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  • Noah Gragson Claims Pole for the World of Westgate 200

    Noah Gragson Claims Pole for the World of Westgate 200

    With a dominating time of 30.331 seconds at 178.036 mph, Noah Gragson will start in the top spot for this evening’s World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He was only 0.005 seconds shy of the qualifying record.

    Stewart Friesen will start to his outside in the second position. Grant Enfinger, Chris Eggleston and Riley Herbst rounds out the top five. The other drivers to make the final round of qualifying include Johnny Sauter, Brandon Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Brett Moffit, Todd Gilliland, Tanner Thorson and Justin Haley. All drivers will start in that respective order.

    “We were fast there earlier on in the spring with my Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra,” stated Gragson as he reflected on his race earlier this year. “We restarted the final restart in second place, but the left-rear tire was chorded, so we didn’t get the result that we showed all throughout the race, but we ran in the top three the whole time. It’s another opportunity to chase a checkered flag.”

    Gragson was fastest in the first round of qualifying at his hometrack, with Stewart Friesen and Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Brandon Jones rounding out the top three starting positions. Gragson was fifth fastest in final practice, but only 16th during first practice; however, he set the fastest 10 consecutive lap average over Matt Crafton. All four KBM trucks made the final round of qualifying.

    Two playoff contenders did not make the second round of qualifying. Ben Rhodes was only able to place himself in the 18th starting position in his No. 41 The Carolina Nut Co. Ford. The other was Matt Crafton, who starts 30th with an unusual qualifying run, and puts him in an uphill battle being one of the playoff contenders. Earlier in the day, the No. 88 Ideal Door / Menards Ford was fourth and third fastest in both practices respectively.

    Some trucks were required to qualify on speed, but the unfortunate three that did not make the field included Tate Fogleman, JJ Yeley and Norm Benning.

    Tune into the only September Truck race of 2018 by listening live on radio with MRN (Motor Racing Network) or watch on television with FS1 later this evening at 9:00pm ET.

     

    Time Trial Results
    Las Vegas Motor Speedway
    22nd Annual World of Westgate 200
    Qualifying Round: 2

    Pos Car Driver Team Make
    1 18 Noah Gragson (P) Safelite AutoGlass Toyota
    2 52 Stewart Friesen (P) We Build America Chevrolet
    3 98 Grant Enfinger (P) Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records Ford
    4 54 Chris Eggleston H2O Fire Protection Toyota
    5 46 Riley Herbst Advance Auto Parts Toyota
    6 21 Johnny Sauter (P) Allegiant Chevrolet
    7 51 Brandon Jones(i) Delta Faucet/Menards Toyota
    8 8 John H. Nemechek(i) Berry’s Manufacturing Chevrolet
    9 16 Brett Moffit (P) TZ Toyota
    10 4 Todd Gilliland # JBL/SiriusXM Toyota
    11 20 Tanner Thorson GO Share Chevrolet
    12 24 Justin Haley (P) Fraternal Order Of Eagles Chevrolet

     

    Qualifying Round: 1

    Pos Car Driver Team Make
    1 18 Noah Gragson (P) Safelite AutoGlass Toyota
    2 52 Stewart Friesen (P) We Build America Chevrolet
    3 51 Brandon Jones(i) Delta Faucet/Menards Toyota
    4 54 Chris Eggleston H2O Fire Protection Toyota
    5 8 John Hunter Berry’s Manufacturing Chevrolet
    6 4 Todd Gilliland # JBL/SiriusXM Toyota
    7 46 Riley Herbst Advance Auto Parts Toyota
    8 21 Johnny Sauter (P) Allegiant Chevrolet
    9 98 Grant Enfinger (P) Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records Ford
    10 16 Brett Moffit (P) TZ Toyota
    11 20 Tanner Thorson GO Share Chevrolet
    12 24 Justin Haley (P) Fraternal Order Of Eagles Chevrolet
    13 13 Myatt Snider # Century Container Ford
    14 25 Timothy Peters Kingman Chevrolet
    15 2 Cody Coughlin GOD FALSE
    16 02 Austin Hill Young’s Building Systems/Randco Chevrolet
    17 17 Bo LeMastus # Crosley Brands Toyota
    18 41 Ben Rhodes (P) The Carolina Nut Co. Ford
    19 04 Cory Roper Preferred Industrial Contractors Inc. Ford
    20 7 Korbin Forrister TruClear Toyota
    21 30 Austin Theriault Cross Insurance Toyota
    22 87 Joe Nemechek Harrah’s Chevrolet
    23 38 TJ Bell Niece Equipment Chevrolet
    24 15 Ross Chastain(i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
    25 22 Austin Wayne Self GO TEXAN Chevrolet
    26 97 Jesse Little JJL Motorsports Ford
    27 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Waldo’s Painting Company Chevrolet
    28 OP 83 Bayley Currey Chevrolet
    29 OP 88 Matt Crafton (P) Ideal Door/Menards Ford
    30 OP 45 Justin Fontaine # ProMATIC Automation/Superior Essex Chevrolet
    31 OP 49 Wendell Chavous Sobriety Nation Chevrolet
    32 OP 3 Jordan Anderson Commercial Property Services Chevrolet
    33 12 Tate Fogleman Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet
    34 33 JJ Yeley(i) Reaume Brothers Racing Inc. Toyota
    35 6 Norm Benning H&H Transport Chevrolet
  • A Tribute to the NASCAR Fans

    A Tribute to the NASCAR Fans

    NASCAR fans come from every walk of life, trucker to CEO, and yet converge on Sundays to watch the sport they love as one.

    They share travel stories about how far they came, who their favorite drivers are, and who they are picking to win that particular race. NASCAR race fan discussion sometimes even gets a bit heated, but that is all usually put aside over an adult beverage and some good race track eats.

    NASCAR fans are passionate like none other. They demonstrate that passion with the gear that they wear, from T-shirts to jackets to pajama bottoms sporting their favorite team number or race car, to the bags of merchandise they purchase from the many haulers at the race track.

    Many have even poked some fun at NASCAR fans, citing the occasional missing tooth or the perhaps a little more predominant beer belly. And there is a definite fascination of the variety of racing tattoos or the interesting hair dos sported by fans at every event.

    But at the Nationwide race in Daytona, the first one of the season, where everyone in the stands was so excited to start the 2013 year off with a bang, NASCAR fans instead became helpers and first responders.

    As the pieces and parts of young race Kyle Larson’s car flew into the stands, after the last lap crash, fans were helping fellow fans, taking off those race-themed T-shirts to help staunch the bleeding of those who were injured.

    And they used those loud NASCAR fan voices, ones that had just been cheering for their beloved racers, to instead summon help from the nearby emergency responders.

    “It was surreal,” Ron Diehl, Jr., a fan who was at the track just a few sections away from where Larson’s car hit the fence, said. “The debris was raining down.”

    “You saw the smoke and then we saw the impact and then parts started flying up in the air,” Diehl continued. “I kind of froze and ducked my head.”

    “I was kind of in shock.”

    Another fan, Larry Spencer, said, “As soon as he hit the catch fence, it looked like the car exploded. There were pieces of debris flying everywhere.”

    In spite of trying to protect his brother, Spencer said that he did suffer a cut to his cheek, requiring stitches.

    “As soon as I saw the pieces of debris go flying, I grabbed him and put my arms around him to shield him.”

    Those NASCAR fans not at the track at Daytona took to social media, Twitter and Facebook, to post their concerns, sharing their prayers as they tried to gather information about how many were hurt and how critically.

    In that one moment, they forgot about their rivalries and instead came together as a community to worry about any fan, adult or child, injured in the last lap melee.

    Even the drivers joined in sharing their concerns about the fans, acknowledging that those are the people that make their racing possible.

    Tony Stewart, who actually won the Nationwide Drive4COPD 300, was somber in Victory Lane, deciding to waive off the festivities in light of his care and concern for what was happening in the stands.

    “We always know that this is a dangerous sport,” Stewart said. “We assume that risk but it’s hard when fans get caught up in it.”

    “My concern is for the fans right now.”

    NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski, who was also participating in the Nationwide race and was involved in the crash, echoed Stewart’s concerns.

    “There was obviously a big wreck with a lot of debris,” Keselowski said. “I really hope everyone in the grandstands is OK.”

    “That is the most important thing right now.”

    Both the track president Joie Chitwood and NASCAR’s president Mike Helton made formal statements about their joint concerns for the fans in the media center after visiting the hospital where many of the injured were taken.

    But, as with any tragedy at any race, from the death of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona in 2001 to the death of a fan from a lightning strike at Pocono Raceway last year, NASCAR fans know that the show must go on and the racing must continue.

    And that is again is how the heartiness and resiliency of the NASCAR fans is demonstrated. The stands will fill this weekend and every weekend going forward, the National Anthem will be sung, the engines will be fired and the fans will cheer mightily for it all.

    Perhaps Dave Moody, radio host and announcer for MRN, summed it up best by starting a trend in using the Twitter hash tag #NASCARSTRONG in communicating via social media about the fans and the last lap crash. After all, that is exactly what race fans are – strong, feisty, determined and resilient.

    Indeed, NASCAR fans are a family. And every race fan is in fact #NASCARSTRONG.