The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continued their championship stretch Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. It wasn’t a surprise as to who the winner was, clinching a spot in the Championship 4.
Here’s a look at the power rankings from Texas.
- Johnny Sauter – Sauter continued his recent success at Texas Friday night by winning and advancing to Homestead-Miami for another shot at the championship. He placed second and ninth, respectively, in Stages 1 and 2. Sauter regained the lead on Lap 135 and held off a hard charging Austin Cindric for his 16th career Truck Series win and fourth career track win at Texas.
- Austin Cindric – Cindric had another strong showing Friday night by placing in the second position. After starting sixth, he was consistently in the top 10 most of the night when finishing third and seventh in both stages. Cindric even led once for 36 laps, but ultimately finished .170 seconds behind race winner Johnny Sauter. Currently, he sits fourth, -50 points behind first and is right on the cutoff line for advancing to Homestead. Nonetheless, a great showing by the No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing team, who is closing their doors at the end of the season.
- Justin Haley – Haley only had one previous start at Texas, which came in the June race and finished sixth. On Friday afternoon, he qualified on the pole, securing his first ever career pole position in the Truck Series. He did not place in the top 10 at all during both stages, but with pit strategy, Haley worked his way up and finished fifth, giving him his third top five of the season.
- Christopher Bell – Somewhat of a decent showing for Bell and the No. 4 JBL Tundra team. After winning the June race, it was expected for him to be up front and challenging for the win, however, Bell came up just two spots short. Bell dominated the first stage by winning and placed third in the second stage. He led twice for 20 laps and finished third.
- Chase Briscoe – The other BKR teammate was also in the top five Friday night, finishing in the fourth position. Briscoe started 10th but had a difficult truck to work with after not scoring in the top 10 in both stages. With the help of his crew and adjustments made during pit-stops, Briscoe rallied to a fourth-place finish, earning his eighth top-five finish in 2017.
