NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams are on break and will return to action on Friday, September 18th at Chicagoland Speedway for the American Ethanol E15 225. In the meantime, here are some news and notes to stay up-to-date.
Austin Powered: Theriault Piloting the No. 29 for Duration of 2015
Austin Theriault will take the reins of the No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford for the last eight races of the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. The 21-year-old Maine native has piloted the No. 29 five times already this year, earning two top-five and three top-ten finishes. Theriault’s best result was a fourth-place finish in the season opener at Daytona. The No. 29 has visited Victory Lane twice this year with Joey Logano at Martinsville and Ryan Blaney at Bristol. The No. 29 ranks sixth in the owner points standings. Continue reading →
Erik Jones, driver of the #4 Toyota Toyota, leads a pack of trucks during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on August 30, 2015 Photo – Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
Erik Jones, driver of the #4 Toyota Toyota, races with Cole Custer, driver of the #00 Haas Automation Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on August 30, 2015 Photo – Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
Erik Jones, driver of the #4 Toyota Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on August 30, 2015 Photo – Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
Erik Jones, driver of the #4 Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on August 30, 2015 Photo – Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
Two weeks ago in the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Alex Tagliani got turned out of the lead by Regan Smith and lost his shot at a win. Sunday afternoon in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Tagliani passed up his chance as the one doing the turning.
Heading into turn 5B on the last lap, Tagliani says he was in a position to push Erik Jones aside and claim victory for himself. But he didn’t. Instead, Tagliani held back as Jones cruised to his second win of the season and vaulted to the top of the series point standings. Continue reading →
Tagliani to Run Second Career Truck Race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
Alex Tagliani – a native of Montreal, Quebec, Canada – hopes to keep the trophy in his home country after he competes in Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport).
Tagliani will pilot the No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford F-150. Last season’s race at Mosport marked the first and only other time Tagliani drove in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He won the Keystone Light Pole Award and finished 16th. Continue reading →
Kyle Busch, driver of the #51 Dollar General Toyota, pits during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan International Speedway on August 15, 2015 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #51 Dollar General Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan International Speedway on August 15, 2015 Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #51 Dollar General Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan International Speedway on August 15, 2015 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Not even a pit road speeding penalty could keep Kyle Busch from his appointed rounds on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
With drafting help from Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Erik Jones entering turn one, Busch regained the lead from Ryan Blaney on lap 97 of 100 in the Careers for Veterans 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and held on to win by 0.157 seconds.
Blaney held the second spot, and Jones finished third, followed by Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon. Two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton battled a buckling windshield, a penalty for pitting too soon to correct it and a late spin after contact from John Wes Townley’s Chevrolet to finish sixth.
Crafton gained three points on series leader Tyler Reddick, who ran ninth, and now trails by eight. Jones is third in the standings, nine points back.
The victory was Busch’s first at Michigan after four runner-up finishes in the series, and it was his second in two starts since returning from an injury that sidelined the driver of the No. 51 Toyota from all racing activity from February 21 through mid-May.
“First win for me, first win for KBM here,” said Busch, who won for the 44th time in the Truck Series. “I loved racing with those guys up there—Jones, Blaney and Dillon. It was pretty hectic on how all that was going to shape up and play out…
“Just cool to finally get that monkey off my back here in the Truck Series and notch another race track where I’ve won in all three divisions here at Michigan.”
Under caution on lap 27, Busch earned a speeding penalty while entering pit road and restarted at the back of the field on lap 31. By lap 51, Busch had worked his way back to fifth in the running order, and after an exchange of green-flag pit stops, he regained the lead on lap 69.
“We were trying something new with our tach settings, and it didn’t really work,” Busch said of the speeding infraction.
Drivers gauge pit road speeds with their tachometers and a series of lights on the dashboard. In essence, Busch was seeing two sets of lights at the same time, calibrated to different settings, and that led directly to the speeding penalty.
Once Busch passed Blaney with fewer than four laps left, Blaney—without a teammate to help—was resigned to a second-place finish.
“When we got the lead (after a lap 95 restart), I knew it was going to be hard to keep him behind us, because he can lay back to the 4 (Jones) and just get a big run and get by you,” Blaney said. “There’s nothing, as the leader, that you can do about it.
“You’re wide open. You can break the draft all you want, but when he’s got a partner, it’s just like speedway racing—he can go by you.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Careers for Veterans 200
Presented by Cooper Standard and
Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation
Michigan International Speedway
1. (10) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 100, $43447.
2. (12) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 100, $36614.
3. (7) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 100, $26735.
4. (9) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 100, $20254.
5. (3) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 100, $15653.
6. (1) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 100, $19792.
7. (2) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 100, $16325.
8. (5) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 100, $16241.
9. (11) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 100, $16185.
10. (6) Cameron Hayley #, Toyota, 100, $17107.
11. (16) Alex Bowman(i), Chevrolet, 100, $13852.
12. (17) John H. Nemechek #, Chevrolet, 100, $15934.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 128.94 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 33 Mins, 04 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.157 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 26 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: 0; D. Hemric # 1-4; A. Dillon(i) 5-6; K. Busch(i) 7-26; A. Dillon(i) 27; E. Jones # 28-34; R. Blaney(i) 35; E. Jones # 36-44; J. Sauter 45-68; K. Busch(i) 69-76; R. Blaney(i) 77-81; K. Busch(i) 82-89; A. Dillon(i) 90; K. Busch(i) 91-94; R. Blaney(i) 95-96; K. Busch(i) 97-100.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): K. Busch(i) 5 times for 44 laps; J. Sauter 1 time for 24 laps; E. Jones # 2 times for 16 laps; R. Blaney(i) 3 times for 8 laps; A. Dillon(i) 3 times for 4 laps; D. Hemric # 1 time for 4 laps.
Top-Ten in Points: T. Reddick – 514; M. Crafton – 506; E. Jones # – 505; J. Sauter – 461; C. Hayley # – 425; D. Hemric # – 420; T. Peters – 416; J. Townley – 414; S. Gallagher # – 394; B. Kennedy – 381.
