LAS VEGAS – It was an early morning for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with two drivers looking for their first career victory awoke the garage by posting the fastest laps in two practice sessions for Saturday night’s DC Solar 350.
The final standalone event of the season marks the second race in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase leaving eligible Chase drivers and teams at a pivotal place to gain crucial points or a win heading into the elimination event and wildcard race at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 22.
After a rough outing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Chaser Daniel Hemric put his Brad Keselowski Racing Ford at the top during the first hour-long session with fellow championship contender Matt Crafton second. Rookie Ben Rhodes was third followed by defending race champion John Wes Townley and last week’s winner William Byron rounding out the top-five.
Byron, with a whopping six wins this season already has advanced to the round of six with another triumph for Kyle Busch Motorsports in last Saturday’s UNOH 175.
John Hunter Nemechek was the slowest among Chase contenders in 19th. Nemechek enters Saturday night’s race with a setback after being deducted 10 points after his truck failed post-race height inspection last weekend at New Hampshire. The loss of crucial points dropped the three-time NCWTS winner from fourth to seventh in the standings and five points out of a transfer position into the second round.
In final practice, another rookie from ThorSport Racing flexed his muscle when Rico Abreu zipped his No. 98 Safelite Auto Glass Toyota Tundra around the 1.5-mile second to a lap of 30.577 seconds at 176.603 miles per hour, ahead of Hemric and Las Vegas native Spencer Gallagher.
Abreu is eyeing just his third top-10 finish of the season tonight and second top-five since a podium finish at Eldora Speedway in July.
Of the Chase contenders, only Hemric, Crafton, Byron (fifth) and Timothy Peters (ninth) found themselves among the top-10. Other Chasers were Christopher Bell (11th), Ben Kennedy (12th) and Johnny Sauter (13th).
Nemechek although finding some more speed was again the slowest of the championship contenders and 17th quickest overall.
The early consensus in the garage is that Hemric may be the truck to beat. Hemric is eyeing his ninth top-five and 14th top-10 of 2016. His best finish this season for BKR was second two weeks ago at Chicagoland Speedway to close out the regular season.
On Saturday afternoon, NEMCO Motorsports will donate $8,000 to the Along Comes Hope Corporation to continue the mission of helping families and children with cancer. Along Comes Hope provide support through financial assistance with travel for treatment, creative emotional support programs and advocacy to promote policy changes, awareness and education.
The DC Solar 350 (146 Laps) will air live on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT) two hours earlier than last year’s event won by Townley.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
