DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Report by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Sean Gardner/Getty Images for NASCAR photo —
GMS Racing made a statement on Friday evening during Keystone Light Pole Qualifying for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Led by last year’s ARCA Racing Series champion Grant Enfinger, the team locked out the front row in both knockout qualifying rounds at the 2.5-mile oval in advance of the NextEra Energy Resources 250, with Enfinger scoring his first-career NCWTS pole in dominating fashion.
The Alabama native’s lap of 49.792 seconds (180.752 mph) topped the field by nearly two-tenths of a second in the final, 12-driver session.
“This is pretty special,” the driver of the No. 33 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet smiled after his pole run. “It’s pretty cool to have a teammate in Johnny Sauter starting next to me, too. I can’t say enough about everyone at GMS Racing for the trucks they’ve built for all of us. There’s not much you can do as a driver to mess these laps up if you’re doing your job right; this is all about the team.”
“There’s a lot to be said for this team and how far we’ve come (since the beginning). The Good Lord is looking over me for having put me in this opportunity, so I’m very blessed to be where I’m at right now. Very proud of all three trucks [making the final round] — we’ve got some smoke under the hood and it’s time to go to work.”
His teammate Johnny Sauter, driving the No. 21 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet, clocked the second-fastest lap in the final round () and will join Enfinger on the front row for the 100-lap, 250-mile event.
“We knew our truck was good yesterday, but we had a hunch that the 33 (Enfinger) was a little faster than we were — and it all came to fruition, just like we thought it would,” Sauter said. “An all GMS front row is a product of these guys working their tails off.”
“The main deal is tonight, now. You gotta survive the first 75 laps to be there and race at the end, so we’ll see what we can do and try to go get us a victory at Daytona.”
Timothy Peters was the fastest Toyota, starting third (50.086/179.691) in his Red Horse Racing entry, and Austin Theriault’s No. 2 GoGo/Brad Keselowski Racing Ford will start on the outside of row two in his only scheduled start this season.
Theriault is looking to better his fourth-place finish from a year ago.
“I’m really proud of everyone at Brad Keselowski Racing for giving us a great truck,” Theriault said after qualifying. “Tonight is one of those deals where we have to go out and leave it all on the race track. We’ve gotta stay out of trouble, not do anything stupid and work with our teammates (Daniel Hemric and defending race winner Tyler Reddick) to stay up in the front.”
“It’s great to be back at Daytona — hopefully we can improve our finishing position by about three and get the win (so the team has a good reason to be in Atlanta).”
Daniel Suarez’s No. 51 ARRIS/Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota (50.249/179.108) rounded out the ‘Fast Five’.
Two-time series champion Matt Crafton, John Wes Townley, Christopher Bell, Cody Coughlin, Cole Custer, Spencer Gallagher and defending race winner Tyler Reddick rounded out the top dozen and were the remainder of the trucks who competed in both rounds of qualifying.
2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion William Byron was the first truck to miss the cut for the final round of qualifying, and the 18-year-old will start 13th in his No. 9 Liberty University Toyota.
Other notables who failed to transfer out of round one included John Hunter Nemechek (15th), two-time Chili Bowl winner Rico Abreu (16th), sophomore driver Daniel Hemric (18th) and rookie Ben Rhodes (24th).
Second-year Truck regular and journeyman driver Jordan Anderson was the final truck to qualify in on speed (starting 27th), getting a boost after the No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota of Ben Kennedy ran into motor problems on his qualifying lap and had to pull off.
Kennedy will start 31st on an owner points provisional, but for Anderson, it was a sweet feeling to qualify in after missing the Daytona opener a year ago.
“Undescribable. The 10 minutes I waited [to be locked in] were the longest 10 minutes of my life,” Anderson grinned. “My hands were shaking. The emotion, the roller-coaster — we stood there and thought we were out, and then we were in. This is an absolute blessing to God. I can’t believe it! We’re in the show! We made Daytona!”
“When it got down to the end and the only way we were going to make the show was if someone [got into trouble], I was worried. I hate to wish trouble on everybody, but it worked out for us today. This was a bare truck less than a month ago. This team has a new number, a new sponsor and a new faith. I’m excited for what we have the opportunity to do tonight.”
“Last year when I came here, it was the start of my Truck career and put all I had into making Daytona. When we didn’t make the show, it stung, but we went on and ran all the way through last year. We followed the dream. People that supported us last year saw that, stepped up, and we’re making it happen now because of it. It’s all so incredible.”
With 43 trucks attempting to qualify for 32 starting spots, a myriad of drivers saw their dreams dashed early.
The Lira Motorsports trucks of Korbin Forrister and Ryan Reed, Clay Greenfield, Austin Hill (RPM-Empire Racing), Norm Benning, Carlos Contreras, Reed Sorenson, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Ryan Ellis, David Levine and Mike Harmon all failed to qualify for the season opening event.
The NextEra Energy Resources 250 goes green at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
RESULTS: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series; Keystone Light Pole Qualifying;
- Grant Enfinger
- Johnny Sauter
- Timothy Peters
- Austin Theriault
- Daniel Suarez
- Matt Crafton
- John Wes Townley
- Christopher Bell
- Cody Coughlin
- Cole Custer
- Spencer Gallagher
- Tyler Reddick
- William Byron
- Cameron Hayley
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Rico Abreu
- Chris Fontaine
- Daniel Hemric
- Austin Wayne Self
- Ryan Truex
- Tyler Young
- Brandon Brown
- Parker Kligerman
- Ben Rhodes
- Bobby Gerhart
- Scott Lagasse Jr.
- Jordan Anderson
- Tommy Joe Martins (Provisional)
- Michel Disdier (Provisional)
- Timmy Hill (Provisional)
- Ben Kennedy (Provisional)
- Travis Kvapil (Champion’s Provisional)
DNQ: Korbin Forrister, Ryan Reed, Clay Greenfield, Austin Hill, Norm Benning, Carlos Contreras, Reed Sorenson, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Ryan Ellis, David Levine, Mike Harmon
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: [email protected]
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