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  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Bristol

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Bristol

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for a rare mid-week event. It will be the 14th race of the 2017 season with three races remaining before the playoffs begin. For some drivers, Bristol could be the place to score their first win of the season, but there could also be a repeat 2017 winner. Let’s take a look at who could tame the “Fastest Half Mile” on the Truck Series circuit.

    In the past five races, there have been five different winners, with the winner coming from the lowest starting position, 13th, which came from Ben Kennedy in last year’s race.

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

    1. Kyle Busch – Busch will be competing in his sixth race of the season. Bristol has been a strong suit for the younger Busch brother. In the last five races, Busch has one win that came in 2013, two top fives and two top 10 finishes. Busch will look to add another win at Bristol. Also to note, Bristol was the home of his sweep that came in 2010.

    2. Christopher Bell – Bell looks to continue his summer hot streak as he heads to Bristol for the second time in his career. In his only start, he finished seventh in last year’s race. Even though he has four wins this and the points lead, that won’t stop him going for his fifth win of the year and his first at Bristol.

    3. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek is looking to rebound after a disappointing outing at Michigan. In three races at Bristol, he has finished eighth, third and sixth, respectively. If Nemechek wants to rebound and get his season back on track, Bristol could be the place.

    4. Matt Crafton – Crafton finished sixth this past weekend at Michigan but is hungry for another win this season. In the last five races, Crafton has an average finish of 12.4 but has one top five and four top 10 finishes. Bristol might be the site of his second win of the season.

    5. Brandon Jones – Jones could be a spoiler and wild card Wednesday night at Bristol. In his only start that came in 2016, he finished ninth. In 2017 on the Truck Series side, Jones has given the No. 99 team, two top fives and three top 10 finishes. This might be a momentum booster for Jones as he’s been struggling on the XFINITY Series side.

    The winners of the last five races have come from inside the top 10, with the exception of the 2016 race where Ben Kennedy won from the 13th starting position. Qualifying will be an important factor if the drivers want a shot at the win.

    There will be two practices on Wednesday with the first one at 9 a.m. ET and the final at 11 a.m. ET, both on FS1.

    Qualifying is set for 4:35 p.m. ET on FS2 and race coverage will begin at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and MRN Radio.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings – Michigan

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings – Michigan

    1. Darrell Wallace Jr. – The last time Wallace Jr. made a Truck Series start was over three years ago at the season finale in Homestead. But that didn’t show from Wallace Jr. as he picked up right where he left off. He had a solid qualifying position of ninth and finished there in Stage 1. He fell out of the top 10 in Stage 2 and didn’t take the lead until Lap 90 where he held the lead for the final 10 laps to score his sixth career truck win.

    “Such a huge moment, not only for myself but for everybody involved,” Wallace said. “This is such a huge win for me. It is good to be back in the truck series. This is a product of having the truck series come to Michigan and put on a great race. I knew those laps were going to be hectic.”

    2. Christopher Bell – Bell continues his strong championship season as he earned his ninth top five of the year and increased his points lead to 37. Bell finished 10th in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2. He didn’t lead any laps, but the only thing that mattered was increasing his points lead.

    “I don’t know, I hope the fans enjoyed that one because it was a ton of fun,” Bell said after the race. “Our SiriusXM/JBL Tundra was handling really good, we just didn’t seem to have the raw speed to get up there and get by them. That was a lot of fun. I wish I would have been able to work that inside pass like I did the time before. I didn’t quite get there. That’s awesome for Bubba (Darrell Wallace Jr.), to see him come back and win like that – that was a really fun race.”

    3. Austin Cindric – Cindric had another solid points day by finishing in the top five, even though he didn’t finish in the top 10 at all during both stages. He also led for 24 laps. Cindric needs to continue these solid runs or get a win before the playoffs start as he sits right on the bubble at 10th in the standings.

    “It was a really good call by Doug to get us out front,” Cindric said. “Clean air is king at Michigan, and we knew we had a good Draw-Tite Ford F-150 all by ourselves. I had to make a move on the No. 99 (Wallace) there at some point, and we knew we were really good in Turns 1 and 2. I got the side draft on the backstretch and had the momentum. I made the pass stick but didn’t have any help. That was so close. Maybe I should have saved that move for the last lap. We’ll take another top five and keep moving.”

    4. Matt Crafton – Crafton finished a respectable sixth at Michigan Saturday afternoon. After leading the first 10 laps of the race, he finished third in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. He was up front battling for the win late but came up six spots short. It was still another solid day for the two-time series champion.

    “We had a good truck,” Crafton said. “When Bubba (Darrell Wallace Jr.) passed for the lead, we went to the bottom, and I didn’t get myself cleared, and if you didn’t get cleared of whoever you were racing against, then you were just screwed. It was just tough to pass. I definitely had a faster truck than those guys, but if I could get under them, then I could never get clear because there was nobody behind me to help me and keep pushing me. We got out of here with a sixth-place finish.”

    Crafton leaves Michigan sitting third in the points, 62 behind Christopher Bell.

    5. Noah Gragson – Gragson had a quiet but strong day at Michigan. He finished seventh in Stage 1 and eighth in Stage 2. By the time the checkered flew, the scoring pylon showed Gragson finished 10th. However, he wanted a little bit more than a top 10 finish.

    “We fought hard for a top-10 finish, but I wish I could have done better,” Gragson said. “It’s difficult learning the draft and the aero at a track like this. It’s like a chess game out there since everyone is running wide open. I felt like we had a good strategy all day but just needed to execute better on my end. We’ll move on and give it another shot at Bristol on Wednesday.”

    Other notes – This was the sixth career win for Darrell Wallace Jr. in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Wallace Jr. led one time for the final 10 laps of the race. Christopher Bell now extends his points lead over Johnny Sauter by 37.

    Next Up – The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for another mid-week event. It’ll be the 14th race of the 2017 season and with just three races remaining until the playoffs drivers will only have three more chances to lock themselves into the playoffs with a win.

     

  • Four Takeaways From Saturday’s Truck Race At Michigan

    Four Takeaways From Saturday’s Truck Race At Michigan

    1. Darrell Wallace Jr. gets a breakthrough win at Michigan – 2017 has been an up and down year for Wallace Jr. After the XFINITY race at Pocono, the No. 6 XFINITY team was shut down due to lack of funding. However, he’s been filling in rides since then. He’s raced four races for Aric Almirola when he was injured from Pocono to Kentucky with a best finish of 11th at Kentucky. Wallace Jr. then received an opportunity to drive for MDM Motorsports at Michigan. He was able to make the most of it scoring his sixth career win in the Truck Series.
    2. Christopher Bell extends points lead – Bell continues his strong season by finishing second in Saturday’s race, giving him his ninth top five of the year and extending his points lead to 37. He’ll head to Bristol Motor Speedway Wednesday night looking for his fifth win of the season.
    3. Johnny Sauter has a rough day at Michigan – Sauter had a rough outing in this past weekend’s race. However, on the bright side, he was able to score some playoff points by finishing fifth in Stage 1. Problems continued as Sauter had to pit for a flat tire, thus ending his shot for a second win in 2017. He wound up finishing 18th and losing more points to Christopher Bell. Sauter will have to turn his season around at Bristol this Wednesday if he wants to retake the points lead from Bell.
    4. Three races remain until the playoffs – Three races, three wild cards until the 2017 playoffs begin at Loudon in September. This week the drivers will head to Bristol, then to Canada after a couple of weeks off with the final race at Chicago before the playoffs start. Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton and Kaz Grala are all locked in by securing wins throughout the season. However, the door is wide open after fifth as Chase Briscoe, Ryan Truex and Ben Rhodes sit on the bubble. Also, Grant Enfinger, Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric and Justin Haley are currently out at the moment. The season has provided some exciting and thrilling action so we could see three new winners in the next three races.
  • Despite Season Dominance, Bell Isn’t A Lock For Title

    Despite Season Dominance, Bell Isn’t A Lock For Title

    It’s easy to believe with Christopher Bell’s dominance in the Camping World Truck Series this season that he’s a lock for the 2017 championship. He leads the series with four wins, has eight top-fives and 11 top-10s, three poles, and currently leads the regular season points. He’s a Kyle Busch Motorsports pilot right now, and with backing from Toyota Racing Development, it’s tempting to just call off the competition now and hand him the championship trophy.

    But the season isn’t over, and if anyone has any doubts, they can look at the saga of Bell’s former KBM teammate William Byron a year ago. At this point in the 2016 truck season, Byron was only a rookie but had five wins including Pocono and was the season points leader. When he wasn’t winning poles and races, he was scoring top-fives and top-10s, keeping up with the consistency and making sure he was in championship shape as Homestead loomed larger.

    After opening up the playoffs with a win at Loudon, Byron rattled off four-straight top-10s, three of which were top-fives, and kept padding onto his points lead. But after winning the pole and leading 112 of the 150 scheduled laps at Phoenix (the elimination race before Homestead), he dropped an engine on lap 141 and finished 27th. That finish ultimately killed his title hopes. Adding insult to injury, Byron could have won the title as he won the season finale at Homestead.

    The target is currently on Bell’s back as he is looking to be the man to beat in 2017. He’s regularly outperformed 2016 champion Johnny Sauter, has twice as many wins as John Hunter Nemechek and team owner and part-time driver Kyle Busch, and despite not having as many stage wins as Sauter he does happen to have more playoff points (24) than Sauter (10), which is important considering this new format.

    On top of that, the list of tracks coming up could help Bell further assert his dominance over the rest of the field. Proving that he’s a well-rounded driver, in the upcoming tracks he’s finished in the top-10 at every race with the exception of 24th at Michigan a year ago, although that was due to a crash after starting fifth. But while he has an affinity for the 1.5-mile tracks, he’s excelled on short tracks, 1.0-mile tracks, 2.0-mile tracks, and even road courses (he finished fifth at Mosport in 2016).

    With Crew Chief Rudy Fugle in his corner (Fugle also led Byron’s seven-win rookie season in 2016), Bell has shown that he has grown immensely after playing second-fiddle to Byron for most of the 2016 season. But although he’s been at the front for most of the 2017 (1,703 laps completed out of 1,868 possible laps in 12 starts, 521 laps led)  with very few mishaps (a 25th at Dover thanks to a crash), he’s shown that he’s the main threat for the championship this year. However, it’s already been proven that under this playoff system, things can change in a heartbeat.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview – Pocono

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview – Pocono

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to the Pocono Mountains this week for the annual running of the Overton’s 150 at Pocono Raceway. Currently, there are 30 trucks on the preliminary entry list. Here’s a look at who to watch for this week at Pocono.

    1. Kyle Busch – Busch will no doubt be a factor like he always is in any race he’s entered in. In 2017 Busch has two wins in the Truck Series. In the last five races, Busch has only competed in the 2015 race, scoring a win. In the other only start that came in 2011, he finished second to race winner Kevin Harvick.
    2. Matt Crafton – Crafton is carrying momentum after his breakthrough win at Eldora. At Pocono, he has two top fives and four top 10s. However, he also has one DNF that came in 2015. His average finish is 11.0. Crafton just may go two for two this week and start his championship run.
    3. Johnny Sauter – Sauter, just like Crafton, has the same career stats at Pocono. Both of them have competed in all seven races dating back to 2010. After a rough race at Eldora, Sauter needs a win as his championship points lead has shrunk to seven over Christopher Bell. A win for him would give him a little cushion with the points lead.
    4. Christopher Bell – In his only start at Pocono that came in 2016, Bell finished in 10th place. Bell is also carrying some momentum as he continues to chop into Sauter’s points lead. After a somewhat disappointing ninth place at Eldora last Wednesday, he is looking for his fourth win of the 2017 season.
    5. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes has only one start that came last year as well, in which, he finished 11th. After wrecking at Eldora, Rhodes is looking for a strong finish or perhaps that breakthrough win, that he has been looking for since falling short at Kansas.

    There are two practices for the Truck Series that take place beginning Friday at noon with the final practice at  2 p.m. ET. Qualifying will be held Saturday morning at 10 a.m. followed by the Overton’s 150 at noon ET on FOX and MRN Radio.

  • Camping World Truck Series Preview – Eldora

    Camping World Truck Series Preview – Eldora

    After a week off, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action for a mid-week showdown on dirt at the famed Eldora Speedway Wednesday night.

    There are thirty-four entries on the preliminary entry list.

    This will be a tough race for many of the rookies. It will take them awhile to adapt to the dirt. Nonetheless, experience pays off and this will fall right into the hands of the dirt track stars.

    Since its inaugural event in 2013, there have been four different winners in the last four races. Let’s take a look at who has the best shot of winning this year’s Eldora Dirt Derby 150.

    1. Christopher Bell – Bell is the defending winner of this race. Other stats include two top fives and two top ten finishes, with a 1.5 average finish. Bell has also competed in some dirt races after Kentucky, picking up a USAC win, an All Star Sprints win and a World of Outlaw Series win at Eldora this past weekend. Oh, and Bell won the Midget Chili Bowl earlier this year. So yeah, expect Bell to be up front.
    2. Rico Abreu – Abreu is back for a one race deal with Thorsport Racing. He is a dirt track standout star with more than 20 dirt track wins. Abreu also has a 2015 Chili Bowl win on his resume. At Eldora in his only Truck Series start, he has one top five with a third place finish in 2016. Expectations will be high for this dirt track superstar.
    3. Ken Schrader – The 62-year-old veteran is a dirt track specialist. With championships in the USAC Silver Crown and Sprint Car Series, Schrader has numerous dirt track wins. He has competed in the Truck Series at Eldora since 2014. In that time, he has one top five and finishes of 11th and 12th, respectively. Schrader also won the first ever heat race in 2013 and won a heat race the last two years.
    4. Matt Crafton – Crafton has competed in all four races at Eldora. During that time, he had four top 10 finishes, with an average finish of 9.0.
    5. Bobby Pierce – Pierce is another favorite when it comes to dirt track racing, especially the last few years, even though the results might not show it. In the last two years that Pierce has competed at Eldora, he battled for the win in the late going. In the 2015 race, he came up one spot short and finished second to race winner Christopher Bell. Last year, he was competing for the win with Cup star Kyle Larson, until he crashed on lap 126, ending his day with a disappointing 25th place finish. Will the third time be the charm for Pierce?

    There will be two practices Tuesday, with the first practice at 7 p.m. ET followed by the final practice at 9 p.m. ET. Single Truck vehicle qualifying is slated for 5 p.m. ET on FS1. Qualifying heat races are scheduled for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS2 with the Eldora Dirt Derby to cap everything off at 9:30 p.m. ET on Fox Business Channel and MRN Radio.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings – Kentucky

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings – Kentucky

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took center stage at Kentucky Speedway Thursday night. Barring a three-hour rain delay, it was an action filled race. Here are the power rankings following Kentucky.

    1. Christopher Bell – While Bell was the dominant truck throughout the race, it did not come without issues. On lap 28, Bell took a spin in turn 3 bringing out the second caution. Bell had another issue in Stage 2, by being involved in a wreck on lap 43, but came away with no damage. He rebounded by the end of Stage 2 to finish sixth. In the remaining laps of the race, Bell swapped the lead with John Hunter Nemechek until he took the lead for good on lap 114. He eventually held off a hard charging Brandon Jones with just a few laps remaining to score his third win of the year.

    “This is pretty special man,” Bell said. “This is an extremely tough race for me. We had our ups and downs there and through practice yesterday.” “We had such a great Toyota Tundra that I knew, I knew if the right circumstances came up we could do it and Rudy (Fugle) did a great job on top of the pit box just getting me track position after I made a mistake there and spun out.”

    2. Brandon Jones – Jones’s race came with issues as well. After starting sixteenth, Jones slipped back to finish seventh in Stage 1 and ninth in Stage 2. However, on lap 115, Jones and Ryan Truex made contact to bring out the last caution. It took him several laps to rebound, but he challenged for the win and eventually settled for second behind race winner Christopher Bell.

    “Yeah, I’m dying for a win right now for sure,” Jones said. “I was trying everything I could to get to the 4 (Christopher Bell) at the end. Eventually, I finally just started holding my line and you see him trying to move around stuff and try to mess us up a little bit. It was all fun and games for sure. I enjoyed it. It was a great start so far.”

    3. Justin Haley – Haley made his fourteenth career start last night and a career-best third. After starting 10th, Haley had a solid Stage 1 finish by finishing sixth. During Stage 2, Haley led only four laps to finish third. Haley eventually held on to finish where he finished in Stage 2, third.

    “We had a really good night in the No.24 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevy,” Haley said. “We knew track position was going to be key and Kevin (Bellicourt, Crew Chief) worked out great strategy for us.”

    4. Noah Gragson – Gragson had a solid night at Kentucky. After starting eleventh, Gragson finished just two spots ahead in Stage 1 as the truck needed adjustments to get to Gragson’s liking. When Stage 2 began, Gragson started second and assumed the lead on lap 41 to win his first ever stage of his career. However, issues came in Stage 3. Gragson brought out a caution on lap 77 for a collision between him and Austin Cindric but started to work his way to the top. He was up to seventh with 10 laps to go, before eventually finishing in fifth place.

    “We led some laps during the second stage and were in a really good position running seventh to start the third stage,” Gragson said. “I just made a rookie mistake down there running the apron. Not running this track before, I didn’t know there was a bump there and I had a little bit of wheel into it down there in the front stretch and spun out.”

    5. Parker Kligerman – Kligerman has been solid recently in the truck series in 2017. Before Kentucky, Kligerman had only competed in three races and scored just one top 10 coming at Charlotte. Kligerman started in the 30th position after qualifying was rained out. While he did not finish in the top 10 in the first two stages, circumstances worked out for him and he came home to finish seventh, his best finish of the year.

    “Glad we had a solid night and we will take this and keep building on runs like this,” Kligerman said. “Good momentum going into our next few races.”

    Next up: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes a week off, before heading to the famed Eldora Speedway on July 19.

  • Bell Takes Late Lead and Holds Off Challenger to Win Truck Race at Kentucky

    Bell Takes Late Lead and Holds Off Challenger to Win Truck Race at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — An early spin didn’t stop Christopher Bell from returning to the front to claim victory in the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

    He took the lead from John Hunter Nemechek with a pass to the high-side in Turn 3 and held off Brandon Jones right down to the final lap to score the victory.

    “This is pretty special,” Bell said after the race. “We had our ups and downs. Practice didn’t go very well, but we had a really fast Tundra, and (crew chief) Rudy Fugle made great calls from the pit box after I made a mistake and spun out.”

    RACE RECAP

    After rain delayed the original start by roughly three hours, Johnny Sauter led the field to the green flag at 10:39 p.m. Matt Mills brought out the first caution on Lap 22 when he got loose, overcorrected and hit the outside wall exiting Turn 4.

    On the ensuing restart on Lap 27, ThorSport Racing teammates Ben Rhodes and Grant Enfinger “sandwiched” Sauter going into Turn 1 to take the lead, with Enfinger taking the sole lead. The caution flew a second time on the same lap when Bell went spinning in Turn 3.

    Rhodes took the lead from his teammate on the following restart on Lap 32 and drove on to win the first stage.

    Noah Gragson, who pitted under the first caution, assumed the race lead.

    Back to green on lap 42, the caution flew on the same lap for a multi-car wreck in Turn 3, which collected three of the four ThorSport trucks.

    After that wreck, the rest of the stage proceeded under green, with Gragson winning it.

    Myatt Snider exited pit road with the race lead. He lost the lead on the ensuing restart to Bell.

    The race didn’t make it a lap before Gragson was turned by Austin Cindric on the frontstretch, bringing out the sixth caution.

    When the next run settled into a longer green run, Bell came up on lapped traffic. John Hunter Nemechek took advantage of this and took the lead from Bell on Lap 94.

    It was interrupted by a solo spin by Snider with 44 laps to go.

    Bell took the lead on the ensuing restart with 37 to go when the caution flew for a two-truck wreck in Turn 3, setting up the run to the finish.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted one hour, 59 minutes and 47 seconds at an average speed of 112.703 mph. There were 10 lead changes among eight different drivers and eight cautions for 42 laps.

    Sauter leaves with a 28-point lead over Bell.

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  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview – Kentucky

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview – Kentucky

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action this week after a weekend off. It will be the 10th race of the season for the Truck Series, just six races before the playoffs begin.

    There are 34 entries on the preliminary list for Thursday night’s truck race. In the past five races at Kentucky Speedway, there have been five different winners. Only two of those winners are entered in the race, Matt Crafton and Kyle Busch. Here are some drivers to keep an eye on for tomorrow night’s race.

    1. Kyle Busch – You better believe that whenever Kyle Busch is entered in any race, he’ll have an automatic shot to win. In the past five races, Kyle has raced in three of them with one win and two top fives. However, in his previous outing at Kentucky, Busch crashed out on lap 56, ending his night early.
    2. Matt Crafton – Crafton has had a sour season so far with only two top five and five top 10 finishes in 2017. At Kentucky, he is the highest active driver stat wise. In five races, Crafton has one win plus one top five and one top 10 finish and has led 43 laps. Crafton’s turning point could take place at Kentucky.
    3. Johnny Sauter – Sauter has been decent at Kentucky. He has one top five and three top 10 finishes at Kentucky. Sauter has been strong this season and is looking to continue building his momentum for a chase at the championship.
    4. Christopher Bell – In two races, Bell has one top five and one top 10 finish. With two wins already this season, he’ll be looking to secure a third win as he has no career wins at Kentucky.
    5. John Hunter Nemechek- Nemechek has been on a roll in the past two races, securing two consecutive wins. Nemechek’s track record at Kentucky has not been too shabby with one top five and one top 10 finish. Nemechek has a best finish of second which came in the 2016 race.Qualifying is slated for 5 p.m. ET Thursday, while the race is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET, both on FS1.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings – Iowa

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings – Iowa

    Iowa Speedway was the site for the ninth race of the 2017 season. The race featured a variety of pit strategies and a back to back winner.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek started the race in the fifth position, but quickly fell back in the early going. In Stage 1, he finished in the seventh position. Stage 2 was a better turnout for Nemechek, however, as he worked his way up and finished third. When a late race caution fell, the race leader Sauter stayed out, when the rest of the field, including Nemechek, pitted. Nemechek took four tires on the last pit stop. It wasn’t until six laps to go when he made the pass for the win on Sauter. He would go on to win his second race of the year and it was the first time he went back to back.

    “That’s definitely special,” Nemechek said. “All year, we felt really good about this whole stretch, Gateway, Iowa and Kentucky. So hopefully, we can go to Kentucky and make it three in a row.” Nemechek led once for six laps.

    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter had the truck to beat but in this case he was beaten on a final restart with six laps remaining. After starting fourth, Sauter stayed in the top five for Stage 1 by finishing third. In Stage 2, however, Sauter dominated by taking the lead on Lap 116 and went on to win the second stage. Although, when the late race caution came out with 13 to go, Sauter and his team elected to stay out. This would be costly as he would lose the lead with six to go and finish second.

    “Yeah, you know, obviously, tires prevail here, but we made a great call,” Sauter said. Chase (Briscoe) actually took me to school there. That kid is a hell of a wheelman.”

    Sauter continues to lead the point standings by 42 points over Christopher Bell.

    3. Brandon Jones – Jones was quiet all night until late in the going. It wasn’t until Stage 2, where he finished 10th. Along with the rest of the field, Jones pitted late and took fresher tires. He would rally to finish third, giving him his first top-five of the year.

    “I feel like our Soleus Air Chevy was a strong truck from the drop of the green flag tonight,” Jones said. “Track position was key the whole race, and it got to where you really couldn’t pass anyone once the field strung out. Shane Huffman made a great call to take four tires there with a handful laps left and that was really the difference that let us get up there in the mix. If we would’ve had just a few more laps, I think we definitely could’ve had something for them.”

    4. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger had another decent run this season. He started in the 10th position, stayed around for Stage 1 by finishing ninth. In Stage 2, Enfinger fell outside the top 10. Toward the end of Stage 3, it brought some controversy between Thorsport Racing teammates. Enfinger had accidentally bumped Matt Crafton in Turn 4, thus sending Crafton hard into the wall and ending his night. However, Enfinger went on to finish a solid fourth, but not the best fourth place finish.

    “Yeah I mean, I’m just embarrassed,” Enfinger said. “I was going for the bottom and I thought he (Matt Crafton) was going to go in the middle, and I just came down, it was completely my fault. I mean I just ran him over. I feel terrible.”

    5. Christopher Bell – Bell was a contender throughout most of the night. He would go on to sweep Stage 1. Bell led early in Stage 2, before handing the lead over to Johnny Sauter on Lap 116. Bell went on to finish fourth in Stage 2. After leading early in the race, Bell had to settle for a fifth place finish.

    “We had really fast Toyota Tundra, man”, Bell said. “Out front, it was just lights out- we were really, really good and on the short run too, but the long run was where we excelled. I don’t know man,” Bell continued, “It’s so tough to pass whenever it’s on the bottom and, finally, the top came in and then we could finally start passing guys, but still it’d take way too long to pass them and then- but the yellow came out and that gave us a shot at it and just didn’t work out.”

    Bell continues to be second in the point standings 42 points behind Sauter.

    The race featured four cautions for 34 laps, with five leaders among six lead changes.There is no NASCAR Camping World Truck Series action next weekend as the series is off, but the action returns to Kentucky Speedway Thursday, July 6.