NASCAR Camping World Truck Series News & Notes – April 8, 2016

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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams are once again taking a break before their next race the Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway on Friday, May 6th.  Fans can watch teams race 250.5 miles for 167 laps on FOX Sports 1 starting at 8 pm ET with a green flag around 8:30 pm ET and radio coverage by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on channel 90.

Nemechek’s in at Top of Truck Series Standings

John Hunter Nemechek continued his sizzling start to his first full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season by finishing runner-up in Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway.

The 18-year-old NASCAR Next member now ranks first in the Camping World Truck Series standings, three points ahead of Parker Kligerman. Nemechek has all but locked up a berth in the Camping World Truck Series Chase via his win at Atlanta.

He has finished second or better in four of his last five Truck Series starts and five of his last seven.

Solid Timing: Kyle Busch Collects First Grandfather Clock

It took him 31 starts across NASCAR’s three national series, but Kyle Busch captured his first Martinsville grandfather clock after leading a race-high 123 laps on his way to Victory Lane In Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250.

The win was the 45th of Busch’s Truck Series career. His Kyle Busch Motorsports team boasts a track-record five victories at Martinsville. 

Byron Bullets to First Podium Finish

Last year’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion William Byron sped to a third-place finish at Martinsville Speedway – the first top-five showing of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career.

The NASCAR Next member improved from his previous career high of 13th, set earlier this season at Daytona.

“It was a long race,” Byron said. “We started out really loose and then we made a few adjustments and kind of fell back to 11th or 12th. Our biggest struggling point was like midway through the race and then we started to really come on strong the last 80-90 laps, and really got good to where we could drive up to the front. I wish we could have done something on the last couple of restarts, but we were just a little too tight.” 

Lights. Camera. Kligerman.

Parker Kligerman continues to impress early in the Camping World Truck Series season.

The 25-year-old Connecticut native notched his series-best third top-ten showing after placing eighth at Martinsville and sits second in the Truck Series standings, three points below John Hunter Nemechek.

Kligerman continued to show off his ability to pass. He started the race 25th before moving up 17 places to eighth. His average place differential on the season is 15.3.

“We obviously didn’t qualify as well as we had hoped,” Kligerman said. “But we knew we had a good race truck and sure enough, just like Atlanta and Daytona, when the race started, we started mowing them down.”

One of the surprise stories of the 2016 Truck Series campaign, Kligerman serves as a NASCAR analyst for NBCSN and is the co-founder of Focus Now Solutions, the manufacturer of focus-enhancing beverage product Focus7 Shot.

Peters Powers to Fifth-Place Finish at Martinsville

Danville, Virginia native Timothy Peters impressed the hometown crowd in Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville by powering his way from the 16th starting spot to a fifth-place finish.

“The first part of the race we were just extremely tight and (crew chief) Shane (Huffman) and the guys kept working on it every pit stop,” Peters said. “They did a great job making adjustments. We still ended up with a top five with the way that our day started, so our Tundra was pretty good there at the end, I just wish we could’ve had that balance from the green flag.”

The effort helped Peters move up to third in the Camping World Truck Series standings, six points behind leader John Hunter Nemechek.

Peters has finished sixth or better in ten of his last 11 races. 

Canadian Cruiser: Cameron Hayley Off to Strong Sophomore Start

Following an up and down Sunoco Rookie season in the Camping World Truck Series, Cameron Hayley has shown marked improvement in his sophomore campaign.

The 19-year-old Canadian ranks tied with his ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton for the series lead in driver rating (100.2), and claims one top-five and two top-tens this season.

Hayley’s strong start has positioned him fifth in the Truck Series points standings, 17 marks behind John Hunter Nemechek. He finished ninth on Saturday at Martinsville where he led 11 laps.

Last year, Hayley placed sixth in the last Truck Series standings on the strength of four top-fives and 13 top-tens. 

Decker Sisters Make History at Martinsville

Paige and Claire Decker joined Angela and Amber Cope as the second pair of sisters to compete in a NASCAR national series race when they qualified for Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250.

Paige, 23, finished 25th, while Claire, 21, finished 27th.

The start was the second of Paige’s career and the first for Claire.

Claire is an alumna of the NASCAR Driver for Diversity program operated by Rev Racing.

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