The second race in the Round of 8 for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took place in Sin City at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday night. The race did not disappoint as it ended in a last-lap thriller and a first-time winner.
- Ben Rhodes – Rhodes did everything right when he scored his first win Saturday night. In the first stage, he finished sixth. However, after some varying pit strategies, Rhodes went on to win the second stage, thus earning Playoff points. Rhodes lost the lead for a little while until the last caution came out with 15 to go. The final restart came with seven to go. Rhodes took advantage of it as he went on to lead the last seven laps of the race and held off Christopher Bell in a last-lap thriller. He beat Bell by 0.066 seconds.
- Christopher Bell – Bell came oh so close to earning another win in the 2017 season. He dominated most of the race by leading three times for 64 laps, and finished third in Stage 1, while he finished second in Stage 2. The last time Bell led was from lap 133-138. After the final caution, Bell tried all he could to chase down and pass Rhodes, but was unable to do so and had to settle for second. Nonetheless, still a dominating night in Las Vegas for the JBL Tundra driver, who turned 52 points.
- Kaz Grala – Even though Grala finished inside the top 10 at New Hampshire, he needed to continue his strong run if he wanted to advance to the next round. Grala did that Saturday night despite being involved in an incident on Lap 43. He came through in Stage 1 by finishing seventh but fell outside the top 10 in Stage 2. Grala eventually rebounded and scored a fifth-place finish. Still, he sits seventh, eight points below the cut line. He’ll have to either win a stage or a race at Talladega, in order to advance to the Round of 6.
- Chase Briscoe – It shouldn’t be a surprise that a Brad Keselowski Racing driver finished in the top five at Las Vegas as they finished 1-2 last year. Briscoe put on a dominating performance in Stage 1 by leading all 35 laps and won the stage. In a strong run for Stage 2, the No. 29 BKR driver finished sixth. Even though Briscoe did not lead for the rest of the night, he finished strong by placing third. He’ll still need a good finish, possibly a stage win, at Talladega to advance on to the Round of 6.
- Cody Coughlin – Coughlin has had an up and down 2017 season. Statistically, he has three DNF’s and before Vegas, his best finish was eighth at Pocono. He didn’t place in any of the stages but when it counted, Coughlin rallied to a sixth-place finish.
