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  • Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Bristol

    Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Bristol

    Bristol Motor Speedway was the home for the 16th race of the season and marked the final event of the regular season before the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs begin this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

    Here are four takeaways from the UNOH 200.

    1. GMS Racing Continue To Be Dominate 2018 – The GMS Racing team, including one ally, continued to dominate last Thursday at Bristol. GMS placed three of their trucks in the top-10 if you include the GMS Racing ally, Stewart Friesen. Johnny Sauter clinched the regular season championship by starting the race. He didn’t stop there as he led 58 laps and finished second in both stages. GMS Racing ally, Stewart Friesen, finished second and Sauter’s teammate, and Gateway winner, Justin Haley, finished sixth. Regardless, they continue to be the team to dominate the 2018 season and the team to beat for the championship.
    2. John Hunter Nemechek Gets A For Effort – After starting third, Nemechek looked to be the guy to beat. He won both stages and led twice for 104 laps. Nemechek had a shot to win his first ever race since Martinsville. However, his truck began to experience problems with less than 10 to go and fell back to third, after dominating much of the race.
    3. Too Much Emphasis On The Big Three – In the Cup Series this year, there have been three drivers that have visited victory lane the most, including Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr, and Kevin Harvick. However, here lately, the Truck Series has their own big three with those being Johnny Sauter, Brett Moffitt, and Noah Gragson. My opinion is that we should stop with the big three analysis and placing too much emphasis and hype on just three drivers. The Big Three should stay in the Cup Series. There have been multiple different race winners this year in the Truck Series. Those including Moffitt, Sauter, Ben Rhodes, Gragson, Haley, among others, who have visited victory lane. Yes, it seems like there are three drivers who regularly run up front, but that’s not the case for every race. Keep the big three special to one series and let the other series have their own brand identity, and stick out more.
    4.  Playoff Begin At Canada – After all the hype and with the regular season coming to an end, it’s now time for the 2018 NASCAR Truck Series playoffs that begin this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Eight drivers will go after the gold and the championship at the end of the year in Homestead-Miami. It will be interesting to see how these eight drivers will fare throughout the rest of the season. Will Sauter be able to keep his dominance and punch his ticket into the Championship 4 for another year? Or perhaps there could be a surprise driver that winds up in the final four such as Haley. Either way, it’ll be an exciting seven race run to the championship finale that takes place in Southern Florida.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Bristol

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Bristol

    “It’s the final countdown!” as the band Europe would sing.

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series makes their final stop at Bristol Motor Speedway before the playoffs begin next weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. While one driver will be crowned regular season champion, three other drivers currently sit on the bubble of making/not making the playoffs.

    Currently, there are 38 drivers entered on the preliminary entry list that will make up the 32 truck field Thursday night at Bristol.

    Here’s a look at what to expect and who might end up in the UNOH 200.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek has competed in the past four starts at Bristol. He and the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports team have collected two top fives and four top-10 finishes. Nemechek has an average start of 12.5 and an average finish of 5.0. In the past five races, he finished third twice, eighth, and sixth. He has competed in the Truck Series event since 2014 and has completed 100 percent of the laps. Nemechek scored the victory at Martinsville this past April which is another short track, somewhat similar to Bristol. He finished 10th in Stage 2 in the 2017 race.
    2. Christopher Bell – Last year’s Truck Series champion returns to the field Thursday night at Bristol driving the No. 51 Hunt Brothers Pizza Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Bell has competed in two races at Bristol earning a seventh-place finish twice after starting fifth and second. He finished fourth and fifth respectively in both stages last year. KBM, however, has won here three times with Kyle Busch, who will not be able to compete in this year’s race due to restrictions. Harrison Burton was scheduled to drive the No. 51 but had to withdraw due to illness. Bell will fill in for Burton and will be tough to beat Thursday night at Bristol driving the famed No. 51.
    3. Johnny Sauter – Sauter will be crowned regular season champion just by starting the race. Even though he knows he’ll be the regular season champion, he’ll still be hungry for that first Bristol win. It will be his first win since Texas in June if he can pull it off. Sauter has competed in 10 races at the famous Bristol Motor Speedway. His first start came back in 2003 driving the No. 9 for Christopher Beckington but failed to finish that year due to an engine issue. However, Sauter returned to a Truck back in 2009 driving for Mike Curb until 2015. In the past two races, he has competed for GMS Racing. For Sauter, however, it’s been a mixed bag of results at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile.” He has four top fives and six top-10 finishes, along with seven laps led and one DNF. With those stats, he has an average start of 12.4 and an average finish of 9.6. His best finish at Bristol was second back in 2011 after starting 12th. In the previous race, he finished eighth and seventh respectively in both stages.
    4. Parker Kligerman – If someone could upset this weekend, it could very well be the No. 75 Henderson Motorsports team of Parker Kligerman. Kligerman has four starts at Bristol with a best finish of second coming in 2012 for Red Horse Motorsports. In last year’s race, however, driving the No. 75, he finished eighth. During the span of his four starts, Kligerman has earned one top five and three top-10 finishes. For Charlie Henderson’s team, the No. 75 has competed at Bristol every year since 2012 with Caleb Holman as the driver until 2016. Their best finish came with Kligerman last year by finishing eighth. They currently have one win in the series which came last fall at Talladega. Their other best finish came this year at Charlotte, where he finished seventh.
    5. Ben  Rhodes – Rhodes has three starts at Thunder Valley. His best finish came last year where he finished fifth. In total, Rhodes has one top five and two top-10 finishes with one lap led. He has an average start of 7.3 and an average finish of 14.7. He finished seventh and fourth in both stages in 2017. Look for Rhodes to be up front and contend for the win.

    Playoff Bubble Drivers

    1. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger has one start which came in the 2017 race. He started seventh and finished fourth giving him his first top five at the track. If he continues to win stages or perhaps wins the race, he’ll be good to go for the Playoffs.
    2. Stewart Friesen- Like Enfinger, Friesen has been running somewhat consistently and is having his best year to date. He sits seventh in the Playoff standings with five Playoff points. He should be fine if there are no new winners. However, Friesen’s track stats don’t look all that great. He has two races, but no finishes inside the top 10. In 2017, he failed to finish due to an overheating problem and wound up 29th. In 2016, Friesen finished 16th. He can’t afford to have any of these issues during the race or he’ll be in jeopardy of missing the Playoffs.
    3. Matt Crafton – Crafton is the most experienced driver in the field. He’s competed at Bristol since 2003 and has 15 starts. During that span, he’s earned four top fives and nine top-10 finishes, along with 129 laps led and one DNF. His best finish came in 2017 and 2009, where he finished second. In 2016, he failed to finish with an engine problem. If Crafton can avoid any issues in Thursday’s night race and have no mechanical problems, he’ll also be locked in on points and be able to chase for his third championship.

    Outside Looking In

    1. Myatt Snider- Snider will be making his first ever Bristol start in the Truck Series driving the No. 13 Carolina Nut Company Ford. However, he has competed at Bristol before driving in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour Series. In fact, he won last year’s race at Bristol after starting on the pole and leading 80 laps. Snider also competed in this year’s Tour Series event at Bristol and finished third. He could very well end up in victory lane tomorrow night and solidify himself in the playoffs picture, possibly knocking out his teammate, Matt Crafton.
    2. Cody Coughlin – Coughlin has competed in one race here but did not finish in the top-10.
    3. Dalton Sargeant – It will be Sargeant’s first race back at Bristol since 2015, where he finished 10th after starting 18th. He has one NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start but finished 26th due to a crash.
    4. Todd Gilliland – Perhaps one driver who could spoil the spotlight is the No. 4 KBM driver, Todd Gilliland. He’ll be making his first Truck Series start at Bristol, but does have previous experience at the track. Gilliland has competed at Bristol in the K&N Pro Series East three times. During those three starts, he finished ninth, eighth, and won the event in 2018 after leading 64 laps.

    The Truck Series has competed at Bristol Motor Speedway since 1995. In those twenty starts, there have been 15 different race winners. Those winners include Joe Ruttman, Rick Carelli, Ron Hornaday, Jack Sprague, Travis Kvapil, Carl Edwards, Mike Skinner, Mark Martin, Johnny Benson, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Timothy Peters, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Ben Kennedy.

    Of those drivers, two have been able to repeat. These include Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday with Busch having the most wins at five, and he is also the previous race winner.

    The lowest a driver has ever started to win the race is 12th back in 2003 by Travis Kvapil. The highest a driver has ever come from to win was the pole and that has been done five times by Ron Hornaday (twice), Kyle Busch (twice) and Mark Martin.

    The field of 38 that will turn into a field of 32 will have an all-day event Thursday.

    Two practice sessions will start the day for the truckers. First practice is scheduled for 9:05 a.m. ET while final practice takes place at 11:05 a.m. ET, both on Fox Sports 1. Qualifying is slated later in the afternoon at 4:10 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

    Race coverage begins on FOX and MRN Radio at 8:30 p.m. ET with the approximate green flag at 8:45 p.m. ET.

     

  • Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Michigan

    Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Michigan

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited the two-mile racetrack located in Irish Hills of Brooklyn, Michigan, Michigan International Speedway. It proved to be another exciting race for the 15th race of the season and that action will be intense come Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Here are four takeaways from the Corrigan Oil 200.

    1. Last Lap Excitement – The Truck Series continued to put on another exciting race this past weekend at Michigan. It started with qualifying Saturday morning when John Hunter Nemechek beat Todd Gilliland for the pole by 0.01 seconds. This would set the tone for the day and the end of the race. In what would look like Johnny Sauter’s fifth win of the year, Noah Gragson and Nemechek hooked up with each other to catch Brett Moffitt and Sauter. It did not go as planned for them but it worked for eventual race winner Moffitt, who backed up to Nemechek’s front bumper and made a last lap pass on Sauter coming to the finish line. It was Moffitt’s fourth win of the year. If everything continues to go Moffitt’s way and sponsorship continues to come, we could see him and the No. 16 Hattori Racing team in the final four spot at Homestead-Miami in November.
    2. Stewart Friesen Continues Solid Season – Friesen continued his solid season to date on Saturday afternoon. He can breathe a little easier after winning the first stage and finishing ninth in the second stage. If Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar racing team has a clean race at Bristol and finish where he’s been finishing, then he should be able to lock himself into the Playoffs and challenge for the championship.
    3. Playoffs Set In Stone – After Michigan and with one race remaining until the Playoffs begin, the standings are pretty much set in stone. Of course, it’s not over until the checkered flag drops and we have seen stranger things happen, but the standings should stay the way they are unless one of the three bubble drivers have trouble and fail to finish. Other than that, what we see currently, will be what see for the 2018 playoff standings.
    4. Johnny Sauter One To Beat – As we’ve already seen this season and saw again on Saturday, 2016 champion, Johnny Sauter continues to be the man to beat for the championship this year. Saturday could have been his fifth win of the year but he is still sitting in good shape to clinch the regular season championship on Thursday night at Bristol. With four wins, 11 top fives, 12 top 10 finishes and 340 laps led this season, Sauter should end up in the Championship 4. If anyone wants to win the championship, they’ll have to go through Sauter and the No. 21 GMS Racing team.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Eldora

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Eldora

    The Eldora Dirt Derby is one of the biggest races for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. This historic race is one of the most unique races on the Truck Series schedule. Along with Daytona, Talladega, Canada and Bristol, you could say Eldora is a wildcard, as well, to the series. The Eldora Dirt Derby is a national attraction for the series and as always, expect another exciting race for the sixth annual Eldora Dirt Derby Wednesday night.

    There are 40 entries on the preliminary entry list as for this week in a list of who-who.

    There will be 14 dirt track stars making their Truck Series debut but are no stranger to dirt racing. These include Chris Windom in the No. 54, Kyle Strickler in the No. 63, Logan Seavey in the No. 51, Max McLaughlin in the No. 38, Tyler Dipple in the No. 17, and J.R. Heffner in the No. 15, John Provenzano will be the oldest driver in the field, 63, making his debut in the No. 03 Mike Affarano entry.   These dirt track stars have a built-in resume that includes Six Silver Crown wins, 180 dirt modified wins, a midget driver, 60+ wins, and a K&N driver.

    The rest making their track debut include Austin Hill, John Provenzano, Todd Gilliland, Myatt Snider, Brett Moffitt, Tyler Dippel, Dalton Sargeant, Justin Fontaine, Nick Hoffman, Max McLaughlin, Logan Norman Seavey, Kyle Strickler, Trevor Collins and RJ Otto Jr.

    Chase Briscoe will make his series return driving the No. 27 Thorsport’s fifth entry.

    Ryan Newman will be fielding the No.3 entry of Jordan Anderson Racing. It’ll be Newman’s first start of the series since 2015 where he drove the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports entry at Kansas when he started fourth and finished second. It’ll be the first time at Eldora since 2013 when he drove the Turner Motorsports entry and finished third.

    Here’s who to expect that might end up in victory lane in Wednesday nights annual running at Eldora.

    1. Matt Crafton – It will be the one year anniversary since the two-time champion has scored a win in the series. His last win came at this very track after leading 24 laps and finishing first and ninth in both stages, respectively. Crafton got some dirt exposure this past weekend driving his modified at Oakshade Raceway. He’s been driving his modified whenever his schedule will allow. Crafton has competed in all five races, earning one win, one top five and five top-10 finishes, averaging a 10.4 start and a 7.4 finish. Nonetheless, after a somewhat forgettable season so far, the series veteran will be hungry to get his first win of the season and lock himself in the 2018 Truck Series Playoffs.
    2. Stewart Friesen – This will be Friesen’s playground this week and could be his chance to park it in victory lane for his first career win. Like the other dirt track stars, Friesen is a dirt track standout of his own, driving in the Super DIRTCar Series. He has amassed over 260 wins dirt tracks across the United States since 1999. Friesen currently drives Big-Block Modifieds. Eldora is a special place for the No. 52 Halmar Racing driver. It’s where he made his series debut in 2016 starting 16th but he disappointingly finished 28th due to a crash on Lap 111. However, this opportunity led him to make more series starts before going part-time in 2017, and full-time this year. In last year’s race, Friesen started on the pole and finished second after leading 93 laps. He won Stage 1 and finished second in Stage 2.
    3. Chase Briscoe – Briscoe is back competing in the Truck Series Wednesday night. This time, however, he is competing in the No 27 ThorSport Racing entry. It will be the team’s fifth entry. But Briscoe is no stranger to the series nor dirt, as he competed full-time last year driving for the now defunct Brad Keselowski Racing team. He competed in the Dirt Derby last year finishing third after starting 12th. Briscoe also brings dirt experience having driven quarter midget and 410 Sprint Cars. He also is the youngest winner to earn a victory in the 410 Sprint Car Series. Currently, Briscoe competes in a family-owned team in all kinds of series on dirt.
    4. Tanner Thorson – If there is an upset winner this week in the Truck Series, it could very well be the No. 20 of Tanner Thorson, but if it’s on dirt,  his fans know it wouldn’t really be an upset. Thorson is a decorated dirt track star driving in the TRI-C No.3C Sprint Car and Midget team. In past years, Thorson drove in the Keith Kunz Motorsports and earned 25 midget wins. Other stats include 2013 Midget National Rookie of The Year, 2015-2017 National Midget Driver of the Year, and he won the 2016 USAC National Midget Championship. This year, Thorson is competing in pretty much everything dirt. This includes Midgets, POWRI National Midget, USCS 360 Wing Sprint Car, World of Outlaws, Civil War 360 Wing Sprint Cars, KWS 410 Sprint Car, and in the SCCT 360 Sprint Car series. In the Truck Series this year, he has two starts with those coming in Dover and Iowa. The best finish was 13th at Iowa. It’ll be interesting to see how the decorated dirt star competes against the series regulars when dirt comes into his favor.
    5. John Hunter Nemechek – When it comes to dirt, you wouldn’t think of Nemechek as a contender for the win. However, in the past four starts, he only has one finish outside the top-10 which came in 2016 after some issues during the race. His other finishes include sixth, seventh, and fifth in last year’s race. Nemechek even led 11 laps in the previous race after finishing third in both stages. In his four starts, it has brought him an average start of 11.8 and an average finish of 10.5, with 12 laps led. He’ll be hungry to get to victory lane as one slipped away at Chicago, where he ran out of gas on the last lap on the back straight, ultimately finishing seventh.

    In the past five races, there have been five different winners including Matt Crafton, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Darrell Wallace Jr., and the first event winner Austin Dillon. The lowest a winner has ever come from the field to win was 19th in 2013 from Dillon. The highest starting spot came in last year’s race where Crafton started second and won.

    Two practices are scheduled for Tuesday night with the first one taking place at 7:05 p.m. ET and the final practice is slated for 9:05 p.m. ET, with no live TV coverage.

    Qualifying for the heat races is scheduled for Wednesday at 4:35 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1. There will be five heat races starting at 7 p.m. ET. All five heat races will consist of 10 laps to set the starting lineup.

    Live coverage begins at 9 p.m ET Wednesday on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio, with the approximate green flag at 9:15 p.m. ET. Stages are broken into 40/50/60 for a total of 150 laps.

    Eldora Race Format

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

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

    Friday night’s Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway marked the 11th race of the season. It also marked the halfway point of the season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

    Here are four takeaways from the Overton’s 225 race.

    1. Close, but no cigar for Nemechek – John Hunter Nemechek was on pace for his second win of the season. However, a miscalculated pit stop early in the race, cost Nemechek a chance at the win as he ran out of gas on the backstretch on the last lap. This misfortune set him back to a disappointing seventh-place finish.  All was not lost though, as Nemechek led 64 laps and finished first and third, respectively, in Stages 1 and 2. Unfortunately, this does not mean anything, as he selected to earn NASCAR Xfinity Series points for this season.
    2. Brett Moffitt There To Capitalize – When someone has a misfortune, normally someone is there to capitalize on it. This certain someone just happened to be Iowa and Atlanta winner, Brett Moffitt. Moffitt and Nemechek swapped the lead with each other eight times in the last remaining laps. It was Moffitt who came out on top and earned his third win of the season. However, sponsorship still remains uncertain for the team in the remaining races of 2018.
    3. Can anyone stop Johnny Sauter? Sauter has been the most dominant driver in 2018. He has amassed four wins, an average start of 5.5 and an average finish of 4.0, along with 324 laps led. Can anyone stop him? If sponsorship continues for the Hattori Racing team, they could certainly be in the Championship 4 spot at Homestead. Noah Gragson, who has been strong this year, won at Kansas and has been close many times to multiple victories. It’s just a matter of a time before he breaks through and wins more. Stewart Friesen is another driver to keep an eye on for the remaining half of the season. 2018 has been a strong season for Friesen, who has three top fives and six top-10 finishes, along with 105 laps led. His best finish of the season was second at Fort Worth, a track in the Playoffs. One last driver who could surprise and quietly make his way to the Championship 4 is Sauter’s teammate, Justin Haley. Haley fended off Sauter on a late race restart at Gateway to earn his first Truck Series career win. Other stats include four top fives and seven top-10 finishes.
    4. Will Crafton Win? The 2018 Truck Series season has been so-so for the two-time champion Matt Crafton. There’s no question that Crafton has the talent and skills to win. But this is a sport that focuses on, what have you done for me lately? Crafton has only earned three top fives and four top-10 finishes, along with 35 laps led and an average start of 6.2 and an average finish of 13.5. His best finish of the season was at Dover finishing second, but only after Noah Gragson had a late race incident with Johnny Sauter. Crafton’s top fives and top-10 finishes are the lowest of his career since 2007 when he earned one top five and 10 top-10 finishes. Eldora will mark one year since the No. 88 ThorSport driver has won a race in the series, uncharacteristic-like to say the least. He sits seventh in the points currently but will have to win soon and start winning stages if they want to advance further in the Playoffs. If anyone can do it, it’s the experienced veteran and two-time champion. It is interesting to note that if Crafton doesn’t win this season, it will be the first time since 2012 that he hasn’t won a race in a season.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Chicago

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Chicago

    After another exciting race at Gateway last weekend, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues its season and reaches the halfway point at Chicagoland Speedway.

    Last year, this race was held prior to the eight race Playoffs and decided the regular season champion. However, this year, it is now a summertime race but it is still an important race as stage points and a race win are still up for grabs.

    Currently, there are 33 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list.

    Here’s who to expect on might end up in victory lane in Friday nights Overton’s 225.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek will pilot the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports truck this weekend. He’ll be hungry for a win after exiting the race late last week at Gateway due to an issue. Chicago could be the place where he will break the drought and end up in victory lane. In three races, Nemechek has an average start of 13.7 and an average finish of 7.3. In that time span, he had one win which came in 2015 and he finished 14th and seventh in the last two races. Nemechek will be a prime contender in this week’s race if all the cards fall in the right place.
    2. Johnny Sauter – How could one ever overlook a four-time winner this year going for win number five? Sauter has nine starts dating back to 2009 and is the previous race winner.  He also has an average start of 9.1 and an average finish of 8.0 and has led 106 laps. Sauter earned a pole here back in 2014 where he finished 14th. In last year’s race, the No. 21 GMS Racing team finished second and fourth in the first two stages, respectively, before taking the lead on Lap 123 en route to victory after leading the final 28 laps.
    3. Myatt Snider – While Snider only has one start at Chicago which came last year after finishing 10th, he’ll have his Thorsport Racing teammates to lean on for advice, especially two-time champion, Matt Crafton, who has nine starts. He is also carrying momentum from last week’s fourth-place finish, which was his first top five of the year. .
    4. Todd Gilliland – After turning 18 a few weeks ago, Gilliland has been consistent with his finishes, despite not finishing at Iowa and being relegated to 29th. It will be his first start at Chicago, but it is also another 1.5-mile track where he does have experience. At Charlotte, he finished 10th with a sixth-place finish the following week at Fort Worth, both 1.5-mile tracks. It will be a little bit of a learning curve with it being his first start, but if past finishes say anything, Gilliland will be a contender for the win. He will also be competing in Thursday night’s ARCA race.
    5. Stewart Friesen – Friesen has been a solid contender this year in the Truck Series. If not for issues late in previous races this year, he could have had multiple race victories in 2018. At the 1.5-mile race tracks, he finished sixth at Atlanta, fifth at Las Vegas after leading 31 laps, third at Kansas (led six laps), sixth at Charlotte, won the pole and finished second at Texas while leading 13 laps. He has certainly been a contender for the win this year at these tracks, but for whatever reason, can’t quite get the No. 52 truck to victory lane yet. If he wins this weekend, not only will it be his first win, but it could be the first of many this season and he could be a prime contender at Homestead for the championship.

    The trucks have competed at Chicagoland nine times with five different winners, those being Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, James Buescher, Nemechek, and Sauter. Busch is the only repeat winner at the track with five wins.

    The trucks will have two practice sessions scheduled for Thursday afternoon. The first practice takes place at 5:30 p.m. ET and the final practice will be held at 6:35 p.m. ET with no live TV coverage.

    Qualifying is slated for Friday afternoon at 5:40 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 2.

    Race coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. ET and with the approximate green flag taking place at 9:19 p.m. ET, both on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages will be broken up into 35/70/150 laps.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Gateway

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Gateway

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues their midwest swing this weekend by visiting Gateway Motorsports Park located in Madison, Illinois just outside of St. Louis, MO.

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

    Of those 34, there are 11 drivers who have never made a start at Gateway. Those drivers include Myatt Snider, Bobby Reuse, Brett Moffitt, Dalton Sargeant, Justin Fontaine, Christian Eckes, Riley Herbst, Chad Finley, Stewart Friesen, Zane Smith and Jesse Little.

    Two of those drivers, Riley Herbst and Zane Smith will be making their Truck Series debut.

    Here’s a look at who just might be contending for the win in the Villa Lighting Delivers the Eaton 200.

      1. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek will once again be piloting the No. 8 Chevy for Nemco Motorsports. He is the previous race winner at Gateway after scoring an emotional win in last year’s race. In four starts, he has one win, two top five and three top-10 finishes, along with 99 laps led. In last year’s race, Nemechek led just 46 laps en route to victory after starting in the second position. He won Stage 1 and finished third in the second stage. If he does get to victory lane, it shouldn’t be surprising as Nemechek has an average start of 7.5 and an average finish of 6.5. Look for the young Mooresville, North Carolina driver to be challenging for the win in Saturday night’s race.
      2. Noah Gragson – Gragson might be a little bit of a wildcard this weekend at Gateway, considering he only has one start here which came in last year’s race. He started seventh and finished ninth, but after almost collecting win number two last week in Iowa after a dive bomb move, Gragson will be hungry to go to victory lane for the second time this year. He’ll have tons of track time with three practice sessions scheduled to take place, but as seen this year, Gragson should be a prime contender for the win.
      3. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt is coming off a momentum win at Iowa last weekend. It was his second win of 2018 and with the team still fighting to secure sponsorship for the rest of the season, the No. 16 Hattori Racing team will be wanting more and be up front challenging for the win. If he wins on Saturday night, it’ll be win number three and it could help him get more sponsorship for the season. In last year’s race, the No. 16 raced with Ryan Truex, who now competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. They started 11th, finished fifth and ninth, respectively, in both stages.
      4. Johnny Sauter – It’s hard to ever count out Sauter who is a four-time winner this year. At Gateway, he has competed in six races earning a best finish of second in 2009. Since then, Sauter has had finishes of third, fourth, third, fourth, and third in last year’s race. In addition, he has an average finish of 3.2 and has led 33 laps in total, including six top fives and six top-10 finishes. While he doesn’t have a win here at the 1.250-mile track, it will give him that much more motivation to get this track crossed off the list and continue his dominant season.
      5. Ben Rhodes – While Rhodes has had trouble as of late in terms of performance, Gateway could be the site of his first win and get him into the Playoffs this year. He only has two starts coming in 2017 and 2016, both for Thorsport. Both of those races have been solid races for him. In 2016, he started first and finished second. In last year’s race, Rhodes started 12th and finished eighth, giving him one top five and two top-10 finishes with an average finish of 5.0.

    There have been 17 races in total at Gateway Motorsports Park. Former Truck Series driver, Ted Musgrave, has been the only repeat winner, with victories coming in 2001 and 2005. In the past five races, there have been five different winners including John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell, Cole Custer, Bubba Wallace, and Kevin Harvick in 2010.

    The lowest a race winner has ever started was 14th which came back in 2004 and David Starr was the winner of that race. Qualifying will be important as the last five winners have started second, ninth, second, second, and first, respectively.

    Three practices are on tap Friday afternoon with the first practice scheduled for 3:35 p.m. ET. The second practice is at 5:35 p.m. ET, while final practice will be aired on FS2 at 7:35 p.m. ET.

    Qualifying is slated to take place at 5:25 p.m. ET and will be tape delayed on Fox Sports 1 at 7 p.m. ET.

    Race coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio, with the approximate green flag taking place at 8:48 p.m. ET.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Iowa

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Iowa

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to the midwest again this weekend, as the series regulars head to Iowa Speedway. This is the second standalone event of the season for the series.

    Currently, there are 35 trucks on the preliminary entry list this weekend for the annual M&Ms 200.

    Fifteen drivers will be making their first track debut. These include Camden Murphy, Austin Hill, Cory Roper, Todd Gilliland, Reid Wilson, Myatt Snider, Bobby Reuse, Brett Moffitt, Tanner Thorson, Dalton Sargeant, Justin Fontaine, Christian Eckes, Stewart Friesen, Bo LeMastus and Bayley Currey.

    Note: Christian Eckes will be making his Truck Series debut driving the No. 46 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

    Here’s a look at who might be challenging for the win this weekend at the small .875-mile track.

    1. Johnny Sauter – It should be no surprise that Sauter, once again, tops the chart this week but it’s hard to overlook someone who has done so much in a sport that’s called, ‘What Have You Done for Me Lately?’ Lately, he has earned season win number four last week at Texas Motor Speedway. It’s also hard to stop someone who has been on a roll and carrying so much momentum this season. However, Iowa will be a little challenge and a curve-ball this week for the No. 21 GMS Racing. Sauter has no wins in 11 races, but he does have seven top fives and eight top-10 finishes, along with an average start of 9.8 and an average finish of 7.4. His last five finishes have been second, 10th, 17th, 18th, and fourth, respectively. But if he does pull out the win this Saturday night, it shouldn’t be surprising due to the fact that he’s been the Kevin Harvick of the Truck Series.
    2. John Hunter Nemechek – John Hunter Nemechek returns to pilot the No. 8 Nemco Motorsports Chevy. He is high on the list this week because Nemechek is the recent race winner of the event. In last year’s race, he started fifth and led just six laps. He also finished seventh and third, respectively in both stages. Nemechek has also led 59 laps in total at the track, including obtaining a 5.5 average start and an average finish of 11.5. Other finishes include 12th, 23rd (DNF), and 10th in his four starts at the track. He also has one top-five finish and two top-10 finishes. Nemechek will certainly be a challenger for the win this week at Iowa.
    3. Stewart Friesen – After last week’s performance, it’s hard to not count Friesen out to contend for the win. He and his No. 52 Halmar Racing is slowly but surely, becoming more and more of a contender each week in challenging for race wins. Friesen came up .092 seconds short of his first win to Johnny Sauter. This will be his first-ever start at Iowa Speedway this weekend.
    4. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland will be making his first ever Truck Series start at Iowa, but he does have previous starts and experience at the racetrack. His starts came in the NASCAR K&N Series as well as the ARCA Racing Series. In last year’s race, Gilliland started fourth and won after dominating the whole race by leading 147 laps. He has also made one start in the ARCA Racing Series driving for Venturini Motorsports starting 11th and finishing ninth. Gilliland has already proven himself as a contender for the win and if the opportunity strikes, he could end up in victory lane this weekend. What a win that would be for the recent high school graduate.
    5. Matt Crafton – Crafton will be making his 12th career start at Iowa this weekend and is still searching for the first win of the 2018 season. At Iowa, he has made 11 career starts and posted one win which came in 2011, seven years ago. He also has five top-five finishes and along with 10 top-1os. Crafton has also led 89 laps throughout his career at this place and has an average start of 9.7 and an average finish of 6.3. However, in the recent outing, he did not finish after getting involved in a late-race crash and salvaged a 19th place finish. While it seems as though the No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 is still searching for speed this season if they play their cards right and right calls happen, Crafton will earn his first win of the season and lock himself into the Playoffs.

    Iowa Speedway has seen 11 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ever since the series went there in 2009. Erik Jones and Timothy Peters have been the only repeat winners. Other winners include Mike Skinner, Austin Dillon, Matt Crafton, James Buescher, William Byron and defending race winner, John Hunter Nemechek. Qualifying will be important if you want to collect a race win as previous race winners have started, fifth twice, first, second, and third.

    Stages will be broken up into 60/120/200.

    The Truck Series will have a one day show with first practice beginning at 9:35 a.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 and final practice at 11:00 a.m. ET on Fox Sports 2. Qualifying is slated for Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS2.

    Race coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio, with the green flag scheduled to drop at 7:19 p.m. ET, approximately.

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

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

    Kansas Speedway was the home for the sixth race of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It was dominated by a young 19-year old.

    Here are four takeaways from the 37 Kind Days 250.

    1. Kyle Busch Motorsports Strong In The Heartland – It’s no doubt that if it’s not Johnny Sauter or Matt Crafton dominating the races, then it’s the Kyle Busch Motorsports stable. This weekend it was the No. 18 of Noah Gragson and the No. 4 of Kyle Busch. Gragson started on the pole and led most of the race, while his boss, Busch, followed closely behind in second. Gragson cut into the points lead and is now 35 behind Sauter. It will be interesting to see if Gragson can get on a roll after winning at Kansas this weekend.
    2. GMS Racing Has Strong Showing – GMS Racing drivers had a strong showing at Kansas Friday night. Last week’s winner Johnny Sauter finished fifth, Justin Haley 10th and Dalton Sargeant 11th. The team continues to be strong week in and week out.
    3. John Hunter Nemechek Posts Top Five Finish – In just his fourth race of the season, Nemechek posted his second top five by finishing fourth. Currently, he has three more races for the 2018 season while he is competing part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
    4. Brandon Jones Back In The Truck Series – Brandon Jones returned back to the Truck Series this past weekend driving the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry. It was Jones’s first race back since Bristol of last summer where he finished 10th. He started 13th and finished seventh and fifth, respectively, in both stages. When the 37 Kind Days 250 was all done and finished, the Atlanta Georgia native finished eighth.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Martinsville

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Martinsville

    After two postponements due to rain and snow, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series resumed action on Monday morning after completing just 23 laps before being red-flagged Saturday afternoon. There are some new names on top of the power list rankings and some who fell out, while others get honorable mentions. Here’s a look at this week’s truck series power rankings.

      1. John Hunter Nemechek: After having a dismal start to 2018 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Nemechek sure turned that around Monday by collecting his first ever grandfather clock. After starting eighth, he finished sixth and fifth in both stages, respectively. Nemechek didn’t take the lead until the final 31 laps of the race and held off a hard-charging Kyle Benjamin by .106 seconds. However, Nemechek didn’t collect truck points as he is collecting NASCAR Xfinity Series points this year.
        Previous Rankings: Not Ranked
      2. Brett Moffitt: Moffitt continues to impress in the Truck Series. In the previous race outing at Las Vegas, he finished third after starting sixth.  This week at Martinsville, Moffitt finished third once more after starting seventh. He finished ninth in Stage 1 and finished sixth in Stage 2. Hattori Racing and Brett Moffitt continue their momentum from their Atlanta win a few weeks ago. The No. 16 driver sits third in the point standings, 31 behind leader Johnny Sauter.
        Previous Ranking: 2nd
      3. Ben Rhodes: After earning his first pole of the season, Rhodes led 23 laps until the red flag came out Saturday afternoon. Once the race resumed Monday, he was the dominant truck to beat. Rhodes won Stages 1 and 2 after leading most of the laps in those stages and collecting 10 playoff points each. Unfortunately, losing positions on pit road was the issue that ultimately cost Rhodes the race win. The scoring pylon at the end of the race showed the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford 12th.
        Previous Ranking: Honorable Mention
      4. Kyle Benjamin: Benjamin and the No. 54 David Gilliland Racing team almost scored an upset victory Monday at Martinsville. Benjamin started fourth and stayed in the top 10 for Stage 1 to finish fifth. In Stage 2, he, unfortunately, did not place in the top 10.  After Stage 2, however, Benjamin took the lead on lap 146 and led for 74 laps until Nemechek took the lead on lap 220. The No. 54 driver stayed up there with Nemechek especially in the remaining laps and gave everything he could for the race win. He came up .106 sec short, finishing second in his first ever career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
        Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
      5. Grant Enfinger: Enfinger earned another top-five finish of his career at Martinsville. A strong qualifying effort placed the No. 98 Tundra third. Enfinger finished third and ninth, respectively in Stages 1 and 2.  Ultimately, he wound up fourth for his second top-five of the year.
        Previous Ranking: 4th

    Honorable Mentions

    1. Noah Gragson: Fall winner Noah Gragson finished fifth after starting 11th.
    2. Timothy Peters: Peters was back in a truck for the first time this year driving the No. 92 Ricky Benton Racing Ford. He would come home inside the top 10 finishing seventh.
    3. Cory Roper: Roper competed for the first time ever in the Truck Series driving for his team Roper Racing. The No. 04 Ford finished 13th in his first ever NASCAR start. Not bad for a place like Martinsville.

    Fell out of the Power Rankings
    1.  Johnny Sauter: Sauter was looking for his second win of the season at Martinsville on Monday. However, he brought out the caution on lap 225 and collected competitor, Matt Crafton. Sauter collected a disappointing 19th place finish.
    2. Dalton Sargeant: While not a dismal day, Sargeant battled a difficult truck as he did not place in the top 10 in either stage. He wound up finishing 11th.
    3. Stewart Friesen: Friesen looked like he had the truck to beat early on. He qualified fifth and finished seventh in Stage 1. Unfortunately, Friesen was collected in two incidents. One on Lap 87, which was an accident that involved others in Turn 2 and again was involved in an incident on Lap 117. This ultimately placed him 20th.