NASCAR Truck Series: Only two Championship 4 berths clinched
By Asher Fair
Heading into the final race of the 2018 NASCAR Truck Series round of 6, only two Championship 4 berths have been clinched.
Two of the three races on the 2018 NASCAR Truck Series round of 6 schedule are in the books following the JAG Metals 350 at Texas Motor Speedway, meaning that only one race remains on the schedule before the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The one race that remains on the schedule before the 200-lap Ford EcoBoost 200 at the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida is the 150-lap Lucas Oil 150 at the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) ISM Raceway oval in Avondale, Arizona.
Heading into this race, only two drivers have clinched berths in the Championship 4. These two drivers are GMS Racing teammates Johnny Sauter and Justin Haley, the two drivers who won the first two races of the round of 6.
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Sauter opened up the round of 6 by winning the Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville Speedway to clinch a berth in the Championship 4 and Haley proceeded to win the JAG Metals 350 to do the same thing.
Neither of the two drivers who are currently above the Championship 4 cut line and have not yet won a race in the round of 6, however, have clinched a berth in the Championship 4.
These two drivers are Hattori Racing Enterprises’ Brett Moffitt and Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Noah Gragson. Moffitt has four more points than Gragson at this point in the round of 6. As a result, he sits in third place in the playoff picture and trails only Sauter and Haley while Gragson sits in fourth.
Moffitt sits just 22 points ahead of ThorSport Racing’s Grant Enfinger, who is the first driver below the Championship 4 cut line. Enfinger currently sits in fifth place in the playoff picture.
A maximum of 60 points is on the table for each driver in each race and a maximum of 55 points is on the table for each driver who does not win it since stage wins are worth 10 points each, race wins are worth 40 points and second place finishes are worth 35 points. Because of this, not even Moffitt has mathematically clinched a berth in the Championship 4 heading into the Lucas Oil 150.
As a result, neither has Gragson, who currently sits 18 points ahead of Enfinger. In fact, both of the two drivers who are currently below the Championship 4 line, Enfinger and teammate Matt Crafton, can clinch a berth in the Championship 4 without winning the Lucas Oil 150, as there is a chance that their point totals can surpass the point totals of Moffitt and/or Gragson. Crafton sits just five points behind Enfinger, 23 points behind Gragson and 27 points behind Moffitt.
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Which two drivers will join Johnny Sauter and Justin Haley in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a chance to win the 2018 NASCAR Truck Series championship? Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Friday, November 9 for the live broadcast of the Lucas Oil 150 from ISM Raceway to find out.