It’s been a long time coming for the Las Vegas native who is competing for his first championship. this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Noah Gragson started racing in the Truck Series in 2016 in the final two races of the year at ISM and Homestead.
Since then, he’s become a fan favorite among the younger and older fans. Gragson is slowly but surely gaining popularity and a solid fan base every year. He is currently in the top five fan vote for the most popular driver in the Truck Series, which speaks volumes to his rising star status. Certainly, winning a championship could improve the odds of him winning the popular driver award.
How Gragson Got Here? Gragson won at Kansas in May solidifying a spot in the Playoffs. It wasn’t easy before that, however, as he crashed at Daytona to start the season. He ran second at Atlanta, 12th at Las Vegas in the March race, fifth at Martinsville, and wrecked out at Dover after trying to take the lead from Johnny Sauter in the final laps. Gragson’s moment to shine came at Kansas, where he started first and finished first, after leading 128 laps. Since then, he’s been consistent by winning stages, leading laps, and running up front. He also has a couple of poles at Chicago and Kentucky, which are Homestead-like tracks.
When the playoffs began at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Gragson was following close behind teammate Todd Gilliland, who was also seeking his first win. Gragson made a dive bomb move and took both of them out for the win and a decent finish. At Vegas and Talladega, he had finishes of 18th and 13th. Gragson was leading on the final lap before he got taken out at Talladega for the win.
Coming into ISM, he was 18 points above the cut line, needing a solid points day. After the dismal Texas race, Gragson was determined to win and he almost pulled it off, but it didn’t come without challenges. He started on the pole and finished second, and eighth, respectively in both stages. However, during a caution, Gragson slid through his pit box causing him to lose several spots. He rebounded and was back as the leader on lap 136. Enfinger, who also was fighting for a win the Championship 4, was ahead of Gragson at times in the race. Had Enfinger won, Noah would have been knocked out of the contention for the championship. But the Las Vegas native pulled it off on a late race restart and held off an aggressive Enfinger to claim his spot in the Championship 4.
Gragson’s Chances? Since he made his debut in 2016, Gragson has two starts at Homestead with finishes of 15th and 18th. In last year’s race, he finished three laps down. That’s not good enough to become champion unless something catastrophic happens to the other three which would be a rare case, but it has happened before.
Final Analysis – For right now, it would be Gragson’s last truck race for quite a while, as he moves up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series to drive for the No. 1 JR Motorsports team in 2019 replacing the retired Elliott Sadler. It would end on a sweet note for the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver if he’s able to lock up the championship. In 2018, Gragson has one win, four top fives and 13 top 10s, and 187 laps led along with four DNF’s and three poles. Another notable, if he wins the championship, Noah would be the third KBM driver to win it and the second youngest to win the championship in the Truck Series at the age of 20.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited the desert this past weekend for the annual Lucas Oil 150 at the newly renamed and reconfigured ISM Raceway.
It wasn’t much of a change track wise, as the start/finish line was moved to the backstretch, while the pit road was extended. Mainly, it was the fan experience that was added in the infield where the fans could watch from the garage area and see the cars up front.
However, as always, the Truck Series provided an action-packed race and provided some playoff drama throughout the race, and toward the end of the race as well.
Here are four takeaways from the Lucas Oil 150 from ISM Raceway.
1. Championship 4 Set – The Championship 4 was set this past Friday night with two drivers already locked into the Playoffs. Two more, Brett Moffitt and Noah Gragson, were locked in at ISM Raceway. It’s a competitive Championship 4 this year with a champion in the series and the rest of the field that has run up front and won multiple races throughout the year. It’s been an exciting season for the Truck Series with plenty of thrilling finishes and familiar faces in victory lane. It all ends with the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Southern Florida.
2. Justin Haley Has No Plans For 2019 – During the post-race press conference following the Lucas Oil 150, Haley said that he currently has no plans for the 2019 racing season. He hopes winning a championship might solidify his chances and maybe bring more offers to the table. Either way, Haley is a great talent and should be able to find something for 2019, but nothing is guaranteed.
3. Johnny Sauter and Justin Haley Frustrated With Hattori Racing Using Toyota But Not So Fast Says Scott Zipadelli – During the post-race press conference, Sauter and Haley expressed their frustration with Hattori Racing using a Joe Gibbs Racing engine, which gives the team a slight advantage with shifting. Sauter was the biggest critic of them all and is concerned about the race this weekend at Homestead. If Hattori uses the same engine again, Sauter believes it’s not a fair shot for the other Championship 4 drivers and it might be game over. However, Scott Zipadelli believes it’s just an excuse for getting beat.
4. Derek Kraus Gets A For Effort In Truck Series Debut/Sheldon Creed Full Time With GMS Racing In 2019 – Derek Kraus made his Truck Series debut this past weekend at ISM Raceway and wound up finishing eighth with a 10th in Stage 2. Not bad for the Bill McAnally team. In other news, Sheldon Creed announced during qualifying that he has signed with the GMS Racing team for a full-time ride in 2019. Number and sponsor is to be announced at a later date.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited the newly reconfigured ISM Raceway, formerly known as Phoenix International Raceway. It was the final race in the Round of 6 in order to set the stage for the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Southern Florida.
The race saw some familiar faces up front and it was interesting throughout the race, where drivers who were in a must-win situation were actually leading the race but fell short in the end.
Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings from ISM Raceway.
1. Brett Moffitt – After having a couple of weeks of strong finishes, Moffitt and the No. 16 team returned to victory lane this past weekend. He won Stage 1, led 16 laps and finished second in Stage 2. With a late race caution, Moffitt found himself in contention for the win. He made a pass for the lead after the restart and held on to win the final three laps for his fifth victory of the season. It was Moffitt’s first since his thrilling victory at Michigan in the summer. It’s been a dream season for Hattori Racing and Moffitt, who are now locked into the championship race.
Previous Week Ranking: 2nd
2. Noah Gragson – From a somewhat dismal finish last week at Texas, Gragson rebounded and followed it up with a dominant performance at ISM, but fell one spot short of winning. He sat on the pole and led the first 32 laps. Gragson overslid his pit stop during a caution early and lost several spots. In Stage 1, he finished second with an eighth-place finish in Stage 2. It took him a little while to get back up front, but Gragson was the leader again on Lap 136. He had to fend off a hard charging Grant Enfinger who was also fighting for a spot in the championship. At one point, Gragson was out of the championship race, but came back and finished second ahead of Enfinger. It will be his first championship appearance.
Previous Week Ranking: Fell Out
3. Stewart Friesen – It was a quiet night for the No. 52 Halmar Racing driver who finished fifth. Friesen finished third in both stages and earned his eighth top ten of the season. Furthermore, he expressed his displeasure with the zones on pit road and NASCAR.
Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
4. Grant Enfinger – An A for effort for Enfinger. He came into the night in a must must-win situation and he almost pulled it off. After qualifying 12th, Enfinger finished sixth in Stage 2. At times he had a better truck than Gragson as he led twice for 10 laps. With a late race restart, Enfinger found himself in contention for the win. He had the lead for a split second, but Moffitt and Gragson got around him, while Enfinger ultimately finished fourth. It wasn’t enough for the No. 98 Thorsport team as he fell short of advancing to the championship race. Nonetheless, a strong finish and year for Enfinger.
Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
5. Harrison Burton – Burton qualified third and finished third, making his seventh start of the season this past weekend at ISM Raceway. He topped the speed charts for both practices and it showed during the race. Burton took the lead on Lap 49 and led for 94 laps. Burton finished fourth in Stage 1 and won Stage 2, ending the race in third place.
Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
Fell Out
1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter started 14th and finished seventh after finishing eighth in Stage 1. It was another dismal finish and week for the No. 21 team who were strong a couple of weeks ago.
2. Myatt Snider – Snider has had decent showings a couple of weeks in a row, but he was off this weekend. No top-10 stage finish and he wound up 22nd, three laps down. It was a forgettable week for the No. 13 team.
3. Todd Gilliland – Like Snider, no top-10 stage finish for Gilliland and he was caught up in an accident early on Lap 28, and could never rebound. Ultimately, Gilliland finished 17th.
4. Justin Haley – Haley finished sixth and fourth in both stages, but an oil leak prevented him from having a strong finish. He finished 28th after starting in second place.
In a wild set of final restarts, Brett Moffitt sneaks around Noah Gragson and Harrison Burton to grab the win at ISM Raceway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 150.
On the final restart, Noah Gragson chose the outside, but collisions with Enfinger prevented him from getting a strong exit as Moffitt squeezed by to lead the final laps and secure the victory.
“We just had a badass Toyota Tundra,” said Moffitt. “We were focused (on Homestead) already and knew we just had to have a smooth night (tonight) but when the No. 98 (Enfinger) got up there we started worrying and knew we had to win.
“I can’t say enough about this group and all of our partners and HRE team.”
Gragson had to settle for second but dodged a bullet as the right driver won the race to allow him to secure the final Playoff spot for Homestead.
“Down there on that restart I spun the tires just a little bit in the restart zone and then in one and two I just got run up the race track,” said Gragson. “I guess I was top of three wide. We were beating and banging. I don’t know, that’s what you’ve got to do. I dish it, so I sure as hell have got to take it.
“I respect the 98 for what he did. He’s going for the win, I’m going for the win, but most importantly we’re going to be racing for a championship next weekend at Homestead.”
Harrison Burton, who won Stage 2 earlier in the night, finished third to match his best finish of the season. Grant Enfinger was in a must-win situation, but despite his valiant effort finished fourth. Stewart Friesen completed the top-five.
The other Playoff drivers were scattered across the field. Johnny Sauter finished seventh but had already secured a spot in the Championship 4 with his win at Martinsville. Matt Crafton finished 11th, but fell short on points and will not advance. Justin Haley had engine troubles late in the race and retired from the event. He finished 28th but with his win last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway will also participate for the 2018 Championship at Homestead.
Stage 1 Battles Between Gragson and Moffitt
Todd Gilliland visits pit road to get full service, including four tires and fuel, from his pit crew. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
As the green flag flew, Gragson wasted no time securing the lead and took off, gaining an extra few seconds on second place. Slightly past halfway through the first stage, yellow came out when Todd Gilliland was hit by Tyler Ankrum, who misjudged his middle line as the two were passing the lapped truck of Jason White. The two went spinning and made slight contact with the outside wall, but both trucks were able to continue in the race.
On the restart, Brett Moffitt was able to get around Gragson on the outside and lead the final laps of the stage. Gragson stayed within a few tenths of Moffitt all of these laps but wasn’t able to get a pass on Moffitt as he took the Stage 1 win.
However, pit stops would get the best of the front two. Gragson slid into his pit box and actually clipped the inside pit wall. The team would have to push the truck back to get started on the right side, and then have to move the truck again to get to the left side for a full-service pit stop. Moffitt was caught speeding, so both ended up toward the back of the field. While they had a somewhat comfortable gap with points, this put them at risk of losing the points they would gain if they couldn’t get into the top-10 for those stage points.
Penalties & Mistakes Shake Up Front for Stage 2
At the restart, many drivers got much more comfortable with the layout, giving them the confidence to run more aggressively. The middle of the pack went 3 and 4-wide with some trucks using the apron of the new Turns 1 and 2. However, most of the laps after were uneventful until the end, as the No. 13 Tenda Ford driven by Myatt Snider started to stall. As the stage ended with Harrison Burton winning over a hard-charging Matt Crafton, some gambling happened with pit road.
John Hunter Nemechek decided to take two tires on the stage ending pit stop. Matt Crafton lost about six positions on pit road. And the Playoff picture continued to shuffle as Gragson and Moffitt both cracked into the top-10 in the final laps of the second stage.
Final Stage Desperation Among Playoff Contenders
Most of the final stage was a strong battle between John Hunter Nemechek and Grant Enfinger. Nemechek was fighting hard to prove his two-tire stop would pay off, and Grant Enfinger, over 20 points below the cutoff line for the Playoffs, was in a must-win position. As both drivers were starting to feel the pressure, Nemechek’s tires eventually gave way with about 20 laps to go in the race. He spun coming out of Turn 4, right in front of Nemechek and Gragson, who had inched his way up into the third position.
During the yellow flag, Justin Haley suddenly started to drop fluid around the track. His lucky win last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway after Todd Gilliland ran out of fuel on the last lap already secures his position at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the championship race. His truck came down pit road, and as crew members surrounded the truck, many gave the nods that appeared to be terminal.
Riley Herbst spins and crashes to bring out the final caution of the Lucas Oil 150. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
The red flag came out while the ISM Raceway safety crew cleaned up fluid from Haley’s truck all around the raceway. The red flag was out for just over 10 minutes.
On the restart, it was a tricky decision for Enfinger. The inside line was shorter, especially with the dogleg right after the start-finish line, but it was now filled with speedy dry from the red flag incident, so he would run the risk of low grip going into the first turn. If he chose the outside, he would be clear of the speedy dry but would run the risk of Gragson slipping in the speedy dry and hitting him. The final verdict was choosing the bottom lane, forcing Gragson to restart on the outside. However, it was no contest on the restart. Gragson got a strong start and was able to clear Enfinger going into Turn 1, who was battling three-wide with trucks from the second row.
Gragson pulled out to a good lead and was on cruise control for the win, as the battle for second also calmed down. However, with a few laps to go, Riley Herbst lost control of his truck and spun to bring out the final yellow, setting up for one last restart. Gragson chose the outside once again, but as he and Enfinger were battling for the lead, Moffitt was able to make a three-wide move to get around both drivers and claim the top spot. He would hold onto that lead and take the win over Gragson.
The Camping World Trucks hold their championship race at Homestead Miami Speedway next Friday on November 16, as Johnny Sauter, Justin Haley, Brett Moffitt and Noah Gragson will battle in the Ford EcoBoost 200 to see who will claim the 2018 Championship.
Noah Gragson claimed his sixth pole of 2018 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and will start in front for tonight’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway.
Being only 18 points above the cutoff line for the final round of the 2018 Playoffs, Gragson was determined to take the best step forward, setting a pace of 26.456 seconds at 136.075 mph.
“I’m going full offense mode,” Gragson said earlier today before qualifying. “I’m going to Phoenix to win the race. We ran really good there last year with Marcus Richmond and the team at Kyle Busch Motorsports. Myself and Christopher Bell, two teammates, we led I think all but 10 laps of that race, so I feel really confident in the way that I’ll be able to work with my Toyota Tundra out in Phoenix. It’s going to be a really good race track for my team and I feel really comfortable about it.”
Gragson beat Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, Stewart Friesen and Brett Moffitt, rounding out the top five.
While Gragson has started strong and raced well at Phoenix, he hasn’t finished better than 15th. Last year, a late-race crash with Justin Haley prevented him from getting a potential victory in the series. He has one DNF at the raceway, and during the 2018 Playoffs has only finished a best of seventh.
When asked about the new layout, Gragson gave his thoughts on moving the start-finish line.
“I guess it is kind of the same track with a different configuration — with the start-finish line. I don’t know if you’re going to be able to change your lap time — in theory, you shouldn’t. Coming off the corner you might be able to change it up a little in the old turn one –new turns three and four. It’ll be a little bit different — that’s for sure. Restarts are going to be sketchy — that’s for sure, but I feel like if we can stay up front in my Safelite AutoGlass Tundra it’ll be no problem. Just feel really confident going into this weekend and hopefully, we can pick up that win and move on to Homestead. Then it’s all hammer down from there.”
The rest of the Playoff contenders will start in the top 15 positions: Matt Crafton (ninth), Grant Enfinger (12th) and Johnny Sauter (14th). The green flag will wave at 8:40 ET later this evening.
The 2018 season has been a stellar year so far for Noah Gragson, the young Las Vegas native, who has posted six top fives and 15 top-10 finishes, along with a win at Kansas in May, to put him in championship contention.
Stage wins and finishing in the top 10 for most stages gave him enough points to carry him from round to round. Since the Playoffs started, however, circumstances haven’t been too kind to the No. 18 Safelite Toyota driver.
Gragson was in contention to win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park before making contact with his teammate relegating him to a ninth-place finish. At Las Vegas, he won the pole, but issues caught him one lap down to finish 18th. In Talladega, Gragson was leading on the last lap before getting turned around and making some airtime before settling back down to finish 13th.
Martinsville was a better showing for the Kyle Busch Motorsports team as he was up front and finished seventh. However bad luck caught Gragson again Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway.
On Lap 40, Gragson was involved in a big wreck that involved several others on the track. This saw him collect damage on the side of his truck leaving it tough to handle. However, he was able to rally back and finish in the top 10, but he wanted more and was somewhat disappointed with the finish. But, Gragson knows what to do next week at ISM Raceway.
“Just rough,” Gragson said to MRN Radio, describing his race. “Got set back on a pit stop and took fuel only. I could never get the balance right in traffic and just really struggled tonight. Got some damage on the right side. No excuse. I’m going to work my ass off this week and next week, and do whatever we have to do. Just unacceptable. Just got to get out there to Phoenix and go win that one.”
“Win,” the No. 18 driver told MRN Radio. “That’s it.”
With the 10th place finish at Texas, his 15th top 10 this season, Gragson sits fourth in the standings, just 22 points to the good.
After a wild race with 5-wide passing, Grant Enfinger emerges on top to grab the win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the World of Westgate 200 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
“Unbelievable day,” Enfinger said with a big sigh of relief. “[David] Pepper over here is pretty dry is it comes, so it’s kinda happy to see him get choked up a bit. We’ve put together a couple individual performances that could’ve won a race throughout the year, and this was the first time we put the whole package together. It’s a testament to ThorSport Racing.”
Johnny Sauter was rarely in the top ten, but managed to get better throughout the night. The final stage and restarts had his truck fighting for the win.
“We were off a little bit,” Sauter shared in the media center after the race. “So hats off to Joe and all my guys for working it all over. We drove to the lead, and felt like we were in good shape, but caution after caution after caution. Struggled on the restarts tonight, so we have work to do there.”
Sauter explained more specific frustrations claiming some competitors had built motors.
“Restarts are crazy. You have built motors out there that can turn an additional 1500 RPMs going on the restarts, so you feel very vulnerable. The No. 16 and 88 had built motors, and you’re at a disadvantage especially late in the race, and it’s been that way all year. It’s starting to really piss me off.”
Ben Rhodes and Matt Crafton completed the results of the top five finishers. The other three playoff contenders were Brett Moffit, Stewart Friesen and Noah Gragson, who finished 11th, 17th and 18th respectively.
“We didn’t start off the best,” Haley said as he addressed the media. “We didn’t qualify too well, and were running with Johnny [Sauter] there. I’m really tired since I’m still on east coast time, but it was a good night. I agree with Johnny on the built motor statement, and it definitely is a disadvantage. I think it’s going to be a bigger disadvantage going into Homestead where there’s tire fall off.”
As Haley made these statements, Sauter was nodding his head.
Noah Gragson Leads All Laps in Stage 1
While running the second lap of competition, Tanner Thorson in the No. 20 GO Share Chevrolet swerved in the entry of Turn 4 to avoid a collision, causing his truck to drift outside of the preferred racing line and smacked the outside wall. His truck started to smoke from the damage along the front stretch, but before he could complete the third lap and enter pit road, his truck caught fire at the entrance of pit road, bringing out the first yellow of the race. He was evaluated and released from the infield care center.
As the field took the green for the second time of the evening, Matt Crafton, who started from the back, made an exciting 5-wide move on the back stretch to fight his way up to the sixth position. Joe Nemechek was the only other truck that
At the end of the first stage, Noah Gragson not only led all 30 laps but ran in front to over a four second lead over John Hunter Nemechek, 52, 4, 51. This was Gragson’s 10th stage win of the season.
Grant Enfinger Claims the Stage 2 Victory
As the field took the green flag for the second stage, Grant Enfinger was the dominant truck leading the most laps. On Lap 46, Bo LeMastus spun in Turn 3 to bring out the third yellow flag of the night. The second stage also saw more lead changes.
Gragson started to lead the opening laps, but was quickly passed by Friesen. Grant Enfinger put his truck out in front for one lap before Friesen reclaimed the top spot. The last 11 laps were led by Enfinger. The only yellow flag in the second stage was for the No. 17 Toyota of LeMastus.
Strategies Unfold in the Final Stage
Todd Gilliland was running in the top 10 for most of the race, but on lap 82, was battling with Friesen. On the front stretch, Gilliland tried to tuck in behind Friesen entering Turn 1, but Jesse Little was too close behind Friesen. Gilliland and Little made contact, sending Gilliland into the outside wall.
During pit stops, the various strategies between the teams began to unfold. Enfinger was the only truck that elected for fuel only. A small handful of drivers got right-side tires, and the rest of the field, including Gragson and Sauter, received full service.
With almost thirty laps to go, a four-wide pass on the backstretch caused contact with the outer two drivers. Gragson, the furthest to the outside, receive right front damage and a lap later, blew the left front tire. While he was able to keep it off the wall and enter pit road, he also received a commitment line violation as he entered pit road too late.
Friesen slipped out of Turn 4 and slid through the grass. Because of all the debris that got tossed onto the track, NASCAR through the yellow flag, trapping Noah Gragson a lap down. Gragson visited pit road multiple times after the right rear tire started to go flat.
With 13 laps to go, Cory Roper’s truck stalled on the front stretch to bring out the yellow flag. Brandon Jones also brought his Toyota Tundra on pit road, and as the crew raised the hood, it appeared that his truck was done for the race.
Stewart Friesen spun again on lap 130 to bring out the caution with five laps to go.
Three Attempts to Finish the World of Westgate 200
The “Big One” erupts at Vegas during the second overtime finish attempt. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
On the first attempt to finish the race with a green-white-checkered, it all started on the restart. While Brett Moffit got a great start on the outside, Johnny Sauter slightly slipped on the restart, but was able to stay within a truck-length of Moffit. However, Ben Rhodes made a move to the inside on the apron going into Turn 1. That forced both drivers to back out of the throttle and cram the field behind them. Sauter played defense on the exit of Turn 2 and along the backstretch. Thinking he was clear, he tried to close the door on Enfinger, but contact between the two trucks caused Sauter to go sideways slightly on the backstretch, but towards the back of the field. Cody Caughlin ended up spinning out, making heavy contact with the inside wall. The yellow came out before the leaders took the white flag, forcing a second attempt to finish the race.
On this restart, the field seemed to have a better start as a whole. Moffit still had a strong restart, but as the field entered the backstretch, mayhem began to unfold. By the time they entered Turn 3, there were three different 3-wide battles, one 4-wide battle and one 5-wide battle. Before the leaders could get to the start/finish line, the No. 25 truck of Timothy Peters was sideways in the exit of Turn 4. Roughly nine trucks were involved, including John Hunter Nemechek, TJ Bell, Jordan Anderson and Austin Hill.
The race was red flagged for just over ten minutes to clean up debris and fluid from pit road entrance, in the grass and along the front stretch.
The final attempt was heartbreak for Moffit. When the green flag waved for the last restart, Moffit’s truck appeared to not pick up fuel in time, as he barely got out of Sauter’s way in the outside lane. Moffit would eventually get back up to speed, but not before most of the field got around him. He finished 11th.
“Just ran out of fuel,” Moffit shared “I didn’t put enough in the pick up.”
Enfinger to his inside took full advantage and cleared the field going into Turn 1. He never looked back, leading the final two laps to claim the victory over Johnny Sauter.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races again at Talladega Superspeedway on October 13. Visit the Talladega Superspeedway website to purchase tickets today!
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Unofficial Race Results for the 22Nd Annual World Of Westgate 200 – Friday, September 14, 2018 Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV – 1.5 Mile Paved Total Race Length – 144 Laps – 216 Miles
Pos
St
Trk
Driver
Team
Make
1
3
98
Grant Enfinger
(P) Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records
Ford
2
6
21
Johnny Sauter
(P) Allegiant
Chevrolet
3
12
24
Justin Haley
(P) Fraternal Order Of Eagles
Chevrolet
4
18
41
Ben Rhodes
(P) The Carolina Nut Co.
Ford
5
29
88
Matt Crafton
(P) Ideal Door/Menards
Ford
6
13
13
Myatt Snider #
Century Container
Ford
7
24
15
Ross Chastain(i)
Premium Motorsports
Chevrolet
8
21
30
Austin Theriault
Cross Insurance
Toyota
9
25
22
Austin Wayne
Self GO TEXAN
Chevrolet
10
4
54
Chris Eggleston
H2O Fire Protection
Toyota
11
9
16
Brett Moffitt
(P) TZ
Toyota
12
27
10
Jennifer Jo
Cobb Waldo’s Painting Company
Chevrolet
13
20
7
Korbin Forrister
TruClear
Toyota
14
30
45
Justin Fontaine #
ProMATIC Automation/Superior Essex
Chevrolet
15
26
97
Jesse Little
JJL Motorsports
Ford
16
28
83
Bayley Currey
Chevrolet
17
2
52
Stewart Friesen
(P) We Build America
Chevrolet
18
1
18
Noah Gragson
(P) Safelite AutoGlass
Toyota
19
14
25
Timothy Peters
Kingman
Chevrolet
20
32
3
Jordan Anderson
Commercial Property Services
Chevrolet
21
23
38
TJ Bell
Niece Equipment
Chevrolet
22
8
8
John Hunter
Nemechek(i) Berry’s Manufacturing
Chevrolet
23
16
02
Austin Hill
Young’s Building Systems/Randco
Chevrolet
24
15
2
Cody Coughlin
GOD BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD
Chevrolet
25
19
04
Cory Roper
Preferred Industrial Contractors Inc.
Ford
26
7
51
Brandon Jones(i)
Delta Faucet/Menards
Toyota
27
10
4
Todd Gilliland #
JBL/SiriusXM
Toyota
28
31
49
Wendell Chavous
Sobriety Nation
Chevrolet
29
5
46
Riley Herbst
Advance Auto Parts
Toyota
30
17
17
Bo LeMastus #
Crosley Brands
Toyota
31
22
87
Joe Nemechek
Harrah’s
Chevrolet
32
11
20
Tanner Thorson
GO Share
Chevrolet
(P) Playoff Contender
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
(#) Rookie
With a dominating time of 30.331 seconds at 178.036 mph, Noah Gragson will start in the top spot for this evening’s World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He was only 0.005 seconds shy of the qualifying record.
Stewart Friesen will start to his outside in the second position. Grant Enfinger, Chris Eggleston and Riley Herbst rounds out the top five. The other drivers to make the final round of qualifying include Johnny Sauter, Brandon Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Brett Moffit, Todd Gilliland, Tanner Thorson and Justin Haley. All drivers will start in that respective order.
“We were fast there earlier on in the spring with my Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra,” stated Gragson as he reflected on his race earlier this year. “We restarted the final restart in second place, but the left-rear tire was chorded, so we didn’t get the result that we showed all throughout the race, but we ran in the top three the whole time. It’s another opportunity to chase a checkered flag.”
Gragson was fastest in the first round of qualifying at his hometrack, with Stewart Friesen and Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Brandon Jones rounding out the top three starting positions. Gragson was fifth fastest in final practice, but only 16th during first practice; however, he set the fastest 10 consecutive lap average over Matt Crafton. All four KBM trucks made the final round of qualifying.
Two playoff contenders did not make the second round of qualifying. Ben Rhodes was only able to place himself in the 18th starting position in his No. 41 The Carolina Nut Co. Ford. The other was Matt Crafton, who starts 30th with an unusual qualifying run, and puts him in an uphill battle being one of the playoff contenders. Earlier in the day, the No. 88 Ideal Door / Menards Ford was fourth and third fastest in both practices respectively.
Some trucks were required to qualify on speed, but the unfortunate three that did not make the field included Tate Fogleman, JJ Yeley and Norm Benning.
Tune into the only September Truck race of 2018 by listening live on radio with MRN (Motor Racing Network) or watch on television with FS1 later this evening at 9:00pm ET.
Time Trial Results Las Vegas Motor Speedway 22nd Annual World of Westgate 200 Qualifying Round: 2
The Round of 8 and the third annual NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs began this past weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Some drivers upped their A game, while others had a frustrating day in another thrilling finish.
Here’s a look at this week’s power ranking following Canada and the first race in the Playoffs.
Noah Gragson – Gragson dominated most of the race by starting second and winning both stages. He led three times for 35 laps and earned two playoff points. His day looked to be done after a restart in the final stage as he slipped back and was passed by Johnny Sauter for the lead. However, a late race caution with four to go, set up a NASCAR Overtime restart. Race leader, Todd Gilliland, got out in front and was able to pull away for the most part, until Gragson began to follow in his tire tracks. As noted in recent history, this place has been known for last lap passes and controversial finishes. Sunday proved that once more as Gragson went to make a move on the bottom on his teammate in the final turn. Unfortunately, his move didn’t work, ending up taking out his teammate for the win and he was relegated to a ninth-place finish. With his ninth-place finish and his two stage wins on Sunday, the No. 18 Safelite driver is now fourth in the standings, 24 points above the cut line. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
Todd Gilliland – Gilliland proves week in and week out that he has tons of talent and incredible driving ability. Especially since for most tracks, he is making his first starts at racetracks in a truck. Gilliland played strategy at the end of both stages by pitting with two to go in order to have track position for the next stage. His time to shine came on Lap 54 where he took the lead from Sauter. Unfortunately, a caution came out late with four to go, and his four-second lead was evaporated over Gragson who was trying to catch him. He continued to lead until the final lap where Gragson made the move and accidentally took him out in trying to win. With the incident, Gilliland finished in 11th place finish after leading 11 laps. Gilliland will look to rebound and race for the win in the final seven races. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
Johnny Sauter – Sauter had a quiet, but solid day at the road course in Canada. The regular season champion started sixth after qualifying in the rain Saturday evening. The No. 21 GMS Racing driver finished seventh in both stages. After a restart late in the race, Sauter took the lead and led once for nine laps and wound up finishing sixth for his 14th top-10 of the year. He leads the playoff points standings over Brett Moffitt by six points. Previous Week Ranking: 1st
Justin Haley – What becomes a misfortune for one becomes good fortune for another. This was the case for the No. 24 GMS Racing team with the driver that broke through the last lap melee and earned his second win of the season. Haley started in the eighth position and finished third in both stages. Haley was able to lead once on Lap 34 and of course, came out on top of the wreckage for the first playoff win of his career. With his win, he is now locked into the Round of 6. Previous Week Ranking: 5th
Matt Crafton – Crafton showed speed this weekend in qualifying and throughout the race. His day was almost similar to Sauter’s as he didn’t make much noise but got the job done and accomplished what he needed to do and that was to finish the race. Crafton had a decent qualifying effort by starting in the fourth position. He finished fifth in both stages and after the thrilling finish, Crafton finished fifth for his sixth top five of the year. Previous Week Ranking: Not RankedFell Out
1. Stewart Friesen – Friesen had an up and down day at CTMP. He spun around early on in the race but was able to rebound and finish seventh after starting 16th. He was able to finish sixth in the second stage but did not collect any stage points in the first stage. He sits sixth, one point above the cut line.
2. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes had a good day at CTMP. He won the pole and finished second in Stage 1, but did not finish in the top-10 at all in Stage 2. Rhodes led six laps, but that was the most noise he made as he finished 14th after he had contact from Sauter on the last lap. He sits seventh, one point behind the cut line. He’ll need to win a couple of stages or win at Las Vegas or Talladega to advance to the next round.
Two Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates, Todd Gilliland and Noah Gragson, were racing for the first and second position on the last lap at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Gilliland had worked hard all day to get his truck in position for the win.
After slipping back and dominating most of the race by sweeping two stages, Gragson had slipped back a little after a restart to begin the final stage. However, with a late race caution, the No. 18 driver came back and was running in the second position.
Gragson, who will be is a playoff driver, while Gilliland is not, caught the No. 4 in the final corner on the last lap. Since it was the last lap, all bets were off and with past history, something was going to happen. And that something ended up being, Gragson making a dive bomb move on the inside of Gilliland to try and advance on to the next round. Unfortunately, the move didn’t work out as planned and Gragson ended up taking out his teammate coming to the finish. Both were unable to recover from it and Gragson finished ninth while Gilliland had to settle for 11th after contact was made.
Needless to say after having a shot at the win, Gilliland was not too happy with Gragson after being taken out for his first potential race win.
“He (Noah Gragson) drove through me on the last corner, like we’ve seen in the past 12 years here,” Gilliland told MRN Radio. “That sucks. We had a really fast Frontline Enterprises Toyota Tundra. Can’t thank everyone at KBM. I hate he (Gragson) cost us the 1-2 finish. It’s very frustrating, but we just need to refocus and go get a win next week, and go win the rest of them.”
Gragson, after starting on the front row in second and winning both stages, was disappointed after the contact was made with his teammate Gilliland.
“I was making that move work all through the race,” Gragson told MRN Radio. “Most of the blame is on me. Ultimately, I wasn’t fully there. Todd (Gilliland) was a nose ahead of me, so he claimed the position, but was expecting his spotter to say inside getting into that last corner to his back wheel. That’s part of it. Unfortunately, I hate it for the 4 guys. I wasn’t trying to take him out. I was just trying to race hard, side-by-side to the finish line. Just not a lot of room when it came down to it. Strong Safelite Toyota Tundra. We’ll move to Vegas, but mainly just want to apologize to Todd, the 4 team, and everyone at Kyle Busch Motorsports. That one is on me.”
Gragson wound up finishing ninth and now sits fourth in the playoff standings 24 points above the cut line.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series take two weeks off and will head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the second race of the Playoffs in the Round of 8.
