NASCAR Truck Series playoff picture after 2018 JAG Metals 350
By Asher Fair
With two 2018 NASCAR Truck Series Championship 4 berths clinched and two spots open with one round of 6 race left on the schedule, how does the playoff picture look?
GMS Racing’s Justin Haley became the second driver to clinch a berth in the 2018 NASCAR Truck Series Championship 4, as he earned his third victory of the season in the second of three races on the round of 6 schedule, the JAG Metals 350, at Texas Motor Speedway.
Haley’s victory in the 147-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Texas Motor Speedway oval in Fort Worth, Texas came after Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland, who is not a round of 6 driver, ran out of fuel on the back straightaway while leading the race with less than one lap remaining.
Haley joined teammate Johnny Sauter on the short list of two drivers who have clinched berths in the Championship 4, leading two Championship 4 spots open as the Truck Series travels to ISM Raceway on Friday, November 9 for the final race of the round of 6, the Lucas Oil 150.
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Sauter clinched his berth in the Championship 4 by winning the opening race of the round of 6, the Texas Roadhouse 200, last Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway.
Of the four round of 6 drivers who have not yet clinched berths in the Championship 4, none are safe as far as doing so is concerned.
Hattori Racing Enterprises’ Brett Moffitt and Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Noah Gragson are the two drivers who are currently above the Championship 4 cut line but have not yet clinched berths in the Championship 4.
ThorSport Racing teammates Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton are the two drivers who are currently below the Championship 4 cut line, and one or both of them could still end up advancing to the Championship 4 without winning the Lucas Oil 150 following decent starts to the round of 6 because of how the points situation is with one race remaining on the round of 6 schedule.
Here is how the NASCAR Truck Series playoff picture looks with two round of 6 races in the books and one remaining on the schedule. The totals in the “behind” column show where each driver currently stands in relation to the Championship 4 cut line.
Rank – Driver, Car, Team, Manufacturer: Points (Behind), Playoff Points (Rank)
1st – Johnny Sauter, #21, GMS Racing, Chevrolet: 1 WIN (1 WIN), 49 (1st)
2nd – Justin Haley, #24, GMS Racing, Chevrolet: 1 WIN (1 WIN), 20 (4th)
3rd – Brett Moffitt, #16, Hattori Racing Enterprises, Toyota: 3109 (+22), 27 (2nd)
4th – Noah Gragson, #18, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota: 3105 (+18), 25 (3rd)
5th – Grant Enfinger, #98, ThorSport Racing, Ford: 3087 (-18), 18 (5th)
6th – Matt Crafton, #88, ThorSport Racing, Ford: 3082 (-23), 3 (6th)
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The Lucas Oil 150 is the next race on the 2018 NASCAR Truck Series schedule, and it is the third and final race of the round of 6. This race is scheduled to take place at 8:30 p.m. ET on Friday, November 9 at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, and it is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1.