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  • Nemechek Wrecks Out Early at Martinsville

    Nemechek Wrecks Out Early at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Two weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway, John Hunter Nemechek rallied from a wreck he was caught up in to finish sixth and advance to the Round of 6. Today in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville Speedway, there was no such rally.

    Entering Turn 1 on Lap 37, Nemechek got loose and spun out. His truck spun up track before the right-rear corner made contact with the outside wall in the middle of Turns 1 and 2. The force of impact brought the right-front towards and into the wall. The rear of the truck jutted outward, while the right-front clung to the wall for a few seconds.

    This single-truck incident brought out the first caution of the race.

    “Soft brake pedal. I don’t know. Didn’t give any warning. It never got squishy. We were just kind of riding around, biding our time there. I dove into (Turn) 1 normal, hit the brake pedal and it went straight to the floor. Sucks for our guys. Sucks for Fire Alarm Services. We had a fast truck in race trim. I felt like we had a contending-winning truck if we could’ve got some track position. It’s early on. It definitely sucks to be out of the race this early, but we dug ourself out of one hole in the first round. Hopefully, they won’t know what hit them in Texas.”

    Nemechek leaves sixth in points, 62 out of the points lead and 28 out of the Round of 6 drop zone.

  • Gragson Makes Outside Pass on Final Restart to Win at Martinsville

    Gragson Makes Outside Pass on Final Restart to Win at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — While celebrating victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville Speedway, Noah Gragson did a throwback to Tony Stewart and Helio Castroneves, climbing the catchfence, and something uniquely his own, doing pull-ups.

    On the final restart with 10 laps to go, Matt Crafton was the race leader. But by the time the field exited Turn 2 and dove into Turn 3, Gragson was the clear leader and drove onto his first career victory in the Truck Series.

    “Oh it’s really tough racing against these veterans. Those last like 40 laps with Johnny Sauter beating off my back bumper. He did that earlier to us in the spring (at Martinsville) and I wasn’t going to let him pass me again like that. We got that caution there at the end. You can’t pass on the outside at Martinsville, but I did it!”

    Crafton finished second and Johnny Sauter rounded out the podium.

    Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Chase Briscoe led the field to the green flag at 1:14 p.m. After John Hunter Nemechek brought out the first caution on Lap 37, Crafton took over the lead when Briscoe pitted and drove on to win the first stage.

    Returning to green on Lap 60, Crafton spent the next 10 laps getting his rear bumper beaten in by Sauter. Finally on Lap 71, he pulled aside and allowed Sauter to take the inside line, which let him take the lead on Lap 72 and go on to win the second stage.

    Christopher Bell, who inherited the lead when Sauter pitted, led the field to green with 89 laps to go. With 79 to go, Crafton got too deep into Turn 3, clipped the curb and spun Bell.

    Crafton retook the lead, as a result, and led the rest of the way, until Bayley Currey spun out and planted his truck in the grass, setting up the final 10-lap run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    Caution flew for the first time on Lap 37 when Nemechek got loose, spun out and slammed the outside wall in Turn 1. The end of the first stage brought out the second caution on Lap 50. The third caution flew on Lap 100 for the conclusion of the second stage. The two-car incident with Bell and Crafton in Turn 3 with 79 to go brought out the fourth caution. A three-car incident in Turn 1 with 64 to go involving Briscoe, Ty Dillon and Justin Hayley brought out the fifth caution. Bayley Currey’s spin in Turn 1 brought out the sixth and final caution with 16 to go.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted one hour, 32 minutes and 55 seconds, at an average speed of 67.932 mph. There were six lead changes among five different drivers and six cautions for 45 laps.

    Bell leaves with a three-point lead over Sauter. Austin Cindric and Nemechek leave in the Round of 6 drop zone.

  • Nemechek rallies from Playoff elimination with sixth at Talladega

    Nemechek rallies from Playoff elimination with sixth at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — John Hunter Nemechek was on the brink of an early exit from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs after he was caught up in a wreck roughly halfway through the running of the Fred’s 250. But he weaved his way through a multi-truck wreck with roughly 20 laps remaining and took advantage of the trucks caught up in the final-lap melee to claim a sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Entering the day, Nemechek occupied the bottom Playoff spot. The early misfortune of Kaz Grala and Chase Briscoe, combined with a seventh-place finish in both the first and second stage, put him in excellent position to race his way in.

    Unfortunately for him, restrictor plate racing is rarely that simple.

    Entering Turn 3 with 35 laps to go, Ben Rhodes ran into the left-rear corner of Clay Greenfield’s truck. This sent him sliding down the track into the path of Matt Crafton, who rammed into and further turned Greenfield around.

    Nemechek, who was riding behind and ran into the back of Crafton at one point, found himself trapped when Greenfield’s car slid back up the banking. He made contact with Greenfield’s truck, which forced him up into the left-front corner panel of Regan Smith, and spun down the track and into the grass.

    Despite the damage, Nemechek’s team kept him in the race and on the lead lap.

    He was riding behind the Lap 71 melee that collected five cars. He used just about all of the apron near the start/finish line as the hole to cleanly get through the wreck quickly closed.

    He worked his way to 13th when Austin Wayne Self’s spin in Turn 4 forced overtime.

    Nemechek jumped up to the top lane with two laps to go, but the top line was in disarray after race leader Parker Kligerman jumped to the bottom.

    While it denied him a chance to steal the victory, it put him back far enough that when the race-ending Big One broke out in Turn 1 on the final lap, he just drove right through it and finished sixth.

    “I’m pretty sure that we were in almost every wreck there was today,” Nemechek said. “I just can’t thank all my guys enough. They never gave up. My pit crew was awesome at fixing the truck. We got stage points. We accomplished everything that we wanted to, except for winning stages and winning the race. I would’ve much rather had Christopher (Bell) stay running up front, being uneventful.”

    Nemechek leaves fourth in points, trailing Bell by 33.

  • Kligerman Wins Talladega Truck Race

    Kligerman Wins Talladega Truck Race

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Before the season started, at the Henderson Motorsports shop in Abingdon, Virginia, I asked NBC Sports analyst Parker Kligerman why he was taking a part-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride. His response was “Why the hell not?” Today I asked him if this win validated that response, he said it didn’t need validating because he’s having a hell of a lot of fun.

    Getting a push down the backstretch from Grant Enfinger, Kligerman took the lead from Bell coming to the white flag. Entering Turn 1, Justin Haley made contact with Noah Gragson and Johnny Sauter, sending either Gragson or Sauter into Stewart Friesen and triggering the five-car wreck that ended the Fred’s 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    “It was just crazy. Every move worked,” Kligerman said of his closing laps. “And it’s just sometimes, they’d click. Those last 10 laps, no matter if I went high and I’d separate a pack, or I’m trying to get the bump and the run. Every move just works.”

    It’s his 12th victory in 68 career starts.

    Bell finished second and Myatt Snider rounded out the podium.

    Enfinger and Austin Cindric rounded out the top-five.

    John Hunter Nemechek, Vinnie Miller, Clay Greenfield, Matt Crafton and Tyler Young rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Bell led the field to the green flag at 1:16 p.m., but lost the lead immediately to Sauter, who led the first stage from start to finish and won it.

    DJ Kennington and Cindric led during the first stage break, but Sauter took back the lead on the ensuing restart and led all the remaining laps of the second stage on his way to winning it.

    The intensity picked up from the drop of the green for the final stage, with 48 laps to go. Snider edged out Bell at the line to take the lead with 47 to go. Sauter shoved Snider ahead of Bell, but Kligerman shoved Cody Coughlin to the front coming to the line with 46 to go. Kligerman went to the inside of Coughlin and took the lead with 45 to go. Friesen was shoved by Bell to the front down the backstretch with 43 to go.

    On the restart, following a three-truck wreck in Turn 3, Kligerman got a push from Bell to the front around Friesen through Turn 1 35 to go.

    A multi-truck wreck in the tri-oval with 23 to go set up the run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    Caution flew for the first time on Lap 20 for a one-truck wreck exiting Turn 4. The second caution on Lap 42 was for the end of the second stage. A three-truck wreck in Turn 3 on Lap 55 brought out the third caution. Caution flew on Lap 71 for a multi-truck incident, coming to the start/finish line. The final caution flew in Turn 1 on the final lap, ending the race.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted one hour, 57 minutes and 18 seconds, at an average speed of 129.258 mph. There were 17 lead changes among 11 different drivers and six cautions for 27 laps.

    Bell leaves with a 52-point lead over Sauter. Chase Briscoe and Kaz Grala fail to advance on in the Truck Series Playoffs.

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  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Las Vegas

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Las Vegas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Las Vegas

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Las Vegas

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues their Round of 8 playoffs run this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Currently, there are 28 trucks on the preliminary entry list for this weekend.

    If past history repeats and it does, Las Vegas Motor Speedway can except a new winner at the track. Which one that will be is yet to be determined.

    In the past five races, there have been five different winners. And with a little bit of luck, you can win from the back. Tyler Reddick did that last year after starting 16th.

    1. Matt Crafton – Despite having a run that Crafton didn’t want last weekend at New Hampshire, he could back that up with a win this weekend at Las Vegas. In the past five starts, Crafton has two top fives and four top 10 finishes, along with one pole position. His average finishing position is 6.4 and he has led 118 laps. Crafton could finally cross Las Vegas off the tracks he has not won yet.
    2. Christopher Bell – Even though Bell has only one start here, don’t let that fool you as he’s carrying momentum after his win last weekend. In last year’s race, Bell finished sixth in his first race at Las Vegas. He could certainly make things interesting if he wins Saturday night.
    3. Austin Cindric – Cindric could be a surprise on Saturday. While he does not have any career starts at the 1.5-mile track, Brad Keselowski Racing has a great track record. In the 2016 race, the team drivers swept the top two spots in the finishing order. Cindric could definitely use a strong run this weekend to help him move up the charts in the playoff point standings, as he sits fifth, 57 points behind.
    4. Timothy Peters – Peters return to the Truck Series Saturday night after a hiatus since Texas Motor Speedway. He could spoil the playoff party by winning and it wouldn’t be a surprise. In terms of stats at Las Vegas, Peters sits first. He has one win, three top fives and five top 10 finishes, along with 73 laps led. It’ll be great to see the 10-time winner back in the series. Peters will be driving the No. 02 truck, replacing Tyler Young, who normally drives.
    5.  Johnny Sauter – Among the experienced, Sauter is expected to run well at Las Vegas. In the past five races, Sauter has one top five and two top 10 finishes. He has led 13 laps with the best finish of second coming in 2013.

    Worthy of mention – Travis Pastrana also returns to NASCAR racing for a one-off, driving Al Niece’s No. 45 Chevrolet.

    The stages will be broken into 35 laps, 70 laps and the final stage making up the 146 lap race. This will be a one-day event as two practices will take place at 11:30 a.m. ET and 1 p.m. ET. Qualifying will begin at 6:10 p.m. ET on FS2, but will then switch to FS1.

    The green flag drops at 8:19 p.m. ET both on FS1 and MRN Radio. Coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-New Hampshire

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-New Hampshire

    The Round of 8 began this past weekend for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. While there were some surprises in the top 10 results, most of it saw the normal faces up front. Here are this week’s power rankings.

          1. Christopher Bell – Bell continued his dominant season and starts the Playoffs off with the win going into the next round. He led three times for 73 laps and won both stages. Bell also gained seven playoff points after his fifth career victory of 2017. He certainly dominated this weekend at New Hampshire and is safe for at least the next two races in this round.
          2. Noah Gragson – Despite not getting the finish he wanted and missing out on the playoffs, Gragson dominated most of Stage 1 until Bell passed him late in the stage. However, the second stage did not go as well as the first stage did for the Las Vegas driver. On lap 65, Gragson was involved in a multi-truck accident involving a tap by Ben Rhodes. Playoff contender, Johnny Sauter, was also collected as he had right side damage to his truck. Gragson could not rebound after this wreck and wound up 15th on the scoring charts.
          3. Todd Gilliland – The young 17-year-old was not to be denied at the “Magic Mile” on Saturday afternoon. In Stage 1, he finished eighth. However, during the pit stops after the stage was over, Gilliland was nabbed with a pit road penalty for running over equipment. This sent him to the back before Stage 2 started, although, Gilliland charged through the front late and ended up finishing third. Nice rebound after getting tabbed with a penalty early on.
          4. Stewart Friesen – Friesen has been a solid 2017 season so far, despite not competing in the full schedule. Prior to New Hampshire, Pocono in July was the site that saw the best finish of his career by finishing 12th. However, he upped that this past Saturday by finishing fifth, scoring his second top five of the year.
          5. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger is another driver who missed the playoffs this year but had a solid outing at New Hampshire. He finished ninth in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2. At the end of the day, when all was settled and done with, Enfinger earned a fourth-place finish.

    Next Up: The Round of 8 continues this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. While one driver is locked in, seven others will look to lock themselves in as well and punch their ticket to the next round.

  • Thorsport Racing Has Solid Outing At New Hampshire

    Thorsport Racing Has Solid Outing At New Hampshire

    The Thorsport Racing team has two of its three drivers in the 2017 playoff run to the championship. Even though only two are in the hunt for the championship, that doesn’t mean Grant Enfinger can’t challenge for a win either.

    For Enfinger, he started out the UNOH 175 strong as he started in the eighth position. He finished top 10 in both stages with the highest finish coming in Stage 2, where he finished third. By the time, the 175-lap event was complete, Enfinger ended the day with a top-five finish. Enfinger gave his thoughts about the finish.

    “Overall we were good- a lot of fun- first time running at Loudon,” Enfinger said. “Everybody on this RIDE TV Tundra did really good. We unloaded yesterday with good speed, we really had good speed all day. If we could have ever restarted in front of those guys, I don’t think they could have got back around us, but we weren’t quite good enough to get to them and pass them.”

    Two of the playoffs drivers, Matt Crafton and Ben Rhodes also had great outings at New Hampshire.

    Ben Rhodes ran up front all day. After starting fourth, he remained there in Stage 1 and moved up to second after the stage was over. In Stage 2, Rhodes finished seventh, thus gaining playoff points. After running well and leading 17 laps, he ultimately finished seventh after the day was over.

    “Our day started off really strong, and we kind of faded as the day went on,” Rhodes said. “We, unfortunately, were in the wrong lane on the restarts all day – got stuck on the bottom. It’s ok, we took a risk with that two-tire stop, to get our Safelite Tundra up front. Unfortunately, it just didn’t pay off. As the day went on, we just got more loose and ultimately couldn’t make up those spots.”

    The second and final playoff driver, Matt Crafton, earned a top 10 finish but wasn’t pleased with NASCAR’s decision-making.

    The Thorsport Racing driver finished in the top 10 in both stages but wound up sixth on the results chart. However, the 41-year-old was ok with a top 10 finish.

    “Track position was everything,” Crafton said. ” We were a little bit off without a doubt, but we really got screwed by NASCAR on the last call with the 98 (Grant Enfinger), our teammate. We were running in front of him and he was literally three-tenths behind us on track, the yellow comes out and they put him in front of me and he starts, whatever eighth, and I’m ninth on the bottom, and we lost spots. Overall, not a terrible effort. Good points day if you want to call it that.”

  • Ben Rhodes Poised to Become 2017 Truck Series Champion

    Ben Rhodes Poised to Become 2017 Truck Series Champion

    The Louisville, Kentucky driver will be competing in his first ever post-season playoffs.

    Ben Rhodes has been so close to victory lane in 2017. It all started at Kansas earlier this year when he was leading late but a blown motor, unfortunately, put him out of the race and he wound up 23rd. Since then, despite a few bad finishes, Rhodes has had strong results, with the highest finish of second coming at Pocono in July. Rhodes can’t have finishes like 20th at Martinsville, 27th at Kentucky and 30th at Eldora. However, there are a lot of unknowns throughout the playoffs, but Rhodes likes uncertainty.

    “I guess I’m different because I kind of like it,” Rhodes said. “I like the fact that there’s an unknown certainty to it. We all have to go there, we all have to race. We all are subjected to the same conditions, so I kind of like the uncertainty of it. I like Talladega. I like Daytona. Those are some of my favorite races out of the whole year so that it’s in the Playoffs – I don’t think it could come at a better time.”

    Although Rhodes was certain he had a chance to make it into the playoffs, he really didn’t know until after the race was over.

    “It’s honestly a blur looking back at it,” Rhodes said. “I can tell you it wasn’t pleasant, wasn’t the most fun race of the season. We had a good time. The race didn’t go the way we wanted. There was multiple mistakes, different things that were going on and we had to overcome those throughout the entire day, the entire night. Not the most fun race in recent memory, but I feel like that’s good rehearsal for the Final Four. Hopefully, we can make it there and be consistent, limit those mistakes going forward and just play it safe going forward. Make sure that we don’t put the pressure on ourselves and I think we’ll be just fine.”

    Even though Rhodes did not make the Round of 8 last year, he earned finishes 15th at Loudon, 12th at Las Vegas and 24th at Talladega due to a crash. He’ll need to improve upon those finishes if Rhodes wants to move on to the Round of 6.