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  • 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 Power Rankings-Chicago

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Chicago

    Friday nights Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway marked the halfway point of the season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It was the 11th race of the scheduled 22 race season.

    Once more, the Truck Series put on a thrilling battle for the race win and continued to show that it’s the best of the three national touring series right now. Little did anyone know, it would also set the stage for what would be an exciting weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.

    Here’s a look at who topped this week’s power rankings.

    1. Brett Moffitt – After falling out of the power rankings last week due to a late-race incident at Gateway, none of his doing, Moffitt and the No. 16 Hattori Racing team was able to secure sponsorship from Fr8 Auctions and was able to continue at Chicagoland this past Friday night. Moffitt started sixth and slipped back in Stage 1, finishing fifth. In the second stage, he improved his finishing position after finishing second and led for one lap. As soon as the third and final stage began, Moffitt was up front battling and contending for the race win with John Hunter Nemechek. It all started on lap 74, where Nemechek took the lead and since then, the two swapped the lead seven times in the last remaining laps. It was quite an epic battle for the race win with two drivers not backing down. On the last lap of the race, Moffitt made a move to the inside in Turn 1 to pass Nemechek for the win after only, Nemechek’s truck ran out of gas coming off of Turn 2 and thus Moffitt drove away with the race win. It was his third win of the year. The team noted in the post-race media availability, that they do have some races secured later on in the season, but still need full-time funding in order to compete for the championship. Previous Week Ranking: Fell Out
    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter once again continues to prove that consistency is key if you want to win the championship in any of NASCAR’s top three series. He continues to be one of the best trucks on racetrack week in and week out. Despite finishing seventh and fifth in both stages, respectively. Sauter and his No. 21 GMS Racing team fought hard with a tight-handling race truck which wasn’t great in the dirty air, but with a late race caution on lap 122, the team was able to make adjustments only to have the jack fall during the pit stop which sent him to the back. With years of racing experience and knowledge, Sauter fought his way to a third-place finish earning his tenth top-10 of the season. He continues to lead the point standings over second place Noah Gragson by 65 points. Previous Week Ranking: 1st
    3. Noah Gragson – Gragson stays in this week’s power rankings after finishing fourth. It was a quiet but strong night for the No. 18 Safelite Kyle Busch Motorsports Tundra. After earning his third pole of the season, he consistently stayed inside the top-10 for most of the night. Early on in the first stage, Gragson led two times before being passed by John Hunter Nemechek on the last lap in Stage 1 and had to settle for second. The second stage, however, provided a much better opportunity for Gragson to earn stage points. When Korbin Forrister decided not to come in for tires, he restarted on the front row alongside Gragson. As soon as the restart happened, the No. 18 with four fresher tires passed Forrister for the lead and ultimately for the stage win. The third and final stage started to become a challenge for the 19-year-old youngster. It seemed as though his handling had started to go away just a tad before the last caution came out on Lap 122 when he came in for an adjustment like everyone. At the end of the day, the scoring pylon showed Gragson and his No. 18 Safelite Tundra in the fourth position. A decent Chicago outing for the KBM driver. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
    4. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes finally gets a well deserved second place finish this past weekend. After not having the best of finishes and bad luck throughout the season, the cards and opportunity finally fell in his favor Friday night. He started ninth and finished sixth and 11th, respectively, in both stages. With the help of adjustments late in the going, Rhodes was there to capitalize on Nemechek’s misfortune on the last lap and earned his best finish of the season. This is exactly what the No. 41 ThorSport driver needs and it could be a chance to open the floodgates, where they could possibly begin to finish consistently inside the top-10 and peak at the right time of the season. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
    5. Justin Haley – Last week’s winner, Justin Haley, came home in the top-10 after starting 10th. It was a relatively quiet night for the No. 24 GMS Racing driver. It wasn’t the best night for him and his team, but he was able to secure finishes of ninth and seventh, respectively.  Haley is locked into the Playoffs with his win at Gateway and currently sits sixth in the standings. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
  • Johnny Sauter earns a quiet third at Chicago

    Johnny Sauter earns a quiet third at Chicago

    After starting seventh in the Overton’s 225 Friday night, Johnny Sauter was looking for his fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win of the year and his second at Chicagoland Speedway.

    In the first stage, Sauter and his No. 21 GMS Racing team fought handling conditions and slipped back to seventh due to fighting dirty air while being caught in the back. During the stage caution, he and his team took four tires and made an adjustment.

    In Stage 2, Sauter restarted 11th and once more, he fought tight conditions as he reported, “Can’t get anywhere,” during the team radio communications. As Stage 2 came to a close on Lap 70, Sauter finished fifth.

    When the laps started to wind down, the No. 21 Chevy once again was battling a tight-handling truck and had also lost grip. Sauter and his team fought these ill handling conditions all night long. Their struggles continued when, on the last pit stop, a jack dropped and he had to come back and tighten lug nuts that were loose.

    After the night was over and all was said and done, Sauter and the No. 21 ISM Connect Chevy wound up third.

    “Track position is just everywhere anymore,” Sauter said. “You can be a lot of faster than a guy in front of you, but you just can’t do nothing about it. I’m not a high line runner there. So on the end of that long run there before the last pit stop, I just can’t do it. I just got too tight and on the last pit stop, the jack broke. So we lost a lot of track position there and had to come back down pit road to put a lug nut on.”

    “All in all, a great night with our ISM Connect Chevy. The guys did a good job. Everybody at GMS, just had a couple of mishaps in the pit tonight, that’s all. We had really good short-run speed, just needed a little more for the long run.”

  • 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 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

  • Johnny Sauter Continues Mid-Season Dominance

    Johnny Sauter Continues Mid-Season Dominance

    The 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion came to Gateway Motorsports Park this past weekend for their 18th race at the track, just outside of St. Louis, Missouri.

    Having competed here since 2009, Sauter has never won at the 1.250-mile racetrack. While he has four victories this season, Sauter was looking to cross Gateway off the list of tracks he has never won at and score win number five of 2018.

    During three practice sessions the No. 21 GMS Racing team battled to get the truck to Sauter’s liking. He placed 12th fastest in the first practice, third in the second session and 10th in the final practice session.

    The team struggled just a little bit during qualifying and started the race in the 13th position. Sauter finished ninth and second, respectively in both stages. But, after several cautions late in the going, Sauter found himself competing and challenging for the win alongside his teammate and the eventual race winner, Justin Haley.

    He fell one spot short of securing his first track win and his fifth win of the season. However, not all was lost, as he continues to lead the standings over second place Noah Gragson by 73 points.

    “We struggled early in the race with being tight and the later into the night we got, it started to loosen up,” Sauter said.  “The No. 21 guys worked hard the last two days and we really improved on what we had in practice. I think Justin did a great job on the restarts there at the end and I wish we had something for him, but it’s really cool to see someone put everything they’ve got out there and finally get rewarded for it. This is a big night for GMS and GMS Fabrication, locking a second truck into The Playoffs.”

    The Truck Series heads to Chicagoland Speedway this Friday night and Sauter is the defending race winner.

  • 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 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 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 Event at Texas

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Event at Texas

    Texas Motor Speedway was the host for the eighth race of the 2018 season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. While there were some notables that placed in the top 10, there were also some of the same familiar faces at the top.

    Here are this week’s four takeaways from the PPG 400.

    1. Johnny Sauter Continues To Dominate – There’s no stopping the four-time winner, Johnny Sauter, this season. He now has four wins, seven top fives and seven top 10 finishes. While he did not dominate as he did in previous races, Sauter still found a way to work his way up to the front and win at Texas for his fifth win at the track. If this was in November, he would have had already clinched his spot in the championship 4 as he did last November. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if Sauter does collect another win at Texas later in the year. He’s currently on track to becoming a three-time champion.
    2. Tyler Young Shines In The Top 10 – Young had a great, but quiet Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. While he didn’t finish inside the top 10 at all in either stage, he rallied toward the front to finish seventh at the end of the night. This was a strong finish, almost a win, for the underdog Young Motorsports team. It was his first top 10 finish of the year and his sixth of his career. A decent showing by the No. 20 of Young Motorsports.
    3. Todd Gilliland Is The Highest Kyle Busch Motorsports Driver – Having no previous race experiences at Texas Motor Speedway, Gilliland scored a sixth-place and was the highest KBM driver in the final results. Not bad for the recent high school graduate, who will now be able to compete on a full-time schedule for the rest of the year. It will be interesting to see how he does and it wouldn’t be surprising if he collects a couple of wins before the season is all said and done. Spencer Davis finished ninth while  Noah Gragson claimed 10th and rounded out the Kyle Busch Motorsports trio.
    4. Cody Coughlin Has A Solid Top 10 Night – Coughlin continues to quietly finish inside the top 10 this season. He finished fifth in the first stage but fell outside the top 10 due to falling a lap down. With a late caution, Coughlin and his No. 2 JEGS Chevy made adjustments and he worked his way back into the top 10 late in the race. At the end of the day, he found himself in the seventh position in the final rundown for his fourth top 10 of the year.