Power Rankings: Let’s keep on Truckin’
With the All-Star Race last week, we’re not going to base our wonderfully exact and authoritative weekly rankings of the Sprint Cup Series off an exhibition race. So we’re going to switch it up a bit and give the Camping World Truck Series some glory.
1. Erik Jones: This is a tough choice for the top spot and we’re going to be contrarian based off the last two races. Jones was absolutely dominant at Kansas, leading 151 of the race’s 167 laps. However he was forced to pit for fuel late and lost the lead and the race. He started in the back of the pack at Charlotte on Friday night. He was in the top 10 in less than six laps. And he lost a photo finish to Kasey Kahne, whose truck failed inspection after the race.
2. Matt Crafton: Here’s the man who won the Kansas race and is the only Truck Series regular to win multiple races this year (he also won at Atlanta in the second race of the season). Why is he not first? Because he’s led fewer laps overall (216) than Erik Jones (278). Are we being too harsh on the two-time champion? Quite possibly.
3. Tyler Reddick: Outside of Crafton, he’s the only Truck Series driver to win a race this year. Reddick won the season-opener at Daytona and has four top-five finishes. The only real blip on the radar is qualifying at Kansas, where he spun and took out teammate Austin Theriault in the process. But even after that mess he was in position for a top-five finish before he ran out of fuel and finished 13th.
4. Johnny Sauter: Sauter has been just a tick behind Crafton, his teammate, this year. While Crafton has four top-five finishes, Sauter has two. And he hasn’t led any laps. In fact, the Truck Series regular with the fourth-most laps led (behind the top three in our rankings)? Mason Mingus. He’s not in the top 8.
5. Timothy Peters: Peters has three top-10 finishes and snuck a top-five finish out of the fuel-mileage race in Kansas. But he’s 59 points out of the lead. The Red Horse trucks haven’t been to the level of the Kyle Busch Motorsports trucks or the ThorSport Toyotas. Or even…
6. John Wes Townley: … to the points level of the #ChickenMan who is two points ahead of Peters despite having one less top 10. Yes, JWT is fifth in the points standings. He’s done that by finishing inside the top 12 in every race since Daytona, where he finished 22nd. It’s not going to be terribly surprising if Townley wins a race in 2015.
7. Justin Boston: The rookie has three top-10 finishes in five races. Top equipment (Kyle Busch Motorsports) helps, but Boston has shown potential. All three of those top-10 finishes have come in the last three races too. Take away a 29th-place finish at Daytona and he’s much higher in the standings.
8. Cameron Hayley: We’re concluding this top eight with another rookie driver. Hayley is sixth on the circuit in laps completed, but has one top-five finish in 2015. It came at Kansas, as he was the third of three ThorSport trucks to make it to the end on fuel as other drivers were forced to stop. He’s been just outside the top 10 otherwise with finishes of 14th, 11th and 14th at the other three non-Daytona races.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
