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Tag: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

  • Byron Holds off Late Charge to Score Fourth Victory of Season

    Byron Holds off Late Charge to Score Fourth Victory of Season

    SPARTA, Ky. — It was a tight battle for the win in the final 15 laps, but William Byron held off late charges from both Daniel Hemric and John Hunter Nemechek to score the victory in the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 in the Bluegrass State.

    It’s the fourth career victory in 12 career starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, sixth top-10 finish of 2016 and first in two starts at Kentucky Speedway for the driver of the No. 9 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. The win was also the 51st for the organization, which breaks a tie with Roush Fenway Racing for the most wins by an organization in the history of the Camping World Truck Series.

    Nemechek posted his fifth top-10 of the season and first in three starts at Kentucky in his No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet. Hermic posted his eighth top-10 finish of the season and first top-10 finish in three races at Kentucky in his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford. Christopher Bell finished fourth in his No. 4 KBM Toyota. Johnny Sauter led 14 laps on his way to rounding out the top-five in his No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet.

    Cameron Hayley finished sixth in his No. 13 ThorSport Racing Toyota. Brandon Jones finished seventh in his No. 71 Ranier Racing Chevrolet. Matt Crafton finished eighth in his No. 8 TSR Toyota. Timothy Peters led five laps on his way to a ninth-place finish in his No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota. Tyler Reddick led one lap on his way to rounding out the top-10 in his No. 29 BKR Ford.

    Daniel Suárez, who led 59 laps, finished 11th. Tommy Joe Martins, who led one lap, retired from the race due to overheating and finished 26th.

    Eighteen cars finished the race on the lead lap and 25 were running at the finish.

    The race lasted one hour, 55 minutes and 41 seconds at an average speed of 116.698 mph. There were nine lead changes among six different drivers and five cautions for 32 laps.

    Byron leaves Kentucky with a 13-point lead over Crafton in the drivers’ points standings.

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  • Suárez Claims the Truck Pole at Kentucky

    Suárez Claims the Truck Pole at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Daniel Suárez will lead the field to the green flag in tonight’s Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota scored the pole for the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 after posting a new track record time of 29.511 and a speed of 182.983 mph. It’s his first pole in 21 career starts in the Camping World Truck Series, first of 2016, his fifth top-10 start of the season and first pole in two races at Kentucky.

    Brett Moffitt will start second in his No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota after posting a time of 29.535 and a speed of 182.834 mph. William Byron will start third in his No. 9 KBM Toyota after posting a time of 29.590 and a speed of 182.494 mph. Daniel Hemric will start fourth in his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford after posting a time of 29.598 and a speed of 182.445 mph. Tyler Reddick will round out the top-five starters in his No. 29 BKR Ford after posting a time of 29.627 and a speed of 182.266 mph.

    Parker Kligerman will start sixth in his No. 05 Athenian Motorsports Chevrolet. Kyle Busch will start seventh in his No. 18 KBM Toyota. Matt Crafton will start eighth in his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota. Ben Rhodes will start ninth in his No. 41 TSR Toyota. Christopher Bell will round out the top-10 starters in his No. 4 KBM Toyota.

    Cameron Hayley will start 11th in his No. 13 TSR Toyota. Cole Custer will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying in his No. 00 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

    No car was sent home.

    Eighteen Chevrolet’s, three Ford’s and 11 Toyota’s will comprise the field for tonight’s race.

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  • Changes Made to Kentucky Speedway

    Changes Made to Kentucky Speedway

    SPARTA, Ky. — The repave wasn’t the only change made to the racing surface at Kentucky Speedway.

    It was announced back in early-January that the 1.5-mile facility would undergo its first repave in its 17-year history. In addition, they changed the degree of the banking in Turns 1 and 2, narrowed the width of the turns, improved drainage and added over 3,000 feet of SAFER barrier.

    The repave was completed in May. In total, 17,000 tons of asphalt was poured to form the new surface by Ohio Valley Asphalt. The asphalt used is a “standard” racing asphalt mix that’s been tweaked to “age the track” faster.

    The finished product was 29,700 feet of added drainage pipes, an addition of 3,200 feet of SAFER barrier for a total of 11,300 feet, all added by Southern Bleacher and Seal Pro. The pit exit lane and apron in Turns 1 and 2 were widened from 14 to 30-feet, Turns 1 and 2 were narrowed from 74 to 56 feet and banking increased from 14 to 17 degrees both of which were done by Baker’s Construction Services.

    The changes in Turns 1 and 2 were done because the previous pit exit lane was very narrow and made merging back onto the racing surface difficult.

    “Modifying Turns 1 and 2 will present an exciting challenge to the drivers while addressing issues of the track surface, SAFER barrier, and drainage will improve safety, which is always our  paramount concern,” said Mark Simendinger, general manager of Kentucky Speedway.

    After blistering was seen during a tire test held at the track in mid-June, Goodyear has decided to bring harder tires for use during the race weekend.

  • Christopher Bell Endures Carnage to Win at Gateway

    Christopher Bell Endures Carnage to Win at Gateway

    On a night of wrecks, angry drivers, more wrecks and a DDT, Christopher Bell endured it all to score the victory at Gateway.

    The driver of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota led 38 laps and took advantage of the misfortunes of other drivers in the closing stages to win the Drivin’ 4 Lineman 200. It’s his second career victory in 16 Camping World Truck Series starts, the first of 2016 and his first on asphalt. The win ties KBM with Roush Fenway Racing for most wins by any organization in the Truck Series.

    Ben Rhodes led four laps on his way to scoring a career-best finish of second in his No. 41 ThorSport Racing Toyota. It’s his fourth top-10 finish of 2016. Daniel Hemric rounded out the podium in his No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford. Johnny Sauter led 29 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet. Reigning series champion Erik Jones rounded out the top-five in his No. 51 KBM Toyota.

    John Hunter Nemechek finished sixth in his No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet. Germán Quiroga finished seventh in his No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota. Kaz Grala finished eighth in his No. 24 GMSR Chevrolet. Ben Kennedy finished ninth in his No. 33 GMSR Chevrolet. Timothy Peters rounded out the top-10 in his No. 17 RHR Toyota.

    William Byron, who led a race-high of 47 laps, came home 17th.

    Twenty cars finished on the lead lap and 23 finished the race.

    The race lasted two hours, 14 minutes and 48 seconds at an average speed of 89.021 mph. There were eight lead changes among six different drivers, nine cautions for 44 laps and three red flag periods. The first red flag was for a three-car wreck in Turn 3 that resulted in Austin Wayne Self being t-boned by Jennifer Jo Cobb. The second was for a multi-car wreck in Turn 4. The last was for a two-car wreck in the closing laps in Turn 1 involving Spencer Gallagher and John Wes Townley that resulted in a fight. During this scuffle, Townley delivered a DDT to Gallagher onto the racing surface.

    Byron leaves with a one-point lead over Matt Crafton in the points standings.

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  • Matt Crafton Has Winning Lottery Ticket in Charlotte

    Matt Crafton Has Winning Lottery Ticket in Charlotte

    CONCORD, N.C. — Being a day late didn’t stop Matt Crafton from finding the winning lottery ticket as he drove to victory in the Queen City.

    The driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota led 47 laps and outraced the caution clock in the closing stages to win the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. It’s his 13th career win, his second of the season, second at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the first time he’s won back to back races in his career.

    Kyle Busch led 27 laps on his way to a runner-up finish in his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. Johnny Sauter led one lap on his way to rounding out the podium in his No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet. Tyler Reddick finished fourth in his No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford and Matt Tifft rounded out the top-five in his No. 11 KBM Toyota.

    Spencer Gallagher finished sixth in his No. 23 GMSR Chevrolet. Timothy Peters led 11 laps on his way to a seventh-place finish in his No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota as Christopher Bell finished eighth in his No. 4 KBM Toyota. Daniel Hemric led 15 laps on his way to a ninth-place finish in his No. 19 BKR Ford followed by William Byron who led 25 laps on his way to rounding out the top-10 in his No. 9 KBM Toyota.

    The race lasted one hour, 25 minutes and one second at an average speed of 141.855 mph. There were 14 lead changes among nine drivers and three cautions for 14 laps.

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  • William Byron wins in Trucks at Kansas

    William Byron wins in Trucks at Kansas

    William Byron was up front when it mattered in the end to score his maiden victory in NASCAR in America’s heartland.

    The driver of the No. 9 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota took advantage of Ben Rhodes getting into race leader Johnny Sauter going into turn 3 on the final lap to win the Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway. It’s the first career victory in the Camping World Truck Series for the 18 year old out of Charlotte, North Carolina.

    Matt Crafton led a race high of 57 laps on his way to a runner-up finish in his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota. Daniel Hemric rounds out the podium in his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford. Christopher Bell led five laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 4 KBM Toyota. Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five in his No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet.

    Ryan Truex finished sixth in his No. 81 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota. Cole Custer finished seventh in his No. 00 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Timothy Peters led one lap on his way to an eighth-place finish in his No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota. Ben Kennedy finished ninth in his No. 33 GMSR Chevrolet. Spencer Gallagher rounded out the top-10 in his No. 23 GMSR Chevrolet.

    The race lasted two hours and 21 minutes at an average speed of 108.511 mph. There were 19 lead changes among nine different drivers and 11 cautions for 47 laps.

    Peters leaves Kansas with an eight-point lead over Hemric in the point standings.

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  • The White Zone: Plate Racing Isn’t Going Away

    The White Zone: Plate Racing Isn’t Going Away

    TALLADEGA, Ala.– “The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading…” and I need to make it clear that restrictor plate racing isn’t going away.

    As usual, yesterday’s GEICO 500 was quite the show of excitement and carnage. We saw cars upside down and a whole gaggle of cars caught up in one wreck, 37 lead changes among 17 different drivers and mayhem coming to the finish line. It was hands down the most competitive race of the season and arguably one of the best races at Talladega. That, however, hasn’t stopped the critics of restrictor plate racing from pointing to the carnage as the argument against it.

    Now plate racing has always come with its detractors. The late David Poole was probably the most hardened critic of restrictor plate racing. Every Monday after a race at Daytona International Speedway or Talladega Superspeedway, he would pen a column in The Charlotte Observer and say on The Morning Drive on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that we should knock down the banking at Daytona and Talladega. The wreck with Carl Edwards at Talladega in 2009 sent him over the edge and led to him suffering a fatal heart attack.

    As of late, I’ve started to notice some more people I work with in the media center, I won’t name any of them, who are starting to turn against plate racing.

    Here’s my take on restrictor plate racing: I love it and I’m not ashamed to say it! Whether you like it or not, Daytona and Talladega are the most competitive races of the season and the numbers back that up. The number of passes is higher than at any other track and the lead changes are higher than at any other track. More than anything, it’s unpredictable and anyone who so much as qualifies can realistically win.

    The carnage is always there, but that’s part of the game. If you go into a race weekend at Daytona or Talladega thinking to yourself that you won’t see big crashes, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

    Racing is a dangerous sport. It’s been a dangerous sport since auto racing was born in France in the early 1900s and remains the most dangerous sport in the world. To quote Brad Keselowski, “racing has always been that balance of daredevils and chess players.”

    We’ve seen other forms of racing continue to race at tracks that don’t fit any current safety standards. One of Formula 1’s crown jewel races is held every Memorial Day Sunday on the streets of Monte Carlo and it doesn’t come close to meeting the safety standards of modern F1. Speaking of Memorial Day, IndyCar continues to race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway despite the fact that these cars are racing at speeds that couldn’t have been imagined in the early days of the Brickyard. Just last year, we saw heart-stopping wrecks in the days leading up to the Indianapolis 500 because of the emphasis on higher speeds.

    Despite all the dangers of Monaco and Indianapolis, these racing series still race at these historic venues for one reason; they’re the cathedrals that embody the greatness of their respective sports.

    This was the reason that Daytona and Talladega were built in the first place. They were built to be the cathedrals that embody what is so damn great about NASCAR.

    The bottom line is that unless fans can settle for Daytona and Talladega becoming drawn out and uncompetitive like Indianapolis, which is exactly what would happen without the plates, plate racing isn’t going away.

    My plane is about to take off, so I must get going. Until next time, I’ll leave you with this fact. It takes about 142.18 licks to reach the center of a Tootsie pop.

     

  • Ben Kennedy parts company with Red Horse Racing

    Ben Kennedy parts company with Red Horse Racing

    BRISTOL, Tenn.– In case you missed it, Ben Kennedy is looking for a new team for which to race.

    On Friday, Red Horse Racing announced that the driver of the No. 11 Toyota would part ways with the team. They had re-signed him through the 2016 season back in February, but he won’t continue as their driver.

    “We wish Ben all the best in his career,” said team owner Tom DeLoach. “Red Horse Racing will continue to focus on pursuing the championship with Timothy Peters and the No. 17. We expect to field two teams in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and we will announce further plans as they are confirmed.”

    Kennedy released a statement saying he “[wished] Red Horse Racing and Timothy [Peters] the best for the 2016 season and beyond. I thank them for their support since 2015 as I have enjoyed competing with them. However, I’m interested in pursuing other racing opportunities in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and possibly the NASCAR XFINITY Series. I love NASCAR racing and I’m eager to continue to compete, learn and improve.”

    Since joining Red Horse Racing in 2015, the son of Lesa France Kennedy, grandson of Bill France Jr. and great-grandson of Bill France Sr. amassed eight top-10 finishes and a career best third-place finish on three occasions at Atlanta, Mosport and Las Vegas.

  • Kyle Busch Victorious in Trucks at Martinsville

    Kyle Busch Victorious in Trucks at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va.– Kyle Busch can now say he owns a Martinsville grandfather clock after scoring the Truck victory at the Virginia paperclip.

    The driver of the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota led 123 of the 255 laps on his way to scoring the win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway. It’s his 45th career victory in the series and first at Martinsville in any series.

    Busch spoke about the significance of the win.

    “I’ve got a couple owner’s ones (grandfather clock trophies), but never one of my own, so this is just a day that we’ve been looking for for a long, long time. We just haven’t never necessarily had all the pieces go together like they should have and I didn’t know that the pieces we’re going to go together today either the way all them cautions were kind of playing out, the way tire strategy was playing out, when to pit, when not to pit, how to do all of that. Wes (Ward, crew chief) and I we both leaned on each other and we both had no idea, so we just dumbed into this I think, but it all worked out, so this Toyota Tundra was awesome.

    “All the guys at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports), KBM chassis, NOS, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Joe Gibbs Racing Engines – appreciate them – Camping World, of course, the fans – it’s neat to win here at Martinsville. I love when they do it up here on the front stretch for everyone to be up close and personal.”

    John Hunter Nemechek finished runner-up in his No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet. Busch’s teammate, William Byron, finished third in his No. 9 KBM Toyota.

    “I was able to hang tough on the outside,” Nemechek said, “get around William (Byron) there at the end. That was the big key for us to finish second — if not we were probably going to lose a couple spots.

    “Those restarts were hectic at the end. I just kept spinning the tires on the restarts. We’ve got to go back and look at some things. I could never get to Kyle.”

    Nemechek leaves Martinsville with a three-point lead over Parker Kligerman, who finished in eighth place.

    Kyle Larson led 79 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet while Timothy Peters rounded out the top-five in his No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota.

    Spencer Gallagher finished sixth in his No. 23 GMSR Chevrolet followed by Matt Crafton who finished seventh in his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota and Parker Kligerman in eighth in his No. 92 Ricky Benton Racing Ford. Cameron Hayley led 11 laps on his way to a ninth-place finish in his No. 13 TSR Toyota and Rico Abreu rounded out the top-10 in his No. 98 TSR Toyota.

    The race lasted two hours, 10 minutes and 12 seconds at an average speed of 61.811 mph. There were eight lead changes among four different drivers and 11 cautions for 66 laps. There were two red flags for a total of 13 minutes and 12 seconds. Nemechek leaves with a three-point lead over Kligerman in the points standings.

    Complete Finishing Order – NCWTS Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway

    Martinsville NCWTS Race Finishing Order 04-02-16

     

  • Ben Rhodes on the Truck pole at Martinsville

    Ben Rhodes on the Truck pole at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va.– Ben Rhodes will lead the field to the green flag for today’s Camping World Truck Series race at the Virginia paperclip.

    The driver of the No. 41 ThorSport Racing Toyota scored the pole for the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway after posting a time of 19.659 and a speed of 96.322 mph. It’s the first career pole for the 19 year old rookie from Louisville, Ky.

    Kyle Busch will start second in his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota after posting a time of 19.730 and a speed of 95.976 mph. Johnny Sauter will start third in his No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 19.753 and a speed of 95.864 mph. Cameron Hayley will start fourth in his No. 13 TSR Toyota. Kyle Larson will round out the top-five in his No. 24 GMSR Chevrolet after posting a time of 19.775 and a speed of 95.757 mph.

    Daniel Suárez will start sixth in his No. 51 KBM Toyota. William Byron will start seventh in his No. 9 KBM Toyota. John Hunter Nemechek will start eighth in his No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet. Tyler Reddick will start ninth in his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford. Matt Crafton will round out the top-10 in his No. 88 TSR Toyota.

    Spencer Gallagher will start 11th in his No. 23 GMSR Chevrolet. Cole Custer will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying in his No. 00 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

    The field is set for today’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at 2:30 p.m. on FS1.