By Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
LONG POND, Pa. – Rookie Dalton Sargeant has been crossing accomplishments off the list in recent weeks in the Camping World Truck Series: Three weeks ago, his first front-row start, his first extended time out front, and now his first top five at Pocono Raceway.
The No. 25 GMS Racing Chevrolet qualified fourth for Saturday’s Gander Outdoors 150 and maintained a top-five nearly all afternoon. The strong truck brought Sargeant to a third-place finish, his best finish in 20 series starts and first-ever top five.
“It’s a great day for us. Something we’ve been needing,” Sargeant said.
Sargeant finished Stage 1 in third before pit strategy shook up the second stage. From there, his No. 25 was behind on tires and was unable to catch the Kyle Busch Motorsports duo of Kyle Busch and Erik Jones.
“You can’t be too upset about getting beat by two Cup drivers,” he said. “It seemed they had me a little everywhere, especially off Turn 3 down the frontstretch. I don’t know if I would’ve gotten them, but it would’ve been a little bit of a better race.”
Still no complaints from this 20-year-old.
“It was definitely a great run,” he said. “We’ve needed some good momentum and this third-place definitely helps out.”
With four prior Pocono starts in the ARCA Racing Series, Sargeant felt more prepared to tackle the challenges at hand on Saturday.
“Knowing how the track conditions change and knowing how you have to back up your car,” he said. “I had to save a little fuel, I’ve had some experience doing that as well.”
Furthermore, a podium run will improve team morale, which can come in handy while sitting in a spot outside the playoff cut line.
“We’re trying to make the playoffs right now and it looks like we need a win to get in,” he said. “This should be some good momentum going into Michigan and Bristol.”