JOLIET, Ill. — Fresh off the heels of a third-place finish in the rain-shortened NASCAR K&N East UNOH 100 race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway last week, CATCHFENCE.com has confirmed that Dalton Sargeant will return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Sept. 26 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway driving for Wauters Motorsports.
“I’m really looking forward to making my second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway,” said Sargeant. “After our 10th place finish at Bristol a month ago it’s all we’ve been thinking about and working towards. Thankfully we’ve got really great people behind us and our partners at GALT were excited about the Bristol result and ultimately gave us another shot.”
The NASCAR Next driver made his truck debut at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in August, where he shined through adversity to post an impressive 10th place finish in the UNOH 200 after starting 18th.
At the age of 13, Sargeant moved to Switzerland to compete in the European open-wheel series. Scoring wins in the WSK Euro Series and the CIK-FIA European KF3 championship, the Boca Raton, Florida native also tested a Formula Renault car with hopes of earning a shot in Formula 1.
With no prospects on the table, Sargeant returned to the United States in 2014, where he quickly catapulted into the limelight with successful runs in Late Models, including finishing second to fellow truck colleague John Hunter Nemechek in the Snowball Derby, considered to be the “Daytona 500” of short track racing last December.
The 17-year-old remains a viable threat for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship. Currently, fourth in the standings, the High School senior mathematically still has a shot of earning the crown. Sargeant’s HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks teammates William Byron and Scott Heckert sit first and second respectively. The K&N East finale is set at Dover (Del.) International Speedway on Oct. 2.
Sargeant tested his No. 5 GALT Toyota Tundra at New Hampshire’s 1.0-mile oval this past Tuesday to ready himself for his second truck series start this season. Other NCWTS races are still under consideration.
“I really can’t thank everyone at GALT and Wauters Motorsports enough for another great opportunity,” Sargeant added. “We’re hoping to build on and just continue to do exactly what we did at Bristol, earn the respect of our fellow competitors, learn as much as we can throughout the weekend and run all 175 laps.
“I at least have some laps around New Hampshire Motor Speedway this season in a super late model and the K&N car so I think that limited experience will definitely help me a little for the UNOH 175, although the racing disciplines are completely different there are small nuances of the race track that you can apply across the board. The goal is the same for New Hampshire Motor Speedway as it was for Bristol, put ourselves in good positions all night, run all the laps and challenge for a top-10 finish at the end of the 175 laps.”
With a top-10 already in the books in Thunder Valley, Sargeant sets his goals again as realistic for the Magic Mile.
“I feel like if we minimal mistakes in the pits and on the race track we can challenge for a really good finish, do we want to win? Yes definitely but I don’t think we’re quite there yet, we need to continue learning as a group to get better and this race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is the next step in getting there.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
