Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series

  • Johnny Sauter goes three in a row a Dover

    Johnny Sauter goes three in a row a Dover

    Two-time Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter finally scored a win in the 2019 Truck Series season after starting second and taking the lead with 31 to go. However, it didn’t quite look that way earlier in the race as the Wisconsin driver had an ignition issue after trying to save fuel.

    “Well I was trying to figure out why it (truck) wouldn’t start,” Sauter told MRN Radio. “I looked at the ignition switch right away and it was up, I just couldn’t get it to fire. I played with the switch on the steering wheel, killswitch and that didn’t do anything, so I thought what the hell? We’ll try to get it running. I just can’t thank all of these guys enough at ThorSport Racing. Our Ford F-150 was awesome. Tenda Heel, Joe and all of these guys at ThorSport, this was a big win. Three in a row at a place like this, that’s saying something. I can remember being in the lounge yesterday before the start of practice and I saw the victory lane hat bag, and I thought, hell, why not? Just can’t thank Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) enough. A couple of months ago didn’t know if we’d be here racing, so it’s pretty special.”

    The race sure didn’t start out that way. Moffitt sat on the pole and completly dominated Stage 1 with very little incident. It was Moffitt’s first stage win of the year and there were only 17 trucks on the lead lap.

    During the pit stops, however, there were some penalties handed out. Tyler Ankrum (uncontrolled tire), Todd Gilliland (too fast), Derek Kraus (safety violation), and Joe Nemechek (too fast).

    Stage 2 was when we saw Sauter out front, as he took the lead on Lap 81 after Moffitt encountered lap traffic which allowed Sauter to go on by.

    Not much else happened in that stage and Sauter went on to win Stage 2. However, his ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton had a different story, as he was a facing a plug wire that fell off but it was eventually fixed. The ignition issue came into play for Sauter as well.

    With 102 to go for the restart in Stage 3, ARCA champion, Sheldon Creed, took the lead. There were some incidents that took place in this stage.

    Jesse Little had a flat right rear tire off Turn 4 and barely lost it. A caution flew on lap 110 with 90 to go for Korbin Forrister who wrecked on the frontstretch.

    There was a breathtaking moment with 83 to go on the restart, as Moffitt, Creed and Harrison Burton made it three wide for first. However, Creed came out on top and retained his lead.

    Jesse Little’s day went from bad to worse, as he suffered a broken track bar and was done for the day.

    With many drivers short on fuel should a caution not come out for the rest of the race, the drivers were able to catch a break when the caution came out with 47 to go for Austin Wayne Self who wrecked off Turn 4.

    On the restart with 41 to go, another caution broke out when Sheldon Creed wrecked on the backstretch after getting loose and collecting Todd Gilliland who got through, but suffered damage.

    A late race caution came with 10 to go for Brennan Poole, but even with the late caution, nobody could touch Sauter and he went on to win his third consecutive race at Dover, thus becoming the first driver to do so.

    Despite his ignition issue early on, the No. 13 ThorSport Racing driver explained how special this win was for him.

    “Well I knew after Atlanta we were going to be able to race for wins,” Sauter continued in his post-race interview with MRN Radio. “At Martinsville, we had the truck to beat and it went away from us. People like Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) are gold. You don’t encounter too many people like that throughout your life. You know when we first had the conservation, I didn’t know how it was going to go, honestly. Like I said, you don’t encounter people like that very often. All of these guys, I worked with a lot of these guys with ThorSport in the past, some of them are new, youthful a lot of them and got some experience on the team as well. Just hats off to everyone at ThorSport Racing, fab shop, finish fab, it’s a team effort. These races are won during the week, not during the weekend and that showed today.”

    Sauter led twice for 43 laps and became the first driver in the Truck Series to win three in a row at Dover.

    There were 12 lead changes among six drivers.

    Up next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads to Kansas Speedway next Friday, May 11 for the Digital Ally 250.

    Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race Number 6
    Race Results for the 20th Annual JEGS 200 – Friday, May 3, 2019
    Dover International Speedway – Dover, DE – 1. – Mile Concrete
    Total Race Length – 200 Laps – 200. Miles

    Fin Str No Driver Team Laps S1Pos S2Pos Pts Status
    1 2 13 Johnny Sauter Tenda Heal Ford 200 2 1 59 Running
    2 1 24 Brett Moffitt ISM Connect Chevrolet 200 1 3 53 Running
    3 9 18 Harrison Burton # Safelite AutoGlass Toyota 200 5 6 45 Running
    4 6 98 Grant Enfinger Champion Power Equipment Ford 200 4 4 47 Running
    5 5 88 Matt Crafton Shasta/Menards Ford 200 10 0 33 Running
    6 11 99 Ben Rhodes Carolina Nut Ford 200 0 8 34 Running
    7 12 16 Austin Hill Toyota Racing Development Toyota 200 7 5 40 Running
    8 15 19 Derek Kraus ENEOS/NAPA Filters Toyota 200 0 0 29 Running
    9 10 17 Tyler Ankrum # May’s Hawaii Toyota 200 8 0 31 Running
    10 16 45 Ross Chastain(i) Florida Watermelon Association Chevrolet 200 0 10 0 Running
    11 7 46 Raphael Lessard Spectra Premium Toyota 200 9 0 28 Running
    12 4 52 Stewart Friesen hfracingforautism.com/crossroadscenterChev 200 6 0 30 Running
    13 19 51 Brandon Jones(i) Chigo/Menards Toyota 200 0 9 0 Running
    14 18 12 Gus Dean # OverkillRV.com Chevrolet 200 0 0 23 Running
    15 14 4 Todd Gilliland Mobil 1 Toyota 200 0 0 22 Running
    16 32 33 Ryan Sieg(i) Night Owl Contractors Chevrolet 198 0 0 0 Running
    17 20 54 Natalie Decker N29 Technologies LLC Toyota 197 0 0 20 Running
    18 23 2 Tyler Dippel # Jersey Filmmaker Chevrolet 197 0 0 19 Running
    19 17 22 Austin Wayne Self Go TEXAN/AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet 197 0 0 18 Running
    20 25 56 Tyler Hill Southern Maryland Crane Rentals Chevrolet 197 0 0 17 Running
    21 22 3 Jordan Anderson Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet 196 0 0 16 Running
    22 27 20 Spencer Boyd DLX Mattresses Chevrolet 192 0 0 15 Running
    23 8 30 Brennan Poole Toyota 189 0 0 14 DVP
    24 30 49 Ray Ciccarelli CMI Motorsports Chevrolet 188 0 0 13 Running
    25 28 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet 186 0 0 12 Running
    26 21 8 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 167 0 0 11 Suspension
    27 3 2 Sheldon Creed # Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet 160 3 2 27 Accident
    28 24 44 Reid Wilson TruNorth.Paul Jr Designs Chevrolet 140 0 0 9 Alternator
    29 13 97 Jesse Little JJL Motorsports Ford 115 0 7 12 Track Bar
    30 26 7 Korbin Forrister All Out Toyota 108 0 0 7 Accident
    31 29 34 Josh Reaume Surface Prep Supply Chevrolet 51 0 0 6 Too Slow
    32 31 6 Norm Benning H&H Transport Chevrolet 28 0 0 5 Too Slow
  • Runner-up finish for Brett Moffitt and No. 24 GMS Racing Team

    Runner-up finish for Brett Moffitt and No. 24 GMS Racing Team

    Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve for Brett Moffitt and the No. 24 GMS Racing Team.

    Moffitt and company got off on the right foot Friday afternoon, as the No. 24 Team sat on the pole. He completely dominated Stage 1 and won his first stage of the year. Moffitt lost the lead in Stage 2, but still had a great stage as he finished third.

    He was back up front with 83 to go, as a hold your breath moment took place on the restart as Moffitt, Harrison Burton and teammate Sheldon Creed went three wide for the top spot.

    Unfournately, Moffitt didn’t come out on the top spot, but was still running near the front.

    He remained strong throughout the race running in the top-10. Late in the going, he tried everything he could to catch eventual race winner Johnny Sauter, but had to settle for a second place finish.

    “Track position,” Moffitt said to MRN Radio when describing how tough it was to catch Sauter. “You’re not going to beat the guy on the top, restarting on the bottom there and you are in a vulnerable position. I was lucky to hang on to second. I saw the 98 (Grant Enfinger) get a bad restart and I was able to get in line and try to go after Johnny (Sauter), but clean air here is big at Dover. We weren’t catching a big group of lap cars or anything, just a clean air thing.

    Dirty air came into effect when it came to Moffitt’s chances of catching Johnny Sauter for the race win and Moffitt describes why it was so key to be out front.

    “When this place rubbers in, it gets pretty slick,” Moffitt continued. “And then you’re within five car lengths of somebody, it magnifies that. All in all, I’m disappointed since we’ve had really good trucks all year and I thought today was going to be our day, but it just wasn’t. A stage win and second is good for our ISM Connect Chevy Silverado, and we’ll go on to Kansas to try and win.”

  • Weekend Schedule for Dover

    Weekend Schedule for Dover

    Once again, all three national touring series will be back in action as the Gander Outdoor Truck Series, XFinity teams and the Cup guys will try to tame Miles the Monster at Dover International Speedway this weekend. This will be the first time in over a month that the Trucks will be getting back in action. Here is how you can watch all the drama unfold.

    Note: All times are ET

    Thursday, May 2nd
    2:05 p.m. – 2:55 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series first practice (No TV) Results
    4:05 p.m. – 4:55 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series final practice (No TV) Results

    Friday, May 3rd
    11:05 a.m. – 11:55 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, NASCAR.com/live
    12:05 p.m. – 12:55 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, NASCAR.com/live
    1:10 p.m. Gander Outdoors Truck Series Pole Qualifying (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions, NASCAR.com/live
    2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, NASCAR.com/live
    3:40 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pole Qualifying (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions), FS1
    5:00 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series JEGS 200 (Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 200 MILES), FS1

    Saturday, May 4th
    9:05 a.m. – 9:55 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series second practice, FS1
    10:10 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions), FS1
    12:00 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FS1
    1:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Allied Steel Buildings 200 (STAGES 45/90/200 laps, 200 miles), FS1, MRN

    Sunday, May 5th
    2:00 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Gander RV 400 (120/240/400 laps, 400 miles), FS1, MRN

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Dover

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Dover

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series returns to action this weekend at Dover International Speedway, popularly known as the “Monster Mile,” after well over a month off from action. The last time the Trucks were last seen was at Texas Motor Speedway in March, when all-time wins leader Kyle Busch got four in a row to extend his winning streak.

    This time, however, Busch will not be competing at Dover this weekend, as the next time he’ll be in a Truck will be Charlotte in middle May. Despite Busch not being able to compete this weekend, the Truck Series normally action packed on any given race weekend.

    Last time the Truck Series visited Dover saw a thrilling finish between Johnny Sauter and now Xfinity Series driver Noah Gragson battle it out for the win. In the remaining laps, Noah made a divebomb move to try and pass Sauter for the win, but couldn’t make the Truck stick and ended up wrecking out of the race, thus seeing the race ending under caution.

    When the entry list came out earlier this week, there were 35 trucks entered but the No. 04 of Roper Racing with Cory Roper withdrew Wednesday due to the lack of funding. The No. 1 (Travis Kvapil) and No. 43 (Anthony Mrakovich) also withdrew Thursday, leaving a total of 32 entries for the JEGS 200. In other notables, this weekend will see the return of Austin Wayne Self to his family-owned team to the No. 22 of AM Racing. Self violated NASCAR’s substance policy earlier this year but has since been reinstated as of this week.

    With the Truck Series back racing this weekend, here are five drivers that might get it done in the JEGS 200.

    1. Johnny Sauter – You really can’t go to a race without having Sauter as a contender for the win. Surprisingly enough, he does not have a win yet in 2019 but Sauter is the defending Dover race winner. In 10 starts at Dover, he has two wins, two top fives and seven top-10 finishes with an average finish of 8.0. Sauter also won here in 2017 making it two consecutive wins when he visited victory lane here last spring. He has 170 laps led in total and zero DNFs but that was with GMS Racing when Sauter visited victory lane. What about his time with ThorSport Racing? The last time Sauter and company raced with each other was back in 2015 where he finished ninth. Other finishes include fifth in 2009, 15th in 2010, 11th in 2011, 24th in 2012, seventh in 2013, and third in 2014. Sauter turned 41-years-young this past week and what a birthday present it would be if he could get to victory lane Friday night.
    2. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland only has two starts at Dover with one top-10 finish coming in last year’s race where he finished 10th. However, Gilliland kept himself busy during the off week by winning the ARCA race at Talladega last weekend. It was a little sigh of relief after facing so much pressure to perform this season in the Truck Series. Gilliland is determined to get to victory lane this weekend and put the critics’ comments aside once more. Momentum is everything in this sport, so don’t be surprised if he wheels the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry into victory lane at Dover. The No. 4 KBM team will be using chassis KBM-045. The chassis has 10 starts and one win at Chicagoland Speedway in 2016 with owner-driver Kyle Busch behind the wheel.
    3. Ben Rhodes- Rhodes could be an upset winner this weekend at Dover. He may not have the best results statistically but he has improved his finishes the last two times the Trucks visited there. His first two outings did not fare well for the Kentucky native with finishes of 22nd and 28th but he finished fourth in 2017 and eighth in 2018. In last year’s race, Rhodes finished sixth in both stages. He has an average finish of 15.5 with 71 laps led. Rhodes will continue to look to improve his finish by going to victory lane this Friday.
    4. Brandon Jones – Jones will be back in the No. 51 KBM entry at Dover this weekend. Jones could very well end up in victory lane and it wouldn’t be shocking. He has competed at Dover in the Truck Series since 2014 and aside from the 2016 race (where Jones finished 20th), he has finished inside the top-10 in most of his starts at the “Monster Mile.” Jones’ best finish in a Truck at Dover is fourth in 2014. He did not compete in last year’s race but made five starts for KBM in 2018 with a best finish of third at Charlotte.
    5. Stewart Friesen – Despite Friesen not finishing the last two Dover races, he has been solid in 2019 and is currently the Truck Series points leader. So far this year, the No. 52 Halmar Racing driver has three top fives and four top-10 finishes with one pole. Friesen’s best finish this year is second at Texas. He’ll be looking forward to putting the Dover slump behind him.

    The Truck Series has competed at Dover over the past 19 years since 2000. Current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kurt Busch won the first outing here in 2000. The first back-to-back winner was Kyle Busch from 2013-2014. Johnny Sauter is the most recent back-to-back winner here at Dover. No driver has ever won three in a row.

    The race winners is a list of who’s who ranging from Scott Riggs, Ted Musgrave, Jason Leffler, Chad Chaffin, Mark Martin, Scott Speed, Brian Scott, Aric Almirola, Todd Bodine, Tyler Reddick to Matt Crafton.

    Kyle Busch has the most wins at the track with four. However, as previously noted, will not be racing this weekend in the Truck Series.

    First time winner? The Truck Series at Dover have produced 15 different winners.

    The race winner has come from the pole only three times with the most recent taking place in 2014 set by, none other than Kyle Busch. The lowest a winner has ever come from to win was 15th and was set by NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday in 2007.

    The Truck Series takes to the track on Thursday afternoon with two practice sessions. The first practice will take place at 2:05 p.m. ET and final practice at 4:05 p.m. ET with no live TV coverage.

    Trucks will qualify on Friday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. ET live on NASCAR.com.

    The JEGS 200 is slated to get underway a little past 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio.

  • The White Zone: Let’s retire the All-Star Race

    The White Zone: Let’s retire the All-Star Race

    Wednesday, on NASCAR Race Hub, NASCAR announced the format for this year’s Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race.

    Over its 35-year history, it’s had 15 different formats. Three of them have come in the last five years.

    Does the All-Star Race excite anyone, anymore?

    What’s even the most notable thing that’s happened in this event in the last 10 years? Probably 2012, when NASCAR incentivized the segment winners to sandbag, until the final pit stop (to their credit, however, they changed that the following year to best segment average finish).

    This isn’t your father’s All-Star Race, where Rusty Wallace turned Darrell Waltrip to win the event or Davey Allison got turned, as he crossed the finish line. This is an event that’s become a victim of the aerodynamic-centrism that’s made races at 1.5-mile tracks so maligned. This is a race where the guy who exits pit road first on the final stop wins it nine times out of 10.

    It’s yet another race in a season that’s already too long.

    And unlike other All-Star Games in the stick and ball world, you’re not seeing players that, if you follow Major League Baseball, you’d only see three or four times a year (or 20 times, if you’re a fan of a division rival) in a 162-game season. You’re seeing the drivers that already race 36 times a year.

    So what made it stand out? It was the gimmicks.

    It made sense until 2004, when this was a race with gimmicks, during a season when the championship was decided in a season-long points format. But with all the gimmicks that permeate NASCAR now (and yes, stage racing and playoff points are gimmicks), what makes this race any different from a race during the season?

    Is it the million-dollar prize? Aside from it not being the only race with a purse that large, what about that is supposed to appeal to the blue-collar worker that earns $31,900 a year? For context, the median household income in the United States (and this number can vary by source) in 2017 was $61,372.

    It’s time to accept that the All-Star Race has run its course. The event, every year, is so over-hyped and enrages fans when it disappoints.

    What if instead of the All-Star Race, we use it as an actual off weekend for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. And while it’s off, let’s run the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) and the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS) at a short track, like — say — Hickory Motor Speedway or Myrtle Beach Speedway.

    Then the next weekend (if we must run the NGOTS and NXS at Charlotte), run the NGOTS race on Thursday, NXS on Saturday and the Coca-Cola World 600 on Sunday evening.

    Right now, as it is, the All-Star Race is just another race weekend taking up space in an already crowded schedule.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • Four Takeaways from the Vankor 350 at Texas Motor Speedway

    Four Takeaways from the Vankor 350 at Texas Motor Speedway

    It was an action packed race for the truckers last Friday night.

    While we saw a familiar name in victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway, there was also a news announcement regarding a former veteran returning to the series where he had a lot of success before moving up through the ranks.

    Here are this week’s four takeaways.

    1. Another Win For Kyle Busch – This shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone when fans checked the finishing results for the NASCAR Gander Truck Series race Friday night. Kyle Busch won his fourth consecutive race of the 2019 Truck Series and led 97 of 147 laps, 65 percent of the race. There could be some joy found even if race fans are tired of seeing Busch winning all the time. He is not scheduled to compete at Dover and Kansas, and his final truck race of the season is at Charlotte which follows the Kansas race in May. Still, it’s an impressive feat winning four in a row, one that is rarely seen in today’s sport and era.
    2. Action Packed Race/Month Off – When you look at the box score from Friday night’s race, you will see that there were a lot of cautions. In fact, there were nine cautions for 47 laps which equaled to 32 percent. With the number of cautions taking place and a red flag that lasted for about 15 minutes, the total time of the race lasted two hours and three minutes. After just having a few weeks off before Texas, the truckers will have to endure another off time but this time, it will be a month off before they return to action at Dover in May.
    3. Sour Night For Kyle Busch Motorsports Drivers – While boss man Kyle Busch wound up in victory lane, it wasn’t quite the same for Todd Gilliland and Harrison Burton who needed good finishes. The first came with Burton who wrecked in Turn 2 and was out of the race early on Lap 12. Burton spent the rest of the night learning and spending time with Kyle Busch’s team. Todd Gilliland’s moment came eight laps earlier, as he was involved in an accident on Lap 4. Gilliland, who has been racing with a lot of pressure as of late, never could rebound and finished 14th. Not the night both KBM drivers needed.
    4. Greg Biffle Back In The Truck Series – Yes, that Greg Biffle, who has had quite the career in the Truck Series winning 16 career races and winning the 2000 championship. Biffle even set the record for most wins in a season with nine in 1999, a record that has never been broken. It was announced on Thursday afternoon, that the former series champion will return in a one-off ride with Kyle Busch Motorsports at Texas in June, driving the No. 51. Biffle practiced the truck Thursday afternoon for Busch.
  • Self issued Substance Abuse Policy penalty

    Self issued Substance Abuse Policy penalty

    By Staff Report | NASCAR.com

    Driver Austin Wayne Self has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy, NASCAR announced Monday.

    Self was found to have violated Section 12.1 (actions detrimental to stock-car racing) and Section 19 (NASCAR’s substance abuse policy) of the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book, according to the NASCAR penalty report.

    Self has made 66 career starts in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series from 2016-19, including three this season. He has one career top-five finish and five career top 10s, including a ninth-place run in this year’s season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway driving the No. 22 Chevrolet.

    Self, 23, must complete the NASCAR Road to Recovery program before reinstatement.

    AM Racing — the Gander Trucks organization owned by Self’s father, Tim — issued a statement after Monday’s penalty news.

    “AM Racing respects NASCAR’s decision and will follow their direction,” AM Racing’s statement read. “We expect Austin Wayne Self to return to the seat as quickly as possible. AM Racing will continue to operate as normal with a determination of a driver lineup set in the coming weeks. We expect to emerge from this challenge as a stronger team.”

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas 1

    NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas 1

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series visited the Midwest this past weekend to Texas Motor Speedway.

    It was the fifth race of the 2019 season and from the get-go, the Vankor 350 was a wild event. Turn 2 was the trouble spot for the night with four cautions taking place in that turn.

    The action didn’t stop there though. The end of Stage 1 saw Thorsport teammates make a nervous moment for the team owner as Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes battled it out for the stage win.

    When the race was winding down, Stewart Friesen found himself chasing down Kyle Busch for his first career win. Friesen was only able to get to Busch’s back bumper, but once he did, Friesen’s truck got tight and went away. Ultimately, a familiar foe played the same song, fourth verse. Fourth verse as Kyle Busch continued his winning dominance in the Truck Series.

    While Busch won again for the fourth time this year, Truck Series regulars had to settle for a solid points night and look forward to a win at Dover, where Busch is not competing.

    Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings following the Vankor 350 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    1. Stewart Friesen – Another second place finish for the No. 52 driver out of Canada. He came close to snapping Kyle Busch’s win streak, but just got tight at the end. Only a slip up on Busch’s part (which is rare on his part) or a late race caution would have given Friesen another chance. As much as he wanted to win, the Canadian still had a solid night and continues to be the Truck Series points leader by six points.

    Previous Week Ranking- 3rd

    2. Grant Enfinger – A top five finish for the Alabama driver who finished fourth after starting on the pole. The highlight of the night came at the end of Stage 1 narrowly edging Ben Rhodes to win the stage. For Stage 2, he finished seventh. In the end, the No. 98 team wound up fourth after “almost wrecked all three restarts,” Enfinger said coming to the checkers. It was his third top five of the year.

    Previous Week Rankings – 5th

    3. Matt Crafton – The winless streak continued following Texas for Crafton and the No. 88 Menards team finishing fifth. However, since the Vegas race, it’s all been about consistency for Crafton who has finished inside the top-10 in all races this year, except Atlanta where he finished 14th which he had come down pit road for a loose wheel under caution. Crafton finished 12th and second in both stages, respectively. Ultimately, the No. 88 Thorsport driver finished fifth. He’ll look to Dover, where Crafton won a couple of years ago.

    Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked

    4. Ross Chastain- While it wasn’t the night Chastain wanted, he still had a great finish and was able to claim another top-10 of the season. It was a relatively quiet night for the Floridian who finished seventh. Chastain finished 13th and fourth in both stages, respectively. He never really contended for the win, but momentum is everything in NASCAR and it’ll carry to Dover.

    Previous Week Ranking- 5th

    5. Tyler Ankrum- A great run for the No. 17 DGR-CROSLEY driver who finished sixth, despite his teammate Anthony Alfredo’s truck who caught on fire in a scary crash in Turn 2. Alfredo would be okay and have no serious injuries. Ankrum, however, finished seventh and tenth in both stages, respectively. Ankrum tied his best finish of sixth Friday night in his young career. The last time he finished sixth was last November at ISM Raceway.

    Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked.

    Fell Out

    1. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a great night going until, with 20 to go, he had a tire go down and was forced to pit. The No. 24 GMS Racing team finished 19th, four laps down. If you look throughout the race, the results don’t reflect how well Moffitt was running before this unfortunate mishap. He started on the front row in second and finished sixth in both stages. After a forgettable finish, Moffitt will look forward to Dover in May.

    Previous Week Ranking- 1st

    1. Ben Rhodes – After an eventful ending to Stage 1 where Rhodes finished second to Enfinger and going on to finish third in Stage 2, he really was not seen for the rest of the night. The Carolina Nut Company Ford F-150 ThorSport team wound up in 10th place.

    Previous Week Ranking- 4th

  • Kyle Busch fends off Friesen for fourth consecutive Truck Series win

    Kyle Busch fends off Friesen for fourth consecutive Truck Series win

    Just when you think someone else in the Truck Series has a great shot to win, Kyle Busch comes through and wins again for the fourth consecutive time this season. It was his first win at Texas since 2014 and Busch didn’t miss a beat.

    The three stages were 35/35/71 laps for the Vankor 350, making up the 147 total laps.

    It was a wild race from the get go in the first stage that was 35 laps. Stage 1 saw four cautions and a thrilling finish at the end of all 35.

    The night didn’t start out so well for the Kyle Busch Motorsports team. Todd Gilliland brought out the first caution on lap three after bouncing off the wall and teammate Harrison Burton wrecked in Turn 2 on lap 11 thus ending his night early due to extensive damage.

    Turn 2 was the trouble spot again as Lap 18 saw Angela Ruch wreck off of Turn 2 and Gus Dean was involved to bring out the caution again. Dean was in an incident all by himself on the frontstretch, where he cut a right-rear tire down on Lap 26.

    Kyle Busch pitted under the Lap 26 caution, falling behind the leaders. This saw Thorsport teammates Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes battle it out for the stage win. Enfinger barely edge Rhodes at the line to win Stage 1.

    Unfortunately, issues arose for Enfinger and the No. 98 team, as their pit crew was over the wall too soon, which saw them get a penalty and lose any track position gained.

    Since Kyle Busch made a pit stop in Stage 1, he was able to stay out during the stage caution and claim the lead.

    Like Stage 1, Stage 2 was off to another wild start. On Lap 48, DGR-Crosley driver Anthony Alfredo, wrecked in Turn 2 after getting loose. When Alfredo hit the wall, his truck caught fire. However, he climbed out of his truck unscathed with no injuries.

    The red flag was flown on Lap 52 in an attempt to let safety workers clean up the accident and fluid that was put down by Alfredo. The red flag lasted for 15 minutes.

    Daytona winner Austin Hill started to have problems with his truck. Rising water temperatures were the issue as it rose to 270 degrees. The team came down pit road to pull the tape off, but went one lap down as a result.

    Kyle Busch went on to win Stage 2. It was his sixth stage win of the season.

    The race only got more wilder when the race restarted with 71 to go for the final stage.

    Busch retook the lead with 66 to go after a fierce battle with Brett Moffitt. Moffitt was able to close in 10 laps later, but the battle was built by yet another caution with 45 to go. This saw Korbin Forrister spin off Turn 2.

    Another incident and the caution flag was flown with 31 to go for Codie Rohrbaugh who wrecked in Turn 2.

    The final restart of the night came with 25 to go. It saw Busch, Moffitt, Sauter, among others battling for the race win. However, with 20 to go, Moffitt cut a right-rear tire ending any chances at a shot to win. This saw Stewart Friesen go to second.

    For the last 15 laps of the race, Friesen and Busch battled hard with each other for the race win. Unfortunately, with less than 10 to go, Friesen’s truck got loose and started to go away, and he began falling back. He ran out of time and was unable to catch Busch.

    Busch was able to fend off Stewart Friesen for his fourth consecutive Truck Series win of the season.

    “Yeah, it was a pretty good night for us,” Busch told MRN Radio. “Obviously, the Cessna Beechcraft Tundra was fast. I wish we were faster. I thought we were pretty good. Not as good as we wanted to be though when we stacked up against the field. The 24 (Brett Moffitt) was really fast, the 52 (Stewart Friesen) was really fast. They made me work for it. They certainly got my money’s worth tonight.”

    “You know, I want to say thanks to TRD, Rowdy Manufacturing, all the fans, the Truck Series fans,” Busch continued to MRN Radio. “The Truck Series fans are the thorough bread of our sport. Coming out here on a Friday night to support the truck guys is what makes all this go round. I appreciate them. Gander Outdoors and Black Clover, DEX sunglasses, Adidas, Incredible Bank. It takes a lot of us to go get all of this to go, so it’s fun.”

    Busch led seven times for 97 laps. There were six leaders among 16 lead changes and nine cautions for 47 laps.

    Stewart Friesen continues to lead the standings by six points over Grant Enfinger.

    The Truck Series takes a month off and will return to action at the Dover International Speedway on Friday, May 3.

  • Stewart Friesen, so close yet so far away

    Stewart Friesen, so close yet so far away

    Stewart Friesen was looking for his first career victory of the season, but he had to settle for another second-place finish.

    “The last couple of laps were just mad,” Friesen told MRN Radio. “Just got tight. Got under him (Kyle Busch) there, just got loose underneath of him like these things do. He gave me some room and I originally thought he was right there in the quarter, but he did what he had to do. He races me clean and gave some room, just got loose. After that just got tight. Tight in traffic. Proud of my guys at Halmar.”

    “Ah man,” he continued. “This is a tough one. I thought we could have got him (Kyle Busch) if we could have got cleared. Some clean air would have been good. Thanks to Halmar, Chris Larsen for the opportunity to race at this level. Thanks to all my guys at Chevrolet, everyone worked really hard. You know, coming back from an engine change, even noticing there was a problem was major for our race team. So that’s cool, for some good points.

    After starting ninth, Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing team had a great run in both stages finishing third in Stage 1, and fifth in Stage 2.

    Friesen got to up to second with 32 to go before a caution slowed his battle for the lead. It wouldn’t be long, however, as he would again start battling Busch for the win with 20 to go.

    He got close to the back bumper of Busch with less than 10 to go, but time ran out as Friesen wound up 1.26 seconds behind race winner Busch.

    Even though Friesen may be down about the finish, he is looking forward to the month of April for other reasons.

    “Looking forward to the month of April,” Friesen said to MRN Radio. “Autism Awareness month and we’re going to be doing a special wrap at Dover. We’ll be auctioning off puzzle pieces throughout the month of April to raise money for the Crossroads Center For Children and Autism Awareness. Just the centers that kids who on the spectrum like my son Parker go to and need help with. We’re going to try and raise as much money as we can, and get it to the right schools to get in the pockets and go hire good help, do what they need to do with it. So that’s what we’re going to work on and go run the modifieds to go have some fun.”

    It was Friesen’s fourth second place finish of his career.