NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series Playoffs Preview from Media Day
In advance of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs, the 8 drivers were made available to the media on Tuesday. The Truck Series Playoff Media Day was the last chance for drivers to sound off before racing this weekend. TSJNASCAR was able to get exclusive interviews from all 8 Truck Series Playoff drivers. 1 of the following drivers will soon be crowned Champion.
Matt Crafton
The 2-time Champion was the last man into the 2018 Truck Series Playoffs. Matt Crafton is seeded 8th in the Truck Series Playoff standings, 8 points below the cut line. By all measures, 2018 has been a down season for the 88 team. Crafton was quick to voice his disappointment at his regular season. The 88 team from Thorsport are winners of at least 1 race in each of the last 5 years. “To be honest I’ve been real pissed off about [not winning]. We know we can win as a team, and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to get there. I feel very confident that we will get back to form. We haven’t won 2 championships and a lot of races together because we were terrible. We’ve done it because we’re smart and a good team.”
Matt Crafton has made it to the Championship 4 in the Truck Series Playoffs for the last 2 seasons. In 2016 he was the Truck Series Playoff runner-up, while he was 4th in 2017. If Crafton wants to make Homestead again, he will have to leapfrog 2 drivers to get above the cut line.
Justin Haley
The youngest of the 8 Truck Series Playoff drivers this year, Justin Haley locked himself in with his Gateway win. Although his first career win came on an oval, Haley is renowned for his road course talent. The first round of the Truck Series Playoffs may just line up perfectly for Haley. This weekend’s Playoff opening race is on the road course at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Haley is more than excited to show his ringer status on the 2.5 mile road course. When comparing it to the other road courses in NASCAR, Justin explained Mosport as “similar to Sonoma. While Watkins Glen is the superspeedway of road courses, it’s not too difficult and relatively easy. Sonoma is technical but long. I’d put Mosport on the Sonoma side, it’s pretty technical and hard. But I like that we go to a hard road course.”
As one of the Truck Series Playoff rookies, Justin Haley has a long shot at the Championship. Haley is at a slight disadvantage heading into Round 1 of the Truck Series Playoffs. He is only 2 points below the cutoff line. However, Haley has to be considered a favorite for the win this weekend in Canada.
Grant Enfinger
The best winless driver of 2018, Grant Enfinger enters his first Truck Series Playoff run in a unique position. He has 2 of his 3 Thorsport Racing teammates in the postseason alongside him. I asked Grant if he sees this as a advantage or a detriment. Enfinger said “I think teammates in general are an advantage, I don’t see the Playoffs as any different. I think we’re going to drive each other no differently than we have all year. But we’re definitely going to take advantage and try to learn everything we can from each other in debriefs.”
Enfinger’s lone career Truck Series win came at Talladega in 2016. Talladega is a track in Round 1 of the Truck Series Playoffs. However, Grant has been consistent enough all year long to feel safe in advancing through Round 1. Before the Playoff reset, Grant was 3rd in points. Only time will tell if the Alabama driver can advance through the Truck Series Playoffs.
Stewart Friesen
Canadian dirt racer Stewart Friesen and Truck number 52 has done everything but win so far in 2018. With 3 runner up finishes, 5 Stage Wins, and 159 laps led, it’s a matter of when and not if Friesen will win. The 35-year old driver knows that some potential race wins have slipped from his grasp this year. “There’s probably 3 races that I could look at that kind of got away for whatever reason. I’ve made a couple mistakes, we’ve made a few mistakes on pit road, and other stuff. That being said, we’ve been competitive every week, especially the past 2 months. We’ve been in the top 5, leading laps, doing everything right. So we’ll just try to keep at it with business as usual.”
Ben Rhodes
The racing pride of Louisville, Kentucky, Ben Rhodes locked up his spot in the 2018 Truck Series Playoffs with a win at home in Kentucky back in July. Besides the win however, Rhodes has had an up-and-down regular season. He is still seeded 4th in the Playoffs. Ben described his roller coaster year as “We’ve had some freak things happen to us and our team. Those incidents are why I feel like we’re so low in the Playoff points. I feel like we should be higher up and have more wins by now.” Rhodes won his 1st career Truck Series race in last year’s Playoffs at Las Vegas. With the speed the 41 truck has had, I think that Rhodes is a potential favorite to make the Championship 4 in Miami.
Noah Gragson
Considered by many as a preseason championship favorite, Noah Gragson is trying to bring a 2nd consecutive title to his team. The Kyle Busch Motorsports driver has had a consistent regular season, winning once, with 475 laps led and 12 top 10s.
Unlike the Thorsport Racing drivers, Gragson has teammates outside of the Playoffs. He described this as “It could help, if you’re racing a teammate and he helps you. My teammates don’t have a lot to lose but I do. I have a really good group of teammates, especially Todd Gilliland. I don’t feel like we’ve worked the best together. I’ll take some of the blame, but we need to work better as teammates. I’ll be sure to sit him down and explain that it’s Playoff time and we need to help each other. If it’s not me winning at KBM, the next guy I want to see win is Todd Gilliland.” At 3rd seed in the Playoffs, Noah Gragson has a great chance to make the Championship 4. He will likely battle for the title in November.
Brett Moffitt
The underdog team of the Playoffs just so happens to be one of the most winningest this year. Brett Moffitt and the Hattori Racing Enterprises 16 team have 4 wins in 2018. This places them 2nd in the Playoff seeding, with 27 bonus points. Moffitt told me how his outlook for the first round of the Playoffs. “I think we just have to go out there and do what we’ve done all year. When I’m on track I don’t want to put myself in any risky situation. That’s in spite of us having some bonus points to rely on. At the same time, Talladega is such a question mark, whether we wreck or not. We have to go for a win these first 2 races.”
Johnny Sauter
The regular season champion has been nearly unbeatable so far in 2018, especially recently. The last 2 races have seen Johnny Sauter finish 2nd at Michigan, and win at Bristol last Thursday. The Bristol victory was 1 of Sauter’s 5 wins so far in 2018, which is a series high.
This stellar run has Sauter as the number 1 seed in the Playoffs. He has a 42 point advantage heading into Canada. This 42 point edge has Sauter feeling great heading into the Playoffs. He told me “I definitely don’t look at the points advantage as a bad thing. I look at it as a product of having a pretty good regular season. That being said, you control what you can control. This weekend going into the road course, I have to stay on track and do my job. At Vegas I feel more in control, and then at Talladega it’s out of your control. I feel much better about where we’re at this year but you can never let your guard down.”
The 2018 Camping World Truck Series Playoffs begin this weekend with the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The 8 drivers will fight in 7 races to be the 1 hoisting the championship trophy in November. It is sure to be a great title fight, as the young battle the old veterans. Be sure to not miss a lap of the action as the Truck Series Playoffs ramp up!
