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Tag: Kaz Grala

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Daytona

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Daytona

    The NASCAR off-season is officially over for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with the first practice kicking off Thursday morning 11:35 a.m. ET on FS1.

    Currently, there are 36 Trucks entered on the preliminary entry list.

    With a new year, comes new faces in new places. Here are some notables.

    Jordan Anderson will be fielding his own team in 2018 by driving the No. 3. An interesting twist for Daytona, David Gilliland will be driving the No. 4 for Kyle Busch Motorsports, Korbin Forrister in his teams owned No. 7, Myatt Snider takes over the No. 13 for Thorsport Racing, Dalton Sargeant in the 25 for GMS Racing. Ben Rhodes is now the 41, not the 27 as in previous years. To round out the unique entry list, Bo Le Mastus will be competing in the new David Gilliland Racing team driving the No. 54. Got that? Good. Now let’s take a look at who will be hot at Daytona International Speedway this Friday night.

    In the last three races, there have been three different winners ranging from Tyler Reddick, Johnny Sauter and last year’s winner, Kaz Grala. Reddick and Grala will not be competing in this year’s event as they have moved on to the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

      1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter is the highest active driver stat wise at Daytona. In the past three races, he owns one win, one top five and two top 10 finishes, with 64 laps led. However, in last year’s race, he was involved in the infamous big one at Daytona on the last lap. Unless you’re a stat nerd, then they really don’t mean anything at Daytona but you have to be there at the end to win the race. Nonetheless, never count Sauter out at plate tracks.
      2. Matt Crafton – Crafton will be back competing in his 19th year for the Truck Series. It’s hard to believe that in the last 17 races at Daytona, the No. 88 Thorsport driver does not have a win at Daytona. His best finish came eight years ago in 2010, where Crafton finished fifth. In the past three races, he has put up only two top 10 finishes and has led seven laps, with an average finishing position of 10.7. Despite going up and over on the last lap in last year’s race, he wound up 14th. In 2015 and ’16, Crafton finished eighth and 10th, respectively. Crafton and Sauter are realistically the only highly experienced drivers in the field.
      3. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek will be back behind the wheel of his family’s team-owned No. 8 Fleetwing Corporation Chevy. He only has two career starts at Daytona that came in 2017 and ’16. During those two race spans, Nemechek has completed 99.5 percent of the laps, scored one top five and one top 10 finish, and has an average finish of 10.5. Nemechek’s best finish came in last year’s race, where he placed fourth.
      4. Myatt Snider – New Year, New Look, New Team for the young 23-year old Myatt Snider. After competing for Kyle Busch Motorsports last year, Snider will adorn the No. 13 Liberty Tax Toyota for Thorsport Racing. It will be interesting to see how Snider does with his new team in 2018. Regarding stats, he only has one start that came last year where Snider finished 10th. He finished eighth in Stage 2.
      5. Parker Kligerman – Kligerman has become quite the restrictor plate racer as of late. In fact, the last time the Truck Series competed on a superspeedway, Kligerman was the winner at Talladega last fall. In four races, he has finishes of 15th, 11th, 29th in 2014 and third in 2016. Kligerman could very well be an upset winner once again Friday night in Daytona.

    There are three practice sessions scheduled for Thursday. First practice takes place at 11:35 a.m. ET, with the second practice slated for 2:25 p.m. ET and the final practice at 4:35 p.m. ET. All taking place on Fox Sports 1.Qualifying is Friday afternoon at 4:45 p.m. ET with the green flag scheduled for 7:52 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Driver Analysis: Kaz Grala

    Driver Analysis: Kaz Grala

    The 2017 season started off with a bang for the No. 33 GMS Racing driver Kaz Grala. The season opener saw him starting on the pole and winning the race after a last-lap crash on the backstretch. Since that Daytona finish, however, he was inconsistent with his finishes. Atlanta and Martinsville saw him finishing 15th, while Grala would finish eighth at Kansas scoring his second top 10 finish of the season. A week later at Charlotte, he was involved in a crash on lap 70 which relegated him to a 30th place finish.

    In the coming weeks at Dover, Fort Worth and Gateway, Grala finished second, 10th and 13th, respectively. The next time he finished inside the top-15 was at Michigan placing 12th. He had four DNF’s at Iowa, Kentucky, Eldora and Pocono. Bristol saw Grala finish 28th due to engine problems. Needless to say, the summer month stretch was a long one for the 19-year-old.

    With the Daytona win, he was already locked into the playoffs. Starting with Canada, Grala finished third and continued the consistent finishes in the top 10 until the elimination race at Talladega. It was a busy one for the GMS Racing driver as his team ended up changing an engine before the race. The race did not get that much better for Grala as on Lap 18, he was collected in a wreck which saw him being eliminated from the playoffs.

    “My No. 33 team, everyone at GMS Racing and at Hendrick Engines worked really hard to change that motor to get us out in time for the race,” Grala said. “From what I could tell, it still felt like we were the fastest Chevy out there. Starting in the back, I made a lot of good moves to be in a position to get stage points at the end of the first stage. I’m not quite sure what happened but everyone checked up. I slowed down and thought I was going to miss it, but the truck behind me didn’t get slowed down fast enough and turned us up into the wall ending our day. That put an end to our championship hopes, unfortunately, which is really a shame because I think this No. 33 team had really come alive in the later part of this season and I think we would have been a contender. We did our part in what we could control and I’m just super proud of my guys.”

    Since that unfortunate situation at Talladega, he had finishes of seventh, sixth, fifth and 13th at Martinsville, Fort Worth, Phoenix and Homestead, respectively.

    “The No.33 team fought hard tonight,” he said. “The track was much more loose than originally anticipated and it was just hard to ever get comfortable with the lack of grip on the track. My STEALTH Chevy was fast at the end of a long run, but at that point, track position was hard to get back. I can’t thank my guys enough for all their work, not only tonight but the entire season.”

    Grala ended the season with one win, five top fives and eleven top 10 finishes, with an average start of 10.2 and an average finish of 14.0, with seven DNF’s and 33 laps led. For 2018, he will be the driver of the No. 24 Ford of JGL Racing.

    Grala can be found on social media on his Twitter page @KazGrala and Instagram @KazGrala.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Phoenix

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Phoenix

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series came to the Arizona desert last Friday night to settle the Championship 4. As always, the truck series action did not disappoint. Here’s a look at who topped the top five power rankings this week.

    1. Johnny Sauter – When there is a truck race, you can always expect Sauter to be up front and challenging for the win, however, it came with a little luck. In both stages, he placed sixth, but his luck turned around when the two leaders had contact and were involved in a racing incident. Sauter did not take the lead until Lap 146 and held off a hard-charging John Hunter Nemechek, scoring back to back wins.
    2. John Hunter Nemechek – Could have, would have, should have, was the title for Nemechek on Friday night. He started sixth and stayed in the top 10 for both stages, placing fourth and seventh, respectively. Like Sauter, however, he got a little bit of luck in the remaining laps and tried to challenge for the win late but unfortunately came up one spot short.
    3. Stewart Friesen – Friesen continued his 2017 success by coming home sixth at Phoenix this past weekend. Even though he did not place in the top 10 in Stage 1, Friesen placed 10th in Stage 2. After all the melee was over, the No. 52 Halmar Racing team came home sixth for his fourth top 10 finish of the year.
    4. Cody Coughlin – Coughlin placed third Friday night at the 1-mile race track. It was the best finish of his three-year career in the Truck Series, despite not finishing in the top 10 in both stages. Coughlin will look to end the season on a high note by either winning or scoring another top three finish.
    5. Kaz Grala – If Grala was not knocked out of the championship hunt, who knows where he would have been now. In the past three races, he has finished inside the top 10. In fact, Grala’s whole round has been solid, but wrecking at Talladega and finishing 29th was the ultimate blow to his championship hopes. He will be hoping to end the season winning at Homestead after winning the first race of the season at Daytona.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Martinsville

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Martinsville

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was back in action this past weekend at Martinsville Speedway to kick off the Round of 6 and the final stretch for the championship run at Homestead-Miami.

    Here’s a look at who did well.

    1. Noah Gragson – The 19-year old finally scored his first career win this weekend in style. He qualified fifth and did well in the first stage by placing fifth. In the second stage, Gragson wound up third behind Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton. On the final restart, Gragson restarted second on the outside of Crafton and passed him with a power move to lead the final 10 laps to score win number one at the famous half-mile track.
    2. Matt Crafton – The 2015 winner fell one spot short on the final restart, to eventual race winner, Noah Gragson. Before that, however, Crafton dominated Stage 1 by winning and leading the most laps. In Stage 2, it was the other way around as he finished second. Crafton had the lead until Gragson passed him on the outside with 10 to go for the restart and settled for second. He wound up leading the most laps with 102 and earning one playoff point.
    3. Johnny Sauter – It shouldn’t be a surprise to see Sauter in the top five or top three at Martinsville. He placed second and first, respectively, in Stages 1 and 2. He battled for the lead late, but at the end of the day, the 2016 champion finished third after leading 33 laps.
    4. Stewart Friesen – The Canadian driver had another solid run this season by finishing sixth. It’s great to see this out of a team that doesn’t normally compete regularly for the win. It was Friesen’s third-best finish of his career. He placed ninth as well in Stage 2.
    5. Kaz Grala – Just because you’re eliminated from competing for the championship, it doesn’t mean that you’re done competing for the race win. This was shown Saturday afternoon as Grala started eighth and finished sixth in Stage 1, and 13th in Stage 2 after pit stops. By the end of the checkered flag, Kaz placed seventh to score his ninth top 10 of the year.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Talladega

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Talladega

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend and it’s the final race in the Round of 8. Two drivers will be eliminated in competing for the playoffs after the race is over.

    Currently, there are 32 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list.

    Surprisingly, there have only been 11 races dating back to the first race in 2006, when NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin earned the win.

    In the past five races, there were three different winners, while Timothy Peters, who will not be competing this weekend, has repeated in the past two races. The lowest a winner has come from is 24th back in 2013 set by Johnny Sauter and the highest starting spot winner was from the pole at least three times in 2006, 2007 and 2015, respectively.

    Here’s a look at who we can expect to be a strong contender for the win this weekend.

      1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter is the best active driver statistically at Talladega. In five races, he has one win (2013), two top five and four top 10 finishes, but has one DNF in 2014. His average starting position is 14.0, while his average finishing position is 9.0. Anything can happen at Talladega, but Sauter might just pull off a win.
      2. Christopher Bell – Bell won’t have anything to worry about as he already is locked into the next round, but he’ll be fighting for some extra playoff points. In two races, he has a finish of 13th and sixth, respectively. Bell has an average finishing position of 9.5. Look for him to be up front on Saturday.
      3. Kaz Grala – No career starts for Grala at Talladega, but he has high expectations after becoming the youngest-ever winner at Daytona earlier this season. A win will certainly help him to move on to the next round as he sits below the cut line.
      4. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger just might be the spoiler in the playoffs Saturday afternoon. In last year’s race, he pulled off the win after leading for 45 laps. So if he ends up in victory lane at the end of the day, don’t find it surprising that the Alabama driver plays as the spoiler.
      5. Ben Rhodes – While his result from last year’s race may not look pretty, he is carrying momentum after his first career win at Las Vegas two weekends ago. He, along with others, will be fighting for stage points throughout the race.

    There will be two practices scheduled for Friday afternoon at 12 p.m. ET and 2 p.m. ET both on FS1. Qualifying is slated for Saturday morning beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET on FS1.Race coverage begins on FS1 and MRN Radio at noon ET, with the green flag dropping at 1:22 p.m. ET.

  • Four Takeaways from the Camping World Truck Series Race-Las Vegas

    Four Takeaways from the Camping World Truck Series Race-Las Vegas

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series went to the wild west this past Saturday night in Las Vegas. The trucks are known for their exciting races and this one sure didn’t disappoint. Here are four takeaways from the Las Vegas 350.

    1. Ben Rhodes Gets First Career Win – After coming close at Kansas earlier in the year and only coming up short due to an engine failure, Rhodes finally broke through and scored his first win on Saturday night in a last-lap thriller. Rhodes did a solid job of driving and racing his own race until the last lap came where he held off a hard-charging Christopher Bell off Turn 4 right at the finish line. With this win, Rhodes is now locked into the Round of 6 and will not have to worry about the pressures/wild card of Talladega.
    2. Christopher Bell Has Another Strong Finish – If Bell does not end up in victory lane, then he is for sure close to it. He recorded his 12th top five of the year Saturday night. This will only help Bell further his championship chances. Surely, he will be a championship lock for the final four, if nothing goes sour for the rest of the season.
    3. Brad Keselowski Racing Earns Top Five Finish – Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric both had strong runs Saturday night. But, it shouldn’t be surprising, since both of the BKR trucks swept the top spots in last year’s race. Both of them, however, needed the strong runs to help continue their championship chances.
    4. Kaz Grala and John Hunter Nemechek Need Great Finish At Talladega – Two playoffs drivers are in danger of being eliminated from the Round of 8 next weekend at Talladega, but anything can happen. Grala could earn two stage wins and be safe as long as he doesn’t get collected in a wreck. Nemechek will most likely need a win in order to move on. However, there are still two drivers who will have to go home and be eliminated after all is said and done. Although, no one can predict the unpredictability of Talladega, which makes the race fun to watch for the fans.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Las Vegas

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Las Vegas

    The second race in the Round of 8 for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took place in Sin City at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday night. The race did not disappoint as it ended in a last-lap thriller and a first-time winner.

    1. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes did everything right when he scored his first win Saturday night. In the first stage, he finished sixth. However, after some varying pit strategies, Rhodes went on to win the second stage, thus earning Playoff points. Rhodes lost the lead for a little while until the last caution came out with 15 to go. The final restart came with seven to go. Rhodes took advantage of it as he went on to lead the last seven laps of the race and held off Christopher Bell in a last-lap thriller. He beat Bell by 0.066 seconds.
    2. Christopher Bell – Bell came oh so close to earning another win in the 2017 season. He dominated most of the race by leading three times for 64 laps, and finished third in Stage 1, while he finished second in Stage 2. The last time Bell led was from lap 133-138. After the final caution, Bell tried all he could to chase down and pass Rhodes, but was unable to do so and had to settle for second. Nonetheless, still a dominating night in Las Vegas for the JBL Tundra driver, who turned 52 points.
    3. Kaz Grala – Even though Grala finished inside the top 10 at New Hampshire, he needed to continue his strong run if he wanted to advance to the next round. Grala did that Saturday night despite being involved in an incident on Lap 43. He came through in Stage 1 by finishing seventh but fell outside the top 10 in Stage 2. Grala eventually rebounded and scored a fifth-place finish. Still, he sits seventh, eight points below the cut line. He’ll have to either win a stage or a race at Talladega, in order to advance to the Round of 6.
    4. Chase Briscoe – It shouldn’t be a surprise that a Brad Keselowski Racing driver finished in the top five at Las Vegas as they finished 1-2 last year. Briscoe put on a dominating performance in Stage 1 by leading all 35 laps and won the stage. In a strong run for Stage 2, the No. 29 BKR driver finished sixth. Even though Briscoe did not lead for the rest of the night, he finished strong by placing third. He’ll still need a good finish, possibly a stage win, at Talladega to advance on to the Round of 6.
    5. Cody Coughlin – Coughlin has had an up and down 2017 season. Statistically, he has three DNF’s and before Vegas, his best finish was eighth at Pocono. He didn’t place in any of the stages but when it counted, Coughlin rallied to a sixth-place finish.
  • Ben Rhodes Holds Off Christopher Bell to Win in Last Lap Thriller at Las Vegas

    Ben Rhodes Holds Off Christopher Bell to Win in Last Lap Thriller at Las Vegas

    Ben Rhodes claimed his first career victory in the Camping World Truck Series race Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, holding off Christopher Bell in the final laps to win by a margin of 0.066 seconds.

    The ThorSport Racing driver took the lead on the final restart with seven laps to go in his No. 27 Toyota, leading twice for a total of 20 laps, on his way to Victory Lane. With this win, Rhodes is locked into the Round of 6.

    “I used every play in my playbook,” said Rhodes said after the race. “I knew if I could keep him (Bell) close to me, he couldn’t break the (air) bubble. This is the biggest high of my life.

     “So many things have gone wrong and now here I am in Victory Lane.”

    Chase Briscoe finished third in his No. 29 Ford while Austin Cindric and Kaz Grala rounded out the top five.

    On Saturday afternoon, Ryan Truex and Johnny Sauter set the front row spots in qualifying for the Las Vegas 350 Truck Series race. Stage 1 and 2 were 35 laps each with a final stage of 76 laps.

    The first stage got off to a wild start. There was a pack of trucks that were three wide down the backstretch and unfortunately, Myatt Snider was bumped from behind by Stewart Friesen and was sent sideways in Turn 3.

    After that, the action calmed a bit as Briscoe jumped out to the lead and was able to go on to win Stage 1. Sauter, Bell, Truex, Matt Crafton, Rhodes, Grala, Cindric, Friesen and Noah Gragson rounded out the top 10.

    Stage 2 began on Lap 41 and just like the beginning of the race, there was tons of action on the first lap of the stage. Sauter missed a shift and got tapped from behind by Cindric which caused a chain reaction crash that involved Grala, Friesen, Austin Wayne Self and Justin Haley. Grala and Sauter were the only ones with major cosmetic damage.

    On Lap 47, Bell went to the lead. The action didn’t stop there as Briscoe, Crafton, John Hunter Nemechek, Rhodes and Truex had a tight battle for the lead. However, on Lap 55, Cindric went sideways through the grass after a side-draft gone wrong with Grant Enfinger.

    With a restart on Lap 61, Rhodes took the lead and never looked backed as he went to take Stage 2.

    The third final stage went underway on Lap 77. After varying pit strategies, Cindric, who pitted for fuel only and Gragson, who stayed out, were marked as the leaders for a short while.

    On Lap 81, playoff contenders, Crafton, Sauter and Cindric made contact with each other on the backstretch. Due to the contact, Sauter had a flat tire. As he went to pit, Sauter was deemed too fast entering pit road and again was caught for speeding.

    Bell regained the lead on Lap 87. With 40 to go, Gragson began to pit for his scheduled pit stop but was caught speeding twice and ended up doing a stop-and-go penalty.

    Green flag pit stops began with 25 laps to go. This saw most of the leaders pit, except for Playoff contender John Hunter Nemechek who was trying to stretch it to the finish on fuel. The final caution came out with 15 to go as Austin Wayne Self had a tire go down and slammed the outside wall hard. Unfortunately, Nemechek ran out of fuel and stalled his truck on pit road, ending his hopes at a shot for the win.

    There were six cautions for 32 laps and seven leaders among 11 lead changes.

    Playoffs Points
    1. Christopher Bell (W)
    2. Ben Rhodes (W)
    3. Matt Crafton -51
    4 . Johnny Sauter -54
    5. Chase Briscoe -68
    6. Austin Cindric -70
    Below the cut line
    7. Kaz Grala -78
    8. John Hunter Nemechek -84

    Next Up: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes a week off before heading to Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 12, for the Fred’s 250, the final race in the Round of 8.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-New Hampshire

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-New Hampshire

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues the on-track action this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Not only do they continue the on-track action, but the Round of 8 begins and it starts the championship run to Homestead-Miami Speedway. Here’s a look at who will be hot this weekend in Loudon.

    Loudon is an interesting place for the Camping World Truck Series. The series raced there consecutively from 1996-2011. However, the series recently made its return to the track in 2014. Here’s a look at who’s hot at New Hampshire.

    There are currently 30 drivers on the preliminary entry list.

    Since its return in 2014, there have been three different winners in the past three races. Only a few drivers have experience here, while there will be rookies making their first start.

      1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter is carrying momentum after his win last week at Chicago. In the past three races, he has two top fives and three top 10 finishes, with an average finish of 5.7. With the momentum, it won’t be surprising if Sauter ends up winning at New Hampshire. Sauter is also hungry as he does not have a win at this track. Look for him to be a contender on Saturday afternoon.
      2. Christopher Bell – In one start at New Hampshire, which came last year, Bell finished a solid second. During that race, he even led 11 laps in his track debut.
      3. Matt Crafton – Crafton will look to put his dismal Chicagoland weekend behind him and it could happen this weekend at New Hampshire. In the past three races, Crafton finished third, second and third, respectively. Not to mention, he leads all active drivers with three top fives and top 10 finishes, and an average finish of 2.7.
      4. John Hunter Nemechek – If there is a track similar to New Hampshire, it’s Gateway Motorsports Park. Gateway was the site of his first win of the season. Nemechek may be the fourth best driver to compete this weekend. He has two top fives and three top 10 finishes, with an average finish of 6.3. New Hampshire just might be the place where Nemechek could once again set the Truck Series on fire.
      5. Kaz Grala – Grala has one start in the Truck Series at New Hampshire. In the 2016 race, he finished seventh. Something Grala once again has to do this weekend.

    On track action begins Friday at 1:30 p.m. ET with first practice and final practice taking place at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1. Qualifying is slated for Saturday morning at 10:05 a.m. ET and the green flag is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET, all on FS1 and MRN Radio.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings- Bowmanville

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings- Bowmanville

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series went north of the border for an action packed Chevrolet Silverado 250. One driver who was on the outside looking in was able to lock himself into the playoffs after a wild last lap. Here are this week’s power rankings.

      1. Austin Cindric – Cindric had been a strong contender all year long. Before Canada, he had four top fives and nine top 10 finishes. But one thing was missing and that was a win to lock himself into the championship hunt. On Saturday afternoon, the 19-year-old sat on the pole for the first time in his career. All he needed to do was back that up in Sunday’s race. Cindic dominated in Stage 1 by leading most of the laps and ended up winning. He didn’t finish in the top 10 at all during Stage 2, due to some varying pit strategy. He closed in on race leader, Kaz Grala who already had a win at Daytona earlier this year in the late laps. On the last lap, Cindric gave Grala a controversial bump and therefore winning his first ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
      2. Kaz Grala – Grala was oh so close to securing a second win of the 2017 season. He hasn’t won since the first race of the season at Daytona and since the midseason point, he’s been somewhat struggling. In Stage 1, Grala kept close to Cindric’s bumper but never could pass for the lead, therefore, finishing second in the first stage. During varying pit strategies, he was able to take the lead on lap 45 and lead for 19 laps until the last one, where he was bumped by second-place Cindric. Grala didn’t lose too many spots though as he finished a disappointing third.
      3. Noah Gragson – Gragson was another one of those bubble playoffs drivers who needed to win. Late in the race, he made a daring four wide move to up to third. Gragson stayed close behind the leaders and was able to make a pass on third. After Grala was bumped, he finished behind race winner, Austin Cindric. This was Gragson’s best finish of his career. However, it wasn’t enough for him to move up in the points, as he will have one more chance at Chicagoland to secure his playoff spot for the playoffs.
      4. Justin Haley – Haley had a quiet but strong day at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. He finished fifth in Stage 1, but like others due to pit strategy late in the going, Haley wasn’t in the top 10 at the conclusion of Stage 2. He rebounded though and finished fourth. He’ll most likely have to win at Chicagoland to have any chance for the 2017 championship.
      5. Ryan Truex – Like Haley, Truex had a decent outcome at Canada. He finished seventh in Stage 1 and won the second stage after staying out, while others pitted. After stops, Truex stayed inside the top five for the remainder of the race and finished fifth. Truex has the best chance of making it into the playoffs based on points.

    Next Up: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes another week off before heading to Chicago Motor Speedway Friday night September 15.