Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Stewart Friesen

  • Noah Gragson Claims Pole for the World of Westgate 200

    Noah Gragson Claims Pole for the World of Westgate 200

    With a dominating time of 30.331 seconds at 178.036 mph, Noah Gragson will start in the top spot for this evening’s World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He was only 0.005 seconds shy of the qualifying record.

    Stewart Friesen will start to his outside in the second position. Grant Enfinger, Chris Eggleston and Riley Herbst rounds out the top five. The other drivers to make the final round of qualifying include Johnny Sauter, Brandon Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Brett Moffit, Todd Gilliland, Tanner Thorson and Justin Haley. All drivers will start in that respective order.

    “We were fast there earlier on in the spring with my Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra,” stated Gragson as he reflected on his race earlier this year. “We restarted the final restart in second place, but the left-rear tire was chorded, so we didn’t get the result that we showed all throughout the race, but we ran in the top three the whole time. It’s another opportunity to chase a checkered flag.”

    Gragson was fastest in the first round of qualifying at his hometrack, with Stewart Friesen and Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Brandon Jones rounding out the top three starting positions. Gragson was fifth fastest in final practice, but only 16th during first practice; however, he set the fastest 10 consecutive lap average over Matt Crafton. All four KBM trucks made the final round of qualifying.

    Two playoff contenders did not make the second round of qualifying. Ben Rhodes was only able to place himself in the 18th starting position in his No. 41 The Carolina Nut Co. Ford. The other was Matt Crafton, who starts 30th with an unusual qualifying run, and puts him in an uphill battle being one of the playoff contenders. Earlier in the day, the No. 88 Ideal Door / Menards Ford was fourth and third fastest in both practices respectively.

    Some trucks were required to qualify on speed, but the unfortunate three that did not make the field included Tate Fogleman, JJ Yeley and Norm Benning.

    Tune into the only September Truck race of 2018 by listening live on radio with MRN (Motor Racing Network) or watch on television with FS1 later this evening at 9:00pm ET.

     

    Time Trial Results
    Las Vegas Motor Speedway
    22nd Annual World of Westgate 200
    Qualifying Round: 2

    Pos Car Driver Team Make
    1 18 Noah Gragson (P) Safelite AutoGlass Toyota
    2 52 Stewart Friesen (P) We Build America Chevrolet
    3 98 Grant Enfinger (P) Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records Ford
    4 54 Chris Eggleston H2O Fire Protection Toyota
    5 46 Riley Herbst Advance Auto Parts Toyota
    6 21 Johnny Sauter (P) Allegiant Chevrolet
    7 51 Brandon Jones(i) Delta Faucet/Menards Toyota
    8 8 John H. Nemechek(i) Berry’s Manufacturing Chevrolet
    9 16 Brett Moffit (P) TZ Toyota
    10 4 Todd Gilliland # JBL/SiriusXM Toyota
    11 20 Tanner Thorson GO Share Chevrolet
    12 24 Justin Haley (P) Fraternal Order Of Eagles Chevrolet

     

    Qualifying Round: 1

    Pos Car Driver Team Make
    1 18 Noah Gragson (P) Safelite AutoGlass Toyota
    2 52 Stewart Friesen (P) We Build America Chevrolet
    3 51 Brandon Jones(i) Delta Faucet/Menards Toyota
    4 54 Chris Eggleston H2O Fire Protection Toyota
    5 8 John Hunter Berry’s Manufacturing Chevrolet
    6 4 Todd Gilliland # JBL/SiriusXM Toyota
    7 46 Riley Herbst Advance Auto Parts Toyota
    8 21 Johnny Sauter (P) Allegiant Chevrolet
    9 98 Grant Enfinger (P) Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records Ford
    10 16 Brett Moffit (P) TZ Toyota
    11 20 Tanner Thorson GO Share Chevrolet
    12 24 Justin Haley (P) Fraternal Order Of Eagles Chevrolet
    13 13 Myatt Snider # Century Container Ford
    14 25 Timothy Peters Kingman Chevrolet
    15 2 Cody Coughlin GOD FALSE
    16 02 Austin Hill Young’s Building Systems/Randco Chevrolet
    17 17 Bo LeMastus # Crosley Brands Toyota
    18 41 Ben Rhodes (P) The Carolina Nut Co. Ford
    19 04 Cory Roper Preferred Industrial Contractors Inc. Ford
    20 7 Korbin Forrister TruClear Toyota
    21 30 Austin Theriault Cross Insurance Toyota
    22 87 Joe Nemechek Harrah’s Chevrolet
    23 38 TJ Bell Niece Equipment Chevrolet
    24 15 Ross Chastain(i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
    25 22 Austin Wayne Self GO TEXAN Chevrolet
    26 97 Jesse Little JJL Motorsports Ford
    27 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Waldo’s Painting Company Chevrolet
    28 OP 83 Bayley Currey Chevrolet
    29 OP 88 Matt Crafton (P) Ideal Door/Menards Ford
    30 OP 45 Justin Fontaine # ProMATIC Automation/Superior Essex Chevrolet
    31 OP 49 Wendell Chavous Sobriety Nation Chevrolet
    32 OP 3 Jordan Anderson Commercial Property Services Chevrolet
    33 12 Tate Fogleman Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet
    34 33 JJ Yeley(i) Reaume Brothers Racing Inc. Toyota
    35 6 Norm Benning H&H Transport Chevrolet
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series power rankings-Canada

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series power rankings-Canada

    The Round of 8 and the third annual NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs began this past weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Some drivers upped their A game, while others had a frustrating day in another thrilling finish.

    Here’s a look at this week’s power ranking following Canada and the first race in the Playoffs.

    1. Noah Gragson – Gragson dominated most of the race by starting second and winning both stages. He led three times for 35 laps and earned two playoff points. His day looked to be done after a restart in the final stage as he slipped back and was passed by Johnny Sauter for the lead. However, a late race caution with four to go, set up a NASCAR Overtime restart. Race leader, Todd Gilliland, got out in front and was able to pull away for the most part, until Gragson began to follow in his tire tracks. As noted in recent history, this place has been known for last lap passes and controversial finishes. Sunday proved that once more as Gragson went to make a move on the bottom on his teammate in the final turn. Unfortunately, his move didn’t work, ending up taking out his teammate for the win and he was relegated to a ninth-place finish. With his ninth-place finish and his two stage wins on Sunday, the No. 18 Safelite driver is now fourth in the standings, 24 points above the cut line. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
    2. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland proves week in and week out that he has tons of talent and incredible driving ability. Especially since for most tracks, he is making his first starts at racetracks in a truck. Gilliland played strategy at the end of both stages by pitting with two to go in order to have track position for the next stage. His time to shine came on Lap 54 where he took the lead from Sauter. Unfortunately, a caution came out late with four to go, and his four-second lead was evaporated over Gragson who was trying to catch him. He continued to lead until the final lap where Gragson made the move and accidentally took him out in trying to win. With the incident, Gilliland finished in 11th place finish after leading 11 laps. Gilliland will look to rebound and race for the win in the final seven races. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
    3. Johnny Sauter – Sauter had a quiet, but solid day at the road course in Canada. The regular season champion started sixth after qualifying in the rain Saturday evening. The No. 21 GMS Racing driver finished seventh in both stages. After a restart late in the race, Sauter took the lead and led once for nine laps and wound up finishing sixth for his 14th top-10 of the year. He leads the playoff points standings over Brett Moffitt by six points. Previous Week Ranking: 1st
    4. Justin Haley – What becomes a misfortune for one becomes good fortune for another. This was the case for the No. 24 GMS Racing team with the driver that broke through the last lap melee and earned his second win of the season. Haley started in the eighth position and finished third in both stages. Haley was able to lead once on Lap 34 and of course, came out on top of the wreckage for the first playoff win of his career. With his win, he is now locked into the Round of 6. Previous Week Ranking: 5th
    5. Matt Crafton – Crafton showed speed this weekend in qualifying and throughout the race. His day was almost similar to Sauter’s as he didn’t make much noise but got the job done and accomplished what he needed to do and that was to finish the race. Crafton had a decent qualifying effort by starting in the fourth position. He finished fifth in both stages and after the thrilling finish, Crafton finished fifth for his sixth top five of the year. Previous Week Ranking: Not RankedFell Out
      1. Stewart Friesen – Friesen had an up and down day at CTMP. He spun around early on in the race but was able to rebound and finish seventh after starting 16th. He was able to finish sixth in the second stage but did not collect any stage points in the first stage. He sits sixth, one point above the cut line.
      2. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes had a good day at CTMP. He won the pole and finished second in Stage 1, but did not finish in the top-10 at all in Stage 2. Rhodes led six laps, but that was the most noise he made as he finished 14th after he had contact from Sauter on the last lap. He sits seventh, one point behind the cut line. He’ll need to win a couple of stages or win at Las Vegas or Talladega to advance to the next round.
  • Analyzing The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 2018 Playoffs

    Analyzing The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 2018 Playoffs

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs will begin this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. It will be the first time a road course has ever started the Playoffs for the Truck Series.

    This will be the third time the Playoffs take center stage for the Truck Series since the first year it was implemented in 2016. Eight drivers over seven races will round out the Playoffs for the remaining 2018 schedule.

    These seven races consist of the opener at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, then heading off to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Talladega Superspeedway concluding the Round of 8.

    Then the Round of 6 begins with three consecutive races in a row beginning at Martinsville on October 27th. This round goes to Texas Motor Speedway on November 2, and with the finale at ISM Raceway on Friday, November 9th.

    After all is said and done, and four drivers advance on to compete for the championship that will be held at the season finale in Southern Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway slated for November 16th.

    However, let’s take a look at the eight drivers who will be running for the championship and who might have a shot to be in the final four at Homestead.

    The eight drivers competing for the 2018 Truck Series championship are Johnny Sauter, Brett Moffitt, Noah Gragson, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger, Justin Haley, and Matt Crafton.

    1. Johnny Sauter- Sauter will be competing in his third consecutive playoff since the first one in 2016. He has 42 bonus points and is seeded No. 1 in the playoff standings. You could say his 2018 season is almost relative to his 2016 championship season. It’s obvious that Sauter has the most experience in these situations. In his 2016 championship season, the Playoffs began at New Hampshire. Throughout the eight races that year, Sauter finished 10th, seventh at Las Vegas and seventh at Talladega. After solid finishes in the first couple of races, his time came as he won two consecutive races at Martinsville and Texas. With his win at Texas, he punched his ticket for his first Championship 4. While current Cup regular, William Byron may have won the finale, Sauter was the one who pulled through by being the highest finisher by finishing third and clinching his first ever title. In 2017, Sauter was the regular season champion and was crowned after winning the race at Chicago. He won two races again at Texas and Phoenix, allowing him to get a Championship 4 spot for the second consecutive year in a row. Sauter came up one spot short in hopes of securing his second championship to Christopher Bell who finished second. Sauter is on pace currently almost having a year comparable to 2016. This year so far, he has collected five wins, twelve top fives and 13 top-10 finishes. His wins at Daytona, Dover, Texas and Bristol locked him into the Playoffs for a third consecutive year. He was also the regular season champion. If everything goes according to plan and his season continues the way it has, it would be to no surprise to see him in Championship 4 again in 2018.
    2. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt and the No. 16 Hattori Racing team will be competing in their first ever playoff. Their wins at Atlanta, Iowa, and Michigan put them in the Playoffs this year. It didn’t come without struggle though, as the team fought hard to secure sponsorship for the remaining races. They were almost done earlier in the summer as they didn’t have sponsorship for the following week. And with that, the Hattori team wouldn’t be competing in the Playoffs because they would not have been granted a waiver. The team is still in search of sponsorship for races at Talladega and Texas. If they can get sponsorship for those races and continue to win, they will have a shot at the championship in Southern Florida. Regardless of what is happening at the moment, Moffitt is the second seed with 27 bonus points. It’ll be interesting to see how the No. 16 team fares in the Playoffs after their best season to date and almost closing earlier in the year.
    3. Noah Gragson – Like Moffitt, Gragson will be competing in his first playoff as well. 2018 has been a so-so year for the No. 18 Safelite Tundra driver. His 2018 season got off to a rocky start. He crashed at Daytona, finished second at Atlanta, 12th at Vegas, fifth at Martinsville, and almost had a shot to win at Dover until he and Sauter made contact in the remaining laps relegating him to a 20th place finish. He finally broke through at Kansas by earning a pole and winning the race. So far, this has been his only race win of the year. Gragson has been close multiple times by finishing second at Iowa in a thriller, fourth at Chicago after starting on the pole, and eighth at Kentucky, starting on the pole there as well. He’s led 475 laps and has an average start of 5.1 with an average finish of 8.3. But he has collected two DNF’s at Daytona and Dover. On the brighter side of things, he has seven stage wins with six top fives and 12 top-10 finishes. He will be seeded third in the standings with 22 bonus points. Gragson did not qualify for the Playoffs last year, but he did earn a win at Martinsville.
    4. Ben Rhodes – With his win at Kentucky, Rhodes solidified a playoff spot. He’s had an up and down 2018 season. He started off the season by finishing fourth at Daytona and Atlanta. Rhodes earned a pole at Martinsville but finished 12th. His struggles began at Kansas by finishing 18th, 16th at Texas, 17th at Iowa and 19th at Gateway, with the Playoffs being a little uncertain for the No. 41 ThorSport team. They collected a second place finish at Chicago and finally won at Kentucky in his home state. This won’t be his first Playoffs as he competed in the Playoffs last year. In one of the rounds, Rhodes won his first ever race at Las Vegas, advancing forward, but he suffered a crash at Talladega. Despite his win at Vegas, he couldn’t continue on to compete in the Championship 4 with a couple of bad finishes. In the end, Rhodes finished fifth in the standings. He’ll be seeded fourth with 14 playoff points to carry into the first round.
    5. Stewart Friesen – Friesen is having his best season to date after running off and on for the first few years. This is his first full-time season competing in the No. 52 Halmar team with having a technical alliance with GMS Racing. He’s been close multiple times this year to earn his first ever win. Friesen finished third at Kansas and second at Texas after starting on the pole and leading 13 laps. He struggled a little bit mid-summer, finishing 13th at Gateway and 19th at Chicago. Since then, however, he’s rebounded to finish in the top-five four times including a  second at Bristol, where he almost won the race. It’ll be the first time Friesen competes in the Playoffs and the first time competing in the Truck Series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. He is seeded fifth with 12 playoff points.
    6. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger could be a sleeper in the playoff run. He’s been steadily quiet but consistent this year. The No. 98 team collected four top fives and 12 top-10 finishes. He’s had an average start of 7.7 and an average finish of 8.2. His best finish this year came at Eldora by finishing second, just .038 seconds behind of his first ever win. Enfinger has had some stage wins this year, especially at Michigan. At Bristol, he locked up his playoff spot during the second stage. In 2016, he won at Talladega which was in the Playoffs but he was was not a playoff contender. He missed out on the Playoffs last year but competed in the whole season. His best finishes came at New Hampshire and Talladega where he finished fourth. At Homestead last year, he finished eighth, ending the season in 11th place in the standings. Enfinger and the No. 98 team are slated as the sixth seed with 11 playoff points.
    7. Justin Haley- Like Enfinger, Haley and the No. 24 GMS Racing team have also been quiet this year. With a win at Gateway, his first ever career win, he locked himself into the Playoffs. His season started out with a second place at Daytona but he had a couple of disappointing finishes at Atlanta and Vegas. He got right back on track with his win at Gateway and since then, Haley has collected five top-10 finishes. For 2018, the No. 24 team has collected five top fives and 12 top-10 finishes, along with an average start of 10.1 and an average finish of 9.6. With Martinsville and Texas being in the Playoffs, Haley finished 10th and third, respectively. As the regular season came to an end at Bristol, he finished sixth. In 2017, he finished 13th at New Hampshire, had engine issues at Vegas and finished 21st, collected a 16th at Talladega, an 11th at Martinsville, won the pole at Texas and finished fifth, finished 14th at Phoenix and ninth at Homestead. The No. 24 team is seeded seventh in the standings with nine playoff points. Haley can be seen as a dark horse and could punch his way into the Championship 4.
    8. Matt Crafton – 2018 has been an uncharacteristic season for the No. 88 Menards ThorSport driver, almost similar to his 2012 season. This will be Crafton’s third consecutive playoff appearance since the inaugural year in 2016. Through the first two Playoffs, he qualified for the Championship 4 with his best finish of second in the standings in 2016. He was the second highest finisher to 2016 champion, Johnny Sauter. In 2016, Crafton won at Dover and Charlotte to lock himself in. In the 2016 playoff rounds, Crafton finished third at New Hampshire, eighth at Vegas, 22nd at Talladega, 17th at Martinsville, second at Texas, third at Phoenix, then finished seventh at Homestead in the championship race. In 2017, he won at Eldora just a few races prior to the Playoffs. Crafton finished fourth in the standings. He had finishes of sixth at New Hampshire, seventh at Vegas, ninth at Talladega, second at Martinsville, ninth at Texas, 21st at Phoenix and sixth at Homestead to finish fourth in the championship standings. In 2018 though, Crafton has had an up and down year. Stat wise, he collected five top fives and nine top-10 finishes, along with two DNFs and 53 laps led. Crafton also has had an average start of 9.4 and an average finish of 11.4. His season got off to a disappointing start by finishing 19th at Daytona, brake issues which saw him finish 29th at Vegas, and at Martinsville, he finished 15th. Despite those finishes, his season started to turn around a little at Dover, where Crafton finished second. He went on to finish sixth at Kansas, 11th at Charlotte, fifth at Texas, but then had problems at Iowa and Gateway. But he had solid finishes at Kentucky, Eldora, Pocono, Michigan and Bristol. Things did seem a little uncertain about making the Playoffs this year, but Crafton and the No. 88 team pulled through with an eighth-place finish at Bristol and locked themselves in for a third consecutive year. He will be seeded in the eighth position with just three playoff points but believes the team will break through anytime.
  • Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Bristol

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

    Bristol Motor Speedway was the home for the 16th race of the season and marked the final event of the regular season before the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs begin this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

    Here are four takeaways from the UNOH 200.

    1. GMS Racing Continue To Be Dominate 2018 – The GMS Racing team, including one ally, continued to dominate last Thursday at Bristol. GMS placed three of their trucks in the top-10 if you include the GMS Racing ally, Stewart Friesen. Johnny Sauter clinched the regular season championship by starting the race. He didn’t stop there as he led 58 laps and finished second in both stages. GMS Racing ally, Stewart Friesen, finished second and Sauter’s teammate, and Gateway winner, Justin Haley, finished sixth. Regardless, they continue to be the team to dominate the 2018 season and the team to beat for the championship.
    2. John Hunter Nemechek Gets A For Effort – After starting third, Nemechek looked to be the guy to beat. He won both stages and led twice for 104 laps. Nemechek had a shot to win his first ever race since Martinsville. However, his truck began to experience problems with less than 10 to go and fell back to third, after dominating much of the race.
    3. Too Much Emphasis On The Big Three – In the Cup Series this year, there have been three drivers that have visited victory lane the most, including Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr, and Kevin Harvick. However, here lately, the Truck Series has their own big three with those being Johnny Sauter, Brett Moffitt, and Noah Gragson. My opinion is that we should stop with the big three analysis and placing too much emphasis and hype on just three drivers. The Big Three should stay in the Cup Series. There have been multiple different race winners this year in the Truck Series. Those including Moffitt, Sauter, Ben Rhodes, Gragson, Haley, among others, who have visited victory lane. Yes, it seems like there are three drivers who regularly run up front, but that’s not the case for every race. Keep the big three special to one series and let the other series have their own brand identity, and stick out more.
    4.  Playoff Begin At Canada – After all the hype and with the regular season coming to an end, it’s now time for the 2018 NASCAR Truck Series playoffs that begin this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Eight drivers will go after the gold and the championship at the end of the year in Homestead-Miami. It will be interesting to see how these eight drivers will fare throughout the rest of the season. Will Sauter be able to keep his dominance and punch his ticket into the Championship 4 for another year? Or perhaps there could be a surprise driver that winds up in the final four such as Haley. Either way, it’ll be an exciting seven race run to the championship finale that takes place in Southern Florida.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Bristol

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Bristol

    As the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series completed their 16th race of the season, the 2018 Truck Series Playoff grid is set and eight drivers will compete for the championship beginning at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday, Aug. 26.

    While a familiar foe ended up in victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway Thursday night, others who needed a strong night got their wish and some had their best career finish.

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

      1. Johnny Sauter – By just starting the race, Sauter clinched the 2018 Truck Series regular season championship. He didn’t stop there, however, as he went on to win his fifth race of the season. Sauter finished second in both stages. He took the lead twice throughout the race. With 15 to go, he and GMS ally, Stewart Friesen battled each other and raced each other hard for the second position. This allowed race leader John Hunter Nemechek to pull away late, but issues in the No. 8 truck saw him fade to third place and saw Sauter take the lead. He was able to fend off Friesen by .236 seconds and was crowned 2018 Truck Series regular season champion. With his fifth win of the season, he will be able to carry over 42 points into the 2018 Playoffs. Sauter continues to be the guy to beat in the 2018 season. Previous Week Ranking: 2nd
      2. Stewart Friesen – Friesen was a Playoff bubble driver until the middle of Stage 2. With enough points and a couple of stage wins this year, he was able to clinch a spot in the Playoffs which allowed the No. 52 team to breathe easy and gave the okay to chase for his first possible win. Friesen finished seventh and fourth in both stages, respectively. He’ll be racing in his first ever race at his home track this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the site of the first Playoff race. Nonetheless, Friesen will have to have finishes like Bristol this past weekend in order to be a Championship 4 contender at Homestead-Miami. Friesen is placed fifth in the Playoffs standings. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
      3. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland continues to shine in the 2018 Truck Series season in the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra. In a lot of the tracks where he is making his first start in a truck, he looks like a seasoned veteran. After starting in the eighth position, Gilliland fell back quickly due to a loose truck and wound up 13th. In Stage 2, he was involved in an incident when he spun around in Turn 4 collecting the 97 of Jesse Little. While Gilliland didn’t collect any stage points, he was able to rebound to finish in the top five for his third top five of the year. He missed out on the Playoffs, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play spoiler in the Playoffs by winning races. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
      4. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes continued his consistent success by finishing in the top-10 this past week at Bristol. He started second on the front row and finished fifth and seventh in both stages, collecting stage points. With his win at Kentucky, Rhodes was already locked into the Playoffs. He just needed to win and have a solid night in order to prepare for the Playoffs. And after a rocky start to the season, the tide is starting to turn for the No. 41 ThorSport Racing team with a seventh-place finish. This was Rhodes ninth top-10 of the 2018 season. He’ll be a part of the eight driver Playoff grid at Canada, where he is the fourth seed. Previous Week Ranking: 4th
      5. Justin Haley – Haley is another driver who continues to carry consistency in each race. He hasn’t had a bad finish since Iowa where he finished 16th. Since then, Haley has finished in the top-10 with a win at Gateway. The No. 24 GMS Racing team finished 10th and ninth in both stages respectively earning stage points. As the 16th race of the season completed at Bristol on lap 200, Haley and the No. 24 Fraternal Order of Eagles finished sixth after starting 11th. It was his 12th top-10 of the 2018 season. GMS Racing now has two trucks in the Playoffs, three if you include the GMS ally, Friesen. They are the team to beat in the 2018 Truck Series Playoffs. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked

    Fell Out

      1. Noah Gragson – Gragson finished ninth in the first stage, but did not collect any points in Stage 2. But, he did come back to finish ninth for his 12th top-10 of the year and is now in the Playoffs. He’ll be seeded in the third position.
      2. Brett Moffitt – After a thrilling win at Michigan the week before, Moffitt and the No. 16 team was brought back to reality on Thursday night. He had a tough qualifying outing by qualifying in the 14th position. Not all was lost, however, as he was able to finish third in Stage 2. But the night continued to get worse for the Hattori Racing team as they continued to slip back and finish in the 18th position. With four wins this year, Moffitt is now locked into the Playoffs and is seeded in the second position.
  • Regular Season Champion Johnny Sauter Fends off Stewart Friesen in Closing Laps at Bristol

    Regular Season Champion Johnny Sauter Fends off Stewart Friesen in Closing Laps at Bristol

    All Johnny Sauter had to do was start the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway in order to become the regular series season champion. However, he wanted more and did more as he earned his fifth win of the season after fending off his GMS Racing ally, Stewart Friesen.

    “This is awesome,” Sauter said after the race, “the history of this place. I flew into Charlotte yesterday morning to stop by the shop real quick and then did my normal tour to Bristol. I stopped at North Wilkesboro and just walked around, and drove up through the countryside, just was like, maybe if I don’t overdrive it this year, I’ll have an opportunity to win, so just proud of everybody at GMS on this GMS fabrication. Sunseeker, ISM Connect, Allegiant Travel Chevrolet, just can’t thank everyone enough. This is so cool!”

    When the UNOH 200 began, Sauter was crowned the 2018 regular series season champion. Playoff bubble driver, Grant Enfinger, clinched a Playoff spot by starting the race as well.

    Stage 1 went to lap 55.

    Only two incidents took place during the first stage. On Lap 12, the No. 30 of Scott Lagasse Jr. spun around on the fronstretch to bring out the first caution. Then on Lap 25, the No. 04 of Cory Roper spun out after having a little bit of help in Turn 2.

    John Hunter Nemechek took the lead on Lap 32 after the restart on Lap 30. He was able to hang on and win the first stage followed by Sauter, Enfinger, Christopher Bell, Ben Rhodes, Parker Kligerman, Stewart Friesen, Ross Chastain, Noah Gragson, and Justin Haley.

    Race leader Nemechek and a couple of others stayed out to maintain their positions as leaders for the beginning of Stage 2 on Lap 66. It didn’t take long for a caution to come out, however, as Todd Gilliland spun around and had contact with Jesse Little. During that caution, the No. 52 of Friesen, clinched a spot in the Playoffs.

    With the restart on Lap 73, there were no more incidents for the rest of Stage 2 until after the checkered flag.  This saw Nemechek win Stage 2. As Nemechek took the win, Myatt Snider, who was on the outside looking in, had his night ruined, as he crashed and hit the wall on the frontstretch.

    The final stage and the race resumed with 77 to go with Sauter as the race leader.

    Sauter held on momentarily but Gragson passed him to lead for seven laps. Then, Stage 1 and 2 winner Nemechek, passed Sauter for the lead on Lap 177. During this long stretch of a green flag run, Bell lost the power steering and his night was over, finishing in the 28th position.

    With heavy lap traffic starting to come into play, Nemechek closed in on Sauter with 27  to go and Nemechek assumed the lead with 23 to go. Sauter and Friesen battled with each other side-by-side with 10 laps to go, allowing Nemechek to pull away.

    Unfortunately, something happened to the No. 8 of Nemechek and he slipped back to third, with Sauter taking the lead and Friesen close behind him. Sauter was able to breathe easy as he held off his GMS ally for his fifth win of the year and his first since Texas in June.

    With the race win tonight, Sauter picked up 20 points but is carrying over 42 Playoff points into the postseason.

    “Well yeah, he (Nemechek) had a problem,” Sauter said. “The 52 (Friesen) was racing me really hard there and not quite sure, can’t wait to watch that on how we got back by him. Just good hard racing, short track style. This is such a cool way to end the regular season with a win. Obviously, getting the championship in the regular season. Now hopefully this carries some momentum towards the end here. I just got too tight. I tried to get around those lap trucks running through the middle. Even in practice earlier today, I just couldn’t quite complete the corner, I couldn’t get it to cut. So, I knew the bottom was my only chance, but the lap traffic was just all over the place. Just can’t thank everybody enough. I’m so pumped right now, I’m going to let this one soak in for sure.”

    This was Sauter’s fifth win of the season. Sauter led three times for 58 laps. There were five cautions for 38 laps, along with six lead changes among four drivers.

    The Playoff card is now set with Sauter (2042 points), Brett Moffitt (2027 points), Gragson (2022 points), Rhodes (2014 points), Friesen (2012 points), Enfinger (2011 points), Haley (2009 points) and Matt Crafton (2003 points) all competing for the 2018 Truck Series championship.

     

  • Stewart Friesen Comes Up One Spot Short but is Locked into the Playoffs

    Stewart Friesen Comes Up One Spot Short but is Locked into the Playoffs

    The No. 52 of Stewart Friesen and the Halmar Racing team can breathe a little easier now knowing they have a shot to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship this year after finishing second in the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    After starting 13th, Friesen showed he had a fast truck early as he finished seventh in the first stage and fourth in the second stage. During the second stage under caution, he was able to clinch a Playoff spot.

    Friesen ran up front most of the night until his moment came with 10 laps to go when he and eventual race winner Johnny Sauter battled side-by-side for the race win.

    As the No. 8 of John Hunter Nemechek had issues, Sauter and Friesen drove past him in the remaining laps. Friesen gave all he could but ultimately came up .236 seconds short of getting his first career win. Nonetheless, it showed the No. 52 team had the speed and is capable of winning races in the Playoffs.

    “A couple of badass (Chevy) Silverados’ here,” Friesen said. “Beating and banging. Uncle Johnny runs me hard and that’s racing. Just good hard racing. That was a lot of fun. He rolled up into lap traffic and gave me the bottom. That was a good time. So proud of this effort, GMS fab. Wow. Our short track game has turned around big time since Martinsville at the beginning of the year. Just proud of everyone at the fab shop.”

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Bristol

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Bristol

    “It’s the final countdown!” as the band Europe would sing.

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series makes their final stop at Bristol Motor Speedway before the playoffs begin next weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. While one driver will be crowned regular season champion, three other drivers currently sit on the bubble of making/not making the playoffs.

    Currently, there are 38 drivers entered on the preliminary entry list that will make up the 32 truck field Thursday night at Bristol.

    Here’s a look at what to expect and who might end up in the UNOH 200.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek has competed in the past four starts at Bristol. He and the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports team have collected two top fives and four top-10 finishes. Nemechek has an average start of 12.5 and an average finish of 5.0. In the past five races, he finished third twice, eighth, and sixth. He has competed in the Truck Series event since 2014 and has completed 100 percent of the laps. Nemechek scored the victory at Martinsville this past April which is another short track, somewhat similar to Bristol. He finished 10th in Stage 2 in the 2017 race.
    2. Christopher Bell – Last year’s Truck Series champion returns to the field Thursday night at Bristol driving the No. 51 Hunt Brothers Pizza Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Bell has competed in two races at Bristol earning a seventh-place finish twice after starting fifth and second. He finished fourth and fifth respectively in both stages last year. KBM, however, has won here three times with Kyle Busch, who will not be able to compete in this year’s race due to restrictions. Harrison Burton was scheduled to drive the No. 51 but had to withdraw due to illness. Bell will fill in for Burton and will be tough to beat Thursday night at Bristol driving the famed No. 51.
    3. Johnny Sauter – Sauter will be crowned regular season champion just by starting the race. Even though he knows he’ll be the regular season champion, he’ll still be hungry for that first Bristol win. It will be his first win since Texas in June if he can pull it off. Sauter has competed in 10 races at the famous Bristol Motor Speedway. His first start came back in 2003 driving the No. 9 for Christopher Beckington but failed to finish that year due to an engine issue. However, Sauter returned to a Truck back in 2009 driving for Mike Curb until 2015. In the past two races, he has competed for GMS Racing. For Sauter, however, it’s been a mixed bag of results at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile.” He has four top fives and six top-10 finishes, along with seven laps led and one DNF. With those stats, he has an average start of 12.4 and an average finish of 9.6. His best finish at Bristol was second back in 2011 after starting 12th. In the previous race, he finished eighth and seventh respectively in both stages.
    4. Parker Kligerman – If someone could upset this weekend, it could very well be the No. 75 Henderson Motorsports team of Parker Kligerman. Kligerman has four starts at Bristol with a best finish of second coming in 2012 for Red Horse Motorsports. In last year’s race, however, driving the No. 75, he finished eighth. During the span of his four starts, Kligerman has earned one top five and three top-10 finishes. For Charlie Henderson’s team, the No. 75 has competed at Bristol every year since 2012 with Caleb Holman as the driver until 2016. Their best finish came with Kligerman last year by finishing eighth. They currently have one win in the series which came last fall at Talladega. Their other best finish came this year at Charlotte, where he finished seventh.
    5. Ben  Rhodes – Rhodes has three starts at Thunder Valley. His best finish came last year where he finished fifth. In total, Rhodes has one top five and two top-10 finishes with one lap led. He has an average start of 7.3 and an average finish of 14.7. He finished seventh and fourth in both stages in 2017. Look for Rhodes to be up front and contend for the win.

    Playoff Bubble Drivers

    1. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger has one start which came in the 2017 race. He started seventh and finished fourth giving him his first top five at the track. If he continues to win stages or perhaps wins the race, he’ll be good to go for the Playoffs.
    2. Stewart Friesen- Like Enfinger, Friesen has been running somewhat consistently and is having his best year to date. He sits seventh in the Playoff standings with five Playoff points. He should be fine if there are no new winners. However, Friesen’s track stats don’t look all that great. He has two races, but no finishes inside the top 10. In 2017, he failed to finish due to an overheating problem and wound up 29th. In 2016, Friesen finished 16th. He can’t afford to have any of these issues during the race or he’ll be in jeopardy of missing the Playoffs.
    3. Matt Crafton – Crafton is the most experienced driver in the field. He’s competed at Bristol since 2003 and has 15 starts. During that span, he’s earned four top fives and nine top-10 finishes, along with 129 laps led and one DNF. His best finish came in 2017 and 2009, where he finished second. In 2016, he failed to finish with an engine problem. If Crafton can avoid any issues in Thursday’s night race and have no mechanical problems, he’ll also be locked in on points and be able to chase for his third championship.

    Outside Looking In

    1. Myatt Snider- Snider will be making his first ever Bristol start in the Truck Series driving the No. 13 Carolina Nut Company Ford. However, he has competed at Bristol before driving in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour Series. In fact, he won last year’s race at Bristol after starting on the pole and leading 80 laps. Snider also competed in this year’s Tour Series event at Bristol and finished third. He could very well end up in victory lane tomorrow night and solidify himself in the playoffs picture, possibly knocking out his teammate, Matt Crafton.
    2. Cody Coughlin – Coughlin has competed in one race here but did not finish in the top-10.
    3. Dalton Sargeant – It will be Sargeant’s first race back at Bristol since 2015, where he finished 10th after starting 18th. He has one NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start but finished 26th due to a crash.
    4. Todd Gilliland – Perhaps one driver who could spoil the spotlight is the No. 4 KBM driver, Todd Gilliland. He’ll be making his first Truck Series start at Bristol, but does have previous experience at the track. Gilliland has competed at Bristol in the K&N Pro Series East three times. During those three starts, he finished ninth, eighth, and won the event in 2018 after leading 64 laps.

    The Truck Series has competed at Bristol Motor Speedway since 1995. In those twenty starts, there have been 15 different race winners. Those winners include Joe Ruttman, Rick Carelli, Ron Hornaday, Jack Sprague, Travis Kvapil, Carl Edwards, Mike Skinner, Mark Martin, Johnny Benson, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Timothy Peters, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Ben Kennedy.

    Of those drivers, two have been able to repeat. These include Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday with Busch having the most wins at five, and he is also the previous race winner.

    The lowest a driver has ever started to win the race is 12th back in 2003 by Travis Kvapil. The highest a driver has ever come from to win was the pole and that has been done five times by Ron Hornaday (twice), Kyle Busch (twice) and Mark Martin.

    The field of 38 that will turn into a field of 32 will have an all-day event Thursday.

    Two practice sessions will start the day for the truckers. First practice is scheduled for 9:05 a.m. ET while final practice takes place at 11:05 a.m. ET, both on Fox Sports 1. Qualifying is slated later in the afternoon at 4:10 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

    Race coverage begins on FOX and MRN Radio at 8:30 p.m. ET with the approximate green flag at 8:45 p.m. ET.

     

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

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

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited the two-mile racetrack located in Irish Hills of Brooklyn, Michigan, Michigan International Speedway. It proved to be another exciting race for the 15th race of the season and that action will be intense come Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Here are four takeaways from the Corrigan Oil 200.

    1. Last Lap Excitement – The Truck Series continued to put on another exciting race this past weekend at Michigan. It started with qualifying Saturday morning when John Hunter Nemechek beat Todd Gilliland for the pole by 0.01 seconds. This would set the tone for the day and the end of the race. In what would look like Johnny Sauter’s fifth win of the year, Noah Gragson and Nemechek hooked up with each other to catch Brett Moffitt and Sauter. It did not go as planned for them but it worked for eventual race winner Moffitt, who backed up to Nemechek’s front bumper and made a last lap pass on Sauter coming to the finish line. It was Moffitt’s fourth win of the year. If everything continues to go Moffitt’s way and sponsorship continues to come, we could see him and the No. 16 Hattori Racing team in the final four spot at Homestead-Miami in November.
    2. Stewart Friesen Continues Solid Season – Friesen continued his solid season to date on Saturday afternoon. He can breathe a little easier after winning the first stage and finishing ninth in the second stage. If Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar racing team has a clean race at Bristol and finish where he’s been finishing, then he should be able to lock himself into the Playoffs and challenge for the championship.
    3. Playoffs Set In Stone – After Michigan and with one race remaining until the Playoffs begin, the standings are pretty much set in stone. Of course, it’s not over until the checkered flag drops and we have seen stranger things happen, but the standings should stay the way they are unless one of the three bubble drivers have trouble and fail to finish. Other than that, what we see currently, will be what see for the 2018 playoff standings.
    4. Johnny Sauter One To Beat – As we’ve already seen this season and saw again on Saturday, 2016 champion, Johnny Sauter continues to be the man to beat for the championship this year. Saturday could have been his fifth win of the year but he is still sitting in good shape to clinch the regular season championship on Thursday night at Bristol. With four wins, 11 top fives, 12 top 10 finishes and 340 laps led this season, Sauter should end up in the Championship 4. If anyone wants to win the championship, they’ll have to go through Sauter and the No. 21 GMS Racing team.
  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Pocono

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

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited the 2.5-mile racetrack located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Pocono Raceway. It was the 14th race of the season and there are now only two races left until the Playoffs begin at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

    Here are four takeaways from the Gander Outdoors 150.

    1. Kyle Ties Hornaday On All-Time Wins List – Kyle Busch was finally able to tie Ron Hornaday on the all-time wins list this past weekend. Both now have 51 wins in the series, but Busch reached 51 wins in just 145 starts, quicker than Hornaday. Busch dominated most of the race by winning the pole and leading 43 of the scheduled 60 laps. By not being able to gain any stage points due to him being a Cup Series driver, Busch was able to play strategy by pitting late in the stage in order to gain track position for the restarts. He almost got passed for the lead late in the race but held on to win in his final Truck Series start of the year. When Busch returns next year and the years beyond, the sky will be the limit on how many more wins he’ll get before wrapping up his career.
    2. Stages are too short, at least for Pocono – In Saturday’s race, the stages were broken up into 15/30/60. For a track that doesn’t produce much passing, there wasn’t a whole lot of activity during the stages as they were very short. The first stage went its maximum distance, but the second stage was 10 laps with the final stage going green with 25 to go. The drivers agreed in Friday’s media availability that the race was too short in order to produce more passing or make it a more exciting race. The race featured only nine lead changes, but that all came when the stage was winding down as drivers pitted early for track position. Other than that, the field was spread out. Busch and Erik Jones finished with a margin of victory of 1.4 seconds back. However, anyone after that was five, six, seven seconds back and so on. Perhaps Pocono is a track the Truck Series shouldn’t race on or possibly it’s the number of laps in the race, but something should be done in order to see a more competitive race.
    3. Noah Gragson Misses Race – Friday night on Gragson’s Twitter page, he reported that he was feeling sick but was going to race regardless of how he was feeling. However, on Saturday morning prior to qualifying, Noah was too sick to qualify the truck and eventually, too sick to compete in the race. With him missing a race, NASCAR granted him a medical waiver so that he will be able to compete in the Playoffs. Erik Jones, the 2015 Truck Series Champion, filled in for the ill Gragson. Jones placed second.
    4. Playoff Points Race Gets Tighter – With just two races left before the Playoffs began, the fight for the final three positions gets even tighter following Pocono. Enfinger, Friesen, and Crafton continue to be winless this year and will more than likely have to point there way in, if there aren’t any new winners. Enfinger has two playoff points while Friesen has four. Crafton has none. Myatt Snider is also on the outside looking in. With a much deserved off week this week, these four drivers, among others, are working hard to contend for the 2018 Truck Series championship. When the Truck Series returns to Michigan after an off week, drivers will be on their game and make more daring moves to get into the Playoffs. Nonetheless, the run for the championship continues to be exciting and no one really knows yet who the final four drivers will be at Homestead-Miami in November.