Camping World Truck Series Drivers to Watch

6 Camping World Truck Series Drivers to Watch

The youth movement is on in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Defending champion Sheldon Creed returns, but will he out-run all of his challengers again?

BY AARON BURNS

Last season’s Truck Series championship

battle saw Creed and fellow up-and-comers such as Zane Smith challenge the series’ longtime veterans, like Matt Crafton, with phenomenal results. Not only did Creed and Smith finish first and second in points, but only two drivers older than 30 – Crafton and Grant Enfinger – visited the winner’s circle. Enfinger won four races a year ago and earned the pole for the Championship 4 finale at Phoenix, but the veteran Alabama driver led just two laps and finished 13th. He’ll be looking for more this season, as will other “Old Guard” drivers like Crafton and Johnny Sauter.

But they’re likely going to have their hands full with the defending champion and a new crop of youngsters.

Here’s a look at six drivers who fans should follow from the season opener to the final checkered flag:

Sheldon Creed

“The Showstopper” could again be the show stealer. An accomplished off-road racer, Creed proved last year that he’s mastered the art of racing on asphalt. Only one driver – Matt Crafton – has ever won back-toback Truck Series championships. Creed will have the speed, but can he avoid trouble and prevail in the playoffs once again? Hailie Deegan

Deegan is another rising star with off-road roots. The daughter of motocross legend Brian Deegan will be in the spotlight from the green flag at Daytona. She finished 16th in her lone Truck Series outing last season. Don’t be shocked if she becomes the first female to win a Truck Series race. Brett Moffitt

The 2018 series champion moves from GMS Racing to Niece Motorsports. Moffitt’s proven he can win, provided he has good enough equipment. He’s got it with Niece, the team that guided Ross Chastain to three victories in an impressive 2019 campaign. Moffitt could deliver even more for Niece in 2021. Chandler Smith

Smith, Nemechek’s new teammate, is another young hot-shoe with the skills to win a title. Only 18, Smith’s very good – and he’ll only get better. A partial schedule with KBM in 2020 yielded two poles and five top-five finishes in his last six starts. His first win is coming soon.

John Hunter Nemechek

Nemechek stepped out of Front Row Motorsports’ mid-pack NASCAR Cup Series team and into Kyle Busch Motorsports’ title-contending Truck organization. Expect multiple wins this year. There’s also plenty of reason to believe Nemechek, who won races with his father’s NEMCO team, could be the champion when all is said and done. Zane Smith

The OC’s finest – a Huntington Beach, California, native – won twice and finished second in points to Creed on the strength of seven top-five finishes and showings of third, third and second to end the season. Can he top his teammate and bring home the Truck Series championship this time around?