The Craftsman Truck Series travels to Bristol Dirt for the first dirt race of the season and the third running of the race on the high-banked short track.
2022’s running of the Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt saw a great battle for the win between Carson Hocevar and Ben Rhodes. The Thorsport driver got the win after leading 95 of 150 Laps. The race also saw many Cup Series drivers in the field. Joey Logano led the field to green after winning Heat 3, in his #54 Planet Fitness F-150. Chase Elliott drove the #7 for Spire Motorsports. Austin Dillon drove the #20 Silverado for Young’s Motorsport.
This weekend at the Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt, we will see more Cup Series drivers tackling the dirt in the Truck Series ahead of their race on Sunday. Jonathan Davenport, one of the country’s best dirt late model drivers, is driving the #7 Chevy for Spire Motorsports. Chase Briscoe is racing the #22 F-150 for AM Racing. William Byron is back with his former Truck Series team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, in the #51 Chevy. After a top-five finish, Parker Kligerman is in the #75 for Henderson Motorsports.
Dirt late model racer @TheFast49 will drive the Spire Motorsports #7 Silverado at Bristol Dirt with @NutrienAg as his primary sponsor! #spiremotorsports #nutrienagsolutions #jonathandavenport #bristoldirt #NASCAR #truckseries pic.twitter.com/Nsj0EItTXe
— Spire Motorsports (@SpireMotorsport) April 3, 2023
Unfortunately, due to a cancellation of Friday’s track activities due to rain, many drivers did not qualify. Those drivers are:
- #6: Norm Benning
- #34: Josh Reaume
- #47: Andrew Gordon
- #62: Jessica Friesen
- #66: Joey Logano
Predictions:
With practice and qualifying canceled, we do not know who has speed until trucks roll off for heat races. Carson Hocevar has some momentum coming into this race. He got his first win at Texas last weekend and was runner-up last year, leading 55 laps. He is a talented dirt racer, racing dirt late models. Look for Hocevar to be upfront at Bristol. Jonathan Davenport is in the #7 for Spire, Chase Elliott finished 7th in the truck last year. Davenport has much more dirt experience than Elliott does, I can see Davenport running inside the top five or maybe in contention for a win. Chase Briscoe has won a dirt race in a truck, the 2018 Eldora Dirt Race, look for him to be running up front. Ben Rhodes has not finished worse than eleventh this season, he is being very consistent. The #99 Tundra won the race last year, look for Thorsport to secure the victory for Ford this year.
How to Watch:
Saturday
- 4:30 PM ET, Qualifying Race #1, FS2
- 4:45 PM ET, Qualifying Race #2, FS2
- 5:00 PM ET, Qualifying Race #3, FS2
- 5:15 PM ET, Qualifying Race #4, FS2
- 8:00 PM ET, Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt, FS1
Featured Image Credit: Logan Riely/Getty Images
