LEBANON, Tenn. – With just three NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races remaining in the regular season following Friday night’s Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, veteran Stewart Friesen has every reason to be frustrated.
An ill-handling truck, two spins and a loose wheel made for a frustrating night in Music City.
A frustrating night that now has the three-time Truck Series winner on the outside looking in for a Playoff run.
Starting mid-pack in his No. 52 Ferris Mowers Toyota Tundra, Friesen battled a loose truck.
Two early cautions couldn’t settle the discomfort of the Halmar Friesen Racing driver – venting to his team that his truck was “stupid loose” but his team gave their driver encouragement and assured him that they had a plan for their upcoming pit stop.
Wrestling the truck to a 13th-place finish in Stage 1, Friesen pitted his No. 52 Ferris Mowers Toyota for tires, fuel and a series of adjustments including both tire pressure and a trackbar adjustment in an effort to tighten him up.
When racing resume in Stage 2 on Lap 54, the Niagara on the Lake, Ontario Canada native would begin his hopeful march towards the top-10. In the first few laps of Stage 2, Friesen would pass Grant Enfinger to position himself in the 12th spot, but as the stage progressed, the handling began to dial back and Friesen would spin on Lap 85 triggering the caution.
Friesen would tell his team that he believed that there was something wrong in the left rear of the truck and he just couldn’t hold on to it.
After coming to pit road, the team would relay to the driver that both wheels on the rear of his truck were loose. Falling to 26th position and a lap down Friesen knew that he needed to get back on the lead lap if he was going to have a chance to stay in contention for the Playoffs.
Luck would have it and a late-stage caution would come out giving the driver back his lap and a chance to work his way forward once again.
In Stage 3 and restarting 20th, a strong restart would bolster Friesen seven positions. However, his luck would not continue as another loose wheel would cause issues for the driver and once again the caution would fly as he and Christian Eckes would spin on Lap 141.
Restarting the race with three laps to go, Friesen would have to salvage the night in 18th and drop six points below the cutoff line in the Playoffs to 11th overall.
Talking to his team his crew chief, Bob Heilbrun tells Friesen, “It’s not what we wanted.”
“Nothing you could have done about it,” stated Friesen. “Another loose wheel. These guys make a lot of money and they mess it up week after week.”
Friesen and his Statesville, N.C.-based team return to action on the road course at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, July 8, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Follow Grace Krenrich on Twitter @grace3140 or email [email protected].
