NASCAR Truck Series Power Rankings after 2019 NextEra Energy 250
By Mark Kristl
Austin Hill survived to win the NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona to open up the 2019 NASCAR Truck Series season. His win has him atop the first Truck Series driver power rankings of the year.
After a mostly tame Advance Auto Parts Clash and largely uneventful Gander RV Duels, the NASCAR Truck Series provided an abundance of excitement to the fans at Daytona International Speedway.
The NextEra Energy 250 featured 11 caution flag periods and several trucks on fire, and 55 of the race’s 111 laps were run under caution!
Here is another way to describe the chaos that transpired at Daytona International Speedway.
Nine trucks finished the race. So a wrecked truck, Stewart Friesen, didn’t finish the race but still got a top 10.
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) February 16, 2019
With all of the craziness that transpired in the NextEra Energy 250, congratulations, Austin Hill! He survived the melee and he won the race. For his team, Hattori Racing Enterprises, this is their third straight victory dating back to last season. With Brett Moffitt as the driver of the #16 Toyota, Hattori Racing Enterprises won the last two races of the 2018 season as well as the 2018 Truck Series championship.
Hill earned his first career NASCAR Truck Series victory in his 52nd start. The 24-year-old Winston, Georgia native now has his sights set on the playoffs. While he has not mathematically clinched his playoff berth yet, not once in the current playoff format has a race winner missed NASCAR’s playoffs in any series (aside of Joey Logano in the 2017 Cup Series season when his win was encumbered). Hill would certainly like to add more wins to his resume before the playoffs, though.
Now that the first race of the 2019 Truck Series season is in the record books, I am delighted to present you with the first Truck Series power rankings of the year. However, before I reveal the top 10, here are the 20 drivers who are in the top 30 in the championship standings who are not in this week’s top 10.
- Sheldon Creed, #2, GMS Racing, Chevrolet
- Angela Ruch, #8, NEMCO Motorsports, Chevrolet
- Clay Greenfield, #68, Clay Greenfield Motorsports, Chevrolet
- Bobby Gerhart, #63, Copp Motorsports, Chevrolet
- Johnny Sauter, #13, ThorSport Racing, Ford
- Myatt Snider, #27, ThorSport Racing, Ford
- Christian Eckes, #51, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota
- Gus Dean, #12, Young’s Motorsports, Chevrolet
- Todd Gilliland, #4, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota
- Joe Nemechek, #87, NEMCO Motorsports, Chevrolet
- Harrison Burton, #18, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota
- Brett Moffitt, #24, GMS Racing, Chevrolet
- Cory Roper, #04, Roper Racing, Ford
- Brennan Poole, #30, On Point Motorsports, Toyota
- Jordan Anderson, #3, Jordan Anderson Racing, Chevrolet
- Chris Fontaine, #47, Glenden Enterprises, Toyota
- Ray Ciccarelli, #49, CMI Motorsports, Chevrolet
- Tyler Dippel, #02, Young’s Motorsports, Chevrolet
- Robby Lyons, #42, Chad Finley Racing, Chevrolet
- Bryan Dauzat, #28, FDNY Racing, Chevrolet