NCWTS – UNOH 175 Post-Qualifying Report

Qualifying for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the UNOH 175 was comprised of three, multi-truck sessions. The first session was 20 minutes and brought the field down to the fastest 24 drivers. Session two, at 10 minutes, eliminated 12 drivers. And session three set the top-12 qualifiers in a five minute time frame.

Session one started with a slow, steady stream of trucks making qualifying attempts. Most teams would make two lap runs in an attempt to set their best time yet save tires for the upcoming rounds, as well as the start of the race. Christopher Bell and Todd Gilliland were the first drivers to take times. Bell’s qualifying time was nearly one second slower than his best practice time from Friday. Chase Briscoe, who struggled in Friday practice, ran a lap of 128.867 mph, eventually good enough for fifth. After his attempt, Cody Coughlin’s Toyota Tundra suffered a flat right rear tire, possibly from running over debris on the track. Unfortunately, this would cause him to miss round two, even though his speed was fast enough for him to advance. The No. 13 will also have to start at the rear of the field for the start of the race due to this unapproved change. Top five qualifiers in round one: Noah Gragson, Ben Rhodes, Justin Haley, Ryan Truex and Chase Briscoe. Drivers not advancing to round two: Ray Ciccarelli, Camden Murphy, Norm Benning, Jennifer Jo Cobb and Mike Senica.

Round two started much like the first. Todd Gilliland was out early and laid down a solid lap (130.242 mph). The No. 51 Toyota Tundra would end up eighth in the session. Grant Enfinger made a run that jumped him to the top spot (130.429), which he would hold for most of the first five minutes of round one. Austin Cindric would take a turn at the top of the chart, as would Christopher Bell. Ben Rhodes would eventually knock Bell from the top and take the top position for round two. The third fastest qualifier from the first round, Justin Haley, would end up missing the top-12 this round, finishing 13th. Top five in round two: Rhodes, Bell, Sauter, CIndric and Enfinger. Not advaning to round three: Haley, John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Hill, T.J. Bell, Gray Gaulding, Joe Nemechek, Austin Wayne Self, Patrick Emerling, Josh Reaume, Wendell Chavous, Cody Coughlin and Jordan Anderson.

The start of round three brought a flurry of trucks down pit road, only to stop at the end and wait. Todd Gilliland was out first again, putting up the first speed at the 4:00 mark of the session. Noah Gragson quickly took over the top position, with Bell following in second. No other drivers made a serious threat to Gragson’s hold of the pole, or to Bell in the runner-up spot. Bell and Gilliland did make last second drives to try and improve, but neither were successful. Gragson’s time of 28.896 sec. was .009 sec. faster than Bell’s. Noah Gragson wins the pole for the UNOH 175 with a speed of 131.811 mph. The rest of the top 12 positions, in order: Bell, Sauter, Rhodes, Gilliland, Cindric, Truex, Enfinger, Briscoe, Crafton, Friesen, Grala.

Noah Gragson leads the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to the green at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Louden, NH for the UNOH 175 today at 1 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Shane Burton
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