Truck Series title battle resumes at Texas
No driver has won back-to-back championships in the 20-year history of this series.
The series is racing at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night and then competing one week later at Phoenix International Raceway before wrapping up the season on Nov. 14 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In June, Crafton won at Texas for the first time in 27 truck races there. The series has been competing at this 1.5-mile track twice each season since 1999. Crafton put on a dominating performance in the most recent truck event there, leading 118 of 167 laps, but had to conserve his fuel in the closing stages after last pitting with 61 laps to go.
“Getting a win at Texas was really cool,” Crafton said. “In June, the track is hot and slippery but this weekend, there will be cooler temps and a lot of grip, so it’ll be faster. This race is 20 laps shorter, so we’ll have to see how the race plays out, but I feel confident we can pull off a sweep.”
Crafton claimed his second win of the season at Texas but has not been into victory lane since. He has finished sixth or better in seven of the last eight races, including a third-place run last Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.
Blaney led a total of 45 laps in the June race at Texas but ended up finishing fourth.
“We had a great Ford F-150 in the first race at Texas,” Blaney said. “We had a good shot at winning, and it was just kind of a fuel strategy deal that put us back to fourth.”
Blaney has one win this season, which occurred in August at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. He has finished 10th or better in the last four races.
Wallace claimed his third victory of the season at Martinsville. He also finished second at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway before placing ninth at Talladega Superspeedway.
“We have the momentum on our side from the win at Martinsville, and our mile- and-a-half program has really improved this season,” Wallace said. “We have been fast on mile-and-a-half tracks, including Texas earlier this season. Since we were last at Texas, I think we have improved even more, and at our last mile-and-a-half race (Sept. 27 at Las Vegas), we ran up front, led laps and came up just short of a win.
Wallace has finished 6th, 7th and 10th in his three truck races at Texas.
“I think we have what it takes to make that a top five this weekend and even contend for the win,” he added.
Kyle Busch, who is Wallace’s teammate and team owner, is competing in this race. Busch has two truck victories at Texas (the fall events in 2009 and ’10). He has the most wins in the series this season with six.
Thirty-two teams are on the entry list for the WinStar World Casino 350.
Series: NASCAR Camping World. Date: Friday, Oct. 31. Race: WinStar World Casino 350. Site: Texas Motor Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 8:30 p.m. ET. Laps: 147. Miles: 220.5. 2013 Winner: Ty Dillon. Television: FOX Sports 1. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.
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