The Craftsman Truck Series heads to the 2.25-mile road course in Lexington Ohio. Here is everything you need to know before the green flag on Saturday.
The Craftsman Truck Series returns from another week off to race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It will be the second running of the O-Reilly Auto Parts 150. The first race, in 2022, saw Corey Heim take the pole. He set a lap time of 1:57.5. During the race, we saw high levels of attrition, with nine trucks suffering mechanical failures or damage from crashes.
During the final laps, the battle for the lead came down to a three-lap battle between Parker Kligerman and Zane Smith. Kligerman took the lead, holding off Smith, and getting his third Craftsman Truck Series victory, he led 56 laps that day. Smith took second, and Carson Hocevar took home third.
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Built in 1962, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is located outside the small village of Lexington, Ohio. The track has hosted many series including the Xfinity Series, IndyCar, IMSA, and several of the lower Formula series. The track has several distinct turns. Leaving the start-finish line, drivers head down the long straightaway into ‘The Keyhole’, a 180-degree turn onto another straightaway. This straightaway leads into turns four through six, a quick up and down hill section known as ‘China Beach’.
Drivers next enter the ‘Esses’ and turn seven and eight. Drivers will enter ‘Thunder Valley’ before tackling the ‘Carousel’ another almost 180-degree turn before reentering the main straight. Parker Kligerman holds the Truck lap record, with 1:27.745 seconds, set during last year’s race.
Entry List
This weekend, thirty-nine drivers will attempt to make it into thirty-six spots. Some drivers attempting to make the race are:
- William Sawalich: #1 Tundra, TRICON Garage
- Will Rodgers: #02 Silverado, Young’s Motorsports
- Landen Lewis: #04 F-150, Roper Racing
- Marco Andretti: #7 Silverado, Spire Motorsports
- Matt Mills: #20 Silverado, Young’s Motorsports
- Ryan Vargas: #30 Tundra, On Point Motorsports
- Josh Reaume: #33 F-150, Reaume Brothers Racing
- Caleb Costner: #34 F-150, Reaume Brothers Racing
- Conor Daly: #41 Silverado, Niece Motorsports
- Dale Quarterley: #46 Tundra, G2G Racing
- Connor Jones: #66 F-150, Thorsport
An exciting line-up of young drivers, veterans, and a couple of IndyCar stars looking to make the show on Saturday.
Predictions for Mid-Ohio
Last year’s runner-up, Zane Smith, is looking to get his third win after a second-place finish at Nashville. He is excellent at road racing, as evidenced by his battle at this race last year with Kligerman and two straight wins at Circuit of the Americas. Look for the #38 Ford to be fast in both qualifying and during the race.
Coming off an impressive win at Nashville, Carson Hocevar has become quite the road course racer. He earned the pole position at Sonoma in 2022 with a broken tibia. He ran third to both Kligerman and Smith last year, finishing in the same position he qualified for the #42 Silverado in. Hocevar has serious momentum and is proving that he is a championship-capable driver.
IndyCar drivers Marco Andretti and Conor Daly are racing this weekend. Andretti has made sixteen starts in an IndyCar at this track and Daly has eight. Daly most recently filled in for Simon Pagenaud last weekend, after Pagenaud suffered a massive rollover accident. These two are getting into fast trucks, Alex Bowman took the pole at COTA in 2022 with the #7 Chevy, and Bayley Currey ran top-five at Nashville in the #41. Though I do not believe these two will get wins, I believe they will have top ten pace.
Toyota has been struggling this year, with only one win from Corey Heim at a rain-shortened race at Martinsville. I believe there are two Toyota teams above whatever is ailing the Tundra: Stewart Friesen and Tyler Ankrum. Friesen finished third at COTA, and fourth at Mid-Ohio in 2022, so he knows how to get around road courses. Ankrum will have the benefit of running the ARCA race before the Truck race, so he’ll have extra time in a stock car before the race. I believe these two will be the fastest Toyotas on track this weekend.
How to Watch
- Friday, July 7th:
- Saturday, July 8th:
- The O’Reilly Auto Parts 150: 1:30 PM ET, FS1
