Tag: Noah Gragson

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Charlotte

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Charlotte

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series had a home race this past Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was the seventh race of the season with a first-time winner at the track, but it was a familiar foe that ended up in victory lane.

    Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

      1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter tops off the power rankings list this week by notching his third career win of 2018, the 20th of his career and his first time ever at Charlotte. He continues to dominate the 2018 season by having six top fives and six top 10 finishes. Sauter even started from the pole after qualifying was washed out due to thunderstorms earlier in the day. With a 59 point lead over Noah Gragson in the regular standings, the sky is the limit for the No. 21 GMS Racing team and they will be tough to beat for the championship. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
      2.  Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a solid career night at the 1.5-mile track. After starting sixth based on owner points, the No. 16 Hattori Racing driver worked his way up to the lead by Lap 27, with just four laps to go in Stage 1. Moffitt was able to remain in the lead for those four laps to win the first stage and collect 10 championship Playoff points. He would take the lead two other times in the race to lead 28 laps and ultimately finishing in the fourth spot for his fourth top five of the year. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
      3.  Ben Rhodes – Rhodes finished in the fifth position rounding out the top five in Friday night’s race. It was just his third top five of 2018. While only finishing sixth in Stage 2, Rhodes battled changing track conditions all night long and had a tough time restarting on the inside for the restart. Nonetheless, it’s only a matter time before the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford driver breaks out and earns his first win of the season and career. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
      4. Stewart Friesen – Friesen continues to be part of the talk this year finishing inside the top 10 once more after almost winning the previous week at Kansas. He didn’t finish in the top 10 in either stages, but Friesen worked his way up to finish sixth and earned his fourth top 10 of the year. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
      5. Noah Gragson – Gragson comes down in the power rankings this week with his finish of eighth, but that wasn’t from the lack of trying. For most of the race, it was him and Sauter battling for the race lead, at least in the early laps. From Laps 1-22, Sauter and Gragson traded the lead five times before Sauter took over. When Gragson took the lead on Lap 10, it would be the last time he led for the rest of the night. He didn’t finish in the top 10 in Stage 1 due to a pit road speeding penalty, which set him back to finish 14th in the first stage. Stage 2 was just a little better for the No. 18 Safelite Tundra, finishing 10th. However, it was the last restart of the night that cost Gragson a shot at winning as he spun his tires and he almost spun out. After losing a few spots on the restart, the 19-year-old driver climbed his way back into the top 10, finishing eighth. Previous Week Ranking: 1st

    Honorable Mentions:

      1. 1. Parker Kligerman – After a disappointing finish at Dover a couple of weeks ago, Kligerman rallied back to finish seventh. He even finished seventh in the first stage. While the team doesn’t run all the races, they seem to be a potential threat to win when the cards fall in their favor.
      1. 2. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland will finally be able to race full time after turning 18-years- old this past week. It was his first start on a 1.5-mile track and he did alright for the most part. He finished eighth and fourth, respectively in both stages. Gilliland was running well until late race contact with two-time champion Matt Crafton. This ultimately put the Pedigree driver 10th on the scoring pylon at the end of the night.
      1. 3. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger is once again in the honorable mentions this week. He was one of the first cautions of the night after cutting down a right rear tire and leaving debris on the racetrack. It was an uphill battle for the Thorsport driver the rest of the night as he didn’t finish in the top 10 in either stage. Enfinger finished 12th.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Charlotte

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Charlotte

    It’s a home game this week for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series as the drivers and teams will compete in their own backyards. One team and driver will show who’s best Friday night in the annual running of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    There are 35 trucks on the preliminary entry list with the No. 1 owned by Tracy Lowe, Clay Greenfield of the 68 and Joe Nemechek of the 87 being the only withdrawals from the race.

    A few notables – Timothy Peters is back competing in the No. 92 Ricky Benton Racing Ford and Daniel Hemric will be back for the first time in a Truck since 2016 driving the No. 20 of Young Motorsports.

    In the past five races, there have been three different winners with Kyle Busch being the only repeat winner of this race.

    Here’s a look at who to expect to be in victory lane at the end of the night.

      1. Kyle Busch – It should be no surprise that Busch is on top of the list for this weekend’s race. He has won this race seven times and is the previous race winner. He earned his first win at Charlotte in the Truck Series in May 2005. The only thing that’s different this time is that he’ll look to tie Ron Hornaday’s winning streak. Busch came close last weekend at Kansas by finishing second, but it wasn’t good enough to score the win. In the last four races, he has earned three wins, four top five’s and four top 10 finishes, along with 327 laps led and an average finish of 1.2, not bad for the Kyle Busch Motorsports owner. He’ll be a challenging factor in Friday night’s race.
      2. Noah Gragson – Gragson claimed career victory No. 2 last weekend at Kansas Speedway and that momentum could carry over this week at Charlotte. While he only has one start at the 1.5-mile track with a finish of ninth in the previous race, Gragson has been dominant in most 1.5 mile races this year. With a late race restart in Atlanta, he restarted in the ninth position and almost pulled off the win before finishing second. In Las Vegas, Gragson finished 12th after starting fifth. So don’t be surprised if we see the No. 18 Safelite Tundra back in victory lane again this weekend, as momentum could be huge for the 19-year old.
      3. Matt Crafton – Seven races in and Crafton is still looking for that breakthrough victory of the 2018 season. While it’s hard to believe the No. 88 Menards driver doesn’t have a win yet, you really can’t count him out on any given race weekend. In Dover after Gragson had a late race tangle with eventual race winner Johnny Sauter, Crafton finished second. Last week at Kansas, he led only four laps before battling a tight conditioning truck all night. He could score that first win this weekend as Charlotte is the site of Crafton’s first ever victory back in 2008. He also scored another win two years ago in 2016 after starting 17th.
      4. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek has run okay at Charlotte but has never been considered as a possible upset. However, he could be this weekend. In two starts, he has finishes of 12th and 22nd, respectively.  He is coming off a strong run at Kansas this past weekend by finishing fourth. Nemechek could get that first win at Charlotte Friday night and what a win that would be for the family-owned team.
      5. Timothy Peters – Peters could be a real upset this weekend if he could pull off the win tomorrow night in the No. 92 Ricky Benton Racing Ford. In the past five starts, he has two top fives and four top 10 finishes with a best finish of fifth in last year’s race. However, those starts were in the now-defunct Red Horse Racing stable who were contenders for the win week in and week out. It’s no doubt Peters and the No. 92 team will have a battle on their hands Friday night. However, should they play their cards right and have a little bit of luck, they could just be a surprise winner.

    Live coverage begins with the first practice scheduled for 9:05 a.m. ET with no live TV. Final practice will be shown on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 10:35 a.m. ET.

    Qualifying is scheduled for 4:40 p.m. ET on FS1 with the green flag at the approximate time of 8:49 p.m. ET, all on FS1 and MRN Radio, weather permitting, as there is a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms in the forecast Friday afternoon and evening.

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Kansas

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Kansas

    Kansas Speedway was the home for the sixth race of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It was dominated by a young 19-year old.

    Here are four takeaways from the 37 Kind Days 250.

    1. Kyle Busch Motorsports Strong In The Heartland – It’s no doubt that if it’s not Johnny Sauter or Matt Crafton dominating the races, then it’s the Kyle Busch Motorsports stable. This weekend it was the No. 18 of Noah Gragson and the No. 4 of Kyle Busch. Gragson started on the pole and led most of the race, while his boss, Busch, followed closely behind in second. Gragson cut into the points lead and is now 35 behind Sauter. It will be interesting to see if Gragson can get on a roll after winning at Kansas this weekend.
    2. GMS Racing Has Strong Showing – GMS Racing drivers had a strong showing at Kansas Friday night. Last week’s winner Johnny Sauter finished fifth, Justin Haley 10th and Dalton Sargeant 11th. The team continues to be strong week in and week out.
    3. John Hunter Nemechek Posts Top Five Finish – In just his fourth race of the season, Nemechek posted his second top five by finishing fourth. Currently, he has three more races for the 2018 season while he is competing part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
    4. Brandon Jones Back In The Truck Series – Brandon Jones returned back to the Truck Series this past weekend driving the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry. It was Jones’s first race back since Bristol of last summer where he finished 10th. He started 13th and finished seventh and fifth, respectively, in both stages. When the 37 Kind Days 250 was all done and finished, the Atlanta Georgia native finished eighth.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Kansas

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Kansas

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned to Kansas Speedway this past weekend.

    It was the sixth race of the 2018 racing season and so far, there have been six different winners this year as a new, but familiar, face ended up in victory lane.

          1. Noah Gragson – After last week’s heartbreak at Dover, Gragson was able to back it up with a dominant win at Kansas. After starting from the pole position, he led all but four laps to win Stage 1. While he still had a fast truck in Stage 2, Gragson didn’t lead all the laps but went on to win the second stage. The lead was swapped multiple times in the remaining laps with Stewart Friesen, Kyle Busch, Johnny Sauter, and Myatt Snider until Gragson reclaimed the lead with six laps to go and was able to hang on to score just the second victory of his career. He lead 128 laps of the scheduled 167 laps and now sits second in the points, 35 points behind Johnny Sauter. Previous Ranking: 2nd
          2. Stewart Friesen – Friesen had another career night at the 1.5-mile speedway. After starting eighth, he finished 10th in Stage 1 and fifth in the second stage. Friesen took the lead twice and led for six laps. At the end of the day, the scoring pylon placed the No. 52 Halmar Racing team third to earn his second top five of 2018 and his fourth of his career. Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
          3. Johnny Sauter – Although, Sauter didn’t have the best truck all night, he was able to make the best with what he had. He started in the fifth position and fell back a bit during the two stages. In Stages 1 and 2, Sauter finished ninth and eighth, respectively. It was not the dominant truck that he had last week at Dover, but Sauter managed with what he had and finished fifth for his fifth top five of the season. He still remains as the point leader, leading over 35 points. Previous Ranking: 1st
          4. Matt Crafton – Crafton had a very similar night to what Sauter did. He was able to start on the front row alongside eventual race winner, Noah Gragson. He led just the first four laps of the race and struggled to get back into the lead to fight for the win, as Crafton battled a tight truck most of the night. Despite not having the best truck of the race, he managed to finish eighth and ninth, respectively in both stages. Ultimately, Crafton finished sixth for his third top 10 of the season. Previous Ranking: 3rd
          5. Cody Coughlin – Coughlin remains in the power rankings again this week by finishing in the seventh position. He finished 10th in Stage 2 to earn one playoff point. Coughlin sits 11th in the point standings. Previous Ranking: 4th

      Honorable Mentions
      1.  Grant Enfinger- Enfinger scored another top 10 finish by placing eighth.
      2. Justin Haley- Haley finished 10th and earned his fourth top 10 of the year.
      3. Dalton Sargeant- Sargeant started 11th and finished 11th.

  • Noah Gragson finds Truck Series paydirt with convincing Kansas victory

    Noah Gragson finds Truck Series paydirt with convincing Kansas victory

    Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. – There are times when redemption is swift and merciful.

    A week after throwing away a chance to win at Dover with a wreck of his own making, Noah Gragson scored his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season, beating his car owner, Kyle Busch, to the finish line in the 37 Kind Days 250 at Kansas Speedway.

    Starting from the pole for the second straight race, Gragson led 128 of 167 laps in his No. 18 Toyota, swept all the stages of the event and collected the second NCWTS victory of his career.

    “This is such a relief for a driver who had a hard week last week battling for the win,” said Gragson, who was running side by side with Johnny Sauter at Dover when he lost control of his truck and backed into the outside wall. “We came back strong this weekend. Two consecutive poles. We led the most laps today.

    “Man, this is a pretty damn cool moment.”

    After passing Busch and third-place finisher Stewart Friesen on Lap 157 — thanks to a four-tire call by crew chief Rudy Fugle during a green-flag pit stop on lap 134 — Gragson took the lead for good when Myatt Snider ran out of gas with five laps left.

    Snider was one of five drivers trying to stretch fuel to the end of the race. One by one they fell by the wayside, but not before muddying the waters in the closing laps.

    “After the pit stop, I thought I was going to be the leader, but they told me that (fifth-place finisher) Johnny (Sauter) was stretching it on fuel,” Gragson said. “So I said, ‘OK, maybe I’m running second.’ Then they said the 52 (Friesen) and the 4 (Busch) are a half a lap ahead of you.

    “And I thought that was for the lead when I passed the 4 and I passed the 52, and then they said the 13 (Snider) was the leader. And I said, ‘Dang, how many leaders are there going to be?”

    As it turned out Snider was the last one, and Gragson had come full circle from his mistake at Dover.

    John Hunter Nemechek came home fourth, followed by Sauter and Matt Crafton. Cody Coughlin, Grant Enfinger, Brandon Jones and Justin Haley completed the top 10.

    With 23 laps left, Friesen forced Busch down to the infield grass in the tri-oval, costing Busch a chance to pass the No. 52 Chevrolet and put distance between himself and Gragson.

    Busch had taken right-side tires only on his green-flag stop on Lap 139, and Gragson methodically caught his car owner, making what proved to be the winning pass with 10 laps left.

    “The truck felt good after about 15 laps, but it took too long to come in,” Busch said. “And there on that last run, we didn’t make enough adjustments. We took two tires and we got way too tight.

    “But awesome run by Noah and those guys. They deserve it—they’re fast. They needed a boost and they got one. They’re going to race for a championship, and hopefully, this will help them get going.”

    Sauter retained the series lead by 35 points over Gragson. The Camping World Truck Series’ next race is scheduled Friday, May 18 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Race results 

  • Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Dover

    Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Dover

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competed in their fifth race of the 2018 season at Dover International Speedway. Here are four takeaways from the JEGS 200 event on Friday.

    1. Johnny Sauter Continues Series Domination – Sauter got his second win of the 2018 season this past Friday. It was his first win since the season-opening race at Daytona. Since then, he has finished third at Atlanta, second at Las Vegas and only finished outside the top 10 once at Martinsville, finishing 19th. Friday’s victory was the 19th of his career. He’ll look to get his first victory at Kansas Speedway since 2010, eight years ago.
    2. Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland Score Top Five/Ten Finishes – Burton and Gilliland who drive for Kyle Busch Motorsports earned a fifth and 10th place finish, respectively at Dover. Burton came from the back after starting 17th and finished seventh in Stage 1, while ultimately finishing in the top five. Todd, on the other hand, finished second in the first stage and eighth in the second, before finishing 10th.
    3. Justin Haley Earns Third Place Finish – Haley earned his second top five of the 2018 season after finishing third. He started in the fourth position and finished third in Stage 1, with a second-place finish in Stage 2. As the JEGS 200 came to a close, the scoring pylon showed the No. 24 FOE Chevy third. A nice Dover outing for the GMS Racing team.
    4. Close Battle For The Win Ends Under Caution – Sauter and Noah Gragson battled it out all the way to the end until the last corner with two laps to go. Both of them swapped the lead from lap 124 to lap 210. While it looked like Gragson could score his second career win, he would, unfortunately, get loose and end up finishing 20th due to a spin. Gragson and the No. 18 Tundra will look to rebound this week at Kansas Speedway and get his second career victory.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Dover

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Dover

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series finally returns to action this week at Dover International Speedway after a five-week off period.

    So far for 2018, there have been four different Truck Series races with four different winners. Drivers will be itching at the bit to get back behind the wheel after a long rest period.  At Dover, there have been five different winners in the past five races.

    There are 34 trucks listed on the preliminary entry list this week.

    Here’s a look at who might end up taking the checkered flag tomorrow night at Dover.

      1. Matt Crafton – Currently in 2018, Crafton and the No. 88 Ford has zero wins to start the season. However, Dover just might be the place where he’ll snap a winless streak just like Joey Logano did last weekend at Talladega. In five races, Crafton has one win, three top fives and three top 10 finishes, along with 181 laps led with an average start of 6.0 and an average finish of 8.4. The last time he went to victory lane was two years ago. Dover could be the track in which Crafton punches his ticket into the Playoffs. He’ll need some work to do so as he was 13th and 10th, respectively in the two practice sessions on Thursday.
      2. Johnny Sauter – Dover is another one of Sauter’s best race tracks. He is the defending race winner from last year’s race after leading just 33 laps and he still has momentum from the Daytona season opener win. Sauter will have to pull double duty this weekend after Spencer Gallagher was indefinitely suspended from NASCAR. Sauter is the highest active driver among all drivers when it comes to Dover. He has one win, three top fives and three top 10 finishes with 33 laps led. Sauter has an average start of 11.6 and an average finish of 4.8. In the two practice sessions today, he was second and third fastest respectively. Keep an eye out for the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevy team.
      3. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland will return this weekend to drive the No. 4 Pedigree Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports. In his only start at this track which came last year, he was running a smart race until an incident took place on Lap 115 as Gilliland had suspension issues. Despite the woes, he was able to lead 25 laps after starting 15th. He’ll look to rebound and challenge for the win on Friday night. Gilliland was fourth in both practice sessions Thursday afternoon.
      4. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt is having a stellar 2018 season so far. He collected the second win of his career at Atlanta back in February and collected three top fives, and three top 10 finishes this year. While Moffitt will be making his track debut in a truck at Dover, he does have some experience racing cup cars and in the K&N East Pro Series. In fact, Moffitt has even taken the checkered flag here way back in 2009. His first cup start here was for Jay Robinson Racing and he ended up finishing 22nd. While he doesn’t have any race experience with a truck, Moffitt will be using his past experiences to figure this place out. He was eighth and first fastest in both practice sessions.
      5. Noah Gragson – Gragson has one start here at Dover in the Truck Series which came last year. After starting eighth, he finished fifth in Stage 1 but fell outside the top 10 in Stage 2. Gragson stayed around the top 10 for the rest of the race, as he would wind up finishing ninth, one lap down. He was sixth and second fastest in two practice sessions.

    Qualifying will be especially important at Dover. In the last five races, the winner has come from a starting spot no lower than 11th which happened last year when Johnny Sauter took the checkered flag.

    Qualifying is slated for Friday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1.

    The JEGS 200 can be seen live on FS1 with race coverage beginning at 5:00 p.m ET and on MRN Radio. The approximate green flag is 5:18 p.m. ET.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Martinsville

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Martinsville

    After two postponements due to rain and snow, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series resumed action on Monday morning after completing just 23 laps before being red-flagged Saturday afternoon. There are some new names on top of the power list rankings and some who fell out, while others get honorable mentions. Here’s a look at this week’s truck series power rankings.

      1. John Hunter Nemechek: After having a dismal start to 2018 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Nemechek sure turned that around Monday by collecting his first ever grandfather clock. After starting eighth, he finished sixth and fifth in both stages, respectively. Nemechek didn’t take the lead until the final 31 laps of the race and held off a hard-charging Kyle Benjamin by .106 seconds. However, Nemechek didn’t collect truck points as he is collecting NASCAR Xfinity Series points this year.
        Previous Rankings: Not Ranked
      2. Brett Moffitt: Moffitt continues to impress in the Truck Series. In the previous race outing at Las Vegas, he finished third after starting sixth.  This week at Martinsville, Moffitt finished third once more after starting seventh. He finished ninth in Stage 1 and finished sixth in Stage 2. Hattori Racing and Brett Moffitt continue their momentum from their Atlanta win a few weeks ago. The No. 16 driver sits third in the point standings, 31 behind leader Johnny Sauter.
        Previous Ranking: 2nd
      3. Ben Rhodes: After earning his first pole of the season, Rhodes led 23 laps until the red flag came out Saturday afternoon. Once the race resumed Monday, he was the dominant truck to beat. Rhodes won Stages 1 and 2 after leading most of the laps in those stages and collecting 10 playoff points each. Unfortunately, losing positions on pit road was the issue that ultimately cost Rhodes the race win. The scoring pylon at the end of the race showed the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford 12th.
        Previous Ranking: Honorable Mention
      4. Kyle Benjamin: Benjamin and the No. 54 David Gilliland Racing team almost scored an upset victory Monday at Martinsville. Benjamin started fourth and stayed in the top 10 for Stage 1 to finish fifth. In Stage 2, he, unfortunately, did not place in the top 10.  After Stage 2, however, Benjamin took the lead on lap 146 and led for 74 laps until Nemechek took the lead on lap 220. The No. 54 driver stayed up there with Nemechek especially in the remaining laps and gave everything he could for the race win. He came up .106 sec short, finishing second in his first ever career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
        Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
      5. Grant Enfinger: Enfinger earned another top-five finish of his career at Martinsville. A strong qualifying effort placed the No. 98 Tundra third. Enfinger finished third and ninth, respectively in Stages 1 and 2.  Ultimately, he wound up fourth for his second top-five of the year.
        Previous Ranking: 4th

    Honorable Mentions

    1. Noah Gragson: Fall winner Noah Gragson finished fifth after starting 11th.
    2. Timothy Peters: Peters was back in a truck for the first time this year driving the No. 92 Ricky Benton Racing Ford. He would come home inside the top 10 finishing seventh.
    3. Cory Roper: Roper competed for the first time ever in the Truck Series driving for his team Roper Racing. The No. 04 Ford finished 13th in his first ever NASCAR start. Not bad for a place like Martinsville.

    Fell out of the Power Rankings
    1.  Johnny Sauter: Sauter was looking for his second win of the season at Martinsville on Monday. However, he brought out the caution on lap 225 and collected competitor, Matt Crafton. Sauter collected a disappointing 19th place finish.
    2. Dalton Sargeant: While not a dismal day, Sargeant battled a difficult truck as he did not place in the top 10 in either stage. He wound up finishing 11th.
    3. Stewart Friesen: Friesen looked like he had the truck to beat early on. He qualified fifth and finished seventh in Stage 1. Unfortunately, Friesen was collected in two incidents. One on Lap 87, which was an accident that involved others in Turn 2 and again was involved in an incident on Lap 117. This ultimately placed him 20th.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Martinsville

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Martinsville

    After two weeks off, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action at the famous “Half-Mile Paperclip,” Martinsville Speedway. The 2018 truck series has been action packed so far with three races and three different winners. And there’s a good possibility there could be a fourth different winner in 2018.

    Currently, there are 36 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list. Here’s a look at who to watch for this weekend at Martinsville.

      1. Johnny Sauter – In three races, Sauter is the highest active driver leading the way in stats. He won this race in 2016 and has three top fives and three top 10 finishes, along with 145 laps led. He also has an average start of 3.7 and an average finish of 2.0, not bad for the 2016 truck series champion. In the spring race, Sauter finished second to his teammate and race winner Chase Elliott. Expect Sauter to be up front and challenging for the win.
      2. Noah Gragson – Gragson has made two starts at Martinsville and is the defending race winner the last time trucks visited at Martinsville. The other finish the No. 18 Switch Tundra driver has is ninth after starting fourth in the spring race. He has also led 10 laps.
      3. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek’s 2018 truck season hasn’t been great so far for the Mooresville, North Carolina native. In two starts, he has finishes of 25th and 21st respectively, at Daytona and Las Vegas. Even though his recent Martinsville outings haven’t been too stellar, Nemechek does have a finish of third in 2016 after starting 12th. He’ll be looking to turn around his season this weekend at Martinsville by possibly finishing in the top 10 or collecting a win.
      4. Matt Crafton – Just like Sauter, Crafton is expected to be challenging for the win week in and week out. He has two victories at Martinsville which came in 2014 and 2015. However, in the last three races, he has finishes of second, ninth and 17th, respectively. Crafton’s recent finish was second in the fall race and he finished ninth in last year’s springs race. He has led 102 laps with an average start of 5.7 and an average finish of 9.3. After a disappointing finish at Las Vegas due to brakes and losing the lead and the eventual race win last fall, Crafton will be hungry and be searching for his first checkered flag of the season.
      5. Timothy Peters – Peters returns this weekend to drive the No. 92 truck of Ricky Benton Racing Enterprises. It will be his first race of the 2018 season. He made his first ever Martinsville start back in 2005 driving the No. 4 Dodge of Bobby Hamilton Racing and finished 18th after starting 25th. Since then, his Martinsville finishes have varied but Peters does have one win that came back in 2009 after starting 11th and led 84 laps. Peters did attempt the spring race last year and finished eighth after starting third.

    Live coverage of the Truck Series starts Friday afternoon with two practice sessions live on Fox Sports 1. The first practice is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. ET with the final practice at 1:05 p.m. ET. Qualifying is slated for 11:05 a.m. ET on FS1 with race coverage beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET live on FS1 and MRN Radio.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Las Vegas

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Las Vegas

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series headed out west last Friday night for the first inaugural spring race held at the 1.5-mile speedway.  It was a familiar face on top of the scoring pylon at the end of the day. Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

    1. Johnny Sauter: Sauter continues the GMS Racing momentum after finishing second in the Stratosphere 200. After starting third, he remained in the top 10 in both stages while finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. Sauter was up front for the win at the end, but just fell one sport short and finished behind race winner Kyle Busch .437 seconds. This gave Sauter his third top five of the season and he is the series points leader over Brett Moffitt by 39 points.
      Previous Week Ranked: 2nd
    2. Brett Moffitt: Moffitt added another strong finish for Hattori Racing after visiting victory lane last weekend in Atlanta. The No. 16 AISIN Group driver started third and finished eighth in Stage 1, and fifth in Stage 2. Moffitt also led twice for 27 laps throughout the race. He is second in the standings behind 2016 champion Johnny Sauter.
      Previous Week Ranked: 1st
    3. Stewart Friesen: Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing continue to shine with another top-five finish in the 2018 season. He started second alongside pole winner and eventual race winner Kyle Busch. That was his best starting spot since winning the pole at Eldora last year. The team worked hard to stay in the top 10 during both stages. In Stage 1 he finished fourth. Friesen ended up winning the second stage, which could help him out later in the season should he make the Playoffs. Ultimately, the No. 52 driver ended the day fifth, leaving him with his third top five of his career and the first of the season.
      Previous Week Ranked: N/R
    4. Grant Enfinger: While it shouldn’t be a surprise, Enfinger had a nice solid top-five finish outing at Las Vegas. While working a challenging truck early on in the race, he worked hard to get to the front. He didn’t place at all in Stage 1 but did earn some points in Stage 2 finishing ninth. When the checkered flag flew, the Curb Records driver finished fourth, giving him his first top five of the year and the 12th of his career.  Enfinger sits third in the standings, 40 points behind Sauter.
      Previous Week Ranked: N/R
    5. Dalton Sargeant: Sargeant, in just the ninth race of his career, earned a career-best sixth place finish at Vegas. As the race started, he worked his way up to the middle half of the field from the rear. After a couple of adjustments to the truck, Sargeant finished 14th just four spots short outside the top 10. The No. 25 truck continued to struggle for most of the night with handling issues and wound up 13th in Stage 2. In the final stage, the GMS Racing team continued to work on the truck to get it to Dalton’s liking and he finished sixth for the best finish of his career.
      Previous Week Ranked: N/A

    Honorable Mentions
    1. Ben Rhodes: Rhodes came home with another top 10 finish by placing seventh.
    2. Justin Fontaine: Fontaine stood out in the top 10 finishing ninth with the Niece Motorsports entry. He gave the team their second top 10 finish of the year with the first one coming at Daytona.

    Fell out of the Power Rankings
    1. Matt Crafton: Brake issues limited the No. 88 team for a good finish to a 29th place finish.
    2. Noah Gragson: Gragson and the No. 18 Switch Tundra finished 12th after finishing second last week at Atlanta.
    3. Jesse Little: Did not compete in this week’s race.