NASCAR Camping World Truck Series News and Notes – Friday, June 3, 2016

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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams are on break for one more week before their Rattlesnake 400 event at Texas Motor Speedway next Friday, June 10th. Fans can watch 167 laps covering 250.5 miles of racing action on FOX Sports 1 starting at 8:30 pm ET with a green flag around 9 pm ET with radio coverage available at MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

Three-Peat: Crafton Goes for Third Straight June Texas Victory

Matt Crafton, who’s won the last two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races this season and the past two June contests at Texas, will go for his third consecutive win in the Rattlesnake 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

In 30 career starts at Texas, Crafton owns two wins, 11 top-fives, 19 top-tens and a 9.7 average finish. He has placed in the top-ten in his last nine starts there. The ThorSport Racing driver also has three runner-up showings at Texas.

An intermediate track maven, Crafton boasts seven wins, 11 top-two showings and 18 top-ten finishes in 20 starts at 1.5-mile ovals since 2014.

Crafton leads the Truck Series standings on the strength of two wins, three top-fives and five top-tens. He holds a 12-point advantage over second-place Timothy Peters.

Decorated Class Vies for Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award

The drivers involved in the Camping World Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year race all have a decorated list of accomplishments.

Currently, William Byron leads the Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings, followed by Christopher  Bell (-3 points), Ben Rhodes (-16), Cole Custer (-18) and Rico Abreu (-30).

Byron, Rhodes, Custer and Abreu are all NASCAR Next Alumni, while Byron (2015) and Rhodes (2014) are NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champions.

Custer holds the title of youngest NASCAR national series winner. He visited Victory Lane in the 2014 Truck Series race at New Hampshire at age 16 years, 7 months, 28 days.

Abreu is the two-time defending champion of Chili-Bowl Nationals.

Bell, the 2013 USAC National Midget champion, won the Truck Series race at Eldora last summer. 

Standings Snapshot

Six races into the Camping World Truck Series season, two-time champion Matt Crafton leads on the strength of two wins, three top-fives and five top-tens. Trailing him are Timothy Peters (-12 points), Daniel Hemric (-17), Spencer Gallagher (-22) and William Byron (-26). Ryan Truex (-32), John Hunter Nemechek (-34), Tyler Reddick (-36), Christopher Bell (-37) and Johnny Sauter (-41) rounding out the top-ten.

Ten races remain before the seven-race Camping World Truck Series Chase that begins at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 24. It will feature eight drivers and two elimination rounds, with four drivers competing in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. A win in the first 16 races all but guarantees a driver entry into the Chase, provided that the driver is in the top-30 in points and has attempted to qualify for each race. 

Townley Takes Aim at Second Win

After winning his first career race at Las Vegas last season, John Wes Townley takes aim at his second win in the Rattlesnake 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Townley finished third in last season’s Camping World Truck Series standalone event at Texas and has two top-fives and three top-tens in eight career starts at the 1.5-mile track.

Right now, Townley sits 19th in the Truck Series standings with a high finish of seventh at Atlanta.

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