Bottom Two: Trucks at Talladega

By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer

Going into each elimination race in the Playoffs, Kickin’ The Tires will analyze the drivers on the bubble and the drivers below the cutoff line in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. This week, we highlight the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series from Talladega Superspeedway.

Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Track: Talladega Superspeedway

Event: fred’s 250

Bubble Driver: Austin Cindric

Bottom Two: Kaz Grala, John Hunter Nemechek

TV: FOX

Radio: Motor Racing Network/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Time: 1 p.m. ET

Following Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Austin Cindric finds himself eight points to the good going into Talladega Superspeedway. This will be Cindric’s second start at the 2.66-mile facility. In his first start at Talladega, Cindric finished in the 20th position. In the only restrictor plate race this season, Cindric finished in the 27th position due to a crash. He has nine top-10 finishes in 11th races. The goal for Cindric is to finish well.

“I know everyone at Brad Keselowski Racing has worked really hard to get our speedway trucks faster since Daytona. I’m looking forward to seeing the progress and hope we can put our LTi Printing Ford F-150 in position to run well and stay ahead of the mess. Talladega has more grip that Daytona, plus it’s wider with more banking,” said Cindric. “The big challenge is the tri-oval because it’s where accidents can happen. We need to make certain we’re comfortable in traffic and we’re able to draft well, because that’s crucial to having a successful race.”

After his season opening win at Daytona, Kaz Grala finds himself eight points behind Cindric. This will be Grala’s first career start at the 2.66-mile facility. Grala will be bringing chassis No. 053 to Talladega. This chassis brought him the victory at Daytona. Grala expects that anything can happen at Talladega.

“Obviously it’s cool knowing that the last Superspeedway race we were able to get the pole and the win, but anything can happen in these types of races. You can have the fastest truck or be the best plate racer, but we’ve seen it time and time again in every series, that doesn’t guarantee you any sort of favorable finishing position,” said Grala. “We’re looking at this race as a wild card, just like everyone else is. Leaving Daytona without any damage, we’re able to bring the same truck with us to Talladega, which is a plus. The No. 33 STEALTH team will bring me a fast Chevy, it’ll be up to me to keep us out of trouble and up front at the end.”

John Hunter Nemechek finds himself 14 points below the cut line this weekend at Talladega. In his four starts between Talaldega and Daytona, he has an average finish of 16th. HIs best finish at a superspeedway was fourth at Daytona earlier this season. NEMCO Motorsports is bringing chassis No.226. This chassis was last used at Daytona International Speedway by Joe Nemechek, where he finished in the fifth position.