Eldora Speedway was home of the 13th race of the season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In one of the most anticipated races of the season, this standalone event certainly did not disappoint. The field included Truck Series regulars and dirt regulars but it was a not a dirt regular but a former series driver that stood atop the victory circle Wednesday night.
Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings.
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- Grant Enfinger – Enfinger and Chase Briscoe certainly put on quite a show in the last remaining laps. Enfinger, who was looking for the second win of his career, his first since Talladega in 2016, had to settle for second by .038 seconds. The win would have locked him into the Playoffs, but with the consistency and strength that Enfinger has shown in the past remaining races, he sits sixth in the playoffs standings, 120 points. In Wednesday night’s race, he finished seventh and second, respectively in both stages. His second-place finish earned him his fourth top five of the year. Previous Week Ranking: 5th
- Stewart Friesen – Friesen came up short once again at Eldora, but it wasn’t due to lack of effort from the No. 52 Canadian driver. He was in the fifth heat race and led all 10 laps to score the win, which led him to a third-place starting position. The race was somewhat of a struggle early on for Friesen, as he ran as low 31st but was able to advance with pit stop strategy and cautions helping out the team. But, it wasn’t until the end of Stage 2 when he placed inside the top-10 to finish 10th. Friesen found himself in competition for the win in the final five laps of the race with the multiple race cautions. On one of the restarts, he went four-wide with the top leaders until another caution came out. However, Friesen rallied after being a caution on Lap 29 and earned a third-place finish, giving him his fifth top-five of the year. He’ll have to be careful in the three remaining races until the Playoffs begin as he sits on the bubble in seventh per Playoff standings, 111 points behind, considering no new driver wins until then. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
- Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a good night at Eldora, considering this was his first time racing on dirt. Based on qualifying results, he was placed in heat race #2 and ended up finishing third, giving him a 12th place starting position. The three-time race winner in 2018 had to fight his way to the front after fighting in dirty air and heavy traffic. He wasn’t able to earn stage points which will hurt the team just a little bit, but Hattori Racing team already has three wins this year and is good for the Playoffs, if they continue to get sponsorship throughout the season. In the end, Moffitt was helped out with the cautions and race strategy to give him a third-place finish. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
- Matt Crafton – It has now been one year since Crafton has won a race in the Truck Series. After last night’s race, he has three more races remaining to earn a win to solidify himself into the Playoffs and compete for the championship. Crafton didn’t have a bad night, but it certainly didn’t come without troubles. On Lap 55, he and Tyler Dippel got collected with each other, and Crafton got tipped from behind by Ryan Newman who tore the back end off Crafton’s truck. However, not all was lost, as he and the No. 88 ThorSport team finished eighth and seventh respectively in both stages, ultimately giving him a fourth-place finish. But Crafton and the team are hungry for a win as he sits right on the cut line for the playoffs. He may have to get in on points if he wants to be a championship contender. Previous Week Ranking: 2nd
- Justin Haley – Like Briscoe and Crafton, Haley often competes in dirt racing when his schedule allows. It was second race at Eldora and it was almost the same identical finish for the No. 24 GMS Racing team. In last year’s race, he started 13th and finished eighth. Haley was placed in the fourth heat race and finished fourth after starting sixth. This gave him a 19th starting position, meaning it was going to be a long night for the series regular. But the No. 24 took the entire race to get to the front. He didn’t earn any stage points, but with his Gateway win, Haley is locked into the Playoffs. After a wild finish and race, he finished ninth for his ninth top-10 finish of the year. It’ll be interesting to see how he fares in the Playoffs. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
Fell Out
1. Noah Gragson – Gragson had a quiet night at Eldora and didn’t make too much noise. He was placed in the last chance qualifier but had points to fall back on to make it into the race. He didn’t finish inside the top-10 at all for either stage after starting 27th, but Gragson did finish sixth after battling handling conditions all night long. He’ll look to Pocono and try to continue to close the gap on Johnny Sauter’s points lead.
2. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes was having a good race going until a few laps after the Stage 2 restart. On Lap 45, he hit the wall and continued to slip all the way back in the field, ultimately having to bring the truck to pit road as the tow was knocked out of the truck. This gave the Kentucky winner a 29th place finish, but he is locked into the playoffs.
