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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas 1
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was in the heat of the heartland this past Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. There were definitely some thrills and spills, but some guy named Johnny Sauter who has been victorious multiple times this season topped this week’s power rankings.
1. Johnny Sauter – Same song, second verse for the 2016 Truck Series champion. Sauter started fifth in Friday nights PPG 400. While he wasn’t all that dominant as he was in past races, he still found a way to make it to the top. In Stages 1 and 2, Sauter finished fourth and ninth respectively. However, after some late race cautions for incidents, Sauter found himself challenging for the win. It wasn’t until Lap 117, where he ultimately took the lead and led for the final 51 laps. It’s hard to stop Sauter and the GMS Racing No. 21 team at the moment as this was their fourth win of the season. They’ll be hard to beat when the trucks go to Iowa this week. Previous Ranking: 1st
2. Stewart Friesen – Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing team continues to shine this year in the 2018 Truck Series season. The Ontario, Canada driver started on the pole for Friday night’s race. It was just the second pole of his career, his first since Eldora of last year, and his first of the year. After slipping up on the start of the race, Friesen rallied back to the lead on Lap 30 and on Lap 34, where he held on to win the first stage. He was a mainstay in the top three as well for the second stage, as he finished second. Friesen gave all he could challenging Johnny Sauter for the win. However, he came up just .092 seconds short of the win. Previous Ranking: 4th
3. Justin Haley – Haley and the No. 24 team continues to creep up into the top five finishing position week after week. He started 10th and finished eighth and third, respectively, in both stages. He even led just for a short period of time (three laps in total), before ultimately finishing third. It was Haley’s third top five of the season. Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
4. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger scored another top five for the 2018 season. After starting in the eighth position, his No. 98 team fell outside the top 10 for Stages 1 and 2. When multiple cautions fell late in the race, Enfinger was able to capitalize and bring home his Protect The Harvest Ford in the fourth position to earn his third top five of the season. A solid effort by the Fairhope, Alabama driver. Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
5. Matt Crafton – The No. 88 team gets an A for effort in this week’s power rankings. The Menards Ford driver has been having an up and down year so far. Prior to the Texas race, Crafton only had two top five’s and four top 10 finishes coming into the race. He started ninth and was able to power his way up to the second position in the first stage. Late in the run, his Ford F-150 got too tight in order to battle for the win. Despite the tightness of his truck, Crafton brought it home in the fifth position for his third top five of the year. However, he still remains winless in the 2018 season. Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
June 11, 2018
Sauter takes fifth win at Texas, fourth win of 2018

Although he didn’t lead until Lap 117, Johnny Sauter still managed to gain his fourth victory of 2018, taking the win over polesitter Stewart Friesen by 0.092 seconds in the PPG 400. The margin of victory was the closest in Truck Series history at Texas Motor Speedway, besting the June 2006 event which had a margin of victory of 0.116 seconds.

Sauter’s victory came with a bit of a scare, as he ran out of fuel going into Turn 3 on the white flag lap. But as he hit the banking the engine managed to fire back up before sputtering coming to the finish line. Sauter blocked Friesen adequately enough to grab the checkered flag.

Friesen and rookie Todd Gilliland led the field to the green flag, with third-place qualifier Noah Gragson taking the lead on Lap 2. Caution soon came out on Lap 8 when the No. 45 of Justin Fontaine bounced off the fourth turn wall. The caution came out again on Lap 13 when the No. 83 of Bayley Currey snapped loose in Turn 3, hitting the wall with his right rear quarter panel. The third caution came when the 16 of Brett Moffitt, who was within reach of the points lead coming into Texas, crashed going into the second turn on Lap 29. Moffitt’s Toyota would finish 18th, keeping him third in points, 95 out of the lead.

Gilliland would go on to lead the most laps overall on the night (62), while Friesen and the No. 98 of Grant Enfinger won the first two stages, respectively. Sauter’s GMS Racing teammate Justin Hayley finished third while Enfinger finished fourth and Matt Crafton finished fifth. Gilliland would finish sixth while Tyler Young took seventh, Cody Coughlin finished eighth, Spencer Davis took home ninth, and Noah Gragson finished the top-10.

The win was especially emotional for Sauter’s Crew Chief Joe Shear, who lost his wife in December.

“Every time we come to Texas, it’s a big race,” said Shear. “My wife and her family were from Dallas, so this is always a big race for us. She was always such a supporter, so this win is big for me.”

Sauter joins Kyle Busch and Mike Skinner as the only Truck Series drivers to win four or more races in the first eight races of the season. When asked about being a lock for Homestead-Miami at the season’s finale, Sauter was blunt on his stance.

“We’d be crazy to think we’re a lock for anything,” said the 2016 Truck Series champion. “Anything can happen.”

The next race is June 16 at Iowa.

June 8, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Charlotte
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series had a home race this past Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was the seventh race of the season with a first-time winner at the track, but it was a familiar foe that ended up in victory lane.

Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.
1. 1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter tops off the power rankings list this week by notching his third career win of 2018, the 20th of his career and his first time ever at Charlotte. He continues to dominate the 2018 season by having six top fives and six top 10 finishes. Sauter even started from the pole after qualifying was washed out due to thunderstorms earlier in the day. With a 59 point lead over Noah Gragson in the regular standings, the sky is the limit for the No. 21 GMS Racing team and they will be tough to beat for the championship. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
  2. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a solid career night at the 1.5-mile track. After starting sixth based on owner points, the No. 16 Hattori Racing driver worked his way up to the lead by Lap 27, with just four laps to go in Stage 1. Moffitt was able to remain in the lead for those four laps to win the first stage and collect 10 championship Playoff points. He would take the lead two other times in the race to lead 28 laps and ultimately finishing in the fourth spot for his fourth top five of the year. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
  3. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes finished in the fifth position rounding out the top five in Friday night’s race. It was just his third top five of 2018. While only finishing sixth in Stage 2, Rhodes battled changing track conditions all night long and had a tough time restarting on the inside for the restart. Nonetheless, it’s only a matter time before the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford driver breaks out and earns his first win of the season and career. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
  4. Stewart Friesen – Friesen continues to be part of the talk this year finishing inside the top 10 once more after almost winning the previous week at Kansas. He didn’t finish in the top 10 in either stages, but Friesen worked his way up to finish sixth and earned his fourth top 10 of the year. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
  5. Noah Gragson – Gragson comes down in the power rankings this week with his finish of eighth, but that wasn’t from the lack of trying. For most of the race, it was him and Sauter battling for the race lead, at least in the early laps. From Laps 1-22, Sauter and Gragson traded the lead five times before Sauter took over. When Gragson took the lead on Lap 10, it would be the last time he led for the rest of the night. He didn’t finish in the top 10 in Stage 1 due to a pit road speeding penalty, which set him back to finish 14th in the first stage. Stage 2 was just a little better for the No. 18 Safelite Tundra, finishing 10th. However, it was the last restart of the night that cost Gragson a shot at winning as he spun his tires and he almost spun out. After losing a few spots on the restart, the 19-year-old driver climbed his way back into the top 10, finishing eighth. Previous Week Ranking: 1st
Honorable Mentions:
1. 1. 2. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland will finally be able to race full time after turning 18-years- old this past week. It was his first start on a 1.5-mile track and he did alright for the most part. He finished eighth and fourth, respectively in both stages. Gilliland was running well until late race contact with two-time champion Matt Crafton. This ultimately put the Pedigree driver 10th on the scoring pylon at the end of the night.
May 22, 2018
Four Takeaways From the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Charlotte
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned home to Charlotte Motor Speedway this past Friday night for the seventh race of the 2018 season. Familiar drivers shined while others didn’t.

Here’s a look at this weeks four takeaways from the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.
1. 1. Johnny Sauter Dominant Once More – It seems that Johnny Sauter is becoming the Kevin Harvick of the Truck Series. After he was awarded the pole Friday due to thunderstorms canceling qualifying mid-afternoon, Sauter dominated most of the race by leading five times for 71 laps, earning five Playoff points. It was his third win of the 2018 season and the 20th of his career. But ultimately, it was Sauter’s first ever win at Charlotte. As the season rolls along, it’ll be interesting to see how many more wins the 2016 champion racks up before the Playoffs.
  2. Kyle Busch Has To Wait One More Race – Another race, another wait for the Las Vegas, Nevada driver who is looking to tie Ron Hornaday’s all-time winning record with 51 wins in the Truck Series. Busch had to battle slow pit stops and two pit road penalties Friday night for his crew being over the wall too soon. The last restart certainly didn’t help his chances either, as teammate Noah Gragson spun his tires and backed everyone up. Busch worked his way back up to second but fell 1.34 seconds to race winner Johnny Sauter.
  3. Inside Line Had Trouble Restarting – If it wasn’t for Busch or Sauter being the story of the night, it would have been the inside line not being able to get going on the restarts. It seemed as though after a restart, the second place driver would have trouble going on the restart. Some drivers even took to Twitter to describe how tough it was not to spin out, which ultimately gave the high line an advantage.
  4. Justin Haley Has Save Of The Season – Is it too early to give awards out for a save of the season? If not, then give it to the GMS Racing No. 24 driver who made an excellent save of the night late in the going and just barely kept it off the wall. It is certainly newsworthy or at least worth a mention. It was pretty cool to see, to say the least.
Next Up: The truckers have two and a half weeks off before heading to the Lone-Star state Friday night June 8.
May 21, 2018
Johnny Sauter Earns First Career Victory At Charlotte

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series had a home race Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Johnny Sauter was able to earn his 20th career victory, but he had to earn it with late race cautions and battles for the lead throughout the race

After rain canceled qualifying, it was Sauter and Kansas race winner Noah Gragson, on the front row after the field was set by owner points.

The stages were broken up into 30/30/74 laps.

After battling weather conditions all day long, the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 took the green flag in the first stage with a battle as Sauter and Gragson battled side-by-side for multiple laps until Gragson broke away by Lap 10. An early caution came out, however, on Lap 21 as Grant Enfinger cut down a right rear tire.

During the pit stops, there were a couple of penalties handed out as Myatt Snider pit outside the box and had to serve a one-lap penalty and Gragson was penalized for too fast exiting.

Eventual Stage 1 winner Brett Moffitt stayed out to win the first stage followed by Justin Haley, Sauter, Dalton Sargeant, John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Parker Kligerman, Todd Gilliland, Matt Crafton and Jesse Little rounding out the top 10.

Stage 2 began on Lap 37 with Nemechek taking the lead several laps later. Not much happened for the 23 laps in the stage, as it remained caution free and the No. 8 driver won the stage.

Busch, Moffitt, Gilliland, Sauter, Ben Rhodes, Crafton, Haley, Brandon Jones and Gragson completed the top 10 for Stage 2.

Stage winner Nemechek suffered a slow pit stop and Kyle Busch’s team had another pit road penalty for being over the wall too soon.

Stage 3 was restarted with 67 to go. It wasn’t until Lap 72, where Sauter was able to take the lead back from Moffitt. The race was caution free until 54 to go as Justin Fontaine spun out in Turn 4 to bring out the fourth caution of the race.

Moffitt and Jesse Little stayed out to be the leaders on the initial restart and Busch again, was penalized for being over the wall too soon which set him back.

There were three more cautions in the remaining 50 laps. One for Josh Reaume with 47 to go, debris with 22 to go and again with 11 to go.

Before the last caution with 11 to go, Gragson got loose after a push from team owner Busch which almost spun him out on the restart. A half lap later, Austin Wayne Self spun in Turn 4 while Crafton and Gilliland had a run in with each other as well.

After the late race craziness, Sauter was able to hold on to win his first ever career Truck Series race at Charlotte.

“This is a tough place,” said Sauter. “Everyone wants to win here. I never thought I’d win here. To win this race is just super special. I never thought 40 would be so good.

“This is the biggest race of my career, and I’ve won a lot of big races. We kept making adjustments on the truck all night and made it better and better.”

Sauter led five times for 71 laps and earned five Playoff points. He now leads Gragson by 59 in regular season point standings.

There were seven cautions for 36 laps, along with five leaders among 12 lead changes.

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May 18, 2018
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.
May 15, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Kansas
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned to Kansas Speedway this past weekend.

It was the sixth race of the 2018 racing season and so far, there have been six different winners this year as a new, but familiar, face ended up in victory lane.
1. 1. Noah Gragson – After last week’s heartbreak at Dover, Gragson was able to back it up with a dominant win at Kansas. After starting from the pole position, he led all but four laps to win Stage 1. While he still had a fast truck in Stage 2, Gragson didn’t lead all the laps but went on to win the second stage. The lead was swapped multiple times in the remaining laps with Stewart Friesen, Kyle Busch, Johnny Sauter, and Myatt Snider until Gragson reclaimed the lead with six laps to go and was able to hang on to score just the second victory of his career. He lead 128 laps of the scheduled 167 laps and now sits second in the points, 35 points behind Johnny Sauter. Previous Ranking: 2nd
    
    Stewart Friesen – Friesen had another career night at the 1.5-mile speedway. After starting eighth, he finished 10th in Stage 1 and fifth in the second stage. Friesen took the lead twice and led for six laps. At the end of the day, the scoring pylon placed the No. 52 Halmar Racing team third to earn his second top five of 2018 and his fourth of his career. Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
    
    Johnny Sauter – Although, Sauter didn’t have the best truck all night, he was able to make the best with what he had. He started in the fifth position and fell back a bit during the two stages. In Stages 1 and 2, Sauter finished ninth and eighth, respectively. It was not the dominant truck that he had last week at Dover, but Sauter managed with what he had and finished fifth for his fifth top five of the season. He still remains as the point leader, leading over 35 points. Previous Ranking: 1st
    
    Matt Crafton – Crafton had a very similar night to what Sauter did. He was able to start on the front row alongside eventual race winner, Noah Gragson. He led just the first four laps of the race and struggled to get back into the lead to fight for the win, as Crafton battled a tight truck most of the night. Despite not having the best truck of the race, he managed to finish eighth and ninth, respectively in both stages. Ultimately, Crafton finished sixth for his third top 10 of the season. Previous Ranking: 3rd
    
    Cody Coughlin – Coughlin remains in the power rankings again this week by finishing in the seventh position. He finished 10th in Stage 2 to earn one playoff point. Coughlin sits 11th in the point standings. Previous Ranking: 4th
  Honorable Mentions
  1. Grant Enfinger- Enfinger scored another top 10 finish by placing eighth.
  2. Justin Haley- Haley finished 10th and earned his fourth top 10 of the year.
  3. Dalton Sargeant- Sargeant started 11th and finished 11th.
May 14, 2018
Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Dover
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competed in their fifth race of the 2018 season at Dover International Speedway. Here are four takeaways from the JEGS 200 event on Friday.
1. Johnny Sauter Continues Series Domination – Sauter got his second win of the 2018 season this past Friday. It was his first win since the season-opening race at Daytona. Since then, he has finished third at Atlanta, second at Las Vegas and only finished outside the top 10 once at Martinsville, finishing 19th. Friday’s victory was the 19th of his career. He’ll look to get his first victory at Kansas Speedway since 2010, eight years ago.
2. Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland Score Top Five/Ten Finishes – Burton and Gilliland who drive for Kyle Busch Motorsports earned a fifth and 10th place finish, respectively at Dover. Burton came from the back after starting 17th and finished seventh in Stage 1, while ultimately finishing in the top five. Todd, on the other hand, finished second in the first stage and eighth in the second, before finishing 10th.
3. Justin Haley Earns Third Place Finish – Haley earned his second top five of the 2018 season after finishing third. He started in the fourth position and finished third in Stage 1, with a second-place finish in Stage 2. As the JEGS 200 came to a close, the scoring pylon showed the No. 24 FOE Chevy third. A nice Dover outing for the GMS Racing team.
4. Close Battle For The Win Ends Under Caution – Sauter and Noah Gragson battled it out all the way to the end until the last corner with two laps to go. Both of them swapped the lead from lap 124 to lap 210. While it looked like Gragson could score his second career win, he would, unfortunately, get loose and end up finishing 20th due to a spin. Gragson and the No. 18 Tundra will look to rebound this week at Kansas Speedway and get his second career victory.
May 9, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Dover
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series finally returns to action this week at Dover International Speedway after a five-week off period.

So far for 2018, there have been four different Truck Series races with four different winners. Drivers will be itching at the bit to get back behind the wheel after a long rest period. At Dover, there have been five different winners in the past five races.

There are 34 trucks listed on the preliminary entry list this week.

Here’s a look at who might end up taking the checkered flag tomorrow night at Dover.
1. 1. Matt Crafton – Currently in 2018, Crafton and the No. 88 Ford has zero wins to start the season. However, Dover just might be the place where he’ll snap a winless streak just like Joey Logano did last weekend at Talladega. In five races, Crafton has one win, three top fives and three top 10 finishes, along with 181 laps led with an average start of 6.0 and an average finish of 8.4. The last time he went to victory lane was two years ago. Dover could be the track in which Crafton punches his ticket into the Playoffs. He’ll need some work to do so as he was 13th and 10th, respectively in the two practice sessions on Thursday.
  2. Johnny Sauter – Dover is another one of Sauter’s best race tracks. He is the defending race winner from last year’s race after leading just 33 laps and he still has momentum from the Daytona season opener win. Sauter will have to pull double duty this weekend after Spencer Gallagher was indefinitely suspended from NASCAR. Sauter is the highest active driver among all drivers when it comes to Dover. He has one win, three top fives and three top 10 finishes with 33 laps led. Sauter has an average start of 11.6 and an average finish of 4.8. In the two practice sessions today, he was second and third fastest respectively. Keep an eye out for the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevy team.
  3. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland will return this weekend to drive the No. 4 Pedigree Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports. In his only start at this track which came last year, he was running a smart race until an incident took place on Lap 115 as Gilliland had suspension issues. Despite the woes, he was able to lead 25 laps after starting 15th. He’ll look to rebound and challenge for the win on Friday night. Gilliland was fourth in both practice sessions Thursday afternoon.
  4. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt is having a stellar 2018 season so far. He collected the second win of his career at Atlanta back in February and collected three top fives, and three top 10 finishes this year. While Moffitt will be making his track debut in a truck at Dover, he does have some experience racing cup cars and in the K&N East Pro Series. In fact, Moffitt has even taken the checkered flag here way back in 2009. His first cup start here was for Jay Robinson Racing and he ended up finishing 22nd. While he doesn’t have any race experience with a truck, Moffitt will be using his past experiences to figure this place out. He was eighth and first fastest in both practice sessions.
  5. Noah Gragson – Gragson has one start here at Dover in the Truck Series which came last year. After starting eighth, he finished fifth in Stage 1 but fell outside the top 10 in Stage 2. Gragson stayed around the top 10 for the rest of the race, as he would wind up finishing ninth, one lap down. He was sixth and second fastest in two practice sessions.
Qualifying will be especially important at Dover. In the last five races, the winner has come from a starting spot no lower than 11th which happened last year when Johnny Sauter took the checkered flag.

Qualifying is slated for Friday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1.

The JEGS 200 can be seen live on FS1 with race coverage beginning at 5:00 p.m ET and on MRN Radio. The approximate green flag is 5:18 p.m. ET.
May 3, 2018
Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Martinsville
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited the “Half-Mile Paperclip” in Martinsville, VA for the fourth race of the 2018 season and it sure didn’t disappoint. Here are four takeaways from the Alpha Energy Solutions 250.
1. A for effort on NASCAR – With a gloomy weather forecast on Saturday, it looked like there would be no on-track action. However, they were able to get at least 23 laps in before the rain hit the track, which eventually turned into snow in the overnight hours. Despite waiting two days, the sun was shining on Monday and the trucks gave us a great race and the finish was worth the wait. Also, kudos to Martinsville for allowing fans who had a ticket for any series to watch both races. Fans safety is the number one priority.
2. Harrison Burton Returns For A Top 10 Finish – Burton competed in his first ever truck race in 2018 for the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports DEX Imaging Tundra. While he did not finish in the top 10 in Stage 1, Burton was able to collect stage points in Stage 2 by finishing 10th which earned him one playoff point. Ultimately, the Huntersville, North Carolina native finished eighth giving him his second top 10 in his early truck series career.
3. Johnny Sauter Has Tough Outing At Martinsville – Sauter’s day wasn’t all dismal; he finished in the top 10 in both stages, with finishes of fourth and third, respectively. However, his day turned sour on lap 225 when the truck was caught with low-voltage and eventually spun out, collecting Matt Crafton. This saw Sauter obtain a 19th place finish. He and the No. 21 GMS Racing team will look to rebound at Dover in May.
4. 2018 Off To Great Start For Truck Series – The 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has been off to a great start this season. One of the pluses this season is the consistency in the schedule. It wasn’t that long ago when trucks raced at Daytona and would have to wait for an entire month to race at Martinsville. The schedule has gotten better over the years especially this year with Daytona on the 16th, Atlanta the 24th, Las Vegas on the 2nd and Martinsville on the 26th. It’s great to see more consistency in the schedule. There have also been four different winners in four different races in exciting finishes and races. The Truck Series will now have a five-week break before returning to Dover in May. The 2018 season will be fun to follow as the season goes on.
March 28, 2018