Four Takeaways From The Buckle Up 225 At Kentucky

The 10th race of the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took place at Kentucky Speedway this past Thursday night. There were some drivers/teams who had an up and down night. Here are my four takeaways from the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky.

1. Christopher Bell continues his strong season. Bell collected his third win of the season and fifth of his career. He now has seven top fives and nine top-10 finishes this season. Before Kentucky, he was sitting 42 points behind point leader Johnny Sauter. Now after his win, Bell is 28 points behind. After the off weekend, there will be six races left before the playoffs begin. Bell will be looking to cut into Sauter’s points lead. He could lock up another win this season, as Bell is the defending race winner at Eldora, which is the next scheduled race on the circuit.
2. John Hunter Nemechek finished a disappointing 18th after two consecutive wins. Needless to say, this was a race to forget about for Nemechek. He and eventual race winner, Bell, were battling side by side for the lead late in the going. However, Nemechek had to pit after getting right side damage with 15 laps to go, thus ending any hopes for going three in a row. He now sits eighth in the points standings. Hopefully, sponsorship keeps up for the rest of the season and Nemechek can continue his run to the championship battle.
3. Air Titans/Track officials/NASCAR did a great job with the weather. NASCAR and Kentucky Speedway had been battling off and on rain showers all day/evening at Kentucky. With pop up rain showers continuing through the evening, it looked like all was lost. However, the Air Titans and the new drain off area did their jobs and were able to get the race in a little bit past 10 p.m. ET.
4. Thorsport Racing continues its up and down season. If Thorsport wants to be in the championship battle at Homestead, they’re going to have to kick it up a notch starting at Eldora.  So far in 2017, Cody Coughlin has no top fives or top-10 finishes. Matt Crafton only has two top fives and six top-10 finishes and no wins. By this time last year, Crafton already had two wins and was locked into The Chase. For Ben Rhodes, after coming up short at Kansas due to a blown engine, his season has been somewhat fair with three top-fives and five top-10 finishes. To add on to that, he’s had two DNF’s with the last one coming in Kentucky. This team is going to have to need a win soon in order to be a strong championship threat.