Truck Series Playoff Picture Tightens Up at The Tricky Triangle

LONG POND, Pa. – When it comes to playoff pictures, it doesn’t get much tighter than the current state of things in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series after the CRC Brakleen 175 at Pocono Raceway on Friday (July 12).

It was already a close battle for the last playoff spot entering The Tricky Triangle, with Tanner Gray holding a 14-point edge over Daniel Dye and 17 points ahead of Stewart Friesen at the playoff cut line.

Dye had a game plan to eat into that deficit: collecting stage points. Dye accrued a combined 15 points with a fourth-place finish stage one and a third-placing showing in stage two, compared to only three stage points for Gray. That points haul helped Dye leapfrog Gray above the cut line through 30 laps.

However, Dye’s race took a wrong turn during his second pit stop of the day on lap 46, causing him to fall outside the top 20 in the running order. Meanwhile, Gray stayed on the race track, usurping Dye for the final playoff spot.

“Yeah, I stalled on pit road when we came back that second time,” Dye said. “Just something we could have probably fixed in practice had I mentioned it. I just didn’t mention it, so that’s on me.”

One final plot twist came from an all-too-familiar source: Mother Nature. On lap 62, rain drops in turns 2 and 3 forced NASCAR to bring the field down pit road and display the red flag. When the race halted, Gray sat 13th followed by Dye in 18th.

For a moment, it looked as though the race might end there, as the field circled around for two laps under caution before more sprinkles brought the cars back to their stalls.

But then the rain lifted just in time for a three-lap shootout to the checkered flag. In those three laps, Dye vaulted to a 13th-place finish while Gray fell to 19th. That rally was just enough for Dye to leapfrog to the final spot above the cut line by a single point over Gray.

“I didn’t need that rain to keep coming, so it’s good we got to get in those last couple of laps,” Dye said afterwards. “The [No.] 41 [Bayley Currey] was awesome working with him, and we got some spots together. Eventually, I beat him to the line, so that was perfect.”

As excited as Dye was about the run to the finish, Gray was equally dejected at surrendering six positions from the red flag.

“Just really frustrated with the way things went on the last three laps,” Gray said post-race. “I got an okay restart and then felt like I just kind of got used up through the tunnel [turn 2], which I guess is to be expected. It’s just tough when you’re back there.

”All self-inflicted stuff to put myself back there. So I just need to do a better job and execute better for all these guys that work really hard in the shop throughout the week to bring fast trucks. I’m just not doing a very good job, so I just got to do better.”

Only two races remain until the Truck Series playoff field is set. They are both at short tracks with Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 19 and Richmond Raceway on August 10. Dye and Gray shared their outlooks about the final two tracks on the regular season slate.

“Yeah, I love IRP and then Richmond was a struggle for me last year,” Dye said.

“I don’t think I’m very good at either [racetrack], but I know that everybody from TRICON [Garage] are going to work really hard to bring fast trucks,” Gray said. “At the end of the day, it comes down to me making too many mistakes and putting us in bad positions.”

Not to be overlooked, Friesen is right on Dye and Gray’s heels, exiting Pocono just four points behind the cut line after finishing seventh. With five straight top-11 finishes, Friesen has inched his way right into the playoff conversation.

“We’re just building all the time with [Halmar Friesen Racing],” Friesen told Frontstretch post-race. “We’re not there yet. We still have some work to do to probably run top-five, but we’re over the next hurdle.”

The only sure thing about the battle for the final Truck Series playoff spot is that it will be exciting to watch over the final two regular season races.