The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took last weekend off but returns to action this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway for the SpeedyCash.com 220 on Saturday, June 12th (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The race will be the first in a double-header that day, with the NASCAR Xfinity Series wrapping up the day at 4 p.m. ET.
Former series champion and current FOX Sports NASCAR analyst Todd Bodine leads the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in wins at Texas Motor Speedway with six victories (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010). ThorSport Racing’s Johnny Sauter leads all active NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers in wins at Texas with five victories (2012 sweep, 2016, 2017, 2018). Sauter’s ThorSport Racing teammate, Matt Crafton, is the only other active driver with multiple wins there with two (2014, 2015). In fact, only one other entered driver has a win in the Trucks on the 1.5-mile track – Sheldon Creed, who won the most recent Texas race last fall.
The series has raced 47 times at Texas Motor Speedway with the first race being run in 1997. There have been 24 different drivers to visit Victory Lane over the years. Todd Bodine is the all-time wins leader on the circuit with six wins. Brendan Gaughan has four wins, Ron Hornaday Jr. has recorded three, and Greg Biffle, Dennis Setzer and Jack Sprague have two apiece.
Of note, nine times a Texas race winner has gone on to win the Camping World Truck Series championship that season. The first to do it was Greg Biffle in 2000. The most recent was Creed last year. In fact, in five of the past seven years, a Texas race winner has won the title.
2020 – Sheldon Creed
2017 – Christopher Bell
2016 – Johnny Sauter
2015 – Erik Jones
2014 – Matt Crafton
2010 – Todd Bodine
2006 – Todd Bodine
2001 – Jack Sprague
2000 – Greg Biffle
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Next Race: SpeedyCash.com 220
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
The Date: Saturday, June 12
The Time: 1 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 12 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 220.5 miles (147 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 35),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 70), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 147)
How they will line up
By virtue of Metric Qualifying, the most recent race winner, Kyle Busch Motorsport’s driver John Hunter Nemechek, will start from the pole in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race the SpeedyCash.com 220. And he’ll be joined by another Toyota on the front row in ThorSport Racing’s Ben Rhodes.
Niece Motorsport’s Carson Hocevar’s impressive runner-up performance at Charlotte netted him a spot on the second row, as he’ll start third. Todd Gilliland starts alongside him in fourth.
Austin Hill, Stewart Friesen, Zane Smith, Chandler Smith, Derek Kraus, and Drew Dollar will complete the top 10.
None of the drivers starting in the top 10 for Saturday’s race have a win at Texas Motor Speedway. But Austin Hill (2020) Stewart Friesen (2019) and Ben Rhodes (2018) have come the closest of the 10 drivers with all three posting runner-up finishes at Texas recently.
John Hunter Nemechek puts Toyota back in Victory Lane
After Toyota dominated the opening portion of the season by winning the first seven races, Chevrolet and Ford took their turns in Victory Lane at Darlington and the Circuit of the Americas. But at Charlotte two weekends ago, Toyota came roaring back into the winner’s circle with Kyle Busch Motorsports driver John Hunter Nemechek behind the wheel.
The win was Nemechek’s third of the year and the sixth for KBM. It gives him a solid 44-point advantage over Ben Rhodes for the points lead and a shot at the regular season championship (and the spoil of 15 additional Playoff points that come with the title).
Now the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway, where Nemechek has yet to net a top five – but he also hasn’t raced there in a truck since 2017. His best finish came in his second start there (summer of 2016), when he was seventh. Overall, he has an average finish of 15.2 in five starts there between 2015 and 2017.
Ten down, five to go in regular season
With five races remaining in the regular season, not too much has changed from three weeks ago. John Hunter Nemechek, Ben Rhodes, Sheldon Creed and Todd Gilliland are still the only drivers to have secured spots in the Playoffs by virtue of wins. That currently leaves six spots to be filled by points, guaranteeing at least one will be transferring to the Playoffs on points.
Five-time Texas winner Johnny Sauter still holds the 10th and final spot based on points, now just two points ahead of Austin Wayne Self, who is the first driver on the outside looking in.
Another previous Texas winner, Matt Crafton, dropped to seventh on the Playoff grid, but is still comfortably in position to advance to the postseason.
The remainder of the field currently in the Playoff picture (Austin Hill – moved up to third in points, Zane Smith – sixth, Stewart Friesen – eighth, Carson Hocevar – ninth on the Playoff grid) are all looking for their first win at Texas Motor Speedway.
Although Grant Enfinger is currently ninth overall in points, he’s not eligible for the Playoffs after missing the race at the Daytona Road Course early in the season.
Hill has nine starts at Texas with a pair of top-five finishes, including a runner-up result last year. Smith has two starts, both last season, and finished third in his second race. Friesen has a trio of top-five and four top-10 results, including a best of second in the first race there in 2018. Sunoco Rookie points leader Hocevar will be making his track debut this weekend.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Etc.
Brennan Poole making 2021 NASCAR national series debut – On Point Motorsports has tapped Brennan Poole to drive the No. 30 Toyota for the team this weekend at Texas, marking the 2021 season debut. Poole, who grew up near Houston, Texas, spent the beginning of the year recovering from an injury that was a result of a snowboarding accident. Poole’s best finish in a Camping World Truck was a runner-up result at Charlotte in 2019.
Sunoco Rookie Update – Coming out of his second-place showing Charlotte, Carson Hocevar continued to extend his lead over Chandler Smith to stay atop the Sunoco Rookie standings, now holding a 53-point advantage (264 to 211). Smith had a very respectable showing himself, finishing sixth – but only Hocevar scored stage points between the two. Hailie Deegan is in third with 179 points after finishing 13th in Charlotte, while Chase Purdy has 106 points in fourth (he finished 34th at COTA) and Kris Wright is in fifth with 58 points. Wright has only competed in six of the 10 races this season, most recently at Charlotte where he was 23rd at the conclusion of the race.