NASCAR Camping World Truck Series LTI Printing 200 at Michigan Preview

Following a week off, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams are heading to Michigan International Raceway for the LTI Printing 200 on Saturday, August 12th at 1 pm ET. Coverage begins at 12:30 pm ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Drivers will race 200 miles over 100 laps with Stage 1 ending on lap 30, Stage 2 on lap 60 and the last Stage ending on the last lap 100.

Brett Moffitt is the defending Camping World Truck Series winner at Michigan, while Ben Rhodes (sixth), Matt Crafton (seventh), Grant Enfinger (eighth) and Johnny Sauter (ninth) all finished inside the top-ten.

What To Watch For: Four races remain until the Camping World Truck Series playoffs. Barring more than eight winners, five of the eight playoff berths have been clinched by Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton and Kaz Grala.

Darrell Wallace Jr. returns to the Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 99 truck for Matthew Miller. Wallace has five career NCWTS wins. Fifteen different drivers have won the 17 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Michigan. Greg Biffle is the only repeat winner.

Fifteen different drivers have won the 17 Camping World Truck Series races at Michigan. Greg Biffle is the only repeat winner.

2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs Countdown: Four Races

With only four Camping World Truck Series regular season races remaining, below is a look at the playoff picture heading into Michigan this week.

Rank   Driver                         Points             Race Wins      Playoff Points        Pts from Cutoff

1          Christopher Bell          528                  4                      24                                –

2          JH Nemechek             396                  2                      11                                –

3          Johnny Sauter             510                  1                      10                                –

4          Matt Crafton                464                  1                      7                                  –

5          Kaz Grala                    291                  1                      5                                  –

6          Chase Briscoe            470                  0                      1                                 88

7          Ben Rhodes                387                  0                      1                                  5

8          Ryan Truex                 386                  0                      1                                  4

9          Grant Enfinger            382                  0                      0                                  -4

10        Noah Gragson            345                  0                      1                                -37

11        Austin Cindric             324                  0                      0                                -62

12        Justin Haley                285                  0                      0                              -101

(Top-Three = in on race wins, Four through Eight = in on points, Nine through 12 = now outside the playoffs)

Playoff Bubble Drivers At Michigan

With the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoff picture above, below is an in-depth look at drivers ranked 7-12 in the current playoff standings.

  1. Ben Rhodes: Currently seventh in the Camping World Truck Series playoffs standings, Ben Rhodes is in need of a win to cement his name in the playoffs. The ThorSport Racing driver has one career Camping World Truck Series start at Michigan – he finished sixth there in his track debut last season.
  1. Ryan Truex: Coming off a season-best finish at Pocono (third), Ryan Truex will look to improve upon that in his second career Camping World Truck Series start at Michigan this week. Truex made his track debut at the two-mile track last season and finished 23rd.
  1. Grant Enfinger: Even though he is a Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender, Grant Enfinger does have a Camping World Truck Series start at Michigan under his belt. He made his track debut there last season and finished eighth after starting ninth. Enfinger is having a strong Sunoco Rookie season, as he’s battled with Brad Keselowski Racing driver Chase Briscoe all season. Enfinger is now four points away from a Camping World Truck Series playoffs spot.
  1. Noah Gragson: Coming off a wreck at Pocono, the 24th-place showing ended Sunoco Rookie Noah Gragson’s seven-race streak of top-ten finishes. Gragson has yet to make a Camping World Truck Series start at Michigan International Speedway, but will look to get back on track and score another top-finish this season. Gragson has two top-fives and eight top-tens in 12 starts this season for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
  1. Austin Cindric: Currently 11th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs standings, Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Austin Cindric has been racing well as of late. The Brad Keselowski Racing driver has four-consecutive top-ten finishes and hasn’t finished outside the top-25 since Daytona. Cindric is 62 points away from the Camping World Truck Series playoffs cut off and has not made a start at Michigan International Speedway yet in his career. 
  1. Justin Haley:  Only making ten starts in the Camping World Truck Series this season, GMS Racing and Sunoco Rookie driver Justin Haley have made the most of them. Haley has finished top-ten or better in eight of those starts and is now 12th in the Camping World Truck Series Playoffs standings. He has never made a career start at Michigan, but will need those top-ten finishes to inch closer to the playoff cutoff line. He’s currently 101 points back from eighth place driver Ryan Truex.

Michigan Wolverine: Johnny Sauter Makes Case for Michigan Dominance

2016 Camping World Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter is looking for his second win of the season this week at Michigan International Speedway.

Sauter is having another championship-worthy season, as he is second in Camping World Truck Series driver points – only 18 points back of leader Christopher Bell. The GMS Racing driver is now third in the Camping World Truck Series playoff standings – racking up ten playoff points this season – the third-most among active drivers.

In eight career Camping World Truck Series starts at Michigan, Sauter has been a Wolverine – scoring one win (2014), two top-fives and three top-tens. He’s led 46 career laps at Michigan and has never finished outside the top-20.

He will look to continue that run this weekend. 

Michigan International Speedway Quick Facts

As the Camping World Truck Series heads to Michigan International Speedway this weekend, below are some series quick facts at the two-mile track:

Races: 17

Pole Winners: 13

Youngest Pole Winner: Austin Dillon (06/12/2010 – 20 years, 1 months, 16 days)

Oldest Pole Winner: Mike Skinner (06/14/2008 – 50 years, 11 months, 17 days)

Race Winners: 15

Youngest Winner: Colin Braun (06/13/2009 – 20 years, 8 months, 22 days)

Oldest Winner: Dennis Setzer (06/18/2005 – 45 years, 3 months, 22 days)

Races Won from Pole (or 1st Starting Position): Travis Kvapil (06/16/2007)

Race Record: Johnny Sauter 161.11 mph (08/16/2014)

Qualifying Record: Jeb Burton 185.759 mph (08/17/2013)

Michigan State Spartans: The 15 Different Race Winners in 17 Races

Since 1999, there have been 17 Camping World Truck Series races at Michigan International Speedway.

In that span, there are only two repeat winners; Greg Biffle (1999 and 2000) and Travis Kvapil (2004 and 2007). Biffle remains the only driver to win back-to-back Camping World Truck Series races at Michigan.

Below is a list of Camping World Truck Series winners at Michigan since 1999:

1999 – Greg Biffle

2000 – Greg Biffle

2002 – Robert Pressley

2003 – Brendan Gaughan

2004 – Travis Kvapil

2005 – Dennis Setzer

2006 – Johnny Benson Jr.

2007 – Travis Kvapil

2008 – Erik Darnell

2009 – Colin Braun

2010 – Aric Almirola

2011 – Kevin Harvick

2012 – Nelson Piquet Jr.

2013 – James Buescher

2014 – Johnny Sauter

2015 – Kyle Busch

2016 – Brett Moffitt

Among the Camping World Truck Series winners at Michigan are Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champions Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Aric Almirola and 2016 Camping World Truck Series Champion Johnny Sauter.

First Timers at Michigan

There are six Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders making their track debut at Michigan International Speedway in Saturday’s LTI Printing 200. They include Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Stewart Friesen, Noah Gragson, Kaz Grala and Justin Haley.

Other Camping World Truck Series Sunoco Rookie contenders who have made starts at Michigan International Speedway include Wendell Chavous, Cody Coughlin, and Grant Enfinger.

In 17 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Michigan International Speedway, current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (06/18/2005), Joey Coulter (08/18/2012) and Brian Ickler (06/13/2009) are the only three drivers to win their first career Camping World Truck Series poles at Michigan.

Johnny Benson (06/17/2006), Colin Braun (06/13/2009) and Brett Moffitt (08/27/2016) are the only three drivers to win their first career Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

Also Noteworthy…

Kyle Busch Running in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Michigan: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch will be running in the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota at Michigan International Speedway. Busch has nine Camping World Truck Series starts at Michigan with one win (2015) and seven top-fives.

Bubba Wallace Jr. Returns to NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Darrell Wallace Jr. will be back on track this weekend and return to the Camping World Truck Series at Michigan International Speedway. Wallace Jr. will pilot the No. 99 Chevrolet for owner Matthew Miller in the LTI Printing 200. He has five career wins in the Camping World Truck Series, including a four-win campaign in 2014 for Kyle Busch Motorsports.