NEWTON, Iowa – He’s back.
Returning to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) tour for the first time since Iowa Speedway last June, youngster Jake Griffin will pilot the No. 63 Outdoor Power / Bridge Port Automotive Chevrolet Silverado in Saturday night’s Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway.
Last year at Iowa, Griffin at the tender age of 16 turned heads with an impressive 15th place qualifying effort, but an early-race accident stalled the team’s momentum ending the night with a disappointing 27th place finish.
Fast forward 12 months later, Griffin, now 17 is looking to finish what he started in The Hawkeye State.
“I’m really thankful to be back in a truck this weekend at Iowa,” said Griffin. “We had a really good weekend last year at Iowa, just didn’t get the result we were hoping for. This year, we’re coming back with a vengeance and look forward to having a top-15 run Saturday night.”
Griffin and his team have plenty of reason to be excited for the eighth race of the season. The team has spent the past several weeks working on a new chassis for Griffin, a Kyle Busch Motorsports chassis hoping it will pay some dividends in the first of a limited Truck Series schedule this season.
As a bonus, Griffin will be under the direction of crew chief Rick Ren, a former team executive at KBM
“We’re excited about this Kyle Busch Motorsports chassis,” added Griffin. “The guys at the shop have been spending a lot of time finessing the truck, making sure we give ourselves every opportunity to be competitive and hopefully contend for a good finish.
“A good race on Saturday night would be more than just a finishing position for us. It could mean everything when it comes to the number of races I’ll be around this year and that’s really important to me. I want to be a regular fixture in trucks, hopefully, with some good finishes this year we can make that happen. Having Rick Ren at our side is a huge bonus. He’s so knowledgeable and I’m beyond thrilled to work with him.”
Griffin will make his third career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start Saturday night.
The Speediatrics 200 (200 laps / 175 miles) is the eighth of 23 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on the 2016 schedule. Practice begins on Friday, June 17 from 2:00 p.m. – 3:25 p.m. with a final session on deck from 5:00 p.m. – 5:55 p.m. Qualifying is set for race day, Saturday, June 18 beginning at 3:45 p.m. The 32-truck field will take the green flag shortly after 7:30 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90). All time Central.
Follow Jake Griffin on Twitter @JakeGriffin08 or visit jakegriffin.net and like him on Facebook.com.
