NASCAR Truck Series returns from month-long break with 2019 JEGS 200

After no races in April, three races are on the NASCAR Truck Series schedule in the month of May. First up is the JEGS 200 at Dover International Speedway.

The NASCAR Truck Series is back! After no races in April, three races are on the schedule in the month of May. The first of those races, the JEGS 200, is scheduled to take place later this evening at Dover International Speedway. This race will serve as the first of three NASCAR races throughout the weekend at the track.

Here is a quick recap of the first five races of the 23-race season. To open the season, Austin Hill won the NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway. The win was the first of his Truck Series career, and it has been the only win by a Truck Series regular thus far. Actually, it has been the only race won by someone other than Kyle Busch.

Busch has dominated so far this season, most recently by winning the Vankor 350 at Texas Motor Speedway to secure his fourth victory in four attempts in 2019. Fortunately, he is not entered in the JEGS 200.

More from Camping World Truck Series

• NASCAR: New team confirmed for Kyle Busch for 2024
• NASCAR: Replacement confirmed for driver released before Talladega
• NASCAR team releases driver with three races left
• NASCAR Truck Series: Spencer Boyd speaks on Montucky, Bristol tradition
• NASCAR title-winning team shutting down after 2023

The JEGS 200 is scheduled to consist of 200 laps around the four-turn, 1.0-mile (1.609-kilometer) Dover International Speedway oval in Dover, Delaware. The first two stages are set to end at lap 45 and lap 90, respectively.

On Friday, May 10, the Digital Ally 250 is scheduled to take place under the lights at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. This race is scheduled to be a 167-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval. Noah Gragson, who now competes in the Xfinity Series, won this race last year, so there will not be back-to-back Truck Series winners there. Matt Crafton will likely be the only former Truck Series winner at Kansas Speedway entered into this race.

The Truck Series is scheduled to wrap up its racing action in May at the home track for many teams, Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race at the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Concord, North Carolina, the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, is scheduled to be a 133-lap race on Friday, May 17. Busch is expected to compete in this race, marking his final Truck Series start this season.

A total of 32 drivers are entered into the JEGS 200, so all drivers who attempt to qualify for the race will do so. Unfortunately, Cory Roper will not be one of them. Roper and his team, Roper Racing, announced that they are scaling back to part-time competition due to a lack of funding. As a result of not competing in this race, Roper will forfeit his playoff eligibility. He currently sits in 15th place in the championship standings.

Returning behind the wheel of the #22 AM Racing Chevrolet is Austin Wayne Self. Self is set to return after completing the NASCAR Road to Recovery program after he was suspended for violating NASCAR’s substance abuse policy. Even though he missed two races and is ineligible for the playoffs, he still sits in 18th place in the championship standings..

Ryan Sieg has been the talk of the Xfinity Series garage, but he is set to drive double-duty this weekend. He has made 106 Truck Series starts in his career, including five at Dover International Speedway, and one of his seven career top 10 finishes is his ninth place finish in the race at the track in May of 2010. He is set to drive the #33 Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet in the JEGS 200.

Raphael Lessard made his Truck Series debut in the race at Martinsville Speedway in March. He started in seventh place and finished in 14th. He is set to make his second career start in the JEGS 200 driving the #46 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota.

Hill Motorsports also debuted in this race at Martinsville Speedway. Now team co-owner Tyler Hill is set to make his Truck Series debut in the JEGS 200 driving the #56 Chevrolet, and he is ready for the challenge.

Crafton and Johnny Sauter are the only drivers entered in the JEGS 200 who have won at least one Truck Series race at Dover International Speedway before. Crafton won the race at the track in May of 2016, and Sauter then followed with back-to-back wins there in May of 2017 and May of 2018.

Interestingly, there are other Truck Series drivers entered into the JEGS 200 who have won at Dover International Speedway, just not in the Truck Series. Brett Moffitt and Austin Hill each won there twice in the K&N Pro Series East. Harrison Burton also won the K&N Pro Series East race there in 2017. So add those drivers to the list of contenders as well.

Because Busch is not entered in the JEGS 200, the intensity level for stage points, stage wins and the race to the checkered flag may increase. While seven of the eight drivers who are above the playoff cut line are above the cut line solely via the point standings, everyone wants to win.

For the full-time drivers, a victory will most likely guarantee them a playoff berth. Even though the JEGS 200 is only the sixth race of the season, there are only 10 more races remaining on the schedule after it before the Truck Series playoffs begin, so good finishes are paramount.

Fox Sports 1 is set to broadcast the JEGS 200 live from Dover International Speedway beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET this evening.