In a Nutshell: Left turns, right turns, beating and banging, and one of the brightest talents in NASCAR snatching the victory. Erik Jones held off the road-racing expert Alex Tagliani to celebrate in Victory Lane for the second time in 2015 and sixth time in his Camping World Truck Series career. Matt Crafton’s fight for a third straight title stayed alive by following Jones in second place, while Tyler Reddick lost valuable ground following a crash late.
Race Rundown
Daniel Hemric keeps going, and going
Jones may be the rookie winning races and battling for the series crown, but Daniel Hemric is making his name well known by becoming a true competitor. For the fifth straight race, the 24-year-old finished in the top 10. Even more impressive is having top-10 results in 10 of the last 12 races. Sunday’s fourth place tied his career-best in the Trucks for the third time. What is next for Hemric?
Quick Hits
- Jones’s win gave Kyle Busch Motorsports 100 top-five finishes in the Camping World Truck Series.
- Cole Custer drove a strong race in his No. 00 JR Motorsports Chevrolet before contact with Tagliani spun the 17-year-old.
- The Canadian crowd had every reason to be happy during Sunday’s 64-lap event as their countrymen Cameron Hayley and Tagliani led a combined 21 laps.
Truck Rookie Report
2015 Rookie of the Year Candidates
No. 4 Erik Jones
No. 07 Ray Black Jr.
No. 08 Korbin Forrister
No. 8 John Hunter Nemechek
No. 13 Cameron Hayley
No. 14 Daniel Hemric
No. 23 Spencer Gallagher
No. 33 Brandon Jones
No. of Rookies in the Race: Eight rookies took part in Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 with five finishing in top 10.
Rookie of the Race: Erik Jones, who won the race.
Note: Only drivers declared for the Rookie of the Year battle are eligible for Rookie of the Race.
Points update: Erik Jones leads the championship standings by three points over Crafton. Reddick’s late hard crash proved to be a hard hit in points, falling from the points lead to 15 markers behind. Johnny Sauter’s solid sixth keeps him just outside one race worth of points, now 55 back in fourth spot.
Quotable
“I had a couple of grinding in third gear. On the back straightaway, as soon as I went to third gear, it shredded. Put it into fourth, but it was too low in RPM and the guys went by us.” – Alex Tagliani, finished fifth after losing fourth gear on final lap.
“Top-two finish, not too bad. Especially from where we were two years ago. Two years ago, we were a disgrace.” – Matt Crafton finished second.
“Really happy to bring it home third. This is awesome for our team. It’s a big momentum shift for us.” – Ben Kennedy, tying career-high finish in third.
About the author
Growing up in Easton, Pa., Zach Catanzareti has grown his auto racing interest from fandom to professional. Joining Frontstretch in 2015, Zach enjoys nothing more than being at the track, having covered his first half-season of 18 races in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2017. With experience behind the wheel, behind the camera and in the media center, he thrives on being an all-around reporter.
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This series is so far off the radar that Sports Media Watch doesn’t even bother to report the TV ratings. Does anyone know the TV ratings? I’m betting somewhere below dismal.
Consider yourself lucky. Here in Canada the satellite companies don’t carry truck races anymore.