Ryan Preece won the first NASCAR race at Nashville Superspeedway in 10 years by scoring a triumph in his first career Truck Series start.
Preece got in a truck for the first time to get bonus track time ahead of Sunday’s Cup race, the first ever for NASCAR’s top series at the track. Nashville shut after the 2011 season when it’s anything but a coveted Cup date.
It’s reopening Friday night was the principal act in a three-day show that concludes with the Cup Series’ return of the Nashville-region for the first time in 37 years. Be that as it may, not many flow drivers have raced at Nashville Superspeedway, which hosted 21 Xfinity Series race, 13 Truck Series races and eight IndyCar events before it shut after just 10 years.
Preece, Ross Chastain and William Byron all entered the Truck Series race to start off bright and early on learning the track. The remainder of the Cup field wasn’t scheduled to be on track until a Saturday afternoon practice.
Preece as of now has 150 race laps and a success on the opposition.
Preece passed Grant Enfinger with six laps staying to turn out to be only the fifth driver to win their Truck Series debut. He celebrated in victory lane with a Gibson guitar, the customary prize Nashville awarded its winners during its initially run.
Todd Gilliland drove from the rear of the field to a second-place finish that gave DGR-Crosley a 1-2 finish and rebound from an terrible beginning to the day. The Ford trucks of Gilliland and partner Tanner Gray both bombed pre-race inspection and their team bosses were launched out.
Gilliland’s father, David, owner of the group and a previous driver, took over as team boss and directed his child to the completion. Dim completed 19th.
Enfinger was third in a Toyota and followed by Zane Smith in a Chevrolet. Stewart Friesen in a Toyota was fifth.
Preece’s win snapped a two-race winning streak by John Hunter Nemechek, who completed 10th.
Austin Dillon won the last Truck Series race at Nashville, a 1.33-mile, D-molded, all substantial oval situated around 30 miles outside the city. Carl Edwards won the last Xfinity Series race in 2011.
Byron, as, Preece, attempted to get early track time close by his Hendrick Motorsports group boss Rudy Fugle in Hendrick deal Rackley W.A.R. In any case, Byron’s motor fizzled in the end stretch of the second stage for an early exit.
“It’s a bummer but I learned some things,” Byron said.
