The top 10 finishers in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway are filled with names NASCAR Camping World Truck Series fans know really well. David Gilliland Racing scored back-to-back wins with Ryan Preece‘s victory, the regular season points leader Zane Smith finished second, and Carson Hocevar came home in third place.
Then there is Max Gutierrez, a 19-year-old from Mexico City who came out with an eighth-place finish in the No. 22 Toughbuilt Chevrolet Silverado in only his second career Truck Series start on Friday (June 24). That finish is a significant improvement from his 26th place showing in his Truck debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway back in May.
“Well, since we first raced back in Charlotte, I learned as much as I can,” Gutierrez said in his post-race interview with FOX Sports 1. “Now, here at Nashville it came out perfect for us.”
Tense moment but Ryan Preece wins at Nashville for the second year in a row! 17 truck is 🔥
Impressive drive for Max Gutierrez finishing 8th 🏁#NASCAR
— Eric Estepp (@EricEstepp17) June 25, 2022
It did not start out so perfect, however, as Gutierrez’s qualifying run was disallowed by NASCAR due to the ride height being too low.
“Qualifying went very good for us, but then we have an issue,” Gutierrez said post-race about the qualifying miscue.
#NASCAR News: @TreyHutchens and @MaxiGutierrezMX Qualifying Times Disallowed For Being Too Low: https://t.co/VHe0YzSnBQ
— TobyChristie.com (@TobyChristieCom) June 24, 2022
“In the race, It was perfect. We didn’t make so many mistakes. That is why we are inside the top 10. I am super happy,” Gutierrez said with a smile on his face.
The result was also a boon for Gutierrez’s team AM Racing and its owner Tim Self. The eighth-place showing was the best of the season for the No. 22 team. Moreover, Gutierrez gave the team its third top 10 finish in 2022, with ninth and 10th place finishes by Austin Wayne Self early in the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway, respectively.
How about that?!?!@MaxiGutierrezMX earns a career-best eighth place finish in the #NASCAR Camping World Truck Series @NashvilleSuperS! #NASCAR
— AM Racing (@AMRacingNASCAR) June 25, 2022
While this performance is noteworthy, it is only the start of the racing weekend for Gutierrez, who will now travel back to his native Mexico to compete in a race on Sunday.
“In four hours, I have a plane so I can go back to Mexico and race on Sunday,” Gutierrez said to conclude his interview.
Between this performance and Daniel Suarez‘s win in the most recent NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway, it has been a great few weeks for Mexican-born drivers in NASCAR. Time will tell if this performance could be a big step forward for Gutierrez’s NASCAR career.
Mad Max 😤
19 year-old Max Gutierrez 🅿️8️⃣ in just his second-career #CampingWorldTrucks start. pic.twitter.com/H7gjWmwY2q
— NASCAR Camping World Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 25, 2022
Andrew Stoddard joined Frontstretch in May of 2022 as an iRacing contributor. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond, and VCU. He works as an athletic communications specialist at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.
Turned some heads, and turned Hailie Deegan.