NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams are prepping for the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, March 24th at 2 pm ET. FOX Sports 1 pre-race coverage begins at 1:30 pm ET with radio coverage also available on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Distance: 131.5 miles (250 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 70),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 140), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 250)
What to Watch For: Timothy Peters will be making his 2018 debut this weekend. The veteran truck series driver scored the first of his ten series wins at Martinsville in 2009.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano’s only career truck series win came at this track in 2015. No Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series full-timers are entered at Martinsville this weekend.
Updates from the Track: Three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practices produced three different leaders on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. Justin Haley topped the speed chart at 94.125 mph in opening practice, with Matt Crafton fastest in second practice at 94.571 mph and Crafton’s ThorSport Racing teammate, Grant Enfinger, quickest in final practice at 95.055 mph…
The engine in Todd Gilliland’s No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota blew after running six laps in second practice. Gilliland will make his first start of the season at Martinsville on Saturday, but he’ll do so from the rear of the field because of the engine change. With the new power plant in his truck, Gilliland was 12th fastest in final practice.
They’re Back!
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action this weekend after a two-week hiatus to take on Martinsville Speedway.
Noah Gragson (Fall) and Chase Elliott (Spring) won the two races at ‘The Paperclip’ in 2017. For Gragson, it was his first career victory and followed up a fourth-place finish in the spring race.
It was Elliott’s second career victory in the Camping World Truck Series. His first came in 2013 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
Gragson has a chance to go back-to-back at Martinsville as he is entered this weekend in the familiar No. 18 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Elliott is not entered in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
Todd Gilliland – A New Beginning
Todd will finally be able to start his 2018 campaign behind the wheel of the No. 4 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports when the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Martinsville this Saturday.
He isn’t eligible to compete on intermediate tracks or superspeedways until he reaches his 18th birthday in May. So, until now, in 2018 Todd’s had to sit on the sidelines and watch a cast of substitute drivers pilot his truck.
His dad, David drove it in the season-opener at Daytona before his truck owner, Kyle Busch, took over for Atlanta and Spencer Davis drove it in Las Vegas.
It hasn’t been easy for Todd to sit back and watch other drivers pilot his truck.
“It’s been very hard. I’m a racer and all I want to do is race. Seeing other people jump in the truck you are going to be in the rest of the year is really tough, but you have to take every opportunity you have to learn and catch up to the guys who already have three more races worth of experience than I do.”
Todd competed in six Camping World Truck Series races in 2017, posting a pair of top- fives and three top–tens. His best finish was a third at New Hampshire and he crossed the line fifth at Martinsville in the fall.
Like Father, Like Son – Familiar Grounds
When you see two trucks on the track sporting the name “Nemechek” on the back window, it will be a familiar reunion. Joe Nemechek and his son John Hunter have raced against each other in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 18 times.
NEMCO Motorsports is truly a family affair, with Joe Nemechek owning the team and fielding the two trucks that the father-son duo drive.
Their best-combined finish on track together came in the 2017 Daytona race, when they crossed the line in fourth (John Hunter) and fifth (Joe).
John Hunter took two of his five career NASCAR Camping Truck Series checkered flags at races in which his dad was also running – Gateway and Iowa last season.
Joe has tallied just 42 starts in the truck series but has made 667 starts in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and taken the green flag 430 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He finished third at Daytona in the No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet to start the 2018 season before placing 12th at Atlanta in the same truck John Hunter will drive this weekend at Martinsville.
Joe has just one start at Martinsville in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, last year’s spring race in which he finished 18th.
John Hunter, who was a series Playoff contender in each of the last two seasons, is running a part-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule this year while also racing multiple races for Chip Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – his inaugural effort in that series.
The 20-year-old driver will be back behind the wheel of the No. 8 Chevrolet, hoping to have better luck on the half-mile Martinsville pavement than he had in his two starts earlier this season. John Hunter finished 25th at Daytona after being caught up in a crash and finished four laps down in 21st at Las Vegas.
To do that, he will also have to overcome the struggled that he had in his last two starts at Martinsville in 2017, when he finished 28th (spring) and 30th (fall). However, John Hunter tallied a pair of runner-ups and a third-place finish in the three races before that. In nine starts at ‘The Paperclip,’ he has three top- fives and three top-tens.
Good Things Come in Threes for Johnny Sauter
Add up the digits in Johnny Sauter’s truck number and you get ‘three.’ And that seems to be his number as of late.
The 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion has put his No. 21 Chevrolet for GMS Racing on the podium in each of the first three races this season.
His results? A win at Daytona, third-place at Atlanta and a runner-up finish two weeks ago in Las Vegas.
It gets better. You have to go back to Talladega of last year to find a finish outside the top–three for the veteran. He ended the season by finishing third at Martinsville, winning in Texas and Phoenix and then coming home third in Homestead-Miami.
That means the Wisconsin native has put together seven top–three results in a row.
And there’s no reason to expect that streak to end. Sauter has crossed the finish line in the top- three in his last…get this…three races at the track where the series races this weekend – Martinsville (2016 – 1st, 2017 – 2nd, 2018 – 3rd).
Oh, one more thing. Sauter has three wins at ‘The Paperclip’ (Spring 2011, Spring 2013, Fall 2016).
Fountain of Youth Flowing at Kyle Busch Motorsports
The average age of the three drivers behind the wheel of Kyle Busch Motorsports trucks this weekend at Martinsville Speedway will be just shy of 18.
Noah Gragson is the elder statesman of the group at 19 while Todd Gilliland and Harrison Burton are each 17-years old. All three drivers are products of the NASCAR Next developmental program and came up through the NASCAR K&N Pro Series.
Gilliland captured the K&N West crown in 2016 and 2017 while Burton was the champion in the East in 2017. Gragson tallied six wins in the two series in 2015 and 2016.
The surprising veteran out of the trio at Martinsville is Burton – who has the most starts of the KBM group on the half-mile track with three.
Martinsville was the site of his first career series start in the fall of 2016. He finished 22nd in that initial outing and went on to make six series starts in 2017 – including both Martinsville races. He tallied a best finish of fourth in the fall race at ‘The Paperclip’ last year for his first career top-five finish.
Gragson’s two previous races at Martinsville came last season, and he proved to be a quick study on the short track. He finished fourth in his series track debut in the spring and then collected his first career series win in the fall.
Of his six career truck series race, Gilliland has made one start at Martinsville, placing fifth last fall.
Getting to Know All About You
2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter is in a very familiar place – atop- the standings. His season-opening win at Daytona instantly made him a contender for his second championship by virtually ensuring he’s in the Playoffs.
But if we were to start the Playoffs this weekend in Martinsville, the rest of post-season field might require a bit of an introduction – and that’s OK with those drivers who are looking to unseat veterans like Sauter and two-time champion Matt Crafton at the head banquet table.
The remaining seven drivers currently in the top- eight in the standings have combined for five wins and just 177 starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. By comparison, points leader Sauter has 224 starts and 18 career series wins.
Crafton, who currently sits just outside the Playoff picture in ninth, has tallied 410 starts and 14 series race wins.
Here’s a quick look at the career numbers for the top- eight drivers in the standings:
- Johnny Sauter – No. 21 Chevrolet for GMS Racing
Sauter is the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion and has accumulated 18 career wins in 224 starts. He’s posted 91 top-five and 143 top-ten finishes, starting on the pole six times.
- Brett Moffitt – No. 16 Toyota for Hattori Racing Enterprises
Moffitt has a pair of wins in 16 races in the series, including a win earlier this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He has recorded five top-five and eight top-ten finishes.
- Grant Enfinger – No. 98 Ford for ThorSport Racing
In 40 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts, Enfinger has tallied a win (Talladega in 2016), 12 top-five and 23 top-ten finishes. He has started on the pole once (Daytona in 2016).
- Noah Gragson – No. 18 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports
Gragson has one win (Martinsville, in the fall, 2017 race), five top- fives and 14 top-tens in 28 series starts. He also won three pole awards in 2017.
- Ben Rhodes – No. 41 Ford for ThorSport Racing
Rhodes has 53 series starts under his belt with one win (Las Vegas, 2017), 11 top- fives and 23 top-tens. He also has recorded two pole positions.
- Stewart Friesen – No. 52 Chevrolet for Halmar Friesen Racing
Friesen has 28 career starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, putting together three top–five and seven top-ten finishes in that time. He’s tallied one pole award (Eldora, 2017).
- Spencer Davis – No. 51 and No. 4 Toyotas for Kyle Busch Motorsports
Davis has split the first three races of his Camping World Truck Series career – all this season – between the No. 51 (Daytona, Atlanta) and No. 4 (Las Vegas). He has posted one top-ten, at Daytona, in those three starts.
- Dalton Sargeant – No. 25 Chevrolet for GMS Racing
Dalton Sargeant has recorded nine Camping World Truck Series starts, posting four top-ten finishes.
Eight Would be Great
Martinsville Speedway has seen seven different winners in the last seven NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at the half-mile track.
A trio of strong series regulars will look to end that streak by returning to Victory Lane at Martinsville.
The most recent winner, Noah Gragson, has just two starts at the short track and finished fourth in his other outing last April. Martinsville was definitely a shining light for him in 2017, as half of his top-five finishes in his rookie campaign came at the track.
Series champions Johnny Sauter (fall, 2016) and Matt Crafton (fall, 2015) also posted wins during that streak.
Sauter finished first, second and third – in that order – in the last three races at Martinsville. He has tallied three wins, eight top-five and 11 top-ten finishes in 20 starts at the track.
Crafton crossed the line second last fall and was fourth in the spring. Overall, in 32 races at Martinsville, he has two wins, nine top-fives, and 19 top-tens. Here is the list of the last seven race winners at Martinsville Speedway.
2014, Fall: Darrell Wallace Jr.
2015, Spring: Joey Logano
2015, Fall: Matt Crafton
2016, Spring: Kyle Busch
2016, Fall: Johnny Sauter
2017, Spring: Chase Elliott
2017, Fall: Noah Gragson
Also Noteworthy…
Family Ties: The Nemecheks aren’t the only father-son duo with racing ties to the Martinsville race weekend. Harrison Burton’s dad Jeff is from South Boston, Virginia – just over an hour away from Martinsville Speedway. Jeff was an accomplished racer himself, having won at Martinsville in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (1997). He now serves as an analyst for NBC Sports’ NASCAR coverage.
Expanding Horizons: Sunoco Rookie Myatt Snider has yet to run at Martinsville. In fact, he has only run one truck race at a track shorter than 1.5 miles…a 2016 start at the one-mile ISM Raceway where he finished 17th. He took to the track eight times in 2017, all on intermediate tracks or superspeedways 1.5-miles in length or longer.
Owners Standings: GMS Racing holds onto first in the oowner’sstandings with the No. 21 Chevrolet driven by Johnny Sauter. Kyle Busch Motorsports sits in second with the No. 51 Toyota that has seen Spencer Davis (Daytona, Atlanta) and Kyle Busch (Las Vegas) behind the wheel. Hattori Racing Enterprises holds on to third with the No. 16 Toyota that has Brett Moffitt behind the wheel.
OEM Standings: Toyota’s two wins puts them atop- the manufacturer’s standings through three races with 110 points, but Chevrolet trails them by just one point. Ford has tallied 97 points and sits in third.
Setting the Stage: Noah Gragson has been the best stage racer thus far in the young NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. The Las Vegas native has won two stages (Stage 1 at both Atlanta and Las Vegas) to capture two Playoff points and has tallied a series-best 22 stage points. Those points have helped him land a fourth-place spot in the driver standings. Stewart Friesen’s 28 stage points and Matt Crafton’s 26 round out the top- three.