NASCAR Camping World Truck Series News & Notes – Saturday, July 16, 2016

CWTS-NN

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has a week off before their next race on dirt at Eldora Speedway for the Dental Eldora Dirt Derby on Wednesday, July 20th. There are three segments of 40 – 50 – 60 laps for a total of 150 laps covering 75 miles of this fan favorite event. Television overage is on FOX Sports 1 starting at 8:30 pm ET with the green flag around 9 pm ET. Radio coverage is on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90..

Bluegrass Bullet:

Byron Captures Fourth Win, KBM’s Record 51st Victory At Kentucky

William Byron led a race-high 70 laps on his way to his Camping World Truck Series-high fourth victory of the season in last Friday’s Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway. Byron’s triumph was the 51st Camping World Truck Series win for Kyle Busch Motorsports, which surpassed Roush Fenway Racing (50) for the most wins in series history.

Now 224 points ahead of 31st-place Jennifer Jo Cobb, Byron officially owns a berth in the Camping World Truck Series Chase. He leads the series standings by 13 points over Matt Crafton and has 12 bonus points (three for each win) for the first round of the Chase.

Byron has three wins in his last four races, KBM has visited Victory Lane in the last four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series contests (Texas: Byron, Iowa: Byron, Gateway: Christopher Bell, Kentucky Byron).

Only 18 years old, the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion paces the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in wins (4), average start (5.6), average finish (9.0) and driver rating (113.7). He ranks second to two-time series champion Matt Crafton in fastest laps (182, Crafton has 212), and laps led (357, Crafton has 398).

Byron’s performance through the first ten races compares favorably to last year’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Erik Jones, a fellow Kyle Busch Motorsports driver, whose crew chief was also Rudy Fugle. Jones had one win, six top-fives and seven top-tens through the first ten races, compared to Byron’s four wins, five top-fives and six top-tens. Although he didn’t have to navigate the Camping World Truck Series Chase, Jones finished his season strong with at least a top-ten finish in the last 15 races. 

Chase Outlook

Six races remain until the Camping World Truck Series Chase. Currently, five drivers are virtually guaranteed berths since they have won a race, but that could change if there are more than eight winners. The berths would then be determined by wins, then points.

Through the first ten races, the Chase Grid is as follows: William Byron (4 wins), Matt Crafton (2 wins), Johnny Sauter (1 win), John Hunter Nemechek (1 win), Christopher Bell (1 win), Daniel Hemric (43 points ahead of Ben Kennedy on the cutoff line), Timothy Peters (+43) and Tyler Reddick (+14).

The following drivers are on the outside of the Chase Grid looking in: Ben Kennedy (14 points behind Tyler Reddick on the cutoff line), Ben Rhodes (-16), Cameron Hayley (-23), Spencer Gallagher (-24) and Cole Custer (-26).

The Camping World Truck Series returns to action at Eldora Speedway on Wednesday, July 20 for the Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby. 

Hemric Hauls to High Finish, Draws Rave Reviews from Keselowski

Daniel Hemric hauled his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford to a third-place finish at Kentucky, tying his career best (three times).

If the regular season ended today, Hemric would make the Camping World Truck Series Chase. He sits sixth on the Chase Grid – a comfortable 43 points above Ben Kennedy on the cutoff line – on the strength of four top-fives and a series-high-tying eight top-tens.

Hemric’s truck owner Keselowski praised him the day after the Kentucky race.

“I think the interesting thing about Daniel is he’s one of those guys I think will be a better Cup racer than he is a Truck racer just with his style, his technique, his demeanor, his enthusiasm and thoughtful approach,” Keselowski said. “Sometimes we look at the Truck Series and the XFINITY Series and we compare them to the collegiate level sports. If I was to do that, I’d say Daniel is one of those guys that reminds me of a Tom Brady. He might not have the glorious college numbers, but he’s a guy who has amazing potential at the Sprint Cup level. Making moves that he’s making and doing the things that he’s doing show to me that he’s capable of being an élite level guy at the top of the sport. Sometimes that doesn’t always get a lot of highlights or a lot of praise in the second or third tier of this sport, but I see a lot of that in him and I’m really proud of him.” 

Dirt Aces Racing for Eldora with Kings Royal

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers Christopher Bell and Rico Abreu are both competing in the 33rd annual Kings Royal sprint car races at Eldora Speedway this weekend before next Wednesday’s Aspen Dental Dirt Derby at the Tony Stewart-owned track.

Bell ranks fifth in the Camping World Truck Series Chase Grid and is virtually guaranteed a spot in the playoffs by virtue of his win at Gateway. He claims one victory, four top-fives and six top-tens in ten starts this season. The No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports driver will pilot a sprint car owned by Tony Stewart in the Kings Royal. He is the defending winner of the Aspen Dental Dirt Derby.

At 14th on the Chase Grid (54 points below the cutoff line), Abreu essentially needs to win to get into the Chase. Eldora could be the spot as the two-time defending Chili Bowl Nationals champion is one of the best dirt racers in the world.

Both Bell and Abreu developed in racing as open-wheel dirt standouts.

In 2015, Bell tallied six POWRi Midget wins, two USAC National Midget wins, one USAC Silver Crown win and his second career World of Outlaws Sprint Car victory. In 2013, he was the 2013 USAC National Midget champion.

Abreu’s dirt highlights include: 2015 and 2016 Chili Bowl Nationals winner, 2015 Pepsi Nationals winner, 2014 USAC Midget National champion, 2013 and 2014 Johnny Key Classic winner, 2013 4 Crown Nationals Winner at Eldora Speedway, and 2013 and 2014 Belleville Midget Nationals winner.