After a small hiatus, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is back and at full song this weekend at Kansas Speedway for the Kansas Lottery 200 this Friday, Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, the elimination-race of the Playoffs’ Round of 10.
GMS Racing’s Grant Enfinger and Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Chandler Smith are the only two drivers locked into the next round of the Playoffs. That leaves eight drivers vying for the final six spots on Friday night, and two drivers’ postseason runs will be over when checkered flag flies.
Kansas Speedway is a 1.5-mile paved oval with four turns with variable banking (17 to 20 degrees). The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has competed at Kansas Speedway 24 times producing 16 different pole winners and 20 different race winners. NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. leads the series in poles at Kansas with three consecutive (2008-2010). ThorSport Racing’s Matt Crafton (2013, 2015, 2020) and Kyle Busch (2014, 2017, 2021) lead the Camping World Truck Series in wins at Kansas Speedway with three each. Three of the 20 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kansas Speedway winners are active this weekend – Matt Crafton (three wins), Brett Moffit (one win) and Front Row Motorsports’ driver and 2022 Regular Series Champion Zane Smith (one win, 2022).
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
- Next Race: Kansas Lottery 200
- The Place: Kansas Speedway
- The Date: Friday, September 9
- The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
- The Purse: $648,530
- TV: FS1, 6:30 p.m. ET
- Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
- Distance: 201 miles (134 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 30),
- Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 60), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 134)
This weekend marks just the second-time Kansas Speedway has hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs race (2020, 2022), and the first-time it will be an elimination-race. The first Truck Series Playoff race at Kansas Speedway was on October 17, 2020, and the event was the first race of the Round of 8 and it was won by Playoff contender Brett Moffitt propelling him into the Championship 4 Round.
Kansas Speedway is the fourth different track to host the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series first round elimination-race since the inception of the Playoffs in the series in 2016; joining Talladega Superspeedway (2016, 2017, 2018, 2020), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (2019) and Bristol Motor Speedway (2021).
Six different drivers have won the elimination race of the first round of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs; including current postseason contenders Grant Enfinger in 2016 and Chandler Smith in 2021.
| NCWTS Playoffs First Round Elimination Race Winners (2016-2021) | ||||
| Date | Track | Playoff Race Winner | Season | Race No. |
| Saturday, October 22, 2016 | Talladega | Grant Enfinger | 2016 | 19 |
| Saturday, October 14, 2017 | Talladega | Parker Kligerman | 2017 | 19 |
| Saturday, October 13, 2018 | Talladega | Timothy Peters | 2018 | 19 |
| Friday, September 13, 2019 | Las Vegas | Austin Hill | 2019 | 19 |
| Saturday, October 3, 2020 | Talladega | Raphael Lessard | 2020 | 19 |
| Thursday, September 16, 2021 | Bristol | Chandler Smith | 2021 | 18 |
Friday night’s Kansas Speedway Playoff race will be broken up into three stages, the first two stages will be 30 laps each and the final stage will be 74 laps for a race total of 134 laps (201 miles). The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on-track activity will begin with practice and Cometic Gasket Pole Qualifying on Friday, Sept. 9 at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.
Truck Clinch Scenarios: Kansas Speedway
A lot is on the line as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio for the Kansas Lottery 200, the cutoff race for the Round of 10.
Only two drivers have clinched spots in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs’ Round of 8 – GMS Racing’s Grant Enfinger (Indianapolis winner) and Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Chandler Smith (Richmond winner) – which means six other positions that are still open with one race to go. Below are the clinch scenarios heading into the Round of 10 finale at Kansas Speedway.
Already Clinched
The following two drivers have clinched a spot in the eight-driver field of the next round: Chandler Smith, Grant Enfinger.
Can Clinch Via Points
If there is a repeat winner or a win by a driver who cannot advance to the next round, the following drivers could clinch by being ahead of the seventh winless driver in the standings. The same point requirements listed below would hold true if a new win comes from among Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Majeski, Stewart Friesen, Ben Rhodes or Matt Crafton.
- Zane Smith: Would clinch with 10 points
- John Hunter Nemechek: Would clinch with 13 points
- Ty Majeski: Would clinch with 20 points
- Stewart Friesen: Would clinch with 25 points
- Ben Rhodes: Would clinch with 34 points (needs 35 points if Crafton wins)
- Matt Crafton: Would clinch with 53 points
- Carson Hocevar: Would clinch with 55 points (needs help if Crafton wins)
- Christian Eckes: Could only clinch with help
If there is a new winner from Carson Hocevar or Christian Eckes, the following drivers could clinch by being ahead of the sixth winless driver in the standings.
- Zane Smith: Would clinch with 13 points
- John Hunter Nemechek: Would clinch with 16 points
- Ty Majeski: Would clinch with 23 points
- Stewart Friesen: Would clinch with 28 points
- Ben Rhodes: Would clinch with 38 points
- Matt Crafton: Could only clinch with help
- Carson Hocevar: Could only clinch with help
- Christian Eckes: Could only clinch with help
Can Clinch Via Win
The following drivers would clinch on their win alone: Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Majeski, Stewart Friesen, Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton, Carson Hocevar and Christian Eckes.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs Contender’s Career Performances at Kansas Speedway
| Rank | Driver | Races | Poles | Wins | Top Fives | Top 10s | DNFs | Average Finish | Driver Rating | |
| 1 | Chandler Smith | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6.7 | 98.3 | |
| 2 | Zane Smith | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6.8 | 122.5 | |
| 3 | John H. Nemechek | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 9.2 | 103.5 | |
| 4 | Grant Enfinger | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 7.0 | 93.0 | |
| 5 | Ty Majeski | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14.3 | 80.5 | |
| 6 | Stewart Friesen | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 19.9 | 84.6 | |
| 7 | Ben Rhodes | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 12.6 | 94.4 | |
| 8 | Matt Crafton | 24 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 11.5 | 94.1 | |
| 9 | Carson Hocevar | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.0 | 74.6 | |
| 10 | Christian Eckes | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 6.0 | 99.4 |
Chandler Smith rockets out front with Playoff win at Richmond
Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Chandler Smith took the Playoff win at Richmond Raceway a few weeks back in dominant fashion, leading 176 of the scheduled 250 laps, and with the victory catapulted himself into the second round of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs. Now the Georgia native sits atop the postseason standings by two points over Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith as the series prepares for the final race of the Playoffs’ Round of 10 at Kansas Speedway on September 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
KBM’s Smith joins GMS Racing’s Grant Enfinger as the only the drivers locked into the Playoffs Round of 8 heading into Kansas. Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith leads the drivers without a win this round in the postseason standings with 2,109 points, up 46 points on the Round of 8 cutline. Smith is followed by John Hunter Nemechek (+43), Ty Majeski (+36), Stewart Friesen (+31), 2021 series champ Ben Rhodes (+21), and veteran Matt Crafton, who sits in the eighth and final transfer spot on points, and is up just three points on Niece Motorsport’s Carson Hocevar in ninth and six points on ThorSport Racing’s Christian Eckes in 10th.
After his big win at Richmond, Chandler Smith is now tied with Zane Smith for the most wins on the season with three each. In 18 starts this season, the Kyle Busch Motorsports star has put up career season-highs in wins (three: Las Vegas, Pocono, Richmond), top fives (eight) and top 10s (12).
Looking to Kansas this weekend, Smith has also run well at the 1.5-mile facility posting two top 10s and an average finish of 6.7 in three career starts. He finished fourth at Kansas earlier this season.
Last Chance Race: Hocevar, Eckes are on the outside looking in
Niece Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar (-3) and ThorSport Racing’s Christian Eckes (-6) are the two drivers currently below the NASCAR Camping World truck Series Playoffs Round of 8 cutline with just one race left to secure a spot to advance.
Hocevar’s Playoffs started with a 21st-place finish at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park followed by a 10th-place finish at Richmond. Now the Michigan native finds himself three points back from Crafton in eighth in the final transfer position. This is Hocevar’s second Playoff appearance, and he hopes to better what he did in 2021, where he was eliminated in the Round of 8. Unfortunately for Hocevar, Kansas is not one of his better tracks, in two starts he has average finish of 19.0. He finished 15th at Kansas earlier this season.
Eckes kicked off his Playoffs with a 16th-place finish at Indianapolis and finished eighth at Richmond Raceway leaving him just six points back from his ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton in eighth. Eckes is looking to build on his only other Playoffs appearance in 2020, where he was eliminated in the Round of 10. Luckily for Eckes, Kansas has been a great track for him. In five series starts he has posted three top fives and four top 10s. His average finish at Kansas is 6.0. He finished fifth at Kansas earlier this season.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Etc.
Sunoco Rookie of the Year Standings Update – Kyle Busch Motorsport’s rising star, Corey Heim, has strengthened his grip on the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings after posting his third straight top-five finish and fifth overall on the season at Richmond Raceway. Now the Marietta, Georgia native has an 87-point lead on second place in the rookie standings, Niece Motorsports’ Lawless Alan.
Though Heim has only participated in 11 of the 18 scheduled races this season, he has been the top of his 2022 rookie class putting up two wins (Atlanta, Gateway), five top fives and six top 10s.
| NCWTS 2022 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Standings | ||
| Rookies | Points | Awards |
| Corey Heim | 335 | 5 |
| Lawless Alan | 248 | 7 |
| Dean Thompson | 227 | 4 |
| Jack Wood | 220 | 2 |
| Blaine Perkins | 150 | 0 |
Camping World Truck Series Owner Playoffs Update – With Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 18 Toyota taking the win at Richmond, they are the only team currently locked into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Round of 8, leaving seven spots still wide open heading into the round’s finale at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 9.
The highest ranked team without a win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Owner Playoffs is the Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford team, up +46 points on the Round of 8 cutline. Plus, the No. 38 team is the most recent winners at the next track on the schedule, Kansas Speedway.
At the other end of the Playoff standings, straddling the Playoffs’ Round of 8 cutline, is Niece Motorsports’ No. 42 Chevrolet team in the eighth and final transfer spot on points, up two points over Team DGR’s No. 17 Ford team in ninth – the first spot outside the Round of 8 cutoff. Not far behind Team DGR’s No. 17 Ford team in ninth, is ThorSport Racing’s No. 98 Toyota team in 10th, the basement of the Playoff standings, but within striking distance, just three points behind Niece Motorsports’ No. 42 team.
