With the popularity of pickup trucks among consumers, it seemed only natural that NASCAR could successfully introduce a series for these vehicles. The concept of a championship using tube-frame trucks made its debut in 1995 with twenty events. Winning the first NASCAR SuperTruck title was Mike Skinner in a Chevrolet. With sponsorship from Camping World, the current schedule is made up of twenty-three events with most races taking place on the traditional paved ovals – the two exceptions are the road course at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Eldora Speedway which is a dirt track.

The trucks are constructed using a formula that is similar to the cars. Bodies are hung on a steel tube-frame chassis built to NASCAR specifications. The vehicles are powered by 6-liter (366-cu.in.) V8 engines which produce approximately 700-horsepower using the unrestricted regulations and about 450-horsepower in the restricted rules. The naturally aspirated motors are fitted with a four-barrel carburetor and run on 98-octane E15 unleaded gasoline. The minimum weight for a truck without a driver is 3,400-pounds.

Manufacturers participating in the series are Ford, General Motors and Toyota.

2017 was the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series fifth visit to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was not the first road course to host a NASCAR Truck race but was the only event of this type on the current schedule. Drivers would compete for sixty-four laps around the ten-turn 2.459-mile track.

The Chevrolet Silverado is the penultimate race before the playoffs. With only two opportunities to advance to the postseason drivers and teams are ‘pulling out all the stops’.

It was a pair of rookies on the front row for the Chevrolet Silverado 250. Getting a jump on the field is the pole-sitter, Austin Cindric in the Draw-Tite/Reese Ford F150. Slotting in behind Cindric is the third fastest qualifier, Kaz Grala in the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado prepared by GMS Racing. Justin Haley who shared the front row with Cindric drops to third driving another GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado.
Although he is classified as a rookie, it should come to no surprise that Austin Cindric was the quickest driver at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Cindric has extensive road racing experience - he had a Continental SportsCar victory at the track in 2015. Cindric started on the pole and was the early race leader. A pit lane infraction dropped him to sixteenth place. Cindric moved through the field and a last lap pass gave him the win.
Until the last lap of the race, it appeared that it would be Kaz Grala’s day and he would score his second victory of the season. Grala who started third moved into first place when Austin Cindric was penalized for a pit road infraction – he led a total of nineteen laps. On the final circuit, Cindric caught Grala at Moss corner and hit the rear end of Grala’s truck which caused him to spin – Grala finished third.
Christopher Bell has scored three wins (Atlanta, Kansas and Charlotte) this season and has secured a berth in the playoffs. It is just as well as it was a difficult weekend for the point’s leader. Bell was fast enough to make it to the final qualifying session where he was fourth quickest. Unfortunately for him, the engine is the Kyle Busch Motorsports prepared Toyota Tundra failed after forty-four laps.
Rookie, Noah Gragson benefited from the last lap incident between Austin Cindric and Kaz Grala. Gragson drove the No. 18 Toyota Tundra sponsored from Switch and prepared by Kyle Busch Motorsports. He started the race in the sixth position and was in third place on the final circuit. When Grala spun, he moved to second. Gragson was disappointed with his result as needed a victory to make it into the postseason.
There were four Canadians entered in the event –D.J. Kennington, Gary Klutt, Jason Hathaway and Alex Tagliani - all competitors in the Canadian NASCAR Pinty’s Series. These drivers have victories in the Pinty’s series and were expected to be a threat to the Camping World regulars. Notching up the best finish among the group was Kennington in the No. 96 Gaunt Brothers prepared Toyota Tundra – he finished fourteenth.
2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter drove the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado. Entering round fifteen, the veteran was third in the point standings and a win at Kentucky Speedway secured a spot for him in the playoffs. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Sauter made it into the final qualifying session and he was tenth quickest. After sixty-four laps of racing, he was sixth.
The No. 75 Henderson Motorsports Toyota Tundra was shared by Caleb Holman and Parker Klingerman during the 2017 season. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Klingerman performed the driving duties. An experienced NASCAR Camping World competitor, he had six-seven race starts and a victory in 2012 at Talladega. Gridded in the fourth position for the Chevrolet Silverado 250, Klingerman was eighth at the checkered flag.
Sharing the front row with the pole-sitter, Austin Cindric was Justin Haley. Haley was the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion. Due to age restrictions (Haley was 18-years old on April 28th) he was not able to compete at in the season’s first two races – Daytona and Atlanta. Despite missing these events, he was twelfth in the Driver’s point standings. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Haley finished fourth.
Last year’s controversial winner of the Chevrolet Silverado 250, John Hunter Nemechek drove the No. 8 Fire Alarm Services sponsored Chevrolet Silverado. The truck sported the Bell South paint scheme to pay tribute to Ron Fellows and Joe Nemechek. Nemechek had clinched a spot in the playoffs as the result of back-to-back victories at Gateway Motorsports Park and Iowa. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, he finished twentieth.

FINISHSTARTDRIVERSPONSOR / CARLAPSRETIREMENTS
11Austin CindricDraw-Tite\Reese / Ford F15064-
26Noah GragsonSwitch / Toyota Tundra64-
33Kaz GralaStealth / Chevrolet Silverado64-
42Justin HaleyFaternal Order of Eagles / Chevrolet Silverado64-
511Ryan TruexWeins Canada / Toyota Tundra64-
610Johnny SauterAllegiant Travel / Chevrolet Silverado64-
718Chase BriscoeCooper Standard / Ford F15064-
84Parker KligermanFood Country USA / Toyota Tundra64-
920Austin Wayne SelfB&D Industries / Toyota Tundra64-
109Ben RhodesSafelite Auto Glass / Toyota Tundra64-
1113Todd GillilandPedigree / Toyota Tundra64-
1215Brian WongTBD / Chevrolet Silverado64-
1316Grant EnfingerRide TV / Toyota Tundra64-
1417D.J. KenningtonCastrol\Spectra Premium / Toyota Tundra64-
1522Jason HathawayChoko\Kubota / Chevrolet Silverado64-
1621Victor Gonzalez Jr.Niece Equipment / Chevrolet Silverado64-
1727Bobby ReuseMotorsports Safety Group / Chevrolet Silverado64-
1826Norm BenningTBD / Chevrolet Silverado64-
1912Alex TaglianiSpectra Premium / Chevrolet Silverado63-
207John Hunter NemechekFire Alarm Services / Chevrolet Silverado63-
2119Cody CoughlinJegs / Toyota Tundra60-
2224Camden MurphyTBD / Chevrolet Silverado58-
2323Jordan AndersonLucas Oil / Chevrolet Silverado55-
2414Gary KluttPioneer Family Pools / Chevrolet Silverado54Suspension
258Matt CraftonMenards / Toyota Tundra46Engine
264Christopher BellToyota / Toyota Tundra44Engine
2732Joe HudsonAlaska Raceway / Chevrolet Silverado12Brakes
2829Jennifer Jo CobbDriven2Honor.org / Chevrolet Silverado11Clutch
2928Todd PeckTBD / Chevrolet Silverado5Transmission
3030Mike SenicaTBD / Chevrolet Silverado2Clutch
3125Joe NemechekFire Alarm Services / Chevrolet Silverado1Suspension
3231Tommy ReganDriven2Honor.org / Chevrolet Silverado0Engine

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