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  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Championship Edition-Homestead-Miami

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Championship Edition-Homestead-Miami

    The 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series concludes Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway. There will be four drivers competing for the championship including Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric. Three of the four will be returning to the Championship 4 for a second consecutive year. Here’s a look on this special championship preview edition on how these championship drivers will fare at the final race of the year.

      1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter will be strong all night at Homestead. In the past five races, he has finished inside the top 10, with the exception of 2013 where he finished 16th. Sauter only has six laps led with an average start of 11.6 and an average finish of 8.4. In last year’s race, he started 19th but worked his way up all night toward the top 10. By Lap 40, he was placed ninth and then advanced to third on Lap 120, which was good enough for him to claim his first ever career Truck Series championship.
      2. Matt Crafton – If there is a veteran driver that will win the championship, it’s Crafton. He is already a two-time champion and is looking for his third. One year, Crafton even finished the race with his truck all torn up and still became champion. He has one win (2015), one top five and three top 10 finishes, with an average start of 5.6 and 10.0 for an average finish, with 115 laps led. Crafton let the championship slip away last year after Sauter passed him late in the going and never could get him back. He eventually finished seventh last year to finish second in the championship. Should Crafton win his third championship, he will be high on the list with Ron Hornaday and Jack Sprague. That would be quite an accomplishment for the Tulare, California driver.
      3. Christopher Bell – Bell only has two previous starts at Homestead. In his debut, he finished 25th after running out of fuel in the late going. Last year, Bell finished eighth after starting eighth to wind up third in the championship point standings. He will have to pick up his average finish as it’s 16.5 and only five laps led. He ran as low as 14th and as high as fourth. Practice time tomorrow will help get the No. 4 JBL Tundra dialed in for the final race of the season.
      4. Austin Cindric – Cindric is one of the few that does not have experience at Homestead-Miami as he will be making his first career start tomorrow night. Practice time will be critical for the Draw Tite F-150 Ford. However, he could surprise everyone as the unexpected driver to win the 2017 championship.

    Qualifying will be critical at the 1.5-mile track. In the past five races, the winners have come from the top 10, with the exception of Kyle Busch who won the race after starting 12th. In the last two races, however, the winners have started and won from the pole. The lowest a champion has ever started was 19th, which was set by last year’s champion Johnny Sauter.

    This will be an all-day event as there will be two practices in the morning at 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, both on FS1. Qualifying is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

    The Ford Ecoboost 200 coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET with the green flag scheduled for 8:49 p.m. ET all on FS1 and MRN Radio.

  • Matt Crafton Looking For Third Championship

    Matt Crafton Looking For Third Championship

    At the end of Stage 2 Friday night at Phoenix Raceway, the two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton, was able to clinch his way into his second consecutive Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami. He will now be seeking his third career championship.

    Before he got there, though, Crafton had to fight his way in despite an uncharacteristic-like year for the No.88 Menards Toyota Tundra.

    At Daytona, he was involved in wild last lap ride, where he went up in the air and landed on the ground. Even with that wreck, Crafton was relegated to a 14th place finish. Throughout the rest of the season, it was up and down for Crafton. However, it wasn’t until Eldora in July, where he scored his first victory of 2017 season, locking himself into the Playoffs for the second consecutive year.

    When the Playoffs started in Loudon, Crafton only finished outside the top 10 once, which took place recently at Phoenix Raceway this past weekend due to a crash. finishing 21st.  With the accident at Phoenix, he is still just a bit bitter, even though he will be searching for the third championship of his career.

    “The 19 just hooked the 27 (Ben Rhodes),” Crafton said.  “No racing about that – but I just said, I told Ben (Rhodes), ‘That ain’t fair, but next week.”

  • Johnny Sauter Goes Back To Back After Wild Race In Phoenix

    Johnny Sauter Goes Back To Back After Wild Race In Phoenix

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series headed out west tonight for the annual running of the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway and it sure didn’t disappoint.

    Johnny Sauter was able to score his second consecutive victory after holding off John Hunter Nemechek on a late race restart.

    Christopher Bell and Noah Gragson set the front row in qualifying on Friday afternoon.

    The stages were broken up into 40/80/150 laps.

    In the first stage, it was run cleanly and smoothly without any incident, as Gragson and Bell traded the lead back and forth before Bell eventually took the Stage 1 win. With this stage win, he was able to clinch a spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead.

    Stage 2 was similar to Stage 1. Bell and Gragson swapped the lead a few times before the second caution came out for the 98 of Grant Enfinger who made contact with the Turn 1 wall. This prompted Stage 2 to end under yellow, seeing Bell sweep both of the stages. Matt Crafton also clinched the third championship spot after Stage 2 due to collecting enough points needed.

    When Stage 3 began on lap 88, it might have been one of the wildest stages all year. There were several incidents and three red flags. The first incident came on lap 121 for Josh Reaume, who stopped on the track. Then shortly after the restart, a big accident took place on the frontstretch involving Austin Cindric, Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton, Austin Hill and Norm Benning.

    As they say “cautions breed cautions” and it was in effect tonight, as another incident took place after the restart on the backstretch, where Ryan Truex hit the wall hard, collecting Dalton Sargeant, Jesse Little, Todd Gilliland and Stewart Friesen.

    The race went back to green on lap 141 and this saw race leader Bell, and Gragson, racing hard for the win until Gragson and Bell made slight contact, which sent both of them into the wall ending their shot at the win. During the wreck, Gragson hit the wall hard backward and then Justin Haley plowed right into him, causing more contact for Gragson’s No. 18. John Hunter Nemechek was also involved, after running over a piece of debris. Gragson was evaluated and released from the infield care center.

    With a late race restart that saw two to go, Nemechek gave all he could for Sauter, but Sauter eventually held off the No. 8 and won his second consecutive race of the 2017 season after winning Texas last week.

    Sauter led once for five laps and placed sixth in both stages. There were six cautions for 38 laps and three red flags. The race had nine leaders among three drivers.

    Along with Sauter, Matt Crafton, Austin Cindric and Christopher Bell will now be competing for the championship next weekend at Homestead Miami.

     

     

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Phoenix

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Phoenix

    As the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season continues to dwindle down, there are two races left to go to crown the 2017 champion. However, before that happens, there is one race left to go in the Round of 6 and we will see that this Friday night at Phoenix International Raceway.

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

    Starting position is important at Phoenix. In the past five races, the winner has come from the top three starting spots, with the exception of 10th which was set in 2015 by Timothy Peters. Also, in the past five races, there have been three different winners, with Erik Jones being the only consecutive repeat winner in 2013 and 2014.

    1. Matt Crafton – Crafton is number one among active drivers statistically at Phoenix. In five races, he scored three top fives and three top 10 finishes, with 15 laps led. His best finish of second came in 2014 and finished third last year before competing for the championship the next week. Look for the two-time champion to be strong Friday night in the Arizona desert.
    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter is rolling off with momentum from his Texas win last weekend, advancing to the Championship 4 at Homestead. That won’t stop him from competing for another win and keeping the other playoff drivers on their feet. At Phoenix, Sauter has one top five and three top 10 finishes. He also averages an 11.4 start and a 13.8 average finish.
    3. Christopher Bell – After finishing third last weekend in the mid-west, Bell looks to solidify his spot in the Championship 4 by winning at Phoenix. Sure, he only has one start, which came last year and earned him a top ten finish. Kyle Busch Motorsports, however, has won four out of the last five races. So, Bell has some expectation to run well here, but if he can get it done, he will have the equipment to do it in.
    4. John Hunter Nemechek – One last shot for Nemechek to get in on a win and Phoenix just might be the place. In the last four races, he has one top five and three top 10 finishes. Although, stats will not matter because Nemechek has to win to advance, no matter where he finishes and how the other drivers fare as well.
    5. Ryan Truex – Truex has been having a solid 2017 season and he could possibly be an upset Friday night. With just one race completed, he finished ninth after starting 11th, which came in 2012. Truex also led 22 laps during that race.It will be a busy Friday for the Truck Series superstars.Only one practice session is scheduled for 11:00-12:50 p.m. ET on FS2. Later that day, qualifying takes place at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1, with the race coverage slated for 8 p.m. ET live on FS1 and MRN Radio.The green flag is set to fly at 8:49 p.m. ET.
  • Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Texas

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

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series came to the mid-west on Friday night for the JAGS Metal 350. It was the second race in the Round of 6. Here are four takeaways from the race at Texas Motor Speedway.

    1. Johnny Sauter Continues Dominance At Texas – When the scoring pylon showed Johnny Sauter in victory lane at the end of the night, it was no surprise that he was victory lane, even with the new recent repave of the 1.5-mile track. He now has four career wins at Texas Motor Speedway. Sauter has led a career 96 laps out of a combined 608 laps. Safe to say, Texas is one of Sauter’s best track statistically. He is now locked in to compete for the championship for a second consecutive year.
    2. Christopher Bell Posts Top Three Finish – After winning the June race, Bell had high expectations for this race to run well and that he did. He led once for 20 laps and placed top ten in both stages. With Phoenix looming, he will try to lock himself by winning but if past history is anything, they cannot take anything for granted. See, William Byron’s championship run last year, where it was cut short at Phoenix due to a blown motor.
    3. Matt Crafton Places An Uncharacteristic Ninth – When coming to Texas Motor Speedway, you expect at least two guys to be running up front and challenging for the win. Those are Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton. Crafton had two wins prior to this race at Fort Worth, both coming in 2014 and 2015, respectively. However, on Friday night, he did not have the best truck out there. In stage 1, Crafton finished sixth and eighth in stage 2. He only led five laps but wound up finishing ninth. He sits third -31 behind. Crafton will have to win two stages at Phoenix or win the race, to be locked in the Championship 4.
    4. Must Win For John Hunter Nemechek At Phoenix – John Hunter Nemechek has had a disastrous playoff run in 2017. It all started at Loudon, where he was sent to the garage for problems with the truck and came back out to finish 20th. Nemechek had a couple of solid runs at Las Vegas finishing sixth and eighth at Talladega, despite the damaged truck. However, he had an accident at Martinsville, which took him out of the race and wounded up 30th. And then this past weekend at Texas, Nemechek finished 19th, even though he placed top ten in both stages. It’s win or get eliminated for Nemechek at Phoenix this weekend. He sits 6th, -89 points behind.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Texas

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Texas

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs continues this Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway for the second race in the Round of 6. It’s crunch time for the drivers who are in the Playoffs.

    With Noah Gragson winning last weekend, a non-playoff driver, no one is locked in yet this weekend, so everyone will be on their game because as we’ve seen in previous years, anything can happen.

    Let’s breakdown on who’s hot and who might lock themselves into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami.

    There are 32 trucks on the preliminary entry list for Friday night’s JAG’s Metal 350.

    In the past five fall races, there have been four different winners and one repeat winner, Johnny Sauter in 2012 and 2016.

    Starting position is crucial to stay up front all night. The lowest a winner has ever come from at Texas is 16th done by Sauter in the previous fall race.

      1. Matt Crafton – Crafton is looking for a little redemption after coming up one spot short to race winner Gragson at Martinsville. In five races, he has posted one win, four top fives and five top 10 finishes, with 258 laps led and an average finishing position of 3.6. This could be the race that propels Crafton to the Championship 4. He is the best among active drivers stat wise.
      2. Christopher Bell – Texas is a great track for Bell. He is the previous June winner of the race. However, in the fall race, he finished 11th. Other stats include one top five and two top 10 finishes in four races, leaving him with a 13.0 average finish.
      3. Johnny Sauter – Sauter is another driver to look out for at the 1.5-mile track. In 2012 and 2016, he won the fall races. By winning last year’s race, Sauter was able to go the Championship 4 at Homestead. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he claims the race win Friday night.
      4. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes might be a surprise in the Lone Star State this weekend. In the 2016 fall race, he finished 15th, however, not to be denied is the fact that he has one top five and top 10 finish. Rhodes ended up in victory lane earlier this season at the 1.5 mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Look for him to be a contender Friday night.
      5. Chase Briscoe – Briscoe only has one start here, but in that one start, he finished second on a last-lap pass in June. He finished sixth and second in Stages 1 and 2, respectively. After being knocked out of the Round of 8, Briscoe is looking to end the year strong with wins for Brad Keselowski Racing before they end up closing their doors for good at the completion of the 2017 season.

    The trucks will hit the track for final practice on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET with no television coverage. Qualifying is slated for Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. ET on FS1 with race coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET, both on FS1 and MRN Radio. The green flag is scheduled for 8:18 p.m. ET.

  • 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.
  • Five Of The Six Truck Series Playoff Drivers Have Solid Day At Martinsville

    Five Of The Six Truck Series Playoff Drivers Have Solid Day At Martinsville

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series kicked-off its Round of 6 this past Saturday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, thus setting off a four-race stretch to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Five of the six drivers all placed in the top 10.

    The first of the five was Matt Crafton. Crafton started second and finished second after leading 102 laps and winning the first stage. He lost the lead on the final restart to eventual race winner, Noah Gragson, who passed him on the outside after the restart. Crafton now sits third -15.

    Johnny Sauter finishing third shouldn’t be a surprise in the truck series, especially at Martinsville where his team was the defending race winner. He started the race out strong by qualifying fourth. In Stage 1, he placed second. Stage 2 was basically flip-flopped as Sauter won it and Crafton finished second. Sauter would challenge for the win multiple times but settled for third. He is only three points behind in the playoff standings.

    “We had a good day, just didn’t execute when we needed to,” Sauter said. “It’s unfortunate, but we had a fast ISM Connect Chevy. Joe did a good job; all the guys at GMS did a great job. We had a fast truck on that first run but that adjustment we made just wasn’t the right one I guess. Nonetheless, I still think track position is king. You get out in clean air and it’s dominant. I feel like anymore, everyone runs the same speed, so when you give up seven spots it’s pretty tough to overcome. But with that being said I’ve made plenty of mistakes myself, it happens, I can’t be mad about it. Despite it all, it was a good points day and we’re just getting started in what I believe is the part of the schedule that really plays into our strengths.”

    Next up on the list is a driver who has been dominant all year long and in the Round of 8, Christopher Bell. He had somewhat of a decent showing by finishing eighth after getting spun earlier in the race on lap 123, bringing out the fourth caution. The Norman, Oklahoma driver scored another top 10 finish and is currently leading the playoff standings.

    “I don’t know, our JBL Tundra was really, really strong throughout the second stage,” Bell said. ” I don’t know, other than that second stage we struggled to get going, but I’m not really sure what happened getting into (turn) three there. I thought I left Matt (Crafton) enough room, but overall it was not the day we wanted, but we were able to salvage a good finish out of it and got some stage points in the second stage. We’ll move on to Texas (Motor Speedway) and hopefully be a lot better than we were today.”

    The Las Vegas winner, Ben Rhodes, scored his 12th top 10 finish of the year and is fourth in the standings, -34 points. He is certainly not out of it yet, but will most likely have to get a few more stage wins and a victory to get to Homestead.  Rhodes had a solid showing of ninth after starting third, but it was earned the hard way.

    “Yeah, we survived, but just barely,” Rhodes said. ” I didn’t survive in the position that I wanted to survive in. I wish we were a little bit further up. The whole race was a little bit frustrating. We had a top-five truck, I felt like. We ran up there the whole day. I feel like we made a bad call on pit strategy because we came in, and everybody else stayed out. Then that just put us in the back, and we just got knocked into the wall – bounced around like a pinball. All-in-all, our Safelite Tundra was fast, we just didn’t get back up through the field like we wanted to, and we saw that with a lot of trucks today. I feel like maybe we missed it on pit strategy, just a little bit. We probably could have had a little bit better day, but overall still an okay day for points. Just always wish it could be a little better.”

    Austin Cindric rounds out the five playoff contenders having a decent showing at Martinsville. The Columbus, Ohio driver earned his 13th top 10 finish of the year by finishing 10th. He now sits fifth, -45 from first. Cindric placed seventh in Stage 1, did not finish in the top 10 in Stage 2 but came home in the top 10.

    “It was a solid finish by our Fitzgerald Glider Kits Ford F-150 team and we moved up one spot in the championship standings,” Cindric said. “I’m happy with it. We have a pretty clean truck, all things considered. I think we got the most out of it today and we need to keep having races like this.”

    The Camping World Truck Series heads to the mid-west this Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway for the JAGS Metals 350.

     

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Martinsville

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Martinsville

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series gets back on the road this week as they head to Martinsville Speedway on Saturday afternoon for the running of the Texas Roadhouse 200. This will begin a four-week stretch leading up to the championship race at Homestead-Miami Friday night November 17.

    There are currently 34 trucks listed on the preliminary entry list.

    1. Christopher Bell – Bell is looking to start the Round of 6 hot by checking off Martinsville on tracks he hasn’t won yet. In three races, he has two top fives and two top 10 finishes, 96 laps led and an 8.7 average finish. Bell also carries momentum after securing his first ever NASCAR XFINITY Series win this past weekend at Kansas Speedway.
    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter is the previous race winner of the Texas Roadhouse event. In the past five races, he has averaged three top fives and four top 10 finishes and has led 112 laps. Sauter has another win back in the 2011 race event. It would not be a surprise if he starts the Round of 6 off with a win.
    3. Matt Crafton – Crafton had an okay first round, but if he wants to advance to the Championship 4, he’ll have to win and Martinsville may be his best shot. He won the 2015 fall race after starting 13th and leading 63 laps. Other than that, stat wise, Crafton has had two top fives and four top 10 finishes in the past five races, ranking him first among active drivers at Martinsville.
    4. Noah Gragson – Gragson could be a surprise this weekend, but not a surprise for Kyle Busch Motorsports since they run strong here. From 2012-2014, KBM picked up three consecutive wins with drivers Denny Hamlin in 2012, Darrell Wallace Jr. in 2013 and 2014. Gragson has one start that came this year and finished fourth.
    5. John Hunter Nemechek – In the previous five races, Nemechek has three top fives and three top 10 finishes, with an average finish of 8.4. He didn’t have a great first round in the Playoffs, but, Nemechek might grab his first win this weekend at Martinsville and secure a spot in the Championship 4.

    There will be two practices Friday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m ET with the final practice at 3 p.m. ET. Qualifying is slated for Saturday morning at 10 a.m. ET and race coverage will start at 1 p.m. ET. The green flag is scheduled to wave at 1:16 p.m. ET with coverage on FS1 and MRN Radio.

  • Matt Crafton Has Wild Day At Talladega

    Matt Crafton Has Wild Day At Talladega

    After the craziness was all settled and over, the finish pylon showed ThorSport Racing’s Matt Crafton ninth at Talladega, but the top 10 finish didn’t come easy for the two-time champion.

    In the first two stages, Crafton finished inside the top 10 and earned championship playoff points with a sixth in Stage 1 and a fifth in Stage 2. However, on lap 55, the No. 88 Menards Tundra driver was involved in a five-truck accident in Turn 3. This caused some significant damage to the truck, forcing the No. 88 team to fix it and get it back out there for points.

    In the remaining laps, Crafton was in the top 10 until another accident took place after the field took the white flag. It was the same number of trucks involved in the first incident, and again, Crafton was unfortunately involved in the melee.

    Despite the challenges that came Crafton’s way on Saturday, the 41-year-old earned his 13th top-10 of the year and advanced to the next round of the playoffs that begins at Martinsville Speedway.

    “We were strong all day – ran inside the top 10, top five, most of the afternoon,” Crafton said. “Unfortunately, we were just at the wrong place, at the wrong time today and got caught up in someone else’s mess. After the damage, we just tried to make the best of our day. We were lucky enough to bring home a top-10 finish, and make it into the Round of 6. I’m looking forward to the tracks in this Round.”

    The Truck Series is off this weekend but returns Saturday, Oct. 28 at Martinsville Speedway for the Texas Roadhouse 200 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.