Friesen Earns First Top-Five Finish on Pavement at New Hampshire

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer 

A few weeks off for a hiatus and a new alliance with GMS Racing was just what Stewart Friesen needed. Friesen finished fifth after running inside the top-10 throughout the entire NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Friesen ran as high as third in the No. 52 We Build America Chevrolet Silverado in the running order in the late stages of the race. He battled with the likes of Grant Enfinger, Ryan Truex, as well as Playoff competitors Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton on the 1.058-mile oval. Friesen’s performance on the ‘Magic Mile’ was a remarkable improvement after he struggled throughout the beginning of the season.

After two weeks off, the second hiatus Friesen’s Halmar Friesen Racing has taken this year, the team turned heads, finishing the first two stages in 10th and sixth respectively. Friesen kept his nose clean, avoiding a couple of spins ahead of him on his way to his fifth-place finish.

Friesen’s team was more than happy to Tweet about his performance,

Great run for @StewartFriesen here @NHMS 5th place finish!!!!

— Halmar Racing (@HalmarRacing) September 23, 2017

Prior to Saturday’s race at New Hampshire, the only race in which Friesen competed inside the top-five and top-10 was on the dirt at Eldora Speedway. Friesen, a multi-time winner of Super DIRT Week and in Super DIRTcar, finished second in the Truck Series at Eldora.

This was the second top-five and the first on pavement in the Truck Series for Friesen in just his 19th career start. This, in part, was a shift from working with Tommy Baldwin in his race shop to working in the GMS Racing shop. A new, stronger alliance with GMS Racing allowed crew chief Tripp Bruce to help Friesen be better prepared for his second start, and the final Truck Series race at New Hampshire.

Friesen and his team will now look ahead to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of their first 1.5-mile race last year.