For the second week in a row the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be racing at a venue for the first time. They ran on a blank slate, meaning there was no data from a previous race to rely on, at the Chicagoland Speedway last week.
This week they’re racing at the beautiful Iowa Speedway and the inaugural running of the Lucas Oil 200 this Saturday. This seven-eighths of a mile speedway was designed by NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace. Wallace and Associates created a beautiful short track with speedway characteristics including progressive banking that allows for three wide racing. The track is located in Newton-Iowa, an area that many think is the heartland of racing country. The rapid support of the fans in this area certainly lends credence to that theory every time this speedway opens its gates for a race weekend.
PRE RACE NOTES OF INTEREST
The debut of young Austin Dillon, in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, this Saturday will bear a lot of scrutiny. The grand son of team owner Richard Childress will be driving the famed black number three in this race with the logo “Richard Childress Racing’s 40th Anniversary ” on the hood of the Chevrolet Truck.
The black #3 Childress truck is a retro flashback to the history of NASCAR’s truck racing series. This truck, with driver Mike Skinner behind the wheel, won the first ever series race back in 1995 at the Phoenix International Raceway. The team also finished the series’ inaugural season by winning its first championship. Jay Sauter took over the ride from 1997 to 1999 before Childress decided to disband the team and place increased focus on the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Austin Dillon is only the third driver to ever sit behind the wheel of this famed racing truck.
Just because this is Dillon’s series debut doesn’t mean that he has no experience at the Iowa Speedway. The young driver has four starts there including the recent debut of NASCAR’s Nationwide Series as well as two starts in the NASCAR Camping World East Series and one start in the Arca ReMax Series .
Keep an eye on that black #3 Chevrolet this Saturday during the Lucas Oil 200. You’ll be looking at a piece of series history and, at the same time, getting a glimpse at the future of Richard Childress Racing.
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When the green flag falls on the Lucas Oil 200 this Saturday there’s one major factor that the starting field will not have to deal with: the presence of Kyle Busch. NASCAR’s rowdy one will be extremely busy with full time duties in the Nationwide and Sprint Cup events in Atlanta-Georgia this weekend. The schedule and time changes are not conducive for him to perform another one of his famous triple duty weekends.
That means that driver Brian Ickler will be behind the wheel of the #51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota at the Iowa race. Ickler is considered an up and coming driver who has made starts at Iowa before especially in the NASCAR Camping World West Series.
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