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Tag: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series

  • Sauter finishes 14th at Talladega after being penalized

    Sauter finishes 14th at Talladega after being penalized

    It was a controversial finish for Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 team at Talladega Superspeedway Saturday afternoon, following the Sugarland Shines 250. Sauter was the first truck to cross the line first, but not the ultimate victor.

    Sauter was trying to do everything he could to hang on to win the race. However, when they were coming to the checkers, Sauter accidentally forced a truck below the yellow line which is not allowed in any of the three national series. Due to that infraction, Sauter was not the winner and had to settle for 14th place after being penalized.

    Miller, the senior vice president of competition said, “[Sauter] actually did two things wrong “He had his whole car down below the yellow line, which you can’t do, and you can’t force another car below the yellow line, and he did both. It was pretty clear cut.”

    Sauter described what happened as a by-product of plate racing.

    “I went down to put a little block on him,” Sauter said, “but then when I did, I got hooked sideways, but that’s just plate racing. You know, I didn’t block his advance or anything like that. I just hate it for my guys. They deserve better than that.”

    “It is what it is,” Sauter added when he spoke to MRN Radio. “I listen to the veterans and I feel like I’m a old school racer. I hate it for my guys and everybody at Ford, Tenda, Quarter Horse, Duke and Rhonda especially. You just got to do what you do.”

    “I’m going to shake this stuff off, it don’t bother me. It ain’t the first time I’ve had a win taken away. We’ll just go fight hard at Martinsville.”

    Sauter had stage finishes of 13th in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2. He also led 28 laps.

  • Boyd wins Truck Series race after Sauter black-flagged

    Boyd wins Truck Series race after Sauter black-flagged

    The Sugarland Shines 250 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race was relatively calm until the checkered flag flew. Originally, Johnny Sauter was named as the race winner. But, in the end, it was Spencer Boyd and the No. 20 Youngs Motorsports who provided the ultimate upset after NASCAR ruled that Sauter forced Riley Herbst below the yellow line. Sauter was penalized after the finish and Boyd was declared as the ultimate victor at Talledega Superspeedway.

    “A guy like me was pretty happy finishing second to Johnny Sauter, then 30 seconds later, they’re like you won and I’m like, man, second doesn’t feel so good anymore,” Boyd told MRN Radio. “This is awesome. Tyler Young and the whole Young family, I started out in the 20 Truck this year, we started out strong. Finished fourth at Daytona, had A1 Auto on board for most of the year. I knew we had a good Superspeedway truck and I wasn’t driving this thing two weeks ago.”

    “Alabama Roofing Professionals coming on board, putting this deal together. My mom and dad coming out here to watch me race, they don’t make it all of them, it’s awesome! Freedom Warranty, Kickass Beef Jerky, there’s so many people. The Young family is a small team, but they’re making moves, Gus Dean and Tyler Dippel, we got a great group of guys. The guys work hard, the spotter (Freddie Kraft) was amazing, my crew, no mistakes on pit road all day. Really blessed to be here right now, I’m so excited!”

    Talladega Superspeedway was the beginning of the Round of 6 in the 2019 Playoffs. After an unfortunate outcome at Vegas, Matt Crafton qualified on the pole. Among the other five playoff drivers Tyler Ankrum qualified second, Brett Moffitt was eighth, Stewart Friesen was 10th, Austin Hill qualified 13th and Ross Chastain will start in 17th.

    Stages were 20/20/54 to make up the 94 lap race. Jordan Anderson was the only driver sent to the rear after missing the driver’s meeting.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 20

    The first caution of the race came out on Lap 8 for the No. 18 of Harrison Burton who spun around in the tri-oval. Ross Chastain had to come down pit road after having a flat tire. There was no major damage to either truck. The red flag eventually was flown as the No. 33 of Mason Massey blew up which caused an extensive cleanup.

    Stage 1 went back green on Lap 14 and it remained green the rest of the way until Lap 20 with
    Sheldon Creed taking the stage victory. Moffitt, Chastain, John Hunter Nemechek, Friesen, Riley Herbst, Hill, Ben Rhodes, Todd Gilliland and Austin Wayne Self rounded out the top-10 finishers for Stage 1.

    Stage 2: Lap 26- Lap 40

    Chastain was the race leader to begin the stage as he stayed out under the stage yellow. Speaking of yellows, the second caution flew on Lap 29 for the No. 02 of Tyler Dippel who hit the wall on the backstretch after slight contact with Timothy Peters.

    Nemechek also had damage to his hood after a few drivers ahead of him checked up. He eventually went to the garage and wound up with a disappointing 30th place finish.

    After the only caution for Stage 2, the leaders were able to race out until Lap 40. Grant Enfinger played strategy by pitting with three to go and assumed the lead when Stage 3 began.

    This time around, Friesen ended up winning the stage. Moffitt, Wayne Self, Creed, Sauter, Ankrum, Gus Dean, Anthony Alfredo, Gilliland and Crafton were the top-10 finishers for Stage 2.

    Stage 3: Lap 46- Lap 98

    A few laps after Stage 3, technical teammates, Friesen and Moffitt were penalized for locking bumpers and had to serve a pass-through penalty.

    On Lap 65, the final round of green-flag pit stops began. There were no incidents, other than Clay Greenfield, Ankrum, Friesen and Moffitt who were penalized for being too fast on pit road. After the stops cycled out, Sauter went back to the lead on Lap 74. However, just as soon as stops were done, a caution occurred on Lap 81 for Alfredo who spun prior to the tri-oval.

    This set up a restart with eight to go and another caution flag was flown on Lap 87 for a wreck in Turn 4. Chastain went to throw a block to protect the lead but ended up wrecking instead. Codie Rohrbaugh, Timothy Peters, Natalie Decker, Greenfield, Bryan Dauzat and Enfinger were all involved. The red flag was brought out again for clean up.

    A late-race restart came with three to go but there was another caution for Dean and his No. 12 machine who went sliding and hit hard on the backstretch wall.

    Eventually, this set up an overtime restart with two to go. Sauter was out front and doing everything he needed to do to protect his lead for a possible race win. When the checkered flag flew on Lap 98, Sauter was the first truck to cross the line but it was later determined that he forced a truck (Herbst) under the yellow line coming to the finish, which is not allowed.

    Because of this, Sauter did not end up winning and it was later determined that Boyd won instead.

    “I knew we could draft up and make a lot of moves, and take the surges pretty easily, it felt really good,” Boyd added to MRN Radio. “We could go from 20th to fifth, back to 20th and we rode for a little bit. The next thing you know, my spotter Freddie, three to go, we’ve got to go and be aggressive when I tell you to fill a whole. We did it, we got to the middle and avoided that wreck, that was crazy. We were taking the runs when we could, I pushed the 51 (Herbst), just pushing them was exciting. Then I was in second and Johnny was up there doing his thing and we ended up winning at the end of the day.”

    “I’ll take the call, four years ago I was selling cars. For me to be in NASCAR’s victory lane is amazing, my family has done so much.”

    Boyd just led one lap and it was the last one, which was the most important one. Sauter, who was the original victor ended up 14th.

    There were seven cautions for 29 laps and two red flags that slowed the Sugarland Shines 250. There were 24 lead changes among 15 drivers.

    Playoff Standings

    1. Brett Moffitt, +45
    2. Stewart Friesen, +22
    3. Austin Hill, +12
    4. Matt Crafton, +1
      Below the cut line
    5. Tyler Ankrum, -1
    6. Ross Chastain, -2

    Official Results

    1. Spencer Boyd, led one lap
    2. Todd Gilliland
    3. Riley Herbst
    4. Brett Moffitt, led seven laps
    5. Stewart Friesen, led eight laps
    6. Austin Hill, led two laps
    7. Tyler Ankrum, led six laps
    8. Matt Crafton, led one lap
    9. Sheldon Creed, led 20 laps
    10. Grant Enfinger, led three laps
    11. Harrison Burton
    12. Ben Rhodes
    13. Korbin Forrister
    14. Johnny Sauter, led 28 laps
    15. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down
    16. Natalie Decker, one lap down
    17. Bryan Dauzat, one lap down
    18. Norm Benning, two laps down
    19. Jesse Iwuji, two laps down
    20. Gus Dean, OUT, Crash
    21. Jordan Anderson, eight laps down
    22. Ross Chastain, OUT, Crash
    23. Timothy Peters, OUT, Crash
    24. Codie Rohrbaugh, OUT, Crash
    25. Clay Greenfield, OUT, Crash
    26. Brennan Poole, OUT, Rear end
    27. Jennifer Jo Cobb, OUT, 19 laps down
    28. Angela Ruch, OUT, Engine
    29. Austin Wayne Self, OUT, Overheating
    30. John Hunter Nemechek, OUT, Radiator
    31. Tyler Dippel, OUT, Crash
    32. Mason Massey, OUT, Engine

    Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series takes a couple of weeks off once more before returning to the track on Saturday, October 26.

  • Weekend Schedule for Talladega

    Weekend Schedule for Talladega

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the Gander Outdoors Truck Series head to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. The NASCAR Xfinity Series is off but will return to competition next week at Kansas Speedway.

    This will be the second race in the Round of 12 for the Cup Series Playoffs. Aric Almirola is the defending Cup Series race winner. The Truck Series begins its Round of 6 at the 2.66-mile tri-oval. Timothy Peters won the Truck Series race at Talladega last year.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, October 11

    12:35 p.m. – 1:25 p.m.: Truck Series First Practice – No TV

    1:35 p.m. – 2:25 p.m.: Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN/MRN

    3:35 p.m. – 4:25 p.m.: Truck Series Final Practice – No TV

    4:35 p.m. – 5:25 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN/MRN

    Saturday, October 12

    10:35 a.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions) – FS1

    1:30 p.m.: Truck Series Sugarlands Shine 250 (Stages 20/40/94 Laps = 250.04 Miles) – FS1/MRN

    4:35 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying Impound (Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions) – NBCSN/MRN/ SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Sunday, October 13

    2 p.m.: Cup Series 1000Bulbs.com 500 (Stages 55/110/188 Laps = 500.08 Miles) – NBC/MRN/ SiriusXM NASCAR Radio – Green flag: 2:03 p.m.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Talladega

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Talladega

    After well over a month off, the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series gets back on track this Saturday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway to begin the Round of Six where should a playoff driver win, they’ll be locked in into the Championship Four at Homestead-Miami Speedway. However, if a Playoff driver doesn’t have a good run there, it will definitely hurt their chances going forward in hopes of making that final round and competing for a championship.

    Looking back at the previous race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, well over a month ago at Vegas, which was the final race of the first round in the playoffs. Playoff driver Austin Hill was able to win and advanced to the next round. While Hill found himself victorious, other drivers were left frustrated, including the ThorSport Racing group.

    All three of ThorSport’s Playoff drivers (Grant Enfinger, Johnny Sauter, and Matt Crafton) were out of the race early due to engine failures. Enfinger and Sauter ultimately failed to make the round, while Crafton was still able to move on. ThorSport sent a request in to NASCAR in hopes for NASCAR to include their eliminated trucks in the next round, but their request was denied. In doing so, Crafton is the only driver out of that stable that moves on. The other Playoff drivers are Hill, Ross Chastain, Brett Moffitt, Tyler Ankrum and Stewart Friesen all with championship hopes still in play.

    With that in mind, there are 32 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list this week, which means no drivers will miss the field on Saturday morning for qualifying. Talladega provides a unique opportunity for those to have yet find victory lane, not to mention the possibility for an upset winner such as Mike Wallace in 2011 and Parker Kligerman in 2017.

    But who has the greatest chance of winning on Saturday? Here’s a look at five drivers who could win on Saturday afternoon in ‘Dega.

    1. Grant Enfinger- It’s a home race for Grant Enfinger and his No. 98 ThorSport Racing team. Enfinger was born in Fairhope, Alabama, just five hours from the track, but still has a lot of family and friends around the area. With the disappointment of Vegas in the rear view mirror, one can only think the Alabama native is hungry to win at his home track. Enfinger has an up and down track record at Talladega; he has just five starts with a victory here in 2016. However, for his starts with ThorSport, it’s been decent at best. In 2017, Enfinger finished fourth at the 2.66-mile superspeedway while he finished 19th in last years race. He holds an average finish of 11.6 at Talladega, but considering he ran second at Daytona earlier this year he is a formidable enough threat for another superspeedway win on Saturday.

    2. Stewart Friesen- Friesen isn’t really considered an upset, but he maybe a surprise winner this weekend. The Canadian native has two starts at Talladega with a best finish of sixth in last years race. While he may not be considered a superspeedway raceer, Friesen just may quietly win his way into the Championship Four by winning on Saturday.

    3. Brennan Poole- Poole is making his first truck start at Talladega this weekend in the No. 30 machine. While he does not have any starts in the Truck Series here, Poole does have some success in other series at this track. His best finish at Talladega was third in the XFINITY Series in 2016, where he originally won the race coming to the line. However, the win was taken away after a video review by NASCAR officials. In the ARCA Series he has a best finish of eighth at Talladega driving for Venturini Motorsports in 2012. Should the opportunity for success arise, Poole might be the one that takes advantage of it.

    4. Gus Dean- Dean maybe a surprise winner this weekend, but not a surprise to people who followed his ARCA career. Dean won in the ARCA competition at Talladega nearly three years ago. His other starts have fared well, with finishes of sixth in 2017, 12th in 2018, and sixth again in this year’s race back in spring. The Bluffton, South Carolina native has just one superspeedway start in the Truck Series that came back in February at Daytona, where Dean finished 15th due to a crash. Keep an eye on Dean, who is a well-known superspeedway racer.

    5. Timothy Peters- Peters is back in the Truck Series field this weekend in the No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports entry. The Providence, North Carolina native is the defending race winner. Peters was able to escape the last lap chaos in last year’s event, where he dodged spinning trucks to win his first Truck Series race since 2015. His track record speaks for itself, with three wins, five top fives and six top-10 finishes, and a 9.0 average finish. Two of those wins were back-to-back (2014-15).

    Other drivers on the entry list include the return of the No. 7 All Out Motorsports team driven by Korbin Forrister, John Hunter Nemechek in the family owned NEMCO Motorsports No. 8 Chevy, Bryan Dauzat in the No. 28 Chevy, Riley Herbst in the No. 51 Toyota, and Clay Greenfield in his own No. 68 Truck.

    Talladega Superspeedway has seen 13 NGOTS races dating back to its first race in 2006. Winners are Mark Martin, Todd Bodine (twice), Kyle Busch (twice), Parker Kligerman (twice), Johnny Sauter, Timothy Peters (three times), Mike Wallace and Grant Enfinger.

    The race winner has come from the pole just three times (2006, 2007, 2015). The lowest a race winner has ever started was 26th back in 2014.

    Toyota is the winningest manufacturer with nine wins, followed by Chevrolet with three and Ford with one win.

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series starts the weekend on Friday afternoon with two practice sessions. The first practice is scheduled at 11:35 a.m./ET and final practice at 2:35 p.m./ET with no live TV coverage.

    Qualifying is early Saturday morning at 10:35 a.m./ET live on Fox Sports 1.

    The Sugarlands Shine 250 is scheduled for Saturday afternoon shortly after 1:30 p.m./ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages will be 20/20/54 to make up the 94 lap race.

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race at Las Vegas II

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race at Las Vegas II

    Friday night’s race was race No. 19 of the 2019 season and marked the final race in the Round of 8. While Friday night’s race fell on Friday the 13th, you would think after all the incidents that we saw, it was due to the date. The World of Westgate 200 saw 23.9% of the race run under caution and only 14.6 laps on average for green flag laps. Many playoffs drivers suffered engine failures that left them scratching their heads when the race concluded. Friday night’s race was quite possibly the most exciting and most entertaining race of the season. 

    1. ThorSport Racing Struggle – It was a difficult and strange night for the ThorSport drivers who were in the playoffs. The issues started with the regular-season champion, Grant Enfinger. On Lap 7, Enfinger brought out the first caution after having smoke come out the back of his truck. The team pushed the truck behind the wall in hopes of fixing it and continuing to race in the playoffs. However, after looking at the situation, the problem was too catastrophic to fix and it left Enfinger with a 31st place finish and out of the Round of 6. Later on, more issues arose for the two other teammates on Lap 41. Johnny Sauter happened to run over something on the track, which caused a fire under his hood, While that happened, Matt Crafton, who was following directly behind him, ran over it as well. The incident left both drivers out of the race as they finished 29th and 30th. While the incident left Sauter frustrated and out of the playoffs, Crafton and the No. 88 team will still get to fight for a championship and move on to the Round of 6.
    2. Hill Victorious – Austin Hill and the No. 16 found themselves in victory lane once again on Friday night. It was his third win of the season and the second win for the Truck chassis that was previously raced at Michigan, where the team won there as well. The team was more than likely locked into the next round due to troubles by other playoff drivers, but they will have some additional playoff points to fall back on in case Hill gets into a tight points situation.
    3. Ankrum Gets In – Quite possibly the underdog coming into the playoffs is Tyler Ankrum and the No. 17 DGR-Crosley team. The team was in a must-win situation after coming into Vegas, -14 behind the cut line. While no one gave him a chance of moving on to the next round, Ankrum succeeded by finishing 11th and with help from other playoff drivers falling out of the race early on. Now by advancing to the Round of 6, Ankrum and the No. 17 team have a shot to go to the Championship 4 should they win at Talladega, Martinsville or ISM Raceway.
    4. Wild Night For NEMCO Motorsports – While the craziness of the Truck Series race was seen on Friday night, it all started before the race even started. John Hunter Nemechek was back in the field in the No. 8 truck that he found success in when his career was just beginning not too long ago. Unfortunately,  Nemechek’s truck was unable to get started when the command was given to Start Engines. The North Carolina native never got to record a lap and the result was a last-place finish due to a fuel pressure problem. On the other hand, Tony Mrakovich was piloting the No. 87 truck which is normally a start and park unless sponsorship is found to run the whole race. Mrakovich was making his third start of the season, his first since Pocono in July. The Pennsylvania native started 12th and finished 13th. Not bad for Mrakovich in just his third race of the year and for NEMCO Motorsports, who had a wild night that began before the race even started.
  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings – Las Vegas II

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings – Las Vegas II

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series returned on-track this past Friday night for the final race in the Round of 8. The World of Westgate 200 featured an action-packed race and left a lot of playoff drivers in trouble. However, it saw one driver break through and quite possibly surprised some race fans who were not expecting him to win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

    Here are this week’s power rankings following the second Las Vegas Truck Series race of the season. 

    1. Ross Chastain – Chastain provided a dominant performance throughout the race before being passed late for the win. The Florida native started second, won both stages, led the most laps with 88 but ultimately fell short, finishing second. Despite this Chastain clinched a spot in the Round of 6 after winning one of the stages. Should he and the No. 45 Niece Motorsports team continue this dominance throughout the Round of 6, we could very well see Chastain in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

      Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
    2. Austin Hill – Hill came through at the end passing Chastain for the lead and the eventual race win. It was his third win of the season and he was able to lock himself into the Round of 6. While Hill was already guaranteed a spot, he made it easier for his No. 16 Hattori Racing team by winning. It shouldn’t as a surprise to anybody as this the same team that won the championship last year.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
    3. Sheldon Creed – Creed and his No. 2 GMS Racing team came into Vegas with a lot of momentum after being consistent late in the season. Previously, at Canada, he finished fourth continuing his top-five finishes. Creed qualified sixth, then finished sixth and seventh in Stage 1 and 1, respectively. While he was unable to lead a lap, the No. 2 team continued their string of top-five finishes by posting their fourth of the season.

      Previous Week Ranking – Second
    4. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt and the No. 24 team had a quiet night finishing seventh after being dominant in the first two races of the Round of 8. The Grimes, Iowa native did, however, finish ninth and third in both stages and led 12 laps. He may have been disappointed not to sweep the entire Round of 8 but the team is going on to compete in the Round of 6 after winning at Bristol and Canada.

      Previous Week Ranking – First
    5. Brennan Poole – Though not competing in the full Truck schedule as originally planned, Poole and the No. 30 On Point Motorsports is making the most of their opportunities when they do compete. It has been an up and down season for Poole who had two DNFs, one top-five and three top-10s heading into Vegas. His schedule has been sporadic due to not having the funding to compete in every race. Hoping to better his spring finish at Vegas, Poole had a lot of work to do. He qualified 18th but it didn’t take him long to get up to the front with the help of a few cautions. Poole finished seventh and fifth in both stages. After all was said and done, the No. 30 driver fell short of his second top-five but managed a sixth-place finish for his fourth top-10 of the year. It was nicely done by the No. 30 On Point Motorsports team especially considering that they don’t compete every week.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked

      Fell Out
      1.  Stewart Friesen – Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing team had a rough night after being down a cylinder for the majority of the race. The Canadian qualified 19th and finished 19th, down two laps. Despite not having any top-10 stage finishes, Friesen and his team will have another chance to compete for the championship by advancing to the Round of 6.

      2. Ben Rhodes – It was a solid eighth-place finish after starting 13th and surviving the chaos that happened throughout the night. He was also able to record a fourth-place finish in Stage 2.
  • Weekend Schedule for Las Vegas

    Weekend Schedule for Las Vegas

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend where 16 drivers will face off against each other in Round 1 of the Playoffs. Brad Keselowski is the defending race winner.

    Las Vegas is the last chance to make the Playoffs for the Xfinity Series drivers and where the 12-driver field will be set. Ross Chastain won the event last year.

    The Gander Outdoors Truck Series will close out their first championship round and narrow their playoff field from eight to six drivers. Grant Enfinger will return to defend his 2018 win.

    Please see the complete schedule below. All times are Eastern.

    Friday, Sept. 13

    11:05 a.m.: Truck Series Final Practice – No TV

    3:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – NBCSN/NBC Sports App

    4:35 p.m.: Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN/NBC Sports App

    5:35 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – Impound/Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions – FS1

    6:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Final Practice – NBCSN/NBC Sports App

    7:30 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN/NBC Sports App

    9 p.m.: Truck Series World of Westgate Las Vegas 200 – (Stages 30/60/134 Laps = 201 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Saturday, Sept. 14

    2:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – Impound/Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions – NBCSN/NBC Sports App

    4:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – Impound/Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions – NBCSN/NBC Sports App/PRN

    7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Rhino Pro Trucks Outfitters 300 – (Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 300 Miles) NBCSN/NBC Sports App/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Sunday, Sept. 15

    7 p.m.: Cup Series South Point 400 – (Stages 80/160/267 Laps = 400.5 Miles) NBCSN/NBC Sports App/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview- Las Vegas

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview- Las Vegas

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series gets back on track Friday night at the 1.5-mile track known as Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It will be the third and final race in the Round of 8 and one final chance for Truck Series drivers to get a win before the Round of 6 begins at Talladega Superspeedway in October.

    Flashing back to when the Truck Series last raced, it was Brett Moffitt winning once again and scoring his third victory of the season and his second win in the Round of 8. Moffitt and his No. 24 GMS Racing will be looking for a sweep this weekend in the final race of the Round of 8.

    There are currently 36 drivers entered on the preliminary entry list for 32 spots in Friday night’s World of Westgate 200.

    Here are five drivers to keep an eye on.

    1. Grant Enfinger – It would be hard to count out last year’s winner Grant Enfinger. The Alabama native has six starts with a win in the 2018 fall race, 47 laps led, two top fives and four top-10 finishes. Enfinger and his No. 98 team also have an average finish of 7.8. In the March race, the ThorSport driver started fourth and finished 11th after two laps led. The Alabama native hopes to recapture last years magic and hopes to move on to the Round of 6.

    2. Brett Moffitt – Speaking of Moffitt’s strong dominance in the past two races, it may continue this weekend at Las Vegas. The GMS driver finished runner up in the March race and finished second and 10th in both stages. In the other two races, Moffitt has one finish outside the top-10 which came in the 2018 fall race. Moffitt’s other finish was third. He has 45 laps led and an average finish of 5.3. While Moffitt already has two wins in this round, he’ll be looking for the third one Friday night and keeping everyone else on edge.

    3. Ross Chastain – It’s hard to imagine that Chastain could be a sleeper with how strong he has run this year, but he might be one this Friday night. In the March race, the Florida native started 16th and finished 10th while driving for Niece Motorsports, but that was not his best finish at Vegas. His best finish came in last year’s race when Chastain drove to a seventh place finish driving for Jay Robinson. The Niece Motorsports driver has been on a small winless streak having last won at Pocono in July, but still has been solid week in and week out.

    4. Harrison Burton – After a disappointing outing at Canada, Burton and his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports team is looking for a rebound. Burton has just one start that came in the March race. In the March race, the KBM driver started third and finished fifth, and finished fourth and sixth in both stages.

    5. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek may be a surprise this week when he returns to the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet. However, his Vegas outings haven’t been that kind to Nemechek. The North Carolina native has a best finish of fourth which came in 2015 in his first start at Vegas. Since then, Nemechek’s outings have been rocky with finishes of 16th, eighth, 21st and 22nd. The NEMCO Motorsports team will hope for a better outing this time around.

    Playoff drivers

    1. Stewart Friesen – Friesen sits third in the playoff points standings, just 44 points behind Moffitt. The Halmar Racing driver does not have a win yet but has a little bit of a buffer above the cut line. At Vegas, Friesen’s stats have been so-so with five starts. His best finish was fourth in the March race of this year after 20 laps out front. Other finishes include 19th, 25th, fifth and 17th. Friesen has led 68 laps and has an average finish of 11.6 with one DNF that occurred in 2017.

    2. Matt Crafton – Crafton sits fourth in the standings and will likely need a good run in order to continue on. The ThorSport driver has no wins dating back to his first outing since 2001, but has eight top-fives and 12 top-10 finishes with 140 laps led. His best finish was second three times, but Crafton’s last second-place finish was in 2012. In last year’s race, however, the ThorSport driver finished fifth after starting 29th.

    3. Austin Hill – Hill is placed fifth in the standings just a few points above the cut line. If he wants to race in the Round of 6, he’ll have to pick it up. Hill has two DNFs out of his three Vegas starts. The only time he has finished a race was the March 2018 race, where Hill finished 10th. He’ll have to do more than that if he wants to continue on.

    4. Johnny Sauter – Hard to imagine that Sauter is below the cut line by two points in what has been an inconsistent year for his No. 13 ThorSport team. As he has stated in Canada, “it’s win or go home” and he most certainly could do that. Sauter has 12 starts dating back to 2009 where he won in his first outing. In the past couple of races, he has finishes of eighth and second twice. Overall, the Wisconsin native has six top fives and nine top-10 finishes with 121 laps led and an average finish of 7.1. It would be hard to imagine a Championship 4 without Sauter after he has made it the past few years.

    5. Tyler Ankrum – Hoping to be a wildcard, Ankrum and his No. 17 DGR-Crosley team will have to win in order to advance to the Round of 6. It will be a challenge for him as Ankrum has no starts at Vegas.

    Other drivers on the entry list include the No. 0 of Daniel Sasnett, Tyler Dippel returns to the No. 02 after his short suspension, Cory Roper is back with his No. 04, Dylan Lupton in the No. 5, Justin Johnson in the No. 08, Codie Rohrbaugh in the No. 9, Spencer Davis in the No. 11, Derek Kraus in the No. 19, Mason Massey in the No. 33, Jesse Iwuji in the No. 34, Colin Garrett in the No. 38, Angela Ruch in the No. 44, Natalie Decker in the No. 54, Tyler Hill in the No. 56 and Tony Mrakovich in the No. 87.

    Since 1996, Las Vegas Motor Speedway has hosted 24 Truck Series races and since 2018 the series has raced twice a year.

    The list of winners is a who’s who with drivers like Jack Sprague who won the first outing in ’96, and others that include Joe Ruttman, Greg Biffle, Ted Musgrave, David Starr, Brendan Gaughan, Shane Hmiel, Todd Bodine, Mike Skinner, Travis Kvapil, Sauter, Austin Dillon, Ron Hornaday, Nelson Piquet Jr., Timothy Peters, Erik Jones, John Wes Townley, Tyler Reddick, Ben Rhodes, Kyle Busch and Enfinger.

    Eight times a winner has come from the pole with the most recent set by Busch back in March. The lowest a winner has ever started from was in 21st set by Hmiel in 2004.

    The Truck Series drivers will only have one practice session that takes place early Friday morning at 8:05 a.m. PT with no live TV coverage. Qualifying is scheduled later in the day at 2:35 p.m. PT live on Fox Sports 1.

    The World of Westgate 200 is slated to get underway shortly after 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET, live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio.

  • NASCAR reinstates Tyler Dippel in Gander Outdoors Truck Series

    NASCAR reinstates Tyler Dippel in Gander Outdoors Truck Series

    Staff Report | NASCAR.com

    NASCAR reinstated Gander Outdoors Truck Series driver Tyler Dippel after an indefinite suspension on Aug. 23.

    Dippel was originally suspended for violating the Member Conduct Guidelines, specifically Section 12.1 of the NASCAR Rule Book, a behavioral penalty for “actions detrimental to stock car racing.”

    Dippel, 19, took to his Facebook page to explain the incident, citing he and a passenger had been pulled over for changing lanes without proper signal driving home from Orange County Fair Speedway on Aug. 18 in New York. Upon a requested search of Dippel’s truck by the trooper during the traffic stop, prescription medication was found in a friend’s backpack who was not present at the time.

    According to Dippel, the trooper initially charged him with criminal possession of a controlled substance, but those charges were dropped in a Wallkill, New York, court on Wednesday morning after presented evidence proved his innocence.

    The No. 02 Young’s Motorsports driver missed Sunday’s Gander Trucks race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. D.J. Kennington filled in and finished 15th.

    Dippel is cleared to return when the Gander Trucks head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the World of Westgate 200 on Friday, Sept. 13 (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM).

    Read Dippel’s full statement via Facebook below:

    I would like to start by apologizing to my fans, Young’s Motorsports, NASCAR, Gander Outdoors, our partners, and my family and friends for the grief this situation has caused. Due to an ongoing investigation we have not been able to speak on the topic until today.

    On August 18, while driving home from the Orange County Fair Speedway, I was pulled-over for changing lanes without proper signal. The trooper asked my passenger and myself if we had been using drugs and we responded with “no” – because we hadn’t. The trooper continued to question us and then asked to search the vehicle, which I gave him my consent as I had nothing to hide. In the back of my truck was a friend’s backpack who was not with us containing his prescription medication. Because it was in my vehicle, I was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance. Upon my appearance ticket, I contacted NASCAR within hours to inform them of the situation. Due to the NASCAR rule book and code of conduct, they ruled to suspend me indefinitely. I respect their decision.

    Early this morning, at the Town of Wallkill Court, the charges against me in this case were dismissed. We presented proof that the prescription was not mine and the person that the prescription belonged to accepted responsibility for leaving them in my vehicle.

    I along with my team will work closely with NASCAR to hopefully be reinstated so I can be back in the Young’s Motorsports No. 02 Chevrolet. I take full responsibility for my actions.

    Thank you again to everyone who has supported me. I look forward to seeing everyone soon.

    Sincerely,
    Tyler Dippel

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race at Canada

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race at Canada

    Canadian Tire Motorsport Park hosted the seventh race since its inception in 2013 for the Truck Series. In some cases, it’s the only chance Canadians get the chance to catch the Truck Series on their home turf. While it was not as exciting as it normally has been the past few years, there were still some interesting moments in the race. However, there were also some special stories going on behind the scenes that some fans may not know about. 

    With that said, here are this week’s four takeaways from the Chevy Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. 

    1. Moffitt Makes Statement With Win – It was almost a perfect batting average for Moffitt and the No. 24 GMS Racing team who won their second consecutive race after previously winning at Bristol. It was a statement win by Moffitt that he is a serious challenger for another possible championship in his career. He was dominant in the stages, gained track position when he needed to, outsmarted the competition and went on to win in Canada. His luck continued as he ran out of gas doing burnouts. If you’re going to heat up and start winning, now is the time to do it and the No. 24 team is doing just that.
    2. Teamwork makes the dream work – There was quite the story going in the garage this past weekend with Jordan Anderson. Anderson was gaining some social media exposure as he fielded two trucks, the 56 of Bobby Reuse and the 04 of Roger Reuse. The team owner/driver also had challenges of his own after crashing his primary truck in practice. However, unlike other teams, Anderson did not have a backup truck. His team went to work and was able to rally and had the truck ready for the race. The No. 3 team finished 16th while his other two trucks finished 22nd and 25th. It is amazing to see how far Anderson has come since starting his own team last year at Daytona.
    3. Clean Race – Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is mostly known for the thrilling and fantastic finishes that we’ve seen for its five out of six races prior to Sunday’s race, especially last year’s finish between the two Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates, Noah Gragson and Todd Gilliland. However, the 2019 race was unusually quiet and was a clean race for the most part. There were some notable incidents to speak of but nothing too major like we have seen in years past. There was really only one caution for an accident which was brought out by Dan Corcoran on Lap 31. Other than that, we saw pit strategy being played and the importance of track position was. One has to wonder with Canada being a playoff race if drivers were playing it safe in order to make it on to the next round

    4. Crunch Time For Playoff Drivers – It’s hard to believe but we have gone through two races and we are already heading to the conclusion of the Round of 8 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a couple of weeks. With one race left to decide the Round of 6, many of the drivers are facing possible elimination from championship contention. Names like Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger, Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter, Austin Hill and Tyler Ankrum could be eliminated after the Round of 8. The only driver that has a comfortable points lead above the cut line is Ross Chastain, who is currently second, +28 above sixth. It is likely Chastain could clinch a spot at Vegas. However, the other six will have their work cut out for them when they arrive at Vegas and will likely need some help in order to continue on in the Playoffs.