SPEEDREADS SPEEDREADS
T E X A S M O T O R S P E E D WAY
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES STRIPING TECHNOLOGY 350 ADVANCE
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october 31, 2016
dream weaver
Oklahoma native Bell making his childhood dream a reality PAGE 2
crafty chase
Veteran Crafton returns to one of his best tracks PAGE 4
sweep
Byron looks for clean sweep of NCWTS races at TMS in 2016 PAGE 5
splash ’n go
Chase update, popular blog returns, Uber at TMS, race notebook, entry list PAGE 6 Te x a s M o t o r S p e e d w a y | O c t o b e r 3 1 , 2 0 1 6 | S t r i p i n g Te c h n o l o g y 3 5 0
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SPEEDREADS
LIVING THE DREAM
BELL ALWAYS DREAMT OF RUNNING AT TMS
When a child sees a stadium or facility where their favorite sport takes place, they often dream of being in the action one day in the future. That was the case for Norman, Okla., native and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie Chris-
topher Bell when he and his family drove past Texas Motor Speedway on I-35W when he was younger. Bell and his family often made the trip from Norman to Cowtown Speedway in Kennedale, Texas when he was coming up through the ranks driving sprint cars.
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SPEEDREADS The dreams of that young child are now a reality as the 21-year-old Bell returns to Texas Motor Speedway on Friday evening for the Striping Technology 350 (7:30 p.m. CDT, FOX Sports 1, PRN, SiriusXM, 95.9 The Ranch). “Every time we would go to Cowtown (Speedway) and go past that big, magnificent facility on the right (Texas Motor Speedway) I would have never dreamt that I would get the chance to race there,” Bell said. “To be able to run there, it is really special for me and it has a special place in my heart. It’s still unreal when I go down 35W and see that is where I get a chance to race at.” Bell, driver of the No. 4 truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports, has a lot to race for this week as he is still in championship contention in the first-ever Camping World Truck Series Chase playoff format. He is one of six drivers remaining in title contention as the Round of 6 opened this past weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Johnny Sauter earned the win to earn an automatic berth to the Championship 4 race on Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway while Bell had a strong outing and finished fourth.
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ers might believe. “I have been disappointed this year in the fact that we have not been able to win more races,” he said. “Even if we were to win the championship, I wouldn’t call this a successful year because I have made a lot of mistakes this year and my team has been able to overcome those and here we are racing for a championship.” Bell points to a learning curve this season as he continues to better understand the strategy and management of truck racing compared to his upbringing of sprint cars on dirt. “I think it has been learning stock car racing because I don’t have a lot of experience with it,” Bell said. “It’s just so much different than the sprint car style of racing. I feel that I am getting better every week at managing the races and look forward to continuing to be better at that and winning races. “Going fast was the easy part,” he added. “Learning how to race is the hard part. There is so much more to stock car racing than going fast. As a dirt guy coming in, you have to be able to adapt to certain situations and I feel that is one of our strong suits. The hard part is learning tire management and how strategies work out.” One thing Bell has going for him this week is racing at his “home” track and a place that he feels extremely comfortable. He will be making his third NCWTS career start at Texas Motor Speedway. He finished eighth in his debut in the fall of 2015 and 32nd in June due to engine woes.
Sauter leads the Chase points while Bell finds himself in second among the six. Four of the six will advance from the three-race Round of 6 segment – which includes Friday night’s Striping Technology 350 – to compete for the championship at Homestead.
“I love going to Texas,” Bell said. “It is one of my home tracks on the schedule and one of my favorites, if not my favorite track on the schedule. It’s cool because the surface is worn out and you can move around. You can find different grooves to get going. During the course of a fuel run, you will be at the bottom, up at the top by the wall and everywhere in between. As a driver, that is everything you can ask for to have different grooves to race on and options to pass guys. Texas Motor Speedway gives you that.
Many drivers would already consider this a successful season, but not Bell. Even though he is in his first season and notched his first NCWTS victory earlier this year, he feels it hasn’t been as successful as oth-
“It would be cool if we could win at Texas and a couple of these last races and the championship,” he added. “It would be special for me to win at Texas and help our run to the championship.”
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SPEEDREADS
ON THE TRACK
NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF NASCAR
veteran crafton returns to one of his best tracks A fixture of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series finds himself on the outside looking in as the series is in the midst of its first-ever Chase. Veteran Matt Crafton finished 17th at Martinsville last weekend in the Round of 6 opener after a brake issue derailed his ThorSport Racing No. 88 Toyota. Crafton said he noticed something amiss under braking just 15 laps into the event, and the issue came to a head when he slowed with his left-rear caliper on fire 51 laps from the finish. Matt Crafton comes to Texas Motor Speedway
this week needing a good result to get back into the top four of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase.
“I definitely felt we had a top-five truck,” Crafton said. “We could run in the top five with losing the brakes. It was 15 laps into a run every run that I started losing the brakes and I would just have to sit there and ride so I had something to be there at the end.”
Crafton, a two-time series champion, has one of the best records at Texas Motor Speedway in the series. He owns a pair of victories (June of 2014, ’15) and has finished in the top six at Texas in nine of his last 10 NCWTS starts. Given where he sits in the Chase among the six, it could not have come at a better time. “All in all, we’ll just move on from last week,” said Crafton, who is fifth among the contenders and nine points behind the fourth transfer spot to the title race. “We are headed to track that is really good for us in Texas, so we will see what happens.” The same brake issue that derailed his hopes at Martinsville also occurred at New Hampshire at the end of September. It was something that Crafton’s crew chief Carl “Junior” Joiner thought he had fixed. “We changed a lot of stuff between here and Loudon, so I’m a little bit confused on the deal,” Joiner said. “It’s racing, I guess. … We’ll just go to Texas and see if we can win.” While his third win at Texas Motor Speedway would give him an automatic berth in the Championship 4, Crafton admitted he doesn’t worry much about where he’s positioned in the Chase standings. “I don’t really pay a whole lot of attention to the Chase,” he added. “I just go race each race like it’s the last race of the season. If you advance, you advance. If you don’t, you don’t.” Te x a s M o t o r S p e e d w a y | O c t o b e r 3 1 , 2 0 1 6 | S t r i p i n g Te c h n o l o g y 3 5 0
SPEEDREADS
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byron has a chance for a clean sweep
NASCAR phenom William Byron is looking to make it a clean sweep of Texas Motor Speedway in Friday night’s Striping Technology 350 Camping World Truck Series race. Byron, an 18-year-old rookie for Kyle Busch Motorsports, became the youngest truck series winner at Texas Motor Speedway with his victory in June’s Rattlesnake 400 and now sets his sights on the Striping Technology 350. If he can sweep Texas, it would be just the fifth time it has occurred in speedway history and first time since Johnny Sauter in 2012. The others to sweep were Brendan Gaughan on consecutive occasions (2002 and ’03) and Ron Hornaday Jr. in 2008. Byron’s win in June ignited a hot streak where he won four of six races. His sizzling summer caught the attention of NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick, who signed him to a multi-year contract in August that will have him competing in the XFINTIY Series beginning with the 2017 season.
Byron’s five wins during the regular season helped him secure a spot in the Chase. He appropriately christened his Chase debut by winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, securing his spot in the Round of 6. “I mean, definitely this year has been good for us,” Byron said. “You’ve got to take these opportunities when they’re out there. Hopefully, that’s what we’re going to do; that’s what we’re focused on in the next round of the Chase.” For Byron, returning to Texas Motor Speedway could help him punch his ticket to the Championship 4 race on Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and become the second consecutive Kyle Busch Motorsports driver to win the championship. Erik Jones won the title for KB Motorsports last season. “That win got us on a roll,” Byron said. “I really like Texas because it was slick and had a good rhythm about it and a lot of cool things that were fun. It’s a neat race track.”
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SPEEDREADS
SPLASH ’N GO
NOTES FROM TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
NCWTS Chase update The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase format makes its Texas Motor Speedway debut with the Striping Technology 350 on Friday. The Chase format, made popular by the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since its inception 2004, expanded to both the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series this season. The Camping World Truck Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway in the midst of the Round of 6, having kicked off the first of the three races in the round this past weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Veteran Johnny Sauter became the first truck series driver to punch his ticket into the Championship 4 with his victory at Martinsville. Sauter stands atop the Chase standings and is followed by Norman, Okla., native Christopher Bell (-7), Timothy Peters (-8) and June’s Rattlesnake 400 winner William Byron (-11). Two-time Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton and GMS Racing’s Ben Kennedy sit below the cutoff line. Crafton, nine points back of the final cutoff, and Kennedy, 10 back, will need to continue their respective trends of strong performances at Texas Motor Speedway to move back into championship contention. Crafton is a two-time winner at Texas Motor Speedway and has an impressive 10-race streak of top-10 finishes. He has led in each of the previous five races at Texas Motor Speedway. Kennedy is riding a streak of three consecutive top-10 finishes at Texas and in June earned a career-best, fourth-place finish.
TMS RACE WEEK BLOG Veteran motorsports reporter John Sturbin will be providing comprehensive coverage of the upcoming AAA Texas 500 NASCAR tripleheader weekend with stories and a live blog on www.texasmotorspeedway.com. Sturbin will provide race and qualifying stories from all three NASCAR national series as well as breaking news and various items of interest in the “Trending Now” blog on the landing page of the website that will go live on Thursday of race week.
NOTEBOOK The last driver to successfully defend in the fall NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at TMS was Kyle Busch in 2009-10. Others to accomplish this were Brendan Gaughan in 200304 and Todd Bodine in 2005-06...Mike Skinner holds the record for most NCWTS poles at TMS with five. However, Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter are tied for second with three. Crafton and Sauter are both in the NCWTS Chase... Pole winners have won only five of the previous 37 NCWTS races at TMS. The last to do so was Todd Bodine in 2007.
UBER AT TMS Uber makes its debut at Texas Motor Speedway debut this race weekend. The speedway has designated the Bus Lot off of State Hwy. 114 as the lot where Uber will be staged throughout the four days.
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SPEEDREADS
ENTRY LIST
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18th Annual Longhorn "350" - NASCAR Camping World Truck Series - Texas Motor Speedway - 11/4/2016
STRIPING TECHNOLOGY 350
Last Update: 10/31/2016 11:31:00 AM Entry Veh #
Driver
Owner
Crew Chief
Veh Mfg
Sponsor
1
00
Cole Custer
Dale Earnhardt Jr
Marcus Richmond II
16 Chevrolet Haas Automation
2
1
Jennifer Jo Cobb
Tracy Lowe
Daniel Sowers Jr
16 Chevrolet TBD
3
02
Tyler Young
Randy Young
Andrew Abbott
16 Chevrolet Randco / Young's Building Systems
4
4
Christopher Bell
Kyle Busch
Jerry Baxter
16 Toyota
5
05
John Wes Townley
Tony Townley
James Villeneuve
16 Chevrolet Jive Communications / Zaxbys
6
07
Matt Mills
Bobby Dotter
Ken Evans
16 Chevrolet TBD
7
8
John Hunter Nemechek
Joe Nemechek
Gere Kennon Jr
16 Chevrolet Death Wish Coffee
8
9
William Byron
Kyle Busch
Ryan Fugle
16 Toyota
9
10
TBA
Jennifer Jo Cobb
Austin Zivich
16 Chevrolet Grimes Irrigation & Construction
10
11
Matt Tifft
Tom Deloach
Scott Zipadelli
16 Toyota
Waste Connections, Inc. / BRAINGEAR
11
13
Cameron Hayley
Duke Thorson
Eddie Troconis
16 Toyota
Ride TV / CBH
12
17
Timothy Peters
Tom Deloach
Shane Huffman
16 Toyota
Red Horse Racing
13
19
Daniel Hemric
Brad Keselowski
Chad Kendrick
15 Ford
Blue Gate Bank
14
20
Austin Hill
Bryan Hill
Mike Abner
14 Ford
Lawless Jerky / Alien Gear Holsters / Don Rich Ford
15
21
Johnny Sauter
Maurice Gallagher Jr
Joe Shear Jr
16 Chevrolet Allegiant Travel
16
22
Austin Self
Tim Self
Rick Ren II
16 Toyota
17
23
Spencer Gallagher
Maurice Gallagher Jr
Jeff Hensley
16 Chevrolet Allegiant Travel
18
124 Shane Lee
Maurice Gallagher Jr
Jeff Stankiewicz
16 Chevrolet TBD
19
29
Tyler Reddick
Brad Keselowski
Doug Randolph
16 Ford
20
33
Ben Kennedy
Maurice Gallagher Jr
Joey Cohen
16 Chevrolet Jacob
21
41
Ben Rhodes
Duke Thorson
Kevin Bellicourt
16 Toyota
22
144 Tommy Joe Martins
Craig Martins
Kevin Eagle
16 Chevrolet Diamond Gusset Jeans / RPM Trailers
23
145 Casey Smith
Al Niece
J R Norris
16 Chevrolet Niece Equipment
24
49
Reed Sorenson(i)
Jay Robinson
Maurice Hester
16 Chevrolet TBD
25
50
Travis Kvapil
Mark Beaver
Rob Winfield
16 Chevrolet Willbros
26
51
Daniel Suarez(i)
Kyle Busch
Kevin Manion
16 Toyota
27
63
Norm Benning
Michael Mittler
Brian Poff
16 Chevrolet TBD
28
266 Jordan Anderson
Jeff Bolen
Paul Clapprood
16 Chevrolet Columbia, SC-Famously Hot
29
171 Austin Dillon(i)
Carlos Contreras
Bobby Gill
15 Chevrolet Russell by HTPG Chevrolet
30
74
Mike Harmon(i)
Mike Harmon
Rb Bracken
15 RAM
TBD
31
78
TBA
B J Mcleod
TBA
16 Toyota
TBD
32
81
Ryan Truex
Shigeaki Hattori
Doug George
16 Toyota
KOBE Toyopet
33
88
Matt Crafton
Rhonda Thorson
Carl Joiner Jr
16 Toyota
DampRid / Menards
34
297 Jesse Little
Jason Little
Matt Noyce
16 Toyota
Carolina Nut Co.
35
98
Mike Curb
Vance Haefele
16 Toyota
Safelite Auto Glass / Curb Records
Rico Abreu
JBL
Liberty University
AM Technical Solutions
Cooper Standard TBD
ARRIS
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SPEEDREADS
PUBLIC SCHEDULE
AAA TEXAS 500 WEEKEND EVENTS
TUESDAY, November 1 9a-5p
Texas Motor Speedway Credential Office Hours
WednesDAY, november 2 9a-5p 10a 10a
Texas Motor Speedway Credential Office Hours Reserved Infield Camping Opens (South Tunnel) Burnout Alley Load In
ThursDAY, november 3
9a-5p Texas Motor Speedway Credentials Office Hours 10:00a NCWTS Haulers Enter 11:00a-5p NCWTS Registration Open 11:30a-6:30p NCWTS Garage Open 2:15p Gate 4 Open 2:30p-3:25p NCWTS Practice 3:30p NXS Haulers Enter 4:30p-5:25p NCWTS Final Practice 6:00p NSCS Haulers Enter
FRIDAY, november 4
8a-7p NSCS Registration Open 8:30a-7:30p NSCS Garage Open 9a-7:30p Texas Motor Speedway Credential Office Hours 10:00a-7p NXS Registration Open 10:30a-9p NXS Garage Open 10:30a NCWTS Garage & Registration Open 11:00a Gate 4 Open 11a-1:30p NSCS “HOT PASS” IN EFFECT 11:30a-12:55p NSCS Practice 1:30p-2:25p NXS Practice 2p Gates 2, 3, 5 & 6 Open for Luxury Suites and Victory Lane Club Only 2:45p NCWTS Salute to Veterans Qualifying Days Fueled by Texas Lottery 4p-5:25p NXS Final Practice 5:15p-7:30p NSCS “HOT PASS” IN EFFECT 5:45p NSCS Salute to Veterans Qualifying Days Fueled by Texas Lottery 7:00p NCWTS Registration Closes 7:30p NCWTS Striping Technology 350 (147 Laps, 220.5 Miles)
SATURDAY, November 5 7:30a 7:30a 8a-2p 9a
NXS Garage & Registration Open NSCS Garage & Registration Open Texas Motor Speedway Credential Office Hours Gates 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 Open for Luxury Suites and Victory Lane Club Only 9a-11a NSCS “HOT PASS” IN EFFECT 9:30a-10:25a NSCS Practice 10:45a NXS Salute to Veterans Qualifying Days Fueled by Texas Lottery 12p-2p NSCS “HOT PASS” IN EFFECT 12:30p-1:20p NSCS Final Practice 2p NXS O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (200 Laps, 300 Miles) 2:30p NXS & NSCS Registration Closes 4:00p NSCS Garage Closes
SUNDAY, November 6 7a 8a-1p 9a 9a 11a
NSCS Garage & Registration Open Texas Motor Speedway Credential Office Hours Gates 2-8 Open Luxury Suites and Victory Lane Club Open Loud & Proud Pre-Race Show Fueled by American Ehtanol Featuring Jake Owen 12p-7p NSCS “HOT PASS” IN EFFECT 1p NSCS AAA Texas 500 (334 Laps, 501 Miles) 1:30p NSCS Registration Closes 30 min Portacool Post-Race Show featuring post race Jason Boland & The Stragglers
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