The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Austin, Texas, as the Circuit of the Americas road course is the site for the XPEL 225, set for Saturday, March 26, at 1:00 pm Eastern time. You can watch the action on FS1 or catch the radio call on Motor Racing Network. Last week, Corey Heim won the Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, powering to the inside of one teammate (Chandler Smith) and getting a push from another teammate (John Hunter Nemechek) before holding on for the win, edging Ben Rhodes by 0.173 seconds. Ty Majeski finished third, and Smith settled for fourth. Zane Smith, who won the Truck Series race at Daytona, rounded out the top five. If you’re considering adding Saturday’s race to your NASCAR betting, read our preview.
NASCAR News: Truck Series XPEL 225 Preview
Heim was definitely a dark horse, as he only has a partial schedule in the Camping World Truck Series and will not compete for the year’s championship. He definitely benefited from some help from his teammates, but he got himself into position to win.
Stewart Friesen led Stage 1 wire to wire as the phase ran without a caution even though Hailie Deegan had a cut tire followed by a fire on Pit Road, and Deegan had to go to the infield care center to get checked out. Nemechek had to work his way up from the back of the field due to a pre-race penalty for adjustments to his truck that were not approved, but he still won Stage 2.
In the final stage, a flurry of cautions and restarts kept shuffling the running order, with Heim, Smith and Rhodes trading the lead back and forth. Nemechek ran into a wall on Lap 107 and went into the pit under green to go a lap back.
Chandler Smith currently leads the Truck Series points standings after winning in Las Vegas and coming in fourth in Atlanta, bouncing back nicely from that 21st-place finish at Daytona to start the season. However, he has only raced at Circuit of the Americas once, last year, when he finished in 33rd. He has improved since an uneven start to 2021, but I wouldn’t put a lot of money down on him here.
Tanner Gray is right behind him in the standings, despite the fact that he has not won a race yet in 2022. He came in fourth at Daytona, fifth in Las Vegas and eighth in Atlanta. However, his Circuit of the Americas race in 2021 led to a 31st-place finish. It is worth noting that his consistency last year was much less impressive than it has been so far in 2022.
Todd Gilliland won this race a year ago, but he is racing with the NASCAR Cup Series and will not join this field at Circuit of the Americas. The top finisher from this race in 2021 is Kaz Grala, who was the runner-up a year ago but who has had a tough 2022 so far. He did not race at Daytona, came in 31st in Las Vegas, and then opted out of the Atlanta race. He does return this week and looks to rebound.
Tyler Ankrum finished third here last year and comes to Circuit of the Americas in search of his first victory of 2022. He came in 28th at Daytona, 16th at Las Vegas and 11th in Atlanta, so he has improved his finish each week, making him an interesting prospect.
Ben Rhodes has two second-place finishes this year (Daytona and Atlanta). He only came in 31st in Las Vegas, but that looks to have been an outlier so far. He came in tenth here in 2021, and he led for three laps and had the seventh-fastest vehicle.
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