It’s Labor Day weekend and Bowmanville, Ontario will once again be filled with the sounds of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The Chevrolet 250 will take the green flag for the fourth time at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday, September 4th. The race will begin at 2:45 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Last year, the Chevrolet 250 provided plenty of entertainment. Erik Jones held off a late race attempt for the lead from Alex Tagliani. Unfortunately, during the green-white-checkered finish, Tagliani’s transmission broke. Cameron Haley, a Canadian driver on home turf, was able to finish in a solid seventh place. Haley led the middle portion of the race.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase is right around the corner. Some teams will also be under a lot of pressure to produce a good result in the Chevrolet 250. The ten turn road course will be the venue to do just that, as they pursue final playoff positions. This Sunday’s race and the following event at Chicagoland Speedway on September 16th, will complete the field of drivers.
Rookie phenom William Byron has posted five wins so far in 2016. He also was signed to a full-time spot with Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2017.
This will be William Byron’s first road course race in a truck. The amazing rookie has excelled in every other contest in his rookie campaign. The youngster has also made the most out of his Kyle Busch Motorsports trucks.
Matt Crafton is safely in the Chase thanks to back-to-back wins at Dover and Charlotte. The two-time series champion also spoke about his previous trips to the road course. He has finished 10th, sixth, and second.
“We’re taking the same truck as last year when we finished second, and we’re excited about our trip to Canada. I’ve also raced at the IWK 250 in Antigonish a few times before, and the Canadian race fans are something else. That’s a late model race, and the track was packed. Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is also the same way.” Crafton said.
The first one to lock in this year was Johnny Sauter. Sauter posted a win in the season opener at Daytona. The veteran driver has amassed seven top five’s and ten top 10’s. He also has a pole position to add to his resume’ in 2016.
“I have a Canadian connection. I drove for Alec Pinsonneault in the ASA series for years, and the area really reminds me of Wisconsin. It’s hard also hard to get over how enthusiastic Canadian fans are. We get to spend some time with the fans there, and they really have a passion for motorsports. There are a lot of diehard fans, and I think it’s great that we are able to go to Canada to race.” commented Sauter.
Christopher Bell and John Hunter Nemechek have also drove their way into the truck series Chase. They won Gateway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. Brett Moffitt also has punched his ticket to the playoffs. Brett Moffitt used a three-wide pass on the last lap to claim his first win at Michigan last weekend.
Currently, Daniel Hemric and Timothy Peters are in the Chase on points. There still are a number of skilled racers who can screw up their seasons with a win. Hemric recorded a fourth place tally in last year’s Chevrolet 250. It was also the first time he ever navigated the road course in Ontario. Peters has started all three Chevrolet 250 events. He has two top 10’s and a sixth place finish.
One of the drivers that could push others out is Calgary native Cameron Hayley. Haley sits just 47 points back of Peters. Basically, he needs to win outright to make the Chase. He returns to action this weekend after a solid fifth place finish in last weeks event at Michigan International Speedway. Haley also has this to say about last years venue held in Ontario.
“This will be the first time I’m going to an event for a third time. That’s something new, and we ran really strong there last year. We also lead a bunch of laps. It was great last year, because it felt like we had the whole place backing us up. There were Canadian flags everywhere, and signs supporting us. It was also a pretty emotional time on the lap where they took us around in the trucks to see all of that,” Haley said.
Starting Line-Up for the Chevrolet 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park:
1 00 Cole Custer Haas Automation Chevrolet
2 2 Austin Cindric Pirtek Ford
3 19 Daniel Hemric DrawTite Ford
4 24 Kaz Grala Descartes Chevrolet
5 9 William Byron Liberty University Toyota
6 11 Brett Moffitt Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling Toyota
7 13 Cameron Hayley Ride TV/Cabinets By Hayley Toyota
8 29 Tyler Reddick Cooper Standard Ford
9 23 Spencer Gallagher Lixar Chevrolet
10 41 Ben Rhodes Alpha Energy Solutions Toyota
11 21 Johnny Sauter Allegiant Travel/Alamo Chevrolet
12 17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota
13 8 John Hunter Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet
14 33 Ben Kennedy Wheelwell Chevrolet
15 51 Gary Klutt JEGS/Bothwell-Accurate Toyota
16 4 Christopher Bell Toyota Toyota
17 88 Matt Crafton Rip It Energy Drink/Menards Toyota
18 32 Justin Haley DynamiClear Chevrolet
19 98 Rico Abreu Safelite/CURB Records Toyota
20 81 Ryan Truex Don Valley North/Weins Canada Toyota
21 05 John Wes Townley Jive Communications/Zaxby’s Chevrolet
22 22 Austin Wayne Self AM Technical Solutions Toyota
23 49 D.J. Kennington Northern Provincial Pipelines Chevrolet
24 66 Jordan Anderson Bolen Motorsports Chevrolet
25 02 Tyler Young Randco/Young’s Building Systems Chevrolet
26 07 Cody Ware Lilly Trucking Chevrolet
27 50 Travis Kvapil High Country Grizzlies Chevrolet
28 44 Tommy Joe Martins Cross Concrete Construction Chevrolet
29 71 Camden Murphy American Club Chevrolet
30 63 Norm Benning Unsponsored Chevrolet
31 10 Caleb Roark Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet
32 1 Jennifer Jo Cobb PitStopsForHope.org Chevrolet
