The Craftsman Truck Series rolls 3 hours up the road from Circuit of The Americas to Texas Motor Speedway, a doubleheader with IndyCar at the 1.5 Mile Speedway
Staying in the Lone Star State, Texas Motor Speedway is next on the calendar for the Truck Series. The Speedy Cash 250 is being run on the Saturday before the IndyCar race, and it is the first 1.5-mile race for the series. Notable entries for the race are Ryan Vargas for On Point Motorsports and Chad Chastain for Niece. Chad is the younger brother of Ross Chastain. Keith McGee, Trey Hutchens, and Tyler Hill are also running. The 36 drivers entered will all make the races, as there is 36 available starting spots.
The 2022 running of this race saw Ryan Preece win both stage one and two. An overtime restart saw Stewart Friesen get his first and only win of 2022. Friesen had a dominant day, leading a race-high of 60 laps. Christian Eckes was racing for Thorsport last year and finished second. Despite winning both stages, Preece finished third, in front of Carson Hocevar. The race only saw two drivers wreck out, Derek Kraus on lap 88 and Kris Wright on lap 106. While the race had a low wreck count, it saw many drivers make contact and cut tires. Texas is also a tricky speedway due to the glue placed on the upper lanes of the track. The glue collects rubber and debris, making it tough for drivers to find grip, forcing them to the lower two lanes. Drivers will have to be daring enough to make a pass in that trouble spot.
A Texas sized win for @StewartFriesen! 🤠 pic.twitter.com/y9XKkuh8GM
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) December 14, 2022
Predictions:
Zane Smith has momentum from his win last weekend, look out for the #38 Ford. Smith wants to improve on his 33rd-place finish at this race last year. Kyle Busch Motorsports always bring great trucks to Texas. The team holds the record for wins with nine. One driver in a KBM-aligned truck who has been running great these last four races is Nick Sanchez. He got a top ten at COTA and runner-up at Atlanta. Look for the #2 Silverado to be quick. The big teams, Thorsport and TRICON, are always bringing fast trucks. My eye is on one driver who has been quick, Christian Eckes. He was the second-place finisher at Texas last year and has had fast a Silverado this season. He is my pick to win this race and score his second win of the season.
