The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series headed out west last Friday night for the first inaugural spring race held at the 1.5-mile speedway. It was a familiar face on top of the scoring pylon at the end of the day. Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.
- Johnny Sauter: Sauter continues the GMS Racing momentum after finishing second in the Stratosphere 200. After starting third, he remained in the top 10 in both stages while finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. Sauter was up front for the win at the end, but just fell one sport short and finished behind race winner Kyle Busch .437 seconds. This gave Sauter his third top five of the season and he is the series points leader over Brett Moffitt by 39 points.
Previous Week Ranked: 2nd - Brett Moffitt: Moffitt added another strong finish for Hattori Racing after visiting victory lane last weekend in Atlanta. The No. 16 AISIN Group driver started third and finished eighth in Stage 1, and fifth in Stage 2. Moffitt also led twice for 27 laps throughout the race. He is second in the standings behind 2016 champion Johnny Sauter.
Previous Week Ranked: 1st - Stewart Friesen: Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing continue to shine with another top-five finish in the 2018 season. He started second alongside pole winner and eventual race winner Kyle Busch. That was his best starting spot since winning the pole at Eldora last year. The team worked hard to stay in the top 10 during both stages. In Stage 1 he finished fourth. Friesen ended up winning the second stage, which could help him out later in the season should he make the Playoffs. Ultimately, the No. 52 driver ended the day fifth, leaving him with his third top five of his career and the first of the season.
Previous Week Ranked: N/R - Grant Enfinger: While it shouldn’t be a surprise, Enfinger had a nice solid top-five finish outing at Las Vegas. While working a challenging truck early on in the race, he worked hard to get to the front. He didn’t place at all in Stage 1 but did earn some points in Stage 2 finishing ninth. When the checkered flag flew, the Curb Records driver finished fourth, giving him his first top five of the year and the 12th of his career. Enfinger sits third in the standings, 40 points behind Sauter.
Previous Week Ranked: N/R - Dalton Sargeant: Sargeant, in just the ninth race of his career, earned a career-best sixth place finish at Vegas. As the race started, he worked his way up to the middle half of the field from the rear. After a couple of adjustments to the truck, Sargeant finished 14th just four spots short outside the top 10. The No. 25 truck continued to struggle for most of the night with handling issues and wound up 13th in Stage 2. In the final stage, the GMS Racing team continued to work on the truck to get it to Dalton’s liking and he finished sixth for the best finish of his career.
Previous Week Ranked: N/A
Honorable Mentions
1. Ben Rhodes: Rhodes came home with another top 10 finish by placing seventh.
2. Justin Fontaine: Fontaine stood out in the top 10 finishing ninth with the Niece Motorsports entry. He gave the team their second top 10 finish of the year with the first one coming at Daytona.
Fell out of the Power Rankings
1. Matt Crafton: Brake issues limited the No. 88 team for a good finish to a 29th place finish.
2. Noah Gragson: Gragson and the No. 18 Switch Tundra finished 12th after finishing second last week at Atlanta.
3. Jesse Little: Did not compete in this week’s race.
