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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Bristol
“It’s the final countdown!” as the band Europe would sing.

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

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

Here’s a look at what to expect and who might end up in the UNOH 200.
1. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek has competed in the past four starts at Bristol. He and the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports team have collected two top fives and four top-10 finishes. Nemechek has an average start of 12.5 and an average finish of 5.0. In the past five races, he finished third twice, eighth, and sixth. He has competed in the Truck Series event since 2014 and has completed 100 percent of the laps. Nemechek scored the victory at Martinsville this past April which is another short track, somewhat similar to Bristol. He finished 10th in Stage 2 in the 2017 race.
2. Christopher Bell – Last year’s Truck Series champion returns to the field Thursday night at Bristol driving the No. 51 Hunt Brothers Pizza Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Bell has competed in two races at Bristol earning a seventh-place finish twice after starting fifth and second. He finished fourth and fifth respectively in both stages last year. KBM, however, has won here three times with Kyle Busch, who will not be able to compete in this year’s race due to restrictions. Harrison Burton was scheduled to drive the No. 51 but had to withdraw due to illness. Bell will fill in for Burton and will be tough to beat Thursday night at Bristol driving the famed No. 51.
3. Johnny Sauter – Sauter will be crowned regular season champion just by starting the race. Even though he knows he’ll be the regular season champion, he’ll still be hungry for that first Bristol win. It will be his first win since Texas in June if he can pull it off. Sauter has competed in 10 races at the famous Bristol Motor Speedway. His first start came back in 2003 driving the No. 9 for Christopher Beckington but failed to finish that year due to an engine issue. However, Sauter returned to a Truck back in 2009 driving for Mike Curb until 2015. In the past two races, he has competed for GMS Racing. For Sauter, however, it’s been a mixed bag of results at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile.” He has four top fives and six top-10 finishes, along with seven laps led and one DNF. With those stats, he has an average start of 12.4 and an average finish of 9.6. His best finish at Bristol was second back in 2011 after starting 12th. In the previous race, he finished eighth and seventh respectively in both stages.
4. Parker Kligerman – If someone could upset this weekend, it could very well be the No. 75 Henderson Motorsports team of Parker Kligerman. Kligerman has four starts at Bristol with a best finish of second coming in 2012 for Red Horse Motorsports. In last year’s race, however, driving the No. 75, he finished eighth. During the span of his four starts, Kligerman has earned one top five and three top-10 finishes. For Charlie Henderson’s team, the No. 75 has competed at Bristol every year since 2012 with Caleb Holman as the driver until 2016. Their best finish came with Kligerman last year by finishing eighth. They currently have one win in the series which came last fall at Talladega. Their other best finish came this year at Charlotte, where he finished seventh.
5. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes has three starts at Thunder Valley. His best finish came last year where he finished fifth. In total, Rhodes has one top five and two top-10 finishes with one lap led. He has an average start of 7.3 and an average finish of 14.7. He finished seventh and fourth in both stages in 2017. Look for Rhodes to be up front and contend for the win.
Playoff Bubble Drivers
1. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger has one start which came in the 2017 race. He started seventh and finished fourth giving him his first top five at the track. If he continues to win stages or perhaps wins the race, he’ll be good to go for the Playoffs.
2. Stewart Friesen- Like Enfinger, Friesen has been running somewhat consistently and is having his best year to date. He sits seventh in the Playoff standings with five Playoff points. He should be fine if there are no new winners. However, Friesen’s track stats don’t look all that great. He has two races, but no finishes inside the top 10. In 2017, he failed to finish due to an overheating problem and wound up 29th. In 2016, Friesen finished 16th. He can’t afford to have any of these issues during the race or he’ll be in jeopardy of missing the Playoffs.
3. Matt Crafton – Crafton is the most experienced driver in the field. He’s competed at Bristol since 2003 and has 15 starts. During that span, he’s earned four top fives and nine top-10 finishes, along with 129 laps led and one DNF. His best finish came in 2017 and 2009, where he finished second. In 2016, he failed to finish with an engine problem. If Crafton can avoid any issues in Thursday’s night race and have no mechanical problems, he’ll also be locked in on points and be able to chase for his third championship.
Outside Looking In
1. Myatt Snider- Snider will be making his first ever Bristol start in the Truck Series driving the No. 13 Carolina Nut Company Ford. However, he has competed at Bristol before driving in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour Series. In fact, he won last year’s race at Bristol after starting on the pole and leading 80 laps. Snider also competed in this year’s Tour Series event at Bristol and finished third. He could very well end up in victory lane tomorrow night and solidify himself in the playoffs picture, possibly knocking out his teammate, Matt Crafton.
2. Cody Coughlin – Coughlin has competed in one race here but did not finish in the top-10.
3. Dalton Sargeant – It will be Sargeant’s first race back at Bristol since 2015, where he finished 10th after starting 18th. He has one NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start but finished 26th due to a crash.
4. Todd Gilliland – Perhaps one driver who could spoil the spotlight is the No. 4 KBM driver, Todd Gilliland. He’ll be making his first Truck Series start at Bristol, but does have previous experience at the track. Gilliland has competed at Bristol in the K&N Pro Series East three times. During those three starts, he finished ninth, eighth, and won the event in 2018 after leading 64 laps.
The Truck Series has competed at Bristol Motor Speedway since 1995. In those twenty starts, there have been 15 different race winners. Those winners include Joe Ruttman, Rick Carelli, Ron Hornaday, Jack Sprague, Travis Kvapil, Carl Edwards, Mike Skinner, Mark Martin, Johnny Benson, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Timothy Peters, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Ben Kennedy.

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

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

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

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

Race coverage begins on FOX and MRN Radio at 8:30 p.m. ET with the approximate green flag at 8:45 p.m. ET.
August 15, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Michigan
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues their exciting season this week at the 2-mile racetrack, Michigan International Speedway, located in Brooklyn, Michigan and the competition gets even tighter with only two races left until the Playoffs begin. There are three drivers on the bubble; Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger and Stewart Friesen.

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

Here’s a look at who might end up in victory lane this weekend.
1. Matt Crafton – Crafton has been very hungry this year in trying to end up in victory lane. It’s been a whole year now since he has a won race in the Truck Series. Crafton needs to punch his ticket to make the Playoffs and that could happen this weekend at Michigan. He is the most experienced active driver having competed in the past 16 starts dating back to 2002, in his first track start that year. In those 16 races, Crafton has three top fives and seven top-10 finishes, along with 63 laps led, four DNFs, an average start of 9.9 and an average finish of 14.2. He has three poles at the racetrack, but is still searching for his first elusive victory at Michigan. In the past five races, Crafton has finished sixth, seventh, sixth, second, and ninth. He currently sits right on the cutoff line at eighth. But this weekend could be the place he breaks through and snaps his long winless streak.
2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter is the second most experienced veteran at the track. He has nine starts with one win, two top fives, three top-10 finishes, 47 laps led, an average start of 7.3 and an average finish of 11.8. His only victory at the track came in 2014 after starting fifth. In the previous race, Sauter started second, but finished 18th, finishing one lap down. It’s been somewhat of a win drought as well for the No. 21 GMS Racing team. It’s been six races since Sauter and the team visited victory lane, which was at Fort Worth.
3. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger has only two starts at Michigan. But in those two starts, he has finished in the top-10. In his first outing with GMS Racing, Enfinger started ninth and finished eighth. In last year’s race, he started sixth and finished eighth. Enfinger also finished 10th in Stage 2. Enfinger could sneak his way into victory lane this weekend after having solid consecutive finishes in the past few races, especially after almost winning Eldora last month. The team is capable of winning and it’s only a matter of time before Enfinger heads back to victory lane.
4. Noah Gragson – After sitting out Pocono a couple of weeks ago due to illness, Gragson will be back in the No. 18 Safelite Tundra at Michigan this weekend. He was devastated that he couldn’t compete at Pocono and had to sit out. Since winning at Kansas, Gragson has been close to winning again. In the past five races, he finished sixth at Eldora, eighth at Kentucky, fourth at Chicago, 10th at Gateway, and second at Iowa after almost winning. Gragson’s only start at Michigan came last year, starting fifth and finishing seventh. He also finished seventh and eighth in both stages, respectively.
5. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes has just two starts at Michigan, all coming for ThorSport Racing since 2016. In those two starts, he finished sixth and 11th respectively. In the 2017 race, Rhodes started 14th and finished 11th, after finishing fourth and fifth, respectively in both stages. He has led four laps with an average finish of 8.5.
The NASCAR Truck Series has competed in the past 18 races dating back to the 1999 season. In those 18 starts, there have only been two repeat winners, which came from Greg Biffle in 1999 and 2000, and Travis Kvapil in 2004 and 2007. Since then, however, there have been 16 different race winners. Those include Robert Pressley, Brendan Gaughan, Dennis Setzer, Johnny Benson, Erik Darnell, Colin Braun, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Nelson Piquet Jr, James Buescher, Johnny Sauter, Kyle Busch, Brett Moffitt, and Darrell Wallace Jr. The lowest in the field a race winner has come from to win is 11th back in 1999. The highest a race winner has ever come from is the pole in 2007.

There are two practice sessions scheduled for Friday afternoon. The first practice at 1:05 p.m. ET with the final practice at 3:05 p.m. ET, both on Fox Sports 1.

Qualifying is slated for Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 with race coverage beginning at 1 p.m. ET, live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. The scheduled green flag is 1:15 p.m. ET.

Stages will be broken up into 30/60/100 laps.
August 8, 2018
Matt Crafton-The Seasoned Veteran Isn’t Slowing Down Anytime Soon After A Milestone Career

Most of you have heard the name, but for those who don’t know, Matt Crafton is a two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion. He has 14 race wins in 421 starts across more than 19 years spent in the Truck Series. Most of his career has been spent driving for ThorSport Racing, aside from 2004 when he signed on with Kevin Harvick.

But before his NASCAR career took off, Crafton, like many other drivers, began racing early and eventually an opportunity came knocking at his door for a Truck Series ride in 2000.

“My racing career got started when I was about seven years old, racing go-karts until I was about 15, then I started racing micro-midgets,” Crafton said. “Then I started racing asphalt super late models when I was about 18-years old and then from there, went straight from that and won championships in that Southwest Tour, and I got a Truck ride with Duke and Rhonda Thorson and the rest is history.”

With ThorSport Racing being a huge part of the Tulare, California native driver’s career, he explains why the relationship has been so special and how it had a major impact on his racing career.

“Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) have been so, so loyal, such good people to work with them,” he said. “There’s so many people in the business, it’s just so hard to trust. You always hear the nightmare stories that people come and go, but Duke is a man of work and there’s not many people I can say that about in this sport that I worked with or being around. They’ve been great people to work with, Rhonda as well. Everything they’ve said, they have done.”

During Crafton’s 19 career Truck Series seasons, he drove for NASCAR Cup Champion Kevin Harvick for one year in 2004. He explains how that opportunity came about and how he met Harvick.

“I actually used to race against Kevin (Harvick) out in the Southwest Tour,” the No. 88 Menards Ford driver said. “We raced against each other, were competitors. His dad was my dad’s crew chief a couple of different times out there in the west coast and then raced go-karts. My very first go-kart came from Kevin’s dad that ended up getting me that. Worked with my dad to get that kart and we raced together for a little bit, and then he moved up, got a Truck ride first, then shortly after that, I got my first Truck ride.”

The Truck Series has been a mainstay in the two-time champion’s career with a few starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one start in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He explains why the Truck Series is so special to him and why he has been in it for so long.

“I love the Truck Series,” Crafton said. “I’ve had opportunities to go race other places, but they haven’t been good. At the end of the day, I’m with Duke and Rhonda, and I know each and every week they can go win races and contend for championships. That’s what it’s all about. I don’t know, I was just talking to a friend of mine the other day where we talked about racing in the Xfinity and Cup Series, not doing it any different.”

“People lose sight of why they do what they do in the series,” he said. “When I was seven-years-old, I started racing because I loved to win. I wanted to win races and I didn’t care about anything else, except winning races. And so many people lose sight of it, where they want to move to the Cup Series to go out there and run 25th, and say that’s a good day. You know, they can make more money that way, but at the end of the day, last time I checked, it was about bringing home the trophies and winning races, going to the track and having fun, knowing that you can get it done.”

Crafton’s first start in the Truck Series was at Fontana in 2000, where he started 17th and finished ninth. Fontana is no longer on the schedule, but Crafton wishes it was.

“Oh god, I definitely wish Fontana was back on the schedule,” Crafton said. “It’s such an awesome racetrack. Especially now, since the asphalt is so much older and just to see the Cup races and Xfinity races, where they get to run the bottom of that track and to the top of the track right up against the fence. I mean, that’s so much fun.

“It just reminds of the big Atlanta, where you get to move to multiple lanes and so much better than the new asphalt racetracks, where you get the single grove racetracks.”

During the Truck Series early years from 1995-2000, the Truck Series ran at a variety of tracks. The fans and some drivers want to go back to those older tracks. Crafton gives his take on what should be done to the schedule and what should be changed.

“I still definitely have mile and a half racetracks,” he said. “I would get rid of a few of them and add some more short tracks. Go to IRP (Indianapolis Raceway Park), go back to Milwaukee (Mile), run Sonoma, run Mid-Ohio, you know, Elkhart Lake, just road courses. Just change things up. That’s what the problem is. I know the schedule, we do too much of the same thing and it just bores some of the fans. It’s just because you’re doing the same mile and a half tracks and we could go to a road course, sell the place out and have 100,000 people come in, and the writing is on the wall there.”

When the Truck Series isn’t racing, Crafton continues to keep busy at his own shop in Mooresville, North Carolina.

“I’m at my shop in Mooresville, North Carolina,” Crafton said. “I have my own shop and we’re building dirt cars together and working on racecars. I love to dirt race. Right now, I have a lot of fun and get to go hang out with family, and it’s just a lot of fun getting laps and always be there.”

Crafton follows up with how the dirt racing opportunity comes about.

“The first Truck Race,” he said. “A friend of mine, they ended up offering me a ride in a modified and I raced a handful of races, and went on to Eldora and did that for three years. I loved it and I had a lot of fun doing it, but I just wanted to have my own and built the perfect blend of science and racing on dirt to asphalt, and so I went to buy my dirt car last year, worked a lot on it, studied a lot on it, went on to win Eldora last year. And this year, we definitely had a truck capable of winning, just a few more laps at the end, I would have come from 17th to fourth in that last segment and felt like we were one of the fastest trucks on the track, but just ran out of laps.”

With switching from dirt racing to truck racing, there isn’t that much you can apply skill wise as Crafton explains.

“No,” he said. “Just aside from maybe you can use a little more car control, but at the end of the day, they’re so drastically different. That’s why I chose the dirt car to try and figure out to go win that golden shovel because I needed to protect that skill I had there.”

The 2018 season has been uncharacteristic-like, to say the least, for the two-time Truck Series champion. It’s almost a replica of his 2012 season. So far, Crafton has no wins, only five top fives and seven top-10 finishes. Crafton explained why they haven’t been to victory lane yet this season.

“We haven’t been as consistent,” he said. “We’ve been trying a lot of new stuff and working on different setup stuff, and just mechanical problems. That’s been a thorn on our side. Like Las Vegas, the third race of the season, we came on pit road and stood on the brakes coming to the pits, and sheared all of our studs off the brake caliper, something that’s unheard of. And then we go to St. Louis, lose an alternator 15 laps into the race, and we just had so many, just dumb mechanical failures.”

Times have changed throughout NASCAR’s history. In the early years of the series, there were seasoned veterans like Ron Hornaday, Todd Bodine, Jack Sprague, and the list goes on and on. Now, it’s Crafton and Johnny Sauter with the most of the series is comprised of young stars using it as a stepping stone to the next series.

Crafton gives his take on what he thinks of stars moving up too fast.

“They definitely move on very fast without a doubt,” he said. “The dollars are just hard to come by right now. They’re hard to come by with sponsorship, so a lot of the younger ones come with some sponsors and make the things go.”

It was recently announced that the Truck Series will be renamed to the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Series in 2019 replacing sponsor Camping World. Crafton elaborates on what the series and sport could look like 10 years from now.

“It should be good,” Crafton said. “If they start switching up the schedule and changing up the schedule, and doing different things, it would definitely be a very good thing. I mean, there isn’t one race this year, when the trucks have been a short field. We’ve had a full field every race, there have been plenty of races where we sent trucks home this year. So, for some of the other series they can’t say the same thing.”

While Crafton is a seasoned veteran with a 19-year career, he has no quit in him anytime soon.

“I would like to do it for quite a while longer, really,” he said. “I would love to continue racing. Ron Hornaday did it until he was 50 something years old and he was wearing a lot of these young drivers out. Wearing us out too. If you still have the itch, you still want to go and make it happen, and that’s what I plan on doing.”

Carl Joiner Jr. has been the crew chief on Matt Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 for a long time now. Crafton explains why they work so well together.

“We believe in each other at the end of the day,” Crafton said. “I mean, that’s what it’s all about in this sport. Just believing in each other and he believes me when I tell him the truck is doing this, and I believe he can make all the right changes. I know there’s been times we’re not going to get it right away, but that’s happened this year. We’ve been on a new tire this year, the majority of the places the tire the cup cars are on, and it’s a different tire than we were on last year and all of our old setup stuff just hasn’t been working with what we used to run.”

“So we’ll just keep working on that and we’ll get one by the time the season is over, if not a few.”

Whenever Crafton hangs up the belt for the last time in his career, up until then, it will be no different than what he is doing now.

“Just to win more championships and races,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Over the span of Crafton’s career, he has made 421 starts collecting 14 wins, 107 top fives and 249 top-10 finishes, along with 13 poles and 2,491 laps led. And he’s not finished yet.

You can follow Crafton on Twitter.

August 4, 2018
Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Pocono
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited the 2.5-mile racetrack located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Pocono Raceway. It was the 14th race of the season and there are now only two races left until the Playoffs begin at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Here are four takeaways from the Gander Outdoors 150.
1. Kyle Ties Hornaday On All-Time Wins List – Kyle Busch was finally able to tie Ron Hornaday on the all-time wins list this past weekend. Both now have 51 wins in the series, but Busch reached 51 wins in just 145 starts, quicker than Hornaday. Busch dominated most of the race by winning the pole and leading 43 of the scheduled 60 laps. By not being able to gain any stage points due to him being a Cup Series driver, Busch was able to play strategy by pitting late in the stage in order to gain track position for the restarts. He almost got passed for the lead late in the race but held on to win in his final Truck Series start of the year. When Busch returns next year and the years beyond, the sky will be the limit on how many more wins he’ll get before wrapping up his career.
2. Stages are too short, at least for Pocono – In Saturday’s race, the stages were broken up into 15/30/60. For a track that doesn’t produce much passing, there wasn’t a whole lot of activity during the stages as they were very short. The first stage went its maximum distance, but the second stage was 10 laps with the final stage going green with 25 to go. The drivers agreed in Friday’s media availability that the race was too short in order to produce more passing or make it a more exciting race. The race featured only nine lead changes, but that all came when the stage was winding down as drivers pitted early for track position. Other than that, the field was spread out. Busch and Erik Jones finished with a margin of victory of 1.4 seconds back. However, anyone after that was five, six, seven seconds back and so on. Perhaps Pocono is a track the Truck Series shouldn’t race on or possibly it’s the number of laps in the race, but something should be done in order to see a more competitive race.
3. Noah Gragson Misses Race – Friday night on Gragson’s Twitter page, he reported that he was feeling sick but was going to race regardless of how he was feeling. However, on Saturday morning prior to qualifying, Noah was too sick to qualify the truck and eventually, too sick to compete in the race. With him missing a race, NASCAR granted him a medical waiver so that he will be able to compete in the Playoffs. Erik Jones, the 2015 Truck Series Champion, filled in for the ill Gragson. Jones placed second.
4. Playoff Points Race Gets Tighter – With just two races left before the Playoffs began, the fight for the final three positions gets even tighter following Pocono. Enfinger, Friesen, and Crafton continue to be winless this year and will more than likely have to point there way in, if there aren’t any new winners. Enfinger has two playoff points while Friesen has four. Crafton has none. Myatt Snider is also on the outside looking in. With a much deserved off week this week, these four drivers, among others, are working hard to contend for the 2018 Truck Series championship. When the Truck Series returns to Michigan after an off week, drivers will be on their game and make more daring moves to get into the Playoffs. Nonetheless, the run for the championship continues to be exciting and no one really knows yet who the final four drivers will be at Homestead-Miami in November.
July 31, 2018
A bumpy season for Crafton sees him looking for positivity

It has been a season that Matt Crafton will probably want to forget. On a positive note, time has not yet run out for him to turn it around.

If you look at the stats it has not been disastrous, but for Crafton, it has been. There is a decline in top-10 finishes for Crafton this year, and most importantly, he has not won a race thus far. With four races left until the Playoffs start, Crafton is holding the last spot and is 99 points to the good. He does have a wide margin when it comes to the points, but it’s still a letdown for Crafton.

The driver of the No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 is looking to secure his Playoff spot this weekend at Pocono Raceway. However, this is a track where Crafton has not performed well. He has never won at the track and his average finish is 10.4.

This season in the Camping World Truck Series, Crafton is averaging a 12th place finish which is a drop compared to past seasons. Last year, Crafton was averaging a 9.3 place finish with 16 top-10s.

Even though Crafton has not won a race this season and struggled at times, you can never count him out of the championship. On the plus side, the Truck Series will be headed to Michigan International Speedway next month. If there is one race where you can see him winning before the Playoffs, it will be Michigan. Crafton has three wins at Michigan in the series and won this very same race last year. A win at this track could shift the momentum for the team.

It is not time for the Crafton fans to panic just yet as there is still a good amount of racing left this season that can turn around his season. Time will tell if Crafton and his team will continue to struggle, or if it is just a phase in the experienced veterans’ Truck Series career.

Follow on Twitter for updates: @BryanR_305

July 24, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Ranking-Eldora
Eldora Speedway was home of the 13th race of the season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In one of the most anticipated races of the season, this standalone event certainly did not disappoint. The field included Truck Series regulars and dirt regulars but it was a not a dirt regular but a former series driver that stood atop the victory circle Wednesday night.

Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings.
1. 1. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger and Chase Briscoe certainly put on quite a show in the last remaining laps. Enfinger, who was looking for the second win of his career, his first since Talladega in 2016, had to settle for second by .038 seconds. The win would have locked him into the Playoffs, but with the consistency and strength that Enfinger has shown in the past remaining races, he sits sixth in the playoffs standings, 120 points. In Wednesday night’s race, he finished seventh and second, respectively in both stages. His second-place finish earned him his fourth top five of the year. Previous Week Ranking: 5th
  2. Stewart Friesen – Friesen came up short once again at Eldora, but it wasn’t due to lack of effort from the No. 52 Canadian driver. He was in the fifth heat race and led all 10 laps to score the win, which led him to a third-place starting position. The race was somewhat of a struggle early on for Friesen, as he ran as low 31st but was able to advance with pit stop strategy and cautions helping out the team. But, it wasn’t until the end of Stage 2 when he placed inside the top-10 to finish 10th. Friesen found himself in competition for the win in the final five laps of the race with the multiple race cautions. On one of the restarts, he went four-wide with the top leaders until another caution came out. However, Friesen rallied after being a caution on Lap 29 and earned a third-place finish, giving him his fifth top-five of the year. He’ll have to be careful in the three remaining races until the Playoffs begin as he sits on the bubble in seventh per Playoff standings, 111 points behind, considering no new driver wins until then. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
  3. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a good night at Eldora, considering this was his first time racing on dirt. Based on qualifying results, he was placed in heat race #2 and ended up finishing third, giving him a 12th place starting position. The three-time race winner in 2018 had to fight his way to the front after fighting in dirty air and heavy traffic. He wasn’t able to earn stage points which will hurt the team just a little bit, but Hattori Racing team already has three wins this year and is good for the Playoffs, if they continue to get sponsorship throughout the season. In the end, Moffitt was helped out with the cautions and race strategy to give him a third-place finish. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
  4. Matt Crafton – It has now been one year since Crafton has won a race in the Truck Series. After last night’s race, he has three more races remaining to earn a win to solidify himself into the Playoffs and compete for the championship. Crafton didn’t have a bad night, but it certainly didn’t come without troubles. On Lap 55, he and Tyler Dippel got collected with each other, and Crafton got tipped from behind by Ryan Newman who tore the back end off Crafton’s truck. However, not all was lost, as he and the No. 88 ThorSport team finished eighth and seventh respectively in both stages, ultimately giving him a fourth-place finish. But Crafton and the team are hungry for a win as he sits right on the cut line for the playoffs. He may have to get in on points if he wants to be a championship contender. Previous Week Ranking: 2nd
  5. Justin Haley – Like Briscoe and Crafton, Haley often competes in dirt racing when his schedule allows. It was second race at Eldora and it was almost the same identical finish for the No. 24 GMS Racing team. In last year’s race, he started 13th and finished eighth. Haley was placed in the fourth heat race and finished fourth after starting sixth. This gave him a 19th starting position, meaning it was going to be a long night for the series regular. But the No. 24 took the entire race to get to the front. He didn’t earn any stage points, but with his Gateway win, Haley is locked into the Playoffs. After a wild finish and race, he finished ninth for his ninth top-10 finish of the year. It’ll be interesting to see how he fares in the Playoffs. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
Fell Out

1. Noah Gragson – Gragson had a quiet night at Eldora and didn’t make too much noise. He was placed in the last chance qualifier but had points to fall back on to make it into the race. He didn’t finish inside the top-10 at all for either stage after starting 27th, but Gragson did finish sixth after battling handling conditions all night long. He’ll look to Pocono and try to continue to close the gap on Johnny Sauter’s points lead.
2. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes was having a good race going until a few laps after the Stage 2 restart. On Lap 45, he hit the wall and continued to slip all the way back in the field, ultimately having to bring the truck to pit road as the tow was knocked out of the truck. This gave the Kentucky winner a 29th place finish, but he is locked into the playoffs.
July 19, 2018
Chase Briscoe Fends off Teammate Grant Enfinger in Last Lap Thriller at Eldora

In a green-white-checkered race to the finish line, Chase Briscoe was able to fend off his ThorSport Racing teammate Grant Enfinger for the win in a last-lap thriller at Eldora Speedway. It was the closest finish at Eldora for the Truck Series with a margin of victory of .038 seconds.

After a series of late race cautions near the end, Briscoe, with fresher tires than race leader Logan Seavey, was able to restart up front alongside his teammate Grant Enfinger. Both of them battled side-by-side all the way to the checkered flag after the restart and even banged the wall at the finish.

“It means so much,” Briscoe said. “You know, I think Eldora, just in general, means a lot to people, but when you grow up with Sprint car roots and Sprint car backgrounds; I mean this place is our Daytona for dirt guys. So to be able to win this race, this is so special. There was one race that I wanted to win, it would definitely be this one. So it’s kind of surreal to me. Two years ago or three years ago, whenever (Christopher) Bell won, I came over (victory lane) here and was standing here, pumped that he won. We went to Waffle House later and maybe we’ll do that again tonight. Just unbelievable.”

“Thank you so much to these Ford guys for allowing me to come do this,” he said. “The ThorSport guys worked their tails off. I hate how I had to race the (Grant Enfinger) 98. We definitely roughed him up a little bit and this is not how I race, but part of it, I guess. Just thankful for the opportunity. It’ll probably be the only truck race I’m going to do this year. It’s good to end on a good note.”

Earlier in the day, there were five heat races including a last chance qualifier to set the 32 truck field. Last weeks winner, Ben Rhodes, and Todd Gilliland set the front row after winning the first two heat races.

Stage 1 was 40 laps and there were only three incidents that occurred. One on Lap 9 for 2016 Champion Johnny Sauter who spun around in Turn 2 and went a lap down. On Lap 20, Justin Fontaine in the No. 45 spun out and brought out the second caution, giving Sauter his lap back. Then the final incident in the first stage came on Lap 27, when Stewart Friesen was spun by Chris Windom with other trucks involved as well including Sheldon Creed and Cody Coughlin.

Kentucky winner, Ben Rhodes was able to win the first stage. The race was restarted on Lap 41 and went to lap 90 for Stage 2. On lap 45, Rhodes smacked the wall hard and had to come down pit road, eventually ending his night. He would ultimately finish 29th.

Then a little foreshadowing occurred for what the end of the race might be, as Briscoe held off teammate Enfinger for the stage win.

The final stage took place with 59 laps to go.

Briscoe and Enfinger made pit stops for fresh tires and were sent to the back of the field. During the early stages of the final stage, this saw dirt standout star, Logan Seavey, lead for a total of 53 laps until a late race caution came with 21 to go. This saw Tyler Dippel and Austin Self make contact in the turns, thus bunching the field up once more.

Seavey tried all he could to hold off the hard-charging Enfinger and Briscoe, but the late race cautions continued to hurt him as he had no tires. There were two more cautions near the end with less than five to go.

In the end, there was a green-white-checkered overtime finish. Enfinger and Briscoe pulled away from the rest of the field. The other 30 drivers had to watch a thrilling finish between Briscoe and Enfinger which ended by a .038 seconds margin with Briscoe as the winner.

Friesen, Matt Crafton and Noah Gragson rounded out the top five finishers in the Sixth Annual Eldora Dirt Derby.

It was Briscoe’s first win in the Truck Series since his victory at Homestead-Miami last year for the Brad Keselowski Racing team. This was his second career Truck Series win.

Briscoe led three times for 54 laps with seven lead changes among five drivers. There were nine cautions for 41 laps.

Sauter, who finished 16th, continues to lead the standings by 32 points over Gragson.

July 18, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Eldora
The Eldora Dirt Derby is one of the biggest races for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. This historic race is one of the most unique races on the Truck Series schedule. Along with Daytona, Talladega, Canada and Bristol, you could say Eldora is a wildcard, as well, to the series. The Eldora Dirt Derby is a national attraction for the series and as always, expect another exciting race for the sixth annual Eldora Dirt Derby Wednesday night.

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s who to expect that might end up in victory lane in Wednesday nights annual running at Eldora.
1. Matt Crafton – It will be the one year anniversary since the two-time champion has scored a win in the series. His last win came at this very track after leading 24 laps and finishing first and ninth in both stages, respectively. Crafton got some dirt exposure this past weekend driving his modified at Oakshade Raceway. He’s been driving his modified whenever his schedule will allow. Crafton has competed in all five races, earning one win, one top five and five top-10 finishes, averaging a 10.4 start and a 7.4 finish. Nonetheless, after a somewhat forgettable season so far, the series veteran will be hungry to get his first win of the season and lock himself in the 2018 Truck Series Playoffs.
2. Stewart Friesen – This will be Friesen’s playground this week and could be his chance to park it in victory lane for his first career win. Like the other dirt track stars, Friesen is a dirt track standout of his own, driving in the Super DIRTCar Series. He has amassed over 260 wins dirt tracks across the United States since 1999. Friesen currently drives Big-Block Modifieds. Eldora is a special place for the No. 52 Halmar Racing driver. It’s where he made his series debut in 2016 starting 16th but he disappointingly finished 28th due to a crash on Lap 111. However, this opportunity led him to make more series starts before going part-time in 2017, and full-time this year. In last year’s race, Friesen started on the pole and finished second after leading 93 laps. He won Stage 1 and finished second in Stage 2.
3. Chase Briscoe – Briscoe is back competing in the Truck Series Wednesday night. This time, however, he is competing in the No 27 ThorSport Racing entry. It will be the team’s fifth entry. But Briscoe is no stranger to the series nor dirt, as he competed full-time last year driving for the now defunct Brad Keselowski Racing team. He competed in the Dirt Derby last year finishing third after starting 12th. Briscoe also brings dirt experience having driven quarter midget and 410 Sprint Cars. He also is the youngest winner to earn a victory in the 410 Sprint Car Series. Currently, Briscoe competes in a family-owned team in all kinds of series on dirt.
4. Tanner Thorson – If there is an upset winner this week in the Truck Series, it could very well be the No. 20 of Tanner Thorson, but if it’s on dirt, his fans know it wouldn’t really be an upset. Thorson is a decorated dirt track star driving in the TRI-C No.3C Sprint Car and Midget team. In past years, Thorson drove in the Keith Kunz Motorsports and earned 25 midget wins. Other stats include 2013 Midget National Rookie of The Year, 2015-2017 National Midget Driver of the Year, and he won the 2016 USAC National Midget Championship. This year, Thorson is competing in pretty much everything dirt. This includes Midgets, POWRI National Midget, USCS 360 Wing Sprint Car, World of Outlaws, Civil War 360 Wing Sprint Cars, KWS 410 Sprint Car, and in the SCCT 360 Sprint Car series. In the Truck Series this year, he has two starts with those coming in Dover and Iowa. The best finish was 13th at Iowa. It’ll be interesting to see how the decorated dirt star competes against the series regulars when dirt comes into his favor.
5. John Hunter Nemechek – When it comes to dirt, you wouldn’t think of Nemechek as a contender for the win. However, in the past four starts, he only has one finish outside the top-10 which came in 2016 after some issues during the race. His other finishes include sixth, seventh, and fifth in last year’s race. Nemechek even led 11 laps in the previous race after finishing third in both stages. In his four starts, it has brought him an average start of 11.8 and an average finish of 10.5, with 12 laps led. He’ll be hungry to get to victory lane as one slipped away at Chicago, where he ran out of gas on the last lap on the back straight, ultimately finishing seventh.
In the past five races, there have been five different winners including Matt Crafton, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Darrell Wallace Jr., and the first event winner Austin Dillon. The lowest a winner has ever come from the field to win was 19th in 2013 from Dillon. The highest starting spot came in last year’s race where Crafton started second and won.

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

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

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

Eldora Race Format
July 17, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Kentucky
The Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway was the 12th race of the season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It was another race that didn’t disappoint this season and a race that saw a hometown hero win.

Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings.
1. 1. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes finally got the monkey off his back this past weekend at Kentucky by collecting his first ever career win. Rhodes was always in contention for the win earlier this year, but it seemed like something always got in the way such as mechanical issues, engine problems and more. This weekend the No. 41 ThorSport team was finally able to put together a mistake-free race and parked it in victory lane. Although, it didn’t come without a little bit of chaos. On the last round of pit stops, Rhodes’s crew chief called him down to pit road and it surprised Rhodes as he had to slam on his brakes, and get to pit road speed. However, a quick fire erupted from Brett Moffitt’s pit and almost made Rhodes miss his pit stop, but he was able to find it just in time. He held off Stewart Friesen who was on two fresh tires and went on to win in his hometown. He won Stage 1 and finished third in Stage 2. Previous Week Ranking: 4th
  2. Matt Crafton – Crafton was able to secure a third-place finish for his fourth top-five finish of the year. After having a somewhat dismal year so far it continued in qualifying when the two-time champion got loose and had to chase it up the track. This caused Crafton to start 30th. But, it didn’t take him long to make his way through the field. He finished sixth in Stage 1 but slipped back in Stage 2 to finish ninth. He was in position to win should his teammate Rhodes or Friesen make contact with each other, race each other, or if a late race caution were to come out. Ultimately, Crafton had to settle for third but will need to win as he is a bubble driver sitting seventh in the points standings. He could get it done on Wednesday night at Eldora as he is the previous race winner. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
  3. Stewart Friesen – Friesen has been a standout star this year in the Truck Series after only running part-time in 2017. So far in 2018, he has collected four top fives and seven top-10 finishes. Thursday night continued to prove that he is a challenger for the win and possibly the championship. After starting 14th, Friesen seventh in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2, respectively. Friesen took the lead a few laps later from Parker Kligerman on the restart and led 37 laps. He made 21 quality passes and ran an average position of fifth. Friesen had the lead on lap 88 and held on for 35 laps until the final pit stop, where he took two fresh tires in hopes of chasing down eventual race winner Rhodes. At the end of the day, Friesen finished second but the dirt track standout star heads to one of his favorite tracks Wednesday night at Eldora. In last year’s race, he qualified on the pole and led the majority of the race, leading 93 laps, but had to settle for second. It will be interesting to see how Friesen and Crafton do battle on the dirt track in Rossburg, Ohio. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
  4. Noah Gragson – Gragson will have to wait another week to win, but he could make his way into the Playoffs. In Thursday’s race, Gragson started on the pole, his fourth of the year. He led the majority of Stage 1 until Gragson was held up by Bo LeMastus which eventually cost him the stage win. He finished second after leading 31 laps. The second stage proved better for Gragson as he retook the lead on Lap 43, led all of Stage 2 and went on to win his seventh stage of the year. During the pit stop before the final stage, however, the No. 18 Safelite team took a little extra time as needed and this sent him back to 13th on the restart. Gragson couldn’t recover from that and finished eighth to earn his ninth top-10 of the year. He sits second in points, 42 points behind Johnny Sauter. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
  5. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger has improved his finishes at the 1.5-mile racetrack in Sparta. His first ever Truck Series race here was in 2016 when he started 17th and finished 12th. Despite finishing 28th in last year’s race due to an accident, he was able to rebound in this year’s outing. Enfinger started fifth and ran fifth in Stage 1 as well as in Stage 2. After the cycle of pit stops and penalties handed down to several drivers, Enfinger finished sixth for his eighth top-10 of the year. He sits fifth in the standings -123 points behind. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked.
Fell Out:

1. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt didn’t have the race outing he had hoped for despite winning at Chicago the previous week. He finished 18th and didn’t finish in the top 10 in any of the stages.
2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter had a dismal and forgettable race at Kentucky. He finished ninth and 10th in both stages, respectively, but two pit road penalties late in the race cost him a shot for a reasonable finish. Ultimately this sets him back to 15th.
3. Justin Haley – The Gateway winner struggled a little bit this past weekend. No stage points, but he quietly earned a top-10 finish. Haley is locked in the Playoffs and sits eighth in the regular season standings.
July 15, 2018
Matt Crafton Earns Third Place at Kentucky

After a somewhat uncharacteristic like season, two-time champion Matt Crafton, earned a much deserved third place Friday night at Kentucky Speedway.

Wednesday at Eldora will mark one year since he has not won in the Truck Series. But he could break through and continue the ThorSport winning ways.

Crafton didn’t have a great qualifying effort (30th) for the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 and had to fight his way up and work his way through traffic on a track that’s tough to pass. In Stage 1, he finished sixth with a ninth-place finish in Stage 2.

At the end of the night, he earned his fourth top-five finish of the year, finishing third. But Crafton will need to win if he wants to run for the championship as he sits eighth in the Playoff standings.

“Yeah, that thing (Truck) was really fast in that first stage,” Crafton said. “Just fought a little bit free in the first stage, but it was fast. We drove to sixth and then we put the right sides on it, and for whatever reason, we got really lose. And then we put four on it right there at the end, and then it came to life. (Carl Joiner) JR, I don’t know what he did, but it finally got a lot better on entry in (Turn) 3 and I could manage, and get into there.

“All in all, not a bad day for this MENARDS Ford F-150 and great job for ThorSport.”

July 13, 2018