NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Matt Crafton was well aware of the fact that he could be a winless champion before the green flag even flew for Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. And it didn’t bother him one bit that he could be the first champion in NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series history to not visit Victory Lane in their run to the title. “That would be great, wouldn’t it?  I would love it,” Crafton said with a smile. “I would sleep just fineRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Austin Hill bookended his 2019 season with a victory in Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway – finishing a comfortable 1.569-seconds ahead of veteran Matt Crafton, whose runner-up effort was enough to earn him his third NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship. Hill won all three stages in the race and led a race best 56 laps to give the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota its second consecutive Homestead win. Last year Brett Moffitt drove theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series will be the first title fight of the weekend to be settled, as the four remaining drivers in the Playoffs will duke it out Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the right to hoist the championship trophy when the checkered flag falls. Eight drivers started the Playoffs with a berth in the championship race in mind, but half of them fell by the wayside, leaving Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen, and Brett Moffitt as theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Two promising talents will be given the shot of a lifetime by competing full-time in the 2020 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports. KBM announced Thursday that Canadian driver Raphael Lessard will replace Todd Gilliland in the No. 4 Toyota Tundra while ARCA Menards Series champion Christian Eckes will pilot the No. 18 Tundra as current driver Harrison Burton will move up to the Xfinity Series. Eckes has shown blistering speed in Trucks, scoring three top-10 finishes. However, Eckes has definitely shined duringRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Arizona — It started off with three ThorSport Racing drivers when the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series playoffs began in late August. Now going into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, only one made it to the big stage. That man was two-time series champion Matt Crafton. Crafton entered into Friday’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway outside the cutoff line, trailing Austin Hill by nine points. When crossed the line in sixth, Crafton beat Hill by seven points to claim the fourth and finalRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Stewart Friesen thought he had led the first lap of Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. He was wrong. After suffering a penalty for jumping the start of the race, however, Friesen rallied to lead the lap that counted most—the last one— and secured a spot in next weekend’s Championship 4 race with the second NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series victory of the season and his career. “We’ve got a badass piece for next week, too,” promisedRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Arizona — It’s often said that the world of motorsports is a tight knit circle. Friday’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway is one of those instances where the inner circle comes together, not just from the competition but race fans who rallied behind one fellow NASCAR YouTuber. Griffin Spier arrived in Phoenix to not just see the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race but getting to see his late brother PFC Tate William Spier, who served in the Marines, being remembered. His brother’s nameRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Arizona — Cool, calm and extremely focused is 18-year-old Derek Kraus, who is set to run double duty in both the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and K&N Pro Series West at ISM Raceway. The Stratford, Wisconsin native will be making his fourth Truck Series start of 2019 for Bill McAnally Racing’s No. 19 ENEOS Toyota Tundra. A year ago, Kraus made his series debut at Phoenix where he started and finished eighth. Kraus said there are things that he’ll be able to carry fromRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Spencer Boyd went through a lot of highs and lows in his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series rookie campaign. As did his truck team, Young’s Motorsports, who went from one full-time truck with Tyler Young and Austin Hill driving it over the years, to now three full-time entries in 2019. Boyd made the jump from SS-Green Light Racing in the Xfinity Series to a full-time Truck Series gig. Right out of the gate, Boyd finished fourth at Daytona after being just one of nine drivers outRead More