Beyond the Flag
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NASCAR Truck Series returns to action after three-month hiatus

By Mark Kristl

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 21: Brett Moffitt, driver of the #23 Allegiant Chevrolet, leads a pack of trrucks during the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Strat 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on February 21, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 21: Brett Moffitt, driver of the #23 Allegiant Chevrolet, leads a pack of trrucks during the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Strat 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on February 21, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) /
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The NASCAR Truck Series is set to return to action at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the first race since the outbreak of COVID-19. Here’s what has happened so far this season.

For the first time since Friday, February 21, there is scheduled to be a NASCAR Truck Series race. The Truck Series is slated to become the third NASCAR-sanctioned series to return to live racing. Both the Cup Series and Xfinity Series resumed live racing at Darlington Raceway last week.

The Truck Series field is set to resume action this evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway with the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. With three months and five days in between races, let’s take a look at what has happened so far this season.

Grant Enfinger won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in a photo finish ahead of Jordan Anderson. Enfinger, who won the Truck Series regular season points championship last year, presumably clinched his playoff berth.

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The second and most recent race of this season took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch led 108 of the race’s 134 laps, swept the first two stages and won his 57th career Truck Series race.

After Busch dominated this race, Kevin Harvick and Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis teamed up to put a bounty on Busch for any Cup Series driver who could beat him in any of his remaining Truck Series races this year. Halmar Friesen Racing owner Chris Larsen also placed a bounty on Busch for any Truck Series driver who could defeat him in any of those races as well.

The series was gaining momentum ahead of its scheduled race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 14.

However, that momentum was halted due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The pandemic forced NASCAR to postpone the Truck Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Richmond Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway.

Since then, NASCAR has announced the rescheduled dates for the races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Unfortunately, NASCAR announced that neither Chicagoland Speedway nor Iowa Speedway will host any NASCAR-sanctioned races this year. NASCAR has not yet announced which tracks will replace those two tracks and host Truck Series races instead.

To abide by COVID-19 preventative measures, no fans will be allowed to attend any Truck Series races through at least the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on June 13.

The Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway is scheduled to take place this evening as opposed to its originally scheduled date of Friday, May 15.

Five Cup Series drivers are entered for this race, as NASCAR temporarily expanded the Truck Series field to 40.

Moreover, none of the Truck Series races through late June will have any practice or qualifying sessions. The starting lineup for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 was set by a draw based on the owner standings.

Surprisingly, 47 drivers attempted to compete in the Truck Series race at Charlotte, but seven won’t be able to because NASCAR capped the race at 40.

The five Cup Series drivers who are set to compete are Busch, Chase Elliott, John Hunter Nemechek, Brennan Poole and Garrett Smithley.

Lemonis agreed to make this a bounty race.

Of those five Cup Series drivers, Busch is the only one who has won at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He has won there in all three series.

ThorSport Racing teammates Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter have each won at Charlotte Motor Speedway before. Crafton is a two-time winner at the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Concord, North Carolina, winning there in 2008 and 2016, and Sauter won there in 2018.

Fellow ThorSport Racing drivers Ben Rhodes and Enfinger have scored the third and fourth most points over the last three Truck Series races there. As ThorSport Racing General Manager David Pepper told Beyond the Flag, “We’re now arguably more prepared to run the rest of this season.”

Lastly, Ty Majeski won the ARCA Menards Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway last year.

The starting lineup for this race will be important. Only three times in the 17 races at the track has the winner started outside of the top 10.

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Tune in to Fox Sports 1 for the live broadcast of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 from Charlotte Motor Speedway beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET this evening.

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