The Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 150 from Phoenix International Raceway is set to go off On Friday, November 11th at 10:00 p.m. ET. The race will be televised on the Fox sports 1 Network for your viewing pleasure.
With only two events left in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, only Johnny Sauter has clinched a berth in the championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The rest of the CWTS drivers will compete to fill the final three spots available after Friday’s race.
Johnny Sauter clinched his spot with a win at Martinsville Speedway two weeks ago. Then, the veteran driver blocked any other Chase racer from receiving a spot when he won again in the next race at Texas Motor Speedway. He will be the only driver that can be conservative in the Lucas Oil 150, knowing that his ticket to the championship race in Miami is already punched.
“The key deal is liking a race track, and I can’t think of a better race track to decide a championship than Homestead,” said Sauter, following his win at Martinsville. “It’s also a very racy place – you can run all over the race track. I feel like we are peaking at the right time. I also feel like we’ve kind of saved some of our best bullets, so to speak, for the end, and we can go and really work hard on our Homestead piece for these next couple weeks.”
Kyle Busch Motorsport’s William Byron may be the best bet to join Johnny Sauter in the finale’ at Miami-Homestead. The youngster has been fast in 2016, and will be driving proven equipment for the Lucas Oil 150.
The Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate, hopes the Lucas Oil 150 goes better than his first. Last season, the NASCAR Next alum made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at the Arizona track, finishing 31st after wrecking on the sixth lap.
On the season, he leads the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in wins with six, top five’ with 10. He also has the best average running position of 7.9, laps led with 572 and overall driver rating 104.9. With a victory, Byron automatically would clinch a spot in the final.
“It’s a little bit of pressure for everyone who is not locked in,” Byron said. “Hopefully we can capitalize on that and have the finish we need in order to get to Homestead. I think we’re also going to have a really good shot to win the Lucas Oil 150.”
William Byron’s teammate Christopher Bell, will also be behind the wheel of proven equipment. The feisty young racer will be piloting the same Kyle Busch Motorsport’s truck that guided him to victory at Gateway Motorsports Park. He also finished second to Byron using the same body in the Chase opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Friday marks the first time that the rookie driver will race at the one mile paved oval. After this contest, Bell has would clinch on points with 31 Points. He would need a 2nd place result with no laps led, a 3rd place finish with at least one lap led. Finally, Bell could finish 4th and have led the most laps and he would be in the finale’. With a win, Bell would obviously clinch a next round spot.
Veteran driver Matt Crafton has 15 starts at the speedy one mile track. In those five starts he has claimed five top five’s, 10 top 10’s and a 9.7 average finish. His best showing at the one-mile track was a runner-up in 2014.
Matt Crafton would advance to Miami with a chance to race for a title, if there is a winner who has been eliminated or is currently in a transfer spot. He would also clinch on points with a 2nd place finish. With a win, he would automatically qualify for another shot at a championship.
Timothy Peters has competed at Phoenix on seven different occasions. Peters has one win and a fourth-place showing. That lone victory, was in 2015 when he led the final 28 laps to take the checkered flag. Otherwise, he’s never finished better than 12th. The #17 Toyota driver is the only Chase driver who has won at Phoenix.
It’s really simple for Maury Gallagher’s Ben Kennedy. He is -13 points back of the cut-off line and needs a victory to advance after Friday’s event. In the hopeful driver’s two races at Phoenix, he has collected an 11th place finish in 2014 and a 24th place finish last year.
