Round 2 - Auto Club Raceway (California)

Round 2 of the series took place at the Auto Club Speedway, previously Fontana in sunny California.

I was fastest in practise with a time 42.110 after my 10 laps.

In qualifying I was able to reproduce my fom and duly qualified in pole with times of 42.086 and 42.096.

In the race I led all the laps to record my first win of the season. I did have a slight scare though when I got a EXTREMELY LOW FUEL message on the last lap.

My best lap of the race was 42.000 which was faster than I qualified!

I was 1st in the standings, 45 points ahead of the pack.

Round 1 - Daytona International Raceway

For this series I decided to leave the limit for practise as 10 laps. This seemed to be enough.

I ended up fastest after practise with a best time of 51.157 seconds.

Qualifying for this series (and all other NASCAR championships) is in a 2 lap dash format. The track is empty at this point.

I qualified in my best position for a super-speedway, 17th. My time was 51.428.

After the drop of the green flag I slowly made my way up to the lead. I held the lead until 7 laps from the end  when I nearly spun when I got 2 wheels below the yellow line. I recovered to finish second. A good start to the new season.

My fastest lap of the race was 52.205 somewhat slower than I'd done in practise or qualifying..

Craftsman Truck - Series 5 - Current Progress

Season 5 - Current Progress

For season 5 the race length was increased by 5% to 40%

Round	Venue	Finish	Standings	Points
1	Daytona International Superspeedway	30	30	5290
2	Auto Club Speedway	1	10	5320
3	Atlanta Motor Speedway	13	10	5318
4	Martinsville	17	10	5305
5	Kansas	1	7	5360
6	Lowes Motorspeedway	4	5	5379
7	Dover	36	7	5317
8	Texas Motor Speedway	1	6	5345
9	Michigan International Speedway	3	5	5368
10	Milwaukee Mile	3	2	5694
11	Indianapolis Raceway Park	1	2	5658
12	Bristol Motor Speedway	1	1
13	New Hampshire	20	2	5637
14	Las Vegas	19	3	5637
15	Talledega	29	5	5302
16	Martinsville	1	1	5331
17	Atlanta Motor Speedway	6	2	5346
18	Texas Motor Speedway	1	1	5374
19	Phoenix International Raceway	3	1	5395
20	Homestead, Miami Florida	33	2	5587

Trivia Series 5

Up to and including round 20 I have made 99 starts.

Up to and including round 20 my average finishing position has been 13th.

Up to and including round 14 I have driven a total of 5519 laps.

Up to and including round 19 I have 48 top 5 finishes.

Up to and including round 16 I have made a total of 19 pit stops.

Up to and including round 15 my average qualifying position was 5th.

Up to and including round 14 I have used 1176 tyres.

Up to and including round 17 I have burnt 1285 gallons of fuel.

Up to and including round 19 there have been a total of 644 caution laps.

Up to and including round 17 I have driven 7259 miles.

Up to and including round 18 I have 51 top 10 finishes.

Up to and including round 18 I have been on pole 55 times.

Up to and including round 13 I have an average race speed of 94mph.

Up to and including round 17 I have led a total of 2238 laps

Up to and including round 19 I have a total of 31 wins.

Round 20 - Homestead, Miami Florida

Round 20, the final round of the series took place at Homestead Miami Speedway in Florida.

I had to get a reasonable result to win the championship.

The 10 lap practice session went well as I was fastest with a time of 37.904s.

Qualifying did not go too well as I had to be content with a 9th place grid slot with a time of 37.789.

In the race I managed to climb through the field to get into the lead by the end of lap 2.

I held the lead for most of the race. Disaster struck 2 laps from the end when I was given the black flag for dangerous driving. I finished 33rd - the championship dream was over.

My fastest lap of the race was a 37.763, my fastest lap of the weekend.

So a disappointing finish to complete the season. 2nd in the championship, 18 points behind the leader was a big improvement on the previous season. Next season has to be the championship surely!.



Round 19 - Phoenix International Speedway

The penultimate round of the Championship took place in the Arizona desert at the Phoenix International Raceway.

Practise went very well as my time of 29.567 was the fastest posted during the session.

My good form carried over into qualifying as my time of 29.270 was enough to win pole position.

In the race I was always in the top 2. I led for 53 of the 61 laps, however on the last restart two laps from the end I made the mistake of going too early. Luckily I realised it before I could be penalised but had to drop back to third where I remained until the end.
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My best lap time in the race was 29.467, my second fastest lap of the weekend
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I was now up to 1st in the standings, 73 points ahead. The Championship is within my grasp!

Round 18 - Texas Motor Speedway

Round 18 took place at one of the fastest tracks on the championship circuit, Texas Motor Speedway.

The race weekend started well as I was fastest straight out of the box in practice with a time of 33.857 after the mandatory 10 laps.

I was a tad slower in qualifying but still managed to claim pole position with a time of 33.893.

The 58 lap race was not another fuel disaster for me. From the dropping of the flag I led for 30 laps before pitting for fuel. No one else did. I used the remaining laps to climb back to the lead where I stayed until the checkered flag flew.

My best lap of the race was a 33.639 which was my fastest of the race weekend.

I was 1st in the standings 21 points ahead - the Championship looming!.

Round 17 - Atlanta Motorspeedway Georgia

Round 17 of the series took place at the very fast Atlanta Motor Speedway in Georgia.

I started off the race weekend with a very satisfying practise session, where after my 10 laps I was  fastest with a time of 31.616.

Qualifying didn't as well for me as I qualified in second with a time of 31.664.

I grabbed the lead early in the race and held until lap 30 when I had to pit for fuel. For the remaining laps I tried to catch the leader. I managed to get back to 6th by the time the chequred flag fell.
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I led a total of 13 laps out of the 52.

My fastest lap of the race was a 31.535.

I was now in 2nd place in the overall standings 4 points behind the current leader.