{"id":7218,"date":"2019-08-15T01:07:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-15T05:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonmotorsport.com\/?p=7218"},"modified":"2019-08-15T17:25:42","modified_gmt":"2019-08-15T21:25:42","slug":"truck-series-playoff-primer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2019\/08\/15\/truck-series-playoff-primer\/","title":{"rendered":"Truck Series Playoff Primer: Moffitt and Chastain the top dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s time for the postseason for at least one the three premier NASCAR racing series this weekend as the Trucks go night racing at Bristol.<\/p>\n

As we\u2019ve seen all year in the truck series, the eight-driver field is extremely competitive. The group is perhaps the most competitive starting field for the playoffs we have seen in any series under the new format.<\/p>\n

That means it\u2019s a wide-open race to Homestead-Miami Speedway and it all starts on Thursday in Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Truck Series Playoff Primer: Moffitt and Chastain the top dogs<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Truck
NASCAR Gander Outdoor Series Playoff drivers pose for a photo. From left to right (Back row): Austin Hill, Stewart Friesen, Brett Moffitt, Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter, Grant Enfinger. Front Row: Tyler Ankrum (Left) and Ross Chastain (Ross Chastain). Photo courtesy International Speedway Corporation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Defending truck series champion Brett Moffitt <\/strong>comes into the playoffs with 22 bonus points to go with his 2,000 and lead in the standings.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s my favorite to win the whole thing again.<\/p>\n

Last year in the playoffs, Moffitt showed he had what it takes to win when it counted.<\/p>\n

The Grimes, IA native took a first-place finish to avoid elimination at Phoenix and then captured the win at Homestead to earn his first ever championship.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll enter with a 13-point cushion on the cutoff, which isn\u2019t much compared to what some have seen in past years. That\u2019s another example of house close the field is to each other in this year\u2019s postseason.<\/p>\n

His biggest threat will be Ross Chastain <\/strong>and it isn\u2019t close.<\/p>\n

Chastain has shown he\u2019s been able to rattle off victories, winning four (albeit being disqualified from one) of the races in the Truck Series\u2019 16-race, regular season schedule.<\/p>\n

The fan-favorite and watermelon enthusiast also picked up a sponsorship for the seven playoff races after running unsponsored at some tracks.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/RacingVault\/status\/1161302307100930048<\/a><\/p>\n

The next pair of drivers includes two teammates from ThorSport Racing who raced their way into the postseason without wins.<\/p>\n

That would be points leader Grant Enfinger<\/strong>, who received a playoff point bonus for winning the regular season, and Matt Crafton<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Crafton just edged his way in, as a new winner in the series in the last race at Michigan would have knocked him out. Nonetheless, Crafton was able to finish third overall in the classic point standings.<\/p>\n

Both drivers have been consistently fast, but even that might not be enough to make it to Homestead with how close this field is together.<\/p>\n

Johnny Sauter <\/strong>was the third driver out of the ThorSport camp to make the show, currently three points behind Austin Hill <\/strong>after his points penalty at Iowa Speedway.<\/p>\n

If you remember, Sauter took Hill out under caution flag conditions and was heftily punished for it.<\/p>\n

If either of those drivers are close to one another during the final seven races of the year, you\u2019re going to want to pay attention.<\/p>\n

Tyler Ankrum <\/strong>snuck into the points by winning at Kentucky Speedway. He failed to win a stage or any other race this season so he\u2019s left at the bottom of the grid with just five bonus points.<\/p>\n

Ankrum did, however, clinch the rookie of the year award by becoming the only rookie to make playoffs.<\/p>\n

Last on the grid that we haven\u2019t touched on is a true wildcard in Stewart Friesen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The former Late Model driver fittingly captured his first career win on the dirt at Eldora<\/a> a few weeks ago to qualify and could sneak in to Homestead with some<\/p>\n

\"Stewart
ROSSBURG, OHIO – JULY 31: Stewart Friesen, driver of the #52 Halmar International Chevrolet, drives during practice for the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Eldora Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway on July 31, 2019 in Rossburg, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

more strong runs.<\/p>\n

Friesen finished second at Bristol last season in a non-playoff race and also recorded top 10 finishes at six of the seven playoff tracks in 2018.<\/p>\n

The exception to that? He was P11 at Martinsville.<\/p>\n

If Friesen finds a win in the playoffs, look for him to be a major threat by the time Homestead rolls around.<\/p>\n

The trucks will take to the track on Thursday following the NASCAR K&N East Pro Series race. The race at Bristol is scheduled for 200 laps and a 7:30 p.m. ET start time on Fox Sports 1.<\/p>\n

Bristol Starting Lineup
\n1. Brett Moffitt<\/strong>
\n2. Ross Chastain<\/strong>
\n3. Stewart Friesen<\/strong>
\n4. Ben Rhodes
\n5. Tyler Ankrum<\/strong>
\n6. Johnny Sauter<\/strong>
\n7. Chandler Smith
\n8. Austin Hill<\/strong>
\n9. Brennan Poole
\n10. Harrison Burton
\n11. Matt Crafton<\/strong>
\n12. Parker Kligerman
\n13. John Hunter Nemechek
\n14. Grant Enfinger<\/strong>
\n15. Dylan Lupton
\n16. Raphael Lessard
\n17. Todd Gilliland
\n18. Sam Mayer
\n19. Tyler Dippel
\n20. Natalie Decker
\n21. Clay Greenfield
\n22. Jesse Little
\n23. Gus Dean
\n24. Sheldon Creed
\n25. Austin Wayne Self
\n26. Ryan Sieg
\n27. Timmy Hill
\n28. Landon Huffman
\n29. JJ Yeley
\n30. Jordan Anderson
\n31. Jennifer Jo Cobb
\n32. Angela Ruch
\n*Playoff drivers in\u00a0BOLD<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoff Grid<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Position<\/strong><\/td>\nDriver<\/strong><\/td>\nWins<\/strong><\/td>\nPlayoff Points<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nBrett Moffitt<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n2022<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nGrant Enfinger<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nStewart Friesen<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nRoss Chastain<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n2012<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nAustin Hill<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n2012<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nMatt Crafton<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2011<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Elimination Line<\/strong><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nJohnny Sauter<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n2009<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nTyler Ankrum<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n2005<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Truck Series Remaining Shedule<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Date<\/td>\nTrack<\/td>\nTime (ET)<\/td>\nTV<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8\/15<\/td>\nBristol<\/td>\n8:30pm<\/td>\nFS1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8\/25<\/td>\nCanadian Tire MP<\/td>\n2:30pm<\/td>\nFS1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9\/13<\/td>\nLas Vegas<\/td>\n9:00pm<\/td>\nFS1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Two drivers eliminated<\/strong><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10\/12<\/td>\nTalladega<\/td>\n1:30pm<\/td>\nFS1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10\/26<\/td>\nMartinsville<\/td>\n1:30pm<\/td>\nFS1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11\/8<\/td>\nPhoenix<\/td>\n8:30pm<\/td>\nFS1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Two drivers eliminated<\/strong><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11\/15<\/td>\nHomestead<\/td>\n8:00pm<\/td>\nFS1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s time for the postseason for at least one the three premier NASCAR racing series this weekend as the Trucks go night racing at Bristol. As we\u2019ve seen all year in the truck series, the eight-driver field is extremely competitive. The group is perhaps the most competitive starting field for the playoffs we have seen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":315,"featured_media":7220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1150,991,1211,281,294,331,14,270,1241,1143,660,1212],"class_list":["post-7218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-austin-hill","tag-brett-moffitt","tag-bristol","tag-grant-enfinger","tag-johnny-sauter","tag-matt-crafton","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-playoffs","tag-nascar-truck-series","tag-ross-chastain","tag-stewart-friesen","tag-tyler-ankrum"],"modified_by":"Connor Ferguson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/315"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}