After a very crazy Thursday night finish at Kentucky the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Iowa Speedway for a Saturday night date under the lights.
The high speed track brings some beating and banging as close corners can lead to burning tempers as the night wears on.
After a solid ninth place finish last weekend at Kentucky, James Buescher moved up to third in the standings and now is just 32 points off the lead.
It’s actually an incredible run for this team as they missed the second race of the season at Phoenix and were 24th in the standings.
Suddenly this small team is right in the thick of the title hunt after a streak of six top 10’s in a row.
Quietly Buescher could be in the perfect position if Johnny Sauter or Cole Whitt make a mistake.
At Iowa, his numbers are very good and if recent trends continue for him he could be one the one to watch on Saturday night.
His average at Iowa in two starts is 9.5 with an average start of 19.5 Buescher finds a way to close out solid runs at Iowa.
The key for him this weekend is to qualify better instead of starting mid pack and spending much of the race trying to catch up.
Another driver to watch this weekend is Cole Whitt. He had a very good truck last week at Kentucky and contact between him and Ron Hornaday sent him to the garage. He only lost three points to Sauter in the standings but it was another opportunity lost.
This weekend is coming to Iowa for the very first time. As we have seen this season though Whitt doesn’t take long or much to adjust to a new track.
He has had a solid season so far with his worse two finishes coming in the last two weeks.
Still, sitting second in the points and an average finish of 12th this season Whitt this weekend could show he will be a contender for the title if he can pull out his first win.
This weekend is a prefect opportunity for the series to showcase not only its young talent but what they can do without Cup regulars running with them.
This stand alone event means we could see a first time winner on Saturday night.
My drivers to watch are Buescher, Whitt and watch for Matt Crafton. He could use a solid run this weekend to help him gain back some these lost points.
The Coca-Cola 200 presented by Hy-Vee is Saturday at 8pm on SPEED.
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