Stewart Friesen Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Christian Eckes wasn’t about to lose a race he had dominated, even if it meant using the front bumper on his No. 19 Chevrolet—twice. After a restart with five laps left in Friday night’s Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 at Martinsville Speedway, Eckes first moved the Toyota of Taylor Gray and then the Ford of Ben Rhodes—both of which were rolling on 40-lap fresher tires—to win the race and earn a spot in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series’ Championship 4Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – A strategy call from the pit box coupled with a patient move forward landed veteran Grant Enfinger his second consecutive NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff race win in Saturday’s Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway while his closest competitors ran out of fuel behind him in the closing laps. Enfinger, who won the opening race in this Playoff round at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway three weeks ago denied the other seven Playoff racers a chance at an automatic bid into championship contention. So nowRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Layne Train keeps rolling on. For the second race in a row, Layne Riggs played spoiler in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs, bringing home the win in Thursday night’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Piloting the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, Riggs rolled off from 18th in the 200-lap event, but didn’t stay there for long, advancing up to eighth by the end of the first stage and fourth at the end of the second. Riggs would continue hisRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Long Pond, PA – Corey Heim earned his series’ best fifth victory of the season in Friday evening’s rain-interrupted CRC Brakleen 175 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The 21-year old swept both stages and led 55 of the 70 laps to add to his trophy total. But, he had to battle competitors and climate for this win. The Georgian’s No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota led Grant Enfinger’s Chevrolet across the finish line by .867-second to take his 10th career victory – quickly re-establishing himself asRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LEBANON, Tenn. – The perfect race. Christian Eckes was not to be deterred in Friday night’s Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway, scoring his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win of the season. But this time around it was something not seen since 2012. Starting the night in third place, the driver of the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet ascended to the top of the scoring pylon off Turn 2 on the first lap and never looked back, leading every single lap from there on outRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MADISON, Ill. – The early bird got the victory on Saturday afternoon at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. In a long green-flag run to start the final stage of the Toyota 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, Corey Heim brought his No. 11 TRICON Garage Tundra to pit road before any of the other top trucks made green-flag stops, and the move paid off with optimum track position. Heim held the top spot for a restart on Lap 138 of 160 and ledRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Nick Sanchez showed what an opportunist can do when the right moment presents itself. Taking advantage of fresh tires and a quick pit stop, Sanchez charged from the 10th position on a restart with nine laps left in Friday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and held off Corey Heim to win his second NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race of the season — and of his career. Sanchez crossed the finish line 0.507 seconds ahead of Heim, whoRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Carson Hocevar secured his first NASCAR CRATSMAN Truck Series Championship 4 appearance with a victory Saturday in the Baptist Health Cancer Care 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway earning all four of his career series wins this season – the trophy Saturday most impactful among them. Hocevar put his No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet into the lead with 11 laps remaining and held off the hard-charging Zane Smith by 2.705-seconds to claim the win over the reigning series champion, whose runner-up effort was disqualified by NASCAR after a post-raceRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS City, Kan. – Christian Eckes grabbed the lead on the final restart and stole a victory in Friday night’s Kansas Lottery 200, the Round of 10 elimination race in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. In a three-wide battle for the lead against Corey Heim and Zane Smith, Eckes led only the final two laps to secure his third victory of the season, his first at Kansas Speedway and the fourth of his career. In a last-lap scramble that saw Smith get loose, turnRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Corey Heim started on the pole and finished with his second victory of the year in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.  What happened between the green flag and checkered flag was pure chaos.  In a race that started in a deluge and ended in bright sunshine, cars were spinning like tops on a skittles board and landing in gravel traps that required tow trucks to pull them to freedom.  Teammates collided at theRead More