The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series had a home race this past Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was the seventh race of the season with a first-time winner at the track, but it was a familiar foe that ended up in victory lane.
Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.
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- Johnny Sauter – Sauter tops off the power rankings list this week by notching his third career win of 2018, the 20th of his career and his first time ever at Charlotte. He continues to dominate the 2018 season by having six top fives and six top 10 finishes. Sauter even started from the pole after qualifying was washed out due to thunderstorms earlier in the day. With a 59 point lead over Noah Gragson in the regular standings, the sky is the limit for the No. 21 GMS Racing team and they will be tough to beat for the championship. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
- Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a solid career night at the 1.5-mile track. After starting sixth based on owner points, the No. 16 Hattori Racing driver worked his way up to the lead by Lap 27, with just four laps to go in Stage 1. Moffitt was able to remain in the lead for those four laps to win the first stage and collect 10 championship Playoff points. He would take the lead two other times in the race to lead 28 laps and ultimately finishing in the fourth spot for his fourth top five of the year. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
- Ben Rhodes – Rhodes finished in the fifth position rounding out the top five in Friday night’s race. It was just his third top five of 2018. While only finishing sixth in Stage 2, Rhodes battled changing track conditions all night long and had a tough time restarting on the inside for the restart. Nonetheless, it’s only a matter time before the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford driver breaks out and earns his first win of the season and career. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
- Stewart Friesen – Friesen continues to be part of the talk this year finishing inside the top 10 once more after almost winning the previous week at Kansas. He didn’t finish in the top 10 in either stages, but Friesen worked his way up to finish sixth and earned his fourth top 10 of the year. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
- Noah Gragson – Gragson comes down in the power rankings this week with his finish of eighth, but that wasn’t from the lack of trying. For most of the race, it was him and Sauter battling for the race lead, at least in the early laps. From Laps 1-22, Sauter and Gragson traded the lead five times before Sauter took over. When Gragson took the lead on Lap 10, it would be the last time he led for the rest of the night. He didn’t finish in the top 10 in Stage 1 due to a pit road speeding penalty, which set him back to finish 14th in the first stage. Stage 2 was just a little better for the No. 18 Safelite Tundra, finishing 10th. However, it was the last restart of the night that cost Gragson a shot at winning as he spun his tires and he almost spun out. After losing a few spots on the restart, the 19-year-old driver climbed his way back into the top 10, finishing eighth. Previous Week Ranking: 1st
Honorable Mentions:
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- 1. Parker Kligerman – After a disappointing finish at Dover a couple of weeks ago, Kligerman rallied back to finish seventh. He even finished seventh in the first stage. While the team doesn’t run all the races, they seem to be a potential threat to win when the cards fall in their favor.
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- 2. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland will finally be able to race full time after turning 18-years- old this past week. It was his first start on a 1.5-mile track and he did alright for the most part. He finished eighth and fourth, respectively in both stages. Gilliland was running well until late race contact with two-time champion Matt Crafton. This ultimately put the Pedigree driver 10th on the scoring pylon at the end of the night.
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- 3. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger is once again in the honorable mentions this week. He was one of the first cautions of the night after cutting down a right rear tire and leaving debris on the racetrack. It was an uphill battle for the Thorsport driver the rest of the night as he didn’t finish in the top 10 in either stage. Enfinger finished 12th.