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Jake Garcia caps career day as Rockingham runner-up
Jake Garcia caps career day as Rockingham runner-up

Yahoo

time19-04-2025

  • Automotive
  • Yahoo

Jake Garcia caps career day as Rockingham runner-up

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Pole position. Career-high number of laps led. Second-place finish. Jake Garcia had a career day Friday at Rockingham Speedway in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series' first race at the 0.94-mile tri-oval since 2013. Advertisement MORE: Unofficial results | At-track photos: 'The Rock' The driver of the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Ford paced the field for 43 laps in the Black's Tire 200 and saved just enough fuel in the closing moments of Friday's race to notch the second runner-up result of his career to tie a career-best finish. 'Yeah, it was a good day,' Garcia said. 'Obviously we want to be one stop or one spot higher, but I'm proud of our guys. We brought a really fast truck to the race track. Strategy deal there at the end.' Indeed, Tyler Ankrum stretched his fuel mileage across the final 88 laps at 'The Rock' to score his first win since 2019 to snap a 130-race winless streak, the longest in series history. Garcia is still searching for his first trip to Victory Lane, but a stretch of four consecutive top 10s is building momentum in the right direction for the 20-year-old Georgian. Advertisement 'These guys work really, really hard and put together really nice pieces for me to come drive,' Garcia said. 'I've got good trucks under me now and can run up front.' That credit goes, in part, to crew chief Jeriod Prince, now heading the No. 13 team after spending the 2024 campaign with ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton. Garcia ended the 2024 season with a 19.7 average finish — a five-position drop from his rookie year in 2023. Through seven races in 2025, Garcia's average has skyrocketed to 9.4. 'I don't know that I really improved a whole lot driver-wise — maybe a little,' Garcia said. 'But we're running about 20 spots better every week, so this is certainly refreshing. I was getting to doubt myself a little bit there. So yeah, I'm happy to have fast trucks and glad to be at ThorSport Racing.' Jake Garcia leads the Truck Series to green at Rockingham. Once he climbed from the pit box, Prince was kicking himself after the checkered flag wondering if their Ford had enough fuel to chase down Ankrum for the victory — but those kicks were mixed with smiles after a season-best day for the third-year driver. Advertisement 'When it was like 30 to go and we weren't catching leaders, I said go to fuel-save mode and just lift early,' Prince told 'We slowed down half a second a lap and just rode there. And I really wasn't worried about the 18 (because) he pitted so early; I didn't think he topped off there. So I was just worried about the 38 (Chandler Smith) and 34 (Layne Riggs) and they ran out. I thought we were gonna be OK, but (Ankrum) made it. 'The last two or three laps, we just went full fuel-save mode. We were two seconds off the pace, but at that point, it was just 'get to the finish line.' (Grant) Enfinger was a whole straightaway behind us. So at that point, I just wanted to finish. Now looking back, we're gonna go to tech (inspection) here and see how much fuel it took. And probably had a gallon left, and we could have went hard the whole time, and I'll be kicking myself. But I'd hate to run out of last lap in the top five.' Leaving Rockingham, the goal for Garcia and Co. is to continue capitalizing on the pace the No. 13 team is producing. That starts with the driver, who has put his trust in the group around him. 'They always say it in racing, but it's true: If he's got faith in it, he'll drive it harder,' Prince said. 'Now he's pushing it harder. Restarts are better. Qualifying up front. Today's the first day we actually had a really good stage-point day, so hopefully it's a good points day in total. We're all working better together, getting to learn what he likes and doesn't like, and just (building) experience together.' Advertisement A good points day indeed: Garcia totaled a race-high 52 points Friday, netting nine points in Stage 1 with a second-place finish and eight in Stage 2 by placing third. Next up is Texas Motor Speedway on May 2 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where Garcia placed fifth in his first Texas start in 2023.

NASCAR Truck Series qualifying order for Rockingham Speedway
NASCAR Truck Series qualifying order for Rockingham Speedway

Yahoo

time16-04-2025

  • Automotive
  • Yahoo

NASCAR Truck Series qualifying order for Rockingham Speedway

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns to Rockingham Speedway with qualifying set for Friday at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS2. QUALIFYING ORDER: Xfinity Series The qualifying order below is determined via metric that combines the previous race finish by owner (70%) and current owner points position (30%). Advertisement The Truck Series will take to the track for the Black's Tire 200 on Friday at 5 p.m. ET (FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). # denotes series rookie (i) denotes ineligible for driver points

'Still feels pretty familiar': Kasey Kahne's NASCAR return welcomed at Rockingham test
'Still feels pretty familiar': Kasey Kahne's NASCAR return welcomed at Rockingham test

Yahoo

time28-01-2025

  • Automotive
  • Yahoo

'Still feels pretty familiar': Kasey Kahne's NASCAR return welcomed at Rockingham test

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Kasey Kahne drove to the infield tunnel at Rockingham Speedway, and sure enough, his NASCAR 75 Greatest Drivers credential still worked. 'Super simple,' the 44-year-old veteran said, his access for preseason testing granted. Kahne made the rounds, taking a tour around the infield Tuesday morning while the 1.017-mile track was being prepped. He'll be making his first NASCAR national-series start since 2018 when the Xfinity Series returns to Rockingham in the spring, but being back in a stock-car garage didn't seem like a long time gone. 'A lot of familiar faces. It didn't feel like I hadn't been here in six years, I know that,' Kahne said from Rockingham's media center. 'Even just hanging out in the trailer, behind the trailer for the first half-hour, hour this morning waiting to get going, it just felt pretty normal. It didn't feel too different. So I guess when you put basically your whole life into just racing and NASCAR for that many years leading up to it, and then 16 years in the sport, to take a little bit of time off and come back, it still feels pretty familiar.' Kahne and the rest of the Xfinity Series roster will be back for the N.C. Education Lottery 250 on April 19 (4 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), marking NASCAR's first national-tour event since 2013. Xfinity teams will share the weekend with the Craftsman Truck Series, which will run the Black's Tire 200 on April 18 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The two series alternated 45-minute practice sessions during Tuesday's organizational test, which will spill into Wednesday because of track drying needs that scrubbed testing time in the morning. RELATED: | Kahne was a winner during Rockingham's brief, two-year revival nearly a decade ago, prevailing in the Truck Series' return race here in 2012. He's kept his hand in racing since his most recent NASCAR start, running a successful sprint car team and increasing his participation on the driving side. He said he's kept in touch with some of his contacts from the NASCAR world, and the Rockingham date on the 2025 schedule piqued his interest in finding a ride. That opportunity came through with last week's announcement that Kahne will drive the No. 33 Chevrolet, a third Richard Childress Racing entry, in the 250-lap event. 'I saw this Rockingham race pop up, and I was like, 'Man, that's a track I know, and I've enjoyed racing at over the years,' so I started reaching out and trying to figure a way to get back into it and do a race,' Kahne said. 'It felt like four or five years maybe since I'd raced, and it's more like six and a half is what they'd said, so it's been a while.' His departure from the Cup Series roster felt abrupt, coming midstream with 11 races left in the 2018 campaign. But Kahne said the demands of racing at the big-league level of NASCAR each week had taken a gradual, physical toll that mounted as his final season crept along. 'The reason it was time was my body was just telling me it was time,' said Kahne, who won 18 times in a Cup Series career that began in 2004. 'My dehydration was so bad by the time I got to the center part of the year. I mean, the last few Cup races I ran, yeah, it was as bad as I've ever felt in my life. After the races for the next two or three days, even into the next race, we just couldn't figure it out, couldn't get it fixed. It was a mess. It wasn't a very good way to end. It wasn't what I was wanting or expecting, but it was the way it went. Just kind of had a short, quick ending to my Cup run. I've watched a lot since, and I'm just glad to get an opportunity to do this race in April.' What's yet to be seen is if Kahne's Rockingham go is a one-off. Asked if another opportunity at the Cup Series or another NASCAR level might be in the cards, Kahne hedged, keeping the focus on the reborn 1-mile track in front of him. 'I have no idea. I just want to do this one race, work with this group,' Kahne said. 'It's been actually really cool, and went together really quick, but they've given me a great opportunity and a lot of really good people at RCR. So I've really enjoyed it to this point, finish off this test and see where that is, do the race and see how things are going at that point in time.'

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