Tag: Ross Chastain

Austin Hill Gambles with Four Tires to Win at Vegas As Playoff Drivers Struggle

Las Vegas, NV — In the closing laps, Austin Hill fights his way through the field and passed Ross Chastain to win the World of Westgate 200 in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“That was a big statement win,” Hill declared in Victory Lane. “It means the world to me. This was the hardest one. We were going to stay out last caution, and everyone else pitted, so we needed to pit or we were screwed. So we came down pit road and restarted at the tail end of the longest line. Man, it stayed green, I had to drive all the way through the field and this truck was unbelievable.

“We’re two for two with this truck, so we’re going for three.”

Hill won the first race of the season at Daytona International Speedway, as well as the last race of the regular season at Michigan International Speedway, but he knew that wins, strong runs and no mistakes were evermore important during the Playoffs. He felt Friday night’s win was that strong run they needed to be a serious title contender.

“Coming into tonight, our number one goal was getting stage points and we did that, we got stage points in stage one and stage two. Got through that and after the second stage and we knew that some of the Playoff drivers had some issues, my only concern was going for the win,” Hill said later. “That’s all I really cared about. I didn’t think we were going to be able to catch them under green, but we did. It’s even more of a statement win because we had a little bit of an issue during practice and lost our truck chief. I know he was up watching us in the stands, but this is so special.”

It was a solid day for Chastain, but with old tires, he came up just a dozen laps short. After leading the most laps (88), the Niece Motorsports driver still finished second.

“Just (no) front tires,” Chastain shared on pit road after the finish. “They thought they got enough fuel in it on the final stop. Just all tires unfortunately.”

But the race was anything less than eventful. Three-wide action, including competitors making a five-wide pass on the front stretch early in the race, proved how each driver understood the value of every position. Unfortunately for some, mechanical issues began to unfold early throughout the race. Grant Enfinger won the regular season, but only raced for six laps, as he lost his engine and Playoff hopes. He became the first of many drivers with engine issues.

ThorSport teammates Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter both lost their engines on Lap 38, and it started to concern the eventual race winner. He shared his concerns both at that time, and later in the race where the engine seemed to lack power at various moments on restarts and while racing competitors.

“Yeah, we had to keep pulling tape each time,” Chastian continued when asked about his concern with competitors losing engines. “The first run, I had to let Austin (Hill) get in front of me to get some trash off the grill, and then the bugs were just terrible. Just a freak deal.”

Pole sitter Christian Eckes, Sheldon Creed and Todd Gilliland completed the top five. Brennan Poole, Brett Moffitt, Ben Rhodes, Harrison Burton and Dylan Lupton rounded out the top 10 positions.

Green flag flew for Christian Eckes, who won his second career pole in just his tenth career start in the Truck series. Ross Chastain quickly took over the lead and led the majority of the laps in the first stage, and went on to win Stage 1. Moffitt started the race in the rear of the field, but climbed his way up to ninth by the end of the stage.

The biggest news happened on Lap 6 when Grant Enfinger, who was the regular season champion, lost his motor on the front stretch. The team diagnosed the issue, attempted to repair the truck, but were unable to get back out on track. After starting the race just two points above the cutoff line, he would not collect enough points to make it into the next round of the Playoffs.

More Playoff drama unfolded during Stage 2. On the front stretch on Lap 38, teammates Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton both lost their engines at the same time. Crafton later shared that his truck appeared to lose power after running over debris that came from Sauter’s truck. That incident locked Enfinger out of the next round, and Sauter was left to the mercies of where Friesen and Ankrum finished.

More drivers began reporting engine issues, including Friesen. Natalie Decker began to come in and out of the garage, and a few other drivers retired from the race from mechanical issues. In the end, Chastain claimed the Stage 2 victory and set the pace throughout the first half of the race.

The field took the green flag to start the final stage on Lap 68, but quickly went back under yellow as Johnny Sauter eventually lost the entire motor. The troubled Playoff driver was looking to make up a couple more spots for the points required to make it into the next round, competing against Ankrum and Friesen for the final transfer position.

On Lap 82, Tyler Dippel lost his engine to bring out the caution. Teams had various strategies when they came to pit road. Chastain elected for fuel only, while Hill took four fresh tires. A mishap on pit road required him to come back down under yellow, forcing his team to restart toward the back of the lead lap trucks in the 16th position. The race was restarted on Lap 87, but many other trucks declared engine issues. Jennifer Jo Cobb and Natalie Decker went behind the wall with various engine issues

Hill fought his way through the field to catch Chastain in the closing laps, passing him on Lap 123. He led the final 12 laps to claim his third win of the season, winning by 2.116 seconds. Enfinger and Sauter were officially eliminated from the Playoffs when Ankrum and Friesen finished 11th and 19th respectively.

“We got lucky,” Ankrum stated after the race explaining his truck cutting in and out in the middle of the final stage. “On that last restart, the motor just fell on its face and I thought I just messed up on the restart, and that’s why I fell back so fast. About five laps later, it sounded like an old ‘69 Malibu. My heart sank, I thought we were blowing up. I was going to be mad, that was the first thing that was going to happen. But it cut back on, so I think it was just electrical.

It doesn’t matter how you get there (to the Round of 6), it’s just that you get there.”

The Round of 6 Playoff drivers have been set with Moffitt, Chastain, Hill, Friesen, Crafton and Ankrum. The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series will compete next on October 12 in the Sugarlands Shine 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Fin	St	#	Driver	Sponsor / Owner	Truck	Laps	Status	Led	Pts	PPts
1	7	16	Austin Hill	Gunma Toyopet (Shigeaki Hattori)	Toyota	134	running	29	57	5
2	2	45	Ross Chastain	CarShield (Al Niece)	Chevrolet	134	running	88	55	2
3	1	51	Christian Eckes	SiriusXM (Kyle Busch)	Toyota	134	running	4	39	0
4	6	2	Sheldon Creed	Chevrolet Accessories (Maury Gallagher)	Chevrolet	134	running	0	42	0
5	3	4	Todd Gilliland	JBL Fest (Kyle Busch)	Toyota	134	running	0	41	0
6	18	30	Brennan Poole	On Point Motorsports (Steven Lane)	Toyota	134	running	0	41	0
7	4	24	Brett Moffitt	CMR Construction & Roofing (Maury Gallagher)	Chevrolet	134	running	12	40	0
8	13	99	Ben Rhodes	Havoline (Duke Thorson)	Ford	134	running	0	36	0
9	9	18	Harrison Burton	Safelite Auto Glass (Kyle Busch)	Toyota	134	running	0	31	0
10	17	5	Dylan Lupton	DGR-Crosley (David Gilliland)	Toyota	134	running	0	27	0
11	16	17	Tyler Ankrum	B/X Custom Designs (David Gilliland)	Toyota	134	running	0	29	0
12	15	15	Anthony Alfredo	Sim Seats (David Gilliland)	Toyota	134	running	0	25	0
13	12	87	Tony Mrakovich	Street Stores Hardware (Joe Nemechek)	Chevrolet	134	running	0	24	0
14	14	3	Jordan Anderson	Bommarito.com / WCIParts.com (Jordan Anderson)	Chevrolet	134	running	0	23	0
15	23	12	Gus Dean	LG Air Conditioning Technologies (Randy Young)	Chevrolet	133	running	0	23	0
16	27	9	Codie Rohrbaugh	Grant County Mulch (Codie Rohrbaugh)	Chevrolet	133	running	0	21	0
17	26	22	Austin Wayne Self	Go Texan (Tim Self)	Chevrolet	133	running	0	20	0
18	20	11	Spencer Davis	All Pro (Mark Rette)	Ford	133	running	0	19	0
19	19	52	Stewart Friesen	Halmar International (Chris Larsen)	Chevrolet	132	running	0	18	0
20	29	20	Spencer Boyd	ClickandBuyGuns.com (Randy Young)	Chevrolet	132	running	1	17	0
21	25	38	Colin Garrett	Wide Open Entrepreneurs (Al Niece)	Chevrolet	131	running	0	0	0
22	30	44	Angela Ruch	The Ruch Life (Al Niece)	Chevrolet	131	running	0	15	0
23	32	34	Justin Johnson	RedList (Josh Reaume)	Chevrolet	127	running	0	14	0
24	31	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Waldo’s Painting (Jennifer Jo Cobb)	Chevrolet	90	running	0	13	0
25	21	54	Natalie Decker	Ruedebusch Development (David Gilliland)	Toyota	87	electrical	0	12	0
26	22	02	Tyler Dippel	Lobas Productions (Randy Young)	Chevrolet	80	engine	0	11	0
27	24	19	Derek Kraus	Eneos / NAPA Filters (Bill McAnally)	Toyota	77	transmission	0	10	0
28	28	33	Mason Massey	Anderson Power Services (Josh Reaume)	Chevrolet	63	engine	0	9	0
29	10	13	Johnny Sauter	Tenda Heal (Duke Thorson)	Ford	45	engine	0	15	0
30	5	88	Matt Crafton	Fisher Nuts / Menards (Duke Thorson)	Ford	39	engine	0	16	0
31	8	98	Grant Enfinger	ThorSport Racing / Curb Records (Mike Curb)	Ford	6	engine	0	6	0
32	11	8	John Hunter Nemechek	Berry’s Bullets (Joe Nemechek)	Chevrolet	0	fuel pressure	0	0	0

September 14, 2019

Chastain and Friesen earn hard fought top-five finishes

It was a wild night at the “Fastest Half Mile” for playoff drivers Ross Chastain and Stewart Friesen.

Chastain started on the outside pole at Bristol and was dominant in the first stage, earning the win in Stage 1. He and pole-sitter Brett Moffitt traded the lead back and forth multiple times between each other. In Stage 2, Chastain finished second to Moffitt.

However, Chastain was involved with some incidents on the track. One was an issue in Turn 4 when Raphael Lessard was spun and Friesen was as well. The Niece Motorsports driver also ruffled some feathers throughout the race by holding his ground and taking no prisoners.

In the end, after a long day and night, Chastain brought home his No. 45 truck in the third position after leading four times for 78 laps.

“It was rough for sure, that’s why they’re all lining up wanting to fight me,” Chastain told MRN Radio. “But let them come one at a time, we’re not afraid of them. It’s a dream come true to be able to drive for Niece Motorsports and be in this championship hunt and I’m not going to back down. We’re going to press the attack, that’s what Al Niece our Marine Veteran and Team Owner instill into us as a race team. TheCarShield Chevy was fast, I wish I was able to race with Brett (Moffitt).”

Friesen and his No. 52 Halmar Racing had a similar night.

The Canadian qualified third and worked hard all night to stay up there. Friesen finished seventh in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2. However, his moment came on Lap 152 in Turn 4 when Matt Crafton accidentally made contact with him. At this point, the No. 52 was beaten and battered but that doesn’t matter at Bristol with the track leaning so much on aerodynamics.

Still, despite the incident, Friesen was able to rebound to a fourth-place finish.

“A lot of speed that just didn’t fire off worth a crap,” Friesen told MRN Radio. “That’s kind of in the norm, we don’t fire off good in the last couple of races and kind of puts us in a hole, but fought back and made one good adjustment and that’s all it took. We had a fast car at the end.”

Despite the accident with Crafton, Friesen says they have no hard feelings.

“There wasn’t much contact really,” Friesen added to MRN Radio. “It is what it is, race on. I respect the hell out of that guy (Crafton). He’s a cool dude and we’ll race on. We’re both mature guys and that’s it. We talked a little bit right there and that’s it, that’s all we had to say.”

August 16, 2019
Friesen survives, wins his first career race at Eldora

It took 437 laps led and 63 starts but finally, Stewart Friesen is a winner in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Friesen had to hold off Sheldon Creed and company to win the Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway.

“Thank you to all the race fans that stuck with us, that kept pulling for us,” Friesen said after he got out of his truck in Victory Lane. “Everybody that came to my hauler and thought that this is the week. Today, this is the day. This is part of it!”

“Just thanks to all these race fans. This was meant to be.”

Friesen was on the last spot in the Truck championship but with the win, he is locked into the field of eight for the Truck Series Playoffs that will start in Bristol.

Sheldon Creed came home with a career-best finish of second followed by Grant Enfinger and Mike Marlar, a dirt regular, who came home fourth. Kyle Bisch Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland came home in fifth.

Chase Briscoe and Matt Crafton started on the front row and they are no strangers to being up front on the dirt. Briscoe won this race last year with Crafton winning the year before. Briscoe led from wire to wire even though the stage was slowed by two quick cautions. Landon Huffman who is subbing for Spencer Boyd spun it around. Then Jake Griffin spun it around as well right after the green flag waved from the Huffman spin. When it was all said and done it was Briscoe winning the stage followed by Gilliland, Brett Moffitt, Creed and Crafton to round out the top five.

Stage 2:

Most of the leaders decided to stay out after the stage break with the exception of Gilliland and Moffitt while Briscoe continued to dominate as he did in the first stage. Also like the first stage, some yellows disrupted the flow of the action. Harrison Burton spun his truck around on Lap 57 and the dirt version of “The Big One” happened on Lap 65 which involved Austin Hill, Burton, Christian Eckes, Carson Hocevar, Colt Gilliam and more. Many were able to continue but for Hill and Gilliam, their nights were over.

The action and the yellows did not stop though as the No. 34 of Mason Massey spun it around on Lap 76 when he got a cut tire. Creed spun it after they went back to green after the Massey spin but there was no yellow waved.

Like the first stage though it was all Briscoe as he went wire to wire to win the stage.

Final Stage:

Friesen stayed out while Briscoe and Crafton, among others, went in to pit after the stage ended. With going in to pit Briscoe restarted 12th while Friesen led the field to green to start the final stage. Friesen started to pull away but it was all for nothing due to the No. 45 of Chastain spinning right in front of the field. But somehow, someway, all of the field escaped without hitting Chastain’s truck.

There were a few more incidents after this one including a yellow that featured three wrecks in one. First, the No. 54 of Kyle Strickler spun trying to navigate the high side and before that the No. 32 of Devin Dodson and the No. 10 of Jennifer Jo Cobb. Last but not least Johnny Sauter and Briscoe got connected after the Strickler spin. Norm Benning spun with 31 laps to go after they went back to green following the multiple trucks that spun in the previous caution. The fun didn’t stop there as Dodson spun it around again with 17 laps to go.

Briscoe was a man on a mission but he tried a little bit too hard and spun out with nine laps to go while battling Creed for fifth. Briscoe went on to finish seventh.

There is only one race left to make the field of eight for the Gander Outdoors Truck Series Championship and that will be determined by the race in Michigan, a week from Saturday (August 3), on FS1.

August 1, 2019
Ross Chastain – Eldora Dirt Derby Race Advance

Eldora Dirt Derby | Eldora Speedway Race Advance

Team: No. 45 Niece Equipment/Jack Hewitt Throwback Chevrolet Silverado

Driver: Ross Chastain

Follow the Team: @NieceMotorsport; @RossChastain

Ross Chastain on Racing at Eldora: “I’m so proud of this team,” said Chastain. “This week will definitely be a new challenge for me, but I’m excited to have the opportunity to race at a place like Eldora. Plus, we have this awesome Jack Hewitt throwback scheme; I’m hoping we can make Jack proud!”

Making the Playoffs: Chastain’s third win of the season is the most among series regulars, with two of those wins counting towards playoff eligibility. Chastain is 18th in driver point standings and must stay in the top-20 for the next two races to remain eligible to compete for the championship.

Chastain at Eldora: Chastain will make his first start at Eldora Speedway on Thursday night.

On the Truck: Niece Motorsports and Ross Chastain will pay tribute to one of dirt racing’s greatest this week at Eldora Speedway. The No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado will carry the iconic JW Hunt paint scheme made famous by Jack Hewitt.

Hewitt, who was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2002, was beloved by fans for his no-nonsense attitude. Never one to mince words, Hewitt did his talking on the race track, but did not shy away from speaking his mind.

In 1998, Hewitt made history as the first driver to win all four legs of the USAC Four Crown Nationals. Among his other accomplishments at the half-mile dirt track: 13 USAC National Sprint Car Series feature wins, three USAC National Midget Car Series wins, eight USAC Silver Crown Series wins, 16 Modified wins, two All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car A-main wins, and one Dirt Late Model Victory.

Hewitt’s success was not confined to Eldora, on the strength of 12 victories, he secured the Championship in 1985 in the All Star Circuit of Champions.

He was also a back-to-back champion in the USAC Silver Crown Series in 1986 and 1987.

About Niece Motorsports:

Niece Motorsports is owned by United States Marine Corps Veteran Al Niece. In 2019, Niece Motorsports enters its fourth season in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Niece also owns Niece Equipment, which has for over 40 years provided clients with reliable products at competitive prices. Niece Equipment’s reputation is built on service, integrity and dependability. The company provides water and fuel / lube trucks that are engineered with quality and durability in mind for the construction and mining industry. Follow the team on Facebook and Instagram @NieceMotorsports as well as Twitter @NieceMotorsport.

July 31, 2019
Ross Chastain puts on clinic at Pocono, takes home popular win
With fuel no longer a concern when it came to crunch time, fan-favorite Ross Chastain was able to take home his third checkered flag of the 2019 season and becomes more of a threat for the championship.

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

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

Stage 1 Lap 1- Lap 15

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

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

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

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

Stage 2 Lap 19- Lap 30

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

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

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

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

Stage 3 Lap 34- Lap 60

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

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

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

With this win, Chastain earned the third victory of his Truck Series career. Chastain led twice for 54 laps and earned six playoff points.
1. Ross Chastain
2. Tyler Ankrum
3. Harrison Burton
4. Christian Eckes
5. Brett Moffitt
6. Matt Crafton
7. Todd Gilliland
8. Johnny Sauter
9. Ben Rhodes
10. Grant Enfinger
11. Tyler Dippel
12. Tony Mrakovich
13. Jordan Anderson
14. Gus Dean
15. Austin Wayne Self
16. Natalie Decker
17. Mason Massey IV
18. Spencer Boyd
19. Ray Ciccarelli, One Lap Down
20. Josh Reaume, One Lap Down
21. Jennifer Jo Cobb, One Lap Down
22. Norm Benning, Two Laps Down
23. Bayley Currey, Two Laps Down
24. Bryan Dauzat, Two Laps Down
25. Sheldon Creed, Four Laps Down
26. TJ Bell, 27 Laps Down
27. Bryant Barnhill, 34 Laps Down
28. Joe Nemechek, 36 Laps Down
29. Daniel Sasnett, 39 Laps Down
30. Austin Hill, 39 Laps Down, OUT
31. Anthony Alfredo OUT
32. Stewart Friesen OUT
Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series inches closer to the start of their Playoffs by heading to one of their most famous races of the year, The Eldora Dirt Derby on Thursday, August 1.
July 27, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Kentucky
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series came to Kentucky Speedway for race No. 13 of the 2019 season and what an exciting race it was.

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

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

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

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

Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.
1. Stewart Friesen – Friesen delivered another top-five finish for his No. 52 Halmar Racing team. The Canadian finished second for his eighth top-five finish of the year. It was a wild day for Friesen, however, as NASCAR confiscated his primary truck for a firewall issue which could have been a potential competitive advantage. Friesen would have to start last, but it didn’t take him long to get up front and contend for the win. He finished sixth in Stage 2. And as others were running out of gas, Friesen ran out of time and finished 7.373 seconds behind Ankrum. Friesen matched his second-place finish from Texas earlier this season.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Third
2. Ross Chastain – While many other drivers had trouble, Chastain did not, despite racing in an unsponsored truck. He qualified fifth and finished fifth, and second in both stages, respectively. Chastain didn’t lead any laps but by finishing inside the top-10 for both stages, he earned a playoff spot and is now in the top-20 in the point standings. Things continue to look up for the Floridian, as he continues to chase the Truck Series championship. Hopefully, it’s the only time Chastain is an unsponsored truck.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Second
3. Harrison Burton – Burton got himself another top-five finish for the 2019 Truck Series season. The No. 18 Safelite driver qualified sixth and stayed there for most of the night. Burton finished sixth in Stage 1 but found trouble in Stage 2 as he went sideways after a restart and received minor damage. Due to the incident and being off strategy from everyone else, Burton would only finish 16th in the second stage. He made the most of it, however, and climbed up to fourth as the final stage began. At the end of the night, the 18-year old wound up third for his sixth top five of the season. Unfortunately, despite earning a third-place finish, Burton is in danger of missing the playoffs as he sits ninth in the standings with only three races left until the playoffs began.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Fourth
4. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt came oh so close to taking home his second consecutive win of the season Thursday night in Kentucky. But the No. 24 GMS Racing driver pushed his truck too far, as he fell a lap and a half short of victory when his truck ran out of gas. Before then, it wasn’t until lap 110 when Moffitt took the lead. In his first stint, he would only lead 11 laps before taking the lead again on Lap 125. From there, the Grimes, Iowa native led for 24 laps until running out of fuel. Moffitt finished a disappointing seventh after leading a combined 35 laps. For his efforts, he finished seventh in Stage 1. Moffitt leads the playoff points standings.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – First
5. Austin Wayne Self – A driver who benefited from other drivers running out of gas late was Texan, Austin Wayne Self, who finished sixth. Surprisingly, it was his first top-10 finish since the season opener at Daytona. Self also finished eighth in the second stage. It was a great outing for his family owned No. 22 team.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
  
  Unranked
  
  1. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger had a great day going, qualifying on the pole, his second of the year. The Alabama native finished second in Stage 1, but bad luck hit in Stage 2 when Enfinger got loose in Turn 4 and went up the track and taking Brandon Jones with him, smacking the wall hard. Enfinger’s night would be cut short early on Lap 66 after leading 22 laps.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
  
  Honorable Mention
  
  1. Spencer Davis – In just his third Truck Series start of the season, Davis finished eighth after starting 21st. The Georgia native even finished fifth in the second stage. It was his first top-10 finish since Texas of 2018.
  
  2. Tyler Hill – Hill is making the most out of his first Truck Series season. It was his third start of 2019 with a still new team. Hill, the brother of Timmy Hill, finished 11th, one spot outside the top-10. It’s the best finish that the No. 56 Truck has seen so far in its short career.
July 16, 2019
Ross Chastain clinches playoff spot with third place finish

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

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

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

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

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

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

July 12, 2019

Ross Chastain captures first win for Kaulig Racing at Daytona

Ross Chastain won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Circle K Firecracker 250 Friday night at Daytona International Speedway, earning Kaulig Racing their first NASCAR victory.

Chastain’s teammates Justin Haley and AJ Allmendinger followed his lead in what appeared to be a 1-2-3 finish for Kaulig Racing. However, Allmendinger’s car failed the post-race inspection and, as a result, he was officially scored in last place.

Wayne Auton, Xfinity Series managing director, explained the inspection process, saying, “Post-race teardown at all of our races we check a vacuum test on the cars and the engine would not hold a vacuum. So looking at parts on the car we found a discrepancy in one area of the car.”

Allmendinger’s disqualification moved Christopher Bell up to third, with Austin Cindric in fourth place as Stephen Leicht rounded out the top five. Brandon Brown, Jeff Green, Gray Gaulding, Jeremy Clements, and Matt Mills rounded out the top 10 finishers.

It was a hard-fought victory for Chastain in a tumultuous race that included five multi-car wrecks. He was competitive from the start, winning Stage 1 and finishing third in Stage 2. After the final caution of the night, he took the lead on Lap 93, passing Tyler Reddick, and holding off his teammates to claim the checkered flag.

As Chastain climbed from his car and faced the cheering fans, he told NBCSN, “Oh my gosh, we did it! I sat here as a kid. I watched these races as a kid every Fourth of July, never could come in the spring because we were growing watermelons. These guys right here gave me a race car that, oh my gosh, could win a race at Daytona!”

He celebrated by taking a watermelon to the start-finish line and smashing it on the pavement, a nod to his family, watermelon growers in Florida.

More importantly, the win was also a testament to Chastain’s determination. He lost his Xfinity Series ride with Chip Ganassi Racing when sponsorship issues arose after the end of the 2018 season. Although he declared to run for Xfinity Series points at the beginning of the year, he decided to switch mid-season to make a run for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship instead. Things did not go as planned when his win at Iowa was disqualified after he failed post race inspection. But Chastain persevered and won the following race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

And now, he’s in victory again.

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

Xfinity Series Race Number 16
Race Results for the 18th Annual Circle K Firecracker 250 at Daytona Powered by Coca – Cola – Friday, July 5, 2019
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL – 2.5 – Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 100 Laps – 250. Miles

Fin	Str	No	Driver	Team	Laps	S1Pos	S2Pos	S3Pos	Pts	Status
1	4	16	Ross Chastain(i)	Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet	100	1	2	0	0	Running
2	7	11	Justin Haley #	LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet	100	0	3	0	43	Running
3	8	20	Christopher Bell	Ruud-Ferguson Toyota	100	8	5	0	43	Running
4	19	22	Austin Cindric	Pirtek Ford	100	0	9	0	35	Running
5	25	1	Stephen Leicht	Flex Glue Chevrolet	100	0	0	0	32	Running
6	33	86	Brandon Brown #	BMSraceteam.com Chevrolet	100	9	0	0	33	Running
7	20	38	Jeff Green	Larry’s Hard Lemonade Chevrolet	100	0	0	0	30	Running
8	5	8	Gray Gaulding	WorldWide Safety Consulting Services Chevrolet	100	0	0	0	29	Running
9	37	51	Jeremy Clements	RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet	100	0	0	0	28	Running
10	28	5	Matt Mills	J.F. Electric Toyota	100	0	0	0	27	Running
11	27	78	Vinnie Miller	Pit Viper Toyota	100	0	0	0	26	Running
12	29	99	Stefan Parsons	Jacob Companies Toyota	100	0	0	0	25	Running
13	36	7	Ray Black II	ISOKERN Fireplaces & Chimneys Chevrolet	100	0	0	0	24	Running
14	35	0	Garrett Smithley	Flex Tape Chevrolet	100	0	0	0	23	Running
15	16	9	Noah Gragson #	Switch Chevrolet	99	4	6	0	34	Running
16	1	2	Tyler Reddick	Gimme Country Chevrolet	99	7	0	0	25	Running
17	12	7	Justin Allgaier	Vannoy Construction Chevrolet	99	6	4	0	32	Running
18	11	18	Riley Herbst(i)	Monster Energy Toyota	98	3	8	0	0	Running
19	22	25	Chris Cockrum	Advanced Communications Group Chevrolet	97	0	0	0	18	Running
20	18	66	Timmy Hill	VSI Racing/Overkill Motorsports Toyota	97	5	0	0	23	Running
21	32	28	Shane Lee	Circuit City Toyota	97	0	0	0	16	Running
22	21	23	John Hunter Nemechek #	Digital Ally Chevrolet	93	0	0	0	15	Accident
23	6	21	Joe Graf Jr.	Eat Sleep Race Chevrolet	92	0	0	0	14	Accident
24	14	39	Ryan Sieg	CMR Roofing Chevrolet	89	2	10	0	23	Accident
25	3	1	Michael Annett	Pilot Flying J Chevrolet	86	0	1	0	22	Accident
26	15	0	Cole Custer	Jacob Companies Ford	86	0	7	0	15	Accident
27	31	42	Chad Finchum	Amana Heating & Air Conditioning Toyota	86	0	0	0	10	Accident
28	26	36	Josh Williams	Sleep Well/Star Tron Chevrolet	86	0	0	0	9	Accident
29	13	90	Caesar Bacarella	Fisher House Foundation/Alpha Prime Chevrolet	86	0	0	0	8	Accident
30	17	19	Brandon Jones	Menards/ORCA Toyota	76	0	0	0	7	Chassis
31	23	93	Scott Lagasse Jr.	Chevrolet	73	0	0	0	6	Accident
32	34	52	David Starr	Starr Mechanical/Tomi Aircraft Chevrolet	72	0	0	0	5	Accident
33	30	15	BJ McLeod	Flex Shot Chevrolet	72	0	0	0	4	Accident
34	9	8	Sheldon Creed(i)	Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet	71	0	0	0	0	Accident
35	10	98	Chase Briscoe #	Ford Performance Ford	44	10	0	0	3	Accident
36	38	13	Joe Nemechek(i)	MBM Motorsports Toyota	39	0	0	0	0	Steering
37	24	4	Landon Cassill	Flex Seal/Contec Chevrolet	12	0	0	0	1	Accident
38	2	10	AJ Allmendinger	Cornerstone Produce Group Chevrolet	100	0	0	0	1	Running

July 6, 2019

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Chicago
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series visited the Windy City this past weekend for race No. 12 of the 2019 season.

For some, it was a great race. Brett Moffitt earned his second win of the 2019 season in an unsponsored truck, while Kyle Busch Motorsports’ drivers placed in the top-10 for the first time in a while.

Other drivers like Anthony Alfredo, Dylan Lupton, Sheldon Creed and Tyler Ankrum all had good runs finishing ninth through 13th, some earned their best career finish.

However, others had their struggles coming out of the Camping World 225, despite being on a hot streak coming into the race.

With that said, here’s a look at this week’s Power Rankings following the 12th race of the season.
1. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt claimed his second win of the season Friday night in Joliet, Illinois. However, it was a newsworthy win for Moffitt and his No. 24 GMS Racing team, as they came in Thursday and unloaded an unsponsored truck. This left some people wondering how Moffitt would do in the race and whether or not, sponsorship problems would affect his performance. Obviously, it didn’t, as Moffitt started third and a had a great truck from the start. The Grimes, Iowa native finished third in both stages. However, it really wasn’t until after Stage 2 when we saw Moffitt out in front leading the way. He took the lead on Lap 74 and led for 46 laps. Despite green flag pit stops late in the going, Moffitt cycled out and regained the lead with 25 to go. From there, he held steady and won the race. This moves Moffitt up into third in points, 53 points behind first. The question remains if GMS Racing will continue to face more sponsorship woes as the season goes on.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Third
2. Ross Chastain – Chastain quietly finished in the seventh position at Chicago Friday night after his popular win at Gateway the week prior. He started midfield, qualifying 16th. The Niece Motorsports driver didn’t place in the top-10 at all in Stage 1 but was able to earn playoff points by finishing eighth in Stage 2. Chastain ran as high as sixth, but never really got any further as he had to settle for a seventh place finish. This would be Chastain’s 11th top-10 finish of the season. He is now 10 points outside the top-20 in order to make the Playoffs, as there are now five races remaining.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Second
3. Stewart Friesen – Another week, another third-place finish for Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing team. He started in the 10th position, then finished eighth and sixth in Stage 1 and 2, respectively. This allowed Friesen to gain two points on championship points leader Grant Enfinger. Friesen is now 52 points back. Friesen ran as high as second in the race and averaged a fifth place showing throughout the event.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
4. Harrison Burton – After a disappointing 16th place at Gateway, Burton and his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports team rebounded to a fourth-place finish this past weekend. He never led a lap, but ran as high as second and finished sixth and fourth in both stages. Burton would remain consistent throughout the night and would finish in the top five for the fifth time this season. He sits sixth in the points standings, 111 points back with five races remaining before the Playoffs begin.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
5. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger had strong outings in both stages, finishing second in Stage 1 and winning the second stage. He led three times for 49 laps until an accident late in the going on Lap 80 took Enfinger out of contention to win. The Alabama native continued to struggle throughout the night, having tires go down. This would, unfortunately, place Enfinger 16th, one lap down. Despite the bad luck, he still remains the points leader over Stewart Friesen by 52.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – First
Unranked:

1. Sheldon Creed -It was a rough outing at Chicago for the No. 2 GMS Racing team. While his teammate Moffitt was celebrating in victory lane, Creed was left with a disappointing 11th place finish. Creed did not finish in the top-10 in either stage, despite qualifying seventh and leading two laps.

Previous Week Ranking- Fourth

Other Notables:

Dylan Lupton returned to the Truck Series in his first outing in 2019. Lupton competed in the No. 5 DGR-Crosley Toyota and wound up 10th for the first top-10 finish of his career. Tyler Dippel earned a 12th place finish. It was his first 12th place finish since Kansas back in May.
July 1, 2019
Ross Chastain gets big win and redemption at Gateway

After a whirlwind of a week, Chastain and his No. 45 Niece Motorsports team found redemption in Madison, Illinois Saturday night with a victory at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

Chastain and his pit crew took a late race gamble by taking gas only with no tires, while everyone else took tires. He was able to cycle back out as the leader, but an unfortunate caution came out with 15 to go. This would set up a late race restart with seven to go. However, Chastain was able to hold everyone off and proved that, in the end, track position mattered most, to earn a big win at Gateway.

“Of course, we thought we could,” Chastain said in his post-race interview with MRN Radio about his chances of winning. “If you don’t come to a racetrack expecting to win with an operation like this and people like this…man, you don’t need to be coming here. This is what racecar drivers live for with opportunities like this, you can’t let them slip away.”

“We’re very fortunate tonight,” he added. “We did not have the fastest truck at times, we executed, Phil (Gould, Crew Chief), (Shannon) Rush and the whole brain trust behind me, Al Niece (Team Owner) he’s not here, ah he missed another one, but look at that splitter. That thing is off the ground tonight.”

In what started as a gloomy and rainy day for the Truck Series, with rain showers being persistent across the St. Louis area, qualifying was once again canceled and set by owner points. The teams, however, were given one practice session to get their trucks ready for the race once the rain cleared away.

It was a caution free race for the most part with barely any incidents.

Stewart Friesen broke away early and Led for 19 laps until championship points leader Grant Enfinger took over the lead on Lap 22 in the first stage and never looked back. Enfinger would go on to win Stages 1 and 2, having a dominant truck early on in the race.

There were a couple of minor incidents, as the No. 0 of Gregory Rayl brushed the wall and the No. 1 of Cody McMahan hit the wall off the backstretch on the final lap of Stage 1.

Friesen somehow received back bumper damage to his truck after the restart for Stage 2. Last week’s winner Brett Moffitt experienced issues with his engine but got it fixed in the long run.

After a couple of quiet stages, the intensity and action picked up for the third and final stage that began with 83 to go. It was where Chastain would first be seen battling up front for the lead along with, Harrison Burton and Enfinger as well.

Chastain really began reeling in the race leader and pole sitter Christian Eckes for the top spot with 45 to go, although, everyone had to stop one more time to make it the rest of the way.

The No. 45 crew placed their bet after a short-lived battle with Burton, pitting with 28 to go Eckes also pitted. Then, Chastain recycled back into the race lead with 20 laps to go hoping for no caution, as the team did not take tires, while everyone else did.

However, an unfortunate caution came with 15 to go for Burton and Sheldon Creed who made contact with each other in Turn 4. This would eventually set up a late race restart with seven to go.

Despite all the circumstances and challenges, Chastain and his fan favorite No. 45 Niece Motorsports team earned a popular victory tonight at the 1.250-mile paved track located near St. Louis, Missouri.

“Yeah, I mean, less tires and less fuel, screaming at me to save fuel while I’m out running away from the leaders,” the Florida native described to MRN Radio. “When it’s your time, it’s your time, everything happens for a reason. If last weekend happened for a reason, I’m okay with it, the good Lord is good I believe and he came through for us tonight. My dad is here, came with my girlfriend, my Aunt and Uncle. We normally don’t have much family here. Got my late model crew chief here, man, we came a long way since those days, loving every minute.”

This is Chastain’s second win of the season, his first since Kansas back in May. He also picks up the winning bonus from The Triple Truck Challenge of $50,000.

Chastain led three times for 21 laps and currently sits 38 points outside the top 20. There were five cautions for 30 laps along with eight leaders among 14 lead changes.

Grant Enfinger still holds the championship points standings over Stewart Friesen by 54 points.

Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series will head north to Chicagoland Speedway on Friday, June 28.

June 23, 2019