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Tag: NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series

  • NASCAR features more Cup doubleheaders for 2020

    NASCAR features more Cup doubleheaders for 2020

    It has been more than a week since the NASCAR Cup Series ran its first doubleheader weekend at Pocono Raceway, a move that received high praise from many competitors amid a hectic weekend schedule and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Now, there are two reasons for the Cup competitors to set their sights and enthusiasm for August.

    In NASCAR’s fourth installment of the 2020 schedule, the Cup competitors are scheduled to compete in two additional series races on the same weekend at Michigan International Speedway on August 8-9 and at Dover International Speedway on August 22-23. The four Cup races between the two weekends are slated as four of six remaining regular season races in August until the Cup Series postseason field is determined and the series enters the 2020 Playoffs, beginning in September.

    On June 27-28, NASCAR hosted its first Cup doubleheader weekend at Pocono. With no practice or qualifying sessions held and no fans in attendance, the lineup for the first race was determined based on a random draw while the lineup for the second race was based on the results from the first race, where the top-20 finishers were inverted and the remaining 20 finishers were left as finished. It was a weekend that made it challenging for the teams to prepare or repair the car run on Saturday in time for the second race on Sunday. The competitors enjoyed the process of exiting and returning to their cars between the two events with opportunities of repeating or improving their results for additional points and positions. Among the competitors who expressed positive reviews toward the doubleheader weekend were former Cup champions Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick, who won the first Pocono doubleheader event on Saturday over Denny Hamlin before Hamlin overtook Harvick following a late pit strategy the following day.

    Even before the inaugural Cup doubleheader weekend at Pocono, NASCAR was no stranger to running two series races at the same racetrack on consecutive dates. On June 13-14, the first NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader weekend at the same track occurred at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Both races in Miami came down to a late shootout, where rookie Harrison Burton won on Saturday and Chase Briscoe won on Sunday. The Xfinity Series is set to run its next pair of doubleheader races at Kentucky Speedway on July 9-10 before running back-to-back races at Dover International Speedway on August 22-23. The NASCAR Gander Rv & Outdoors Truck Series will run its first doubleheader at Kansas Speedway on July 24-25.

    The series doubleheaders scheduled throughout this season, except for the Pocono doubleheader, were part of the sanctioning body’s efforts in rescheduling, realigning and postponing the remaining NASCAR national division series races for 2020 amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which expanded to include midweek races and four to five division races per weekend.

    Future plans regarding more doubleheader weekends for a single series along with the 2021 NASCAR schedule have not been determined and are in progress. The rest of the 2020 NASCAR schedule will be determined at a later date.

  • Kyle Busch earns dominant Truck Series win at Las Vegas

    Kyle Busch earns dominant Truck Series win at Las Vegas

    Kyle Busch, the all-time wins list leader in the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series, was able to pick up his first victory of the 2020 Truck Series season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday night. He had the best truck all night long and while Busch didn’t start on the pole, it didn’t take him long to get out front and pull away from the field. He had to fight off some contenders including Sheldon Creed and Johnny Sauter, but Busch held on for his 57th career Truck Series victory.

    “The restarts were crazy, you know,” Busch said to MRN Radio. “I don’t know why we couldn’t fire. We couldn’t take off there the last couple (restarts). That was not what I wanted to have in store for us, you can kind of get yourself in a bad spot sometimes. This Cessna Tundra was awesome tonight. I want to thank TRD, everyone at KBM, Rowdy Manufacturing, Rowdy Energy, Credible Bank, Black Leaf Clover, and Gander RV and Outdoors for supporting our series and the fans. Being able to win out here (in Las Vegas). Big thanks to Big Machine Vodka, I appreciate their support last couple of years.

    “It’s fun, you know? Being able to win the last couple of years. Anytime you can win it’s great, but anytime you can in your own stuff with all these KBM boys, it means a lot to get Danny Stockman (Crew Chief) his first win.”

    Qualifying was held earlier in the day for the Strat 200 and veteran Johnny Sauter qualified on the pole with Sheldon Creed on the outside pole. Race winner Busch was third. Prior to the race, several trucks went to the back due to infractions. Those were Matt Crafton, Angela Ruch, and Stefan Parsons who went to the back for unapproved adjustments while Cory Roper went to the back for an engine change.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 30

    It didn’t take long for the first caution to fly, as the caution came out on the second lap of the race. The No. 19 of Derek Kraus went for a spin in Turn 3. Surprisingly, that was the only caution in the first stage. Johnny Sauter led the first seven laps of the race, before Busch took the lead and the Stage 1 win.

    Busch, Christian Eckes, Sauter, Tyler Ankrum, Austin Hill, Raphael Lessard, Ross Chastain, Brett Moffitt, Ben Rhodes and Sheldon Creed completed the top-10 finishers for Stage 1.

    After the pit stops, there were some penalties handed down to several drivers. Natalie Decker was penalized for fueling twice which caused her to get a one-lap penalty. Zane Smith and Spencer Davis were caught with an equipment violation. Stewart Friesen, Spencer Boyd, and Josh Reaume were penalized for improper fueling, while Austin Hill and Tate Fogleman had an uncontrolled tire.

    Stage 2: Lap 38- Lap 60

    For a short while, Busch’s teammate, Eckes, took the lead after Stage 2 was underway. But it didn’t take long for the Las Vegas native to take the lead away on Lap 45. There were no incidents during this stage, other than the No. 83 of Stefan Parsons who was on pit road late in the stage for a throttle issue.

    The second stage was another flawless stage for Busch, as he picked up the stage win once more. Eckes, Chastain, Grant Enfinger, Matt Crafton, Rhodes, Moffitt, Lessard, Todd Gilliland, and Sauter rounded out the top-10 for the second stage.

    Late in the stage, Busch reported a vibration with his truck but it appeared to get better as the run went on. Tyler Ankrum was also penalized for pitting outside the box and received a one-lap penalty.

    Stage 3: Lap 67- Lap 134

    The third stage featured a little more action and it wasn’t all that easy for Busch to pull away. With 61 to go, teammate Eckes cut a right-front tire down which sent him plowing into the wall. This brought out the caution to slow the pace. After the restart with 56 to go, Creed challenged Busch for the lead for multiple laps before Busch got the better of Creed.

    The final caution of the night took place with 39 to go. Daytona winner Enfinger and Canadian Lessard were both involved in an incident on the backstretch. Both drivers would be out of the race early and wound up 30th and 31st respectively.

    A final restart occurred with 35 to go and there were some intense moments for race leader Busch. Sheldon Creed got really loose off Turn 4 and almost took out Busch in the process. However, both drivers were able to save their trucks from major incidents.

    From there, Busch had no issues and took home his sixth consecutive Truck Series victory dating back to 2018. But this win was extra special to Busch, as he was able to obtain Danny Stockman during the off-season.

    “Yeah, I wasn’t sure if I was going to get him,” Busch added to MRN Radio. “I had to do a hell of a sell job on him and fortunately it all worked out. He knows he’s got a great organization here with Rudy (Fugle, Crew Chief) and myself, and (Mike) Hillman Jr being there as well. That adds to the portfolio with the strength of Stockman and hopefully being able to have some really good results. I know the other two (Christian Eckes and Raphael Lessard) got caught up in some other stuff tonight. We got to straightened them boys out and kick them into shape and show them they should be right here, finishing one-two-three with us.”

    Busch led 108 laps of the 134 en route to victory. There were five cautions for 25 laps and 15 lead changes among five different leaders.

    Official Results

    1. Kyle Busch, led 108 laps, won both stages
    2. Johnny Sauter, led seven laps
    3. Austin Hill
    4. Matt Crafton
    5. Ben Rhodes
    6. Zane Smith
    7. Todd Gilliland
    8. Tanner Gray
    9. Stewart Friesen
    10. Sheldon Creed
    11. Tyler Ankrum
    12. Spencer Davis
    13. Ty Majeski
    14. Ross Chastain
    15. Brennan Poole
    16. Brett Moffitt
    17. Austin Wayne Self
    18. Codie Rohrbaugh
    19. Tate Fogleman, one lap down
    20. Jordan Anderson, two laps down
    21. Natalie Decker, two laps down
    22. Derek Kraus, three laps down
    23. Christian Eckes, four laps down
    24. Angela Ruch, four laps down
    25. Spencer Boyd, five laps down
    26. Cory Roper, six laps down
    27. Josh Reaume, eight laps down
    28. Timmy Hill, OUT, Overheating
    29. Stefan Parsons, 22 laps down
    30. Raphael Lessard, OUT, Crash
    31. Grant Enfinger, OUT, Crash
    32. Josh Bilicki, OUT, Handling

    Up Next: The next time the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series will be back on-track is Saturday March 14 at 1:30 p.m./ET live on Fox Sports 1.

  • NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Preview- Las Vegas I

    NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Preview- Las Vegas I

    After a spectacular season opener for the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series, the series now heads west for race 2 of the 2020 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. While the racing won’t be a crash fest like Daytona was, it will certainly still be an exciting actioned-packed event as the Truck Series normally is. 

    Here is this week’s preview of the Strat 200 and five highlighted drivers that might end up in victory lane in Friday night’s race. Currently, there are 35 trucks on the preliminary entry list for the Strat 200, which means three trucks will be sent home after qualifying. 

    1. Kyle Busch – It’s really hard to count out the all-time wins leader of the Truck Series, Kyle Busch. Busch is making his first of five starts this year in 2020 and the winning looks like it won’t stop soon. Busch has made two consecutive starts dating back to 2018 and has pretty much swept the two events by qualifying on the pole and winning both races. While he only led 55 laps in 2018, Busch led 110 out of the scheduled 134 laps in 2019 and won both stages as well. He’ll be expected to be up front and challenge for the win Friday night.

    2. Brett Moffitt – If there is anyone that can challenge Busch for the win, look no further than the No. 23 team of Brett Moffitt. Since entering the GMS Racing camp of last year, Moffitt has one top five finish and one top-10 finish for Maury Gallagher. In the spring race, the Iowa native finished runner up to Busch and so far, it’s Moffitt’s best finish at the track. He also finished second and 10th during both stages, respectively.

    3. Stewart Friesen – Friesen has had mixed results at Las Vegas during his past six starts dating back to 2016. Only once has he wrecked out which occurred in 2017. Since then, it’s either been top five finish or top-20 finish. For last year’s race, Friesen started seventh and finished fourth after leading 20 laps. The Canadian also also finished seventh and second in both of the stages. We’ll see how this year’s race will go, as he finished fifth in the spring of 2018, 17th in fall of 18, fourth in spring of 19 and 19th in the fall race last year. So maybe Friesen will be in for another strong run this time around.

    4. Christian Eckes – Hard to base anything off two starts, but Eckes had a strong outing in two races there by finishing third. The New Yorker started first and finished third after leading four laps in the fall 2019 race. Eckes also placed sixth in the second stage of that race. He’ll have crew chief Rudy Fugle and boss man Kyle Busch to lean on should he need any help. Eckes will be piloting chassis KBM-58. This chassis has seen four starts with a win by Busch at Charlotte in May of last year.

    5. Sheldon Creed – Speaking of two starts, that’s how many the California native Creed has to his name at Vega and both came in last year’s races. Las Vegas has been kind so far to Creed, who finished sixth in last year’s spring race, while finishing fourth in the fall race. He has not led any laps, but managed to finish seventh in Stage 2 in the spring race, finish sixth in Stage 1, and seventh in Stage 2 in the fall race. Keep an eye on Creed Friday night.


    Dating back to 1996, Las Vegas Motor Speedway has seen 25 Truck Series races and since 2018, they have seen two races a year. The winners include Jack Sprague, Joe Ruttman, Greg Biffle, Ted Musgrave, David Starr, Brendan Gaughan, Shane Hmiel, Todd Bodine, Mike Skinner, Travis Kvapil, Johnny Sauter, Austin Dillon, Ron Hornaday Jr, Nelson Piquet Jr, Timothy Peters, Erik Jones, John Wes Townley, Tyler Reddick, Ben Rhodes, Kyle Busch, Grant Enfinger, and Austin Hill.

    Chevrolet has the most manufacturer wins with nine, Toyota with eight, Ford with five and Dodge one. Toyota has won the last two races here. 

    As for qualifying, it has differed in various races. The race winner came from the pole seven times throughout the 25 races, meaning 28 percent of the races have been won from the pole. The lowest a driver has ever come from the back to win was 21st by Shane Hmiel in 2004. 

    The most lead changes the Las Vegas race has seen was 21 in the September race of 2018, which was won by Grant Enfinger. The fewest lead changes occurred twice with six happening in the first race in 1996 that was won by Jack Sprague and the second in 2004, also won by Hmiel. 

    Ever since stages were implemented in 2017, Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Noah Gragson, Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger, Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain have all won the stages.

    The NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series will only have one practice session that take place Friday morning at 11:05 a.m. ET with no live TV coverage. Qualifying is set for later in the day at 5:05 p.m. ET and can be seen on Fox Sports 1.

    The Strat 200 is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages of 30/60/134 laps will make up the 201-mile race.

  • Four Takeaways from the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona

    Four Takeaways from the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona

    Daytona International Speedway hosted its 21st NASCAR Truck Series race Friday night on Valentine’s Day for its season opener. As always, the Truck Series does not disappoint wherever they race and one of those prime examples was Friday night. There were a lot of special stories in the field, while the normal front runners had their issues.

    Here are this week’s Four Takeaways from the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona. 

    1. Natalie Decker Is Highest Female Finisher in Series – One of the stories coming out of Friday’s Truck race was Natalie Decker, who finished fifth, the highest a female driver has finished in the Truck Series field since 2011. The previous top finish for a woman was accomplished by current series driver Jennifer Jo Cobb, who finished sixth in 2011. Decker patiently took her time and avoided most of the wrecks to end up with an outstanding finish. Despite running a part-time series schedule, this will certainly be a momentum booster for Decker after a rough 2019 season.

    2. Ty Majeski Flips – There hasn’t been a Truck that has flipped at Daytona since 2017 when, now Cup Series driver, Christopher Bell, flipped on another Friday night. Majeski, just 17 laps into the race, was the victim of a bump draft gone wrong when Todd Gilliland made contact with Austin Wayne Self and others. The incident collected Majeski who was sent flipping upside down going into Turn 1, eventually landing upside down on his Truck hood. Thankfully, the Wisconsin native was able to get out and walk away from the accident with no injuries. It was a frustrating finish for sure, but the flip will be a highlight for years to come.

    3. Stewart Friesen Has Rough Outing – The first race of the season was looking bright for Canada native Stewart Friesen. He finished sixth and seventh in both stages but was caught up in a couple of wrecks that eventually ended a good run. He was still able to finish the race but wound up 21st after running up front most of the night. The No. 52 team will hope for better circumstances at Las Vegas this Friday night.

    4. Strong Field For Daytona – The last couple of years have been so-so for the Truck Series in terms of how many trucks come to the races. There have been times when there were only 28 trucks and other times 32 to 34 trucks. However, at Daytona this weekend, there were 39 trucks on the preliminary entry list which meant seven trucks were sent home. While it’s certainly not ideal for the ones who went home and did not qualify, it just goes to show how competitive the Truck Series can be when a full field comes to qualify. Just for reference, the first Truck Series race at Daytona saw 52 rucks entered and only 36 made the race. 
  • Opinion: Expanding the Playoff field is a redundant action in championship hunt

    Opinion: Expanding the Playoff field is a redundant action in championship hunt

    Beginning in the 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series campaign, the Playoff field will be expanding from eight contenders to 10 possible contenders for the series championship.

    The postseason races will remain at seven, with two drivers being eliminated after the first three races and an additional four drivers being eliminated after the next three races. The remaining four drivers will race for the title in the championship round at Phoenix.

    While expanding the championship field is nothing new since the inception of the NASCAR postseason in 2004, there comes a point in time where it becomes a pointless action. Granted, NASCAR is aiming to bring excitement to all three of its national touring divisions, and the postseason has seen some exciting moments over the years. However, what’s the point in expanding the championship field when only a select few are true contenders and the rest will do nothing more than be placeholders?

    Take the initial Chase for the NEXTEL Cup in 2004. It was a 10-driver field race set following the Richmond race in September, where they had 10 races to race for a championship. Of those 10, only four of them were viewed as true title contenders from the start (Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin). Those same four happened to be the ones who ultimately raced for the title at Homestead, with Busch taking home the trophy.

    Meanwhile, drivers like Elliott Sadler, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, and Jeremy Mayfield all won races in the regular season but did not make much of an impact in the Chase, as they faded from contention early with Newman finishing seventh, Kenseth eighth, Sadler ninth, and Mayfield 10th in the final standings.

    For that matter, there’s the current Playoff system implemented in the top-three divisions, and for posterity’s sake, take a look at the 2019 Xfinity Series Playoffs. Of the 12 drivers, only three of them were absolute title contenders (Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer, and Christopher Bell). That left nine drivers, and while three of them were wild cards (Justin Allgaier went on to take the fourth slot at Miami, while Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe both hung around the top-five in points), six other drivers (Brandon Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Noah Gragson, Ryan Sieg, Justin Haley, and Michael Annett) stuck around by managing consistent runs with the occasional solitary win.

    This may be an unpopular opinion, but a champion shouldn’t be decided by chance. If a driver dominates or is more consistent than anyone else in the regular season, they shouldn’t be knocked out of title contention by one bad race. If they dominate all year long and continue to post results in the postseason, then by rights, that driver should be the champion.

    The 2003 Winston Cup season was actually a great season by that standard. Kenseth may have only won one race but he was more consistent than anyone else over the course of the season with 11 top-fives and 25 top-10s. He was the best driver all year long and that championship was earned.

    Going back to the Xfinity Series championship fight of a year ago, the best three drivers fought for the championship, and Reddick earned his championship without question. The other drivers who made Playoff appearances worked just as hard as he did undoubtedly, but in the end, they weren’t on the level of Reddick, Custer, and Bell.

    One notable Playoff field was the 2015 bunch, which included Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard. Both have won races and McMurray has won some of the crown jewel events in NASCAR, but they were just along for the ride compared to drivers like Joey Logano and Kenseth. That’s not saying their efforts weren’t good enough, but they just weren’t on the level the other teams were and their elimination in the first round was expected.

    So what’s the point? Why expand the field when all that’s going to happen is a couple of guys who were just good enough to earn the ninth and 10th spots in the Playoff field are almost immediately eliminated because they weren’t on par with the other drivers in the Playoff field? If the team isn’t performing on a championship-caliber level, then they shouldn’t contend for a championship.

    Some of the drivers on the bottom end of the Playoff field undoubtedly are having seasons other drivers would kill for and they shouldn’t be ashamed of that. But there’s a difference between strong and consistent and being a winner, and if they’re not making that jump then they’re not posting a championship-caliber effort. Full-stop.

    Likewise, leave the championship contenders, the actual championship threats, to fight for the title without having to bother with other placeholders who aren’t really much of a threat for the title. That makes all the difference between a winner and a champion. Shouldn’t that be what the championship battle is about and rewards?