NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Next Race: Chevrolet Silverado 250
The Place: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
The Date: Sunday, Aug. 30
The Time: 1:30 p.m. (ET)
TV: FOX Sports 1, 1 p.m. (ET)
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM Ch. 90
Distance: 157.37 miles (64 laps)
Canadian Cruiser:
Tagliani to Run Second Career Truck Race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
Alex Tagliani – a native of Montreal, Quebec, Canada – hopes to keep the trophy in his home country after he competes in Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport).
Tagliani will pilot the No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford F-150. Last season’s race at Mosport marked the first and only other time Tagliani drove in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He won the Keystone Light Pole Award and finished 16th.
A regular competitor in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, Tagliani has one win, four top-five and seven top-ten finishes in seven starts on the northern circuit. The 41-year-old driver took the wheel of Team Penske’s No. 22 in this year’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Mid-Ohio and looked to win from the pole until Regan Smith bumped him out-of-the-way on the last lap. Tagliani placed second.
Hayley Heads Home
NASCAR draws new international competitors every year. Drivers from outside the United States who have competed in the sanctioning body’s three national touring series this year include Anthony Kumpen (Belgium), Daniel Suarez (Mexico) and Alex Tagliani (Canada). One driver from outside the U.S. racing exclusively in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Cameron Hayley from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Hayley, who runs for ThorSport Racing out of Sandusky, Ohio, ranks sixth in the Camping World Truck Series standings. He will make his second career series start in Canada when he takes the wheel of his ThorSport Racing Toyota Tundra in Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. He placed 11th at Mosport last year.
On the season, Hayley owns three top-five and five top-ten showings in 14 starts with a best finish of fourth at Pocono.
Championship Points Race ‘Jam-Packed’ Entering Great White North
As if it couldn’t get any tighter, the top of the Camping World Truck Series championship points standings became jam-packed after last Wednesday’s race at Bristol. Tyler Reddick continues to lead Matt Crafton and Erik Jones, but only by six and seven points, respectively. Jones finished sixth and Crafton placed seventh to slightly close the gap on Reddick who came in eighth at ‘The Last Great Colosseum.’
Reddick has never raced at a road course. Jones started and finished third in his lone start at Mosport, last season. Crafton has finishes of sixth in 2014 and tenth in 2013 in his two starts at the track.
If Reddick or Jones, both 19, were to win the championship, they would become the youngest series title winner in its history, supplanting Austin Dillon, who accomplished the feat in 2011 at the age of 21 years, 6 months and 22 days.
Crafton is chasing his third consecutive series championship. Last year, he became the first driver to successfully defend a Camping World Truck Series title.
Gaulding Gets in Saddle for Kyle Busch Motorsports
NASCAR Next alum Gray Gaulding will pilot the No. 54 Krispy Kreme Toyota in his début for Kyle Busch Motorsports in Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Gaulding, 17, posted his career-best start and finish at Mosport last season when he placed fourth from the second position. He has made ten previous series starts – one in 2015, nine in 2014. The Colonial Heights, Virginia native is a regular in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East where he has four top-five and five top-ten finishes in eight starts this season.
“I’m very excited to be a part of KBM,” Gaulding said. “It’s a dream as a driver because I remember growing up watching Kyle and how much I wanted to drive for him when he started his own team. I know his mentality is to go out every weekend and win races. It’s a championship organization with great people and I know I’ll be able to go to the race track and have an opportunity to win at each race.”
Wong To Make Camping World Truck Series Début
Brian Wong will make his Camping World Truck Series début in Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, competing for Venturini Motorsports. The 26-year-old Californian is the first-ever Chinese American to score a podium finish in both the TUDOR United Sports Car Series as well as the ARCA Series. Wong has competed in the past in both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. In 22 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West/East starts, Wong claims two top-five and six top-ten finishes.
Will Another NASCAR Next Member/Alum Win At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park?
NASCAR Next drivers have taken a liking to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Both Camping World Truck Series races saw NASCAR Next members/alumni winners with Chase Elliott in 2013 and Ryan Blaney in 2014.
Since drivers under 18 years old can compete on road courses and tracks of 1.25 miles or less, NASCAR Next member Cole Custer and NASCAR Next alum Gray Gaulding – both 17 – join current NASCAR Next member John Hunter Nemechek and NASCAR Next alumni Erik Jones, Cameron Hayley and Ben Kennedy as Chevrolet Silverado 250 entrants.
All six drivers raced at Mosport for the first time last season: Jones (third-place finish), Gaulding (fourth), Custer (ninth), Hayley (11th), Kennedy (15th), Nemechek (25th).
Nemechek is coming off a career-best third-place finish at Bristol.
Daniel Hemric – Truck Series’ Model of Consistency
A light bulb must’ve clicked on for Daniel Hemric at Dover. Beginning at the Monster Mile, Hemric has logged top-ten finishes in eight of the last nine Camping World Truck Series races. Book-ending the span are two fourth-place showings – Hemric’s two career-best finishes. Prior to his current run, Hemric had just one top-ten finish of tenth at Kansas, in the first eight races. The 24-year-old Kannapolis, North Carolina native has ascended from tenth in the series standings before the Dover race all the way up to fifth. Hemric will go for his fifth consecutive top-ten in Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. He has never competed on a road course in a NASCAR national series, but showed adaptability by finishing fifth at Eldora in his first time racing on dirt.
Dramatic Finishes Highlight First Two Truck Races In Canada
It’s not ‘Guiding Light’ or ‘As the World Turns’ but fans are more than likely to witness high-octane drama in Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Both of the Camping World Truck Series races at Mosport in 2013-14 have featured dramatic finishes. In 2013, Chase Elliott became the youngest winner in NASCAR national series history – a record that has since been broken twice – when he dumped Ty Dillon on the last lap to visit Victory Lane. Last year, Ryan Blaney and German Quiroga each passed each other on the last lap as Blaney edged out Quiroga by a mere 0.49 seconds.