NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

Guess Who’s Back?

Tell your friends.

After a two-year hiatus, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 28 (5:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1). Ty Dillon, the 2013 series runner-up is expected to be the only previous winner returning for the Hyundai Construction 200 and is also the latest driver to capture a victory at the track (8/31/12). The Truck Series has not raced at Atlanta in March since 2010 when Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag from the fourth starting spot. Kyle Busch holds the NCWTS record with four wins at AMS.

ReddickULOUS

Tyler Reddick launched his 2015 season with flair, leading a race-high 46 laps to win the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway for his first NASCAR national series victory. It was just the 18th start for the 19-year-old Californian, who will run a full schedule this season for Brad Keselowski Racing.

Following the race, Reddick received about 150 text messages in a 20-minute span, an occurrence he described as “unreal.”

Reddick will continue to chase his goal of a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship by competing in Saturday’s Hyundai Construction 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Crafton Returns To Truck After Sprint Cup Series Debut

Fresh off his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut – an 18th-place Daytona 500 finish as a sub for Kyle Busch – Matt Crafton will transition back to his No. 88 Toyota Tundra from the No. 18 Toyota Camry.

Crafton began his quest for a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series “three-peat” with a strong eighth-place finish in the Daytona opener before flying back to the “World Center of Racing” from North Carolina to drive for his injured friend/NCWTS counterpart.

"There’s nothing like getting a phone call at 7 o’clock at night, saying you’re going to race in the Daytona 500 tomorrow, are you ready? ‘Oh I’m absolutely ready, I’ve been waiting for this my whole life,’” Crafton said.  

Fun fact: Crafton was a groomsman at Busch’s wedding.

Jones Tries To Continue KBM Dominance At 1.5-Mile Tracks

Kyle Busch Motorsports reigned supreme at 1.5-mile tracks in 2014, winning seven of the eight races of that distance on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series slate.

 

Erik Jones, who took the checkered flag at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas race last fall, will attempt to carry KBM’s 1.5-mile dominance to 2015 in Saturday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 18-year-old No. 4 Toyota Tundra driver is coming off a runner-up finish in the season opener at Daytona in only his second superspeedway start and has his sights set on a championship run.

Also competing for KBM this weekend are Daniel Suarez and Justin Boston. Suarez and Boston finished ninth and 29th, respectively, last Friday at Daytona.

Georgia On My Mind

Red Horse Racing Owner Tom DeLoach, a Peach State native and Georgia Tech graduate, brings his team back to his home for the second race of its 11th season.

The 30-year veteran of Mobil Oil Corporation, who retired in 2000 as its president of global midstream, fell in love with racing while serving as the coordinator of Mobil’s motorsports program. Upon retiring, DeLoach served as a partner and later a consultant with Team Penske’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. Interested in team ownership, he bought into CleanLine Motorsports in 2005 and changed its name to Red Horse Racing.

Behind drivers, such as Timothy Peters, Todd Bodine, David Starr and Parker Kligerman, RHR has compiled 13 wins, 86 top fives, 181 top 10s and 11 poles since DeLoach began the organization. Its highest championship finish was a second-place showing by its Peters-powered No. 11 truck in 2012.

Other NCWTS figures making their Georgia homecoming this weekend include drivers: John Wes Townley (Watkinsville), Korbin Forrister (Cedartown), Ryan Sieg (Tucker), Garrett Smithley (Peachtree City) and Wendell Chavous (Hephzibah).

Robust Rookie Race

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has long been a proving ground for young drivers to test their talents against grizzled veterans. This season is no exception.

Eleven drivers are in contention for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this year.

In only the first race of the season, three of the top five drivers at Daytona were Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates: Erik jones (second), Austin Theriault (fourth) and Ray Black Jr. (fifth).

Fellow rookies Korbin Forrister (12th at Daytona), Spencer Gallagher (21st), Daniel Hemric (26) and Justin Boston (29th) will attempt to catch up to the pack this Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.