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  • Talladega Xfinity race features unique top-15 finishers

    Talladega Xfinity race features unique top-15 finishers

    While Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley and Ross Chastain emerged victorious with the race win and the third Dash 4 Cash bonus on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, there were a multitude of competitors who avoided a series of late calamities and earned strong results at one of the world’s fastest superspeedway venues.

    The first was Brett Moffitt. A former champion of the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, Moffitt made his ninth start of the season in the No. 02 Chevrolet Camaro for Our Motorsports. Starting 20th, the Grimes, Iowa, native found himself in the right place at the right time in the closing laps, running within the top 10 and in the lead pack. Following a series of carnages, which he was avoid to dodge, Moffitt restarted 10th with three laps remaining and was able to gain five more spots to finish fifth. The result was Moffitt’s first top-five career result in the Xfinity Series and his third top-10 result in his 12th series start. The fifth-place result was also the best for Our Motorsports in the team’s 11th race in the series this season, having achieved a sixth-place result at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

    Behind Moffitt, Anthony Alfredo backed up his his first top-five finish in the series last weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway to notch another top-10 result in his first Xfinity performance at Talladega. Starting 10th, Alfredo finished second in the first stage and 12th in the second while leading his first career laps at Talladega (five). Spending the majority of the race inside the top 10, dodging the late carnages and rallying from a late pit road speeding penalty, Alfredo restarted fifth with three laps remaining and with a final opportunity to pull off his first win in an upset fashion. Ultimately, he was able to cross the line in sixth for his fourth top-10 result of the season. Through six races he has competed in thus far, he has finished no worse than 14th.

    Next was Gray Gaulding, who emerged with a top-10 result in his first Xfinity Series start of the season. A year after notching a career-best runner-up result at Talladega as a full-time competitor for SS-Green Light Racing, Gaulding started this season without a full-time ride. After competing in four Cup races this season with Rick Ware Racing, Gaulding made his first Xfinity start of the season at Talladega while returning to SS-Green Light Racing. Starting 21st, Gaulding was ninth with three laps remaining and was able to gain one more spot to finish eighth. The result was Gaulding’s fifth Xfinity top-10 career result in his 42nd series start and SS-Green Light Racing’s second top-10 result of this season after finishing eighth at Daytona International Speedway in February with Ray Black Jr.

    In addition, Alex Labbe, who started 27th, managed to escaped the late carnage to restart in sixth with three laps remaining and cross the finish line inside the top-10 (ninth). The top-10 result was Labbe’s fourth of his Xfinity career and second of this season after finishing 10th in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway in February while also leading 19 laps. The result came with a little victory for the Saint-Albert, Quebec, native, who will receive his first opportunity to compete for the $100,000 bonus from the Dash 4 Cash program next weekend at Pocono Raceway alongside Haley, Chastain and Austin Cindric.

    Finishing just outside the top 10 were Brandon Brown and rookie Jesse Little. Brown, who was running inside the top 10 in the late stages of the race, finished 11th for his ninth top-15 finish of the season while Little, a newcomer to the series, earned his fourth top-15 result this season and emerged as the highest-running rookie candidate in the race. In addition, Jeffrey Earnhardt and Tommy Joe Martins managed to finish inside the top 15 while dodging a multi-car pileup on the frontstretch feet away from the finish line. Earnhardt, who finished 14th, claimed his second top-15 result of the season while Martins claimed his first top-15 finish since finishing 11th at Iowa Speedway in June 2017. 

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return at Pocono Raceway on June 28 as part of a quadruple-header weekend and on the same day as the second NASCAR Cup Series race of the weekend at the Tricky Triangle. The race will air at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Homestead

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Homestead

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck wrapped up another exciting season of thrilling finishes and fresh faces in victory lane, as well as familiar faces who had a career high season. If this continues next year, 2019 will just be as exciting as 2018.

    Here are four takeaways from the Homestead race from this past weekend.

    1. Harrison Burton Full Time In 2019 – About a week ago, it was announced that Kyle Busch Motorsports signed Harrison Burton full time for next season driving the No. 18 KBM Safelite Tundra formerly driven by Noah Gragson who is moving on. Burton will have big shoes to fill when he takes over after running a partial season this year.

    2. Jesse Little Shines With Top Ten – While running a limited schedule due to funding this year, Little made the most of it after completing just nine races. Homestead was his first race since Fort Worth, a couple of weeks ago. He started ninth and finished ninth. Little also finished ninth and seventh in both stages, respectively. Not a bad night for a team who I believe can compete for wins when the funding is right. Little ended the 2018 season with nine starts, six top 10s and a best finish of sixth at Iowa.

    3. Johnny Sauter and Brett Moffitt End The Season With Most Wins – It was the best of both seasons for Sauter and Moffitt who had the most wins this season. Sauter and Moffitt both had six victories. The only other winners this season were Kyle Busch, John Hunter Nemechek, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Ben Rhodes, Chase Briscoe, Grant Enfinger, and Timothy Peters. In the end, the cream rose to the top with Moffitt winning and collecting his first championship.

    4. Sheldon Creed Shines With Top Five – The 2018 season ended on a high note for the 2018 ARCA Champion Sheldon Creed, who is running full time in 2019 for GMS Racing. Creed finished the race in fifth and placed 10th and ninth in both stages. It the best finish for Creed this season after just making five starts.

  • Four Takeaways from NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Gateway

    Four Takeaways from NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Gateway

    The 10th race of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took place this past weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park.

    While there were a couple of surprises in the top-10, the same team that has been dominant for most of the season, wound up in victory lane, but this time with a different driver.

    Here are my final four thoughts from the Villa Lighting Delivers the Eaton 200, before the Truck Series heads to Chicagoland Friday night.

    1. Justin Haley Scores First Career Win – Haley, who has been strong all year, finally earned his first career win and locked himself into the postseason Playoffs. While he was somewhat of a surprise winner, the No. 24 team had four top fives and six top-10 finishes before his first season. They were close to winning earlier this season, but just needed to find the right opportunity to strike and that’s what happened in Saturday night’s race. It’ll be interesting to see what the No. 24 GMS Racing team does in order to compete with teammate Johnny Sauter for the rest of the year.
    2. Noah Gragson Close Once Again – Same song, second verse for the No. 18 driver, Noah Gragson. After earning his first win of the season last month at Kansas, Gragson has been close many times to earning multiple victories but has fallen short so far. He had the truck to beat Saturday night, leading 63 times, but late race cautions hurt the team’s chances at winning and they had to settle for a disappointing 10th place. It’s only a matter of time before the team breaks out and start earning multiple victories.
    3. Zane Smith, Riley Herbst, Jesse Little, Chad Finley Have Career Nights – Smith, Herbst, and Finley, all ARCA series regulars, had a solid night at Gateway. Smith and Herbst who made their Truck Series debut, did a spectacular job, finishing fifth and eighth. Finley hasn’t competed in a Truck Series race since 2015 and finished sixth. Jesse Little was able to earn his fourth top-10 finish of the year. A great night for all the young stars involved.
    4. Question Marks Still A Concern For Hattori Racing – After earning two wins this season at Atlanta and Iowa, it sure seemed like the No. 16 team would be a challenger for the Truck Series championship postseason. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for Moffitt and Hattori Racing, at least for now. The No. 16 driver stated in Friday’s media availability that they were still unsure what their plans were past this weekend. And that still holds true. If Moffitt misses the race this weekend, he will not be able to get a waiver in order to compete postseason, because you have to compete in all the races. However, with today’s power of social media and the NASCAR fan base, they have been reaching out to companies all across the United States to sponsor the team in order to continue. While this would be great, it goes to show how unfortunate this is and how it’s tough to secure full-time sponsorship in the Truck Series.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Gateway

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Gateway

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited Gateway Motorsports Park this past weekend for race number 10 of 22 for the series.

    Just like last week’s finish at Iowa, the Truck Series regulars once again didn’t disappoint in the Eaton 200. Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

    1) Johnny Sauter – Sauter tops the power rankings this week with a third-place finish. While he didn’t win at Gateway, Sauter was a force to be reckoned with throughout the race. Despite not leading any laps, he placed in the top-10 in both stages and finished third after having a shot at the win in a late race restart. This was his ninth top-five finish of the year. Previous Week Ranking: 2nd

    2) Todd Gilliland – After last week’s troubles at Iowa in a crash, the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver and recent high school graduate, Gilliland, was able to celebrate a career-best finish of second. The 18-year-old driver started eighth but battled handling issues in Stage 1. He made a pit stop during the first caution and worked his way up to 12th for the first stage. Stage 2 was much better as he stayed inside the top-10 and finished third. When all was said and done, Gilliland placed the No. 4 Royal Canin Toyota second for his best career finish. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked

    3) Noah Gragson –  Gragson had the truck to beat in Saturday night’s race. With a strong qualifying effort of third, the Las Vegas Nevada driver finished second and fourth, respectively, in both stages. He had a dominant truck as Gragson led twice for 63 laps. However, late-race cautions hurt his chances for a shot at the win. In a restart with six to go, he drove into Turn 1 a little too wide and had to pit for tires with another late caution. Ultimately, Gragson had to settle for a 10th place finish and will have to wait another week to grab his second win of the season. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd

    4) Myatt Snider – Snider quietly posted his first top-five finish of the year. His team qualified 14th. After some varying pit strategy and cautions fell in their favor, Snider and his No. 13 Thorsport Racing team finished fourth. This puts him ninth in the standings and one spot below the cut off line. He now heads to Chicago for his first Truck Series start there, but he does have experience there racing in the ARCA Racing Series. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked

    5) Jesse Little – Just like Snider, Little had another quiet night inside the top-10. The small funded No. 97 team started ninth and finished ninth, and seventh, respectively in both stages. At the end of the night, Little finished seventh for his fourth top-10 of the year. Previous Week Ranking: 4th

    Fell Out of Power Rankings:

    1) Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a strong truck throughout most of the race, however, with two to go for the restart, after the inside line had trouble restarting, Little had accidentally got lose and got into the No. 16 team who had spun out after that contact. Moffitt had to settle for a disappointing 14th place finish. The team is searching for sponsorship and is still unsure if they will be at Chicagoland this weekend.

    2) Harrison Burton- Burton did not compete in this weeks race due to age restriction and requirements

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Iowa

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Iowa

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continued their mid-west swing this past weekend by visiting the .875-mile track located in Newton, Iowa.

    It was the ninth race of the 22-race season and with the season getting into the hot summer months, the M&M’s 200 sure didn’t disappoint in a thriller finish with the Truck Series regulars continuing to put on a great show.

    Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

    1. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt earned another huge victory this past weekend in the corn state of Iowa. It a hometown victory for the Grimes, Iowa native. While winning in your hometown is sweet, the No. 16 Hattori Racing team continues to search for sponsorship for the rest of the season. Nothing would be sweeter to see the team who has worked hard this season secure a full-time sponsorship for the rest of the 2018 season to compete for the Truck Series championship. After starting 16th, he worked his way up to eighth in the first stage. Moffitt continued to work his way up in the second stage by finishing third. After a late race caution and strategy being played, he took the lead on lap 125 and held on for the final 76 laps to collect the third win of his career and the second of 2018.
      • Previous Week Ranking: Not ranked
    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter slips back one spot in this week’s rankings by finishing fifth. He still remains win-less at Iowa Speedway after 12 starts. While it wasn’t a bad night by any means, he was able to battle for the lead multiple times but never quite got the hang of the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevy and he never led a lap. However, he finished fifth and eighth in both stages, respectively. Sauter still remains a powerhouse in the series and the one to beat every week. He leads the series standings over Noah Gragson by 71 points.
      • Previous Week Ranking: 1st
    3. Noah Gragson – Gragson will be the talk of the week after his thrilling move late in the M&M’s 200. After fighting hard all night and finishing sixth, and fourth respectively in both stages, he found himself contending and challenging for the win with five laps to go. Gragson continued to rally and get to the back bumper of eventual race winner Brett Moffitt. In fact, he made a dive bomb move or a “video game style” as Gragson referenced going into Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap. Gragson almost made it stick, but ended up bouncing off the wall yards before the finish line and ended up .333 seconds short for his second win of the career. An A for effort in the continuously growing popularity of the 19-year-old.
      • Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
    4. Jesse Little – For everything that went on last night and this season, it’s hard to overlook a team who continues to impress people quietly. This season Little had only competed in three races prior to Iowa. In two of those races, he earned two top-10 finishes at Atlanta and Dover by finishing eighth and ninth. He upped that finish and earned the best finish of his career so far by finishing in the sixth position, earning his third top-10 of the year in the limited schedule that he has been running. But as seen in the series, under the right circumstances and situations, Little could provide to be an upset winner whenever the trucks race. And whenever the race team gets that victory, it will be a huge win for the small underfunded No. 97 team.
      • Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
    5. Harrison Burton – Burton rounds out the power rankings this week after a strong showing at Iowa. The 17-year-old proved his talents once more this past weekend. He topped the practice charts in the final practice and continued that momentum by earning his first ever Truck Series pole. Burton led early in Stage 1 by leading the first 30 laps and that would be the only 30 laps he led for the rest of the night. In the first stage, Burton wounded up finishing third. However, problems with the ECU unit mounted after the first stage and resulted in putting him deep in the field for the second stage. That didn’t stop him, however, as he worked his way up to finish sixth in the second stage. Just like his teammate, Gragson, Burton found himself competing for the win late in the going. Ultimately after some issues early on, he found himself third at the scoring pylon earning his career-best Truck Series finish. Burton continues to shine early in his career.
      • Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked

    Fell Out

    1. Matt Crafton – An accident on lap 135 saw Crafton’s left front tire blow out and resulted in him finishing in the 26th position. The No. 88 Menards team continues to struggle to find that first win of the season.
    2. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger was involved in the first wreck and had a bit of damage, thus relegating him to an 11th place finish.
    3. Justin Haley – Haley wasn’t quite as sporty this week as he finished 16th, four laps down.
    4. Stewart Friesen- Friesen was also involved in the same incident as Crafton, but managed a ninth-place finish.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Las Vegas

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Las Vegas

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series headed out west last Friday night for the first inaugural spring race held at the 1.5-mile speedway.  It was a familiar face on top of the scoring pylon at the end of the day. Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

    1. Johnny Sauter: Sauter continues the GMS Racing momentum after finishing second in the Stratosphere 200. After starting third, he remained in the top 10 in both stages while finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. Sauter was up front for the win at the end, but just fell one sport short and finished behind race winner Kyle Busch .437 seconds. This gave Sauter his third top five of the season and he is the series points leader over Brett Moffitt by 39 points.
      Previous Week Ranked: 2nd
    2. Brett Moffitt: Moffitt added another strong finish for Hattori Racing after visiting victory lane last weekend in Atlanta. The No. 16 AISIN Group driver started third and finished eighth in Stage 1, and fifth in Stage 2. Moffitt also led twice for 27 laps throughout the race. He is second in the standings behind 2016 champion Johnny Sauter.
      Previous Week Ranked: 1st
    3. Stewart Friesen: Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing continue to shine with another top-five finish in the 2018 season. He started second alongside pole winner and eventual race winner Kyle Busch. That was his best starting spot since winning the pole at Eldora last year. The team worked hard to stay in the top 10 during both stages. In Stage 1 he finished fourth. Friesen ended up winning the second stage, which could help him out later in the season should he make the Playoffs. Ultimately, the No. 52 driver ended the day fifth, leaving him with his third top five of his career and the first of the season.
      Previous Week Ranked: N/R
    4. Grant Enfinger: While it shouldn’t be a surprise, Enfinger had a nice solid top-five finish outing at Las Vegas. While working a challenging truck early on in the race, he worked hard to get to the front. He didn’t place at all in Stage 1 but did earn some points in Stage 2 finishing ninth. When the checkered flag flew, the Curb Records driver finished fourth, giving him his first top five of the year and the 12th of his career.  Enfinger sits third in the standings, 40 points behind Sauter.
      Previous Week Ranked: N/R
    5. Dalton Sargeant: Sargeant, in just the ninth race of his career, earned a career-best sixth place finish at Vegas. As the race started, he worked his way up to the middle half of the field from the rear. After a couple of adjustments to the truck, Sargeant finished 14th just four spots short outside the top 10. The No. 25 truck continued to struggle for most of the night with handling issues and wound up 13th in Stage 2. In the final stage, the GMS Racing team continued to work on the truck to get it to Dalton’s liking and he finished sixth for the best finish of his career.
      Previous Week Ranked: N/A

    Honorable Mentions
    1. Ben Rhodes: Rhodes came home with another top 10 finish by placing seventh.
    2. Justin Fontaine: Fontaine stood out in the top 10 finishing ninth with the Niece Motorsports entry. He gave the team their second top 10 finish of the year with the first one coming at Daytona.

    Fell out of the Power Rankings
    1. Matt Crafton: Brake issues limited the No. 88 team for a good finish to a 29th place finish.
    2. Noah Gragson: Gragson and the No. 18 Switch Tundra finished 12th after finishing second last week at Atlanta.
    3. Jesse Little: Did not compete in this week’s race.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Atlanta Motor Speedway

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Atlanta Motor Speedway

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series came to Atlanta Motor Speedway this past weekend following the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the only doubleheader of the season. The Active Pest Control 200 sure didn’t disappoint as it came down to the wire and the last restart of the race.

    Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

    1. Brett Moffit – Moffit surprised the field Saturday night by taking home his second career Truck Series victory. A late race caution came out on Lap 126 when Dalton Sargeant and Josh Reaume got collected to send the race into overtime. Moffit led the most important two laps of the race and won for the first time since 2016 at Michigan. With this win, Hattori Racing and Moffit are now locked into the Playoffs.
    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter came into a track where he had no wins in the previous seven races. It looked like that streak could have ended Saturday, but he scored another third-place finish. This was Sauter’s second consecutive third-place finish at Atlanta. He will have to wait another year to check this track off. Sauter started ninth and finished seventh and second respectively in both stages, along with leading three times for 12 laps.
    3. Noah Gragson – Gragson scored his career-best track finish this past weekend. In last year’s race, he finished 14th after starting 10th. This year, Gragson started third, won the first stage and finished fifth in Stage 2. Gragson only led 43 laps before ultimately finishing second after restarting ninth with two laps to go.
    4. Matt Crafton – Crafton headed to one of his favorite tracks on the truck series circuit, Atlanta, in hopes of locking himself into the Playoffs early. After starting second, he took the lead on lap 44 and led for seven laps. This would be the only time Crafton led in the race. He finished second in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. However, the No. 88 Menards driver ultimately finished fifth at the end of the day. Crafton sits second in the point standings, 31 points behind Daytona winner Johnny Sauter.
    5. Jesse Little – Little competed in his first race of the 2018 season this past Saturday. The last time the No. 97 driver raced was at Phoenix where he started 24th and finished 18th due to a crash on lap 134. Atlanta saw Little make his track debut. After starting 12th, he finished fifth in Stage 1 and eighth in Stage 2. After a late race restart, the scoring pylon showed the No. 97 team eighth. It was a solid outing for Little’s first start at Atlanta.
  • Driver Analysis: Jesse Little

    Driver Analysis: Jesse Little

    The 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver analysis continues with Jesse Little. Little is the son of former NASCAR driver Chad Little.

    In the 2017 season, Little has made sporadic starts driving the No. 97 for JJL Motorsports that is owned by Jason Little. He made just four starts which came at Dover International Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway, respectively. His best finish was ninth in his second start of the year at Iowa after starting in the same spot.

    Little has been racing in the Truck Series off and on since 2015 making a span of 13 starts in a little over three years. The ninth-place finish at Iowa was his best career finish by the young 20-year-old. During those three years, he averaged a 14.8 start and an 18.9 average finish, with 1,782 laps completed. He did not qualify for one event which came at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Little has improved on his average start this year of 12.7 and an average finish of 13.7.

    JJL Motorsports is looking forward to the 2018 season, but need sponsorship to compete in more races next year. An unfortunate crash on lap 136 at Phoenix, which saw a five-truck pileup, ended his season early.

    Little spoke about his Phoenix crash, saying, “Had a great truck tonight. Truck was fast, top five fast. I was patience all race as I worked my way up through the field to position myself for a strong finish. I am frustrated that our race ended this way. Tried to back out at last minute when I realized I was five wide but was just too late. I’m fine, little sore. Truck is killed. No quit in me though. Hope to be back next year just as competitive. Love this sport to death.”

    You can follow Little on Twitter and like him on Facebook.

     

  • Jesse Little Earns NASCAR NEXT Placement; Craving First Career K&N Triumph

    Jesse Little Earns NASCAR NEXT Placement; Craving First Career K&N Triumph

    Jesse Little was inducted into the 2014-2015 NASCAR NEXT class at Richmond International Raceway on Friday due to winning last season’s K&N East Pro Series Rookie of the Year honors and posting eight top-five finishes throughout his K&N tenure.

    “It means a lot,” Little explained to Speedway Media on Friday at Richmond about being inducted to the NASCAR NEXT class. “I’m really excited, it’s a great opportunity and you can gain a lot of experience from (the program), it’s a fun deal and I’m really looking forward to (being involved).”

    Little, 17, won the Rookie of the Year award after finishing ninth in points and posting four top-fives and a remarkable six top-10 finishes, including a career-best third at Langley Speedway.

    Now, Little is focused on improving upon those results, hoping, and praying for his first triumph with his family-run team.

    “It gave me and the team a lot of confidence,” Little expressed about winning the K&N East Rookie of the Year award last season. “It has given us momentum to carry into this season, forcing us to set the bar higher, and the expectations farther, we have to perform better this season.”

    Little, who made his first-career K&N East start 11 days after his 15th birthday, currently rides fifth in the driver standings following a 10th place running in Richmond, Virginia, and is a mere two markers behind fourth place driver, Daniel Saurez.

    “To win races and be in a position for the championship it’ll take good runs each week,” Little commented via a press release prior to Richmond. “(Our) first series victory is just around the corner for this team and (soon) would be a great (time) to make that happens.”

    Little returns to the racetrack on May 19, 2014 at Iowa Speedway for the Casey’s General 300 in hopes of driving to victory lane and showcasing his talents and his legitimacy within the NASCAR NEXT program.