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Truex, Harvick and Hamlin fall short in their bid for the Cup Series championship

Kyle Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 team won their second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway with seemingly flawless execution by the driver and team.

His three competitors, however, fell short. Even so, each of these drivers had noteworthy seasons and they are undoubtedly looking ahead to next year and the possibility of another title run.

Martin Truex Jr.:

Martin Truex Jr. finished second to Busch as a result of a costly mistake on pit road. He won Stage 1 and was leading during Stage 2 when he took his No. 19 JGR Toyota down pit road for a green-flag stop.

As soon as he left pit road Truex reported that there was something wrong with his car. Crew Chief Cole Pearn informed him that the team has put tires on the wrong side of the car and that he needed to come back down pit road to correct the mistake.

He was the beneficiary of a caution on Lap 136 and was able to get back on the lead lap. He was able to rebound to a second-place finish but it was too little, too late.

Truex said it was the loss of track position that cost him a shot at the win and the championship.

“Yeah, ultimately it was the loss of track position that bit us,” he said.

“I lost a bunch of ground on that run,” he continued, “because of getting tight in traffic and then just was too far back to make anything happen the last run. Ultimately it came down to track position, and I felt like if I could have been up front and controlled the race, I could have drove away from them.

“At the end, we were quite a bit quicker, but it’s just, it was too much of a gap. Yeah, it’s part of the deal. You’ve got to be perfect, you know, and one mistake probably cost us a shot at it.”

The disappointment was obvious for the 2017 Cup Series champion.

“Yeah, these things don’t come around every day,” said Truex. ‘”Second two years in a row definitely stings a little, but the fact that we have one is still really a big deal. It’s hard to win these things. Congrats to Kyle and the 18 guys. It’s a huge accomplishment just to get here I feel like. Yes, sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. It just wasn’t our day.”

Truex finishes the season with seven wins, 15 top-fives, and 24 top-10s with 1,371 laps led, ranking him second in the year-end standings.

Kevin Harvick:

Harvick finished fourth and led 41 laps. He described his biggest obstacle during the race was how much better the other Championship cars were on long runs.

“On the restarts I could do what I wanted to do,” he said, “and I could hold them off for 15 or 20 laps right there, and you know, this race has come down to that every year, so you kind of play towards that, and they were quite a bit better than us on the long run, but we had a really good car for those first 15 or 20 laps on the restarts and had a lot of speed. Just never got to try to race for it there with a caution.”

Harvick’s crew chief Rodney Childers hoped to gain an advantage by leaving his driver out on the track as long as possible before the final round of pit stops to give him the freshest tires and hoping for that elusive caution.

“We just needed to do something different,” Harvick added. “Really our best chance was to have a caution there at the end and never got one. We just did something different hoping for a caution, and that’s what you’re supposed to do in those late situations like that. Just do the opposite of the cars you’re trying to race, and it just didn’t work out.”

While he was racing against three Joe Gibbs Racing cars for the championship, Harvick said he never felt out-numbered.

“You race against these guys and it really turns into individual battles and I would say those guys were all racing for each other and trying to win a championship. I didn’t really look at it quite that way.”

Harvick ends the year with 4 wins, 15 top-fives and 26 top-10s with 953 laps led, finishing third in the year-end rankings.

Denny Hamlin:

Hamlin’s championship run hit a major snag toward the end of the race with about 50 laps to go when his car began overheating. On the previous stop, his crew had applied a large piece of tape to the front grille causing water temperatures to rise in his No. 11 JGR Toyota and necessitating an unscheduled pit stop.

This put him a lap down and while he would eventually get back on the lead lap, he had to settle for a 10th place finish.

Hamlin was disappointed but felt like he did all that he could do on the track and that being aggressive had worked for them in the past.

“Like I said, last week”, he said, “I was going to come in here and do the best I could and live with the result either way. I definitely feel like I couldn’t have done anything different. Certainly, we got a little aggressive there, and it cost us, but I mean, he’s (Chris Gabehart, Crew Chief) also been really aggressive and won us races, too. It’s just he’s going for it. He saw an opportunity there to really add some speed to the car, and it just didn’t work out.

Hamlin went as far as to say that it has been a great year that could not be defined by one race.

“it’s just a great year,” he emphasized. “We won 19 races as an organization. That’s the most in this era. That’s a good thing. In the world where we just keep getting more common with everything, right, common pit guns, common this, common that, JGR continues to set itself apart, and that’s the people and the effort that they’re putting in. I think that it really says a lot about the organization, no doubt.

“I’m excited about next year. I really am. It’s not like I’m going to go through the off‑season upset or sad. It’s like, I’m looking forward to having the momentum that we took through this year with a first‑year crew chief, and we’re going to win a lot, like a lot next year. I just think that we’ll have another opportunity. There’s no question.”

Hamlin won six races this season with 19 top-fives, 24 top-10s and led 922 laps. He finished out the year ranked fourth in the standings.

NASCAR will return for the 2020 season with The Clash at Daytona on Sunday, Feb. 9 as the prelude to the 62nd annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 16.

Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

November 17, 2019
Tyler Reddick wins race and Xfinity Series championship
As seen in year’s past, if you want to win the championship, you will more than likely also have to win the race. Tyler Reddick did just that at Homestead-Miami Speedway and capped off a perfect season by earning his sixth win of the 2019 season. He took the lead with 18 to go after a fierce battle with Championship 4 contender Cole Custer. Reddick became just the seventh Xfinity Series driver to win back-to-back championships.

“It’s just amazing and the best part is, my girlfriend Alexa said if I won the championship, our baby boy was going to be named Bo,” Reddick said to MRN Radio. “I got the call so late, we were honestly trying to keep everyone on their toes. I was sideways coming on pit road and I really didn’t know how good my approach was, so I just took it easy. I cost us a lot of time there and came out behind the other two (Champ 4 drivers). That’s on me, I had to put that in my back and had to go out there, and pass those guys while ultimately putting this car in victory lane. Had to put this car in victory lane to where it deserves, that’s on the championship stage, as well as an Owner’s Championship in Richard Childress Racing’s 50th year.”

Qualifying was held on Saturday afternoon just a few hours before the Xfinity Series race. The session also saw Reddick qualifying on the pole. Championship 4 drivers Cole Custer was second, Christopher Bell was seventh and Justin Allgaier qualified 16th. Bobby Earnhardt was the only driver that failed to qualify. Stages were broke into 45/45/110 laps to make up the 200-lap race distance.

Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 45

Stage 1 got off to a rocky start with multiple incidents. On lap 6 the first yellow came out for the No. 07 of Ray Black Jr. as a tremendous amount of smoke came out of the back of his car. The day would end early for Black Jr. but he would be okay. Another incident occurred in Turn 4 on Lap 16, where the No. 15 of Tyler Matthews hit the wall hard and had a flat tire. Matthews’ day was done early too and resulted in a 37th place finish.

A piece of debris was stuck in Turns 3 and 4 after the accident which made the leaders move down a groove to protect their car from getting hit with it. Shortly after TV cameras pointed the debris out, officials displayed the yellow for the third time of the night on Lap 34.

With a few quick cautions early, the rest of the stage saw a nine lap dash to the stage break. Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe took the stage win while Custer was second, Reddick fourth, Bell 12th and Allgaier finished 13th.

Stage 2: Lap 51- Lap 96

Stage 2 was relaxed for the most part when it came to the cautions. However, one Championship 4 driver had a problem occur on Lap 57. Custer had reported a potential loose wheel to the No. 00. Trying to stay out in hopes of a caution and not lose track positions, he could not anymore and eventually pitted on Lap 60. After the pit stop, the team quickly diagnosed the issue, which was a right-rear that was loose. Custer rejoined the race, one lap down.

One more driver also faced a tire issue. Jeb Burton had a right rear tire go down as well, but this time, almost spinning out coming to the entry of pit road. Burton saved the car and was able to get down to pit road without bringing out a caution.

Just a few laps before the stage finished, Custer had the lucky dog position and was hoping that the No. 22 of Austin Cindric, who was the race leader at the time, would help Custer out by leaning over to get his lap back. However, an accident broke out between Justin Haley and Harrison Burton off Turn 4. Custer passed Cindric in time before the caution was displayed in order to get his lap back.

Cindric wound up winning the stage, with Bell in second, Allgaier in third, Reddick in fourth and Custer in 16th.

Stage 3: Lap 96- Lap 200

As soon as the final stage began, the caution was flown once again. This time it was a bumper cover off Haley’s car that was on the frontstretch. While the drivers were scrambling not to run over it, the No. 35 of Joey Gase was the unlucky one and hit the debris.

After having a strong car early, Briscoe brought out the caution with 78 to go. The Stewart-Haas driver found himself in the wall with a right front tire down. With the caution, most of the leaders pitted and Bell won the race off pit road.

From that point on, no cautions would be flown but intense battles took place. Three out of the four championship drivers were the top three with 51 to go. Bell was out front, Reddick in second and Custer third. All three drivers were battling hard to win the championship.

When the last round of green-flag pit stops started to take place, Bell missed the entry to pit road with 41 to go. This ultimately cost him a shot to win the championship and a lot of ground on the racetrack. Therefore, the championship was left up to Reddick, Custer and Allgaier, unless a caution late bunched the field up.

Allgaier pitted the same time Bell did, while Reddick and Custer pitted a few laps later. When the two rejoined the racing surface, they found themselves racing with Allgaier. The three of them were not trying to run each other over and were three wide going off the pit stops. Eventually, Reddick and Custer had the best two cars of the night and broke away from Allgaier leaving the two drivers to decide it out on their own.

Working the high line, Reddick made slight contact with the wall while trying to chase Custer with 33 to go. The contact wasn’t hard enough to slow him down but it basically helped Reddick a little bit. The Richard Childress Racing driver still kept close to Custer in regrouping and trying to find more momentum. Reddick found his chance with 18 to go and took the lead. Hoping for no cautions, the Corning, California native held on en route to the ninth victory of his Xfinity Series career and a second Xfinity Series championship.

“It’s about this race team, man, and I was just honored to pilot this Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet,” Reddick said. “I’m losing my breath—I’m that excited. This one means so much more. It was just a lot better year, and it was really cool to go back-to-back.”

Meanwhile, Cole Custer came up short once again despite rebounding from a flat tire early on in the race and a battle with Reddick.

“Yeah, I mean, like I said, I think I said it on TV, Tyler can rip the fence here,” Custer said. “I don’t know, I can match his lap time there, out there at the end, but he was just a tick better where he could be on my bumper when he was behind me and do a slide job, and I could keep up with him and I just ‑‑ there at the end I felt like I needed to find a way to close the gap.”

“I was just like three car lengths back the whole time, so I was like, I need to try and figure out a way to close the gap, and I just got in the fence a little bit. It’s been a great year, so we have a lot to hang our hats on. It sucks running second again, but we can still stay positive about how great of a year we’ve had.”

Reddick led five times for 84 laps before closing the door on the 2019 Xfinity Series season. There were seven cautions for 35 laps and 15 lead changes among six drivers.

Official Results
1. Tyler Reddick, 2019 Xfinity Series Champion, led 84 laps
2. Cole Custer, led 15 laps
3. Chase Briscoe, 2019 Rookie Of The Year, led 14 laps
4. Noah Gragson, led 10 laps
5. Christopher Bell, led 37 laps
6. John Hunter Nemechek
7. Austin Cindric, led 40 laps
8. Brandon Jones
9. Jeb Burton, one lap down
10. Harrison Burton, one lap down
11. Michael Annett, one lap down
12. Ryan Sieg, one lap down
13. Brandon Brown, one lap down
14. Justin Allgaier, one lap down
15. Landon Cassill, one lap down
16. Jeremy Clements, two laps down
17. Gray Gaulding, two laps down
18. Alex Labbe, two laps down
19. Josh Williams, two laps down
20. B.J. McLeod, two laps down
21. Colin Garrett, two laps down
22. Will Rodgers, three laps down
23. David Starr, four laps down
24. Stephen Leicht, five laps down
25. Jairo Avila Jr, five laps down
26. Vinnie Miller, seven laps down
27. Joey Gase, seven laps down
28. Robby Lyons, eight laps down
29. Joe Nemechek, eight laps down
30. Matt Mills, OUT, Clutch
31. C.J. McLaughlin, OUT, Vibration
32. Garrett Smithley, OUT, Oil Line
33. Justin Haley, OUT, Damage Vehicle Policy
34. Timmy Hill, OUT, Brakes
35. Chad Finchum, OUT, Engine
36. J.J. Yeley, OUT, Suspension
37. Tyler Matthews, OUT, Crash
38. Ray Black Jr, OUT, Engine
Up Next: With the 2019 Xfinity Series season officially over, the next on-track activity will be the 2020 opener at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 15.
November 16, 2019
Briscoe locks up 2019 Rookie of The Year

The 2019 Xfinity Series season was a great season to look back on for Chase Briscoe and the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing team, especially after winning Rookie of the Year honors. There were a couple of rocky starts at Daytona and Atlanta, finishing 12th and 15th, respectively. However, from Las Vegas to Dover, the team finished mainly in the top five. There were some issues later such as Charlotte in May when Briscoe finished 19th, one lap down. There were a few more including Chicago in July with a 15th place result and a DNF at Daytona.

But the team got right back on track the following week at Kentucky with a top-five finish. Then at Iowa, Briscoe had a great car and secured his first win of the season, his first since the victory at the Charlotte Roval. With the win, he was able to lock the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing team into the Playoffs.

The team started off the Playoffs at Richmond Raceway with another top-five finish. Then two weeks in a row at the Charlotte Roval and Kansas, Briscoe qualified the No. 98 on the pole. The Playoffs were looking up for the Stewart-Haas driver, however, a wreck at Texas prior to ISM Raceway hurt their chances to advance. Briscoe finished 22nd and was in a must-win situation going into the final race in the Round of 8.

An eighth-place finish wasn’t enough to push the team for the Championship 4 and they were left to battle for a top-10 position. Even though he could not win the championship, Briscoe still had an opportunity to win the race at Homestead and he certainly had the car capable of doing so. He started fifth and won the first stage. The No. 98 team remained consistent for a finishing position of fifth for Stage 2.

Briscoe never fell out of contention in spite of bringing out the caution on Lap 124. He bounced off the wall off Turn 1 and eventually had a flat tire. Even with the incident, new tires helped the team and in the end, he came home with a third place finish after leading 14 laps.

“Yeah, I think if I had to read it on a 1 to 10 scale, I would say it was like a 6 1/2,” Briscoe said. “I felt like at the beginning of the year I kind of struggled to understand what I needed in these race cars, and truthfully how to drive them and the feel I was looking for. I just struggled to find ‑‑ the biggest thing was I couldn’t feel the right rear ever. As the season went on, we kind of switched from trying to say do what Harvick ran the year before and what Cole was running and just try to build more of a setup to what I felt better about.”

“Iowa was really the first race that we decided to do that, and that was the race we won. It seemed like from then on out we were a serious contender every week. Felt like the second half of the year was a lot better than the first half of the year, but we definitely ‑‑ looking back at these playoffs, especially, I felt like we could have realistically won three or four of the races, and weird stuff happens. The Kansas deal, the Roval was one where I felt like I could have ran down Allmendinger. Dover, I think we led the most laps and didn’t catch a caution, and then tonight just getting into the wall.”

“I think the end of the year was definitely better than the first part of the year, but overall we definitely have more to improve on and I can get way better as a driver I feel like.”

While winning Rookie of The Year may help his resume, Briscoe currently has no plans for 2020 and does not know if he will be back with Stewart-Haas Racing next year.

“I know they’re still working on trying to find funding to make it happen, but as of right now I don’t have anything,” Briscoe added.

“Obviously I was wanting to win the race tonight. I feel like if I did that, it would have made everything a lot easier. But I felt like we showed speed and I feel like if we do get to go back next year, I feel like we could be serious championship contenders, and hopefully, they can and we can work together and try to figure something out. But yeah, right now they’re still working on it.”

Briscoe finishes the 2019 season with one win, 13 top fives, 26 top-10s and 197 laps led along with an average finish of 8.2.

November 16, 2019
Bell and Allgaier end up short of championship

After coming up short in last year’s Championship 4 race, Christopher Bell and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team were back for another chance at the Xfinity Series championship. This would be Bell’s last opportunity for the foreseeable future as he goes Cup Series racing next year for Leavine Family Racing. Already being an emotional week for the Oklahoma native, Bell had hopes of bringing home a championship to the No. 20 team.

Bell qualified seventh at Homestead-Miami Speedway and had a great car early on, finishing 12th in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2. He even had the lead multiple times throughout the race and at one point he led 23 laps out front. However, the last time we would see Bell at the front was right before green flag pit stops. A miscommunication call between the driver and spotter had Bell staying out instead of coming in to pit road.

Even with a fast car, Bell was unable to catch the other two championship drivers. There were no late-race cautions and the Oklahoma native had to settle for a disappointing fifth-place finish and third in the championship after a strong season with eight wins.

“Yeah, it was just a miscommunication,” Bell said describing the incident. “I don’t know if my spotter didn’t get told what our cue word was, but I told, got the cue word to pit, and then all of a sudden, I started pitting and he said, not now, not now. But that didn’t matter whenever you get beat by 17 seconds. I’m glad that didn’t have an effect on the outcome of the race.”

Even after the incident, Bell was making up ground but was just too far back in order to make anything happen.

“Well, that second to last run, I don’t know if I just did a better job blocking or what, but we definitely seemed to maintain a little bit better, and then whenever we pitted, I didn’t know ‑‑ you don’t know how many laps that we pitted earlier than the other two guys, but I was pretty happy whenever I drove by them because I think we only had 30‑something laps to go at that point, and my car had been okay for that distance.”

Bell ends his full-time Xfinity Series campaign with 16 wins, 41 top-fives and 46 top-10 finishes along with 12 poles.

Justin Allgaier, on the other hand, had a more disappointing race. The eventful weekend started out with practice when the No. 52 of David Starr came up when he was not clear and made slight contact with Allgaier off Turn 1. Rain showers came and washed out the practices for the rest of the day on Friday. Coming back on Saturday afternoon for qualifying, Allgaier struggled with a 16th place starting effort.

While it wasn’t a pretty Stage 1, Allgaier managed a third place for the second stage. However, after Stage 2, it was like you didn’t see the No. 7 team for the rest of the race. A major moment came late in the final stage, where Allgaier almost spun coming down to pit road. He held onto the car and made it to pit road for adjustments.

Despite those adjustments, the car continued to struggle in the remaining laps. With no late-race cautions, Allgaier finished 14th, one lap down and fourth of the four Championship 4 drivers.

“Yeah, I mean, that was probably the hardest one,” Allgaier said. “Chase sitting here probably got in the wall less than we did, and the caution came out, and it didn’t for us. So I was pretty bummed in that. But on the flip side of it, once this didn’t come out, there was no reason to try to cause a caution. We weren’t fast enough really to be in that position anyway and it ‑‑ at the end of the day, I probably could have done something to benefit ourselves there.”

“The unfortunate part is you’ve got a long way to go to get back to pit road at a slow speed and that ended up putting us two laps down, which we were able to drive our way back to one lap down, but the time that we lost just trying to get back to pit road really, really affected the outcome of where we finished tonight, which didn’t matter, but just for going into the off‑season you’d rather have a better finish than where we finished, 14th, 13th, 15th, something like that. Disappointing.”

Allgaier ends the 2019 Xfinity Series season with one win, 16 top fives and 24 top-10 finishes.

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November 16, 2019
Moffitt’s and Friesen’s bid for a championship comes short

Brett Moffitt was hoping to be the first driver to win a second consecutive Truck Series title and he was certainly capable of doing so. However, he came up short Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Despite winning at Bristol and Canada, the GMS driver was winless throughout the rest of the Playoffs. But his consistency kept him in play and he had a sizable points lead in the rest of the rounds. Moffitt knew it was going to be tough to outlast the other Championship 4 drivers, but if it was going to be anyone, he had one of the best chances with the powerhouse GMS Racing team.

Moffitt started fourth based on owner points but never could get his Truck in a winning position. The No. 24 machine struggled most of the night, finishing fourth in both stages and only being able to lead three laps. The team tried some adjustments throughout the race, even winning the race off pit road after one of the stages to put Moffitt in the lead for one restart.

However, it would be the only time we saw the Grimes, Iowa native out front. In fact, the GMS driver ran as low as 21st at one point. Then, with a late race pit stop, he had one more chance to run for the title. Moffitt fell short though and wound up finishing fifth in the running order and third in the championship.

“We were missing speed overall,” Moffitt explained to MRN Radio. “We struggled all day from the time we unloaded. The Truck got a lot better, everyone worked hard. Jerry (Baxter, Crew Chief) and all my guys made improvements, but we just missed it. It is what it is, we’ll regroup and get better, and we’ll go for it in 2020. Just can’t thank the Maury Gallagher family enough for this opportunity and everyone that helped us out all year. CMR Roofing and all the countless sponsors we had throughout the season. It’s a bummer, we’ll move on and get better as an organization.”

Moffitt finishes the year with four wins, 13 top-fives and 17 top-10 finishes, while also achieving three poles.

Moffitt’s technical teammate and last week’s winner Stewart Friesen also had an opportunity to secure the title. With qualifying rained out, the Canadian inherited the pole based on owner points. This gave Friesen the advantage to be out front at a track where track position means everything.

Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar team had a good run early in Stage 1, running up front with Ross Chastain and finishing third when the stage ended. Though it seemed like his Truck began to go away and it became challenging for Friesen in the rest of the remaining laps. Stage 2 saw him finishing fifth but he had to deal with an ill-handling Truck.

As the handling became an issue, Friesen was unable to get the Truck to his liking. The team continued to struggle to fight for track position with a long green-flag run. Stage 3 went the distance and saw no cautions, which could have helped Halmar Racing find the adjustment they needed. Ultimately, Friesen finished a disappointing 11th, last out of the Championship 4 drivers.

“An uphill battle,” Friesen described to MRN Radio. “Thanks to Halmar and all these guys that worked so hard. Thanks for all the support, got a lot of friends and family here. I appreciate everyone watching at home and those who came down here to support us. We just didn’t have a chance, we struggled. We could hang a little bit on the short end, but not on the long run. It was just a swing and a miss tonight.”

Even winning two races this season was not satisfactory for Friesen at the moment following the final race.

“It’s good to win a couple of races,” he added. “It would have been a lot cooler to have had a chance at it tonight. Like I said, we could hang on the short run, but it would just back up. We’ll hopefully put something together and come back stronger for next time.”

The Canadian finishes 2019 with two wins, 12 top fives and 16 top-10 finishes along with one pole to his name.

November 16, 2019
Austin Hill wins the race, Crafton collects his third championship
After a 90-minute rain delay, the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race got underway shortly after 9:30 p.m. ET. While Austin Hill didn’t qualify on the pole, he most certainly had the fastest truck of the night, winning both stages and ultimately winning the race. Hill took the lead from Matt Crafton with 22 laps to go to secure his fourth win of the season.

“This Truck was on rails all night,” Hill said to MRN Radio. “We started off just a little on the tight side. Scott (Zipadelli, Crew Chief) made some awesome adjustments there and got the Truck a little bit better. That pit stop, I kind of took it a little too easy coming down to pit road, I think that hurt us just a tad coming back out third. I had to work extra hard to get back up there and get the lead. Can’t thank Toyota enough. Chiba Toyopet Toyota Tundra was really good all night long. TRD, United Rentals can’t thank those guys enough.”

“To be able to win this race and lock down the Toyota manufacturer championship means a lot to me. So, I’m glad I could help Toyota out with that.”

Early rain showers pushed the race back for a couple of hours, before finally getting underway shortly after 9:30 p.m. ET. The starting grid was set by owner points with Stewart Friesen on the pole.

Before the race got started, the No. 15 of Anthony Alfredo had an oil leak on his Truck. With that issue, Alfredo was never able to make a lap and was credited with a last-place finish. Stages were broken up in 30/30/74 laps to make up the 134-lap race.

Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 30

Nothing too crazy happened in the first stage to affect the race but there was some great racing action between the Championship 4 drivers. Ross Chastain led the first 28 laps of the first stage before Hill took the lead with just a few laps to go and won the stage. Championship 4 driver Chastain was second, Friesen was third, Brett Moffitt was fourth and Matt Crafton finished sixth in Stage 1.

However, while the Championship 4 drivers finished in the top-10 none of them collected any stage points.

Stage 2: Lap 35- Lap 60

Like Stage 1, the second stage almost went green the whole way. The first real incident of the night came on Lap 50. The No. 49 of Ray Ciccarelli’s Truck had fluid coming out of the back end which prompted officials to throw the yellow flag.

From that point on, the stage remained green and Hill once again picked up the stage win. Crafton was second, Chastain was third, Moffitt was fourth and Friesen finished fifth in Stage 2.

Stage 3: Lap 67- Lap 134

It was crunch time for the Championship 4 drivers as Stage 3 began with 67 laps to go. While Chastain and Friesen certainly had the best Trucks early on in the night, Crafton’s Truck started to come to life near the end.

Pit stops broke out with 38 to go. Both Chastain and Friesen pit. Crafton and Moffitt elected to come down pit road one lap later to stay on the lead cycle. Race leader Hill pitted with 35 to go. After pit stops, Crafton cycled back out into the lead five laps later. However, Hill retook the lead with 22 to go and led the rest of the way, taking the checkered flag to win.

As much as Crafton wanted to win the race and the championship, the bigger picture was to collect his third Truck Series championship in 453 starts. The Tulare, California native is now tied with former series champion Jack Sprague.

“We didn’t win the battle, but we won the war,” Crafton excitedly said. “It was such a sweet deal to put this Ford Menards F-150 into victory lane. I know it’s Fords last time here championship weekend and nothing sweeter than to put the Ford into the championship. Ford and everybody has worked so hard here.”

Knowing Crafton could win the race at one point in the race, he quickly realized it was all about winning the championship.

“That was really hard to do,” he added. “I wanted to race the 16 (Hill) so hard. He definitely was a little faster than us there at the end. I knew what it was about and hoisting this big trophy at the end of the night, that’s what we’re here to do and that’s what we did.”

With Crafton locking up his third Truck Series championship, he becomes one of the few drivers to do so in Truck Series history.

“Oh, it’s awesome. Like I said, one step closer to the great Truck Series guy Ron Hornaday. We can battle with them again next year and maybe we can get number four.”

Quite possibly lost in the shuffle was the Owner Series Championship. Four drivers were also battling for that as well. In the end, however, it was newly announced Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Christian Eckes who helped the team secure its seventh owner’s championship in the team’s existence.

“I struggled for most of the race, honestly,” Eckes said to MRN Radio. “Got a little better out there in front. Rudy (Fugle, Crew Chief) made a great call, able to lead some laps and come home third. It’s awesome to get another championship with these guys. Just ready for 2020.”

Hill led five times for 56 laps en route to the fourth win of his career. There were three cautions for 14 laps and 12 lead changes among six different drivers.

Official Results
1. Austin Hill – led 56 laps, won both stages
2. Matt Crafton – led nine laps, 2019 Truck Series Champion
3. Christian Eckes – led 26 laps, won Owners Championship for KBM
4. Ross Chastain – led 36 laps
5. Brett Moffitt – led three laps
6. Johnny Sauter
7. Grant Enfinger
8. Todd Gilliland
9. Sheldon Creed
10. Parker Kligerman
11. Stewart Friesen
12. Ben Rhodes
13. Harrison Burton
14. Joe Nemechek – one lap down
15. Gus Dean – led four laps, one lap down
16. Tanner Gray – one lap down
17. Jesse Little, one lap down
18. Tyler Dippel – one lap down
19. Austin Wayne Self – one lap down
20. Natalie Decke1r – one lap down
21. Jordan Anderson – two laps down
22. Tyler Ankrum – 2019 Truck Series Rookie of The Year, two laps down
23. Tyler Hill- two laps down
24. Colby Howard – two laps down
25. Danny Bohn – two laps down
26. Codie Rohrbaugh – four laps down
27. Cory Roper – five laps down
28. Jennifer Jo Cobb- six laps down
29. Angela Ruch – seven laps down
30. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Electrical
31. Ray Ciccarelli, OUT, Oil Line
32. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Engine, Did Not Start
Up Next: The 2019 Truck Series season is officially over after race No. 23. The next on-track action will be the 2020 season opener at Daytona on Friday, Feb. 14.
November 15, 2019
Chastain comes up short at Homestead

Coming into the Truck Series championship race, there was no doubt that nearby Fort Lauderdale native, Ross Chastain, had high hopes of winning his first NASCAR Series championship after a long and rocky road to the top.

At the beginning of the 2019 season, the Niece Motorsports driver wasn’t even running for the championship. It was more about helping the team get to a point where they could be in contention to win a championship down the line with the right driver. But they had already found the right driver.

Chastain opened up the season at Daytona with a third-place finish in a beat-up race truck. While many may consider it luck after the whole field had been involved in some sort of incident, he followed it up the next week at Atlanta with a sixth place finish. This consistency was likely going to put Niece Motorsports in a spot to win the Owner’s title this year at Homestead.

Then Kansas happened and Chastain got his first career Truck Series victory, actually, the first win in NASCAR of any kind. As you would expect, the victory was a popular one among the fans. With the victory, Chastain gained more fans and quite possibly more respect within the racing world, giving him even more motivation and fight to rise to the top.

Just a few weeks later, the team decided to run for the Truck Series championship after having early success. Then, an unfortunate circumstance occurred at Iowa. NASCAR has a new post race procedure that stipulates if a driver in any series fails the post-race technical inspection, either their win or finishing position will be stripped from them, ultimately resulting in a last-place finish.

Unfortunately, it happened to Chastain at Iowa where he had the best truck out of anyone, leading 141 out of the 200 laps. In post race inspection, however, his truck was found to be too low. Due to the infraction, the Niece Motorsports team was credited with a last-place finish.

Knowing they did nothing wrong, the team tried to appeal the issue in order to get the win back. Despite their efforts, Chastain and Niece lost the appeal and had to focus their attention on the next race at Gateway. At Gateway, the Florida native once again proved the doubters wrong and earned another popular victory which put him in the running for the championship.

Chastain continued to find success by finishing in the top-10 and winning at Pocono.

Then the Playoffs began at Bristol and Chastain knew he had to have a strong Truck in order to beat the other contenders and fight for the championship. Despite crashing out of the race at Talladega, the Niece driver finished second at Martinsville and ninth at ISM Raceway. The ninth-place finish locked him into the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Qualifying was washed out at Homestead due to rain showers and Chastain started third based on owner points. The team ran solid all night, leading the first 28 laps before being passed by Austin Hill late in the stage. Chastain had to settle for a second place position in Stage 1. In Stage 2, he was strong once again and finished third.

The last round of green flag pit stops began with 38 laps to go. Chastain was the first down pit road to make adjustments to his Truck. But, the Florida native continued to struggle late in the going and ultimately needed a late race caution in order to help his chances.

By night’s end, Chastain did not catch the break he needed and finished fourth in the race and second in the Truck Series championship. It was not enough to secure his first NASCAR title though the effort did not go unseen by his No. 45 Niece Motorsports team.

“Just too lose,” Chastain said to MRN Radio. “It’s crazy. I am not disappointed in second by any means. From where we were a year ago, to when we made the switch and everything we’ve been through, I’m living my dream out here. It sucks right now, but it’ll be okay. The sun will come up tomorrow and we’ll be just fine.”

“So proud of the Niece Motorsports Car Shield and everybody that helps on this deal, Al Niece (Team Owner). We gave it all we had, there’s nothing left, I can tell you that. Thank you to everyone that came out tonight. We did not go unnoticed tonight, they knew we were here and we’ll be back.”

Despite falling short, Chastain never gave up no matter what challenge came his way.

“Just don’t quit,” he added. “This sport, it’s all of our dreams. Everyone is out here working in this industry. Even the people that came out to watch the race tonight, it’s what we worked for to do this. To come up one spot short in the championship is not the end of the world. The sun will come up tomorrow and I’ll still have my faith, family and everyone around me. I’ll just keep going.”

With the focus now switched to the NASCAR Xfinity Series competition full-time for Kaulig Racing, Chastain ends his 2019 efforts with three wins, 10 top-fives, 19 top-10s along with 591 laps led and an average finishing position of 8.6.

November 15, 2019
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Special Preview- Championship 4
After 35 races in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, it is now time for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Not only will it be the last race of the season, but it will also be the last championship race at Homestead for the foreseeable future as the season finale moves to ISM Raceway in 2020.

The playoff grid is now down to four drivers who will have a chance to win the championship. Three of them will have the opportunity to become a multi-champion, while the other seeks his first title. Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick all have the chance to win a second championship title as Denny Hamlin seeks his first championship in a storied career.

While it will be difficult to predict who will win the Championship 4 race due to the new rules package, Speedway Media takes a look in this special preview edition in advance of the championship race at Homestead.
1. Denny Hamlin – It’s been a remarkable year for Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team. Hamlin who is quite possibly having his best year ever seeks his first career NASCAR title. When you look at wins, top fives and top-10’s, it’s the most he’s ever had in his career aside from his eight wins in 2010. This will be the first time since 2014, Hamlin will be competing in the Championship 4 race. During that year, he finished seventh, third out of the Championship 4 drivers. Since then, he hasn’t been back until this year, but has run well at Homestead including a win in 2013. Hamlin has two wins at Homestead (2009 and 2013) with four top-fives and nine top-10 finishes with 254 laps led. Looking at the past four races, however, his finishes haven’t been all that great. Hamlin has earned the pole three times but finished 10th in 2015, ninth in 2016, ninth in 2017 and 12th in last year’s race. Out of those four races, the JGR driver has only been able to lead 41 laps, which occurred in last year’s race. Hamlin certainly has a chance to win but will need to improve those numbers by staying out front and not falling behind. This will be Hamlin’s best opportunity to win his first championship.
2. Kevin Harvick – Harvick is the most experienced driver competing for the championship. This will be the Stewart-Haas Racing driver third time competing in the Championship 4 race. Harvick has competed in 2014, 2015 and previously in 2018. He was the first driver to win in the inaugural Championship 4 race back in 2014. On that day, Harvick had the best car, qualifying fifth, leading 54 laps and winning his first championship after trying to do so for 13 years. In the past few races though, it might what have been the California native. Since 2014, Harvick has finished second in 2015, third in 2016, fourth in 2017 and third in last year’s race, where he also was a Championship 4 driver. The stats speak for themselves accomplishing 10 top fives and 16 top-10 finishes along with 373 laps led, and an average finish of 6.6. Harvick is 43 and with age being a factor nowadays, this might also be his chance to win a second title. There have been some notables that after age 39, performance drops off, but so far, Harvick has proven that wrong.
3. Kyle Busch – The playoffs have not been the best for Busch and the No. 18 team but he has somehow made it to the Championship 4 race. This will be the fifth consecutive time that the Las Vegas native will be competing in the final race of the season for the championship race. Of course, his crowning achievement came in 2015 where Busch missed the first couple of races and went on to win his first-ever championship. On that night, the JGR driver started on the pole and led 41 laps en route to winning the title. From 2016 on, however, it’s what might have been for the Las Vegas native. Busch has had some close moments on winning multiple titles. One, in particular, was in 2016, where he points out as a missed opportunity. You could even recall the year after where Busch finished runner up, where he could have had a third title to his name. However, after all those races, Busch still only has one championship but has a decent chance of adding another to his Hall of Fame career. In the last three races, Busch has finished sixth in 2016, second in 2017 and fourth in 2018. Overall, he has led 343 laps and has a driver rating of 99.8. If Busch can accomplish another title, he will be added to the names of Terry Labonte, Ned Jarrett, Joe Weatherly, Buck Baker, Tim Flock, Herb Thomas, Dale Earnhardt, Tony Stewart among others to do so.
4. Martin Truex Jr. – Like his other comrades, Truex also has the chance of adding a second championship to his name. This is Truex’s fourth time making it to the Championship 4 race, one of which he has won that came two years ago in 2017 and was runner up in last year’s race. The New Jersey native Homestead stats has been iffy at best. Truex has only been able to achieve five top-five finishes at the 1.5-mile speedway in Southern Florida and an average finish of 10.8. By already winning one of these Championship 4 races back in 2017, Truex knows what it will take to win on Sunday and the pressure that comes with it. Since 2014, the New Jersey native has finished 17th in 2014, 12th in 2015, 36th (DNF) in 2016, won in 2017 and runner up in last year’s race. With the inception of stage racing since 2017, Truex has had finishes of fifth and second in 2017, while finishing fifth and fourth in last year’s race. Should the JGR driver win his second championship, he will be the 17th driver to do so in the history of the sport.
If you want to win the championship at Homestead you will most likely have to win the race in order to do so. Since 2015, the race winner has gone on to win the championship. Kyle Busch did so in 2015, Jimmie Johnson in 2016, Martin Truex Jr. in 2017 and Joey Logano in 2018, are examples in the past couple of years. In the first era of the Championship 4 race, Kevin Harvick was the first driver to win in 2014 in the Championship 4 category.

The Championship 4 drivers along with the other drivers will get on-track Friday afternoon for practice sessions. The first practice starts at 3:35 p.m. ET while the final practice is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.ET, both will air live on NBC Sports.

Qualifying is Saturday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. ET to set the field and will also air live on NBC Sports.

Sunday is the big day as Homestead hosts the Championship 4 race. Live coverage begins at 1:30 p.m.ET with NASCAR America, followed by Countdown To Green at 2 p.m. ET with the Ford EcoBoost 400 scheduled to get underway shortly after 3 p.m.ET, live on NBC. Additionally, NBC Sports will carry special live coverage with the annual NASCAR Hotpass at 3 p.m. ET with commentary from NBC analysts along with on-board cameras for the Championship 4 drivers. Fans can also listen to the race via MRN and Sirius XM Channel 90. Stages will be broken into 80/80/107 laps to make up the 267-lap race.
November 15, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Championship 4 Homestead
After waiting all season, it’s now time for the Championship 4 race in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. For the fourth time since 2016, the Truck Series will compete at Homestead-Miami Speedway to decide another champion, the 25th of the series. While the Championship 4 could be debated, it has the best drivers who have been solidly consistent all year round. Having some of the best racers competing for the title should create an exciting race.

Keeping the Championship 4 in mind, here’s a special preview of the final race of the season highlighting the four playoff drivers.
1. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt only has one start which came in the Championship 4 race last year. He started fifth, won Stage 2 and won the race to capture his first-ever Truck Series championship. During the Ford 200, the GMS driver only ran as low as 11th and led 59 laps. Moffitt’s stats show he has been decent at best on 1.5-mile tracks this season. Aside from a 19th place finish at Texas and Charlotte, Moffitt has seen consistent finishes. At Atlanta, he finished fourth, second at Las Vegas, eighth at Kansas, 11th at Texas in June, winning at Chicago and seventh at Vegas in the fall. The Iowa native may very well be headed to his second Truck Series championship.
2. Ross Chastain – Chastain has five starts at the 1.5-mile speedway in Southern Florida, with a best finish of eighth in 2013 driving for Brad Keselowski in the Truck Series. For four years, the Niece Motorsports driver was absent from racing in the Trucks before returning last year, finishing 16th for Niece. And what a difference a year makes. At this time last year, Chastain wasn’t even running for Truck points and was focused on his Xfinity program for JD Motorsports. While his Truck stats may not be much to count on, the Florida native has five starts in the Xfinity Series with a best finish of 16th in last year’s race. What a win it would be if Chastain wheels in the No. 45 Chevy Friday night into victory lane.
3. Matt Crafton – Crafton is the most experienced driver of them all competing for the championship this weekend. He’s entered in every race he’s started since 2001 at Homestead with a win back in 2015 after starting on the pole and leading 93 laps. Since winning the title in 2015, Crafton has competed in the Playoffs two out of three times. However, in those times, the California native finished seventh in 2016 and sixth (last of the Champ 4 contenders in 2017). During those races, he’s only been able to lead 10 laps. Counting 18 starts, Crafton has three top fives and 10 top-10 finishes with 145 laps led and zero DNFs, along with an average finish of 10.8.
4. Stewart Friesen – Friesen, who also will be competing in his first-ever Championship 4 race at Homestead has three starts dating back to his first track start in 2016. The Canadian’s best finish was fourth in last year’s race after finishing seventh and sixth in both stages, respectively. Overall, the Halmar driver has his technical teammate Brett Moffitt to lean on and an average finish of 13.3.
During the last four years of the Championship 4 race, the champion has finished third in 2016, second in 2017 and first in last year’s race by Moffitt.

Homestead has seen 23 races since its first year back in 1996 and has a long list of winners. Dave Rezendes was the first winner in ‘96, followed by Kenny Irwin Jr., Rick Crawford, Mike Wallace, Andy Houston, Ted Musgrave, Ron Hornaday, Bobby Hamilton, Kasey Kahne, Todd Bodine, Mark Martin, Johnny Benson Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Johnny Sauter, Cale Gale, Bubba Wallace, Matt Crafton, William Byron, Chase Briscoe and Brett Moffitt.

The highest a race winner has ever come from was the pole, four times – Hamilton in 2003, Crafton in 2015, Byron in 2016 and Briscoe in 2017.

On the manufacturer side of things, Toyota has nine wins, Ford and Chevy have five each while Dodge only scored one.

Six times the race was extended to overtime in 1999, 2007-2009, 2012 and the last time an overtime finish occurred was in 2013.

Kyle Busch Motorsports has the most wins in regards to teams. KBM has four (2010, 2013, 2014 and 2016), defunct team Ultra Motorsports (1999, 2001 and 2004), Germain Racing with two (2005 and 2008), while ThorSport also has two (2011, 2015).
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To up the ante, Gander Outdoors has offered an additional $100,000 to this year’s champion.

It will be a one day show for the Truck Series on Friday. First practice is at 9:05 a.m. ET and final practice is scheduled for 10:35 a.m. ET with no live TV coverage. Qualifying can be seen later in the afternoon at 4:35 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1.

The Ford Ecoboost 200 gets underway shortly after 8 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages are 40/40/54 laps to make up the 134-lap race.
November 14, 2019
Championship Analysis: Stewart Friesen

In our final piece of the four-part series analyzing the drivers competing in the Championship, Speedway Media takes a look at Stewart Friesen’s chances of winning his first-ever NASCAR Series championship. The Canadian native Truck Series driver’s career has really taken off after going full-time in 2018. Friesen has raced with Halmar Racing since their beginnings at Eldora in 2016 in what was then, supposed to be for fun. From that point on, the team has grown to become title contenders and find themselves in a prime position.

Stewart Friesen – Friesen could be considered an underdog heading into the championship race at Homestead. Like Chastain, the Canadian will also be challenging for his first-ever Truck Series title.

How He Got Here: You could very well say Friesen has started the hard way and earned his way up since 2016. In what started out as doing this for fun, things got serious in 2017 when he competed on a part-time basis but it wasn’t all that easy. The Halmar team raced in the first seven races, but challenges arose for the team. The team withdrew from the next two races at Gateway and Iowa, before racing off and on for the rest of the season. From 2018 on, Friesen and Halmar became connected with GMS for a technical alliance, which would also help his playoff chances. Many have come to know, it’s either been win or crash for the Canadian in 2019 and began to wonder if he would ever get his first win. Finally back in August, Friesen got that win crossed off by winning in his dirt backyard at the famed Eldora Speedway. Then came the playoff race at Bristol, where he finished fourth. The Halmar driver pointed his way through the next few rounds, keeping his championship chances alive. By being consistent, Friesen had built up a sizeable points lead to where no matter what happened, he would be locked in. But the Canadian was hungry to win another one. So he did and with that, clinched a spot in the Championship 4 for the first time in his career.

Championship Chances: Friesen has competed at Homestead for the past four years and secured a best finish of fourth in last year’s race. But, he’ll have to eliminate the problems that have plagued him from the start of his career. Statistically, this has been Friesen’s best career year to date, earning two wins, 12 top fives and 16 top-10 finishes with one pole.

Final Analysis: Friesen will have the whole dirt world on his shoulders watching Friday night’s race at Homestead. When not racing Trucks, the Halmar driver can be found racing dirt cars almost every night of the week, even on an off-weekend. This may be his best shot at winning the title currently, as he has said that he doesn’t have any plans yet for next year. Winning a title could help those chances, but will it provide a distraction during the race? Only time will tell.

November 14, 2019