NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
American Ethanol presents the Drivin’ for Linemen 200 brought to you by Ameren
The Place: Gateway Motorsports Park
The Date: Saturday, June 13
The Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
TV: FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM Ch. 90
Distance: 200 miles for 160 laps
Passing Of The Torch:
John Hunter Nemechek To Take Over Full-Time Reins From Father
There is a dawning of a new era in the Camping World Truck Series.
One day following his 18th birthday on June 11th, John Hunter Nemechek is back in the driver’s seat for good.
Nemechek, who was sharing seat time with his father Joe in the No. 8 Chevrolet, will become old enough and now eligible to finish the rest of the Camping World Truck Series schedule beginning in Saturday’s American Ethanol presents the Drivin’ for Linemen 200 brought to you by Ameren at Gateway Motorsports Park.
John Hunter – a member of the NASCAR Next initiative highlighting the sport’s top up-and-coming drivers – has competed in two Camping World Truck Series races so far this year, logging finishes of 29th at Martinsville and 22nd at Dover. He had problems with his equipment in both events. In 14 career races, he claims one top-five and six top-ten finishes. The Mooresville, North Carolina native won the prestigious Snowball Derby Late Model race at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida in December.
Last season at Gateway, Nemechek led 53 laps before a late spin relegated him to 15th. His performance led to praise on Twitter from a litany of drivers, including Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick.
Joe Nemechek will take in the event as a guest analyst in the MRN booth. The 1992 XFINITY Series champion has won 20 NASCAR national series races in his career with 16 in the XFINITY Series and four in the Sprint Cup Series.
Three Party:
Crafton Captures Personal-Best Third Win As He Goes For Trifecta Of Titles
Only seven races into the Camping World Truck Series season, Matt Crafton boasts a career-best three victories. The No. 88 ThorSport Racing driver is off to a blazing start on his way to his third consecutive Camping World Truck Series title, holding a 25-point advantage in the driver standings over Tyler Reddick. Crafton’s average finish on the season is 3.0. If you remove his eighth-place showing in the season opener at Daytona, his average finish improves to 2.2.
Crafton will attempt to continue his momentum at Gateway on Saturday. He has one top-five at 9.1% and seven top-tens at 63.6% finishes in 11 starts at the Illinois track.
On Friday, June 12 at 11 p.m., the show, ‘Driven: Matt Crafton, Born to Race,’ was on FOX Sports South after the Atlanta Braves game. The program chronicles Crafton’s life and what led him to become a successful driver. Click here for more details and the show trailer.
New Winner Guaranteed At Gateway
No driver on this year’s entry list has ever won at Gateway, so there will be a new victor at the 1.25-mile track.
Darrell Wallace Jr. took the checkered flag at Gateway last year – the first Camping World Truck Series race there since 2010. Thirteen drivers have won in the 14 Camping World Truck Series races held at Gateway. Ted Musgrave is the only two-time winner in 2001 and 2005.
Talk Of The Town-ley:
John Wes Townley Logs Career-High Finish
John Wes Townley is hoping his performance last Friday is a “Zappetizer” for what’s to come.
The No. 05 Zaxby’s Chevrolet driver finished a career-best third in the WinStar Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Currently, Townley ranks fifth in the Camping World Truck Series driver standings and looks primed to move up. He claims three top-ten finishes in seven races this season.
Townley heads to Gateway Motorsports Park after finishing eighth in his only start at Gateway, last season.
“We’ve been running well in the truck and there’s no reason we can’t go to St. Louis and post a solid finish,” Townley said. “Gateway is a pretty flat track with two distinct corners. I’m sure my team will have a great truck for us there. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Brandon Jones will Miss High School Graduation for Race
On Saturday, Brandon Jones will be joining other notable young drivers, such as Ben Rhodes and Erik Jones, who recently skipped their high school graduations to compete in races.
The Richard Childress Racing development driver will run the No. 33 GMS Racing Chevrolet in the American Ethanol presents the Drivin’ for Linemen 200 brought to you be Ameren. Prior to the race, he will receive his diploma and a celebratory cake.
Jones recently recorded a season-high finish of eighth at Dover. The Atlanta, Georgia native has one top-five and two top-tens in 13 career starts.
Theriault Continues Trucks Success
Austin Theriault at 7.7 owns a better average finish in the No. 29 Ford this season than his team owner Brad Keselowski at 10.0.
Sharing seat time in the truck with Team Penske drivers Keselowski, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, Theriault notched his second top-five in three races last weekend at Texas with a fifth-place showing. In the other two events, he finished fourth at Daytona and 14th at Kansas.
Theriault will attempt to collect another top-five finish in Saturday’s Drivin’ for Linemen 200 brought to you be Ameren at Gateway Motorsports Park. The No. 29 is now sixth in the owner standings, one point behind the ThorSport Racing No. 98 for the fifth spot.
MB Motorsports Readies To Wow The Home Crowd
MB Motorsports will take a quick ride down the street from its Foristell, Missouri shop to Gateway Motorsports Park for Saturday’s race.
Tyler Tanner will take the wheel in front of the home crowd in his fifth start of the Camping World Truck Series season. Tanner is coming off a 17th-place showing at Texas and will try to tally his first top-ten finish of the season.
MB Motorsports has competed in every season since the Camping World Truck Series début in 1995 and has entered a car in each race at Gateway. The team has given many young drivers their start in NASCAR, including Sprint Cup Series winners Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski and Regan Smith.