Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
After a month-long break, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns this weekend, with a trip to one of the shortest tracks on the circuit, Martinsville Speedway. The paperclip always puts on a lot of action, and sometimes results in fired-up emotions.
Who will be the victor this year? Who will be stomping their feet in frustration? Here’s a couple names to keep an eye on.
Cameron Hayley is in the midst of his sophomore season, hunting for that first victory. This weekend could very well be the right place to make it happen as the Virgina oval has treated Hayley well in the past, with a finish of third last fall. He also showed that he’s ready to make it happen after finishing second at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February.
His ThorSport Racing teammate Ben Rhodes also knows how to get around Martinsville, as he finished eighth in his debut there last season. He also enters this weekend with some momentum after finishing sixth at Atlanta.
John Hunter Nemechek has made it known that just because the win at Atlanta has him locked in the Chase, he isn’t done winning races this season. With a background in short track racing from his late model days, he could be someone to watch this weekend, especially since he finished second last fall at Martinsville.
Parker Kligerman has surprised people thus far as he currently is the points lead with finishes of third and eighth in the first two races. He is also hoping to keep the good times rolling with Ricky Benton Racing after starting off the year unsure where things would go. Notably, he hasn’t ran a truck at Martinsville since 2012, though, but that produced a ninth place finish.
Timothy Peters likes to win at Martinsville as it’s his home track, but that win came back in 2009. Recently, though, he has continued to run well, noted by the sixth place finish last fall. While Red Horse Racing struggled last year, it also seems as though they have turned a corner this season, too, as noted by his third place finish at Atlanta.
Making the move to Brad Keselowski Racing seems to have worked out well for Daniel Hemric as he currently sits second in the points standings with finishes of eighth and fourth in the first two races. Hemric hopes that translates to a good run this weekend, as he hasn’t done well at Martinsville Speedway in the past, failing to post a top-10 finish.
Perhaps some tips from his teammate Tyler Reddick will help him crack the top-10, as Reddick has done well at Martinsville, with three straight top-six finishes. Reddick hasn’t started off this year as he hoped, with a pair of finishes outside of the top-10.
John Wes Townley looks to score his second straight top-10 after finishing seventh at Atlanta. Townley stated pre-season that he thought his team was strong enough to be a championship contender. It should be interesting to see how he makes out, as he has finished 11th and eighth in his past two starts.
