With NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series on break and at the half-way point their season, here are some news and notes to bridge from their 11th race to 11 more races to run.
Family Feud: Nemecheks Strikes Up Friendly Rivalry
A father-son rivalry is brewing in the Camping World Truck Series.
Joe Nemechek and his son John Hunter, who share the No. 8 SWM-NEMCO Motorsports Toyota Tundra SWM, have adopted a “friendly family challenge” this season, comparing finishes and laps led. Surprisingly, the 17-year-old has held his own against his father, who won the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 1992.
The elder Nemechek owns the top finish with a third-place performance at Texas Motor Speedway, but John Hunter has been close with two sixth-place runs. John Hunter takes bragging rights with 53 laps led compared to his father’s four.
And together, the Nemechek’s have helped SWM-NEMCO Motorsports hold the sixth spot in the owner points rankings (383).
The Nemecheks split time in the No. 8 SWM-NEMCO Motorsports Toyota Tundra because John Hunter can only compete on road courses and tracks that are 1.25 miles or less due to NASCAR’s age policy, requiring a driver be at 18 or older to drive on track longer than 1.25 miles. Joe has competed in six races, while John Hunter has driven in five. If all goes according to plan, John Hunter will race in five of the last 11 events on the series, while Joe will take the reins for the other six.
Joe competed in the last series event, the Pocono Mountains 150 at Pocono Raceway, posting his fourth top-ten finish in six starts this season. The younger Nemechek owns three top-ten finishes and has eclipsed a 100-point driver rating twice in his five starts.
Joe will pilot the No. 8 for his first series start at the two-mile Michigan International Speedway in the Careers for Veterans 200 on Aug. 16th. He has competed only in the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series at the track during his career. John Hunter’s next start in the series will come the following race on the .533-mile oval course at Bristol Motor Speedway in the UNOH 200 Presented by ZLoop on Aug. 20th.
Michigan: Kyle Busch’s Kryptonite
With five wins in five starts this season, it would seem Kyle Busch is unstoppable. The Sprint Cup Series driver returns to the No. 51 truck on Aug. 16 where he will meet his biggest challenge yet – Michigan International Speedway. In seven starts at the track, he has yet to find victory lane, making it the only track on his 2014 schedule at which he remains winless in the Camping World Truck Series. Of the tracks on the entire Truck Series schedule, Busch remains winless at Pocono, Michigan, Martinsville and Las Vegas.
Busch’s last start in the series came almost two months ago in the UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway on June 26, where he logged his sixth consecutive victory dating back to 2013. He led 91 laps (60.7%) on his way to the checkered flag after declaring, “Look forward to seeing you in Victory Lane” during driver introductions.
Although he has competed in just five races, Busch’s five wins lead the series, as do his 500 laps led. The next closest drivers in the series in those statistical categories are teammate Darrell Wallace, Jr. with two wins and 291 laps led and Matt Crafton with two wins and 223 laps led. Additionally, Busch has posted a perfect 150.0 driver rating in four of his five starts and boasts a 143.8 driver rating for the season.
While he has not recorded a victory at Michigan in the Camping World Truck Series, Busch won the Sprint Cup’s Pure Michigan 400 in 2011 and the Nationwide’s Cabelas 250 in 2004.
Points Leader Blaney Looks To Keep Streaking
There’s a reason – plenty of them, actually – why Ryan Blaney holds the points lead, and has for the last two weeks.
Here’s why: He has the most consecutive top-ten finishes (seven) this season, extending his streak at Pocono Raceway with a fifth-place finish; he leads the series with seven top-five finishes; and he ranks tied with Johnny Sauter for the lead in top-ten finishes, with nine.
All that has translated into a seven-point standings advantage over Sauter.
In addition to leading in points and a bevy of other categories, Blaney ranks first among championship contenders with a 103.9 driver rating. He has had a driver rating of over 100 in eight-of-11 races, including his last five consecutive starts.
Prior to the start of his top-ten finish streak, Blaney had two consecutive 22nd-place finishes at Kansas Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, dropping him to ninth in the points standings. Since then, his top-ten streak has launched him to the top of the standings.
The driver of the No.29 Ford F-150 will look to continue his steady pace at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 16 where he has yet to complete a lap – thanks to an accident on lap one in his only start there in 2013.