The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Round of 6 began this past weekend at Martinsville Speedway in Southern Virginia. Six drivers are still fighting for a shot at the championship and only four spots are up for grabs. One of those spots has already been taken by a former champion.
Here’s a look at four takeaways from the Texas Roadhouse 200.
1. GMS Continues To Be The Team To Beat – GMS Racing has been the team to beat this year and are championship contenders, at least for Justin Haley, (who has been quietly consistent) and Johnny Sauter who has dominated the 2018 season. Timothy Peters has also competed in four races and won at Talladega. Sauter clinched a spot in the Championship 4 Saturday after winning the race, leading 148 laps and winning both stages. Haley earned another top 10 finish and Peters scored a 10th place finish. They continue to be the team to beat and unless something catastrophic happens to them at Homestead, they could be bringing home another championship.
2. Kyle Benjamin Gets Top Five Finish – Benjamin competed in his second start of the season for DGR -Crosley in the No. 17. He didn’t miss a beat and had a quiet day after starting fifth, finishing fifth in Stage 1. Benjamin stayed out late in the race in hopes to challenge for the win. However, he slipped back and finished where he started. Benjamin has competed part-time throughout the Xfinity Series and has made one Truck Series start prior to Martinsville. He hopes that good runs will land him a full-time ride in the future, but spots are limited. Nonetheless, a great effort by Benjamin and the No. 17 team.
3. Kyle Busch Motorsports Has Solid Day – Three KBM trucks finished inside the top 10 including Noah Gragson, Harrison Burton, and Christian Eckes. Gragson finished seventh after earning second in both stages. He is 24 points to the good in hopes of making it to the Championship 4. Burton claimed eighth place in the race after finishing ninth and 10th, respectively, in both stages, while ARCA driver Christian Eckes finished ninth.
4. Relatively Calm Race At Martinsville For Trucks – When coming to Martinsville, you normally expect an action-packed event with a lot of incidents and accidents. The last time we came here there was a photo finish at the line. However, for a playoff race especially, it was pretty quiet. Almost too quiet. Sauter controlled most of the race and even got out to a five second lead at one point. A good race doesn’t have to include a lot of wrecks or cautions, but for Martinsville, it is normally expected. The race saw six cautions for 43 laps and five lead changes, an uncharacteristic-like race at the paperclip.
