Over the last seven races, Ryan Truex and the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises team have become one of the true forces in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Based on recent races, Truex might be “The Big One” to beat in Saturday’s fred’s 250 at Talladega Superspeedway. Truex has put together a string of five top-five finishes in the last seven races, including winning two poles in the last three races. Two-career top-five finishes at Daytona International Speedway, including a runner-up last season, have proven Truex to be a restrictor-plate racer that is more than capable of becoming another first-time winner in Talladega’s storied history.
The Streak … Truex and HRE’s recent hot streak of five top-five’s in seven races began with a third-place finish at Pocono Raceway in July. Not only is Truex finishing races, but he’s consistently running up front and has led laps in the last four consecutive races (68 total laps led). During the stretch, Truex collected two Stage wins and tied his career-best finish of second at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The New Jersey product looks to continue the streak with his first-career NCWTS win on Saturday afternoon.
Staying Hot … While Truex did not tally a finish indicative of his performance at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two weeks ago, he and the No. 16 Toyota team were once again in contention during the entire event. Truex captured his second Keystone Light Pole in the last three races, and raced inside the top five until three laps to go when contact from a competitor eliminated his shot at a fourth-consecutive top-five run. Through 18 races, Truex has captured two poles, seven top-five’s, and 11 top-10 finishes. He is sixth in aggregate points scored throughout the entire ‘17 campaign.
Talladega History … Truex has an extensive history at Talladega, including an eighth-place finish in his only NCWTS start at the 2.66-mile tri-oval last season with HRE. In 2012, Truex made his ‘Dega debut in the XFINITY Series with an 11th-place run in 2012. He also made one NASCAR Monster Energy Cup start at Talladega in 2014.
Chassis Selection … Crew Chief Scott Zipadelli prepared HRE chassis No. 002 for Truex this weekend. This chassis was rebuilt after being involved in the lap 2 crash at Daytona earlier this season. This Toyota Tundra is specific to the restrictor plate superspeedways and is making its first trip back to the racetrack this weekend.
Tune In … FOX will carry live coverage of Saturday’s fred’s 250 beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET from the world’s fastest speedway. FOX Sports 1 will have both of Friday’s practice sessions covered at Noon and 2:00 p.m. ET in addition to Saturday’s pole qualifying at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Ryan Truex Quote:
On his restrictor plate racing experience:
“We didn’t have much of an opportunity in Daytona this year to see how our superspeedway package was, so it’ll be interesting this weekend. We’ve been fast everywhere in the last two months, so I don’t think this week will be any different. Toyota has a really good superspeedway package, especially with the power from TRD. We had a top-10 run last year at Talladega and finished second at Daytona last year, so Shige (Hattori) and everyone at HRE have put together a good superspeedway program. With all the gains we’ve made this season, I’m sure we’ll be even better than we unloaded at Daytona.”
On the opportunity that Talladega provides:
“It’s a different ballgame at the plate tracks, especially Talladega. There’s so much more room, and it lets guys be even more aggressive because it’s so much wider than Daytona. It’s all about getting to the end of these races. If you’re there in the last eight to 10 laps, you’ve got a chance to win. Hopefully we can get our Toyota Tundra to that last fuel stop and be in the mix. Zippy (Scott Zipadelli) and all these guys have put great Tundras together and we’ve been a top three truck for the last two months, and they really deserve a win.”
HRE PR
