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  • Four Takeaways from the Vankor 350 at Texas Motor Speedway

    Four Takeaways from the Vankor 350 at Texas Motor Speedway

    It was an action packed race for the truckers last Friday night.

    While we saw a familiar name in victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway, there was also a news announcement regarding a former veteran returning to the series where he had a lot of success before moving up through the ranks.

    Here are this week’s four takeaways.

    1. Another Win For Kyle Busch – This shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone when fans checked the finishing results for the NASCAR Gander Truck Series race Friday night. Kyle Busch won his fourth consecutive race of the 2019 Truck Series and led 97 of 147 laps, 65 percent of the race. There could be some joy found even if race fans are tired of seeing Busch winning all the time. He is not scheduled to compete at Dover and Kansas, and his final truck race of the season is at Charlotte which follows the Kansas race in May. Still, it’s an impressive feat winning four in a row, one that is rarely seen in today’s sport and era.
    2. Action Packed Race/Month Off – When you look at the box score from Friday night’s race, you will see that there were a lot of cautions. In fact, there were nine cautions for 47 laps which equaled to 32 percent. With the number of cautions taking place and a red flag that lasted for about 15 minutes, the total time of the race lasted two hours and three minutes. After just having a few weeks off before Texas, the truckers will have to endure another off time but this time, it will be a month off before they return to action at Dover in May.
    3. Sour Night For Kyle Busch Motorsports Drivers – While boss man Kyle Busch wound up in victory lane, it wasn’t quite the same for Todd Gilliland and Harrison Burton who needed good finishes. The first came with Burton who wrecked in Turn 2 and was out of the race early on Lap 12. Burton spent the rest of the night learning and spending time with Kyle Busch’s team. Todd Gilliland’s moment came eight laps earlier, as he was involved in an accident on Lap 4. Gilliland, who has been racing with a lot of pressure as of late, never could rebound and finished 14th. Not the night both KBM drivers needed.
    4. Greg Biffle Back In The Truck Series – Yes, that Greg Biffle, who has had quite the career in the Truck Series winning 16 career races and winning the 2000 championship. Biffle even set the record for most wins in a season with nine in 1999, a record that has never been broken. It was announced on Thursday afternoon, that the former series champion will return in a one-off ride with Kyle Busch Motorsports at Texas in June, driving the No. 51. Biffle practiced the truck Thursday afternoon for Busch.
  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Busch: After claiming Trucks and Xfinity series wins at Texas, Busch failed to complete the sweep, finishing a disappointing 10th. Busch still leads the Monster Energy Cup points standings, holding an eight point lead over Denny Hamlin.

    “I didn’t ‘sweep’ the weekend,” Busch said, “but I did ‘brush’ the wall. Now, I’m ‘bristling’ at my failure to complete the sweep.”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin overcame two penalties and stormed back to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas, scoring his second win of the season.

    “Winning in Texas is always special,” Hamlin said. “That is, until you get to Victory Lane, where they hand you two guns, leaving you feeling just like everyone else in Texas.”

    3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished eighth at Texas and now sits third in the points standings, 33 out of first.

    “I’m still winless on the year,” Harvick said. “I’m desperate for a win. My sponsor obligations stipulate that I say the same thing with different words. Jimmy Johns says I’m ‘hungry’ for a win, while Busch Beer says I’m ‘thirsty’ for victory.”

    4. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski suffered his worst result of the year with a 36th at Texas, his efforts ruined by a mechanical issue early in the race that sent his No. 2 Ford Mustang to the garage for lengthy repairs.

    “Something in the back of the car just broke,” Keselowski said. “And that was it for my chances of winning. It’s a case of getting ‘rear-ended’ without another car being involved.”

    5. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished seventh at Texas as Stewart-Haas Racing placed all four cars in the top 10.

    “Stewart-Haas Racing placed all four cars in the top 10,” Almirola said. “That’s also known as going ‘4 for 4.’ It sounds great, until you shed light on our most glaring statistic: SHR is 0-7 in the wins department.”

    6. Joey Logano: Logano finished 17th at Texas, while Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski finished 36th after suffering a mechanical failure.

    “I won Stage 1,” Logano said, “then it was downhill from there. Brad had two back axles malfunction, and my car’s hood was loose and wavering in the wind. It could have easily blown completely off. It’s the least excited I’ve ever been to talk about ‘rear end’ and going ‘topless.’”

    7. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 12th in Texas as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin captured the win.

    “Let’s give it up for Jimmie Johnson,” Truex said. “He won the pole at Texas, and finished fifth. Jimmie’s either rounding into his old championship form, or he’s just an old former champion.”

    8. Kurt Busch: Busch took ninth in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, posting his fifth top 10 of the season.

    “NASCAR legend Rusty Wallace gave the command to ‘Start your engines,’” Busch said. “As you would expect, Ryan Newman refused to start his engine, because he absolutely refuses to take any commands from Wallace.”

    9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney led 45 early laps before mechanical issues sent him to the garage. He finished 37th, 109 off the lead lap.

    “A part broke,” Blaney said, “causing all the water to leak out of the car. It left me feeling drained.” 

    10. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer scored the runner-up spot in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500,

    “And that was after starting 25th,” Bowyer said. “Which just proves that qualifying means absolutely nothing in NASCAR. As you saw at Fontana, sometimes we do absolutely nothing in qualifying.”

  • The White Zone: Thoughts on Texas

    The White Zone: Thoughts on Texas

    Race No. 7 of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season is in the books, and I have some thoughts to share with the class.

    The race

    Kyle Busch leads a line of cars down the front stretch at Texas Motor Speedway, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. Photo: Don Dunn/SpeedwayMedia.com

    If you follow me on Twitter, you know my thoughts on races at Texas Motor Speedway already. For those who don’t, I’m not a fan of the racing at Texas. For years, it’s been unwatchable, single-file snore-fests. And the fact that both races at Texas are 500 miles in length made boring races there more agonizing to watch.

    Maybe it was my low expectations for races at Texas, but Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 was good.

    The field didn’t get exponentially stretched out as the race progressed, and the leader didn’t simply pull away from the car in second.

    It was the race that I thought we’d get at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a few weeks ago.

    With that said, however, there was still the ever present fact that passing the leader was a Herculean task. Yes, the number of lead changes were up from 2018 (26 among 13 different drivers in 2019 vs. 16 among eight different drivers in 2018), but by my count, only five of them happened on track under green. The rest were a result of pit stops, which tends to inflate the number of lead changes.

    It was more of the varying pit stop mistakes and cycles that made the race compelling to watch. Last season, races at Chicagoland Speedway, Las Vegas in September and Homestead were great races, because of the racing product, not pit road mistakes.

    Which is why I don’t believe this high downforce package is the right direction for the sport.

    Yes, it was entertaining, but it was in spite of the racing on track, not because of it.

    Compare it to the Bahrain Grand Prix earlier in the day. It had a great mix of pit stop strategy and on track competition that made it legitimately good racing.

    I know that “we’re in the entertainment business,” but I believe that NASCAR should treat its events as a sports competition first.

    Jimmie Johnson’s afternoon

    Jimmie Johnson races, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Photo: Kathryn Gaskill/SpeedwayMedia.com

    In 2018, Jimmie Johnson led a grand total of 40 laps, and didn’t lead more than 13 in one race. On Sunday, he led 60 laps, 150 percent more than he did in 2018.

    And while he didn’t lead a second time in the race, he maintained the second-highest running average all race at 7.78.

    Johnson had a race that was a step in the right direction. His car was great in clean air and had speed.

    “It was a little evil in traffic, and I had a heck of a time on green flag restarts, but really worked hard to get it up underneath me and tightening the car up a little bit for us to race,” he said. “Ended up having great pace and decent drivability, so are working in the right direction.”

    For the first time in quite a long time, Johnson was a legitimate threat to win, and at a mile and a half track.

    If he continues this at Kansas Speedway in a few weeks, we can truly say he’s back.

    Qualifying

    Let’s just get something out of the way. NASCAR brought this on itself.

    If you missed qualifying Friday, there were multiple instances of drivers blatantly violating NASCAR’s new impeding rule. Most egregious was Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer.

    And what did NASCAR do? They did nothing. All they had to do was enforce the rule they put in place, and we’re not talking about this.

    And now, we’re seriously discussing the possibility of returning to single-car qualifying for mile and a half tracks, because NASCAR didn’t enforce its own rules.

    This same thing happened with the restart zone four years ago and the overtime line two years ago.

    NASCAR, if you want these games to stop, enforce the rules you put in place, unless you want the inmates to continue running the asylum. If not, don’t have these rules in place.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas 1

    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

  • Hamlin wins O’Reilly’s 500 at Texas Motor Speedway

    Hamlin wins O’Reilly’s 500 at Texas Motor Speedway

    Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s O’Reilly’s Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, his second win of 2019 and the 33rd of his career. It was also his third win at the speedway after sweeping both events in 2010.

    Hamlin crossed the checkered flag after starting sixth and leading 45 laps, along with earning the Stage Two win earlier in the day. Clint Bowyer was second, 2.74 seconds behind while Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, and pole winner Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five. William Byron, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-10.

    The win was not without adversity, as Hamlin was penalized twice; he missed pit road in the first stage and was hit with a speeding penalty, then was hit with an uncontrolled tire penalty. However, crew chief Chris Gabehart and team continued to work through and put Hamlin in the position he needed to be in for contention.

    “Yeah, our car was really, really fast. We obviously saw that,” said Hamlin from Victory Lane. “Once we got out front, we were able to pull away from the pack a bit. Got a little bit loose when we were racing our teammates in the 18 and 20, so I wasn’t able to be as aggressive as I was earlier in the race. We had a super fast car, that’s why we won.”

    “Our Mustangs were fast all weekend long,” said Bowyer. “Took awhile for our Mustang to get good. This Rush Trucks Center Cummins car, to be honest, was a little off all weekend long. I was pretty nervous coming into the race, but we made some good adjustments and leaned on our teammates.”

    Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch had the dominant car of the race, leading 66 laps before contact with the wall sent him to pit road and a 10th-place finish. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney led 45 laps before an overheating issue sent him out of the race with a 37th-place finish.

    The race saw 26 lead changes among 13 drivers, with five cautions slowing the race for 29 laps. The next race is April 7 at Bristol Motor Speedway, as the Food City 500 will start at 2 p.m. EDT on FS1.

  • Kyle Busch scores 95th Xfinity Series win at Texas

    Kyle Busch scores 95th Xfinity Series win at Texas

    Kyle Busch continues to stretch his record with the most Xfinity Series wins as he raced to victory in the My Bariatrics Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. The win was his 95th in the series and 203rd national event win overall. Busch also won the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Vankor 350 the night before.

    “Not taking any tires certainly [helped us],” said Busch, from Victory Lane. “We jumped the field there and I was worried about the restart because I didn’t think there was gonna be enough room.

    “This car certainly had the grip…it was really fast in the long run, just couldn’t get people away from me on the front side of the run to settle into my rhythm and go, and every time I got up to the outside people would drive by me on the bottom.”

    Tyler Reddick took second-place ahead of Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell, who dominated the event, winning the pole and leading 128 laps.

    “He (Busch) wasn’t better than us anywhere,” said Bell. “He just had track position there. We were starting to struggle and when they said we were going to put two tires on I was all for it, but I didn’t get any better and those guys didn’t slow down.

    “We’re in the Dash 4 Cash and that’s pretty cool, our goal was to make sure we were in the top four Xfinity guys. It’s extremely frustrating to lose one like that, but I’m proud of this team and this Supra was pretty fast and the class of the field.”

    Chase Briscoe was the highest finishing Ford in fourth, while Jeb Burton finished fifth in his first XFINITY start of the season. Michael Annett finished sixth, and Justin Haley, Jeffrey Earnhardt, John Hunter Nemechek, and Stage 2 winner Ryan Sieg rounded out the top-10.

    The next race will be April 6, 2019 at Bristol Motor Speedway as the Alsco 300 will be the first Dash 4 Cash event of 2019.

    Xfinity Series Race Number 6
    Race Results for the 23rd Annual My Bariatric Solutions 300 – Saturday, March 30, 2019
    Texas Motor Speedway – Fort Worth, TX – 1.5 – Mile Paved
    Total Race Length – 200 Laps – 300. Miles

    FinStrNoDriverTeamLapsS1PosS2PosPtsStatus
    1518Kyle Busch(i)iK9 Toyota200240Running
    232Tyler ReddickNationwide Children’s Hospital Chevrolet2006348Running
    3120Christopher BellRuud Toyota2001550Running
    41598Chase Briscoe #Nutri Chomps Ford2000033Running
    568Jeb BurtonState Water Heaters Chevrolet2000736Running
    6131Michael AnnettPilot Flying J Chevrolet2000031Running
    71111Justin Haley #LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet2000932Running
    81481Jeffrey EarnhardtXtreme Racing Toyota2000029Running
    9823John Hunter Nemechek #Romco Equipment Co. Chevrolet2009030Running
    101939Ryan SiegCMR Construction & Roofing Chevrolet2000137Running
    11922Austin Cindric #MoneyLion Ford2007030Running
    1247Justin AllgaierCessna Chevrolet2003033Running
    13169Noah Gragson #Switch Chevrolet20010630Running
    142236Josh WilliamsSimcraft Chevrolet2000023Running
    152390Ronnie Bassett JrBassett Gutters and More Chevrolet1990022Running
    16184Ross ChastainSwan/Perpetua Advisors Chevrolet1990230Running
    172186Brandon Brown #Brandonbilt Motorsports Chevrolet1990020Running
    181221Kaz GralaHotScream Chevrolet1980019Running
    192499Tommy Joe MartinsDiamond Gusset Jeans Toyota1980018Running
    203152David StarrWhataburger Chevrolet1980017Running
    21208Gray Gaulding(i)GGPure.com/Flywheel Chevrolet1980016Running
    22301Stephen Leichtteamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet1980015Running
    233542Chad FinchumAmana Toyota1970014Running
    243735Joey GaseDonate Life Louisiana Toyota1960013Running
    253478Vinnie MillerKoolbox Chevrolet1960012Running
    261751Jeremy ClementsRepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet1960011Running
    27295Matt MillsJ.F. Electric Chevrolet1940010Running
    283366Tyler Hill(i)Chris Kyle Memorial Benefit Toyota191000Running
    293674Mike HarmonWoobies Shoes Chevrolet189008Running
    302693Josh BilickiThe BOSS/Woodshed Chevrolet184007Running
    31380Garrett SmithleyTrophy Tractor Chevrolet160006Engine
    322815BJ McLeodteamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet138005Running
    33219Brandon Jonesjdgibbslegacy.com Toyota13351011Accident
    3470Cole CusterJacob Companies Ford1324813Accident
    35257Ray Black IIISOKERN Scuba Life Chevrolet79002Accident
    361012Brad Keselowski(i)Pirtek Ford68800Accident
    373213Timmy HillChris Kyle Memorial Benefit Toyota20001Brakes
    382738Jeff GreenRSS Racing Chevrolet16001Brakes
  • Kyle Busch fends off Friesen for fourth consecutive Truck Series win

    Kyle Busch fends off Friesen for fourth consecutive Truck Series win

    Just when you think someone else in the Truck Series has a great shot to win, Kyle Busch comes through and wins again for the fourth consecutive time this season. It was his first win at Texas since 2014 and Busch didn’t miss a beat.

    The three stages were 35/35/71 laps for the Vankor 350, making up the 147 total laps.

    It was a wild race from the get go in the first stage that was 35 laps. Stage 1 saw four cautions and a thrilling finish at the end of all 35.

    The night didn’t start out so well for the Kyle Busch Motorsports team. Todd Gilliland brought out the first caution on lap three after bouncing off the wall and teammate Harrison Burton wrecked in Turn 2 on lap 11 thus ending his night early due to extensive damage.

    Turn 2 was the trouble spot again as Lap 18 saw Angela Ruch wreck off of Turn 2 and Gus Dean was involved to bring out the caution again. Dean was in an incident all by himself on the frontstretch, where he cut a right-rear tire down on Lap 26.

    Kyle Busch pitted under the Lap 26 caution, falling behind the leaders. This saw Thorsport teammates Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes battle it out for the stage win. Enfinger barely edge Rhodes at the line to win Stage 1.

    Unfortunately, issues arose for Enfinger and the No. 98 team, as their pit crew was over the wall too soon, which saw them get a penalty and lose any track position gained.

    Since Kyle Busch made a pit stop in Stage 1, he was able to stay out during the stage caution and claim the lead.

    Like Stage 1, Stage 2 was off to another wild start. On Lap 48, DGR-Crosley driver Anthony Alfredo, wrecked in Turn 2 after getting loose. When Alfredo hit the wall, his truck caught fire. However, he climbed out of his truck unscathed with no injuries.

    The red flag was flown on Lap 52 in an attempt to let safety workers clean up the accident and fluid that was put down by Alfredo. The red flag lasted for 15 minutes.

    Daytona winner Austin Hill started to have problems with his truck. Rising water temperatures were the issue as it rose to 270 degrees. The team came down pit road to pull the tape off, but went one lap down as a result.

    Kyle Busch went on to win Stage 2. It was his sixth stage win of the season.

    The race only got more wilder when the race restarted with 71 to go for the final stage.

    Busch retook the lead with 66 to go after a fierce battle with Brett Moffitt. Moffitt was able to close in 10 laps later, but the battle was built by yet another caution with 45 to go. This saw Korbin Forrister spin off Turn 2.

    Another incident and the caution flag was flown with 31 to go for Codie Rohrbaugh who wrecked in Turn 2.

    The final restart of the night came with 25 to go. It saw Busch, Moffitt, Sauter, among others battling for the race win. However, with 20 to go, Moffitt cut a right-rear tire ending any chances at a shot to win. This saw Stewart Friesen go to second.

    For the last 15 laps of the race, Friesen and Busch battled hard with each other for the race win. Unfortunately, with less than 10 to go, Friesen’s truck got loose and started to go away, and he began falling back. He ran out of time and was unable to catch Busch.

    Busch was able to fend off Stewart Friesen for his fourth consecutive Truck Series win of the season.

    “Yeah, it was a pretty good night for us,” Busch told MRN Radio. “Obviously, the Cessna Beechcraft Tundra was fast. I wish we were faster. I thought we were pretty good. Not as good as we wanted to be though when we stacked up against the field. The 24 (Brett Moffitt) was really fast, the 52 (Stewart Friesen) was really fast. They made me work for it. They certainly got my money’s worth tonight.”

    “You know, I want to say thanks to TRD, Rowdy Manufacturing, all the fans, the Truck Series fans,” Busch continued to MRN Radio. “The Truck Series fans are the thorough bread of our sport. Coming out here on a Friday night to support the truck guys is what makes all this go round. I appreciate them. Gander Outdoors and Black Clover, DEX sunglasses, Adidas, Incredible Bank. It takes a lot of us to go get all of this to go, so it’s fun.”

    Busch led seven times for 97 laps. There were six leaders among 16 lead changes and nine cautions for 47 laps.

    Stewart Friesen continues to lead the standings by six points over Grant Enfinger.

    The Truck Series takes a month off and will return to action at the Dover International Speedway on Friday, May 3.

  • Stewart Friesen, so close yet so far away

    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.

  • Solid Night for ThorSport Racing

    Solid Night for ThorSport Racing

    It was a solid night for most of the ThorSport Racing drivers. The finishing order saw Johnny Sauter, Grant Enfinger, and Matt Crafton all finish in the top five. Ben Rhodes finished 10th.

    Sauter started seventh and had a somewhat good truck. He finished ninth in Stage 1 but didn’t finish in the top-10 for Stage 2. He led once for seven laps after taking fuel only after Stage 2 to gain track position. Sauter was even in the close battle after the restart but fell to third. He was too far back to catch the race leaders or even challenge for the win, but it was still a good points night for the No. 13 Tenda Heal Ford, as he finished in third place.

    “I don’t know, it was an eventful night to say the least with our Tenda Ford F-150,” Sauter told MRN Radio describing his night. “I couldn’t thank the guys at Thorsport enough for busting their tails. Really a hard-fought third place finish. We battled for track position and then at the end there, we just decided to put four tires on it to forego track position making one last adjustment on it and it kind of came to life.”

    “So yeah,” Sauter continued in his post race interview with MRN Radio, “I don’t know if I ever had that kind of night, where you just feel like nothing you could do was right and you end up finishing third. So, we’ll take it and learn from it obviously. Man, what a crazy night. They bailed us out for that one.”

    It was Sauter’s second top five of the season.

    For Crafton, it was a different story. He started 12th and finished fifth. There were some moments during the race where he found himself battling with Kyle Busch for the win after a great pit stop by his crew. Ultimately, Crafton came home winless and is still looking for the win.

    “Second round of being back with Ford,” Crafton told MRN Radio. “Just trying to figure out everything that they want and just balance wise, we were off. We still need to be better on the short run and have better short run speed that we didn’t have tonight. We were able to catch up with Kyle (Busch) for a minute and he would just drive away. We sucked at restarts. But all in all, not a bad day for our Menards Ford F-150 Thorsport crew.”

  • Weekend Schedule for Texas

    Weekend Schedule for Texas

    For the first time since Las Vegas in mid-March, all three of NASCAR’s main series will be together and in action as the Gander Outdoors Truck Series, XFinity Series and the Monster Energy Cup Series will be taking to the fast 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Here is how you can watch all of the action unfold.

    Note: All times are ET

    Thursday, March 28th
    4:05 p.m. – 4:55 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series first practice (NO TV)
    6:05 p.m. – 6:55 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series final practice (NO TV)

    Friday, March 29th
    3:05 p.m. – 3:55 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, FS1
    4:05 p.m. – 4:55 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, FS1
    5:10 p.m. Gander Outdoors Truck Series Pole Qualifying (Single Vehicle/Two Rounds), FS1
    6:35 p.m. – 7:25 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, FS1
    7:40 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pole Qualifying, FS1
    9 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series Vankor 350 (Stages 35/70/147 Laps = 220.5 MILES), FS1

    Saturday, March 30th
    9:05 a.m. – 9:55 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS1
    10:10 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, FS1
    11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FS1
    1 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series My Bariatric Solutions 300 (STAGES 45/90/200 laps, 300 miles), FS1, PRN

    Sunday, April 8
    3 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 (85/170/334 laps, 501 miles), FOX, PRN