouraging. I hate how we have the best car and run fifth with it. Kind of the same thing we had last week at the Roval, but hopefully, at Kansas, we can put it all together.”
While Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe had what most would consider a solid day with top-10 finishes at the Charlotte Roval, it was challenging for them in many aspects.
Cindric was decent throughout most of the race, many times following right behind the leader and at one point, beating Briscoe off pit road to have better position for the restart. Toward the end of race, however, more and more cautions began to fall and that would limit Cindric from trying to take the win. The No. 22 Money Lion Ford came home third after starting third.
“I think in the end if that last caution wouldn’t have come out, for whatever reason, I broke a right rear shock mount and my right rear shock was gone for the last three or four laps of the race,” Cindric explained to PRN Radio. “I’m glad we didn’t wreck, I’m glad we finished third. It’s just frustrating when you come down to all that and you get a good restart, and it fades away. All in all, it was a good points day and you got to keep pushing this way. We just want some more points.”
Cindric is +50 above the cut line and fourth in the playoff points standings.
In what looked like a possible repeat of last year’s race at the Roval, Chase Briscoe and his No. 98 team had to settle for a disappointing ninth-place finish after having a few runs in with Christopher Bell, including getting turned around by Bell on Lap 59 in Turn 2.
“I felt like I was the best car all day long,” Briscoe said to PRN Radio. “With 10 to go, AJ (Allmendinger) was getting a pretty good lead. Once I caught Bell, I caught him from half a straightaway. Down here in (Turns) 16 and 17 was my best passing zone, where I have been the strongest all day. So I tried to take advantage of it, but once I turned to the right and out braked him at that point, I was committed. I can’t slow it down anymore. I was trying to whoa it up as much as I can, just because I had to try to make the next corner, anybody on my left side wasn’t going to make that next corner.”
“It’s unfortunate, we both had really good racecars and we both don’t have good finishes to show for it. I hadn’t seen a replay of it, so I don’t know. It’s a lot different when you’re sitting in a racecar and get a outside view of it. I don’t want to say too much because if it’s 100 percent my fault, I’ll take blame for it. I feel like through 1 and 2, I gave him plenty of room and I felt like I just got tagged. I just want to see a replay for sure.”
Briscoe qualified on the pole, led 21 laps, won Stage 1 and finished second in Stage 2. He heads to Dover, +35 above the cut line in the sixth position.
Chase Briscoe and his No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing team found himself with a shot at the win late in the going after the mishap with race leader Justin Allgaier. Briscoe went to second when Allgaier had a flat tire go down with less than 10 to go.
Briscoe tried to catch Tyler Reddick but was not fast enough to do so and fell .655 seconds short of winning at Bristol. However, despite finishing second, the No. 98 driver isn’t pleased with the finish.
“We had such a good Ford Performance Mustang,” Briscoe said to PRN Radio. “On the last restart, I just didn’t fire off good, I was really loose getting in, then I would get really tight. Those last five laps, it finally started coming to me, I was definitely running him down, just ran out of laps.”
“Man that one stings, you don’t get very many opportunities to win at a place like Bristol. I really want to win here bad. I felt like we had a Mustang to do it, just didn’t get it done.”
For John Hunter Nemechek and the GMS Racing team, it was a hard fought third-place finish after all the troubles they had early. On Lap 52, Nemechek’s tire went down and caused him to spin out in Turn 2 to bring out the caution. The GMS driver rallied to finish fifth in Stage 2 before ultimately finishing third.
“I don’t know how many times I went to the back and came to the front,” Nemechek told PRN Radio. “Good showing for our Midnight Moonlight Moonshine Chevrolet. Overall, a pretty good night. Looking forward to keeping this momentum into the Playoffs. The third-place finish shows what our car had tonight. I just wish I wouldn’t have sped on pit road, wouldn’t have had a tire go down, and starting in the back, just builds character.”
Nemechek started ninth and finished third for his fourth top-five of the season.
It took 437 laps led and 63 starts but finally, Stewart Friesen is a winner in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Friesen had to hold off Sheldon Creed and company to win the Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway.
“Thank you to all the race fans that stuck with us, that kept pulling for us,” Friesen said after he got out of his truck in Victory Lane. “Everybody that came to my hauler and thought that this is the week. Today, this is the day. This is part of it!”
“Just thanks to all these race fans. This was meant to be.”
Friesen was on the last spot in the Truck championship but with the win, he is locked into the field of eight for the Truck Series Playoffs that will start in Bristol.
Sheldon Creed came home with a career-best finish of second followed by Grant Enfinger and Mike Marlar, a dirt regular, who came home fourth. Kyle Bisch Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland came home in fifth.
Chase Briscoe and Matt Crafton started on the front row and they are no strangers to being up front on the dirt. Briscoe won this race last year with Crafton winning the year before. Briscoe led from wire to wire even though the stage was slowed by two quick cautions. Landon Huffman who is subbing for Spencer Boyd spun it around. Then Jake Griffin spun it around as well right after the green flag waved from the Huffman spin. When it was all said and done it was Briscoe winning the stage followed by Gilliland, Brett Moffitt, Creed and Crafton to round out the top five.
Stage 2:
Most of the leaders decided to stay out after the stage break with the exception of Gilliland and Moffitt while Briscoe continued to dominate as he did in the first stage. Also like the first stage, some yellows disrupted the flow of the action. Harrison Burton spun his truck around on Lap 57 and the dirt version of “The Big One” happened on Lap 65 which involved Austin Hill, Burton, Christian Eckes, Carson Hocevar, Colt Gilliam and more. Many were able to continue but for Hill and Gilliam, their nights were over.
The action and the yellows did not stop though as the No. 34 of Mason Massey spun it around on Lap 76 when he got a cut tire. Creed spun it after they went back to green after the Massey spin but there was no yellow waved.
Like the first stage though it was all Briscoe as he went wire to wire to win the stage.
Final Stage:
Friesen stayed out while Briscoe and Crafton, among others, went in to pit after the stage ended. With going in to pit Briscoe restarted 12th while Friesen led the field to green to start the final stage. Friesen started to pull away but it was all for nothing due to the No. 45 of Chastain spinning right in front of the field. But somehow, someway, all of the field escaped without hitting Chastain’s truck.
There were a few more incidents after this one including a yellow that featured three wrecks in one. First, the No. 54 of Kyle Strickler spun trying to navigate the high side and before that the No. 32 of Devin Dodson and the No. 10 of Jennifer Jo Cobb. Last but not least Johnny Sauter and Briscoe got connected after the Strickler spin. Norm Benning spun with 31 laps to go after they went back to green following the multiple trucks that spun in the previous caution. The fun didn’t stop there as Dodson spun it around again with 17 laps to go.
Briscoe was a man on a mission but he tried a little bit too hard and spun out with nine laps to go while battling Creed for fifth. Briscoe went on to finish seventh.
There is only one race left to make the field of eight for the Gander Outdoors Truck Series Championship and that will be determined by the race in Michigan, a week from Saturday (August 3), on FS1.
With NASCAR’s national touring divisions edging closer toward their respective Playoffs, the top rookies in each division are clamoring to stake their spots in their championship races. The rookie race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is contained among three drivers (Ryan Preece, Daniel Hemric, and Matt Tifft) who are racing more among themselves, while Xfinity Series rookies have finally broken into the win column following Chase Briscoe’s win at Iowa.
The same can be said for the Gander Outdoors Truck Series, as Tyler Ankrum scored his first win at Kentucky, highlighting what has been an up-and-down season for the 18-year-old Californian. The win definitely gives momentum over fellow Truck standouts Sheldon Creed and Harrison Burton.
MENCS – Richard Childress Racing driver Hemric has started to come around as the season has progressed, as evidenced by his Pocono finish on Sunday where he finished seventh. His second top-10 of 2019 comes ahead of some stout runs in recent weeks where, with the exception of Kentucky and Loudon, he’s been lingering in the top-20. This includes a streak from the June Pocono race to Daytona where he finished as high as 12th, but no lower than 19th.
The No. 8 Luke Lambert-led team has had speed on the mile-and-a-half speedways, as Hemric qualified third at Chicago, but now it’s a matter of connecting the dots for Hemric as the team is still in its building phase.
Meanwhile, performance in Preece’s JTG-Daugherty Racing camp has remained a constant, running in the top-25 unless sidetracked with issues both on-track and mechanical. He’s shown that his primary strength lies in superspeedways, although his third-best finish of 2019 was a 16th at Martinsville. Other than that, it’s that consistency that might keep him from a Rookie of the Year victory. Still, being a rookie is about learning and growing, and given time Preece may become a contender. But there’s a ceiling at JTG-Daugherty, and he may be hitting it right now with Tristan Smith.
Meanwhile, at Front Row Motorsports, there is definite improvement for Tifft. He’s made it easy on his team, only being slowed by two DNFs in 21 starts, and as a result, he was able to boost his career-best finish from a 20th at Phoenix to a ninth-place run at Daytona. A recent Crew Chief swap with teammate David Ragan sent season-long CC Mike Kelley to the 34 while Seth Barbour helped lead Tifft’s No. 36 to one of its better outings of the season as they finished 23rd at Pocono, a week after the team finished 24th at Loudon.
The No. 36 Mustang has been finishing in the top-30 every race since Michigan, and although that isn’t saying much when compared to the other rookies on this, for a completely new team that was formed before the season began it’s definitely a step forward. At this rate, it isn’t unreasonable to expect regular top-25s out of that camp in the near future.
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 Ford Performance Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway on July 27, 2019 in Newton, Iowa. Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images.
Xfinity – The Xfinity Series rookie race has now yielded a race winner, as Briscoe joined his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer as a winner this season when he won at Iowa. Briscoe is not only a weekly contender; he’s also a championship favorite now as he’s scored a win, eight top-fives, and 14 top-10s in 19 starts. He isn’t just consistent; he’s strong. He’s been in or among the leaders weekly, and there’s little doubt that Iowa will be his only win this season.
Meanwhile, the best result JR Motorsports rookie Noah Gragson has been able to put together was a second at Michigan, but considering JRM has gone from division powerhouse to not breaking into the win column yet this season isn’t Gragson’s fault. Still, four top-fives and 11 top-10s in 19 starts is nothing to frown at as a rookie. He’s only finished off of the lead lap in four races, but one of those was a sixth at Kentucky, so it isn’t for lack of effort. He’s been consistent, but the JRM strength isn’t there.
It’ll be interesting to see where the No. 11 of Justin Haley goes from this point on this season. He’s been as strong as the top rookies in the division this season, but following the death of Crew Chief Nick Harrison, the team will no doubt be faced with a firmer resolve to succeed in his honor. He’s currently ninth in points with two top-fives and 14 top-10s in 19 starts this season, including an eighth at Iowa with Interim CC Alex Yontz (who also led the team to a 10th at Michigan).
Haley came close to victory at Daytona, proving the No. 11 Kaulig Racing team has the strength and resolve to contend for wins, and as good as Haley is with his equipment (zero DNFs in 2019), it’ll be no surprise when he does score a win.
John Hunter Nemechek has had a roller coaster rookie campaign in 2019. He has three top-fives (including a second at Las Vegas) and 11 top-10s in 19 starts but sits in 10th in the standings as he’s been sidelined with three crash DNFs. He placed third at Iowa, and considering he knows what it takes to win in the series and run near the front, he’ll post more strong finishes this season.
However there’s a catch: GMS Racing’s Xfinity effort isn’t as strong as Ganassi Racing’s 2018 Xfinity effort was, as Nemechek was a Ganassi development driver when he won at Kansas last year. He can get a win, and GMS has an Xfinity Series win, and he’s come close this season to Victory Lane, but it’ll take a little more luck than it did last season to seal the deal.
Harrison Burton goes inside of GMS Racing driver Brett Moffitt at Pocono. Photo by Kirk Schroll
NGOTS – Harrison Burton still continues to lead the Truck Series rookie class with seven top-fives and nine top-10s in 14 starts, which currently leaves him fifth in points with his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports team. Despite the strong showings, though, he can’t seem to finish any higher than third-place, a feat he’s accomplished four times this season.
It’s granted that Burton feels a bit of pressure in his role as a full-time rookie; he’s with a championship-winning organization that has yielded some of the hottest names in NASCAR in recent memory. There’s also pressure considering that the No. 18 is the flagship entry in an organization that has put it in Victory Lane countless times. But unlike his snake-bitten teammate Todd Gilliland, Burton stands a higher chance of placing strongly in the Playoffs and even scoring a win.
Sheldon Creed, however, is not too far behind Burton; with four top-10s he’s currently ninth in points. There’s still pressure on him as he is with a championship-winning organization as well, not to mention his teammate, defending champion Brett Moffitt, has already won twice this year. But Creed needs to exercise a modicum of balance. He’s aggressive behind the wheel, and although it’s nice that there’s a driver who is up on the wheel and ready to get the job done, he’s put himself in situations that have left him with a wrecked truck.
He’s been up front a lot in 2019 and led a lot of laps, so it’s not entirely impossible he parks it in Victory Lane by the end of the season.
Tyler Dippel has definitely been on the underdog side of things, as he’s managed to put himself in the top-15 more often than not. His season highlight so far was when he finished eighth in the first Texas race of 2019, but aside from that his No. 02 Young’s Motorsports entry has only finished outside the top-25 once this season (a crash at Daytona left him in 29th). He’s quietly consistent, and although his equipment may not be top-notch, he’s posting good, solid results that could land him a ride with a solid team down the road.
Tyler Ankrum, on the other hand, got a late start on the season driving for DGR-Crosley Racing, and he’s making up for it in spades. Despite losing a sponsor and being relegated to a couple of appearances in Joe Nemechek’s No. 87, he’s scored a win at Kentucky as well as three top-fives and five top-10s. At Pocono on Saturday he put his No. 17 Toyota in the runner-up spot to Ross Chastain, scoring his second-straight top-two finish, thus showing that the young Californian means business.
Ankrum keeps his equipment together and stays out of wrecks (his save at Texas in June was nothing short of legendary), and considering the No. 17 has momentum he could very well win again this season. If their sponsorship issues can get squared up soon, he could post some more strong results when the Playoffs come around.
Chase Briscoe out-dueled Christopher Bell
to earn his first Xfinity Series win of the season at Iowa Speedway Saturday
night.
It was the second career win in the series for
the 24-year-old Stewart-Haas Racing driver and his eighth top five this year. Briscoe
only led the last seven laps of the U.S.
Cellular 250 in his No. 98 Ford, but they were the ones that mattered.
“It’s nice, for sure, to finally
silence everybody,” Briscoe said. “We definitely still aren’t near
where we need to be, but I feel like we’ve been way closer, these past couple
of weeks especially.”
“We’ve still got to get better if we’re going to beat
the big three (Bell, Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer)But we’re slowly getting
into the conversation to be that fourth guy,” he added.
Christopher Bell dominated most of the race after starting on the pole and leading 234 of the 250 laps. But he had to settle for a second-place finish after losing the lead on the final restart with only 22 laps remaining.
“To be able to hold him off as long as
I did and not win the race stings,” Bell said, “It’s kind of damned
if you do, damned if you don’t.”
John Hunter
Nemechek finished third and led six laps. Noah Gragson and Tyler Reddick rounded
out the top five.
Justin
Allgaier, Shane Lee, Justin Haley, Zane Smith and Michael Annett finished sixth
through 10th.
Cole Custer started the race in sixth place, finishing second in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. But his car suddenly hit the outside wall and crashed with 90 laps remaining, relegating him a 29th place finish. It was his fourth DNF of the season. Custer, however, with five wins this year, retains his third-place ranking in the points standings.
When asked what happened, he told NBCSN, “I honestly couldn’t exactly tell you. I got really loose going into three and guess I over-corrected it into the fence. I’m really frustrated. I hate that we’re out (of the race).”
Three are seven races remaining in the regular season. Next Saturday the Xfinity Series heads to Watkins Glen International for the Zippo 200 at The Glen.
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Chase Briscoe earned his first career NASCAR XFINITY Series win in Saturday’s Race For The Cure 200 on Charlotte’s Roval, becoming the first driver to earn the checkered flag on the new layout. Briscoe took the checkered flag 1.478 seconds ahead of Justin Marks, who started off his final NASCAR weekend on a high note. Pole sitter Austin Cindric took home third, with Ryan Preece and Christopher Bell rounding out the top-five. Matt Tifft, Cole Custer, Kaz Grala, Tyler Reddick, and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top-10.
Although competitors were uncertain about the race on Saturday thanks to some wild practice and testing sessions, Saturday’s event proved to be tame as there were only five cautions during the race’s 55 laps, slowing the field down for 10 laps. Briscoe proved the dominant car, leading 33 of those laps after starting ninth.
Briscoe was quick to thank team co-owner Tony Stewart, a fellow Indiana native and dirt track staple, in helping his approach to taking on the Roval.
“This is unreal,” Briscoe said. “I was four seconds off in practice, and my guys stuck behind me and kept working with me. It’s just an honor and privilege to drive a race car and to do it for my hero, Tony Stewart, and get a win.”
“It’s huge to me. Everybody had to adapt to [the Roval] and figure it out, and I don’t know that I’m necessarily the best at it, but I felt like I just tried not to hit anything, and this thing hardly has a scratch on it.”
Playoff contenders Justin Allgaier and Ryan Truex had the worst luck of the playoff drivers, as both found contact with the wall or other drivers. Coming off of pit road in the second stage contact with the 22 of Cindric sent Allgaier around, where the 39 of Ryan Sieg piled into his left rear. Allgaier rebounded for a 15th-place finish, keeping himself well above the playoff bubble line.
Truex found the wall in the first turn on lap 35, collecting Brendan Gaughan, Michael Annett, Ty Majeski, Andy Lally, and Dylan Mercott. Truex would finish 16th in the final running order.
The next race on the XFINITY Series schedule will be at Dover International Speedway for the Bar Harbor 200, which will be at 3:00 PM ET on NBCSN.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Unofficial Race Results for the 37Th Annual Drive For The Cure 200 Presented By Blue Cross Blue Shield Of North Carolina – Saturday, September 29, 2018 Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course – Concord, NC – 2.28 Mile Paved
In a green-white-checkered race to the finish line, Chase Briscoe was able to fend off his ThorSport Racing teammate Grant Enfinger for the win in a last-lap thriller at Eldora Speedway. It was the closest finish at Eldora for the Truck Series with a margin of victory of .038 seconds.
After a series of late race cautions near the end, Briscoe, with fresher tires than race leader Logan Seavey, was able to restart up front alongside his teammate Grant Enfinger. Both of them battled side-by-side all the way to the checkered flag after the restart and even banged the wall at the finish.
“It means so much,” Briscoe said. “You know, I think Eldora, just in general, means a lot to people, but when you grow up with Sprint car roots and Sprint car backgrounds; I mean this place is our Daytona for dirt guys. So to be able to win this race, this is so special. There was one race that I wanted to win, it would definitely be this one. So it’s kind of surreal to me. Two years ago or three years ago, whenever (Christopher) Bell won, I came over (victory lane) here and was standing here, pumped that he won. We went to Waffle House later and maybe we’ll do that again tonight. Just unbelievable.”
“Thank you so much to these Ford guys for allowing me to come do this,” he said. “The ThorSport guys worked their tails off. I hate how I had to race the (Grant Enfinger) 98. We definitely roughed him up a little bit and this is not how I race, but part of it, I guess. Just thankful for the opportunity. It’ll probably be the only truck race I’m going to do this year. It’s good to end on a good note.”
Earlier in the day, there were five heat races including a last chance qualifier to set the 32 truck field. Last weeks winner, Ben Rhodes, and Todd Gilliland set the front row after winning the first two heat races.
Stage 1 was 40 laps and there were only three incidents that occurred. One on Lap 9 for 2016 Champion Johnny Sauter who spun around in Turn 2 and went a lap down. On Lap 20, Justin Fontaine in the No. 45 spun out and brought out the second caution, giving Sauter his lap back. Then the final incident in the first stage came on Lap 27, when Stewart Friesen was spun by Chris Windom with other trucks involved as well including Sheldon Creed and Cody Coughlin.
Kentucky winner, Ben Rhodes was able to win the first stage. The race was restarted on Lap 41 and went to lap 90 for Stage 2. On lap 45, Rhodes smacked the wall hard and had to come down pit road, eventually ending his night. He would ultimately finish 29th.
Then a little foreshadowing occurred for what the end of the race might be, as Briscoe held off teammate Enfinger for the stage win.
The final stage took place with 59 laps to go.
Briscoe and Enfinger made pit stops for fresh tires and were sent to the back of the field. During the early stages of the final stage, this saw dirt standout star, Logan Seavey, lead for a total of 53 laps until a late race caution came with 21 to go. This saw Tyler Dippel and Austin Self make contact in the turns, thus bunching the field up once more.
Seavey tried all he could to hold off the hard-charging Enfinger and Briscoe, but the late race cautions continued to hurt him as he had no tires. There were two more cautions near the end with less than five to go.
In the end, there was a green-white-checkered overtime finish. Enfinger and Briscoe pulled away from the rest of the field. The other 30 drivers had to watch a thrilling finish between Briscoe and Enfinger which ended by a .038 seconds margin with Briscoe as the winner.
Friesen, Matt Crafton and Noah Gragson rounded out the top five finishers in the Sixth Annual Eldora Dirt Derby.
It was Briscoe’s first win in the Truck Series since his victory at Homestead-Miami last year for the Brad Keselowski Racing team. This was his second career Truck Series win.
Briscoe led three times for 54 laps with seven lead changes among five drivers. There were nine cautions for 41 laps.
Sauter, who finished 16th, continues to lead the standings by 32 points over Gragson.
The Eldora Dirt Derby is one of the biggest races for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. This historic race is one of the most unique races on the Truck Series schedule. Along with Daytona, Talladega, Canada and Bristol, you could say Eldora is a wildcard, as well, to the series. The Eldora Dirt Derby is a national attraction for the series and as always, expect another exciting race for the sixth annual Eldora Dirt Derby Wednesday night.
There are 40 entries on the preliminary entry list as for this week in a list of who-who.
There will be 14 dirt track stars making their Truck Series debut but are no stranger to dirt racing. These include Chris Windom in the No. 54, Kyle Strickler in the No. 63, Logan Seavey in the No. 51, Max McLaughlin in the No. 38, Tyler Dipple in the No. 17, and J.R. Heffner in the No. 15, John Provenzano will be the oldest driver in the field, 63, making his debut in the No. 03 Mike Affarano entry. These dirt track stars have a built-in resume that includes Six Silver Crown wins, 180 dirt modified wins, a midget driver, 60+ wins, and a K&N driver.
The rest making their track debut include Austin Hill, John Provenzano, Todd Gilliland, Myatt Snider, Brett Moffitt, Tyler Dippel, Dalton Sargeant, Justin Fontaine, Nick Hoffman, Max McLaughlin, Logan Norman Seavey, Kyle Strickler, Trevor Collins and RJ Otto Jr.
Chase Briscoe will make his series return driving the No. 27 Thorsport’s fifth entry.
Ryan Newman will be fielding the No.3 entry of Jordan Anderson Racing. It’ll be Newman’s first start of the series since 2015 where he drove the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports entry at Kansas when he started fourth and finished second. It’ll be the first time at Eldora since 2013 when he drove the Turner Motorsports entry and finished third.
Here’s who to expect that might end up in victory lane in Wednesday nights annual running at Eldora.
Matt Crafton – It will be the one year anniversary since the two-time champion has scored a win in the series. His last win came at this very track after leading 24 laps and finishing first and ninth in both stages, respectively. Crafton got some dirt exposure this past weekend driving his modified at Oakshade Raceway. He’s been driving his modified whenever his schedule will allow. Crafton has competed in all five races, earning one win, one top five and five top-10 finishes, averaging a 10.4 start and a 7.4 finish. Nonetheless, after a somewhat forgettable season so far, the series veteran will be hungry to get his first win of the season and lock himself in the 2018 Truck Series Playoffs.
Stewart Friesen – This will be Friesen’s playground this week and could be his chance to park it in victory lane for his first career win. Like the other dirt track stars, Friesen is a dirt track standout of his own, driving in the Super DIRTCar Series. He has amassed over 260 wins dirt tracks across the United States since 1999. Friesen currently drives Big-Block Modifieds. Eldora is a special place for the No. 52 Halmar Racing driver. It’s where he made his series debut in 2016 starting 16th but he disappointingly finished 28th due to a crash on Lap 111. However, this opportunity led him to make more series starts before going part-time in 2017, and full-time this year. In last year’s race, Friesen started on the pole and finished second after leading 93 laps. He won Stage 1 and finished second in Stage 2.
Chase Briscoe – Briscoe is back competing in the Truck Series Wednesday night. This time, however, he is competing in the No 27 ThorSport Racing entry. It will be the team’s fifth entry. But Briscoe is no stranger to the series nor dirt, as he competed full-time last year driving for the now defunct Brad Keselowski Racing team. He competed in the Dirt Derby last year finishing third after starting 12th. Briscoe also brings dirt experience having driven quarter midget and 410 Sprint Cars. He also is the youngest winner to earn a victory in the 410 Sprint Car Series. Currently, Briscoe competes in a family-owned team in all kinds of series on dirt.
Tanner Thorson – If there is an upset winner this week in the Truck Series, it could very well be the No. 20 of Tanner Thorson, but if it’s on dirt, his fans know it wouldn’t really be an upset. Thorson is a decorated dirt track star driving in the TRI-C No.3C Sprint Car and Midget team. In past years, Thorson drove in the Keith Kunz Motorsports and earned 25 midget wins. Other stats include 2013 Midget National Rookie of The Year, 2015-2017 National Midget Driver of the Year, and he won the 2016 USAC National Midget Championship. This year, Thorson is competing in pretty much everything dirt. This includes Midgets, POWRI National Midget, USCS 360 Wing Sprint Car, World of Outlaws, Civil War 360 Wing Sprint Cars, KWS 410 Sprint Car, and in the SCCT 360 Sprint Car series. In the Truck Series this year, he has two starts with those coming in Dover and Iowa. The best finish was 13th at Iowa. It’ll be interesting to see how the decorated dirt star competes against the series regulars when dirt comes into his favor.
John Hunter Nemechek – When it comes to dirt, you wouldn’t think of Nemechek as a contender for the win. However, in the past four starts, he only has one finish outside the top-10 which came in 2016 after some issues during the race. His other finishes include sixth, seventh, and fifth in last year’s race. Nemechek even led 11 laps in the previous race after finishing third in both stages. In his four starts, it has brought him an average start of 11.8 and an average finish of 10.5, with 12 laps led. He’ll be hungry to get to victory lane as one slipped away at Chicago, where he ran out of gas on the last lap on the back straight, ultimately finishing seventh.
In the past five races, there have been five different winners including Matt Crafton, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Darrell Wallace Jr., and the first event winner Austin Dillon. The lowest a winner has ever come from the field to win was 19th in 2013 from Dillon. The highest starting spot came in last year’s race where Crafton started second and won.
Two practices are scheduled for Tuesday night with the first one taking place at 7:05 p.m. ET and the final practice is slated for 9:05 p.m. ET, with no live TV coverage.
Qualifying for the heat races is scheduled for Wednesday at 4:35 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1. There will be five heat races starting at 7 p.m. ET. All five heat races will consist of 10 laps to set the starting lineup.
Live coverage begins at 9 p.m ET Wednesday on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio, with the approximate green flag at 9:15 p.m. ET. Stages are broken into 40/50/60 for a total of 150 laps.
After a flat tire during Stage 1, John Hunter Nemechek battled back to finish fourth in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Saturday’s Rinnai 250.
Chip Ganassi Racing announced back in December that Nemechek would make his debut in the stock car series. His performance, however, made it seem as if he was a veteran in the series. His first qualifying attempt for a Xfinity race placed him in the third overall position to start Saturday’s race with a speed of 180.769, one of only six drivers to break the 180 mph barrier.
As for the race, the first 35 laps were eventful for Nemechek to say the least. On Lap 10, Kevin Harvick, Elliott Sadler and John Hunter Nemechek bumped through Turns 3 and 4. The unfortunate victim was Cole Custer, who would crash into the wall with heavy damage and end his day early. On Lap 33, Nemechek would blow a right front tire. Miraculously, he saved the car from crashing, which allowed his team to change tires and get him back to racing action. Even though he fell a lap down early in the event, he would battle back to put himself in the Lucky Dog position and place himself back on the lead lap. His and the team’s hard work paid off as they finished in the fourth position, claiming the highest finish of any Chevrolet in the field.
Nemechek shared his perspective of his weekend during a post-race interview.
“I’m happy with the outcome that we had, finishing fourth there. My goal was to come here and run all the laps, learning as much as I could and hopefully bring home a top-five run. After we unloaded yesterday [Friday], my first ever lap in an Xfinity car was lap one of practice. I have definitely learned a lot from both practice sessions, qualifying and the race.
“We blew a right front at the end of the first stage. It seemed like tire wear was really big today, and we were victim to circumstances. Luckily, we were able to get the Lucky Dog, get back on the lead lap and rebound from the back to come back to the front. At that last pit stop, we were able to get by Elliott [Sadler] to bring it home fourth.
“I’m looking forward to getting in more races as the year goes on.”
When asked about his performance during the final run of the race, Nemechek credited his spotter for his guidance and his crew chief for their relationship.
“Listening to Mike Shiplett and Derek Kneeland. Derek up on the spotter’s stand just telling me to be patient. I feel like myself and Mike Shiplett have created a good communicational bond so far this year, being able to make adjustments on the race car and trying to fix what we need to fix to make it faster at the end.”
Nemechek does come from a racing family. His father, Joe who is nicknamed “Front Row Joe,” made a solid career in the Monster Energy Cup Series with four wins and 10 poles across 23 years. He also gathered over a dozen victories in the Xfinity series. His uncle, John Nemechek, was also a NASCAR competitor, primarily in what is now the Camping World Truck Series. He competed in 43 events over three years until 1997 when he suffered a fatal crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway during a Truck race.
John Hunter shared his excitement on his official Twitter account shortly after the race.
Solid day to rebound from a RF tire that came apart and going a lap down. Came back to finish 4th! The @CGRTeams guys gave me a fast piece! Thankful for the opportunity from @GanassiChip and all parties involved! Looking forward to the next one! #firealarmservicespic.twitter.com/bvbI7i8Jra
Nemechek will pilot the No. 42 Chevrolet in multiple Xfinity Series races throughout the year, sharing the ride with Kyle Larson.
“I feel like going over to Chip Ganassi Racing, an established team who have won races, has helped as well,” declared Nemechek. “I feel like going over there, being able to talk with the guys and create relationships definitely helps. Any lap that you’re on the track, you’re gaining experience, and experience is key. Nothing can outweigh that.”
Chase Briscoe also made his debut in the Xfinity Series, finishing in the 15th position.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will race next at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3 for the Boyd Gaming 300. You can order race tickets on the speedway’s website at http://www.lvms.com/tickets/pennzoil_400/.
