Manufacturers dish on 2019 season, 2020 outlooks

Posted on November 16, 2019 by Staff Report

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The Chevrolet camp boasts the only active driver who has won more than one championship in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

In fact, Jimmie Johnson owns a record-tying seven Cup titles, and in the process accomplished the record feat of winning five in a row from 2006 through 2010.

Both Johnson and Chevrolet, however, have fallen on hard times of late. Johnson has been stuck on 83 victories at NASCAR’s highest level since the spring Dover race of 2017. His winless streak has reached 94 races.

For the third straight season, no Chevy driver has qualified for the Championship 4 event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but that’s an issue the manufacturer already has begun to address. Rather than wait for the next generation of Cup car in 2021, Chevrolet will race a new model—the Camaro ZL1 1LE — in 2020.

“In the production side of our world, that’s our highest performing production car,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president of performance and motorsports for Chevrolet. “Similar to the ZL1 (the current Chevrolet race car), but it has kind of higher performance elements to it from aero to chassis, and so we’ve incorporated those into the 2020 car …

“ … Listen, we’re a performance sport, so there’s no excuses here. We’ve got to do better. We expect to do better. If you look at the history of Chevrolet, 39 manufacturer’s championships, 31 driver’s (championships), but that’s all history. We’re interested in the next chapter, and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Campbell also pointed out that drivers in the next generation of Chevrolet stars are still learning the ropes in NASCAR’s premier series.

“If you look at the drivers, we’ve had some amazing young drivers that turned into winning drivers that turned into championship drivers that then retired, and so we have a younger crew,” Campbell said. “If you take Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch out of the average age, our average age is like 26 years old.

“So what’s exciting is at one point Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were the young guys. We’ve got the young guys now. It’s an amazing thing to watch how they’re progressing. Some of the drivers have been to these tracks one, two, three times, four times. So every time they go, they’re learning a lot more.”

SUCCESS HAS BEEN THE HALLMARK OF TOYOTA’S BANNER 2019 SEASON

With 43 victories in NASCAR’s three major series—including a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series-best 18—Toyota Motorsports has certainly had a season for the ages. Toyota drivers qualified for all three championship races this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway including three – Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin – in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 season finale.

“Obviously this has been a fantastic season for us across all three series,” said Ed Laukes, Group Vice President of Marketing for Toyota Motor North America. “We’re really excited about, first of all, Christopher (Bell) running today, but this whole thing started in Daytona, as you all know.

“In the spirit of what happened at the Joe Gibbs organization, having J.D. [Gibbs] pass and then having the three Gibbs drivers win in Daytona really started off what we would say, was a magical season for us. And hopefully we’ll be able to finish it off next year.”

With Ford and Chevrolet motorsports executives sitting alongside him for their annual meeting with motorsports media on the eve of the Homestead-Miami season finale, Laukes praised his teams and talked about the group’s motivation going forward. There are only seven Toyota cars in Sunday’s race field – compared to 16 for Ford and 17 for Chevrolet. But the numbers are clearly in Toyota’s favor from the sheer number of race victories in 2019 to having three members of the Championship 4.

After snapping a 12-year Chevrolet win streak in 2016, Toyota wrapped up its third manufacturer title in the last four years with Hamlin’s victory at Phoenix’s ISM Raceway last week.

“In reflection, I started in this job in 2007 and we were looking through some of the statistics and in 2007, Chevy won 26 races and Rick Hendrick’s team won 18, so for us to even get to that point from 2007 to 2019, where we not only can match [the Cup win total] but potentially pass the pinnacle of Hall of Fame Rick Hendrick and the legacy that he has within NASCAR is really special.

“The manufacturer’s championship is obviously a piece of personal pride for us that we push all the time, so whether it’s in any one of the three series, it’s a big deal for us, so we’re pretty excited.

CUSTER IS EMBLEMATIC OF FORD’S DRIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Cole Custer’s performance on the race track—specifically, seven victories this year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series—helped earn the 21-year-old from Ladera Ranch, California, a full-time ride in the NASCAR Cup Series with Stewart-Haas Racing next year.

But Custer also has been learning a great deal in an environment fans can’t see, as part of the driver development program conducted by Ford Performance.

“We have started putting a lot of focus on our driver development over the last several years,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports. “A lot of the things that we can bring to the party is simulator time, which gives them extra time not just to practice driving the car and getting familiar with different tracks but to also practice and be more effective at their communication or evaluation skills, what do they feel in the car, how do they communicate that back to the crew chief and then make changes.

“So you can go through all of that in the simulator to try to advance and prepare them.”

That sort of training already has added to Custer’s body of knowledge.

“Some of the other things that we’re doing over the last two years have been using our IMSA program with the Mustang GT4 cars to put our truck drivers and our Xfinity drivers into getting them more seat time, first of all, getting them more road course time and more data analysis, again, more feedback, more training, more communication, and specifically for Cole Custer, he’s been doing that for the last two years, as well. So that helps develop him as an individual.

“We’ve seen Cole … for a lot of reasons beyond those, Cole has matured and grown a lot over these last two years, and we’re excited to see him taking that step up to Cup next year.”

Posted on November 16, 2019November 16, 2019 by RJ Kraft

The Championship 4 will start in spots one through four for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The race will crown a champion in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Which playoff drivers should you use? Do you garage a non-playoff driver since the Championship 4 won’t get stage points? How should you navigate the playoff game format? We’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration.

PLAY NOW: Set your lineup | How the game works | Tips to set your lineup

RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race day at Miami
Playoff driver 1: Martin Truex Jr.
Playoff driver 2: Denny Hamlin
Non-playoff driver 1: Brad Keselowski
Non-playoff driver 2: Kyle Larson
Garage: Kevin Harvick

RELATED: Odds for Miami | Lap averages | Weekend preview

Analysis: This one is a little tricky in that we have one practice to go off of. That said, the 19 car of Truex looks to be the class of the field in practice and is a must-start for me. In addition, day to night races are right in the wheelhouse of crew chief Cole Pearn. Hamlin has solid lap averages and a strong Miami history.

On the non-playoff side, I like the combination of Keselowski’s recent Miami results with five top-seven finishes in the last six races there. I’m also taking Larson because he is one of the best here and will be ripping the high line in no time.

The garage is a really interesting consideration. Do you go for a playoff play or a non-playoff play? I’m inclined to think this way: If I am trying to protect a lead, I’d like the playoff insurance. If I’m trying to gain ground, I’m inclined to go after more stage points with a non-playoff driver. With that said, I have been big on Kevin Harvick entering this weekend and while he wasn’t as strong as I expected in practice, I still think when the lights are bright the 4 will come to play. I am hesitant to go with Kyle Busch given the inconsistency he has had all postseason. If I went the non-playoff route, Ryan Blaney’s and William Byron’s lap averages are particularly intriguing.

For the bonus picks, I’m going with Hamlin in Stage 1 and then Truex the rest of the way for Stage 2 and the race win with Toyota as the manufacturer.

Each week in this space, we’ll also highlight two Props Challenge items for players.

MORE: Play the Props Challenge today

1. Will the Championship 4 all finish in the top seven: Yes or No? This has happened the last two years with all four Championship 4 drivers placing 1-4 in the 2018 title race and I believe it will happen again. The cream always seem to rise to the top, and I expect all four title contending drivers to be in the top seven at night’s end.

2. The race winner will lead O/U 70.5. The first three title races saw the winner and champion lead under this mark. The last two have seen the winner and champion go over that mark. Maybe its recency bias, but I like that trend especially since I expect Truex to get a Stage 2 win and win the race and that will likely see him lead a significant volume of laps.

Posted on November 16, 2019June 17, 2021 by Chase Wilhelm

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Martin Truex Jr. and crew chief Cole Pearn have been a lethal combination since their first season together in 2015.

Following a championship-winning tenure with Furniture Row Racing, even a massive move from Colorado to North Carolina as they transitioned to Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season didn’t stop them. The pair earned seven victories, including three in the playoffs leading up to Sunday’s Championship 4 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

So, what makes them such a dynamic duo?

“Between him (Truex) and Cole, I think they’ve got a great relationship going, and I think they’re awful good,” team owner Joe Gibbs said. “You can’t shake him up. … Some of them (drivers) get out of the car and you can read them, extremely upset, all the things ‑‑ that Martin, in our meetings, very calculated, smart.”

Gibbs feels the champion driver-crew chief pairing has been able to bring many positives to the table for the entire organization. The proof is in the pudding as they prepare to battle against Joe Gibbs Racing counterparts Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, along with Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, for a coveted second championship on Sunday night in South Florida.

Three JGR machines in the Championship 4 isn’t just happenstance. Gibbs insists hard work as one collective effort and the Truex-Pearn combination have played significant roles in the results.

“Having him come in with Cole has really meant a lot to our race team because what you’re trying to do during the week is solve problems,” Gibbs said. “Four teams work together.

“What I love about our sport, then you go to the racetrack and you’ve got four individual efforts going after it, and that’s hard to do, put all that together,” he added. “But I think they’ve been a big part of what’s happened this year, and they’ve added a lot.”

After the Busch Pole qualifying session on Saturday was canceled in lieu of a 50-minute practice session due to Friday’s heavy rain, Truex is set to take off from the third starting position on Sunday afternoon, directly behind Hamlin on the pole, while Busch flanks him in fourth.

While finding the front won’t be an issue since they start there, it’s staying there throughout the entire 267-lap title bout at the 1.5-mile oval that’s the tall task. But Truex and Pearn have proven time and time again they are the best when it comes to races that experience transitions from daytime to nighttime.

A pair of Coca-Cola 600 victories, a Southern 500 win and their 2017 championship victory in Miami are proof.

Truex agrees it has always been a strength for Pearn and him.

“I think it’s because we plan ahead, go off past history, have a good understanding of that, and confidence in our decisions,” Truex said. “We can live with ourselves if we’re off a little bit maybe in the daytime, kind of understanding what it’s going to do. It’s hard to do that, say we’re going to be off a little bit, but how much? Cole does a good job of being confident in himself. I follow suit.”

It’s that impeccable confidence they have in each other that will make them extremely tough to beat. What’s even scarier is Truex’s relaxed approach as he looks to elevate his legacy in the sport.

“… It’s still a race,” Truex said. “Just like last week was a race. You want to be the best. Everybody wants to win.”

While JGR has used synergy to achieve their success this season, don’t think Truex and Pearn will shy away from taking their own path in order to steal the glory from their teammates.

“Yeah, we build cars together, we go through the week and crew chief and engineer say, I want to go down this road. The other one says, I want to go here,” Truex said. “You end up at different places. Your decisions throughout the weekend take you different places. That’s all open information. It’s going to continue to be that way.”

Posted on November 16, 2019November 16, 2019 by Staff Report

Three of the Championship 4 drivers topped Saturday’s Monster Energy Series practice boards at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Kyle Busch drove the fastest lap at 168.966 mph to lead the group, while Martin Truex Jr. (168.460 mph) and Denny Hamlin (168.277 mph) followed in order. Kevin Harvick was still top 10 but further down the order in ninth (166.806 mph).

The Cup Series canceled qualifying and practiced instead after Friday’s on-track activity was rained out. Starting order was therefore determined by the rule book. Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will start from the pole with Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford alongside him. Truex and his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will be third. Busch will be fourth in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Rounding out the top five in practice were Brad Keselowski at 167.895 mph in fourth and Joey Logano at 167.848 mph in fifth. Ryan Blaney (sixth), Chase Elliott (seventh), Kyle Larson (eighth) and Erik Jones (1oth) comprised the rest of the top 10.

Busch also led the Championship 4 in five-lap averages, but Hamlin was dominant when it came to 10-lappers. Truex had the best 15-lap average.

That’s it until the green flag drops Sunday. The Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, MRN) is the season finale. Either Busch, Truex, Hamlin or Harvick will be crowned champion.

Posted on November 16, 2019 by Staff Report

See where your favorite driver will pit from in Sunday afternoon’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on November 16, 2019 by Zack Albert

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Matt Crafton picked the best time for his best performance of the season, a runner-up finish that wrapped up his third NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship. That timing wound up biting the three other contenders, who fell short of a title on a late Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Ross Chastain finished fourth, with Brett Moffitt fifth and Stewart Friesen a fading 11th after the Ford EcoBoost 200. Austin Hill drove to his fourth win of the season, leaving the series’ Championship 4 to fight it out in his mirror. Crafton won that battle with a strong second, and the rest of the quartet struggled to keep up.

RELATED: Unofficial race results

Chastain’s Niece Motorsports No. 45 Chevrolet came closest on the leaderboard, but his margin on track was nine-plus seconds behind Crafton’s ThorSport Racing No. 88 Ford. The Floridian watermelon farmer had the makings of a dream season with three wins, a midseason shift to Gander Trucks eligibility and a spirited local rooting section on hand for the finale. Though he led 36 laps (second only to Hill), Chastain was unable to keep pace with the race winner and Crafton down the final stretch.

“Good job, guys. Heck of a season. Gosh dang,” Chastain told his No. 45 crew on the cool-down lap. “Thank you, Al (Niece, team owner). Close, close.”

Moffitt was vying for his second straight Gander Trucks crown, but his first with GMS Racing. Coincidentally, the Hattori Racing Enterprises No. 16 Toyota team he drove for last year carried Hill to Victory Lane.

Moffitt had opened the playoffs with a speedy kick, with two straight wins to start the postseason. At Miami, that speed wasn’t quite there, and he dropped one last position to Chastain with 25 laps to go.

“Yeah, we missed it on overall grip,” said Moffitt, who led three laps during the first-stage intermission. “We had OK long-run speed. But we just couldn’t fire off and run pace, and we couldn’t run the bottom. (HRE’s Scott Zipadelli) and those guys have a really good setup for here, and it can run the bottom long and fast. It’s proven to be the truck to beat here the last two years, and we just need to go to work. We need to get better here.”

Friesen started first after qualifying was rained out and the lineup set by team owners points, but he gave way to Chastain right after the green flag. Friesen finished third in the first stage and fifth in the second, but he then tumbled from the top 10 by the race’s conclusion.

“We had a little bit of short-run speed, but I think I just had to push it too hard to try to keep up with the guys that we were racing, and the bottom would fall out of it there,” said Friesen, who won the first two races of his career this season. “We could hang for part of the stage and then it would just back up. … Just didn’t have the long-run stability to make a bid to run for the championship.”

Posted on November 15, 2019November 16, 2019 by Holly Cain

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Austin Hill bookended his 2019 season with a victory in Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishing a comfortable 1.569-seconds ahead of veteran Matt Crafton, whose runner-up effort was enough to earn him his third NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship.

Hill won all three stages in the race and led a race-high 56 laps to give the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota its second consecutive Miami win. Last year, Brett Moffitt drove the truck to a race and series championship trophy.

Christian Eckes finished third to earn Kyle Busch Motorsports its record seventh series owner championship, the organization’s sixth in the last seven years.

From the drop of the rain-delayed green flag, the four championship eligible drivers – Crafton, fourth-place Ross Chastain, fifth-place Moffitt and 11th-place Stewart Friesen – had to deal with a highly-motivated Hill for the race win. Officially eliminated from playoff contention last week at Phoenix’s ISM Raceway, Hill came into the event highly-motivated nonetheless.

He drove around title-contender Chastain to win the first stage and held off Crafton for wins in both the second stage and ultimately the race trophy.

The 25-year-old Georgia native finished the season as he started – in Victory Lane – matching his work in the season-opening Daytona International Speedway race, his first career win. He won again at Michigan International Speedway in the summer and then again at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and was truly a formidable contender through the playoffs. Unable to overcome a points deficit after a crash at Martinsville Speedway in the final playoff round then kept him from the Championship 4.

“I’m excited for the win, but at the same time it stings a little bit just because I know that if we would have been a little bit better in the round of six, we could be celebrating a win and a championship,” Hill said. “But like I say, I can’t thank everybody out there enough.

And Hill conceded with a smile, “It’s awesome to get my fourth win of the season and end on a high note.”

This year’s champion, Crafton, matches a three-title mark equaled only by Jack Sprague (2001, 1999 and 1997) and exceeded by only NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr., who has four titles (2009, 2007, 1998 and 1996). Crafton is the only driver to ever win back-to-back titles in the Gander Trucks Series (2013-14).

“It feels amazing and we’re one step closer to what Hornaday’s done,” Crafton said after climbing out of his car, noting many underestimated his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford team. “And they called us the underdog.”

Moffitt, who led the series with four wins, 13 top fives along with 17 top 10s and three pole positions, was clearly disappointed with his fifth-place finish.

“We were just pretty bad from the get-go this morning, just missing speed,” said Moffitt, who drives the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet. “It is what it is, we had a good year and we’ll re-group and go after it again next year.

“It’s a disappointment but we’ll move on and get better.”

Chastain, who was a strong favorite to earn his first title, was equally as disappointed after the race. He led 36 laps on the night and, for much of the early race, looked ready to challenge Hill for the win to land his first NASCAR title.

Chastain won three races and earned a series-best 19 top-10 finishes. A competitor in all three NASCAR national series, Chastain only declared himself championship eligible in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series in June.

“I want to throw up right now to be honest with you, but it has been an absolute dream,” said Chastain, who will drive for Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series next year.

“It’s pretty crazy that we did that [made the playoffs], and made it to Homestead. We did everything we could and that says a lot.”

Tyler Ankrum, the driver of the No. 17 DGR Crosley Toyota, finished 22nd but officially earned the series’ Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors for his season’s work. He wasn’t allowed to compete on the big tracks until he turned 18 in March and missed the opening three races of the season calendar.

“We had a really great season I thought,” said the 18-year old Ankrum, who won his career first series race at Kentucky Speedway this summer and qualified for the playoffs as a rookie.

“When we had highs they were really, really high.”

Posted on November 15, 2019November 16, 2019 by Reid Spencer

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The young guns will have to wait.

Matt Crafton, a 43-year-old veteran of 19 full seasons in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, took home his third championship with a second-place finish in Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Crafton claimed the title without winning a race this season, but that was all but irrelevant as Crafton moved within one championship of series-leader and Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr.

“I guess I finally got out of the wheelchair and got up one the wheel and got it done,” said Crafton, who crossed the finish line 1.569 seconds behind race-winner Austin Hill but a comfortable 9.201 seconds ahead of Ross Chastain, who finished fourth in the race and second among the Championship 4 drivers.

“One step closer to what Hornaday’s done, and they called us the underdog.”

Crafton exhibited a mixture of elation and defiance as he celebrated in Victory Lane. Almost an afterthought among pundits entering the race, Crafton schooled his younger Championship 4 competitors with a No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford that improved throughout the race.

Others discounting his chances clearly was a motivating factor for Crafton.

“There was nothing sweeter, to be honest,” Crafton said. “It was that little jab in the side — and I don’t know if I needed that, but it just ticked me off. And I just said, ‘I’m going to prove you really, really wrong tonight.’

“I knew I was going to do whatever I had to do for every one of these guys, for (team owners) Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) and everyone who worked hard, but I said it was that little bit extra poke.”

Though fired up by the slight, Crafton had to exercise the patience of a veteran when Hill passed him for the lead on Lap 112 of 134.

“Once they told me the 24 (championship contender Brett Moffitt) was nine seconds back, and we were gapping him by three-tenths (of a second) a lap, I was like, ‘I need to look at the big picture here and not take a chance of losing this championship. Let’s just ride right here — race as hard as I could without doing anything dumb to put the thing in the fence.”

Winning the title without winning a race didn’t bother Crafton in the least.

“I’ll sleep very, very well all winter — with the trophy,” he said.

Crew chief Junior Joiner — who has been with Crafton for all three of his championships, the first two coming back-to-back in 2013 and 2014 — echoed that sentiment.

“We didn’t win the race, but gosh, darn it, we won the war,” Joiner said.

The youth movement did have its moments. In his eighth Truck Series start of the season, 19-year-old ARCA champion Christian Eckes secured the seventh owner’s championship for Kyle Busch Motorsports with a third-place finish, a day after Eckes was announced as one of KBM’s full-time drivers for next year.

Eckes couldn’t have claimed the owner’s title, however, if it weren’t for the efforts of a veteran driver.

Crafton made his first start in the Truck Series in 2000, running only his debut race at Auto Club Speedway that year. Greg Biffle won the Truck Series title that season, and it was Biffle whom KBM team owner Kyle Busch coaxed out of retirement to run one race in the No. 51 Toyota at Texas Motor Speedway.

Biffle won in his only start, and it was that victory that qualified the No. 51 for the owner playoffs.

“I just thought an old retired guy might be able to get it done — and he did,” Busch said.

Coincidentally, Crafton is the first Ford driver since Biffle in 2000 to win a Truck Series championship.

Posted on November 15, 2019 by Staff Report

Front Row Joe? Now it’s First Place Joe.

Veteran Joe Nemechek set the all-time record for combined starts in the top three NASCAR national sets when he took the green flag in Friday night’s championship NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The Ford EcoBoost 200 is career start number 1,186 for the 56-year-old driver, surpassing the marked previously held by Richard Petty. “The King” made 1,185 career starts, all at NASCAR’s highest level, over a 35-year career. Nemechek fittingly set the record driving his own truck, the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet.

Nemechek’s breakdown as of Friday night: 673 Cup Series starts, 444 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts and 69 Gander Trucks starts. He has 20 wins in NASCAR’s national series, including four Cup Series victories from 1999-2004.

Nemechek made another bit of history last weekend when he and son John Hunter Nemechek became the first father-son duo to both compete in all three races of NASCAR tripleheader weekend.

Kevin Harvick is third on the all-time starts list with 1,150 combined starts heading into the weekend, meaning he should pass Petty next year. Mark Martin (1,143) and Michael Waltrip (1,072) make up the top five.

Kyle Busch (1,035), Morgan Shepherd (1,027), Terry Labonte (1,017) and Jeff Burton (1,005) are the only other drivers in history to top 1,000 total starts.

Posted on November 15, 2019November 15, 2019 by Staff Report

UPDATE: New green flag time is 9:40 p.m. ET.

Rain delayed the start of Friday’s championship race in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race was originally scheduled to get underway at 8:10 p.m. ET, but rain in the area of the 1.5-mile track caused the start to be delayed.

When the Ford EcoBoost 200 gets underway, defending champion Brett Moffitt will battle Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton and Stewart Friesen in the Championship 4. Coverage is on FS1, the FOX Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Rain moved into the South Florida area during the late afternoon Friday and cut short opening NASCAR Xfinity Series practice. On-and-off periods of rain continued leading to the cancellation of both Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practices and Gander Trucks qualifying.

That forced the Gander Trucks lineup to be set by the NASCAR rule book, meaning Friesen will be on the pole and on the front row along with Christian Eckes. Meanwhile, Chastain will start third with fellow championship competitors Moffitt in fourth and Crafton in the ninth position.

MORE: Full Truck lineup