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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
Stewart Friesen, so close yet so far away

Stewart Friesen was looking for his first career victory of the season, but he had to settle for another second-place finish.

“The last couple of laps were just mad,” Friesen told MRN Radio. “Just got tight. Got under him (Kyle Busch) there, just got loose underneath of him like these things do. He gave me some room and I originally thought he was right there in the quarter, but he did what he had to do. He races me clean and gave some room, just got loose. After that just got tight. Tight in traffic. Proud of my guys at Halmar.”

“Ah man,” he continued. “This is a tough one. I thought we could have got him (Kyle Busch) if we could have got cleared. Some clean air would have been good. Thanks to Halmar, Chris Larsen for the opportunity to race at this level. Thanks to all my guys at Chevrolet, everyone worked really hard. You know, coming back from an engine change, even noticing there was a problem was major for our race team. So that’s cool, for some good points.

After starting ninth, Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing team had a great run in both stages finishing third in Stage 1, and fifth in Stage 2.

Friesen got to up to second with 32 to go before a caution slowed his battle for the lead. It wouldn’t be long, however, as he would again start battling Busch for the win with 20 to go.

He got close to the back bumper of Busch with less than 10 to go, but time ran out as Friesen wound up 1.26 seconds behind race winner Busch.

Even though Friesen may be down about the finish, he is looking forward to the month of April for other reasons.

“Looking forward to the month of April,” Friesen said to MRN Radio. “Autism Awareness month and we’re going to be doing a special wrap at Dover. We’ll be auctioning off puzzle pieces throughout the month of April to raise money for the Crossroads Center For Children and Autism Awareness. Just the centers that kids who on the spectrum like my son Parker go to and need help with. We’re going to try and raise as much money as we can, and get it to the right schools to get in the pockets and go hire good help, do what they need to do with it. So that’s what we’re going to work on and go run the modifieds to go have some fun.”

It was Friesen’s fourth second place finish of his career.

March 30, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview: Texas-Spring
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads to the Lone Star State this weekend, home to Texas Motor Speedway.

Texas Motor Speedway has played host to the Truck Series since 1997 and has had two races there since 1998.

Since the first race there in 1997, the list of drivers who know what it takes when it comes to winning at Texas, is impressive. It includes names like Kenny Irwin Jr, Tony Raines, Jay Sauter, Jack Sprague, Jeb Burton, Ty Dillon, Brendan Gaughan (who won four in a row), Todd Bodine, Clint Bowyer, Ron Hornaday, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton, Erik Jones, William Byron, Christopher Bell, and Justin Haley just to name a few.

So who wins this time around? Here are five potential contenders that just might take home the trophy on Friday night.
1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter has had quite a bit of success at Texas Motor Speedway. A bit might be an understatement. In 21 starts dating back to his first start in 2005, his first start for Thorsport since 2015, Sauter has five wins here at Texas. Two of those came with ThorSport Racing in 2012, where Sauter swept both races that season. He would have to wait again until 2016 he would revisit victory lane. Since then, he has won back to back from fall of 2017 and spring of 2018. Sauter has four poles, 10 top fives and 16 top 10 finishes with 361 laps led and an average finish of 6.3. He has currently been on a small winless streak dating back to Martinsville last fall, the last time Sauter won, but he is currently adjusting after rejoining his old team. It will only be a matter of time before Sauter visits victory lane again.
2. Kyle Busch – Surprise, surprise! Busch has been on a roll lately in the Truck Series, winning three consecutive races and he does not look to slow down anytime soon. Texas Motor Speedway has been a so-so track for Busch. The last time he competed there was in 2014, where Busch won after leading 80 laps. Overall, he has three wins and four DNFs. He even won the fall 2009 race and the fall 2010 race to sweep the fall races. In total, Busch has led 356 laps and has eight top fives and eight top-10 finishes with an average finish of 10.9. It’s hard to stop someone who is on a roll, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Busch ends up in victory lane again on Friday night.
3. Grant Enfinger – After a quiet day at Martinsville last week and losing the points lead, Enfinger will be hungry and looks to heat things up again this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. He only has four starts here, his first in 2017 where Enfinger finished third, his best finish since then. Despite finishing 12th last fall, he has had great finishes at the 1.5-mile track. In those four starts, Enfinger has two top fives and three top-10s to wind up with an average finish of 6.5. Look for him to be a contender this weekend.
4. Todd Gilliland – It’s easy to say Gilliland should have won here last November where he led 60 laps only to finish a disappointing fourth. In fact, he should have swept both races after finishing sixth last spring after starting second and leading 60 laps. With the pressure to perform well this year, Gilliland could use a much-needed win and he just might break through Friday night.
5. Stewart Friesen – Speaking of first-time race winners, Texas Motor Speedway could be the site of Friesen’s first career win if everything goes as planned. He has momentum after taking the points lead following Martinsville and even sitting on the pole there as well. So far this year, Friesen has two top fives and three top-10 finishes. Last year, he has five top fives and two top-10 finishes at mile and a half tracks with a best finish of second twice. In the summer race, Friesen finished second and eighth in the fall race with 25 laps led combined to raise his average finish to 11.6. Should be breakthrough, this weekend at Texas just might be the place.
To note, Joe Nemechek is back in the No. 8, Bubba Wallace remains in the No. 22 for AM Racing once again, Angela Ruch begins her stint with the No. 44 Niece Motorsports truck, and Anthony Alfredo is back in the No. 54.

On-track action begins on Thursday afternoon for the truckers with two practice sessions. The first one is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. CT and final practice at 5:05 p.m CT, both sessions lasting an hour each with no live coverage.

Qualifying is slated for Friday afternoon at 4:10 p.m CT live on FOX Sports 1.

Race coverage begins at 7:30 p.m CT with the Vankor 350 falling shortly after 8:00 p.m. CT for 147 laps live on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio.
March 28, 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
Stewart Friesen and Ross Chastain have solid day at Martinsville

After starting on the pole and not yet winning a race, Friesen was looking for his first career win today at Martinsville Speedway.

He remained steady by finishing second in Stage 1 but dropped a few spots, finishing fourth in Stage 2. Friesen led twice for 18 laps, however, it was a quiet day for the No. 52 Halmar Racing Team as they wound up fifth for Stewart’s second top five of the season and the 13th of his career.

He also bettered his Martinsville finish from one year ago, where Friesen finished 20th that day after starting fifth. It was also his best Martinsville finish of his career this far.

“Yeah, that’s cool,” Friesen told MRN Radio. “I like to go win races though. It’s a tough pill to swallow when you go points racing for stage points and aren’t doing what the fast guys are doing getting track position. We battled back with the 24 (Brett Moffitt). The 24 dropped a blade on me a couple of times and I was a little timid, and knocked some guys out of the way. At the end, I was just trying to salvage a decent finish there because it was getting pretty wild.”

For Ross Chastain, the same story could be said, but just a higher finish than Friesen. At some points, it looked like he could win but late race cautions and Busch having the better truck ultimately cost him. Still, Chastain has been on a roll this season finishing third at Daytona, sixth at Atlanta, 10th at Las Vegas, and following it up today with a fourth-place finish at Martinsville. It’s his best ever finish and the second top five of the young 2019 season.

“I would say it’s a huge step for us (Niece Motorsports),” Chastain told MRN Radio. “It’s nice to be aggravated with fourth. Everyone didn’t tell me to come run this truck (No. 45) this year and I saw a lot of potential with Al Niece (Team Wwner), Cody Efaw (General Manager), and the whole TruNorth team. I’m glad I did and stuck with my gut.”

“Probably went too hard there to get that stage win and that was a big deal, and was wanting to get that,” Chastain continued to tell MRN Radio. “I just ran out of turn there at the end. I just got too tight. Definitely a lot to build on for sure and a clean race truck. We got a brand new race truck to bring to Texas next week and honestly, I’ve been looking more to Texas than here. So it’s a good sign of things to come.”

Chastain finished fifth in Stage 1 and won Stage 2, ultimately finishing fourth after leading twice for 53 laps.

March 23, 2019
Stewart Friesen and Harrison Burton earn top-five finishes at Las Vegas

Stewart Friesen and Harrison Burton claimed top-five finishes in Friday night’s NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Strat 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After a decent qualifying run of seventh, Friesen was looking for his first win Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway especially after having so many strong runs last year only to come short.

Friesen was quiet in Stage 1 as he finished in the seventh position, but when Stage 2 began Friesen made some noise.

He took the lead on Lap 39 from Kyle Busch and led until Lap 54 for 16 laps. Friesen held Busch up the best he could, but it wasn’t enough as Busch took the lead away and Friesen finished second in Stage 2.

He restarted fourth for Stage 3 and had a battle with Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton, and Brett Moffitt for second. Friesen made his pit stop with 25 to go, but it was too much ground to make up and finished fourth for the 12th top-five of his career.

“We just got mixed up on tires, mixed-match sets there after the 04 (Cory Roper) drive on the side of us,” Friesen told MRN Radio. “Gotta be aggressive, but too aggressive on the start. Probably should have given him more room, but solid run for us tonight. We’ll take it. We raced with the best of the best there for a while.”

“So it was pretty cool, but just lost a little bit of handling at the end of the night,” the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing driver explained to MRN Radio. “Just happy to be here.”

Friesen will be looking to carrying this momentum to Martinsville, where he may collect his first win of his career.

Harrison Burton, driver of the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra made his first Las Vegas start tonight at the 1.5-mile speedway. Needless to say it was a great night for the No. 18 team, after who finishing fifth.

“We were a little bit too tight, center off and both ends of the corner,” Burton told MRN Radio. “(Turns) 3 and 4 were a little worse, then 1 and 2. I’m still learning, some of its me and I’m still trying to get myself better as well. So, came out here with a good night and a good finish, so had some good stage points all the way through I feel like.”

“So, we will build on that and have a good night, move on and work on our truck for Martinsville.”

Burton finished fourth and sixth in both stages, respectively.

March 2, 2019
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Phoenix

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited the newly reconfigured ISM Raceway, formerly known as Phoenix International Raceway. It was the final race in the Round of 6 in order to set the stage for the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Southern Florida.

The race saw some familiar faces up front and it was interesting throughout the race, where drivers who were in a must-win situation were actually leading the race but fell short in the end.

Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings from ISM Raceway.

1. Brett Moffitt – After having a couple of weeks of strong finishes, Moffitt and the No. 16 team returned to victory lane this past weekend. He won Stage 1, led 16 laps and finished second in Stage 2. With a late race caution, Moffitt found himself in contention for the win. He made a pass for the lead after the restart and held on to win the final three laps for his fifth victory of the season. It was Moffitt’s first since his thrilling victory at Michigan in the summer. It’s been a dream season for Hattori Racing and Moffitt, who are now locked into the championship race.

Previous Week Ranking: 2nd

2. Noah Gragson – From a somewhat dismal finish last week at Texas, Gragson rebounded and followed it up with a dominant performance at ISM, but fell one spot short of winning. He sat on the pole and led the first 32 laps. Gragson overslid his pit stop during a caution early and lost several spots. In Stage 1, he finished second with an eighth-place finish in Stage 2. It took him a little while to get back up front, but Gragson was the leader again on Lap 136. He had to fend off a hard charging Grant Enfinger who was also fighting for a spot in the championship. At one point, Gragson was out of the championship race, but came back and finished second ahead of Enfinger. It will be his first championship appearance.

Previous Week Ranking: Fell Out

3. Stewart Friesen – It was a quiet night for the No. 52 Halmar Racing driver who finished fifth. Friesen finished third in both stages and earned his eighth top ten of the season. Furthermore, he expressed his displeasure with the zones on pit road and NASCAR.

Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked

4. Grant Enfinger – An A for effort for Enfinger. He came into the night in a must must-win situation and he almost pulled it off. After qualifying 12th, Enfinger finished sixth in Stage 2. At times he had a better truck than Gragson as he led twice for 10 laps. With a late race restart, Enfinger found himself in contention for the win. He had the lead for a split second, but Moffitt and Gragson got around him, while Enfinger ultimately finished fourth. It wasn’t enough for the No. 98 Thorsport team as he fell short of advancing to the championship race. Nonetheless, a strong finish and year for Enfinger.

Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked

5. Harrison Burton – Burton qualified third and finished third, making his seventh start of the season this past weekend at ISM Raceway. He topped the speed charts for both practices and it showed during the race. Burton took the lead on Lap 49 and led for 94 laps. Burton finished fourth in Stage 1 and won Stage 2, ending the race in third place.

Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked

Fell Out

1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter started 14th and finished seventh after finishing eighth in Stage 1. It was another dismal finish and week for the No. 21 team who were strong a couple of weeks ago.

2. Myatt Snider – Snider has had decent showings a couple of weeks in a row, but he was off this weekend. No top-10 stage finish and he wound up 22nd, three laps down. It was a forgettable week for the No. 13 team.

3. Todd Gilliland – Like Snider, no top-10 stage finish for Gilliland and he was caught up in an accident early on Lap 28, and could never rebound. Ultimately, Gilliland finished 17th.

4. Justin Haley – Haley finished sixth and fourth in both stages, but an oil leak prevented him from having a strong finish. He finished 28th after starting in second place.

November 12, 2018
Gragson Starting Out Front in Lucas Oil 150

Noah Gragson claimed his sixth pole of 2018 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and will start in front for tonight’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway.

Being only 18 points above the cutoff line for the final round of the 2018 Playoffs, Gragson was determined to take the best step forward, setting a pace of 26.456 seconds at 136.075 mph.

“I’m going full offense mode,” Gragson said earlier today before qualifying. “I’m going to Phoenix to win the race. We ran really good there last year with Marcus Richmond and the team at Kyle Busch Motorsports. Myself and Christopher Bell, two teammates, we led I think all but 10 laps of that race, so I feel really confident in the way that I’ll be able to work with my Toyota Tundra out in Phoenix. It’s going to be a really good race track for my team and I feel really comfortable about it.”

Gragson beat Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, Stewart Friesen and Brett Moffitt, rounding out the top five.

While Gragson has started strong and raced well at Phoenix, he hasn’t finished better than 15th. Last year, a late-race crash with Justin Haley prevented him from getting a potential victory in the series. He has one DNF at the raceway, and during the 2018 Playoffs has only finished a best of seventh.

When asked about the new layout, Gragson gave his thoughts on moving the start-finish line.

“I guess it is kind of the same track with a different configuration — with the start-finish line. I don’t know if you’re going to be able to change your lap time — in theory, you shouldn’t. Coming off the corner you might be able to change it up a little in the old turn one –new turns three and four. It’ll be a little bit different — that’s for sure. Restarts are going to be sketchy — that’s for sure, but I feel like if we can stay up front in my Safelite AutoGlass Tundra it’ll be no problem. Just feel really confident going into this weekend and hopefully, we can pick up that win and move on to Homestead. Then it’s all hammer down from there.”

The rest of the Playoff contenders will start in the top 15 positions: Matt Crafton (ninth), Grant Enfinger (12th) and Johnny Sauter (14th). The green flag will wave at 8:40 ET later this evening.

November 9, 2018
Victory Eludes Stewart Friesen Once More

Stewart Friesen and the No. 52 team of Halmar Racing are still searching for their first win. Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway looked promising until a late pit stop resulted in a penalty.

Friesen started the race in third after a strong qualifying effort and ran in the top 10 for most of the stages, staying out of trouble. Then, with 40 to go, he passed Todd Gilliland for the race lead. Just a few laps later, both went in to pit with 33 to go but misfortune came for Friesen as he was penalized for speeding during that final pit stop.

He could never catch the break he wanted in hopes of a caution but ultimately finished eighth after leading 12 laps.

“Just blew the green flag stop, Friesen told MRN Radio. “Got in there and wheel hopped, I don’t know, there was a little confusion on when we were actually going to pit. They called me into the pits in Turn 3 outside of a guy and I screwed up. I should have just made another lap and came in to take my time. It is what it is, just thanks to Halmar and Chris Larsen, everybody. They work so hard and bust their ass. They deserve to win more than I did.”

This was Friesen’s 14th top 10 of the year.

November 3, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview- Texas II

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues their Round of 6 playoff run in the Lone Star State in Fort Worth, Texas for the annual running of the Jags Metals 350. Three spots are still up for grabs in the Championship 4 and five drivers have just two more chances. There is a great chance of another driver locking himself into the Championship 4 race at Homestead Miami.

Here’s a look at who could punch their way into victory lane Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway.

Currently, there are 35 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list. There are also some familiar faces in different rides.

These include Reed Sorenson in the 49, Baley Currey in the 83, Bo LeMastus in the 54, Parker Kligerman in the 35, Timmy Hill in the 87, David Gilliland in the 17, Corey Roper in the 04, Mike Harmon in the 15, Reid Wilson in the 7, Codie Rohrbaugh in the 9, Tyler Young in the 12, Camden Murphy in the 0, and Ross Chastain in the 38.

1. Johnny Sauter – It’s hard to beat a man who is just on a roll this year in the Truck Series. That person just happens to be six-time winner and 2016 champion, Johnny Sauter. In the last five fall races, he has won twice, finished 13th in 2015, 16th in 2014, and second in 2013. The 2016 race saw him advance to the Championship 4, and he ultimately won the championship that year. Last fall Sauter finished second and ninth respectively and led 21 laps. He finished fifth here in the spring race. Sauter has won at Texas overall five times giving him 20 starts, 10 top five and 16 top 10 finishes, with 360 laps led, an average start of 8.0 and an average finish of 6.0. He’ll be tough to beat as he a man on a mission looking to collect his second championship.

2. Matt Crafton – It’s hard to believe that the two-time champ does not have a win this year and he could go winless. However, much more is on the line than just a win – a spot in the Championship 4. Crafton is currently 10 points below the cutline, but this weekend could be the site for his first win of the season. He has a best finish of second that came in the fall of 2016. In the previous fall race, Crafton finished ninth after finishing sixth and eighth, respectively, in both stages. Overall, he has 35 starts with two wins, 429 laps led, 14 top fives and 24 top 10 finishes, giving him three DNF’s and an average start of 12.5 with an average finish of 9.1. In the spring race, Crafton finished fifth after placing second and 10th in both stages. This weekend could be the site where Crafton once again locks himself into the Championship 4 at Homestead and looks to be a three-time champion.

3. Stewart Friesen – Friesen only has one start in the fall race which came last year where he finished 14th. In the spring race, Friesen finished third after winning Stage 1 and finishing second in Stage 2 but came up short of winning. Overall in his career, he has just three starts with 13 laps led, one top five and one top 10 finish, giving him an average start of 11.7 and an average finish of 12.7. He might be out of the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean it stops Friesen from winning. Look for Friesen to be a strong contender Friday night.

4. Grant Enfinger – Like Crafton, Enfinger is on the bubble with just two points to the good. He’ll need two more good runs if he wants a shot at the championship. He has three overall starts with eight laps led, two top fives and three top 10 finishes. This gives Enfinger an average start of 10.7 and an average finish of 4.7. He has just one fall start that came last year where he finished seventh and led one lap. In the spring race, Enfinger finished fourth after he won Stage 2.

5. Justin Haley – Haley could be the next GMS truck driver that makes the Championship 4. He has three overall starts that gave him 28 laps led, two top fives and three top 10 finishes. This gives Haley an average start of 7.0 and an average finish of 4.7. He won the pole last fall and wound up fifth. The spring race saw Haley third on the scoring pylon.

Other notables and stats – Johnny Sauter has won five times at Texas. If he wins this weekend, Sauter will tie Todd Bodine who has six wins at the 1.5-mile track in Fort Worth. Brendan Gaughan is the only one to have won four in a row. Ron Hornaday is a three-time winner.

Since 1997, the Truck Series has competed at Texas Motor Speedway 41 times with just 19 fall races. Jay Sauter won the first fall race in October 1999. Five drivers have won from the pole with the last time in 2007 by Todd Bodine. The lowest a race winner has come from to win was 22nd in 2004, also set by Bodine.

The truckers get on track Thursday afternoon with the first practice slated for 4:05 p.m. ET and the final practice scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET. Qualifying takes place Friday afternoon at 4:10 p.m. ET and will be televised on Fox Sports 2.

The JAGS Metal 350 race coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio with stages of 35/70/147 laps.

November 1, 2018