NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview
Event: JEGS 200, Race 5 of 23, 200 Laps – 45/45/110; 200 Miles
Location: Dover (Del.) International Speedway (One-mile oval)
Date/Broadcast: May 4, 2018 at 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
What You need to ‘Noah’bout
- Coming off two strong performances in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and another in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in the month of April, Noah Gragson returns to his full-time job as a championship contender in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this weekend at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. While the Truck Series was on a month-long hiatus from action, Gragson kept sharp behind the wheel by competing in other NASCAR Series. He captured the pole, led 54 laps and finished third in the K&N Pro Series East race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway April 14. The following weekend he recorded an impressive runner-up finish in his Xfinity Series debut at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The talented teenager followed it up with another impressive run, posting a fourth-place finish in the Xfinity Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last weekend.
- Gragson will make his first foray into double-duty action this weekend at the Monster Mile. In addition to driving the No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Tundra in the Truck Series event Friday, he will make his third start behind the wheel of the No. 18 Switch Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race. In last year’s Truck Series event at Dover, he started from the eighth position and finished ninth, so he’s hoping to improve upon that finish with the extra track time he’ll get with Xfinity Series practice on Friday.
- Crew chief Ryan “Rudy” Fugle called the shots for Kyle Busch’s victory in Truck Series action at the one-mile oval in 2014.
- The Las Vegas native enters Friday’s event ranked fifth in the NCWTS championship standings, 35 tallies behind points leader Johnny Sauter. Gragson has earned two playoff points through the first four races in 2018, winning the First Stage at both Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway and Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway. The 19-year-old driver has led at least one lap in three of the four races this season and boasts a best finish of second at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway.
- Safelite AutoGlass, the nation’s largest provider of vehicle glass repair and replacement services, will adorn the hood of Gragson’s No. 18 Tundra for all 23 events on the NCWTS schedule in 2018.
Noah Gragson, Driver Q&A
Do you enjoy racing at Dover?
“I love racing at Dover — it’s so much fun. From the driver’s seat you go off into the corner and it feels like you drop 50 feet to the bottom of the race track and then it feels like a gorilla is standing on your shoulders — you’re all compressed in the seat. It’s just so much fun — it has a lot of grip, it’s really fast and there is so much sensation of speed there. It’ll be a lot of fun this weekend that’s for sure.”
You’re coming off strong performances in the Xfinity Series. Will that give you more confidence in the Truck Series?
“In my couple Xfinity starts I had two top fives — I finished second in my debut in the Xfinity Series. So that will give me a lot of confidence going into Dover — just personally knowing that I can race with these guys and hopefully it’ll give me the confidence that I can contend for the win and maybe we’ll be up front and take home a monster.”
How will you prepare for your first double-duty weekend?
“It’s my first time doing double duty — racing the Xfinity car and the truck. I’m really excited to be out there in my Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra in the Truck Series and then my Switch Toyota Camry in the Xfinity Series. It’s going to be pretty grueling on my body, so I definitely have to hydrate as much as I can because it’s going to be hot out there — it usually is with all the day races at Dover. Just have to hydrate and eat right and maybe we will take home a couple of wins.”
Noah Gragson Career Highlights
- In 29 career NCWTS starts has collected one win, three poles, 243 laps led, six top-five and 15 top-10 finishes.
- Has recorded two top-five finishes, 10 laps led and an average finish of 3.0 in the first two starts of his Xfinity Series career for Joe Gibbs Racing this season
- Gragson finished 10th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) championship standings in 2017 after collecting one win, three poles, 187 laps led, four top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in his rookie campaign. He earned his first NCWTS victory last October at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway outdueling series veterans Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton in the closing laps.
- The NASCAR Next alum also competed in three events for KBM’s Super Late Model team in 2017, highlighted by his triumph in the prestigious ARCA/CRA Super Series Winchester 400 at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway in October.
- The Las Vegas native has collected four NASCAR K&N Pro Series West victories across 27 career starts and two NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victories across 16 career starts.
Noah Gragson’s No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Tundra:
KBM-28: The No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass team will unload KBM-28 for Friday’s JEGS 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The Tundra has two victories in 10 career starts, most recently at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta with Christopher Bell in July of 2017. Erik Jones recorded the other victory with this truck in June of 2015 at Iowa Speedway in Newton.
KBM Notes of Interest
- KBM drivers have recorded three wins, three poles, 760 laps led, seven top-five and 10 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.5 across 19 career starts at the Monster Mile. Owner-driver Kyle Busch has earned all three of his organization’s victories at Dover (2011, 2013 and 2014).
- The No. 18 team, which last year was the No. 4 team with Christopher Bell, has won five consecutive NCWTS Owner’s titles for KBM and has produced two championship-winning drivers (Erik Jones, 2015 and Christopher Bell, 2017).
- The No. 18, which was the number that was on the first Tundra that went to victory lane for KBM in 2010, has 20 career victories
- KBM holds the NCWTS records for most career wins (66) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). In addition to collecting a series-record six Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers; Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
