NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Texas JAGS 350 Preview

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The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rolls into Texas Motor Speedway this Friday night for race two in the Round of 6, the JAGS Metal 350 (8 p.m., FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).  Johnny Sauter, the defending series champion, is the defending race winner at the 1.5-mile, quad-oval.  Matt Craft, a two-time series champion, finished second in that same race.  Christopher Bell, the current championship points leader, won the NCWTS race here in June.  Three other playoff contenders (Sauter, Crafton, Ben Rhodes) also had top ten finishes here in June.

There have been 39 NCWTS races held at Texas Motor Speedway.  There have been 25 different pole winners.  Mike Skinner is the oldest pole winner with his run in November of 2007(50 years, 4 months).  Tyler Reddick is the youngest driver to ever win a NCWTS pole at TMS.  He was 18 years and 9 months old when he won the pole in October 2014.  The qualifying record is held by Noah Gragson at 185.134 mph (6/9/2017).

There have been 22 race winners on NCWTS history at Texas Motor Speedway.  Five of winners have started from the pole position, with Todd Bodine being the last to do so in June of 2007.  William Byron became the youngest winner on 6/10/2016 (18 years, 6 months).  The oldest winner at TMS is Ron Hornaday, Jr. (52 years, 11 months) with his win in June of 2011.  Erik Jones holds the race record of 158.002 mph, set on 11/6/2015.

After the opening race in the Round of 6, Austin Cindric and John Hunter Nemechek find themselves below the cut line to advance to the championship round in Homestead.  Here is a look at how they stack up with the other four contenders in the Round of 6 standings:

Christopher Bell – 1st (3083 Points, 47 Playoff Points)

Johnny Sauter – 2nd (3080 Points, 27 Playoff Points)

Matt Crafton – 3rd (3068 Points, 14 Playoff Points)

Ben Rhodes – 4th (3049 Points, 14 Playoff Points)

Austin Cindric – 5th (3038 Points, 13 Playoff Points, -11 to Cutoff)

John Hunter Nemechek – 6th (3021 Points, 7 Playoff Points, -28 to Cutoff)

Any of these six drivers would advance to the Championship 4 with a win.  Bell and Sauter could clinch a spot in the next round by points.  Crafton could clinch by points with a repeat winner.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series runs the JAGS Metal 350 on Friday, November 3, 2017 at the Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas.  (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Shane Burton
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