The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continued their playoff run last Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. A few drivers shined while others had problems. It was a jam-packed race with tons of pressure on these drivers.
Here are four takeaways from the JAG Metals 350 at Texas Motor Speedway.
1. GMS Team One To Beat For Championship – On Friday night, GMS Racing locked in one more driver, Justin Haley. Haley and Johnny Sauter are teammates and GMS and now have a 50 percent chance of winning the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Both drivers have put up stellar numbers this year and either one will be worthy of a championship. For Sauter, it would be his second championship in two years. For Haley, if everything goes to plan, it will be his first championship for the young rising star coming through the ranks.
2. One Race Left For Four Drivers With Two Spots Left – This is it. On Friday night at ISM Raceway, the two final spots will be locked up. There are just four drivers who have one more chance to secure a championship spot. Those drivers are Noah Gragson, Brett Moffitt, Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton. Gragson and Moffitt are comfortably in right now, but nothing is guaranteed. As seen a couple of years ago, then Truck Series driver William Byron set a win total of six, but late in the race, he blew a motor that took him out of championship contention. Two other driver’s that are in must-win situations include Enfinger and Crafton unless something catastrophic happens to Gragson and Moffitt.
3. Turns 1 and 2 Trouble Spot – Throughout most of the race Turns 1 and 2 were the trouble spots. At least four cautions came from those turns, while the others occurred in Turn 4. It continued to be a trouble spot for the Xfinity Series race as well.
4. Austin Hill Shines With Top Five – Hill and the No. 02 Young Motorsports team had a quiet night but finished with a strong top five. He finished second in Stage 2 after starting 15th and ultimately finished fifth. It was his first top five of the year along with having six top 10 finishes. Without a doubt, it would be interesting to see what Hill could do with top tier equipment such as GMS, or Kyle Busch Motorsports. Never say never.
