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  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race at ISM

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race at ISM

    The Truck Series visited ISM Raceway for the final race in the Round of 6 this past Friday night, prior to the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The playoff drivers that were already in a Championship 4 spot, had to do what they needed to do in order to move on to Homestead.

    The battle was really for the fourth and final spot between Austin Hill, Matt Crafton and Tyler Ankrum. Rookie Tyler Ankrum was in a must-win situation going in. It wasn’t impossible, but Ankrum fell short with a disappointing 26th place finish. With Ankrum out of the picture, the battle came down to Crafton and Hill. 

    Hill was above the cut line heading into Phoenix and Crafton was below. While both drivers weren’t in a must-win situation, they were in a must-do well situation. In the end, Crafton got the job done with a sixth-place finish, while Hill will have to wait another year to fight for the championship, as he wound up 13th after starting on the pole. 


    With the Championship 4 spots set, a few other notable comments and instances may have been overshadowed in the Lucas Oil 150 Friday night. 

    Here are this week’s four takeaways from Round 21 in the Truck Series race at ISM Raceway. 

    1. Friesen rebounds to win, 2020 not set – After an early penalty, Friesen came back to win and made a statement in Friday night’s race. He didn’t take the lead until Lap 107 but the Canadian proved that he belongs in the Championship 4 race at Homestead by winning. Many have probably thought Friesen had a lot to prove, considering he had not won yet on asphalt aside from his dirt win at Eldora this past summer. With the win, Friesen proved his doubters wrong and now he vies to fight for the title with a team that has pretty much started from the ground up. As Friesen focuses on the Truck Series championship, it was also noted that he does not have anything for the 2020 season right now. Though, winning the championship this weekend could certainly help those causes in a return at Halmar Racing next season.
    2. ThorSport Has Strong Night at ISM – Despite a frustrating playoff run that came to an early end for Johnny Sauter and Grant Enfinger, all four drivers had decent runs when the checkered flag flew. Ben Rhodes won the first stage and led 47 laps en route to a fourth-place finish, his seventh top five of the year. Enfinger qualified eighth and finished fifth with a finish of eighth in Stage 1. Crafton locked himself into the championship race with a sixth-place finish after having stages finishes of third and second, respectively. Sauter rounded out the ThorSport quartet with an eighth-place finish after finishing 10th in both stages.
    3. Ty Majeski Returns To NASCAR – Majeski returned to the NASCAR circuit Friday night in Phoenix for the first time since 2018, when he last competed in the Xfinity Series. The last time the Wisconsin native competed in NASCAR was Phoenix of last year for the now-defunct Roush Fenway Racing Xfinity team, where Majeski started 39th and finished 18th. This time around, Majeski returned to the Niece Motorsports team, piloting the No. 44 Chevy. He started fifth and finished 11th, not bad in his NASCAR return with a field stacked with talent.
    4. Championship 4 Set – It’s hard to believe that we are now one race away from closing the 2019 Truck Series season. It feels like yesterday when we were all in Daytona for the season opener, trying to figure out who would win this season and who would be fighting for the championship come season end. Now the time has come to settle it among the top four drivers who are going to be competing for the Truck Series championship Friday night. Brett Moffitt challenges for his second title in a row, while fan-favorite Ross Chastain competes for his Truck title. Matt Crafton returns for the third time in the playoff format since 2016 in hopes of a third Truck title. Should Crafton win, he would be the only driver winning his third championship but will join the likes of Ron Hornaday to have more than two. Finally, the most likely underdog coming into this race is Stewart Friesen. Friesen has been quietly consistent this season, earning 12 top fives and 16 top-10 finishes with an average finish of 8.4. It certainly would be quite the story if Friesen could pull off the victory Friday night.
  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished sixth at Phoenix and will be joined by Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin in the final four.

    “Toyota is well-represented in the finale,” Truex said. “And Kevin Harvick is the lone Ford driver. So, JGR is trying to keep this title ‘in-house;’ Harvick’s trying to keep it ‘in-country.’”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won at Phoenix to claim a spot in the championship finale at Homestead. He joins Kevin Harvick and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch.

    “I had to sweat out a late restart before I could breathe easy,” Hamlin said. “After I pulled ahead, I could ‘FedEx-hale.’”

    3. Kyle Busch: Busch started on the pole at Phoenix and finished second to secure his spot in the finale at Homestead.

    “It’s going to be wild at Homestead,” Busch said. “I think you have the four best drivers battling for the championship. So, there are three drivers standing in my way and 35 other drivers standing in our way.”

    4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished fifth at Phoenix and will be the lone Ford driver in the championship field.

    “And then there was ‘4,’” Harvick said, “or, ‘And then there were four.’”

    5. Joey Logano: Logano finished ninth at Phoenix and failed to make the championship field.

    “I won’t be able to defend my Cup championship,” Logano said. “So, I’ve gone from ‘Sliced Bread’ to ‘Toast.’”

    6. Ryan Blaney: Needing a win to advance, Blaney finished third at Phoenix.

    “I came up just a bit short,” Blaney said. “Which is also something people said when I cut my hair.”

    7. Kyle Larson: Larson finished fourth in the Bluegreen 500 at Phoenix and failed to make the field of four for Homestead.

    “It sucks racing in the finale with no chance to become champion,” Larson said. “So, forget Homestead; I’d rather be ‘home instead.’”

    8. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished eighth at Phoenix, recording his 17th top 10 of the year.

    “I’m pulling for my Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick,” Bowyer said. “And I’ll do absolutely anything to help him win, except spin intentionally. I have to draw the line somewhere and that line separates me from Bubba Wallace.”

    9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski took 10th in the Bluegreen Vacations 500, posting his 19th top 10 of the year.

    “Penske Racing won’t be bringing home a Cup championship this year,” Keselowski said. “The only ‘moving’ we’ll be doing is moving out of the way of the championship contenders.”

    10. Chase Elliott: Needing a win to advance, Elliott crashed in the final stage and finished 39th.

    “My last three races were downright abysmal,” Elliott said. “If my No. 9 car would have gone half as fast as the speed with which I dropped out of contention, I would be in Homestead with a chance at the Cup.”

  • Hamlin finds redemption to win at Phoenix in bid for Championship

    Hamlin finds redemption to win at Phoenix in bid for Championship

    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Denny Hamlin finds redemption from last week’s mistake to secure his spot into the Championship 4 by winning the Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway.

    “I can’t believe it,” Hamlin said post-race.

    Hamlin was below the cutoff race and lost 44 points in a single race. Today’s win negates that mistake as the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota will go for his first career NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series championship.

    “This race team worked so hard this whole year. They deserve to be there. I put them in a bad hole last week. I told them today in the meeting, I said, I’m going to give everything I’ve got to make up for the mistake I made last week. That’s all I got.”

    Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. will join Hamlin and go for their second championship. If one of them wins next weekend, they will become the second active driver in the field with multiple championships (Jimmie Johnson holds seven titles).

    “Guys did a great job, this M&M Camry was good,” Busch shared. “Thanks to everybody at JGR, Stanley, Toyota, TRD. It’s cool to have a chance to go race for a championship.”

    Truex was the first driver to lock in after winning at Martinsville.

    “I know we’re ready for Homestead,” stated a confident Truex. “To put three (JGR) cars in the Championship 4 is pretty incredible, so thanks to TRD and Toyota and all those guys. Bass Pro, Auto-Owners, everybody that helps us on the 19, and we’ll see what we can do next week.”

    Harvick will be the second seed with his 49th career victory last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

    “The one thing about this particular year, it seems like you’ve had great weeks, you’ve had mediocre weeks so that momentum thing is kind of hit-or-miss as you go through it,” Harvick explained the various parts of his season as being a momentum factor. “Just really proud of everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford.”

    Joey Logano pit stop ISM Raceway 2019
    Joey Logano comes to pit road for full service, four tires and fuel. The adjustments the crew made would hurt the car instead of help, as the No. 22 team fell one lap down. Photo courtesy of Rachel Schuoler with Speedway Media.

    Stage 2 winner and Playoff contender Joey Logano was competing up front in the first half of the race. After the conclusion of Stage 2, Logano’s crew made an adjustment on the car that appeared to not agree with the track conditions. When the field returned to green flag racing, Logano dropped through the field and even fell a lap down. He could never recover, finished ninth, and was the first driver eliminated from the Playoffs after being above the cutoff line to start the day.

    “I went from a car that could lead and win a stage and run really well, and from what they told me, it was an air pressure adjustment made it go from a winning car to can’t stay on the lead lap, and one of the tightest things I’ve ever driven. I don’t really understand it. It doesn’t make any sense. You change tires and change a half pint of air, that sounds ridiculous. It is what it is. Just wasn’t our year to make it, I guess. But we’ll fight for fifth, I guess, in points for this year, and we’ll move on.”

    “It stinks. It hurts a little bit, but we’ll live,” Logano said. “Everything is going to be OK. Life is a lot worse in other ways for some. We’re still fortunate to be here and get to do what we love. It’s a bummer for sure. It doesn’t take anything away from that, but it’s just part of the game sometimes.”

    Three other drivers in must-win situations were also eliminated from the Playoffs: Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott. For Elliott, he battled for the lead throughout the first half of the race, but a blown tire in Turn 1 caused race-ending damage on his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet.

    “Yeah, it’s just a continuation of our first two weeks, unfortunately, ” Elliott said. “I feel like we were in a good position to run solid. I’m not sure why we had a tire go down. I think that’s what happened, at least; it seemed like it. It’s unfortunate. Like I said, these last three weeks have been pretty rough. So, hopefully, Homestead goes better and we can get prepared good for next season and get a good notebook for next year.”

    “All in all, a great season for our team,” Larson shared after the race. “A little rocky at the start, but we kept our heads down and kept working hard and got our stuff a lot better and more consistent throughout this season. We’ll try to go to Homestead next week and get a win.”

    Busch, Blaney, Larson, Harvick and Truex finished in the top six respectively. Erik Jones was the highest non-Playoff driver who finished in seventh. Clint Bowyer, Logano and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10 positions. Elliott, the final Playoff driver, finished 39th after crashing out on Lap 166.

    The champion for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be crowned next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

  • Allgaier fights for first win of 2019 in Round of 8 cutoff race

    Allgaier fights for first win of 2019 in Round of 8 cutoff race

    AVONDALE, Ariz. — When the Playoffs were on the line, Justin Allgaier rose to the occasion by winning the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino 200 as the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 has officially been declared.

    “We had a hot rod today,” Allgaier declared.

    After winning five races in 2018, Allgaier looks for redemption at Homestead-Miami Speedway this year by winning his first race of the season. It also came at the right time since the JR Motorsports driver was among the cutoff line throughout the race.

    “I don’t think we could have beaten the 20 (Bell),” said Allgaier. “But when he made his mistake, we capitalized on it. That’s what it’s all about. No question (not winning) is a weight on your shoulders, man. You can’t even begin to describe it.”

    Christopher Bell won last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway to secure his spot for the championship race. Bell led every green-flag lap in both opening stages, but a speeding penalty on pit road forced him to drop to the rear of the field on the restart of the final stage. Another caution, later on, forced him to pit again. The No. 20 car went one lap down and wasn’t able to recover.

    “I feel like I gave up a winner,” said Bell. “It all comes down to this one next week. I’m ready for it. I feel really good about where we’re at, and our car is going to be extremely strong next week.

    “We’ve prepared a ton for this. Ever since we left Homestead last year, we knew that this race was where we needed to improve. Pretty much all year long, we’ve been focused on Homestead.”

    Since Brandon Jones won at Martinsville, no other driver was completely locked in yet. In a combination of stage points and other competitors falling out of the race, Cole Custer had a large enough gap in the points standings to mathematically lock himself into Homestead.

    “I never got the memo,” Custer laughed when asked if he was told about the championship status update after Stage 2. “I was giving it all I had. I was really struggling with the brake pedal. I kind of lost it at the start of the run. I had to save the whole run until like 15 laps to go, and then I just let it happen. I just came up a little bit short, but I think that was the best run we’ve had at Phoenix in a long time.”

    “I’m looking forward to Homestead, and hopefully we can do one spot better.”

    The regular-season champion, Tyler Reddick, will now go for a second consecutive championship in the Xfinity series. Last year, he won with JR Motorsports. This year, he’ll look to bring a title to Richard Childress Racing.

    Chase Briscoe, Michael Annett, Austin Cindric, and Noah Gragson were the four drivers eliminated after Phoenix.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will crown their champion next Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

  • Kyle Busch earns first 2019 pole at ISM

    Kyle Busch earns first 2019 pole at ISM

    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Saturday’s qualifying session proved why the eight remaining Playoff drivers are fighting for the last remaining transfer positions for next weekend’s championship race. Kyle Busch earned his first Busch Pole Award of the season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at ISM Raceway.

    He set a pole-running pace on his first lap, then ran even faster on his second lap around the one-mile circuit at 140.116 mph (25.693 seconds). He edged fellow Playoff driver and defending Cup champion Joey Logano (139.752 mph) by .067 seconds, as only two points separate the two drivers that currently hold the last two transfer positions.

    “I think this is actually the first race all year we made a mock (qualifying) run in practice,” said Busch. “Maybe there’s something to that. The guys did a great job. We fight hard every week trying to figure out what we need to do to continue to improve and get better, and a lot of others guys have certainly done that over the year.”

    Denny Hamlin, the first driver below the cutoff line in the championship, qualified third ahead of Martin Truex Jr., the first driver to lock himself into the Championship 4 after winning at Martinsville Speedway. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will make up the third row of Sunday’s starting grid.

    Last week’s winner, Kevin Harvick, will start seventh. The first non-Playoff driver was Kurt Busch who will start alongside Harvick. Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney round out the top 10, as all Playoff drivers will start in the top 10.

    With points being tight and a big potential shuffle if a driver below the cutoff line wins, Busch understands the importance of getting the pole and starting strong with valuable track position.

    “Hopefully today bodes well for tomorrow,” he said. “Overall, proud to start out front in this very important race and very important with track position and such.”

    Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 will be the penultimate race of the 2019 season. Four drivers will be eliminated as the others will head to Miami to race for the Cup championship. Coverage for tomorrow’s race will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Friesen wins at ISM, Truck Series Championship 4 set

    Friesen wins at ISM, Truck Series Championship 4 set

    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Stewart Friesen wins at ISM Raceway in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series in Friday’s Lucas Oil 150, as the Championship 4 are now officially set for next weekend’s title-deciding race.

    “We’ve got a badass piece for next week, too,” stated a confident Friesen, as he locked himself into next Friday’s championship race.

    After facing an opening-lap penalty for beating polesitter Austin Hill to the line on the initial start, Friesen battled his way back to the front, leading 44 laps in the 150 lap event.

    “It was a great race car,” said Friesen, who was sent to the rear of the field after getting to the stripe ahead of Hill, who spun his tires on the initial start. “We were able to pass ‘em all, pass ‘em all clean.

    “Great race car, great race team. We’ll all celebrate tomorrow, and then it’s game on.”

    The other three drivers to join him will be Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton and last year’s champion, Brett Moffitt.

    “My main concern for the day was getting us locked into the owner points as well,” Moffitt said. “We got both jobs done today.”

    Chastain declared points for the Truck series partway through the season, and now finds his team as one of the four who will race for the 2019 title.

    “Man, this is crazy — a dream come true though,” Chastain said.

    Crafton was below the cutoff line, but was strong all day and earned many points from Stage 1 and 2 to earn his way into Miami.

    “I didn’t have anything to lose and everything to gain,” Crafton said. “And that’s the way I drove it from the green flag to the checkered flag.”

    Brandon Jones was the highest finishing non-Playoff driver in the runner-up position. With roughly 30 laps remaining, he radioed to his crew to ask about Friesen’s point status. When his crew chief responded that Friesen was essentially locked in, the No. 19 driver drove more aggressively after the leader. He, however, fell short when they battled through lapped traffic.

    At the end of the night, two drivers were eliminated: Hill and Tyler Ankrum. Ankrum missed the first three races of the year but was able to make it as far as the Round of 6 before missing the final round. Even he didn’t realize he would make it this far but looked back on the year with much to learn. As he reflected on his year, he felt some races were missed opportunities but was still proud of what he was able to accomplish as one of the bigger underdogs of the field.

    “For me, I think there’s one or two races we should have won, but didn’t win,” Ankrum stated when reviewing his first full-time season as a whole. “I think Pocono is one of those. I think I could have done a lot better at Canada finishing wise. Bristol could have been a lot better with electrical issues there and then Las Vegas, burning up two pistons. Stuff like that I look back on and those things are out of my control, and I think we could have had a really good race, then we didn’t.

    “In most people’s eyes, we’ve overachieved or exceeded our expectations, which I’m really proud of. For me, personally, I’m really proud of what we’ve done here this year. Not just based off of what we’ve done on the racetrack, but also between what we’ve done as a team working really well together and become a family.”

    As for Hill, he knew he needed to stay ahead of Ankrum and Crafton. He started strong by earning the pole in qualifying earlier in the day and was able to outrun Ankrum during the race, who finished six laps down. But Crafton beat Ankrum overall both in finishing position and with points collected with 15 more points. That gave Crafton the edge over Hill by just a handful of points to push Hill below the cutoff line.

    “We were getting eaten up on the restarts, and were put in the middle 3-wide sometimes,” Hill shared after the race. “When we had a really long run, we were okay. That last run, we tried to loosen it up but it was the tightest we ever were. We just didn’t perform; we didn’t execute like we were supposed to. We had high hopes after qualifying on the pole, and we just fell back like an anchor.”

    The last race of the season will be held next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

  • Weekend Schedule for ISM Raceway

    Weekend Schedule for ISM Raceway

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the Xfinity Series and the Gander Outdoors Truck Series will compete this weekend at ISM Raceway for the final races of the regular season. Kyle Busch (Cup), Christopher Bell (Xfinity) and Brett Moffitt (Truck) are the defending race winners.

    Next week the top four in each division will battle for the championship at  Homestead-Miami Speedway as NASCAR closes out the 2019 season.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, Nov. 8

    10:05 a.m. – 10:55 a.m.: Truck Series First Practice (No TV)

    11:35 a.m. – 12:25 p.m.: Truck Series Final Practice (No TV)

    3:05 p.m. – 3:55 p.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice (NBC Sports App)

    4:05 p.m. – 4:55 p.m.: Cup Series First Practice (NBC Sports App/MRN/NBCSN joins in-progress at 4:30)

    5:05 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions (FS1)

    6:05 p.m. – 6:55 p.m.: Final Xfinity Series Practice (NBCSN/NBC Sports App)

    7 p.m. – 7:50 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice (NBCSN/NBC Sports App/MRN)

    8:30 p.m.: Truck Series Lucas Oil 150 – (Stages 45/90/150 Laps = 150 Miles) (FS1/MRN/ SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

    Saturday, Nov. 9

    12:35 p.m. – Xfinity Series Qualifying – Impound (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions) (NBCSN/NBC Sports App)

    2 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – Impound (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions) (NBCSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

    3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 – (Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 200 Miles) (NBC/NBC Sports App/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

    Sunday, Nov. 10

    2:30 p.m.: Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations 500 (Stages 75/150/312 Laps = 312 Miles) (NBC/NBC Sports App/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

    Playoff standings prior to ISM Raceway

    Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series:

    1. Martin Truex Jr. – 4133 points

    2. Kevin Harvick – 4113 points

    3. Kyle Busch – 4113 points

    4. Joey Logano – 4111 points

    5. Denny Hamlin – 4091 points

    6. Ryan Blaney – 4088 points

    7. Kyle Larson – 4088 points

    8. Chase Elliott – 4033 points

    NASCAR Xfinity Series:

    1. Christopher Bell – 3166 points

    2. Cole Custer – 3135 points

    3. Tyler Reddick – 3119 points

    4. Justin Allgaier – 3101 points

    5. Chase Briscoe – 3083 points

    6.Michael Annett – 3073 points

    7. Austin Cindric – 3070 points

    8. Noah Gragson – 3054 points

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series:

    1.Brett Moffitt – 3107

    2. Stewart Friesen – 3097

    3. Ross Chastain – 3082

    4. Austin Hill – 3071

    5. Matt Crafton – 3062

    6. Tyler Ankrum – 3056

    7. Johnny Sauter – 2172

    8. Grant Enfinger – 2164

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

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-ISM Raceway

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-ISM Raceway

    After 21 races and six races in the Playoffs, it is time for the regular-season finale at ISM Raceway. With just one round to go for the Truck Series, six drivers still have a shot to punch their ticket to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway next Friday night. However, only one driver gets to win the race, while others will have to settle for pointing their way in with a lot of help.

    Bur first let’s take a look at the action when the Truck Series last raced a couple of weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway. In the end, Todd Gilliland broke through for his first-ever Truck Series career win. With Gilliland scoring his first win, several playoff drivers had their own troubles in the Hall of Fame 200.

    Current playoff series points leader Brett Moffitt had issues of his own. On Lap 124, Moffitt was involved in a big accident on the backstretch. As a result, the GMS Racing driver had to settle for a 29th place finish after leading 80 laps and winning Stage 1. Austin Hill was also involved in this wreck and finished 26th. The big incident also collected rookie playoff driver Tyler Ankrum, which gave the DGR-Crosley driver a 25th place finish. Finally, Matt Crafton had some electrical issues which prevented him from having a strong run and he had a disappointing 23rd place finish.

    Only two playoff drivers, Ross Chastain and Stewart Friesen, were able to survive the carnage. Chastain was the highest playoff driver, finishing in the runner-up spot with 68 laps led. On the other hand, Friesen wound up with a sixth-place finish after a quiet day.

    Moving forward, all four spots are still up for grabs heading into IMS Raceway. This means nothing is set in stone, though, should a driver win a stage, it could be beneficial in clinching a spot throughout the race. While nothing is guaranteed, the current top four need to bring their A-game if they want to be the ones heading to Homestead next week racing for the championship.

    With that in mind, let’s take a look at who just might pull off the victory in Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150.

    There are 34 Trucks on the preliminary entry list for Friday night’s race, meaning two will go home after qualifying is settled.

    1. Johnny Sauter – With two races to go in the 2019 Truck Series season, ThorSport driver Johnny Sauter would like to end it on a high note and Phoenix just might help him do that. The Wisconsin native has competed in every race since his first track start back in 2009. Since then, he’s collected one win (2017), five top-fives and eight top-10 finishes with 16 laps led and one pole. Barring a crash in 2015, Sauter has an average finish of 8.9. The 2019 season hasn’t been the best for Sauter, only collecting four top-fives and nine top-10 finishes compared to a year ago where he had six wins, 14 top-fives and 17 top-10 finishes. By having a good track record at Phoenix, Sauter could very well pull off the victory Friday night.

    2. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt only has one start at Phoenix, which dates back to last year. However, it was the most important start to his career as he wound up winning the race and punched the ticket to the Championship 4. Moffitt led 19 laps en route to victory and won the first stage. While one start at a track with a victory might not mean much, the Grimes, Iowa native could not have been racing this year if it wasn’t due to this victory. He still doesn’t have a spot yet in the Championship 4, but Moffitt is the current points leader over his technical teammate Stewart Friesen by 10 points.

    3. John Hunter Nemechek – Speaking of weird circumstances, it’s been a questionable season for Nemechek who entered back into the Truck Series at Bristol in August. It hasn’t been the best of starts with three of the four starts listed as DNFs. One of those DNFs came at Vegas, where the NEMCO driver didn’t get to start the race and was credited with a last-place finish. Though, with his recent start at Martinsville a few weeks ago, Nemechek broke through with a seventh-place finish. Looking at Phoenix, he has six starts and has competed in every race since 2013, earning a best finish of second twice (2015, 2017). Overall, Nemechek has scored two top-fives and four top-10 finishes with 31 laps led. If anything, Friday night might be a proving ground with the possibility of getting another Truck Series victory, since Martinsville of last year.

    4. Harrison Burton – Like his teammate Gilliland, Burton might continue the winning streak and get his first victory for Kyle Busch Motorsports in Friday night’s race. In just one start, the 19-year-old started third and finished third after leading 46 laps. Burton also gained top-10 finishes in both the stages, winning Stage 1 and finishing eighth in Stage 2. By announcing an Xfinity Series ride with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2020 a couple of weeks ago, Burton would like nothing better than to collect his first win with Kyle Busch Motorsports.

    5. Stewart Friesen – Phoenix might provide a victory opportunity for playoff driver Stewart Friesen who currently sits second just 10 points behind his technical teammate Moffitt. In three starts, the Canadian has one top-five and top-10 finish at ISM, earning a best finish of fifth in last year’s race. On top of those finishes, Friesen has an average finish of 9.7.

    Playoff drivers

    Ross Chastain – Chastain has two starts at Phoenix, but the last one came six years ago for the defunct Brad Keselowski Racing team. In that race, the now Niece Motorsports driver started on the pole, led 63 laps and finished second. Chastain’s other finish was a DNF in 2012, finishing 33rd. The Florida native will have to use all the practice time he will get Friday morning in preparation for Friday night’s race.

    Austin Hill – Hill has two starts here at ISM, with a best finish of 23rd two years ago, though that was with his former team Young’s Motorsports. Even with the 23rd place finish, Hill has two DNFs in two of his starts. If this happens again, the Hattori Racing driver would be missing the Championship 4.

    Matt Crafton – Crafton currently is below the cut line as far as points go. However, his Phoenix starts have been up and down and are somewhat mind-boggling. The California native has no wins and a finish of second just once that occurred in 2014. Since then, it’s been crash or finish in the top-10. In 2015, he had a DNF, finishing 23rd, third in 2016, a DNF again in 2017, finishing 21st and he finished 11th in last year’s race. If Crafton wants to compete for another championship, he will have to eliminate mistakes and avoid any catastrophic failures.

    Tyler Ankrum – Ankrum has just one start which came in 2018. The DGR-Crosley driver finished sixth after starting 15th. If everything goes to plan, Ankrum just might be the one that surprises us all by heading to the Championship 4 as a rookie.

    Other drivers entered in the field include Dylan Lupton in the No. 5 DGR-Crosley Toyota, Tanner Gray in the No. 7 for DGR-Crosley, Anthony Alfredo in the No. 15 for DGR-Crosley, Derek Kraus in the No. 19 for Bill McAnally, Colby Howard making his Truck Series debut for the No. 20 of Young’s Motorsports, Danny Bohn continues his ride with the No. 30 of On Point Motorsports, Carson Ware attempts to make his Truck debut for Reaume Brothers Racing, while Kyle Plott also hopes to do the same with the same entry in the No. 34.

    Ty Majeski is back in the field, competing with Niece Motorsports in the No. 44. Rookie sensation Chandler Smith is back in the field for Kyle Busch Motorsports for the first time since Bristol in August. Kansas Xfinity Series winner, Brandon Jones, is slated to make his last Truck Series start of the season driving the No. 51 KBM entry. Portage, Michigan native Carson Hocevar hopes to make his second Truck start for the No. 56 of Hill Motorsports. Rounding out the entry list is the return of Jesse Little and the No. 97 team owned Ford. Little attempts his first start since Bristol in August.

    ISM Raceway has hosted 28 Truck Series races since its first race back in 1995. The list of winners is stacked with names like Mike Skinner, Jack Sprague, Joe Ruttman, Ron Hornaday Jr., Mike Bliss, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, David Starr, Todd Bodine, Johnny Benson Jr., Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Brian Scott, Erik Jones, Timothy Peters, Daniel Suarez, Johnny Sauter and Brett Moffitt.

    On the manufacturer’s side, Chevrolet has the most career victories with 15, Toyota with nine wins, Ford with three wins and Dodge has one win.

    For stage wins, Christopher Bell swept the stages in 2017 before heading to Homestead the week after and winning his first NASCAR championship. In 2018, it was Moffit and Harrison Burton who collected the stage wins.

    The Truck Series drivers get on-track early Friday morning with first practice slated for 8:05 a.m Pacific time. The final practice is set for 9:35 a.m. Pacific time with no live TV coverage. Fox Sports 1 picks up qualifying Friday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. ET/3:05 p.m. Pacific time.

    The Lucas Oil 150 is scheduled to get underway shortly after 8:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. Pacific time live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages are 40/40/70 to make up the 150 lap race.

    Playoff standings

    1. Brett Moffitt
    2. Stewart Friesen, -10
    3. Ross Chastain, -25
    4. Austin Hill, -36
      Below the cut line
    5. Matt Crafton, -45
    6. Tyler Ankrum, -51
  • The White Zone: Thoughts on 2020 schedule

    The White Zone: Thoughts on 2020 schedule

    On Tuesday, NASCAR announced the 2020 schedule for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. It’s the biggest schedule realignment in over a decade. After sleeping on it overnight, I have some thoughts on the matter.

    Championship race moves to Phoenix

    I’ve heard people call for the championship race to rotate among different venues for years, but to ISM (Phoenix) Raceway?

    Were people really clamoring for this? Was there really a major push from fans to move the championship race to Phoenix? I don’t know. I’ve heard more people argue that it should go to Talladega Superspeedway.

    Furthermore, why move it from Homestead-Miami Speedway? It’s the best mile and a half track on the schedule and does an awesome job as the host of the championship race.

    NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said as much during the NASCAR teleconference on Tuesday.

    He did, however, note that running the same tracks year after year might favor some drivers more than others. Which doesn’t make sense, when you compare the number of lead changes at Phoenix (in the fall) and Homestead.

    It’s also worth noting that Homestead has produced different winners since 2010. At Phoenix, Kyle Busch rides a two-race win streak.

    This isn’t a knock against Phoenix. I’ve never worked a race there, but I’m told by colleagues of mine that it’s a Grade-A sports facility, thanks to the recent 175-million dollar renovation.

    But the racing at Phoenix tends to be hit and miss, and the recent race a few weeks back doesn’t inspire optimism.

    If this is just a one year thing, and the title race rotates among venues every year, I can live with this. Although O’Donnell gave a conflicting answer to that.

    “Yeah, I think our hope would be to stay there for a little while,” he said. “I can’t say how long. I think with any venue, you want to see it have a chance and grow a little bit, see how that works. We’ll certainly take a look at it as we look at 2021 and beyond, see what’s on the table in terms of venues.

    “But this wasn’t a decision we said, ‘Hey, let’s go there for a year and rotate it.’ Our intent is to stay for a few years and see how we net out.”

    Bristol moving into the playoffs

    In terms of NASCAR, this isn’t really an Earth-shattering move. In terms of the state of Tennessee, however, this is major.

    Bristol Motor Speedway moves from its traditional August date to Sept. 19, which puts it on the same date as a home game at Neyland Stadium for the Tennessee Volunteers.

    In regards as to whether Bristol requested this, according to Becky Cox of Bristol Motor Speedway (she’s one of their main PR people), it was a “collaborative process with NASCAR stakeholders (teams, tracks, TV partners) while incorporating NASCAR fan feedback.”

    Roughly a 90-minute drive from Bristol, Knoxville, Tennesse is both a major ticket market for the track and a lodging area for fans going to Bristol who don’t want to pay the hiked up prices for hotels in the Tri-Cities area.

    Moving this race into football season complicates this immensely.

    For you non-Tennessee natives and/or residents, Volunteer football trumps all in this state. While Knoxville is a major NASCAR market, when talking about TV ratings, Volunteer football comes first in this city.

    Even though the Vols are at their nadir, in terms of football performance, they still averaged close to 93,000 fans for every game in 2018 (the lowest attendance was 86,753).

    Given the aforementioned aspect of Knoxville being a major NASCAR TV market, I’m willing to bet that there’s a large crossover of NASCAR/Volunteer football fans in this city. By moving it to September, that cuts into the number of people in Knoxville, as well as Tennessee, who’ll buy tickets to Bristol. Not to mention that it cuts down on the number of hotel rooms available in Knoxville for race fans.

    Granted, the game in question on Sept. 19 is against a Division I FCS school (Furman), but 95,855 fans showed up to the Vols matchup against FCS team ETSU in 2018. That probably had more to do with it being the home opener for the Vols that season, but the point is that Volunteer football towers over all in Tennessee. And given the well publicized sagging attendance at Bristol, they aren’t doing themselves any favors with this move.

    But they must’ve had more fans requesting this move than I thought.

    Daytona moves off Independence Day weekend

    As a bit of a traditionalist, this one kind of stings.

    Since Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, it’s always been a staple of Independence Day weekend. Starting in 2020, however, it moves from that to the regular season finale.

    NASCAR didn’t make this decision lightly, according to O’Donnell. They wouldn’t have moved it from Independence Day weekend if it was to a point other than the end of the regular season. Drivers and teams told NASCAR that the regular season should begin and end in Daytona.

    “Everyone felt Daytona belonged there and that track deserved to potentially be in that date,” O’Donnell said. “That kind of started the thinking.”

    Overall, I’m fine with this.

    Rain has plagued this race for years. It’s also very hot in Florida this time of year. Also, we don’t run it on Independence Day anymore, and this race hasn’t fallen on Independence Day since 2009.

    I also love the idea of a restrictor plate race deciding who ultimately makes the Playoffs, even if plate racing now is more akin to a game of Russian roulette than actual racing.

    With that said, however, I don’t understand moving Indianapolis Motor Speedway back into July, when track president J. Douglas Boles cited heat as a major reason for wanting a date in September.

    It also doesn’t help that Indy has had well-publicized attendance woes for nearly the last decade.

    We’ll have to see how that one pans out.

    And the rest

    As for the rest of the changes, I don’t really have that strong of an opinion on them. I like that Richmond Raceway’s first race is going back to Sunday afternoon and I’m intrigued by the prospect of a Cup Series double-header at Pocono Raceway, but that’s about it. I’m indifferent to Martinsville Speedway getting a night race and Kansas Speedway going from night to day.

    Overall, NASCAR hit this out of the park. They did great with these changes to a schedule that had been stagnant for over a decade now.

    Of course, these changes will be for naught if massive changes in 2021 don’t happen as well.

    For now, however, let’s just see how this goes.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • NASCAR announces 2020 schedule

    NASCAR announces 2020 schedule

    Heresay started 24 hours ago that the 2020 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule would be released sometime this week. Then it came out that it would be released on Tuesday. NASCAR built up the anticipation with the announcement earlier today that the official schedule release would happen at 4 p.m.

    The time came, and the changes were announced.

    NASCAR announced on Tuesday the 2020 schedule for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. It’s the biggest schedule realignment the Cup Series has undergone in over a decade.

    The major changes were as follows:

    The championship race will move from Homestead-Miami Speedway to ISM (Phoenix) Raceway. It will move to Veterans Day weekend, rather than the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, which the championship race has been held on.

    The reasoning, according to NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell, was to prevent one driver from gaining a competitive advantage by running at the same track year after year.

    “Obviously a ton of investment has gone into ISM Raceway,” O’Donnell said. “We thought it was natural for us to make that rotation this year and see how it plays out, also put Miami in a date that works for them, as well.”

    He added that this probably isn’t a one year thing.

    “I can’t say how long,” he said. “I think with any venue, you want to see it have a chance and grow a little bit, see how that works. We’ll certainly take a look at it as we look at 2021 and beyond, see what’s on the table in terms of venues.”

    “But this wasn’t a decision we said, ‘Hey, let’s go there for a year and rotate it.’ Our intent is to stay for a few years and see how we net out.”

    Daytona International Speedway’s second race moves from Independence Day weekend to the regular season finale, which will now be in August.

    Given the attendance and weather issues that have plagued Daytona in July, NASCAR talked to drivers and teams on the matter, and they said, according to NASCAR, that Daytona at the end of the regular season was the best way to end it.

    “Everyone felt Daytona belonged there and that track deserved to potentially be in that date,” O’Donnell said.

    The Indianapolis Motor Speedway moves from September to Independence Day weekend.

    Bristol Motor Speedway’s night race moves from its August date to the Cup Series Playoffs on Sep. 19.

    “If NASCAR fans thought they’ve seen tempers flare and sparks fly under the lights at the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, just wait until they experience a real pressure-packed NASCAR playoff elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway,” said Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Pocono Raceway’s two dates will move to one date, as part of a double-header for the Cup Series.

    Martinsville Speedway’s first weekend moves from late March/early April to Mother’s Day weekend, and will be run on a Saturday night on May 9.

    Darlington Raceway remains in its Labor Day weekend slot, but will now open the Playoffs.

    There’s some other date shuffling.

    Screenshot from NASCAR.com
    Screenshot from NASCAR.com
    Screenshot from NASCAR.com