The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited the two-mile racetrack located in Irish Hills of Brooklyn, Michigan, Michigan International Speedway. It proved to be another exciting race for the 15th race of the season and that action will be intense come Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Here are four takeaways from the Corrigan Oil 200.
- Last Lap Excitement – The Truck Series continued to put on another exciting race this past weekend at Michigan. It started with qualifying Saturday morning when John Hunter Nemechek beat Todd Gilliland for the pole by 0.01 seconds. This would set the tone for the day and the end of the race. In what would look like Johnny Sauter’s fifth win of the year, Noah Gragson and Nemechek hooked up with each other to catch Brett Moffitt and Sauter. It did not go as planned for them but it worked for eventual race winner Moffitt, who backed up to Nemechek’s front bumper and made a last lap pass on Sauter coming to the finish line. It was Moffitt’s fourth win of the year. If everything continues to go Moffitt’s way and sponsorship continues to come, we could see him and the No. 16 Hattori Racing team in the final four spot at Homestead-Miami in November.
- Stewart Friesen Continues Solid Season – Friesen continued his solid season to date on Saturday afternoon. He can breathe a little easier after winning the first stage and finishing ninth in the second stage. If Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar racing team has a clean race at Bristol and finish where he’s been finishing, then he should be able to lock himself into the Playoffs and challenge for the championship.
- Playoffs Set In Stone – After Michigan and with one race remaining until the Playoffs begin, the standings are pretty much set in stone. Of course, it’s not over until the checkered flag drops and we have seen stranger things happen, but the standings should stay the way they are unless one of the three bubble drivers have trouble and fail to finish. Other than that, what we see currently, will be what see for the 2018 playoff standings.
- Johnny Sauter One To Beat – As we’ve already seen this season and saw again on Saturday, 2016 champion, Johnny Sauter continues to be the man to beat for the championship this year. Saturday could have been his fifth win of the year but he is still sitting in good shape to clinch the regular season championship on Thursday night at Bristol. With four wins, 11 top fives, 12 top 10 finishes and 340 laps led this season, Sauter should end up in the Championship 4. If anyone wants to win the championship, they’ll have to go through Sauter and the No. 21 GMS Racing team.
