Yahoo Autos Winners And Losers As NASCAR Truck Playoff Field Is Set At Richmond
Stewart Friesen’s crew, overwhelmed with disappointment at missing the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs, silently loaded the team transporter Saturday night after finishing 27th in the Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond Raceway.
Friesen entered the regular season finale nine points below the cutline. He exited the three-quarter-mile track with a 39-point deficit.
“We brought a dull knife to a gun fight tonight,” Friesen said.
A wreck a week ago at Pocono left Friesen with an uphill battle entering Richmond and that mountain he had to climb kept getting steeper once the race started. His truck was a handling nightmare and after 70 laps in the 250-lap event he was a lap down in 27th.
Friesen had an opportunity to regain his lost lap at the beginning of the third caution period on lap 119. He was dueling with Hailie Deegan at the time for the first truck a lap down position. However, NASCAR ruled Deegan was ahead of him when the caution period began, giving her the free pass instead of Friesen.
Friesen and his team knew they had to try something different, so he stayed on the track when the lead-lap trucks pitted at the end of the second Stage. That returned him to the lead lap, and he started the final Stage in 18th, 30 points below the cutline. However, with 75 laps remaining, Friesen once again went a lap down.
Saturday night’s race marked a month of misery for Friesen.
“We’ve had hauler problems,” Friesen says. “The toter (truck) broke down. Flights cancelled. We were a quarter truck away from getting the Lucky Dog tonight and the caution comes out. It’s frustrating, you know, but that’s how it goes.”
Corey Heim claimed the regular season championship.
“We’ve come such a long way from the beginning of the year,” Heim said. “I really felt like we had a lot of progress to make in the first four or five weeks and we’ve really been improving ever since. Tonight, it was a rough night at Richmond. It is kind of a unique racetrack. On the normal tracks, we’ve been really consistent. Still a good finish for us, but definitely want to do better leading into the Playoffs.”
He’ll be joined in the playoffs by Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes, Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, Matt DiBenedetto, rookie Nick Sanchez and Matt Crafton.
Majeski, DiBenedetto, Sanchez and Crafton earned berths in the 10-driver playoff field via points. The other playoff contenders won races during the regular season.
For Majeski there was happiness and disappointment Saturday night. He’s in the Playoffs but had to settle for a second-place finish at Richmond after leading the most laps, then overcoming a speeding penalty to make it back to the front of the field only to see Carson Hocevar take the lead with just three laps to go and win.
“Hindsight is always 20/20,” Majeski said. “Obviously maybe should have pitted, but without that speeding penalty we win it staying out, too. I’m disappointed. We’ve got to clean up the mistakes and be better, but the good news is we have fast trucks heading into the playoffs.”
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs begin Aug. 11 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
