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  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Kentucky

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Kentucky

    It will be the 12th race of the scheduled 22 race season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series once the trucks hit the track Thursday night for the annual Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

    Currently, there are 33 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list this week.

    Here’s a look at who might be competing for the win in Thursday night’s truck race.

    1. Matt Crafton – Crafton has competed in 19 races at Kentucky, earning one win, five top fives and 14 top-10 finishes, along with an average start of 9.9 and an average finish of 10.3 and he has also led 79 laps in his career. He’ll need a win here soon before the Playoffs start at Bristol and Kentucky just might be the place where Crafton will break out and earn his first win of the year. If he doesn’t win this week, the next race at Eldora will mark one year since he has won. In the past five races, he finished eighth twice, won in 2015, sixth, and 10th, respectively. When the stages were implemented last year, Crafton finished third but fell out of the top-10 in the second stage after getting involved in an accident early on. Despite the finishes this year, he could sneak his way into victory lane Thursday night in the Bluegrass state.
    2. Parker Kligerman – While Kligerman might not end up in victory lane, he is certainly the one to watch when it comes to the Trucks Series when running a part-time schedule. At Kentucky, he has made six starts with the best finish of second coming in his first race in 2011 driving for Brad Keselowski. However, times have changed since then, and he now drives the No. 75 Henderson Motorsports entry. In last year’s race, Kligerman started 30th and finished seventh after running as high as sixth. In the 2018 season, he only has four starts coming at Daytona, Atlanta, Dover and Charlotte, with the best finish coming at Charlotte placing seventh. It’s easy to overlook drivers like Kligerman, but he could finish inside the top-10 once more, or possibly earn a top-five finish.
    3. Johnny Sauter – Kentucky hasn’t really been Sauter’s cup of tea, as he’s had mixed results at the 1.5-mile racetrack in Sparta. In the previous five races, he has finishes of ninth, fifth, 12th, ninth, and 12th. His best finish at the track came in 2010, finishing second and his worst finish was 24th in 2011 after having transmission issues. In the past two years, however, Sauter led a combined 40 laps. But with the way his 2018 season has been going so far, it’s hard to stop someone who has been dominant and having his career best season to date. Sauter just might cross Kentucky off the tracks he hasn’t won at yet. If he doesn’t do it this year, Sauter will definitely win here before his career is over.
    4. Brandon Jones – Jones could continue with the Jones name to victory lane this weekend after Erik Jones won at Daytona last Saturday night. He has three starts here earning one top five and three top-10 finishes, with his best finish of second coming in last year’s race. His average finish at Kentucky is 6.3. In the 2018 season, however, Jones has made three starts with two top fives and three top-10 finishes for Kyle Busch Motorsports. His best finish is third at Charlotte. He’ll pilot the famed the No.51 KBM entry with sponsor SoleusAir/Menards.
    5. Noah Gragson – Another driver who has been close to victory lane multiple times this year, has been the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Noah Gragson. Gragson competed in this race last year as a rookie. He started 11th and finished fifth after leading 32 laps. Gragson ran as high as first and as low as 20th. This earned him a driver rating of 95.5 and he has made 22 quality passes. Kyle Busch Motorsports has won the last two races at Kentucky.

    The Truck Series has competed here since 2001 and has a list of who-who when it comes to visiting victory lane. The list of winners includes Greg Biffle, Scott Riggs, Mike Bliss, Carl Edwards, Bobby Hamilton, Dennis Setzer, Ron Hornaday Jr, Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson, Todd Bodine, Kyle Busch, James Buescher, Ty Dillon, Matt Crafton, William Byron, and Christopher Bell.

    Of those winners, only three drivers have been able to repeat. Those include Kyle Busch, James Buescher, and Ron Hornaday Jr.

    Qualifying will be important here as the past five races, the winners have come from second, third, first (twice), and 22nd. The highest a race winner has come was first with those coming in 2015, 2014, and 2009. The lowest a race winner has ever come from was 22nd in 2006 and 2013.

    Thursday’s event will be an all-day show with a busy day on tap. Two practice sessions are scheduled for 9:05-9:55 a.m. ET with the final practice at 11:05-11:55 a.m. ET with no live coverage.

    Qualifying is slated for Thursday afternoon at 5:10 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

    Race coverage is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET with an approximate green flag at 7:49 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages will be broken up into 35/70/150.

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Chicago

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Chicago

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

    Here are four takeaways from the Overton’s 225 race.

    1. Close, but no cigar for Nemechek – John Hunter Nemechek was on pace for his second win of the season. However, a miscalculated pit stop early in the race, cost Nemechek a chance at the win as he ran out of gas on the backstretch on the last lap. This misfortune set him back to a disappointing seventh-place finish.  All was not lost though, as Nemechek led 64 laps and finished first and third, respectively, in Stages 1 and 2. Unfortunately, this does not mean anything, as he selected to earn NASCAR Xfinity Series points for this season.
    2. Brett Moffitt There To Capitalize – When someone has a misfortune, normally someone is there to capitalize on it. This certain someone just happened to be Iowa and Atlanta winner, Brett Moffitt. Moffitt and Nemechek swapped the lead with each other eight times in the last remaining laps. It was Moffitt who came out on top and earned his third win of the season. However, sponsorship still remains uncertain for the team in the remaining races of 2018.
    3. Can anyone stop Johnny Sauter? Sauter has been the most dominant driver in 2018. He has amassed four wins, an average start of 5.5 and an average finish of 4.0, along with 324 laps led. Can anyone stop him? If sponsorship continues for the Hattori Racing team, they could certainly be in the Championship 4 spot at Homestead. Noah Gragson, who has been strong this year, won at Kansas and has been close many times to multiple victories. It’s just a matter of a time before he breaks through and wins more. Stewart Friesen is another driver to keep an eye on for the remaining half of the season. 2018 has been a strong season for Friesen, who has three top fives and six top-10 finishes, along with 105 laps led. His best finish of the season was second at Fort Worth, a track in the Playoffs. One last driver who could surprise and quietly make his way to the Championship 4 is Sauter’s teammate, Justin Haley. Haley fended off Sauter on a late race restart at Gateway to earn his first Truck Series career win. Other stats include four top fives and seven top-10 finishes.
    4. Will Crafton Win? The 2018 Truck Series season has been so-so for the two-time champion Matt Crafton. There’s no question that Crafton has the talent and skills to win. But this is a sport that focuses on, what have you done for me lately? Crafton has only earned three top fives and four top-10 finishes, along with 35 laps led and an average start of 6.2 and an average finish of 13.5. His best finish of the season was at Dover finishing second, but only after Noah Gragson had a late race incident with Johnny Sauter. Crafton’s top fives and top-10 finishes are the lowest of his career since 2007 when he earned one top five and 10 top-10 finishes. Eldora will mark one year since the No. 88 ThorSport driver has won a race in the series, uncharacteristic-like to say the least. He sits seventh in the points currently but will have to win soon and start winning stages if they want to advance further in the Playoffs. If anyone can do it, it’s the experienced veteran and two-time champion. It is interesting to note that if Crafton doesn’t win this season, it will be the first time since 2012 that he hasn’t won a race in a season.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Iowa

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Iowa

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continued their mid-west swing this past weekend by visiting the .875-mile track located in Newton, Iowa.

    It was the ninth race of the 22-race season and with the season getting into the hot summer months, the M&M’s 200 sure didn’t disappoint in a thriller finish with the Truck Series regulars continuing to put on a great show.

    Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

    1. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt earned another huge victory this past weekend in the corn state of Iowa. It a hometown victory for the Grimes, Iowa native. While winning in your hometown is sweet, the No. 16 Hattori Racing team continues to search for sponsorship for the rest of the season. Nothing would be sweeter to see the team who has worked hard this season secure a full-time sponsorship for the rest of the 2018 season to compete for the Truck Series championship. After starting 16th, he worked his way up to eighth in the first stage. Moffitt continued to work his way up in the second stage by finishing third. After a late race caution and strategy being played, he took the lead on lap 125 and held on for the final 76 laps to collect the third win of his career and the second of 2018.
      • Previous Week Ranking: Not ranked
    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter slips back one spot in this week’s rankings by finishing fifth. He still remains win-less at Iowa Speedway after 12 starts. While it wasn’t a bad night by any means, he was able to battle for the lead multiple times but never quite got the hang of the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevy and he never led a lap. However, he finished fifth and eighth in both stages, respectively. Sauter still remains a powerhouse in the series and the one to beat every week. He leads the series standings over Noah Gragson by 71 points.
      • Previous Week Ranking: 1st
    3. Noah Gragson – Gragson will be the talk of the week after his thrilling move late in the M&M’s 200. After fighting hard all night and finishing sixth, and fourth respectively in both stages, he found himself contending and challenging for the win with five laps to go. Gragson continued to rally and get to the back bumper of eventual race winner Brett Moffitt. In fact, he made a dive bomb move or a “video game style” as Gragson referenced going into Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap. Gragson almost made it stick, but ended up bouncing off the wall yards before the finish line and ended up .333 seconds short for his second win of the career. An A for effort in the continuously growing popularity of the 19-year-old.
      • Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
    4. Jesse Little – For everything that went on last night and this season, it’s hard to overlook a team who continues to impress people quietly. This season Little had only competed in three races prior to Iowa. In two of those races, he earned two top-10 finishes at Atlanta and Dover by finishing eighth and ninth. He upped that finish and earned the best finish of his career so far by finishing in the sixth position, earning his third top-10 of the year in the limited schedule that he has been running. But as seen in the series, under the right circumstances and situations, Little could provide to be an upset winner whenever the trucks race. And whenever the race team gets that victory, it will be a huge win for the small underfunded No. 97 team.
      • Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
    5. Harrison Burton – Burton rounds out the power rankings this week after a strong showing at Iowa. The 17-year-old proved his talents once more this past weekend. He topped the practice charts in the final practice and continued that momentum by earning his first ever Truck Series pole. Burton led early in Stage 1 by leading the first 30 laps and that would be the only 30 laps he led for the rest of the night. In the first stage, Burton wounded up finishing third. However, problems with the ECU unit mounted after the first stage and resulted in putting him deep in the field for the second stage. That didn’t stop him, however, as he worked his way up to finish sixth in the second stage. Just like his teammate, Gragson, Burton found himself competing for the win late in the going. Ultimately after some issues early on, he found himself third at the scoring pylon earning his career-best Truck Series finish. Burton continues to shine early in his career.
      • Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked

    Fell Out

    1. Matt Crafton – An accident on lap 135 saw Crafton’s left front tire blow out and resulted in him finishing in the 26th position. The No. 88 Menards team continues to struggle to find that first win of the season.
    2. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger was involved in the first wreck and had a bit of damage, thus relegating him to an 11th place finish.
    3. Justin Haley – Haley wasn’t quite as sporty this week as he finished 16th, four laps down.
    4. Stewart Friesen- Friesen was also involved in the same incident as Crafton, but managed a ninth-place finish.
  • Matt Crafton’s Blown Tire Causes Mulit-Car Wreck in Stage 3 at Iowa

    Matt Crafton’s Blown Tire Causes Mulit-Car Wreck in Stage 3 at Iowa

    On Lap 135, Matt Crafton’s left front tire cut down going into Turn 1 causing a multi-vehicle incident during Stage 3 of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series M&M’s 200 at Iowa Speedway. Drivers involved in the accident included Stewart Friesen, Ben Rhodes, previous race winner John Hunter Nemechek, and Dalton Sargeant.

    Prior to the incident taking place, Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Ford and the No. 52 Halmar Racing machine made slight contact with each other, thus giving Crafton a left front tire rub. Laps later, the tire finally let go causing a major accident.

    “I blew a left front tire,” Crafton said. “Just got caught back with the 52 (Friesen) and blew a left front tire.”

    John Hunter Nemechek was also taken out of the race after leading the race twice for 15 laps.

    “I don’t know how Crafton ended up with a left front rub,” Nemechek said. “I had no idea. We could tell who was rubbing to the outside getting in to (turn) 1, put us four wide and I tried backing out of the situation and it just wasn’t enough. I hate it for all my guys. He (Crafton) came up and blew a left front, kept coming up and put us in the fence. So overall, disappointed. But have another shot at tomorrow. We were fast and I was driving my butt off. That was a lot of fun.”

    Crafton finished 26th and Nemechek 27th.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Iowa

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Iowa

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to the midwest again this weekend, as the series regulars head to Iowa Speedway. This is the second standalone event of the season for the series.

    Currently, there are 35 trucks on the preliminary entry list this weekend for the annual M&Ms 200.

    Fifteen drivers will be making their first track debut. These include Camden Murphy, Austin Hill, Cory Roper, Todd Gilliland, Reid Wilson, Myatt Snider, Bobby Reuse, Brett Moffitt, Tanner Thorson, Dalton Sargeant, Justin Fontaine, Christian Eckes, Stewart Friesen, Bo LeMastus and Bayley Currey.

    Note: Christian Eckes will be making his Truck Series debut driving the No. 46 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

    Here’s a look at who might be challenging for the win this weekend at the small .875-mile track.

    1. Johnny Sauter – It should be no surprise that Sauter, once again, tops the chart this week but it’s hard to overlook someone who has done so much in a sport that’s called, ‘What Have You Done for Me Lately?’ Lately, he has earned season win number four last week at Texas Motor Speedway. It’s also hard to stop someone who has been on a roll and carrying so much momentum this season. However, Iowa will be a little challenge and a curve-ball this week for the No. 21 GMS Racing. Sauter has no wins in 11 races, but he does have seven top fives and eight top-10 finishes, along with an average start of 9.8 and an average finish of 7.4. His last five finishes have been second, 10th, 17th, 18th, and fourth, respectively. But if he does pull out the win this Saturday night, it shouldn’t be surprising due to the fact that he’s been the Kevin Harvick of the Truck Series.
    2. John Hunter Nemechek – John Hunter Nemechek returns to pilot the No. 8 Nemco Motorsports Chevy. He is high on the list this week because Nemechek is the recent race winner of the event. In last year’s race, he started fifth and led just six laps. He also finished seventh and third, respectively in both stages. Nemechek has also led 59 laps in total at the track, including obtaining a 5.5 average start and an average finish of 11.5. Other finishes include 12th, 23rd (DNF), and 10th in his four starts at the track. He also has one top-five finish and two top-10 finishes. Nemechek will certainly be a challenger for the win this week at Iowa.
    3. Stewart Friesen – After last week’s performance, it’s hard to not count Friesen out to contend for the win. He and his No. 52 Halmar Racing is slowly but surely, becoming more and more of a contender each week in challenging for race wins. Friesen came up .092 seconds short of his first win to Johnny Sauter. This will be his first-ever start at Iowa Speedway this weekend.
    4. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland will be making his first ever Truck Series start at Iowa, but he does have previous starts and experience at the racetrack. His starts came in the NASCAR K&N Series as well as the ARCA Racing Series. In last year’s race, Gilliland started fourth and won after dominating the whole race by leading 147 laps. He has also made one start in the ARCA Racing Series driving for Venturini Motorsports starting 11th and finishing ninth. Gilliland has already proven himself as a contender for the win and if the opportunity strikes, he could end up in victory lane this weekend. What a win that would be for the recent high school graduate.
    5. Matt Crafton – Crafton will be making his 12th career start at Iowa this weekend and is still searching for the first win of the 2018 season. At Iowa, he has made 11 career starts and posted one win which came in 2011, seven years ago. He also has five top-five finishes and along with 10 top-1os. Crafton has also led 89 laps throughout his career at this place and has an average start of 9.7 and an average finish of 6.3. However, in the recent outing, he did not finish after getting involved in a late-race crash and salvaged a 19th place finish. While it seems as though the No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 is still searching for speed this season if they play their cards right and right calls happen, Crafton will earn his first win of the season and lock himself into the Playoffs.

    Iowa Speedway has seen 11 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ever since the series went there in 2009. Erik Jones and Timothy Peters have been the only repeat winners. Other winners include Mike Skinner, Austin Dillon, Matt Crafton, James Buescher, William Byron and defending race winner, John Hunter Nemechek. Qualifying will be important if you want to collect a race win as previous race winners have started, fifth twice, first, second, and third.

    Stages will be broken up into 60/120/200.

    The Truck Series will have a one day show with first practice beginning at 9:35 a.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 and final practice at 11:00 a.m. ET on Fox Sports 2. Qualifying is slated for Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS2.

    Race coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio, with the green flag scheduled to drop at 7:19 p.m. ET, approximately.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas 1

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas 1

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was in the heat of the heartland this past Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. There were definitely some thrills and spills, but some guy named Johnny Sauter who has been victorious multiple times this season topped this week’s power rankings.

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

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Charlotte

    It’s a home game this week for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series as the drivers and teams will compete in their own backyards. One team and driver will show who’s best Friday night in the annual running of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    There are 35 trucks on the preliminary entry list with the No. 1 owned by Tracy Lowe, Clay Greenfield of the 68 and Joe Nemechek of the 87 being the only withdrawals from the race.

    A few notables – Timothy Peters is back competing in the No. 92 Ricky Benton Racing Ford and Daniel Hemric will be back for the first time in a Truck since 2016 driving the No. 20 of Young Motorsports.

    In the past five races, there have been three different winners with Kyle Busch being the only repeat winner of this race.

    Here’s a look at who to expect to be in victory lane at the end of the night.

      1. Kyle Busch – It should be no surprise that Busch is on top of the list for this weekend’s race. He has won this race seven times and is the previous race winner. He earned his first win at Charlotte in the Truck Series in May 2005. The only thing that’s different this time is that he’ll look to tie Ron Hornaday’s winning streak. Busch came close last weekend at Kansas by finishing second, but it wasn’t good enough to score the win. In the last four races, he has earned three wins, four top five’s and four top 10 finishes, along with 327 laps led and an average finish of 1.2, not bad for the Kyle Busch Motorsports owner. He’ll be a challenging factor in Friday night’s race.
      2. Noah Gragson – Gragson claimed career victory No. 2 last weekend at Kansas Speedway and that momentum could carry over this week at Charlotte. While he only has one start at the 1.5-mile track with a finish of ninth in the previous race, Gragson has been dominant in most 1.5 mile races this year. With a late race restart in Atlanta, he restarted in the ninth position and almost pulled off the win before finishing second. In Las Vegas, Gragson finished 12th after starting fifth. So don’t be surprised if we see the No. 18 Safelite Tundra back in victory lane again this weekend, as momentum could be huge for the 19-year old.
      3. Matt Crafton – Seven races in and Crafton is still looking for that breakthrough victory of the 2018 season. While it’s hard to believe the No. 88 Menards driver doesn’t have a win yet, you really can’t count him out on any given race weekend. In Dover after Gragson had a late race tangle with eventual race winner Johnny Sauter, Crafton finished second. Last week at Kansas, he led only four laps before battling a tight conditioning truck all night. He could score that first win this weekend as Charlotte is the site of Crafton’s first ever victory back in 2008. He also scored another win two years ago in 2016 after starting 17th.
      4. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek has run okay at Charlotte but has never been considered as a possible upset. However, he could be this weekend. In two starts, he has finishes of 12th and 22nd, respectively.  He is coming off a strong run at Kansas this past weekend by finishing fourth. Nemechek could get that first win at Charlotte Friday night and what a win that would be for the family-owned team.
      5. Timothy Peters – Peters could be a real upset this weekend if he could pull off the win tomorrow night in the No. 92 Ricky Benton Racing Ford. In the past five starts, he has two top fives and four top 10 finishes with a best finish of fifth in last year’s race. However, those starts were in the now-defunct Red Horse Racing stable who were contenders for the win week in and week out. It’s no doubt Peters and the No. 92 team will have a battle on their hands Friday night. However, should they play their cards right and have a little bit of luck, they could just be a surprise winner.

    Live coverage begins with the first practice scheduled for 9:05 a.m. ET with no live TV. Final practice will be shown on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 10:35 a.m. ET.

    Qualifying is scheduled for 4:40 p.m. ET on FS1 with the green flag at the approximate time of 8:49 p.m. ET, all on FS1 and MRN Radio, weather permitting, as there is a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms in the forecast Friday afternoon and evening.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Kansas

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Kansas

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned to Kansas Speedway this past weekend.

    It was the sixth race of the 2018 racing season and so far, there have been six different winners this year as a new, but familiar, face ended up in victory lane.

          1. Noah Gragson – After last week’s heartbreak at Dover, Gragson was able to back it up with a dominant win at Kansas. After starting from the pole position, he led all but four laps to win Stage 1. While he still had a fast truck in Stage 2, Gragson didn’t lead all the laps but went on to win the second stage. The lead was swapped multiple times in the remaining laps with Stewart Friesen, Kyle Busch, Johnny Sauter, and Myatt Snider until Gragson reclaimed the lead with six laps to go and was able to hang on to score just the second victory of his career. He lead 128 laps of the scheduled 167 laps and now sits second in the points, 35 points behind Johnny Sauter. Previous Ranking: 2nd
          2. Stewart Friesen – Friesen had another career night at the 1.5-mile speedway. After starting eighth, he finished 10th in Stage 1 and fifth in the second stage. Friesen took the lead twice and led for six laps. At the end of the day, the scoring pylon placed the No. 52 Halmar Racing team third to earn his second top five of 2018 and his fourth of his career. Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
          3. Johnny Sauter – Although, Sauter didn’t have the best truck all night, he was able to make the best with what he had. He started in the fifth position and fell back a bit during the two stages. In Stages 1 and 2, Sauter finished ninth and eighth, respectively. It was not the dominant truck that he had last week at Dover, but Sauter managed with what he had and finished fifth for his fifth top five of the season. He still remains as the point leader, leading over 35 points. Previous Ranking: 1st
          4. Matt Crafton – Crafton had a very similar night to what Sauter did. He was able to start on the front row alongside eventual race winner, Noah Gragson. He led just the first four laps of the race and struggled to get back into the lead to fight for the win, as Crafton battled a tight truck most of the night. Despite not having the best truck of the race, he managed to finish eighth and ninth, respectively in both stages. Ultimately, Crafton finished sixth for his third top 10 of the season. Previous Ranking: 3rd
          5. Cody Coughlin – Coughlin remains in the power rankings again this week by finishing in the seventh position. He finished 10th in Stage 2 to earn one playoff point. Coughlin sits 11th in the point standings. Previous Ranking: 4th

      Honorable Mentions
      1.  Grant Enfinger- Enfinger scored another top 10 finish by placing eighth.
      2. Justin Haley- Haley finished 10th and earned his fourth top 10 of the year.
      3. Dalton Sargeant- Sargeant started 11th and finished 11th.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Dover

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Dover

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series finally returns to action this week at Dover International Speedway after a five-week off period.

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

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

    Here’s a look at who might end up taking the checkered flag tomorrow night at Dover.

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

    Qualifying will be especially important at Dover. In the last five races, the winner has come from a starting spot no lower than 11th which happened last year when Johnny Sauter took the checkered flag.

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

    The JEGS 200 can be seen live on FS1 with race coverage beginning at 5:00 p.m ET and on MRN Radio. The approximate green flag is 5:18 p.m. ET.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Martinsville

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Martinsville

    After two weeks off, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action at the famous “Half-Mile Paperclip,” Martinsville Speedway. The 2018 truck series has been action packed so far with three races and three different winners. And there’s a good possibility there could be a fourth different winner in 2018.

    Currently, there are 36 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list. Here’s a look at who to watch for this weekend at Martinsville.

      1. Johnny Sauter – In three races, Sauter is the highest active driver leading the way in stats. He won this race in 2016 and has three top fives and three top 10 finishes, along with 145 laps led. He also has an average start of 3.7 and an average finish of 2.0, not bad for the 2016 truck series champion. In the spring race, Sauter finished second to his teammate and race winner Chase Elliott. Expect Sauter to be up front and challenging for the win.
      2. Noah Gragson – Gragson has made two starts at Martinsville and is the defending race winner the last time trucks visited at Martinsville. The other finish the No. 18 Switch Tundra driver has is ninth after starting fourth in the spring race. He has also led 10 laps.
      3. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek’s 2018 truck season hasn’t been great so far for the Mooresville, North Carolina native. In two starts, he has finishes of 25th and 21st respectively, at Daytona and Las Vegas. Even though his recent Martinsville outings haven’t been too stellar, Nemechek does have a finish of third in 2016 after starting 12th. He’ll be looking to turn around his season this weekend at Martinsville by possibly finishing in the top 10 or collecting a win.
      4. Matt Crafton – Just like Sauter, Crafton is expected to be challenging for the win week in and week out. He has two victories at Martinsville which came in 2014 and 2015. However, in the last three races, he has finishes of second, ninth and 17th, respectively. Crafton’s recent finish was second in the fall race and he finished ninth in last year’s springs race. He has led 102 laps with an average start of 5.7 and an average finish of 9.3. After a disappointing finish at Las Vegas due to brakes and losing the lead and the eventual race win last fall, Crafton will be hungry and be searching for his first checkered flag of the season.
      5. Timothy Peters – Peters returns this weekend to drive the No. 92 truck of Ricky Benton Racing Enterprises. It will be his first race of the 2018 season. He made his first ever Martinsville start back in 2005 driving the No. 4 Dodge of Bobby Hamilton Racing and finished 18th after starting 25th. Since then, his Martinsville finishes have varied but Peters does have one win that came back in 2009 after starting 11th and led 84 laps. Peters did attempt the spring race last year and finished eighth after starting third.

    Live coverage of the Truck Series starts Friday afternoon with two practice sessions live on Fox Sports 1. The first practice is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. ET with the final practice at 1:05 p.m. ET. Qualifying is slated for 11:05 a.m. ET on FS1 with race coverage beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET live on FS1 and MRN Radio.