NCWTS Race Recap: Texas Motor Speedway

Hailie Deegan, No. 1 Ford Performance F-150

Start: 6th

Stage 1: 14th

Stage 2: 17th

Finish: 17th

Hailie Deegan recorded her career-best qualifying performance at the SpeedyCash.com 220, netting the sixth fastest time out of the field and starting on the third row for Friday night’s contest. Despite her strong qualifying effort, a tight-handling Ford F-150 and a slow pitstop at the end of Stage 1 would relegate the 20-year-old to the mid-pack, where she ran as high as 13th place before contact, and a fierce battle at the line relegated her to a 17th-place finish as the checkered flag dropped in Texas.

Tanner Gray, No. 15 Ford Performance F-150

Start: 12th

Stage 1: 16th

Stage 2: 18th

Finish: 24th

Tanner Gray qualified 12th and battled in the mid-pack for all of Stages 1 and 2. The Ford Performance driver reported that his speed firing off was hampered by lack of corner entry stability and team worked to combat it with air pressure adjustments at both stage breaks. In the final stage, Gray advanced forward as high as sixth but a potential top-10 run was derailed by contact with the 99 truck inside of five laps to go. The No. 15 crew repaired the fenders and Gray rejoined the field to finish 24th.

Ryan Preece, No. 17 Morton Buildings Ford F-150

Start: 5th

Stage 1: 1st

Stage 2: 1st

Finish: 3rd

Ryan Preece was the highest qualifying Ford driver by way of his fifth-place qualifying lap. He wasted no time charging forward to second and briefly took the lead on lap 15 before taking command of the race convincingly on lap 20 en route to victories in Stages 1 and 2. On the final stage restart, the Morton Buildings truck sustained left rear bumper damage that led to a pit stop under yellow to reattach the bumper. Preece restarted 23rd and battled all the way back to third for his second top-five of the 2022 season; he continued his streak of a top-10 in every Truck Series start of his career.