Five things to watch in NASCAR Truck playoff opener at NHMS
The 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoffs begin this week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with Saturday’s UNOH 175.
Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski Racing Ford, Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski Racing Ford, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, Kaz Grala, GMS Racing Chevrolet, Johnny Sauter, GMS Racing Chevrolet, Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing Toyota, John Hunter Nemechek, SWM-NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet, and Kaz Grala, GMS Racing Chevrolet
Barry Cantrell / NKP / Motorsport Images
The first round of the Truck playoffs includes races at New Hamshire, Las Vegas and Talladega, Ala.
Here are five things to watch in Saturday’s race:
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Christopher Bell made it to the Championship 4 last season and is off to a strong start to make a second consecutive appearance. Behind four wins and 14 top-10 finishes, Bell captured the regular season championship and enters the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. “To win the regular season championship is a huge testament to Kyle Busch Motorsports and everyone on this No. 4 team,” he said. “For us, it’s huge to have all of the bonus points going into the playoffs.”
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Reigning series champion Johnny Sauter is off to a good start in his bid for a second consecutive title. Sauter won the regular season finale last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway – his second win of the season – and enters the playoffs as the No. 2 seed. In last season’s playoffs, Sauter won two races and never finished worse than 10th.
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This season’s rookie battle is going down to the wire. Rookie contenders Chase Briscoe and Grant Enfinger have been going back and forth with the rookie points lead. With seven races left this season, Briscoe holds a slim three-point lead over Enfinger (195-192). Briscoe, Enfinger, Wendell Chavous, Austin Cindric, Noah Gragson and Justin Haley are all making the first start at New Hampshire.
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Two-time series champion Matt Crafton has to be considered one of the favorites this weekend at New Hampshire. He’s finished top-three or better in every race he’s competed in since 2014 and hasn’t finished outside the top-six at New Hampshire since 2008. He leads the series in races competed at the track (14) as well as top-10s (nine), laps completed (2,607) and lead lap finishes (11).
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Todd Gilliland, who leads the points standings in both the K&N Pro Series East and West, will make his fourth start of the season for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Gilliland’s best finish of 11th came at the road course at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park earlier this month. It was also the only one of his first three races without a DNF.
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