By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
The start of the 2018 season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has been very exciting, according to Brad Moran, managing director of the series.
Moran has been the managing director since July 2016, replacing Elton Sawyer, who moved into a new position with the company. Moran has over 25 years of experience in motorsports, including owning Barrie (Ontario) Speedway.
Kickin’ The Tires sat down with Brad Moran, managing director of the series, before the Rattlesnake 400 at Texas Motor Speedway to discuss the changes made for 2018:
Seven races with five different winners have made for an exciting start to 2018 for the series. How would you assess the beginning of the season?
I think it has been a great start. We are looking at having one of the most exciting seasons in the history of the truck series. There have been lots of veterans running up front mixed in with rookies. We are probably setting records of lead changes at every track we have been to so far this year. So far in 2018, we are happy with the results. Hopefully, we can keep it going.
2018 has brought some exciting changes to the series. The first change was bringing Ben Kennedy on as general manager. How has bringing Ben on changed the game? What has he brought to the table?
Ben is obviously a great addition to the truck series. He has been in the sport as an owner and driver. Obviously, it is in his bloodline and you can see that. He fits in great. It gives us more exposure and more horsepower to get things done. We are happy and proud to have him in the Trucks.
Teams had the option to use the Ilmor NT1 engine this season. What was the reasoning to go to this engine package? What has been the reaction from the garage area with the change?
Obviously, it’s a game changer. It is a big change. We started on it last August with testing and collaboration with the OEM’s to make sure it fit in the way we needed it to. It’s helped the teams out a bunch from the economics standpoint. The majority of the teams have gone to it. Obviously, it’s proving itself on the track. We have not had one failure to this point. We had some great racing. It certainly is the direction we want to go within the Truck series. Obviously, keeping some containment on the costs and improving the racing, which we have seen.
In Cup, there was a promotion of youth v. veteran. However, this push has actually come out of this series. How fun is it for you to see the competitiveness between the two groups?
That’s what is so special with this series. We start in Daytona with Sauter winning it, Justin Haley second, and Joe Nemechek in third. As it goes, we see a lot of it going on like Sauter and Gragson going at it in Dover. We have the veteran of Kyle Busch coming in to try to set the record at Vegas and he is one away from tying it. It’s great to see the drivers that have participated in the Trucks and moved on up to be the stars in the Monster Energy Cup Series. I think that trend is going to continue as our roster keeps growing.
In about a month, a new update is coming to the way the Trucks qualify. What was the reasoning behind this change?
We have been looking at it since last year. The Trucks are a big step from a lot of the other series. Teams really need to get their feet wet at times and start with a few races to build a program. The way it was structured with the attempts as opposed to the owner points and no opportunity if we have weather during qualifying, we wanted to open up the opportunity to bring new teams in to give them the chance to develop their programs and hopefully become full-time Truck teams. The system we had was a very good system, but in this day and age, we feel this is a good enhancement. No matter how many teams show up at any given race, if we practice, there will be two spots open. It’s an opportunity for new teams.
What does it mean for you to have this type of commitment from Marcus Lemonis with Camping World and in 2019 with Gander Outdoors?
It’s great. Marcus and all of his companies do such a good job. Having Gander, with their repositioning in the marketplace, I am sure it will be great for the series and hopefully great for their company. It’s nice to have a long-term deal that you can build on and that is what we intend on doing to keep producing the best racing you see in the world. We believe we do it, and I think a lot of the fans would agree it is some of the most exciting racing.
Lastly, as managing director, you have the opportunity to cast the vision. Where would you like to see the series within the next five to ten years?
Again, strong competition and healthy teams that are financially stable. That is what we are working on. We want to be a really strong series that continues to grow and be the path to get people to the top-level of this sport.