NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series drivers will compete for more than a cowboy hat in this weekend’s SpeedyCash.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway (Friday, June 7 at 9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), in this season’s first round of the Triple Truck Challenge.

With an extra $50 thousand dollars on the line in Friday night’s race, ThorSport Racing is looking to build upon their success in the Lone Star State.

Two ThorSport drivers – defending race winner Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton – have tasted considerable success at Texas Motor Speedway, with Sauter leading all active drivers with five wins and Crafton owning a pair of Texas victories.

While Sauter is the only ThorSport driver locked into the Gander Trucks Playoffs with a race win this season, his three teammates have all enjoyed solid performances thus far. Grant Enfinger leads the standings, with Ben Rhodes, Crafton and Sauter currently occupying fourth through sixth place in the standings.

In addition to the Sauter and Crafton wins, Enfinger has scored three top-five finishes in five Texas starts, while Rhodes was the runner-up in this race last year. But, their biggest problem hindering them heading into this weekend could actually be their manufacturer.

ThorSport is powered by Ford. The thing is, Toyota and Chevrolet have led the charge at Texas Motor Speedway overall since 2004 – combining to win every race since then. Prior to that, Ford won the first two races in 1997 and 1998, and Dodge won their first race at the track in 1999. Overall, Toyota leads with 18 wins – including the most recent race in the spring of this year by Kyle Busch. Chevrolet had taken the three wins prior to Busch’s, to reach a total of 17. Dodge has five wins and Ford has three at the 1.5-mile circuit.

Can ThorSport put Ford in victory lane for the first time in well over a decade?

The “Triple Truck Challenge” is new to the series this season, the special bonus program takes place at three consecutive races – Texas Motor Speedway (June 7), Iowa Speedway (June 15) and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (June 22). All drivers earning series points are eligible and drivers who win one of the three races receive a $50,000 bonus.

2019 Triple Truck Challenge Format Rundown:

• The winner of each of the three events (Texas, Iowa, Gateway) will receive a $50,000 bonus.

 

• If a driver wins two of the three events, they will be awarded the $50,000 bonus per race and an additional $50,000 bringing the total bonus winnings to $150,000.

 

• If a driver wins all three events, he/she will be crowned the Triple Truck Challenge champion and will receive an additional $300,000, bringing the total to $500,000 in prize money.