Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Sports

Dillon, Buescher take truck title battle to Las Vegas

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Philadelphia, PA – While the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series run at Dover, the Camping World Truck Series travels west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend.

The Truck Series will race at nighttime in Las Vegas this year after running a daytime event there last season. The 2011 race ran hours prior to the Sprint Cup night event held at Charlotte.

James Buescher heads to Las Vegas with a whole lot of momentum. Buescher notched his series-leading fourth win of the season at Kentucky. All four of his victories this year have come on 1.5-mile racetracks. Las Vegas is the next mile-and-a-half track on the schedule.

"The team and I are really confident that we can go to Vegas and win this race after last weekend's performance," Buescher said. "We had some trouble the week prior in Iowa, but this team never gives up. That is the type of performance you need to win championships. Las Vegas Motor Speedway falls right into our wheel house with it being an intermediate track."

After winning at Kentucky, Buescher moved to within four points of leader Ty Dillon, who is a rookie in the series this year. When Buescher went to Las Vegas last year, he trailed Ty's elder brother, Austin, by just three points. Austin Dillon went on to win the series championship by a six-point margin.

Ty Dillon will compete in a truck race at Las Vegas for the first time.

"I'm confident that we'll have a fast truck at Las Vegas," he said. "My brother, Austin, won here in the past, and we'll have the notes from that win to start off with on Friday when we unload. I really like racing on 1.5-mile tracks, and I'm excited to race in Vegas."

Buescher has three starts at Las Vegas. He finished 3rd in 2010 and placed 21st last year. Buescher finished 13th in his first race there in 2009.

Travis Pastrana will make his truck debut at Las Vegas. Pastrana, a worldwide action sports icon, has competed in nine Nationwide races this season. He will pull double duty on Saturday at Las Vegas. The 28-year-old driver is entered in the Global RallyCross Championship (GRC) event there.

"I'm really excited," Pastrana said. "The GRC program has been awesome. I'm really looking forward to great racing. I'm trying to get my future more into NASCAR, and I always wanted to race (in Las Vegas). I watched last year's Smith's 350 (truck) race here from the grandstands."

There have been 13 different winners in 15 truck races at Las Vegas. Todd Bodine, Brendan Gaughan, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Johnny Sauter are those drivers competing in this event that have won there in the past. Hornaday is the defending race winner.

Thirty-two teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Smith's 350.

Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck. Date: Saturday, September 29. Race: Smith's 350. Site: Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 8:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 146. Miles: 219. 2011 Winner: Ron Hornaday Jr. Television: Speed. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Satellite.