The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend and it’s the final race in the Round of 8. Two drivers will be eliminated in competing for the playoffs after the race is over.
Currently, there are 32 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list.
Surprisingly, there have only been 11 races dating back to the first race in 2006, when NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin earned the win.
In the past five races, there were three different winners, while Timothy Peters, who will not be competing this weekend, has repeated in the past two races. The lowest a winner has come from is 24th back in 2013 set by Johnny Sauter and the highest starting spot winner was from the pole at least three times in 2006, 2007 and 2015, respectively.
Here’s a look at who we can expect to be a strong contender for the win this weekend.
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- Johnny Sauter – Sauter is the best active driver statistically at Talladega. In five races, he has one win (2013), two top five and four top 10 finishes, but has one DNF in 2014. His average starting position is 14.0, while his average finishing position is 9.0. Anything can happen at Talladega, but Sauter might just pull off a win.
- Christopher Bell – Bell won’t have anything to worry about as he already is locked into the next round, but he’ll be fighting for some extra playoff points. In two races, he has a finish of 13th and sixth, respectively. Bell has an average finishing position of 9.5. Look for him to be up front on Saturday.
- Kaz Grala – No career starts for Grala at Talladega, but he has high expectations after becoming the youngest-ever winner at Daytona earlier this season. A win will certainly help him to move on to the next round as he sits below the cut line.
- Grant Enfinger – Enfinger just might be the spoiler in the playoffs Saturday afternoon. In last year’s race, he pulled off the win after leading for 45 laps. So if he ends up in victory lane at the end of the day, don’t find it surprising that the Alabama driver plays as the spoiler.
- Ben Rhodes – While his result from last year’s race may not look pretty, he is carrying momentum after his first career win at Las Vegas two weekends ago. He, along with others, will be fighting for stage points throughout the race.
There will be two practices scheduled for Friday afternoon at 12 p.m. ET and 2 p.m. ET both on FS1. Qualifying is slated for Saturday morning beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET on FS1.Race coverage begins on FS1 and MRN Radio at noon ET, with the green flag dropping at 1:22 p.m. ET.
