Photo courtesy of Sean Gardner | Getty Images
It’s the Round of 10 cutoff race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Kansas Speedway Friday evening.
Two drivers have already locked themselves into the Round of 8 as Grant Enfinger won the playoff opener in NASCAR’s return to Lucas Oil Raceway (IRP) and Chandler Smith dominated the latter half at Richmond Raceway back on Aug. 13 to clinch his spot into the next round.
It’s been 27 days since the Truck Series has been in action and with a fast-paced, 1.5-mile track like Kansas, drivers will either feel rejuvenated after the time off or will suffer through some rust and have to catch back up with where they were after Richmond.
Carson Hocevar and Christian Eckes will be under pressure Friday night as they enter the cutoff race below the cutline.
Hocevar sits three points below while Eckes is six points underneath a guaranteed spot in the next round.
They’ll both be chasing Matt Crafton, who is the eighth driver above the cutline. While not in an impossible spot to gain spots in the playoff standings, he will need some luck on his side as he’s 18 points back of seventh-place Ben Rhodes.
If everyone has a clean day, it will be a three-truck fight for the final playoff spot with Rhodes’ fairly comfortable 21-point gap above the cutoff.
Hocevar will have some some work to do throughout the night as he starts last of the 10 playoff drivers in 15th. Eckes will start fourth while Crafton rolls of eighth.
John Hunter Nemechek nabbed his eighth career pole in the series with a 30.779-lap around the 1.5-mile oval during qualifying. Like many drivers currently above the cutline, the driver of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota will just need a drama-free day to clinch is berth in the Round of 8.
Ty Majeski joins Nemechek on the front row and sits 36 points above the cutline.
Regular-season champion Zane Smith dominated the spring race as he led 108 of 134 laps. Smith currently is 46 points above the cutline for Friday’s race and starts from the ninth position.
Looking to play playoff spoiler at Kansas is Corey Heim who is going for this third win of 2022. He has wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway this season. The driver of the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota rolls off from third.
You can catch the Kansas Lottery 200 at 7:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1. The Motor Racing Network will have all of your listening needs.
Starting Lineup:
Pit Stalls:
Not yet available
Goodyear Tire Notes:
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Race No. 19 — 134 laps / 201 milesKansas Speedway (1.5-mile oval) – Kansas City, Kan.Fast Facts for September 9-10, 2022 Tire: Goodyear Eagle 15-inch Speedway Radials Set limits: Xfinity: 6 sets for the event; Truck: 5 sets for the event Tire Codes: Left-side — D-6110; Right-side — D-6112
Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,225 mm (87.60 in.); Right-side — 2,250 mm (88.58 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 18 psi; Left Rear — 18 psi; Right Front — 50 psi; Right Rear — 48 psi
Notes – Xfinity, Trucks on established tire set-up at Kansas: Being on 15-inch bead diameter tires, NASCAR Xfinity and Camping World Truck teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Cup Series at Kansas this week . . . this is the same tire set-up Truck teams ran at Kansas in May . . . this is also the same combination of left- and right-side tires these teams have run at Las Vegas (both series), Texas (both series) and Michigan (Xfinity only) earlier this season . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, Truck teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Kansas . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
— Goodyear Racing —
