Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301
The Place: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
The Date: Sunday, July 22
The Time: 2 p.m.
TV: NBCSN, 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 318.46 miles (301 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 75),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 150), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 301)
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Lakes Region 200
The Place: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
The Date: Saturday, July 21
The Time: 4 p.m.
TV: NBCSN, 3:30 p.m.
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 211.6 miles (200 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Next Race: Eldora Dirt Derby
The Place: Eldora Speedway
The Date: Wednesday, July 18
The Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 8:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 75 miles (150 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 40),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 150)
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Tried and Truex
Martin Truex Jr.’s victory late Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway gives the reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion four trophies on the year, establishing him unquestionably among the top-tier threesome of 2018.
Counting the season’s other two big winners Kevin Harvick (five wins) and Kyle Busch (five wins) – three drivers have earned 14 of the 19 trophies given out so far. The three have combined to lead 2,552 laps to date – Busch – 948, Truex – 564 and Harvick – a series-best 1,040.
A win in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) would be Truex’ first at the track. He was the polesitter at New Hampshire last July and shows up in New England in the wake of three straight top-10 finishes there.
Truex has a series-best four pole positions this year and has clearly demonstrated that his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota team excels “in bunches”. He won three straight pole positions (at Phoenix, Fontana, Calif. and Martinsville, Va.) early in the year. And two (at Fontana and Kentucky) of his four victories have come from the pole.
Truex has led at least 100 laps in each of the last four New Hampshire races – 513 laps of his career-total 661 laps led at the track.
Pushing for the Playoffs
With just seven races remaining in the regular season, and only seven drivers locked in on wins, the pressure is on to get to Victory Lane for the chance at postseason glory.
Here’s a look at active, championship-contending drivers who have wins at upcoming tracks but have yet to visit Victory Lane in 2018:
New Hampshire: Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman
Pocono: Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Ku. Busch, Hamlin, Johnson, Kahne, Keselowski, Newman
Watkins Glen: AJ Allmendinger, Hamlin
Michigan: Ku. Busch, Hamlin, Johnson, Kahne, Kyle Larson, Newman
Bristol: Ku. Busch, Hamlin, Johnson, Kahne, Keselowski
Darlington: Hamlin, Johnson
Indianapolis: Kahne, Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Newman
On a Roll
Count Monster Energy championship points leader Kyle Busch among those excited to head north this weekend. Busch is a three-time winner at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and won last fall’s race from the Busch Pole position. He has eight top-10 finishes in the last 10 races there, including a streak of three runner-up showings between 2013-14.
Busch has six top-five finishes in the last seven races of this season – the Daytona race, the lone exception. His 15 top 10s in 19 races ties Kevin Harvick for best in the sport right now.
Looking for Six
Kevin Harvick has won five trophies already this season, but it’s been eight weeks (at Kansas) since he last hoisted one. Harvick’s 14 top fives and 1,040 laps led are tops among the competition, but there’s no doubt the Stewart-Haas Racing driver is getting a little anxious to return to Victory Lane.
And it’s not that he hasn’t been competitive in that winless streak – he’s had five top fives in the last seven races, including a pair of runner-ups (Michigan, Sonoma).
New Hampshire has been a good place for Harvick. He’s earned two wins in the fall edition (2006 from pole and 2016) and five top-five finishes in the last seven races overall there. Between 2014-15 he led a series best 379 laps at the track, but only had a pair of third-place finishes to show for all the work up front.
He’s led an impressive 706 laps total at New Hampshire, but only eight laps in the last four races – all in his 2016 win.
Back to Defend
Denny Hamlin is the defending winner of the July New Hampshire event, leading 54 of the 301 laps last year and bettering Kyle Larson by half a second at the checkered flag. It was the first of two wins in 2017 (the other came at Darlington).
The veteran could use a bit of that New England magic this weekend and the track has been good to Hamlin, who has three wins there and has led a solid 549 laps. His 14 top-10 finishes in 24 starts is among the best statistically, too. He led a dominating 193 laps in the fall race en route to the 2012 win.
And the Joe Gibbs Racing driver will take all that good mojo, considering he’s had only two top 10 runs in the last six races, leading only one time for four laps in that span (at Sonoma). He’s led only 239 laps on the year.
There is precedent for Hamlin’s New England grand arrival. He had led only 178 laps on the 2017 season before winning last July.
Newman Looking to Break Through in 2018
The most prolific driver at New Hampshire is three-time winner Ryan Newman, who leads all drivers with 722 laps out front on the circuit. His seven pole positions is also tops among the competition this week. Twice he’s won from the pole – in the fall of 2002 as a rookie in his second start at the track and again in the summer race of 2011.
He has 18 top-10 finishes in 32 starts, his last such, a seventh-place showing in 2016. In a seven-race span from 2009-2012 he finished 10th or better six times.
Newman is getting a head start on his racing this week, running the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway on Wednesday – his first start on the famed dirt track since a third-place in the inaugural NASCAR trucks race there in 2013.
A good showing at Eldora would only bolster Newman’s hopes at New Hampshire, where the Richard Childress Racing driver would gladly take his first top five of the season. He has two top 10s in the last 10 races – both coming on restrictor-plate tracks at Talladega and Daytona. He’s ranked 19th in the points standings.
Rising Up
After 22-year old Erik Jones’ win at Daytona two weeks ago, NASCAR’s group of young Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers is both encouraged and reenergized. And they bring some positive vibes to New England.
Jones’ best finish in two previous New Hampshire starts is sixth-place last fall. He was runner-up in the 2016 Xfinity race there. Alex Bowman has a best showing of 14th also last fall, filling in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. And last week’s race runner-up Ryan Blaney has a best showing of ninth place at New Hampshire in the 2017 fall race.
Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader William Byron is the only previous NASCAR national series race winner at NHMS among the young crop of talent. He won a 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the track, leading a dominating 161 of the 175 laps. He was third in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race last year.
As with Byron, fellow rookie Bubba Wallace will be making his first Cup start at the track. His best previous showing was a runner-up in the 2014 truck race.
Both rookies are coming off mid-pack results at Kentucky and 22nd ranked Byron holds a 33-point edge over 25th ranked Wallace in the standings.
And Kyle Larson is already considered a favorite at many of the race tracks the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series visits. But after runner-up finishes in both New Hampshire races last year, the 25-year old must certainly feel confident returning this weekend.
He has two second-place finishes (at Pocono and Chicago) in the last six races and a total of four on the season. He’s led 365 laps, but only 10 laps in the eight races since Kansas.
Turning the Corner
Two members of Team Penske’s talented driver trio are still looking for wins in 2018 and both arrive in New England fresh off encouraging results. The team’s newest driver, 24-year old Ryan Blaney, was runner-up to Kentucky race winner Martin Truex Jr. His veteran Penske teammate Brad Keselowski led 38 laps and finished third.
It was Blaney’s best finish of the season and just as importantly snapped a three-week streak of frustration and subpar finishes – all 18th or worse. He’s had three DNFs in the last eight races. He’s hopeful he and the No. 12 Ford can seize the momentum gained in Kentucky. He has only one top-10 finish (ninth last fall) in five New Hampshire starts and he’s still looking to lead his first lap there.
Keselowski’s third-place Kentucky finish marked his fifth top-10 in the last seven races and was his best effort since a runner-up at Atlanta, the second week of the season. He won at New Hampshire in the 2014 July race and has three career pole positions there. He’s riding a streak of three straight top-10s in the Granite State coming to Sunday’s race.
Kenseth Back in the Seat
Matt Kenseth is set to make his sixth start of the season in the No. 6 Roush Racing Ford. And New Hampshire has been a good place historically for the 2003 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion.
He joins Jimmie Johnson (swept 2003 season) and Kurt Busch (swept 2004 season) as the only three drivers to ever win back-to-back races on the track. Kenseth won in the fall of 2015 then in July the next year, and his three victories in the last nine races is the highest winning percentage in that time.
Although Kenseth remains very cautious about his expectations as a part-time driver this season, he is hopeful to guide the car to its first top-10 finish of the year at a track where he has especially excelled.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Tied At The Top With Nine Races To Go In The Xfinity Series Regular Season
With just nine races left in the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season, JR Motorsport’s driver Elliott Sadler and Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric are tied atop the points standings with 608 points each. Both are hunting for the coveted regular season driver championship which awards the recipient a guaranteed spot in the Playoffs plus 15 Playoff points to take into the postseason.
Elliott Sadler has been the series standings leader for most of the season, but has recently been in a rut, finishing outside the top-10 in three of his last five starts. In total this season, Sadler has posted 10 top fives and 14 top 10s.
Unlike Sadler’s recent misfortunes, Hemric has continued to improve and now has a chance at the regular season championship. In 17 starts this season he has posted nine top fives and 13 top 10s.
Neither driver has won at New Hampshire, but the levels of experience are quite different between the two drivers. Sadler has made 14 series starts at NHMS posting one top five and five top 10s; including a seventh-place finish last season.
Hemric made his series track debut at New Hampshire last season, starting fifth and finishing 12th.
Johnny Sauter and Ryan Preece Return To The Xfinity Series At New Hampshire
Two friendly faces will be returning to the NASCAR Xfinity Series garage this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, part-time series driver and Connecticut native Ryan Preece and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship contender Johnny Sauter, to battle it out for the win in the Lakes Region 200 on Saturday, July 21 (4 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ryan Preece has had quite the part-time schedule this season. In four starts he has one win (Bristol), two top fives and three top 10s. But Preece, 27, will be looking to rebound from his last outing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series; where he finished 39th at Daytona due to his car overheating. This weekend, Preece returns to the series at his home track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where he has made four series starts posting a best finish of second last season. Preece will be in the No. 18 Toyota with crew chief Eric Phillips, the car/team that has won the last two New Hampshire Xfinity races with driver Kyle Busch (2016, 2017).
Preece will not be the only recognizable face back in the Xfinity garage this weekend, GMS Racing has tapped Johnny Sauter to pilot the No. 23 Chevrolet at New Hampshire. Sauter is currently leading the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series point standings for the team and will be traveling to New Hampshire following the truck race at Eldora Speedway Wednesday night. Sauter has just one previous NASCAR Xfinity Series start this season, at Dover, where he finished sixth.
Christopher Bell Is Sitting Pretty Following His Kentucky Win
Christopher Bell’s win this past weekend at Kentucky Speedway was big in terms of his championship hopes. With two wins this season (Richmond, Kentucky), Bell has amassed 12 Playoff points; the most of any NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contender. Those Playoff points could be the difference in advancing or not advancing in the postseason.
If the regular season ended today, Bell would be the No. 1 seed in the Playoffs. In addition to Bell’s 12 Playoff points he has already earned he would receive seven Playoff points for finishing the regular season fourth in points, giving him 19 total Playoff points to take into the postseason. Current standings leader Elliott Sadler has four Playoff points and would receive 15 additional Playoff points for winning the regular season championship. The two would then be tied in Playoff points heading into the postseason, but Bell holds the tiebreaker with his two wins.
Bell and crew chief Jason Ratcliff have gelled this season and the dividends of the relationship are playing out on the track. Bell has posted two wins, 10 top fives and an average finish of 10.9.
Bell will be making his series track debut at New Hampshire this weekend. But Bell isn’t a stranger to the track, he has made two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at New Hampshire, finishing runner-up in his track debut in 2016 and winning the event last season.
Joe Gibbs Racing Going For Four-In-A-Row At New Hampshire
No organization has dominated New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series quite like Joe Gibbs Racing has over the last 10 years, winning eight of the last 10 races held at the famed 1.028-mile track.
The Xfinity streak of success started in 2008 with Tony Stewart taking the checkered flag for JGR at New Hampshire, then Kyle Busch took the reins winning six races (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2017) and Denny Hamlin got in on the fun, winning in 2015. The only other driver to win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at New Hampshire in the last decade is Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski (2012, 2014).
This weekend, Joe Gibbs Racing is fielding three cars in the Lakes Region 200 on Saturday, July 21 – No. 18 Toyota (Ryan Preece), No. 19 Toyota (Brandon Jones) and No. 20 Toyota (Christopher Bell).
NASCAR Xfinity Series, Etc.
Sunoco Rookie of the Year Standings Update – With his second win of the season, Christopher Bell now has a 50-point lead in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings over second-place Tyler Reddick following Kentucky. Bell’s rookie campaign has been impressive thus far, in 17 starts he has posted two wins (Richmond, Kentucky), 10 top fives and three poles.
Monsters Invade Xfinity – This weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers, Ty Dillon and Brad Keselowski, will attempt to compete in the Lakes Region 200 (Saturday, July 21 at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Ty Dillon will be in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet this weekend. Dillon has made four series starts at New Hampshire, posting two top 10s. Brad Keselowski will be in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford this weekend. Keselowski has made nine starts at New Hampshire, posting two wins (2012, 2014), seven top fives and nine top 10s.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Four Races Remain to Clinch Playoff Berths
Last week’s race at Kentucky Speedway put another driver directly into Playoff contention. Ben Rhodes, a Kentucky native, took home the victory after leading 58 laps. Rhodes now sits in sixth place in the points standings and has earned his spot in the postseason.
Rhodes has been to Eldora Speedway twice in his career (2016, 2017). He will make his third start at the track on Wednesday, July 18 (9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in the Eldora Dirt Derby.
Taking a look at the current points standings, Rhodes joins Johnny Sauter, Brett Moffitt, Noah Gragson and Justin Haley as race winners this season.
If the season were to end right now, Grant Enfinger, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Myatt Snider, Cody Coughlin, Dalton Sargeant and Austin Hill are the remaining drivers who would be in the Playoffs based on points. Sargeant and Snider are both contending for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors this season.
Crafton has raced in each edition of the Eldora Dirt Derby since its inception in 2013. He captured his first win at the track last season and has never finished outside of the top 10 at Eldora, proving to be a strong contender at the track.
The veteran driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford is still looking for his first win this season, but bounced back from some tough finishes for a third-place finish at Kentucky Speedway – his best of the season. He’s hoping that momentum will help him go back-to-back on the dirt at Eldora.
Following Eldora, the trucks head to Pocono and then Michigan before wrapping up the regular season at Bristol.
Fresh Faces at Eldora Speedway
Each week we have several drivers that hit a specific track for the first time of their career – this week’s race is no different.
Of the 39 trucks entered to compete, 14 of the drivers have never raced at Eldora Speedway before. They are: Austin Hill, John Provenzano, Todd Gilliland, Myatt Snider, Brett Moffitt, Tyler Dippel, Dalton Sargeant, Justin Fontaine, Nick Hoffman, Max McLaughlin, Logan Norman Seavey, Kyle Strickler, Trevor Collins and RJ Otto Jr.
Along with that, there are a lot of drivers making their season debut in the Truck Series on Wednesday night. They are: Hoffman, Ray Ciccarelli, JR Heffner, Chase Briscoe, Jeffrey Abbey, Chris Windom, Justin Shipley and Sheldon Creed.
There are also numerous drivers making their NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Eldora. They are: Provenzano, Dippel, McLaughlin, Seavey, Strickler, Collins and Otto Jr.
A lot of the drivers expected to race at Eldora specialize in dirt track racing so Eldora is the perfect spot for them to do it in the truck series, too.
John Provenzano has dominated dirt tracks over the past 40 years, winning titles at LaSalle Speedway, Sycamore Speedway, Santa Fe Speedway, Fairbury American Legion Speedway and Kankakee Speedway. Come this Wednesday, Provenzano will race for Mike Affarano with David McClure serving as the crew chief. The 63-year-old will make his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series but is still active on the dirt late-model circuit.
J.R. Heffner is heading back to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Eldora for the third time of his career. Heffner has only made four starts in the series – three times at Eldora and once at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. With over 60 victories under his belt, Heffner is a four-time track champion, three-time Mr. Dirt Track USA Champion and a two-time winner of the Hagerstown 300.
Tyler Dippel, a NASCAR Next alum, will make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut in the No. 17 Hue Jackson Foundation / Caruso Logistics / D&A Concrete Toyota Tundra in DGR-Crosley’s second entry. Dippel currently competes full-time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. Dippel’s career started on dirt when he won his first national championship at the age of 10. He continued on to become the youngest driver to win in a Northeast big-block modified event after grabbing his first big-block modified win at Georgetown Speedway. Dippel then earned the Rookie of the Year honors in the DIRTcar Northeast Series.
Max McLaughlin will make his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Eldora Speedway for Niece Motorsports. He has been racing dirt modifieds in the Northeast for two years and has picked up wins at Brewertown and Fulton Speedways while finishing ninth in the Super DIRTcar Series.
Logan Seavey will make his NASCAR debut in the Truck Series at Eldora in the No. 51 Mobil 1 Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports under crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. Seavey, who was the 2017 POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series champion, currently leads the midget standings and has never raced at Eldora before. He is hopeful he can get to Victory Lane in a truck since he has found his way there with a midget earlier this year.
Kyle Strickler is set to pilot the No. 63 Chevrolet Silverado for MB Motorsports at Eldora Speedway. Strickler has accumulated over 180 Dirt Modified wins in his career and has multiple victories at Eldora Speedway, specifically. He is also a two-time Supernational Champion and Renegades of Dirt National Champion.
Chris Windom will drive the DGR-Crosley No. 54 truck at Eldora, where he has recorded six Silver Crown and Sprint Car wins. A two-time USAC series champion, he scored 18 USAC Sprint Car Series victories in advance of the 2018 racing season. He competes regularly in the USAC Silver Crown Series and USAC Sprint Cars, where he hoisted championship trophies in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Windom has not yet entered a race in 2018 but we did see him compete in three series races last year – Eldora, Martinsville and Homestead.
So Close, Yet So Far Away
Second can be bittersweet. And it was for Stewart Friesen in 2017.
The proven star on dirt won the pole and led a race-high 93 laps last year in the Eldora Dirt Derby, but fell victim to an opportunistic Matt Crafton in the late stages of the race to finish second on his favorite turf.
At the time, it was Friesen’s first top-10 finish of the season and should have been a shining moment for the driver who finished second in the Super DIRTcar Series points in 2016. But Friesen didn’t go to Eldora to finish second and it stung.
But 2018 has already been a very different season for Friesen, who has posted four top fives and seven top 10s, as well as a pole at Texas. And Eldora just may be the track where he can get in the win column.
This marks Friesen’s third visit to the half-mile dirt track in Ohio. His NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut came at Eldora in 2016 when he managed a 12th-place start but finished 22nd due to a crash. He’s hoping that third time’s the charm and he can score his first NASCAR victory on the surface he grew up racing on.
Home, Sweet Home for ThorSport Racing
Sandusky, Ohio, isn’t the first city that comes to mind when you think of powerhouse NASCAR teams. But it’s home to the longest-tenured NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team at 23 seasons and counting.
ThorSport Racing will field five entries in Wednesday’s Eldora Dirt Derby with two-time series champ Matt Crafton, Kentucky race winner Ben Rhodes, Grant Enfinger, Sunoco Rookie Myatt Snider and Chase Briscoe in his return to the series.
Crafton is the defending race winner – but the 2017 Eldora win was also his last win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. So far this year, he’s put together four top-five efforts including a third-place finish last weekend in Kentucky. He hopes to ride that momentum into Eldora, where he’s never finished outside the top 10.
Last week’s victor Ben Rhodes provided both Ford and ThorSport with their first checkered flags of the season. Wednesday marks Rhodes’ third visit to Eldora, where he struggled with 23rd-place finish in his first outing and was relegated to a 30th-place finish last year after a crash.
Briscoe hasn’t been in a truck since the closure of Brad Keselowski Racing following the 2017 season, but he left on a high note, winning the season finale in Miami. He’s a proven dirt racer who knows this week could give him the chance to shine, saying, “Growing up racing dirt, and being a dirt guy, Eldora is our Daytona. Any time you get to run at Eldora, it’s special.”
Enfinger’s lone race at Eldora in the Truck Series was last year when he placed fourth. Snider is making his maiden voyage to the dirt track.
Newman Will Hit the Dirt Track for Jordan Anderson Racing
Jordan Anderson Racing announced last week that Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Newman will pilot the team’s No. 3 Chevrolet Silverado at the half-mile Eldora Speedway.
Anderson, who calls Newman his hero, is excited for Newman to run the race in a truck he owns in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
They made the announcement during the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course test and unveiled the paint scheme that Newman will run in the Dirt Derby. Newman will be sponsored by VRX Simulators.
Anderson said, “For Ryan to be a part of this, it not only brings his wealth of knowledge to the table, but his experience, his credibility and everything he has done in this sport. On top of that, he’s the guy that I looked up to as a kid… It’s cool to have things come full circle for a guy that I looked up to and really tried to emulate my racing career after his where I went to college and did everything.”
This will be Newman’s seventh career Truck Series start and second at Eldora. Newman finished third in the inaugural race in 2013.
Newman said, “It’s going back home. It’s going back dirt racing. I enjoy all of that. I have a lot of friends and family up in that area. But ultimately, it’s just a good experience. It’s a lot of fun. I’m glad NASCAR has put a truck race on the dirt.”
Newman has not finished outside of the top five in a truck race. He also won in his series debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2008.
Moffitt’s Sponsorship Struggle Not A Worry This Week
This season has been one for the books for Brett Moffitt and the No. 16 Hattori Racing team. The team, who has struggled to find sponsorship throughout the weeks, has three wins this season and sits in third place in the points standings.
Even better news came last week when iRacing, the leader in online sim racing, joined forces with the team to sponsor Moffitt’s Toyota Tundra at Eldora Speedway on July 18. As part of iRacing’s 10th anniversary, the partnership with Hattori Racing and Moffitt keeps the team in contention for the 2018 championship and Moffitt couldn’t be more thrilled.
“To have this support from iRacing to step up and partner with this race team is really special. I have some dirt experience running modifieds back in Iowa, but have never run a truck on dirt, so racing at Eldora on iRacing is definitely going to be a benefit. It’s pretty cool to be part of iRacing’s 10-year anniversary. I was just a teenager when iRacing first went live to the public and I joined right away. I raced online a ton for a few years and really enjoyed the racing and community aspects of iRacing. It will be fun to get back in it again with the fans to see how far they have come and to experience running the Toyota Tundra at Eldora before we race there later this month,” Moffitt said in an interview.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Etc.
Ford Finds Victory Lane: Ben Rhodes’ win at Kentucky Speedway last weekend brought Ford their first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season win of the 2018 season. Chevrolet and Toyota had dominated by winning the first 11 races. They remain in third place in the manufacturer’s standing, trailing first-place Chevrolet by 44 points but can now put a tally mark next to wins. Toyota is second in the standings, 12 points behind Chevrolet.
Eldora Takeover: Justin Shipley’s two NASCAR Camping World Series starts have come at Eldora Speedway – 2016 and 2017. This week’s race will make that three. Jeffrey Abbey is in a similar situation heading into the race. Abbey has only two starts in the series and his first was at Eldora in 2017. He also raced at Martinsville last season. This race will be his third career start and second at Eldora, where he had his best finish of 14th.
Eldora Speedway Quick Facts
As the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Rossburg, Ohio for the Eldora Dirt Derby on Wednesday, July 18 (TUNE IN INFO), here are some interesting facts about the speedway.
Track Length: .500-Mile
Track Surface: Clay
Track Configuration: Oval
Banking: Turns – 24 degrees; Straights – 8 degrees
Grandstand Seating Capacity: 17,000+
Qualifying Record: Ken Schrader, Toyota; 91.329 mph (19.709 sec.); July 24, 2013
Race Record: Austin Dillon, Chevrolet; 67.401 mph (01:08:06); July 24, 2013
Race Winners: 5
Pole Winners: 5
Winning Truck Owners: 4
Most Top Fives: 2 – Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick
Most Top 10s: 5 – Matt Crafton
Most Lead Changes: 9 (7/22/15)
Fewest Lead Changes: 3 (7/20/16)
Most Leaders: 5 (7/23/14)
Fewest Leaders: 2 (7/20/16)
Most Cautions: 13 (7/22/15)
Fewest Cautions: 6 (7/24/13)
Most on the Lead Lap: 24 (7/23/14)
Fewest on the Lead Lap: 15, twice (most recently, 7/19/17)
Most Wins By a Manufacturer: 3 (Toyota)
Closest Margin of Victory: .0761 seconds (7/22/15)
Greatest Margin of Victory: 5.489 seconds (7/23/14)
