Starting Lineup
Gander Trucks & Texas Motor Speedway
The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series heads to the Lone Star state for Saturday night’s Vankor 250 (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Texas Motor Speedway marking the eighth race of the 2020 season.
Texas Motor Speedway has hosted the Gander Trucks 44 times, dating back to the inaugural event on June 6, 1997 – the event was won by Kenny Irwin Jr. driving Ford for owner Jim Herrick. The 44 series races at Texas have produced 29 different pole winners and 23 different race winners. Mike Skinner leads the series in poles (five), and Todd Bodine leads the series wins at Texas.
Last season this race at Texas was won by Kyle Busch Motorsport’s Kyle Busch. He started fourth and led a dominating 97 of 147 laps and won. It was his fourth Gander Trucks career victory at the track (2009, 2010, 2014, 2019). His KBM teammate, Greg Biffle, then won the June race at Texas, sweeping the series’ events at the 1.5-mile facility last season for the team.
Four former Gander Trucks Texas winners are entered in the Vankor 250 this weekend – Johnny Sauter (five wins), Kyle Busch (four wins), Matt Crafton (two wins) and Justin Haley (one win).
This weekend’s race will be 167 laps (250.5 miles) and it will be broken up into three stages. The first two stages will be 40 laps each and final stage will be 87 laps.
Creed becomes 17th different first-time winner in Gander Trucks over last five seasons
In a rain shortened NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series event at Kentucky Speedway, GMS Racing’s Sheldon Creed grabbed his first checkered flag of his career becoming the 17th different driver in the last five seasons to get their first career win in the Gander Trucks.
First-Time Winners
Track
Date
1
Sheldon Creed
Kentucky
Saturday, July 11, 2020
2
Todd Gilliland
Martinsville
Saturday, October 26, 2019
3
Spencer Boyd
Talladega
Saturday, October 12, 2019
4
Stewart Friesen
Eldora
Thursday, August 1, 2019
5
Tyler Ankrum
Kentucky
Thursday, July 11, 2019
6
Austin Hill
Daytona
Friday, February 15, 2019
7
Justin Haley
Gateway
Saturday, June 23, 2018
8
Chase Briscoe
Homestead
Friday, November 17, 2017
9
Noah Gragson
Martinsville
Saturday, October 28, 2017
10
Ben Rhodes
Las Vegas
Saturday, September 30, 2017
11
Austin Cindric
CTMP
Sunday, September 3, 2017
12
Kaz Grala
Daytona
Friday, February 24, 2017
13
Daniel Suarez
Phoenix
Friday, November 11, 2016
14
Grant Enfinger
Talladega
Saturday, October 22, 2016
15
Brett Moffitt
Michigan
Saturday, August 27, 2016
16
Ben Kennedy
Bristol
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
17
William Byron
Kansas
Friday, May 6, 2016
The big victory propelled Creed two spots in the driver standings to second just 46 points behind Austin Hill in the standings lead. The win not only guarantees Creed’s spot in the Playoffs is also padded his Playoff points total (eight – second most behind Grant Enfinger). In seven starts this season, the Alpine, California star has put up one win (Kentucky), three top fives, five top 10s and a career-best average finish of 8.9.
Looking ahead to Texas this weekend, expect Creed to run upfront. He has made three series starts at the 1.5-mile facility posting a career-best finish of sixth last season. But also keep a look out for another driver adding their name to the first-time winners list as Texas Motor Speedway has been the home to five first-time Gander Truck winners all-time.
First-Time Winners
Track
Date
1
Jeb Burton
Texas
Friday, June 7, 2013
2
Clint Bowyer
Texas
Friday, November 3, 2006
3
Brendan Gaughan
Texas
Friday, June 7, 2002
4
Travis Kvapil
Texas
Friday, October 5, 2001
5
Bryan Reffner
Texas
Friday, October 13, 2000
Playoff picture still hazy with so many races left
The only two drivers currently locked in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs heading into Saturday night’s Vankor 250 are ThorSport Racing’s Grant Enfinger and GMS Racing’s Sheldon Creed. That means there are still eight postseason spots still up for grabs.
Rank
Driver
Points
Race Wins
Playoff Pts
Pts from Cutoff
1
Grant Enfinger
221
2
11
In On Wins
2
Sheldon Creed
247
1
8
3
Austin Hill
293
0
0
109
4
Ben Rhodes
236
0
0
52
5
Christian Eckes #
222
0
0
38
6
Zane Smith #
221
0
1
37
7
Todd Gilliland
220
0
0
36
8
Brett Moffitt
205
0
0
21
9
Tyler Ankrum
201
0
0
17
10
Johnny Sauter
198
0
0
14
11
Derek Kraus #
184
0
0
-14
12
Matt Crafton
179
0
0
-19
13
Tanner Gray #
172
0
0
-26
14
Stewart Friesen
170
0
0
-28
15
Raphael Lessard #
143
0
0
-55
With 15 races in the books, former series champion Johnny Sauter is in the Playoff hot seat currently 10th in series driver standings just 14 points ahead of Sunoco rookie Derek Kraus in 11th – the first spot outside the Playoff cutoff. What might be even more surprising is Sauter’s ThorSport Racing teammate and three-time series champion Matt Crafton is outside the postseason cutline currently 12th in the standings 19 points behind Sauter.
Looking to Texas, the ThorSport Racing teammates of Sauter and Crafton are the only NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series championship contenders entered this weekend with previous wins at the 1.5-mile track.
Johnny Sauter has made 23 series starts at Texas posting four poles and five wins (2012 sweep, 2016, 2017, 2018) – both most among active drivers. He has also amassed 11 top fives and 17 top 10s. He finished third in the March Gander Trucks race last season.
Crafton has made series-most 38 starts at Texas posting three poles, two wins (2014, 2015) and a series leading 16 top fives and 27 top 10s. He finished fifth in this event last season.
Sunoco Rookie candidate and McAnally-Hilgermann Racing’s Derek Kraus is sitting in 11th the first spot outside the Playoffs, 14 points back from Johnny Sauter in 10th and five up on Crafton on 12th. Kraus is having a strong start to his rookie campaign; in seven races he has gathered one top five and four top 10s. This weekend will mark his series track debut at Texas Motor Speedway.
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