Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 Preview

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Fountain Of Youth

Last season’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visit to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario proved a battle of the sport’s young blood with Chase Elliot at 17 years and nine months, shaking off Ty Dillon at 21 years and six months, on the last lap to become the youngest winner in NASCAR national series history – a record broken two months later by NASCAR Next member Erik Jones at 17 years, five months, nine days.

Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 could make history once again as John Hunter Nemechek at 17 years and two months and NASCAR Next prospects Gray Gaulding at 16 years and six months and Cole Custer at 16 years and seven months have a shot to break the record for youngest race winner.

Nemechek and Custer turned in strong performances at Bristol, finishing sixth and eighth . Both drivers have placed in the top-ten in their last three truck appearances and seem poised to clinch their first national series victories. Gaulding has yet to record a top-ten finish in five truck series starts, but has flashed his potential on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East series where he ranks fifth in the standings.

A plus for the young drivers of the Camping World Truck Series, Canada is a stand-alone event. In four stand-alone races this season, three of the winners have been under 21.

FF-CWTS-CTMPCanadian Contenders

Canada will be well represented in the Chevrolet Silverado 250  as native drivers Alex Tagliani, Ray Courtemanche Jr., Cameron Hayley and Andrew Ranger make their Camping World Truck Series dèbuts on their home soil.

The four will attempt to become the first Canadian driver to win a NASCAR national series event since Ron Fellows came up victorious in the 2008 NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Fellows, who also happens to co-own Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, boasts the only two victories from a Canadian driver in Camping World Truck Series action – his last coming in 1999 in the Bully Hill Vineyards 150 at Watkins Glen. With a checkered flag, one of the Canadians can join Fellows six wins and one-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race-winner Earl Ross as the third native driver to place first in a NASCAR national series event.

Each competitor brings plenty of NASCAR experience to his first race. Calgary native and former NASCAR Next member Hayley ranks second in the K&N Pro Series East driver standings, while Montreal resident Tagliani has two Nationwide Series starts this season. Courtemanche, also from Montreal, is a familiar name in the Canadian Tire Series with five starts on the circuit this year, including the season-opener in Bowmanville. The 27-year-old Ranger, who calls Quebec home, has the most NASCAR national series experience among the four with 17 Nationwide appearances and one Sprint Cup start. In 2014, he’s been racing a full Canadian Tire Series schedule, sitting third in the points standings.

Last season marked the Camping World Truck Series’ inaugural visit to Canada – its first road course event since 2000.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to run in one of NASCAR’s top-three series, and I can’t believe I’m finally getting the chance to live that dream,” Hayley said. “Having my first truck series start in a place I consider ‘home’ is everything I could’ve ever hoped for.”

 

Kyle Busch Motorsports Drivers Hit Canada

After a slow start to the season, Darrell Wallace Jr. is rocketing up the Camping World Truck Series standings.

Behind the strength of two wins and two runner-up finishes, Wallace has scored more points, 318, than any other driver in the Camping World Truck Series’ last eight races. The surge has helped the 20-year-old move from 11th in the points rankings leaving the fifth race of the season at Dover to fifth after the most recent event at Bristol. Current standings leader Johnny Sauter’s 303 points are the second-most tallied in the series over the last eight events.

“We definitely have momentum on our side following some strong runs the last few weeks in our No. 54 Toyota Tundra,” Wallace said. “I’m pumped to get back to Canada, turn left and right, and hopefully leave with some hardware to add to this year’s finishes.”

Joining Wallace north of the border is his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Erik Jones – the youngest driver at 17 years, five months, nine days to ever win a NASCAR national series race.

At Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Jones will take a crack at his first road race and gun for his second win of the season – his first came at Iowa in July.

“I’ve been looking forward to making my first start on a road course for a long time and now that I’m finally getting the chance, I think it is going to be pretty fun,” Jones said. “It’s always tough going into a new situation in a race car, but I attended the Ron Fellows school and that helped out a lot.”