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Tag: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series

  • Chase Briscoe claims first win of the season at Iowa

    Chase Briscoe claims first win of the season at Iowa

    Chase Briscoe out-dueled Christopher Bell to earn his first Xfinity Series win of the season at Iowa Speedway Saturday night.

    It was the second career win in the series for the 24-year-old Stewart-Haas Racing driver and his eighth top five this year. Briscoe only led the last seven laps of the U.S. Cellular 250 in his No. 98 Ford, but they were the ones that mattered.

    “It’s nice, for sure, to finally silence everybody,” Briscoe said. “We definitely still aren’t near where we need to be, but I feel like we’ve been way closer, these past couple of weeks especially.”

    “We’ve still got to get better if we’re going to beat the big three (Bell, Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer)But we’re slowly getting into the conversation to be that fourth guy,” he added.

    Christopher Bell dominated most of the race after starting on the pole and leading 234 of the 250 laps. But he had to settle for a second-place finish after losing the lead on the final restart with only 22 laps remaining.

    “To be able to hold him off as long as I did and not win the race stings,” Bell said, “It’s kind of damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

    John Hunter Nemechek finished third and led six laps. Noah Gragson and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top five.

    Justin Allgaier, Shane Lee, Justin Haley, Zane Smith and Michael Annett finished sixth through 10th.

    Cole Custer started the race in sixth place, finishing second in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. But his car suddenly hit the outside wall and crashed with 90 laps remaining, relegating him a 29th place finish. It was his fourth DNF of the season. Custer, however, with five wins this year, retains his third-place ranking in the points standings.

    When asked what happened, he told NBCSN, “I honestly couldn’t exactly tell you. I got really loose going into three and guess I over-corrected it into the fence. I’m really frustrated. I hate that we’re out (of the race).”

    Three are seven races remaining in the regular season. Next Saturday the Xfinity Series heads to Watkins Glen International for the Zippo 200 at The Glen.

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

  • Ross Chastain puts on clinic at Pocono, takes home popular win

    Ross Chastain puts on clinic at Pocono, takes home popular win

    With fuel no longer a concern when it came to crunch time, fan-favorite Ross Chastain was able to take home his third checkered flag of the 2019 season and becomes more of a threat for the championship.

    “This thing was “Haulin Ballz” all day. Nick Harrison, I miss that guy,” Chastain said in his post-race interview. “These guys brought a flawless truck. The only time we didn’t lead laps was when we pitted to keep our track position. Flawless day, flawless weekend. These guys set up the fastest truck, they get to drive home because we’re not on the budget today. We came and we won, so it’s a dream come true.”

    Austin Hill won the pole during qualifying Friday afternoon with Ross Chastain on the outside pole.

    Stage 1 Lap 1- Lap 15

    The Gander RV 150 got off to an eventful start on the first lap, as Stewart Friesen’s truck snapped loose, wrecking and hit the Turn 1 wall. Friesen would wind up in last place.

    Friesen commented added, “Not really sure (regarding the incident), spun around and made contact with the wall. We had a lot of family out here today and we are really disappointed. I’m usually optimistic, but not really sure right now.”

    Just as soon as the race restarted on Lap 5, another caution flag flew for the No. 28 of Bryan Dauzat who spun in Turn 1. Bayley Currey also spun around after the Lap 8 restart but no caution was flown as the race remained green. Johnny Sauter would have to make a pit stop due to contact with Currey after the restart.

    These were the only three incidents that took place in the first stage. Stage 1 eventually saw Florida native Ross Chastain take the stage win.

    Stage 2 Lap 19- Lap 30

    With some pit strategy, Harrison Burton stayed out along with Chastain, Sheldon Creed, Brett Moffitt, Christian Eckes and Todd Gilliland.

    The second stage was not as eventful as Stage 1 but still had some notable incidents. Right after the green flag dropped for Stage 2, Creed hit the wall on the backstretch after slight contact with Eckes and Creed had to make a pit stop for right front damage.

    Pole sitter Austin Hill also had his own issues, as clutch problems would eventually take him out of the race on Lap 22. More strategy broke out just a few laps later, that saw Chastain pitting from the lead along with Eckes and Tyler Ankrum.

    By staying out, Burton collected a much-needed Stage win in hopes of making it into the playoffs, earning 10 playoff points.

    Stage 3 Lap 34- Lap 60

    Chastain was able to recycle as the race leader when the race went back green, as other drivers pitted under the Stage break. From that point on, even with saving a little bit of fuel in case of a green-white-checkered overtime, the Niece Motorsports driver had enough in the tank to take home his third checkered flag of the season, his first since Gateway.

    “It all starts with the top of our team,” Chastain added in his post-race interview with MRN Radio describing the victory. “Al Niece (Team Owner), his motto is “Press The Attack”, he is a marine vet. He has done more in his life than I ever could imagine. This whole country could never thank a guy like him enough. But that’s what he instills in us. After everything happened in Iowa, we came back mad and won again. We were mad this week, losing Nick Harrison. Honestly, it’s not fair. Everyone goes to the lord when it’s their time.”

    “But man it feels good (to win), yes it’s hard. I’ve had dominant trucks and not won, so to put it all together, it’s so tough. I’m just living my dream.”

    With this win, Chastain earned the third victory of his Truck Series career. Chastain led twice for 54 laps and earned six playoff points.

    1. Ross Chastain
    2. Tyler Ankrum
    3. Harrison Burton
    4. Christian Eckes
    5. Brett Moffitt
    6. Matt Crafton
    7. Todd Gilliland
    8. Johnny Sauter
    9. Ben Rhodes
    10. Grant Enfinger
    11. Tyler Dippel
    12. Tony Mrakovich
    13. Jordan Anderson
    14. Gus Dean
    15. Austin Wayne Self
    16. Natalie Decker
    17. Mason Massey IV
    18. Spencer Boyd
    19. Ray Ciccarelli, One Lap Down
    20. Josh Reaume, One Lap Down
    21. Jennifer Jo Cobb, One Lap Down
    22. Norm Benning, Two Laps Down
    23. Bayley Currey, Two Laps Down
    24. Bryan Dauzat, Two Laps Down
    25. Sheldon Creed, Four Laps Down
    26. TJ Bell, 27 Laps Down
    27. Bryant Barnhill, 34 Laps Down
    28. Joe Nemechek, 36 Laps Down
    29. Daniel Sasnett, 39 Laps Down
    30. Austin Hill, 39 Laps Down, OUT
    31. Anthony Alfredo OUT
    32. Stewart Friesen OUT

    Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series inches closer to the start of their Playoffs by heading to one of their most famous races of the year, The Eldora Dirt Derby on Thursday, August 1.

  • Ankrum, Burton round out top three finishers at Pocono

    Ankrum, Burton round out top three finishers at Pocono

    Coming off a big win at Kentucky a couple of weeks ago, DGR-Crosley driver Tyler Ankrum was hoping to carry that momentum to Pocono Raceway, a track he has never raced on before Friday.

    Ankrum qualified his No. 17 Truck in the ninth position after Friday’s qualifying session, giving him some decent track position. From there, all Ankrum and the DGR-Crosley team could do is hope to move forward and they did just that.

    After an eventful first couple of laps, the California native was able to miss all the drama that took place early. In fact, Ankrum avoided all the turmoil throughout the race, finishing 10th in Stage 1 and 21st in Stage 2 after pitting to gain track position for the third and final stage.

    Ankrum restarted on the front row alongside eventual race winner Ross Chastain. He was able to get close to Chastain with 13 to go, with the leader saving a little bit of fuel in case of a caution. But ultimately, Ankrum wound up finishing second. Still, it was an impressive performance at a track he had never raced on before.

    “I fought myself there at the beginning of the race,” Ankrum said to MRN Radio in his post-race interview. “I was just kind of stepping on my own toes, overdriving the racecar. That’s really easy to do here (at Pocono). You know, you don’t really feel over driving the truck, but the lap times show it. As soon as I could fix myself, it was smooth sailing from there. I burned my tires up trying to chase Ross (Chastain) down, couldn’t get close enough to him in the draft, but just kind of ping-ponged right there.”

    “You know, awesome Toyota Tundra, gotta thank Railblaza, DGR-Crosley and all the people who helped me get here.”

    With the second-place finish, it gave Ankrum his second top-five of the season.

    For Harrison Burton and company, it was a much-needed finish and a great points day for the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports team who is facing the possibility of missing the Playoffs. (Photo by Kirk Schroll/SpeedwayMedia.com.)

    Burton came into Pocono sitting right outside the cutoff line and was hoping to have a good day, and he did indeed have just that.

    Burton finished third in Stage 1 and after staying out for Stage 2, he was able to win that stage by not pitting under the first stage break and gained some playoff points.

    For Stage 3, Burton restarted ninth and had to really work his way up to the front without any cautions. The No. 18 KBM driver was able to do so, finishing in the third position.

    “We had a really good truck, we were really fast,” Burton explained to MRN Radio. “It was fun, we had to charge through the field there. We started ninth on the last restart and just had to go. Just ran out of time there at the end, just frustrating. Those guys had good strategy and we were cutting it close there on fuel. I knew they were riding around a little bit, thinking I could get to them. Driving as hard as I could there at the end and driving my butt off at the end, just couldn’t come our way.”

    It was Burton’s seventh top five of the season.

  • Eckes and Moffitt content with top-five finish at Pocono

    Eckes and Moffitt content with top-five finish at Pocono

    After winning the ARCA race Friday afternoon at Pocono, Christian Eckes had to jump straight into the famed No.51 Kyle Busch Motorsports to compete in the Truck Series.

    With the ARCA Menards Series win, the nearby Middletown, New York native was hoping to take the sweep at “The Tricky Triangle.”

    Eckes started 13th at Pocono Raceway and eventually made his way up to the front. In Stage 1, he finished seventh while finishing outside the top-10 in Stage 2 after making a pit stop late in the stage to gain some track position in hopes of winning the race.

    After pitting, Eckes restarted fourth for the final stage after staying out under the stage break.

    It was clean and green for the rest of the way, and with fuel being somewhat of a concern for the race leaders, Eckes came home fourth.

    “You know, it was a pretty good weekend overall,” Eckes said to MRN in his post-race interview. “I wish we could have swept the weekend a little bit, but you know, as a whole, the race was pretty exciting. It was a great weekend and it’s something we can build on for the next two races at KBM.”

    Although Eckes was happy with his top-five finish, GMS Racing driver, Brett Moffitt was frustrated after finishing fifth.

    Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Moffitt was hoping to put the Kentucky race behind him after running out of gas on the last lap in hopes of taking the checkered flag at Pocono.

    The GMS Racing driver qualified his No. 24 Chevy in the fourth spot and placed fifth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2.

    He would restart seventh for the final stage but never could catch the lucky break or caution he needed in order to have a shot at the win. In the end, he finished fifth, earning his eighth top-five of the season.

    “Very uneventful day here at Pocono,” Moffitt said to MRN Radio. “It’s frustrating, it’s so spread out, the PJ1 didn’t really come into play at all which was unfortunate. I applaud NASCAR on trying something, but we need to do something to make the racing better here. It’s just all about track position, getting out front and staying out front.”

    “All in all, we had a pretty good No. 24 Chevy Accessories GMS Silverado. Jerry (Baxter, Crew Chief) and everyone did a great job working on what we had. It felt like we were fighting on some type of engine issue or driveline issue, where I couldn’t make runs on guys like they could get on me. It just plagued us all race on, I wasn’t able to be aggressive.”

  • Weekend schedule for Pocono-2 and Iowa-2

    Weekend schedule for Pocono-2 and Iowa-2

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the Gander Outdoors Truck Series travel to Pocono Raceway this weekend while the Xfinity Series heads to Iowa Speedway.

    Kyle Busch is the defending Cup Series race winner and has won three of the last four races at the 2.5-mile triangular track, including this season’s June race. Another victory would put him in an elite group that includes Hall of Famer Bobby Allison (1982-83) and Tim Richmond (1986-87), the only drivers to win three consecutive races at Pocono.

    Christopher Bell returns to defend his Xfinity win. Busch also won the 2018 Truck Series event.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, July 26th

    Pocono:
    10:35 a.m.–11:25 a.m.: Truck Series First Practice – No TV
    12:35 p.m.–1:25 p.m.: Truck Series Final Practice – No TV
    6:05 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – Impound/Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions – FS1

    Iowa:
    5:05 p.m.-5:55 p.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – NBCSN
    7 p.m.-7:50 p.m.: Xfinity Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App

    Saturday, July 27th

    Pocono:
    9:05 a.m.–9:55 a.m.: Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN/MRN
    11:05 a.m.–11:55 a.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN/MRN
    1 p.m.: Truck Series Gander RV 150 – Stages 15/30/60 Laps – FOX/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    4:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – Impound/Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions -NBCSN/MRN

    Iowa:
    12:05 p.m.: Xfinity Qualifying – Impound/Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions -NBCSN
    5 p.m.: Xfinity Series US Cellular 250 – Stages 60/120/250 – NBCSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Sunday, July 28th

    Pocono:
    3 p.m.: Cup Series Gander RV 400 – Stages 50/100/160 Laps – NBCSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

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

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview- Pocono

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview- Pocono

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series gets back on track this weekend for a rare Saturday afternoon race at Pocono Raceway.

    The Truck Series last raced at Kentucky a couple of weeks ago, where we saw a first-time winner, Tyler Ankrum, get DGR-Crosley their first-ever Truck Series win. Doing so clinched Ankrum a playoff spot and made things much more interesting regarding the playoff cut line.

    With Ankrum’s win, he jumped up to fifth in the playoff points standings. Also moving up in the standings is fan-favorite Ross Chastain who moved up to second in the playoffs and has clinched a spot.

    This has created some interesting battles with just three races left in the 2019 Truck Series season. Drivers like Harrison Burton, Ben Rhodes and Todd Gilliland are sitting outside the cut line while seasoned veterans like Matt Crafton and Stewart Friesen sit barely above the cutline.

    Brett Moffitt, Ross Chastain, Johnny Sauter and Austin Hill have won this season taking up five spots, leaving only three spots left for drivers like Gilliland, Rhodes, Burton, Crafton and Friesen. Grant Enfinger will likely remain safe. If he continues to be the points leader when the playoffs start, he’ll be locked in due to being the regular-season champion.

    With that said, drivers will be pushing the limit in Saturday’s Gander RV 150 at Pocono Raceway. The race is 50 laps, which is the Truck Series’ shortest race of the season.

    Here are five drivers that might get it done in Saturday’s race.

    Currently, there are 31 Trucks entered on the preliminary entry list

    1. Stewart Friesen – Someone looking to lock themselves into the playoffs Saturday afternoon is the No. 52 Halmar Racing driver Stewart Friesen. After having a wild day at the track a few weeks back in Kentucky and finishing second, Friesen is looking forward to upping that finish one more spot. In the past four races this season, he has finished second, third twice and fifth. At Pocono, Friesen has two starts with a best finish of fourth in last year’s race and leading four laps, and won Stage 2 after playing some pit strategy. The Canadian will look to clinch himself into the playoffs Saturday and Pocono could be the place to do it with an average finish of 8.0.

    2. Grant Enfinger – Another driver looking to put a miserable Kentucky in his rearview mirror is the Alabama native Grant Enfinger. Enfinger was taken out in an incident while battling for the lead and was left with a disappointing finish. However, it’s a new week and a new race for the No. 98 ThorSport team who more than likely are even hungrier for a win at this point in the season with the playoffs on the horizon. Enfinger has only two starts at Pocono and for the most part, he has averaged decent results. His best finish came in 2018 when he finished sixth after starting fifth. Enfinger finished fifth and second in both stages, respectively, in last year’s version. Like Friesen, Enfinger could very well get it done Saturday afternoon and finally lock himself into the playoffs.

    3. Johnny Sauter – Pocono might be the place where Sauter and his No. 13 team get back on track for the 2019 season after having a few difficult races. Sauter has not won since Dover earlier this year and has had up and down finishes since. He finished 22nd at Kansas, 17th at Charlotte, 13th at Texas, 27th at Iowa and 18th at Chicago. After a few difficult races, the Wisconsin native finally earned a top-10 finish, his first since Martinsville in March. In Pocono, Sauter has nine starts with a best finish of second in 2014. Since then, he has finishes of eighth, fifth, eighth and sixth. Sauter has led 16 laps and collected three top fives and six top-10 finishes. The last time he had led any laps was two years ago in the 2017 race. So while Pocono might be “The Tricky Triangle” to Sauter and his No. 13 ThorSport team, he might surprise the field on Saturday by getting win No. 2 of the season.


    4. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland has one start that came in 2018 when he started second and finished seventh after leading seven laps. With the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports driver being on the playoff bubble, Gilliland just might pull out a last-minute desperation move and lock himself in by winning Saturday’s race. Gilliland is also competing in Friday’s ARCA race competing in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Monster Energy Toyota. With the extra track time, it could make the difference for Gilliland who needs to win. To note, he won Stage 1 in the 2018 race.

    5. Ross Chastain – A sleeper in Saturday’s race could be Niece Motorsports driver Ross Chastain. Chastain hasn’t competed here since 2013 driving for Brad Keselowski. In two starts, the Florida native has finishes of fifth and 10th and led nine laps in his last outing in 2013. While it won’t be shocking, considering Chastain has won already this season and has finished in the top-10 consistently, you could very well consider his Niece Motorsports team a sleeper pick.


      Outside The Playoffs

      1. Harrison Burton – Burton has no Truck starts at Pocono, but does have three ARCA starts with finishes of sixth and fourth with one win last year.

      2. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes has three starts with a best finish of second in 2017 after starting on the pole. Other finishes include 11th in his two other starts but he has not led any laps.

      3. Sheldon Creed – Creed will have a new crew chief this week, as he will be back with his former crew chief who won the ARCA championship last year. The GMS Racing driver has had so-so finishes this year with a best finish of sixth three times. Creed was able to win Stage 1 at Kentucky after starting on the outside pole.

      4. Tyler Dippel – Dippel is 11th in regular-season points, but will more than likely need a win in the next three races. He has no starts at Pocono. In 2019, Dippel’s best finish was eighth at Texas in March. He’ll have to get a lucky break in order to be in the playoffs this year.

      5. Spencer Boyd – Like his teammate Dippel, Boyd will also have to win at this point in the season as he is currently sitting 14th in the regular-season standings. While Boyd doesn’t have any Truck Series start at Pocono, he does have two Xfinity Series starts earning a best finish of 28th in last year’s race.


      Other drivers on the entry list include the No. 0 of Daniel Sasnett for Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing, the No. 8 of Tony Mrakovich for Joe Nemechek, Anthony Alfredo in the No. 15 for DGR-Crosley, Bryan Dauzat in the No. 28 for Jim Rosenblum, Bryant Barnhill in the No. 32 for Josh Reaume, Bayley Currey in the No. 44 for Niece Motorsports, Ray Ciccarelli back on track in his own No. 49 machine, Christian Eckes returns in the famed No. 51 and Joe Nemechek in the No. 87.

      Pocono Raceway has hosted nine races since its inception in 2010. Only Kyle Busch has won more than once, in 2015 and 2018. Other winners include Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick, Joey Coulter, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, William Byron and Christopher Bell.

      Most of those winners have come inside the top five, happening eight times with one winner coming from the top-10 just once, in 2013.

      A race winner has come from the pole four times, set by Sadler in 2010, Harvick in 2011, Bryon in 2016 and Busch in 2018. Blaney came from the sixth position to win, the lowest a race winner has ever started at Pocono.

      Chevrolet and Toyota are tied with the most wins by a manufacturer with four wins apiece. Ford has only won once in the nine-race stretch.

      The Truck Series racers will get on track Friday morning at 10:35 a.m. ET for the first practice, with final practice at 12:35 p.m. ET, both lasting an hour. There will be no live TV coverage.

      Qualifying will be seen later in the day after the ARCA race concludes at 6:05 p.m. ET. Truck Series drivers will only get one lap for a position. Qualifying will be live on Fox Sports 1.

      The Gander RV 150 is set for Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m ET live on regular FOX and MRN Radio for radio coverage. Stages will be broken up into 15/30/60 laps to make up 150 miles.

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series- Kentucky

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series- Kentucky

    Kentucky Speedway saw its 19th annual Truck Series race last Thursday night and what a wild night it was. The Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 saw some wild moments, tempers flare and drivers on the outside looking in to make the Playoffs.

    With three races remaining and the playoff action heating up, so is the on-track action.

    Here’s a look at Four Takeaways from the 13th race of the Truck Series season.

    1. Tempers Flare – It’s been an exhilarating Truck Series season so far and quite possibly, the most exciting in quite a while and the action continued Thursday night. On-track tempers began to flare when Spencer Boyd accidentally made contact with Natalie Decker, who has had a rough season. Boyd and Decker had a slight confrontation back in the garage area. Decker took Boyd’s hat off, threw it on the ground and then walked away. Boyd made a positive out of it and joked on Twitter, “The hat has been checked and released from the infield care center.” Boyd even made T-shirts with the hat upside down and will donate the profits to Trinity Oaks, “a non-profit that uses hunting, fishing, and outdoor activities to give back and make a difference in others lives.” Boyd’s goal is to reach $10,000. Fans can visit the Spencer Boyd Racing site to purchase a shirt.

      The next on-track incident came with Ben Rhodes and Brennan Poole had a small scuffle on pit road. You can tell the Playoffs are lurking as the on-track action is heating up.

    2. Ankrum delivers DGR-Crosley First Series Win – DGR-Crosley got their first ever Truck Series win on Thursday night when Ankrum brought home the No. 17 Toyota to victory lane. DGR-Crosley has been in the Truck Series since 2018 and is a relatively young team. Ankrum raced for David Gilliland previously and competed in two races in 2018 at Martinsville and Phoenix, earning a best finish of sixth in those two races. Prior to Ankrum’s win on Thursday night, DGR-Crosley’s best finish was second by Kyle Benjamin at Martinsville last year. It was a great night for the California native. Now that he is potentially chasing for the championship, Ankrum will have to hope this win brings some more sponsorship in order to run the rest of the season.

    3. PJ1 Not Really Impressive – The PJ1 substance never really came into play during Thursday night’s Truck Series race. There were only 10 lead changes among seven leaders. Once someone got out front, they would run away with the lead. Sheldon Creed led the opening 36 laps, while Grant Enfinger led 22 laps, Brandon Jones five laps, Matt Crafton eight laps, Brett Moffitt 35 laps and race winner Tyler Ankrum led 40 laps. If anything, it created a lot of crashes and accidents. Every time you looked, there was a caution flag waving. In fact, there were five cautions for 33 laps including a vicious wreck with Enfinger and Jones. Without the fuel mileage and a first time winner, the race could have been lackluster.

    4. Sheldon Creed Finishes Disappointing 21st – In what looked liked it was going to be Creed’s race to win, instead, it turned out to be his race to lose. He started second alongside Enfinger on the front row. The Alpine, California native even went on to lead the first 36 laps and won the first stage, while finishing ninth in the second stage. Unfortunately, during the final stage, Creed’s truck snapped loose and made contact with the wall. This relegated the GMS Racing driver to a disappointing 21st place finish.
  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Kentucky

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Kentucky

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series came to Kentucky Speedway for race No. 13 of the 2019 season and what an exciting race it was.

    The NASCAR Truck Series saw another first-time winner Thursday night just days after Justin Haley scored his first victory at Daytona. This time, it was Tyler Ankrum for DGR-Crosley who took home the checkered flag and earned his first career win.

    Ankrum took the lead from Brett Moffitt with a lap and a half to go, as Moffitt ran out of gas on the backstretch, and Ankrum claimed what was a popular win across the NASCAR community.

    While it was a great night for Ankrum and his team who put themselves in a possible playoff spot, there are still potential sponsorship woes for the youngster who hopes to be fighting for the championship at Homestead-Miami.

    The 17-year-old got his first win in only his 12th start.

    Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

    1. Stewart Friesen – Friesen delivered another top-five finish for his No. 52 Halmar Racing team. The Canadian finished second for his eighth top-five finish of the year. It was a wild day for Friesen, however, as NASCAR confiscated his primary truck for a firewall issue which could have been a potential competitive advantage. Friesen would have to start last, but it didn’t take him long to get up front and contend for the win. He finished sixth in Stage 2. And as others were running out of gas, Friesen ran out of time and finished 7.373 seconds behind Ankrum. Friesen matched his second-place finish from Texas earlier this season.

      Previous Week Ranking – Third

    2. Ross Chastain – While many other drivers had trouble, Chastain did not, despite racing in an unsponsored truck. He qualified fifth and finished fifth, and second in both stages, respectively. Chastain didn’t lead any laps but by finishing inside the top-10 for both stages, he earned a playoff spot and is now in the top-20 in the point standings. Things continue to look up for the Floridian, as he continues to chase the Truck Series championship. Hopefully, it’s the only time Chastain is an unsponsored truck.

      Previous Week Ranking – Second

    3. Harrison Burton – Burton got himself another top-five finish for the 2019 Truck Series season. The No. 18 Safelite driver qualified sixth and stayed there for most of the night. Burton finished sixth in Stage 1 but found trouble in Stage 2 as he went sideways after a restart and received minor damage. Due to the incident and being off strategy from everyone else, Burton would only finish 16th in the second stage. He made the most of it, however, and climbed up to fourth as the final stage began. At the end of the night, the 18-year old wound up third for his sixth top five of the season. Unfortunately, despite earning a third-place finish, Burton is in danger of missing the playoffs as he sits ninth in the standings with only three races left until the playoffs began.

      Previous Week Ranking – Fourth

    4. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt came oh so close to taking home his second consecutive win of the season Thursday night in Kentucky. But the No. 24 GMS Racing driver pushed his truck too far, as he fell a lap and a half short of victory when his truck ran out of gas. Before then, it wasn’t until lap 110 when Moffitt took the lead. In his first stint, he would only lead 11 laps before taking the lead again on Lap 125. From there, the Grimes, Iowa native led for 24 laps until running out of fuel. Moffitt finished a disappointing seventh after leading a combined 35 laps. For his efforts, he finished seventh in Stage 1. Moffitt leads the playoff points standings.

      Previous Week Ranking – First

    5. Austin Wayne Self – A driver who benefited from other drivers running out of gas late was Texan, Austin Wayne Self, who finished sixth. Surprisingly, it was his first top-10 finish since the season opener at Daytona. Self also finished eighth in the second stage. It was a great outing for his family owned No. 22 team.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked

      Unranked

      1. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger had a great day going, qualifying on the pole, his second of the year. The Alabama native finished second in Stage 1, but bad luck hit in Stage 2 when Enfinger got loose in Turn 4 and went up the track and taking Brandon Jones with him, smacking the wall hard. Enfinger’s night would be cut short early on Lap 66 after leading 22 laps.

      Previous Week Ranking – Fifth

      Honorable Mention

      1. Spencer Davis – In just his third Truck Series start of the season, Davis finished eighth after starting 21st. The Georgia native even finished fifth in the second stage. It was his first top-10 finish since Texas of 2018.

      2. Tyler Hill – Hill is making the most out of his first Truck Series season. It was his third start of 2019 with a still new team. Hill, the brother of Timmy Hill, finished 11th, one spot outside the top-10. It’s the best finish that the No. 56 Truck has seen so far in its short career.
  • Brett Moffitt so close yet so far away

    Brett Moffitt so close yet so far away

    Brett Moffitt was just inches away from going back-to-back this year but he ran out of gas on the backstretch with just a half lap to go Thursday night at Kentucky Speedway.

    Moffitt tried to play the fuel mileage game, but fell short and finished in the seventh position.

    “It’s a heartbreak for sure,” Moffitt said to MRN Radio. “Jerry (Baxter, Crew Chief) and everyone on this 24 did a great job tonight. I’ve never ran strong at Kentucky, so had one of the best trucks out here tonight. At the end of the race, we probably had the most speed which was great. But it’s definitely a heartbreak to lose them like that, unfortunately, we handed away another playoff spot to another manufacturer which is a Chevy team. It’s not great, but I thank them for their support and the Gallagher family, and everyone involved in this team. We were just one lap short, you gotta push it and we just pushed it a little too hard.”

    Moffitt and his GMS No. 24 team qualified seventh and finished seventh in Stage 1. Moffitt did not record a top-10 finish in Stage 2, as he finished one spot short in 11th. He led twice for 35 laps.

    It was Moffitt’s ninth top-10 of the year. He continues to lead the playoff points standings over Ross Chastain.

  • Ross Chastain clinches playoff spot with third place finish

    Ross Chastain clinches playoff spot with third place finish

    Niece Motorsports driver and recent Xfinity Series winner, Ross Chastain came into Thursday night’s race just 10 points out of the top 20. Chastain needed to earn at least 10 more points in order to be playoff eligible and compete for the championship.

    With a strong qualifying effort of fifth, Chastain was solid all night long. He never took the lead but had finishes of fifth and second in both stages.

    Despite running in an unsponsored truck, Chastain put on a show for the fans. He ran as low as 10th in the final laps of the race. But thanks to pit strategy and a few drivers running out of fuel, Chastain found himself in the top five. Eventually, the Niece Motorsports driver would finish there with a fourth-place outing.

    The strong stage efforts and the top five finish was just enough for Chastain and his crew to clinch a spot in the 2019 Truck Series Playoffs. However, even with the great news, the Florida native was somewhat disappointed with the outcome.

    “It’s pretty cool to be upset with fourth,” Chastain said to MRN Radio. “Really, really loose all night, just behind from the beginning this weekend. We unloaded really tight and just never been here as a group. So just learning as we go and building a notebook for further down the road, but at the end of the day, it’s really cool to be disappointed with fourth with an unsponsored race truck.”

    The fourth place finish earned him his fifth top five of the season and he currently sits second in the playoff standings.