Although they are not on track this weekend, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams are heading to Eldora Speedway to race on dirt in the Eldora Dirt Derby this Wednesday, July 19th at 9:30 pm ET. Coverage begins at 9 pm ET on FOX Business, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
This week’s news and notes will give a glimpse into what to expect this Wednesday night.
Christopher Bell Continues Championship-Worthy Campaign
Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Christopher Bell captured his third Camping World Truck Series victory of 2017 when he won the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway. Involved in a small incident early in the race on lap 27 Bell recovered to come back and beat out Brandon Jones for the win.
With three Camping World Truck Series victories this season, Bell now has more wins this season than his two previous seasons, and we’re only through ten races. He won once in 2016 at Gateway Motorsports Park and once in 2015 at Eldora Speedway.
Bell is well on his way to the Camping World Truck Series playoff this season as he leads the series with three wins and sits only 28 points behind series points leader and defending champion Johnny Sauter in the standings. He now leads the series in playoff points accumulated so far this season with 19.
Through ten races this season, Bell also has seven top-fives and nine top-tens. He has led 492 laps this season – the most among active drivers.
Bell will look for a revenge victory of sorts when the Camping World Truck Series hits the dirt at Eldora Speedway next Wednesday night.
Bell won his first Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway in 2015 and finished second there last season to Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson.
Haley Scores Career-Best Finish
GMS Racing driver and Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Justin Haley notched a career-best Camping World Truck Series finish when he placed third at Kentucky Speedway.
The third-place showing at Kentucky is Haley’s fifth consecutive top-ten or better series finish.
Haley was happy with his career-best series finish even if it kept him up late.
“It’s late. It’s way past my bed time but had a good night tonight (laughing). We have been struggling on the mile-and-a-half’s because I am pretty new to them but we had a good strategy tonight. We snugged the truck up so I could be pretty good on restarts and it paid off.”
Haley has one top-five, six top-tens and has led seven laps led this season.
He is now sixth in the Camping World Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year points standings and 12th in the series points standings.
Gragson Captures First Stage Win
Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender and Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Noah Gragson collected his first stage win of the 2017 Camping World Truck Series season when he won Stage 2 at Kentucky Speedway.
The stage win also gives Gragson his first series playoff point.
The Sunoco Rookie is right on the Camping World Truck Series playoffs bubble as he now sits ninth in the series standings. Gragson has made strong strides in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings, as he is now third behind Chase Briscoe and Grant Enfinger.
After starting the 2017 season with two finishes outside the top-25 in his first four races, Gragson has picked up his pace and has strung together six consecutive top-ten or better finishes.
He landed his second top-five finish of the season at Kentucky Speedway and led the most laps of any race this season there as well (32).
Rookie Battle Shaping Up as One for the Ages
Brad Keselowski Racing driver Chase Briscoe and ThorSport Racing driver Grant Enfinger have been battling back-and-forth for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year lead all season, especially as of late.
Over the past four races, they have volleyed the lead between both Camping World Truck Series Sunoco Rookies. Below shows the point battle for the lead over the last four Camping World Truck Series races.
Winstaronlinegaming.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway
Enfinger – 88
Briscoe – 84
Drivin’ For Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park
Briscoe – 104
Enfinger – 104
M&M’s 200 at Iowa Speedway
Enfinger – 122
Briscoe – 117
Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway
Briscoe – 125
Enfinger – 125
With the Camping World Truck Series heading into Eldora Speedway, both Sunoco Rookies are making their series debut at the dirt track.
Camping World Truck Series Playoff Bubble Drivers
With six Camping World Truck Series races remaining before the playoffs begin at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, it’s time to take a look at some of the playoff bubble drivers heading into Eldora Speedway next week.
- Ryan Truex: Truex (-1) is now one point behind eighth place Sunoco Rookie Grant Enfinger. Truex has had a strong season so far, as he has two top-fives, six top-tens and has only finished outside the top-25 once at Daytona. Truex has had some bad luck as of late – he was in a wreck at Kentucky and his No. 16 Toyota Tundra overheated at Iowa.
- Noah Gragson: Gragson (-17) is 17 points back of a Camping World Truck Series playoff spot, but has put together six consecutive top-tens. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender has led 16 laps or more in his last two races and is hitting his stride in the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra.
- Austin Cindric: Cindric (-62) is vastly improving as the Camping World Truck Series season progresses. Finishing 27th at Daytona, Cindric hasn’t finished outside the top-25 since then. The Brad Keselowski Racing driver has back-to-back top-ten finishes, including a season-best finish of fourth at Kentucky Speedway.
- Justin Haley: Haley (-91) has driven strong for GMS Racing as of late. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender has five-consecutive top-tens including a career-best finish of third at Kentucky. He owns an average finish of 11.1 on the season.
- Cody Coughlin: Coughlin (-106) is consistent in his Sunoco Rookie season driving for ThorSport Racing in the No. 13 Toyota Tundra. Coughlin has finished top-20 or better in six-consecutive races. He owns a season-best finish of 11th at Daytona.
Also Noteworthy…
Practice Makes Perfect… Even In The Dirt: Camping World Truck Series dirt dynamo Christopher Bell will compete in the 34th annual Kings Royal sprint car races at Eldora Speedway over this weekend in preparation for next Wednesday’s Camping World Truck Series race at the Tony Stewart-owned track.