Truckin’ Thursdays: Enjoy the Unexpected in San Diego

Ahead of Friday’s (June 19) NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Naval Base Coronado, the Truck Series field, often joked about as a hotbed of calamity and chaos, may need a Top Gun-esque pre-race speech to ensure no shenanigans take place.

“Your egos are writing checks your trucks’ bodies can’t cash. You’ve been busted, you’ve lost your car chief five times, been taken to the R&D center twice, with a history of high-speed passes on pit road and one team owner’s daughter!”

All jokes aside, the Truck Series field is, of course, made up of professional race drivers who are better than 99.9% of the population at driving race cars.

But what’s going to happen in Friday’s race is about as big of a mystery as who “the enemy” is in the two Top Gun films. As was the case with St. Petersburg (sans IndyCar drivers James Hinchcliffe and Dario Franchitti), nobody competing on Friday has seen the 3.4-mile track layout at Naval Base Coronado.

There are quite a few big names in the field. Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson will drive the No. 1 for TRICON Garage and may have an upper hand due to extra track time on Friday in Cup Series practice. Connor Mosack will drive the Spire No. 7, Brendan Gaughan will return to NASCAR with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and Jamie McMurray will get behind the wheel of the No. 25 RAM. Justin Marks will also be in the field, racing the No. 77 Spire Chevrolet.

Even in a race with so many unknowns, however, there are a few known quantities. Most importantly, the two road course winners this season, Layne Riggs and Kaden Honeycutt, have been the class of the field this year and are top two in the standings. Riggs won at St. Petersburg and has won twice more since, while Honeycutt scored his first and so far only career win at Watkins Glen on May 8.

In regard to the full-time Truck Series field, few drivers stick out as consistent road course contenders. But Riggs and Honeycutt each have a road course victory this season and will likely have the two fastest vehicles on Friday.

That’s part of what makes this race so intriguing. Shane van Gisbergen is the overwhelming favorite to win Sunday’s Cup race, while Saturday’s O’Reilly Series race is more open but also features a road course ace in Brent Crews. Plus Justin Allgaier, who while not known as a phenomenal road racer, has never been driving better in his career.

Riggs and Honeycutt have been head and shoulders above the rest of the Truck field, but they don’t seem unbeatable on road courses. Chandler Smith, Riggs’ teammate, should be fast on Friday. You can never count out the ThorSport Racing contingent (especially a hungry Ty Majeski) or Honeycutt’s young teammate Gio Ruggiero, who was in contention at Watkins Glen before a controversial restart penalty.

Friday’s Truck race is a blank slate for a field devoid of ringers. Even if Riggs or Honeycutt do win, the top five and top 10 are likely to be unpredictable, and a foreign track layout should present drivers with plenty of challenges in the opening laps of practice and what will be a high-stakes qualifying session.

It will also be important to keep an eye on drivers around the Chase bubble drivers (Daniel Hemric, Jake Garcia, Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger, etc.) who, with only six races left in the regular season, may be forced to not flip stages and score crucial stage points.

As for what’s going to happen in Friday’s race: I could tell you, but I’d have to kill you. But one thing is for sure: At the end of 50 laps, NASCAR is going to have to send someone from the field to victory lane, and maybe even to Top Gun over the Truck Series’ two-week break from competition.

Cue Kenny Loggins.