Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Ross Chastain

Ross Chastain And Niece Motorsports Lose Appeal

On Sunday what would have appeared to be a big win for Chastain and the No. 44 Niece Motorsports team, who won every stage and led a dominating 141 of the scheduled 200 laps, Chastain’s truck was found too low following post-race inspection, thus his win was taken away along with the $50,000 courtesy of The Triple Truck Challenge.

After the decision was made by NASCAR officials, Chastain and his team had until noon eastern to appeal the penalty. Thus, Niece Motorsports chose to appeal the penalty.

Al Niece stated this on Sunday following the post race failure inspection.

“Our Niece Motorsports team works hard to ensure that our race trucks are within the confines of NASCAR’s rules,” Niece said. “Both of our Chevrolets passed opening and pre-race inspections. We believe that the No. 44 Truck sustained minor damage during the event, which left the truck too low following the race. We will appeal NASCAR’s decision. Regardless of the outcome, this team will be prepared to go to Gateway and win again.”

With that said, the penalty appeal hearing was held on Wednesday morning and a decision was made early afternoon. Despite all efforts by Chastain and Al Niece, they lost the appeal, therefore will not be able to get the win back and will receive a last-place finish along with five points.

“Although our team disagrees with the decision, we have exhausted our options for recourse and must move on,” Al Niece (Team Owner) added following the appeal hearing. “Our sights will remain set on the obstacle in front of us which is making the playoffs. I firmly believe that Ross and this Niece Motorsports team are capable of rising to the challenge, no matter what gets in our way.”

Cody Efaw, General Manager of Niece Motorsports also added to the statement.

“I’m proud to work with every single member of this Niece Motorsports team,” Efaw said. “This team is all heart- we aren’t going to let anyone or anything get in our way. We have one goal. We’re incredibly thankful to our owner who continues to believe in us and invest in this team. We are looking forward to Gateway.”

Chastain also chimed in on the statement and gave his side.

“It’s actually very simple- Sunday is in the past,” Chastain added. “I’m focused on getting to Gateway and putting this Niece Motorsports Truck in Victory Lane for the third time this year.”

Up until the post race failure at Iowa this past Sunday, Chastain and his No. 44 Niece Motorsports team had finished inside the top-10 in every race dating back to the season opener at Daytona.

June 19, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview- Iowa
Continuing their exciting run through the summer stretch and the run to the Playoffs, the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series stays in the Midwest as they head to Iowa Speedway for a rare Saturday night race.

Currently, there are 33 drivers on the preliminary entry list. There were 34 but the No. 32 of Daniel Sasnett for Reaume Racing withdrew from the event.

Iowa Speedway located in Newton, Iowa, is still relatively new to the Truck Series. The series first came to the track in 2009 and has hosted 12 races since then.

The speedway will host the second round of The Triple Truck Challenge. Greg Biffle won last weekend earning himself $50,000. However, despite a valiant effort, Biffle will not be competing this weekend to continue his run toward the money as he missed the entry deadline date. Also, Kyle Busch Motorsports already has four trucks entered and it would be tough to add a fifth truck to the field.

With that said, here are five drivers to keep an eye on in Saturday’s M&M’s 200.
1. Matt Crafton – After having a strong run in last week’s race at Texas, finishing second to Biffle, Crafton looks to carry that momentum forward in hopes of finally snapping his two-year winless streak dating back to Eldora of 2017. Iowa could be the place to do it. The No. 88 driver has 12 starts at the Newton facility earning one win in 2011. Other career stats include five top fives and 10 top-10 finishes, 109 laps led, two DNFs and 96.6% laps completed. Up until the 2017 race, Crafton finished inside the top-10 in every race. The last two years, however, he’s had disappointing finishes, crashing out in two consecutive races that left him with finishes of 19th and 26th. Before wrecking out last year, Crafton finished second in Stage 1 and 10th in Stage 2. Keep an eye on the No. 88 ThorSport Racing team as they’ll try to break that winless drought.
2. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt has a perfect track record of a 100% success rate, but that’s because he only has one start at the .875 mile racetrack in Iowa. His win came last year in exciting fashion. In a last-ditch effort by now Xfinity Series driver Noah Gragson, made a dive bomb move in Turns 3 and 4 in hopes of making a last lap pass on Moffitt. Gragson’s effort failed as he would take the lead for a split second, but he wound up hitting the wall and Moffitt went by him with a margin of victory by .333 seconds. This year, however, has been a bit of a challenge for the 2018 Truck Series champion who drives the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet. He still has no wins but has four top fives and five top-10 finishes with one pole. Iowa could be the place where a winning streak could start up again. After all, it is his hometown racetrack as Moffitt is from Grimes, Iowa, just 48 minutes east of the track.
3. Stewart Friesen – Friesen, driver of the No. 52 for Halmar Racing, is hoping to get the monkey off his back, especially after crashing last week. He has one start which came last year with a ninth-place finish after leading 48 laps. Friesen finished fourth in Stage 1 and won Stage 2. Friesen is looking to finally get that win that has eluded him for so long.
4. Johnny Sauter – When looking at statistics, race fans may be surprised when they see Sauter does not have any wins at Iowa. Like Crafton, he has made every start since the track held its first Truck Series race back in 2009. Over the 12 races at Iowa, Sauter has eight top fives and nine top-10 finishes with 110 laps led and an average finish of 7.2. In the last two races, he has finishes of fifth and second. His best finish with ThorSport racing is second back in 2010, nine years ago. It will be interesting to see if Sauter and the No. 13 team can finally get a win and cross Iowa Speedway off the win checklist.
5. Ross Chastain – Chastain continues his fight to make the Playoffs this week at Iowa. He has five starts with only one top-five finish back in 2013 driving for Brad Keselowski after starting on the pole and leading 116 laps. His other finishes include a finish of 16th in 2012, 11th in the fall race of 2012 and 13th in 2013 before he finished second later in the year and 30th last year. But, Chastain is with Niece Motorsports and has finished inside the top-10 in every Truck Series race this season including a win at Kansas last month. Chastain’s playoff run will be an interesting story to watch throughout the summer.
There are some different names on the entry list this week. Juan Manuel Gonzalez returns to Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing to drive the No. 10. Gonzalez has no Truck starts as he attempted the Martinsville race with the same team but failed to qualify. Raphael Lessard also returns to the series to pilot the No. 17 DGR-Crosley Toyota. C.J. McLaughlin will be in the No. 33 for Reaume Racing and Mason Massey will attempt to make his first NASCAR debut. Chad Finley is back racing for his family-owned team in the No. 42. Future upcoming star Chandler Smith will be making his NASCAR debut for Kyle Busch Motorsports driving the famed No. 51. Tyler Hill returns in the No. 56 for Hill Motorsports. Lou Goss will try to make his first NASCAR attempt in the No. 74 and team owner Josh Reaume will pilot the No. 87 Nemco Motorsports Chevrolet.

With the Truck Series having a span of 12 races at Iowa dating back to 2009, the winner’s list includes Mike Skinner, Austin Dillon, Matt Crafton, Timothy Peters, Ryan Blaney, James Buescher, Erik Jones, William Byron, John Hunter Nemechek and Brett Moffit.

Qualifying is important at Iowa with most of the winners coming from the top 10 starting positions. Only two winners have started outside the top 10, Matt Crafton who started 11th in 2011, and Moffitt who started 16th in last year’s race.

Only two drivers have won twice at the track. Timothy Peters did it in 2012 and 2013. Erik Jones is the only driver that has won two consecutive races, in 2014 and 2015.

The race winner has come from the pole four times, in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015.

The Truck Series will hit the track Saturday morning for the first practice at 9:30 a.m. ET. The final practice is set for 11:30 a.m. ET. Qualifying is slated for 5:35 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 2.

The M&M’s 200 race is scheduled to start shortly after 8:30 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. It will consist of three stages that will be broken into 60/120/200 laps to make up the 175-mile race distance.
June 13, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- Texas II
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series visited Texas Motor Speedway this past weekend for race number nine of the 2019 season. It also marked the beginning of The Triple Truck Challenge, where racers can win $50,000 over the next three races should they win. Win all three and they have a shot to win half a million dollars.

Regarding The Triple Truck Challenge, it started off with a bang last Friday night when former series champion Greg Biffle returned to the field and won the race. It was Biffle’s first win in the Truck Series since Phoenix of 2001 and his first Truck Series win at Texas since 2000. It was a popular win across the NASCAR world Friday night and created a social media buzz. Marcos Lemonis (CEO of Camping World and Gander Outdoors) even weighed in on social media as well.

The win was so popular that fans and people inside the NASCAR industry wanted to see Biffle back in the truck again for the upcoming race at Iowa Speedway. Unfortunately, the Washington State native will be ineligible to compete as he did not submit an entry blank in time before the deadline hit last week.

Kyle Busch Motorsports already has four trucks entered in the race at Iowa, so it would have been hard for them to include a fifth entry for Biffle. However, Biffle is eligible to compete at the conclusion of The Triple Truck Challenge at Gateway, should KBM decide to offer Biffle a ride.

While Biffle’s win was popular throughout the NASCAR garage, there were some familiar faces found inside the top five at the end of the night, including driver Tyler Ankrum who had his best career finish in his young career thus far.

Without further ado, here is a look at this week’s power rankings.
1. Matt Crafton – The two-time Truck Series champion came out of nowhere at the end of the race, lining up at the front on a late race restart with 10 to go. Crafton had a solid qualifying effort of 10th earlier that day. However, it was probably not what he was looking for after starting on the pole for two consecutive weeks in a row. He finished fifth and eighth, in the first two stages. The No. 88 Menards ThorSport driver also managed to miss all the chaos that happened around him during the race, which allowed him to have a shot at snapping his long winless streak that dates back two years. Crafton tried all he could to catch Greg Biffle for the late race charge but had to settle for another second-place finish. It was his sixth top five this season and he now sits third in the points standings, 41 points behind his teammate Grant Enfinger.
  
  Previous Week Ranking: 2nd
2. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger is back in the power rankings this week. He had a solid outing at Texas, finishing in the fourth position and earning his fifth top-five finish of the 2019 season. He started third and stayed there for most of the night, finishing third in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. What hurt the No. 98 team the most was when there was an incident late in the going when a truck spun off Turn 4. Enfinger noted in his post-race interview that he saw the yellow flag start to come out, but then it was put back away after he had slowed. This allowed a few more drivers go on by him, which kept him from having a more solid finish. Regardless, it was still a good points night as Enfinger still leads the Truck Series points standings over Stewart Friesen by 37 points.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked
3. Harrison Burton – While his teammate Todd Gilliland had a rough night, crashing out and finishing 27th, Burton placed fifth, rounding out the top five finishers. Burton started 11th, finished 10th in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2. It was his third top five of the season and tied his fifth-place finish earlier this season at Las Vegas.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked
4. Ross Chastain – Chastain was in the news again this week, but in a big way, as the Niece Motorsports driver elected to receive points in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series. It was big midweek news after having early season success with the team, finishing inside the top-10 in all the races and earning a big win at Kansas. However, per NASCAR rules, the win at Kansas does not count toward Chastain’s run for the championship and he had to start all over at Texas this past weekend. Niece already had three trucks in the field with Angela Ruch piloting the No. 44, Kyle Benjamin in a return to the Truck Series in the No. 45, and T.J. Bell in the No. 38. Niece was able to work a deal out with Chastain to place him in the No. 38 to compete at Texas. Chastain qualified 15th, certainly not the best qualifying effort, but he finished 10th, earning another top-10 in the 2019 Truck Series season. The Niece Motorsports driver finished fourth in Stage 1 and seventh in Stage 2. Chastain currently is nowhere to be seen in the top 20 points standings, so he will have a lot of ground to make up with just eight races remaining.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- 4th
5. Sheldon Creed – Creed matched his best finish of sixth Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway after starting in the seventh position driving the No. 2 GMS Racing Chevy. He finished eighth in Stage 1 and 10th in Stage 2. It was Creed’s best finish since Las Vegas earlier this season in March, where he finished sixth. This earned him his second top-10 finish of the season.
  
  Fell Out
  
  1. Ben Rhodes – When people looked at the final results from Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 400, they were probably left scratching their heads when they didn’t see the ThorSport driver in the top-10 running order. But his finish was a result of a transmission failure late in the going, which took Rhodes out of contention to win the race. The No. 99 Carolina Nut Company team tried to get back to the front but the damage was too severe and Rhodes had to suffer a disappointing 21st place finish after winning Stage 2.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- 1st
  
  2. Todd Gilliland – The hits keep on coming for the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver. Gilliland and Burton received more critical comments from their team owner in a media press conference Friday, where Busch stated, “If you can’t get it done in a KBM truck, might as well go home.” Despite those comments, Gilliland was having a decent race going for him after he started on the pole. He finished seventh in Stage 1 and led 31 laps before a crash on Lap 70 took him out of the race which put him 27th in the final running order. It will be interesting to see how much longer this can happen this season before Busch finally drops the hammer down.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- 1st
June 10, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Charlotte
After taking a trip to the Midwest, the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series team headed home to Charlotte Motor Speedway for their eighth race of the season.

While some drivers consider Charlotte home, Kyle Busch and the No. 51 team found themselves home in victory lane Friday night for his 56th career Truck Series win. It was a remarkable feat winning five races in all five starts this season. The Truck Series regulars remain trying to chase down the all-time winningest driver but fell short once again. However, there is some good news for those series regulars. This was Busch’s last Truck Series race of the season due to NASCAR’s restriction on how many races in which he can compete in the series.

So, how did the other Truck Series regulars stack up? Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings.
1. Ben Rhodes – After coming up short a couple of weeks ago at Kansas, Rhodes and the No. 99 Carolina Nut Company Ford F-150 was looking to carry that momentum over to Charlotte this past Friday night in hopes of a win. He started fifth and pretty much stayed in the top-10 throughout the night, finishing fourth and eighth in both stages respectively. Rhodes would even be up front to contend for the lead but only led a couple of times. However, despite a late race restart, Rhodes and the No. 99 Thorsport team finished fourth for his fourth top five of the season and equaling the fifth-place finish that he earned at Atlanta in February. Rhodes now sits fourth in the standings, 34 points behind teammate Grant Enfinger.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 2nd
2. Matt Crafton – Crafton and the No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 team came to Charlotte with momentum after securing the pole at Kansas and finishing sixth there. He was also hungry and hoping to snap his long winless streak dating back to Eldora in July of 2017. When the team unloaded on Friday they were fast right out of the gate, sitting on the pole for the second consecutive week, the 15th of his illustrious career. However, Crafton was not able to keep the lead as Rhodes, Todd Gilliland and Kyle Busch would go right by him. It wouldn’t be until Lap 30, where we would see the famous No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 back out front, although, he had to pass Todd Gilliland in a thriller off Turn 4 for the stage win. Crafton and the No. 88 ThorSport team stayed consistent throughout the night finishing fourth in the second stage. Ultimately, he still found himself winless as Crafton finished in the fifth position to round out the top five finishers. You’d have to imagine that he is even more hungry for a win as we approach the two year anniversary since of his last win at Eldora.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 5th
3. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland and the No 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports team had a slight setback this week after finishing third at Kansas, but it was still enough to keep them in the power rankings. He started third but lost the first stage win in a thrilling battle with Crafton, then he finished 10th in Stage 2. Still, as much criticism as Gilliland has faced this year, it looks as though things are beginning to turn around little by little for the No. 4 team. However, they will have to get going if they want to be a serious championship contender in the Playoffs, as there are only nine races until the run to the championship starts. Gilliland sits eighth in the points standings, while his teammate Harrison Burton sits one point behind in ninth.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- 4th
4. Ross Chastain – Chastain was still coming off a win high at Kansas when he and the No. 45 Niece Motorsports team rolled into Charlotte Thursday afternoon. It is quite understandable considering that it was the first win for Al Niece and his team who has come a long way since their first truck entry in 2016. It was also a new truck for the team and it showed, as he qualified 13th Friday afternoon. Chastain didn’t take long to get inside the top-10, finishing fifth in Stage 1 and he even placed second in Stage 2 to Kyle Busch. He was hoping for a caution later on in the race, as he was the only one to have one set of fresh tires left. His break finally came with eight to go but it might have been a little too late. The caution came out with eight to go and it, of course, saw Chastain and the No. 45 team pit for those tires with a last chance effort. He would line up in the back on the restart with three to go, but one truck stalled on the start and Chastain was behind him. This slowed and eventually cost him the win or late race rally to finish a disappointing 10th. Chastain extended his streak, however, finishing in the top-10 in all Truck Series starts this year.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 1st
5. Brennan Poole – When fans look at the results for this past weekend’s race, they will notice an unfamiliar driver and team who just broke ground this year in the Truck Series. After missing Kansas due to sponsorship woes, Former Xfinity Series standout Poole and the No. 30 On Point Motorsports team was looking for redemption this past weekend at Charlotte and they almost did just that. They didn’t finish in the top-10 at all for either stage but found themselves restarting second to Kyle Busch with three laps to go. What a story it would have been if Poole and the small underfunded No. 30 team had pulled it off and were able to beat Kyle Busch. However, Poole fell 1.115 seconds short to Busch for his shot at the win. And to make it more impressive, Poole raced with a broken sway bar. That’s a pretty remarkable feat to accomplish especially with a small team. If they can keep this up and get more strong equipment like this, Poole and the No. 30 On Point Motorsports team will quickly become another fan favorite in the Truck Series.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
  
  Fell Out
  
  1. Grant Enfinger- Enfinger had a solid night finishing ninth after starting ninth. He finished third in both stages but it wasn’t enough to stay in the top five. Nonetheless, Enfinger and the No. 98 Champion Power Equipment Ford F-150 team can still hold their head high as they continue to be the points leader over Stewart Friesen by 15 points.
May 20, 2019
Four Takeaways-Gander Outdoors Truck Series- Kansas

The Digital Ally 250 took place this past weekend at Kansas Speedway located in Kansas City, Kansas in a thrilling race that saw a fan favorite win, while others were left disappointed and wanting more.

Here’s a look at this week’s four takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Digital Ally 250.

Niece Motorsports Gets First Team Win – Al Niece, the owner of Niece Motorsports, has been waiting for this moment since he started the team nearly four years ago in 2016 with driver Casey Smith. Smith ran two races for them with a best finish of 22nd that year at Iowa but did qualify at Martinsville.

Since then, they have gone through drivers like Jeffrey Abbey, T.J. Bell, Justin Fontaine, Travis Pastrana, Victor Gonzalez Jr., Austin Wayne Self, Landon Huffman and Max McLaughlin. However, Ross Chastain caught their eye in 2018 and was picked up for three races. Despite a best finish of 12th at Bristol, they finished 26th and 16th at Homestead. Then a new year dawned with new goals and challenges. Chastain faced similar circumstances when he lost his Xfinity Series ride with Chip Ganassi Racing over sponsorship issues. In 2019, Chastain returned to Niece Motorsports with hopes of going to victory lane at some point in the season. The team almost did that at Daytona earning a third-place finish. During the time span before the Kansas victory, Chastain and the No. 45 team finished sixth at Atlanta, 10th at Las Vegas, fourth at Martinsville, seventh at Fort Worth, and 10th at Dover. The team could smell victory after top-10 finishes and having some of their best performances ever since Niece Motorsports started their truck team in 2016. In fact, Chastain felt they had the truck to win at Texas back in March but they fell short.

Then came Kansas, where the team was looking to continue their top-10 streak. The No. 45 Niece Motorsports team qualified sixth and once again, ran up front in the stages. And then the opportunity arose when, with three to go, the race leader ran out of gas. Chastain held off a hard-charging Ben Rhodes for a popular win in the NASCAR community.

Some say, it was Chastain’s biggest win yet and you could tell that it meant so much to him as he excitedly climbed out of his truck, jumping up and down with the crowd cheering him on. Most importantly, lost in all of this, was Al Niece’s first win as a team owner in the Truck Series. The team could be considered an underdog favorite. But Chastain and Niece don’t like the term and want to be considered along with everyone else, to have a shot at the win, week-in and week-out. With this victory, the team will become more of a threat to the field every week. While Chastain can’t compete for the Truck Series championship, the team can focus on the owners’ championship and at the end of the season, the team could very well accomplish just that. Keep an eye on Niece Motorsports, especially the No. 45 team, as they start to come into their own going into the summer months.

Natalie Decker Has Forgettable Night Kansas – The No. 54 DGR-Crosley team was looking to turn their luck around coming into Kansas Speedway after having some miserable finishes to start the season. After granting a little girl her birthday wish on Friday, it might’ve been a good omen for Decker and the No. 54 team. However, their night and bad luck continued as Decker went sliding off Turn 4 into the grass, getting all four wheels off the ground and winding up 25th. Here’s hoping the team can turn their luck around this week at Charlotte.

Austin Hill Quietly Shines In Top Five – Lost in the finishing order was likely Austin Hill and the No. 16 Hattori Racing team. Hill and company flew under the radar finishing fourth after starting seventh. He finished fifth and eighth in both stages and wound up earning his second top five of the 2019 season.

Kyle Busch Motorsports Places Trucks In Top-10 – The Kyle Busch Motorsports team had a great night in the heartland placing all of their trucks in the top-10 running order. Todd Gilliland, who needed a decent finish coming into Kansas, started fifth and finished third. He finished seventh in both stages and was up front late in the race for a shot at the win. Ultimately, Gilliland was happy with the finish he needed. Brandon Jones continued the No. 51 fame finishing fifth, Riley Herbst finished ninth and Harrison Burton was 10th. All in all, the Kyle Busch Motorsports team had a strong night in Kansas.

May 13, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- Kansas
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series headed west this past weekend to the heartland and the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway and as usual, the Truck Series didn’t disappoint.

Some were worried that it was going to be a single file race. But, in the end, a crowd favorite won the race with a late race thriller while others were left disappointed and still searching for a win.

There are some fresh new names that popped up in the power rankings, while some were able to keep their position. Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings.
1. Ross Chastain – Chastain finally broke through this past weekend by winning at Kansas Speedway. Chastain and the Niece Motorsports team had been running and finishing inside the top-10 all season and have been close many times, especially with a third place finish at Daytona to open the season. Some fans since then have considered the Niece Motorsports a fan favorite and quite possibly, an underdog team in NASCAR. They continued week by week to strive toward their goal in hopes of winning in the Truck Series, or NASCAR overall. That moment came Friday night when Chastain passed Stewart Friesen with three laps to go, as Friesen ran out of gas and Chastain went on by. Chastain and the No. 45 team were hoping for no cautions for the rest of the way while Ben Rhodes was trying to chase him down in hopes of redemption from a couple of years ago, but couldn’t do it. In the end, Chastain and team owner Al Niece won their first Truck Series win. Chastain led three times for five laps and finished fourth in both stages. It was his first Truck Series victory in just 66 starts and Chastain’s first top-10 finish at Kansas Speedway. The Niece Motorsports team will look to carry this momentum throughout the rest of the season in hopes of fighting for the owners’ championship in which they currently sit third, 33 points behind Kyle Busch’s No. 51 team.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 5th
2. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes had a strong No. 99 Carolina Nut Co. Ford F-150 on Friday night at Kansas and came oh so close to capturing the Digital Ally 250 checkered flag. Despite looking at practice speeds after practice was over with where Rhodes slated 12th and 14th fastest in both practices, some probably thought, he may not have the truck to win Friday night. Rhodes and the No. 99 Thorsport team proved them wrong where he finished tenth in Stage 2 and found himself with a shot at the win late in the race. Rhodes was chasing down eventual race winner Ross Chastain, but ran out of time and fell .483 seconds short. It was his third top five of the 2019 season.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked
3. Grant Enfinger – After qualifying 13th, Enfinger and the No. 98 Champion Power Equipment Ford F-150 quickly moved up into the top-10 and led 47 laps until a late race incident with 27 to go when he and Brett Moffitt made contact, bringing out the fifth caution of the race. The team was doing well before then by finishing third in both stages but eventually finished seventh. If things had gone their way, they probably could have finished inside the top five or top three. Nonetheless, Enfinger still holds the points lead over Brett Moffitt by 13 points.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 1st
4. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland and the No. 4 KBM team improved on their finish from Dover by finishing third in Friday night’s race at Kansas. He started fifth and remained consistent, running in the top-10 and finishing seventh in both stages. In an exciting late-race battle for the win, Gilliland and company wound up in the top five. It was a much needed top five after finishing 15th at Dover and his first top five of the year.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
5. Matt Crafton – Crafton was looking to snap the long winless streak this past weekend in the heartland, but once again, fell short of doing so, not without effort, however. The No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 driver showed speed in early morning practice sessions on Friday by placing third and fourth fastest, respectively, in both practices. The No. 88 Thorsport team followed that up by qualifying on the pole, Crafton’s 14th of his career and his first at Kansas. Crafton led early but only led eight laps and was not really seen up front after leading early. He finished sixth in both stages to ultimately finish a disappointing sixth after having such a fast truck in practice and qualifying.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 4th
  
  Fell Out
  
  1. Johnny Sauter – A forgettable night for Sauter and the No. 13 ThorSport team who previously won at Dover before heading to Kansas Speedway. Mechanical issues plagued Sauter early on and he was sent to the garage to fix the problem. He could never really rebound and wound up 22nd after starting 12th.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 3rd
  
  2. Brett Moffitt – Much like Sauter, Moffit and the No. 24 GMS team had a disappointing night and were ready to move on to Charlotte after the race ended. The team started well by qualifying fourth earlier in the day. He even finished second in both stages and led three times for four laps. But troubles came late in the race when Moffitt and Enfinger collided with each other off Turn 2 and spun out. Both would escape without major damage, but the incident more than likely ended Moffit’s chance at the win and he had to settle for finishing eighth. The No. 24 GMS team will look to rebound this week at Charlotte.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 2nd
May 13, 2019
Ross Chastain wins in late race thriller at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series visited the Midwest Friday night at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, as usual, it didn’t disappoint.

Ross Chastain passed Stewart Friesen with three laps to go, as Friesen ran out of gas and went on by to score his first career Truck Series win.

“Every win is huge,” Chastain said. “These guys, Al’s (Niece) first Trucks Series win. We each have won a Xfinity Series race, but you can’t rank one above the other. It is so hard to win in NASCAR. I know Kyle Busch has won, winning 200. Like that is incredible, I won two NASCAR races now. I can’t even put it in to words. I know Kyle (Busch) is like, gets up here and he’s mopy and oh well, I only won a Trucks race, but this means so much to all of us. There are so many people in this world that are working toward this goal and I know that, because we went through it. So yeah, I don’t rank one above the other, they all have their place, it only fuels us to win more.”

The Digital Ally 250 saw Matt Crafton on the pole and he led laps early.

The first stage was 40 laps and there were some major incidents. On Lap 23, last week’s Dover winner Johnny Sauter suffered a mechanical issue which saw the truck fall off the pace. He eventually had to take it to the garage for a short while. On Lap 25, Brandon Jones spun out off Turn 4.

After that caution, however, there were no major incidents but some thrilling battles for the lead with Brett Moffitt and Stewart Friesen on Lap 28 with Friesen eventually taking the lead for good on lap 32 and winning the first stage.

Stage 2 began with Moffitt and Sheldon Creed on the front row for the restart. The next caution came out on Lap 52 for Natalie Decker who went sliding coming off Turn 4, getting all four tires off the ground and into the grass. Decker was not injured but her night was done early.

After the incident, there were six laps of racing and Friesen went on to win the second stage.

The fifth caution came out with 24 to go, as Moffitt and Grant Enfinger made contact with each other off the exit of Turn 2. The final incident of the day came with 20 to go for Josh Reaume’s No. 33 Truck, which stalled off the exit of Turn 4.

When the race started to wind down, the battle for the lead started to heat up with Chastain, Austin Hill and Todd Gilliland.

While some were questioning Friesen’s fuel mileage, his crew chief thought they would have enough gas to make it to the finish. But Chastain began to close in and eventually caught him as Friesen ran out of gas with three to go. Chastain went on by and captured the first Truck Series win of his career.

“You always want to win, but you saw Johnny (Sauter) won last week, drove away from Brett (Moffitt) at the end and had perfect handling truck and tonight, I never saw him. I don’t know if something happened to Johnny. Oh did it? I was gonna say, I never saw him. Different trucks come and go each week, and last week we had a terrible week and still finished 10th. I got out of the truck and stretched my back out because it was locking up, and my arms were jello. This week my arms were jello because I was fist bumping so hard. I dented in the roof because I was jumping up and down on it on the frontstretch.”

“Yeah, I mean you just show up each week. This Truck Series is so fun and any racing is fun when you have a team like this, and you show up and have speed. We showed up with this exact race truck in Texas. We walked in that morning of the garage for practice and our chest was out, and we walked out that night our tails were tucked in-between our legs because we were so bad. He (crew chief) was about to cut the dang cross bend out of it, raise it up and cut the frame apart. I wished he (crew chief) would have. You know, it’s like the highest of highs tonight and the lowest of lows in the same truck at Texas, where Al (Niece) had so much invested in that race and we were gonna fifth and we ended up finishing seventh, as the right rear tire ended up going flat at the end, but still a good night saw some promise. Just show up every week, get through practice, try not to have some big moments like I had, you know getting loose and show up and fight.”

Chastain led twice for five laps.

Ben Rhodes, Todd Gilliland, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger, Brett Moffitt, Riley Herbst and Harrison Burton rounded out the top-10.

Enfinger still leads the points standings by 13 points over Brett Moffitt.

There were six cautions for 29 laps with 22 lead changes and a margin of Victory of .483 seconds.

Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads east next weekend to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, May 17.

May 10, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Dover
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series returned to on-track action this past weekend at Dover International Speedway, famously known as the Monster Mile.

While it’s known to reach out and bite drivers, the drivers, for the most part, able to tame it. One, in particular, Johnny Sauter, took the lead with 30 to go and went on to win the JEGS 200. It didn’t come without some controversy, however, as Sauter fought an ignition issue early on but he rebounded nicely for the win.

While it was Sauter’s third consecutive win at Dover, how did everyone else fair? Was Stewart Friesen able to keep the points lead?

Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.
1. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger and the No. 98 Champion Power Equipment team had a good day at Dover, finishing fourth after starting sixth and running inside the top-10 all day. Enfinger even finished fourth in both stages and led three laps. Nonetheless, Enfinger had something to smile about after the race was over, as he took over the points lead by four points over teammate Johnny Sauter. It was Enfinger’s fourth top five of the year thus far.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- 2nd
2. Brett Moffitt – Some say Moffitt should have won this race. The No. 24 team got off to a great start Friday by qualifying on the pole. As the race started, Moffitt completely dominated and won Stage 1 and finished third in Stage 2. He consistently stayed up front, led 81 laps and finished second.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked
3. Johnny Sauter – You could say Sauter got the monkey off his back by winning at one of his favorite racetracks. He showed speed in qualifying by starting on the outside pole. Sauter won Stage 2 but faced an ignition issue afterward. The No. 13 team was able to get it fixed and ultimately Sauter went on to win. Believe it or not, it was his first win of the season. Keep an eye on Sauter and company as they just might start to go on a tear this summer.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
4. Matt Crafton – Crafton and the No. 88 Menards team were able to salvage a top-five finish at Dover this past weekend, but not without a tough start. The two-time champion had to drop to the rear after an engine change before the race. Problems only got worse for Crafton as they started to face plug wire issues. Crafton came back to finish fifth. However, the No. 88 team had seen better days and were looking forward to getting out of Dover. Nice rebound, however, for the veteran driver.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 3rd
5. Ross Chastain – Chastain had an eventful day at the Monster Mile. He didn’t have nearly as strong a truck as in past races this year but still managed a top 10 finish, even after some close calls. There was a moment late in the race, where he almost lost control of his truck which would have brought out a caution. A late race caution helped the team get a decent finish to continue their great run in the 2019 season.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 4th
  
  Fell Out
  
  1. Stewart Friesen – After qualifying fourth and finishing fifth in Stage 2, the No. 52 team was really nowhere to be seen throughout the race. Friesen wound up 12th and lost the points lead to Grant Enfinger, and now sits third in the standings, 11 points behind.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 1st
  
  2. Tyler Ankrum – Ankrum quietly finished ninth at Dover but didn’t make too much noise, as he has had in previous races, such as his sixth-place finish in March at Texas.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 5th
May 8, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas 1
The NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series visited the Midwest this past weekend to Texas Motor Speedway.

It was the fifth race of the 2019 season and from the get-go, the Vankor 350 was a wild event. Turn 2 was the trouble spot for the night with four cautions taking place in that turn.

The action didn’t stop there though. The end of Stage 1 saw Thorsport teammates make a nervous moment for the team owner as Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes battled it out for the stage win.

When the race was winding down, Stewart Friesen found himself chasing down Kyle Busch for his first career win. Friesen was only able to get to Busch’s back bumper, but once he did, Friesen’s truck got tight and went away. Ultimately, a familiar foe played the same song, fourth verse. Fourth verse as Kyle Busch continued his winning dominance in the Truck Series.

While Busch won again for the fourth time this year, Truck Series regulars had to settle for a solid points night and look forward to a win at Dover, where Busch is not competing.

Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings following the Vankor 350 at Texas Motor Speedway.
1. Stewart Friesen – Another second place finish for the No. 52 driver out of Canada. He came close to snapping Kyle Busch’s win streak, but just got tight at the end. Only a slip up on Busch’s part (which is rare on his part) or a late race caution would have given Friesen another chance. As much as he wanted to win, the Canadian still had a solid night and continues to be the Truck Series points leader by six points.
Previous Week Ranking- 3rd

2. Grant Enfinger – A top five finish for the Alabama driver who finished fourth after starting on the pole. The highlight of the night came at the end of Stage 1 narrowly edging Ben Rhodes to win the stage. For Stage 2, he finished seventh. In the end, the No. 98 team wound up fourth after “almost wrecked all three restarts,” Enfinger said coming to the checkers. It was his third top five of the year.

Previous Week Rankings – 5th

3. Matt Crafton – The winless streak continued following Texas for Crafton and the No. 88 Menards team finishing fifth. However, since the Vegas race, it’s all been about consistency for Crafton who has finished inside the top-10 in all races this year, except Atlanta where he finished 14th which he had come down pit road for a loose wheel under caution. Crafton finished 12th and second in both stages, respectively. Ultimately, the No. 88 Thorsport driver finished fifth. He’ll look to Dover, where Crafton won a couple of years ago.

Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked

4. Ross Chastain- While it wasn’t the night Chastain wanted, he still had a great finish and was able to claim another top-10 of the season. It was a relatively quiet night for the Floridian who finished seventh. Chastain finished 13th and fourth in both stages, respectively. He never really contended for the win, but momentum is everything in NASCAR and it’ll carry to Dover.

Previous Week Ranking- 5th

5. Tyler Ankrum- A great run for the No. 17 DGR-CROSLEY driver who finished sixth, despite his teammate Anthony Alfredo’s truck who caught on fire in a scary crash in Turn 2. Alfredo would be okay and have no serious injuries. Ankrum, however, finished seventh and tenth in both stages, respectively. Ankrum tied his best finish of sixth Friday night in his young career. The last time he finished sixth was last November at ISM Raceway.

Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked.

Fell Out
1. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a great night going until, with 20 to go, he had a tire go down and was forced to pit. The No. 24 GMS Racing team finished 19th, four laps down. If you look throughout the race, the results don’t reflect how well Moffitt was running before this unfortunate mishap. He started on the front row in second and finished sixth in both stages. After a forgettable finish, Moffitt will look forward to Dover in May.
Previous Week Ranking- 1st
1. Ben Rhodes – After an eventful ending to Stage 1 where Rhodes finished second to Enfinger and going on to finish third in Stage 2, he really was not seen for the rest of the night. The Carolina Nut Company Ford F-150 ThorSport team wound up in 10th place.
Previous Week Ranking- 4th
April 1, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Power Rankings – Martinsville – Spring
The NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series returned to action from a few weeks hiatus at the famous Martinsville Speedway.

Kyle Busch continued his dominance by winning his third consecutive race in 2019 and is looking for four in a row this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

A few other drivers had a shot at the win, but trying to take down the all-time wins list leader in the Truck Series is not an easy task. In the end, it wasn’t enough for the truckers and they had to settle for a good points day instead, which could make the difference when it comes to the Playoffs later in the year.

Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings.

1.Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a somewhat quiet day at Martinsville, where he finished in the third position. He did rattle a few fenders in trying to make something happen. Track position, however, is what mattered the most in keeping Moffitt from scoring the victory.

“We were able to get them (GMS Racing) a good finish, felt like we had a truck we could’ve gotten to victory lane, but just wasn’t in our cards today,” Moffitt said in a GMS Racing recap. He finished seventh and fifth, respectively in both stages after starting 16th. Moffitt sits third in the points standings.

Previous Week Ranking – 1st

2. Ross Chastain – While Chastain in years past May have been a Cinderella story, he has proven himself to be a contender for the race win if given the right equipment. It’s a shame what happened in the off-season with sponsorship woes and we’ll never know how well he would have fared given a great car that Chastain would have been in this season in the Xfinity Series. However, while racing for the same team as he has been doing the last several years in the Xfinity Series (JD Motorsports), he saw an opportunity with Al Niece of Niece Motorsports to drive the No. 45 Truck, who is quite possibly having their best season as well. From Daytona to Martinsville, Chastain has had finishes of third, sixth, 10th, and fourth, respectively. However, he elected Xfinity points at the beginning of the season, therefore Chastain is not collecting any points. In another aspect, we’ll never know how he would be doing in the Truck Series points either. But sometimes, when things don’t work out, other things work out unexpectedly. Nice showing for Chastain and the No. 45 team who finished fourth and led 53 laps, and finished fifth in Stage 1 while winning Stage 2.

Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked

3. Stewart Friesen – Friesen continued to be a consistent driver week in and week out, but he’s getting somewhat tired of not being able to close the deal just quite yet. The same was said for Saturday, where he started on the pole, led 18 laps, finished second and fourth in both stages, ultimately finishing fifth. Friesen had to begin points racing late in the race. It’s not a matter of if he’ll win, but when he will win. Still another solid showing for the No. 52 Halmar Racing Team who continues to be consistent, but at the end of the day, it’s the wins that matter in this sport.

Previous Week Ranking – 2nd

4. Ben Rhodes – After dominating the race last year, winning both stages and leading 134 laps, Rhodes wound up with a disappointing 12th place finish. This year, he turned that around by finishing second, and though he finished second in Stage 2, Rhodes didn’t quite dominate like he did last year. He still had a solid points day and is now looking forward to Texas Friday night.

Previous Week Ranking – 4th

5. Grant Enfinger – It was a quiet, but solid day for Enfinger and the No. 98 team who finished seventh after starting 19th. He didn’t finish in the top-10 in either stage, but worked hard all day thus earning his third top-10 of the season, Enfinger’s 38th of his career.

Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked

Fell Out
1. Harrison Burton – Not the day Burton and the No. 18 team needed. He finished 11th and was not a factor at all in this race. Though, Burton made the most of his day earning some stage points by finishing sixth in Stage 2.
2. Sheldon Creed – A forgettable day for the No. 2 GMS Racing team. Creed and company finished 17th after starting fourth. He did not finish in the top-10 in either stage.
March 25, 2019