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The Chase for $10,000 Moves on to Mad Dog |
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The ProTruck Challenge gets
back to action at Monadnock Speedway Saturday night,
June 8th. The 2024 ProTruck season started with a rainy
weekend at Thompson Speedway's Ice Breaker.
Unfortunately Mother Nature interfered and caused
the postponement of the season's first event. That race will be
completed at Thompson's World Series Weekend in
October.
The ProTruck teams soon headed to the New London-Waterford Speedbowl's Blast off weekend
next. This event served as the 2024 season opener. The 47 of Todd Taylor and the 12 of Ed Ryan Jr. benefited from the melee up front. Taylor was on the point and Ryan lined up second. They were left to a one lap shootout for the win from the inherited front row . Taylor edged Ryan to the line for Victory number 1 of his ProTour career after an exciting door to door battle. Taylor's win earned him the Evolve Bank & Trust Mortgage New Winners Bonus. Ryan had to settle for second. #42 Chris Palamar finished 3rd in his first tour event . He received the NorthEast Truck & Auto Hard Charger Award. Jason Paquette brought the #94 home in 4th. #52 Mercedes Caron scored a 5th pace finish. This was her best tour run. Tyler Chapman turned the quickest lap of the weekend which earned his team the Taylor Lawn Care / Karns Automotive fast time bonus. Hudson Speedway was up next
and Duane Noll was still the guy to beat.
He led 42 of the 55 laps enroute to a solid victory.
He was also able to win the Fast time Bonus presented
by Taylor Lawn Care and Karns Automotive.
Evolve Bank & Truck Mortgage sponsored the series in 2023. For 2024 they offer new winner awards to both the Supermodifieds and the ProTrucks. The $10,000 points fund that 8 teams will divide up in October has added some new sponsors. Logic Automation, and Moonlight Physician's Group will combine to sponsor the Chase while Greenlight Simulation will be carried as sponsor of select individual races starting with Monadnock June 8th. The help of these companies, along with Hoosier Tires East are what make the $10,000 Chase possible. Below is a list of the awards for this week's 55 lap event at Monadnock: $1000 to the winner
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It is Officially Time to Break the Ice |
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The 2024 Season will gets
underway at Thompson Speedway's IceBreaker April 6.
The Jim Boyle Memorial 35 kicks off another Chase Season. The
ProTruck series had a huge void created when they lost veteran race
driver Jim Boyle. Jim had a reputation of winning the specialty
events including the World Series at Thompson. He also took home the
victory in the only dirt race the ProTrucks had ever competed in.
Jim race anytime and anywhere. if you raced with Jim you were going
to have a great time. This race is run in memorial of Jim Boyle, a
great competitor, grandfather, and friend. In ProTruck racing, the goal is to be Chase Champion. This season 8 drivers will qualify by their season points to divide up $10,000 with $5000 going to the winner. Once qualified you must compete in a Chase event to get into the final four. The final four race to be Champion. Last years Chase race featured three drivers within sight of each other until the very last lap. Randy Burr was able to hold off Todd Taylor and Gerard Giordano Jr. to take home the title and the $5000. When the season kicks off in April, one main threat for the title will not be racing. Multi time Ice Breaker winner and Series Champion Gerard Giordano Jr. will be moving to Late Model Competition. The battle up front will be just as fierce for 2024. Chase and Points runner up Todd Taylor is looking to improve up one spot and grab the Title for himself. Another player may be Ken Cassidy jr. Cassidy entered his first tour event at Smacktoberfest and won the event. His first time attempt at Tour racing brought home a cool grand. Nikolas Frechette will be back again for 2024. He was able to win the regular season points championship. He'll change numbers to the 11 for this season. New for 2024 is the Evolve New Winner Challenge that offers a $100 bonus to any driver that gets his first ProTruck Series win. That payout increases by $100 every event. If there is not a new winner at Thompson, the award will be $200 at Waterford. Nikolas runs well at Thompson and may be the first winner of the Evolve New Winner Challenge if things go as planned. Caron Motorsports has a trio of drivers heading to the IceBreaker . Mercedes Caron has filed her entry . The popular driver of the #52 Silverado will be competing for Rookie of the Year honors while racing her dad, Sean Caron in the 27. Chris Palamar will also wheel the number 42 Silverado under the Caron Motorsports banner. Palmer is also a candidate for Rookie of the Year. Legendary ProTruck owner Harold Burdick will be back campaigning the Cindy Burdick Motorsports 151. Howard Payne will take over as driver and for the first time the team will field a Silverado. Roger Hunt will field a team ProTruck. His driver, Damian Surdell impressed everyone in his four starts last season. Josh Stringer returns in his number 29 Silverado. His entry will round out the Cindy Burdick Motorsports team.
Some crafty veteran drivers
will be coming to add Championships to their resume.
Randy Burr will defend his title in the 32 Ford
F-150. Multi time Champion, number 90, Allen Coates has
his sights set on another. Duane Noll lost a
radiator in the Chase event last fall. He is
ready to add another Championship Banner for his
race team.
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Cassidy Wins the Battle, Burr Wins the War! |
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The 2023 Evolve ProTruck Season concluded at The
Waterford SpeedBowl October 28th with a variety of story lines and a
great final 4 battle for the Championship. New England's top
ProTruck drivers in 2023 were on hand to battle. Noticeably absent was the Monahan Family, Shawn, Diego, Emma, and Brody. Brody's record breaking success in the trucks in 2023 is well noted. The family was in North Carolina racing. The entire truck community is proud of Brody's accomplishments and is proud to have him representing New England in his racing ventures. Plenty of stars were left at home for the best show of the year. Ken Cassidy Jr. was on hand. His number 11 Boyd's Used Auto Parts Silverado with it's Lime Green Flame job was not only eye catching but fast. Former Champion Allen Coates made a rare 2023 appearance. Tyler Chapman had the 81 locked and loaded. Overdue for a trip to victory lane, Tyler has led every tour race he has been in the last two years. The Chase competitors had some serious business on hand. They were there to decide their share of the $10,000 dollars up for grabs. How they finish in this event determines how they end up in points. Nicholas Frechette, the regular season points champion, was unable to race after losing an engine at Thompson. It was a spectacular year for the Rookie driver. Unfortunately luck has regulated him to eight in this year's playoff. All eyes were on practice. Ken Cassidy took only 6 laps to show everyone he was fast as he set a lap of 16.317 , 82.7 mph. Chase Final Four Competitor Randy Burr tipped his hand that his truck had pace in the second practice with a lap of 16.226, 83.199 mph. When qualifying rolled around, Cassidy grabbed the pole over Burr by a mere 3 hundredths of a second. The top 6, redraw for starting position. Crowd favorite Todd Taylor, in his Buttermore Plumbing 47 had luck on his side. After all other 5 competitors drew, he was left with the top starting spot . The show at Waterford moves quickly and soon it was time to decide who would be the 2023 Evolve Pro Truck Challenge Champion and who would take home the $1000 win for the 75 lap feature. Todd Taylor lined up on the inside of row one. Taylor was joined on the front row by Ken Cassidy. Duane Noll and Tyler Chapman made up row two. Randy Burr and Gerard Giordano Jr. made up row 3. All of the Final 4 Chase Competitors made the top 6. The weather was incredible and just added to the excitement of these spectacular looking trucks as they made their way toward the starters box. The green was throw by starter Craig Meriman and we were underway.
Taylor got off to a great start. Cassidy soon
fell in behind. Tyler Chapman made a charge on
the outside of Cassidy on lap 2 to take over the
runner up spot. Soon after Sean Caron's 52
spun on the back stretch creating the first caution
of the day.
Soon after Noll's Championship hopes went up in smoke
as the engine on the 2 let go. He rolled to
the infield relegating him to a 17th place finish
and 4th in the Chase. As Noll rolled into the
infield, Randy Burr muscled his Silverado under
Taylor. The two battled side by side for a
handful of laps. Again it was masterful racing
by two veterans that where showing why they were in
line to be Champion. The battle waged on until the
151 of RJ Surdell brought out the final
caution of the day on the back stretch. The
151 was done for the day. Taylor, Burr and Giordano were now left to battle for their share of the $8000 of points money that remained on the table. On the restart they would be starting 3rd, 4th and 5th. Meanwhile out front Chapman was preparing for one more shot at Cassidy. Chapman used the restart and outside groove to launch the 81 back into the lead. Randy Burr also used the outside groove to move into 3rd place on track and first in the Chase. It was not long until Cassidy worked the
nose of the 11 Silverado back underneath
Chapman's 81. Cassidy edge into the lead on lap 44.
Chapman fought back but there was no stopping the
11. The truck was acquired from the Deshaies
team, it won
it's last time out with Devon at Monadnock and it
was looking unstoppable on this afternoon here at
the SpeedBowl. Cassidy made the rest of the race look easy. He cruised out front unchallenged. Chapman scored a well deserved second place. Randy Burr grabbed the final podium spot The 3rd place finished wrapped up the Evolve Challenge Championship. Cassidy would say , "That last
restart the carburetor started to bobble. He
(Chapman) got around me and then it cleared up. Then
it started bobbling again so I didn't want to see
another yellow. It's the longest race, I am used to
25. " He was quick to thank his
sponsors, all of which had to be proud of the great
effort and victory. Randy Burr was the star
of the day. His 3rd place finish earned the 32
team a well deserved Championship and the $5000
first place money from Evolve that goes with it.
For Randy, it is never about the money. During the
COVID year he missed the Chase by 1 point. He
had worked countless hours to climb back to the top
of ProTruck Racing in New England. In
Victory Lane Randy would say "A lot of good cars up
front, Awesome guys to race with." Randy
thanked his crew, Brandon, Jimmy, Phil , Robbie,
They all come out and help me all the time and I
couldn't do it without them. " " The guys that
run up front are great. You got the 15, the
47, they're awesome. If you can beat them, you
are doing something for a day."
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The 2023 Chase Race is
on! |
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The 2023 Evolve Challenge ProTruck Season will conclude at the
New London Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday October 28th.
A full field of ProTrucks is expected. 75 laps
will be the distance. Most will be afterr the $1000 first prize.
Fierce
competition is expected from the regular truck
competitors that race there weekly. Some of the
names you may see defending the home turf are
Chapman, Cassidy and Coates. For the 8 playoff contenders, there will be a race within a race. Chris Taylor, Nicholas Frechette, Dennis Charette and RJ Surdell will be awarded 5th thru 8th in the Chase standings depending on how they finish is relation to each other at this race. The final four will also race against each other. They qualified in the final four by their performance at Thompson . Their Superbowl is the 75 lap Challenge race Saturday. there is a lot of money on the line. $10,000 dollars total. The winners share of the Chase payout is $5000 for the Champion. $2000 dollars will go to the runner up. $1000 dollars is awarded for third. Fourth will pocket $750 dollars. Fifth in the Chase pays $500 dollars. 6th takes home $400 dollars. 7th will receive $300 dollars and 8th will earn $250 dollars. The awards will be paid out at the banquet at Foxwoods thanks to Evolve Bank and Trust Mortgage and Hoosier Tires East. Who are the final four? The Number 1 seed is #15 Long Island's Gerard Giordano Jr. aka G-Rod. The 15 team started with a victory at the Ice Breaker but fell to 12th into the point standings when they were unable to attend the second race of the season. Giordano won his next two events, and finished second at Star. The top 8 make the playoff. The 15 team's performances after missing an event were enough to make the cut. G-Rod has 152 laps led, ( approximately 2/3s of the laps run) this season. He has the most wins in the series since he arrived on the tour in 2015. Last year's battle to the line with Connor Souza was a thriller. The Number 2 seed for this season's Chase Championship is the 2 of Duane Noll. Noll was the 2020 Series Champion and has multiple track Championships and wins at Waterford. From the outset, he has been on a mission to repeat in the #1 spot. The team had a technical infraction that buried him in the early season standings . As veterans often do, he climbed his way back into the top 8. He finished runner up at Thompson's World Series. There is only one more task at hand.
The Number 3 seed is Todd Taylor. The 47
team is known to have the most fun at the race
track. There is not a better bunch to be around. Win
lose or draw, they come to enjoy racing. Don't
let that confuse you. They are dead serious about
winning. The team missed out on the regular
season points championship by a mere 1 point. For
most of Todd's racing career he has competed in the
weekly truck division at the SpeedBowl. This is his
first full season of ProTruck Touring
competition. Can he turn the home track
advantage into an Evolve ProTruck Championship in
his Rookie year. Maybe. The paint scheme is a
throw back to his dads. One thing is for sure.
The entire team would like to see that paint scheme
parked in Victory Lane when it is over Saturday at
the SpeedBowl.
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The Playoffs Kick Off |
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The $10,000 Evolve ProTruck Challenge gets underway
at Thompson Speedway Sunday, October 8th. The Evolve ProTruck
Challenge elimination race happens on the banked half mile. The
Elite Eight pictured above are your playoff contenders. Let's
review how they got there. Let's review how each made their way: The 5 of Chris Taylor scored a tenth place finish at Hudson. At Monadnock the team improved to finish 9th. Star saw the 5 team continue to improve by finishing 7th. The 3 top 10's resulted in a playoff berth. 15jr. of Gerard Giordano made an improbable charge into the Elite 8. Entering Hudson he had missed an event. G-Rod would have to gain 30 points per show to make the cut. Deshaies, Pelligrini, Vanada, and Stringer all missed races or ended their season which made the climb into the playoffs a bit easier. Still there was no denying that the 15 Silverado was in Championship form. G-Rod went back to back with wins at Hudson and Monadnock, and managed a second at Star. Defending ProTruck Champion G-Rod is the only competitor left from last year's Chase. He's planning on adding another Championship trophy to his collection. The #151 of RJ Surdell is another team that has constantly improved. Clearly the 151 was not performing early in the season. The Cindy Burdick Motorsports team simply went to work. They managed 3 top 10's highlighted by RJ's first top five at Star. The team may be getting into Championship form at just the right time. He's known as "Dirty Love". The Deuce, Duane Noll is a former Championship and fan favorite. Despite a technical set back at Thompson, Noll quietly moved his team into the 5th slot in the Elite 8. The team is expected to be a contender at Thompson, and there is no doubt, Noll is a force to reckoned with at Waterford. The Championship has been all that is on Duane's mind since the start of the season. #32 Randy Burr is one of the steadiest performers on the tour. He has worked all season on improving the bright orange 32 Ford F-150. This truck was a former Koenig 97. It was rebuilt from the frame up. The truck is sorted well for the playoff run. He finished 6th at Thompson's Ice Breaker in April. A mechanical failure set the team back at Hudson. Take that race away and Randy would be the #1 seed heading into Sunday's elimination race. The #1 of Dennis Charette has been a steady performer all season. Owner Lucas Leone has had a plan since last fall. This Sunday the team will be the first to debut a Claimer motor. Claimer motors have simpler rules, however they can be purchased from other competitors post race. The Claimer price is less than half of what the Chevrolet economy motors known as 602's cost. The question is can a $3500 motor actually be an advantage and pull off a series championship. We will know Sunday. Todd Taylor and his #47 Silverado team are know as the team that has the most fun tour racing. That doesn't mean that they don't take their chase for the championship seriously. They just do it with a smile. The Elite 8 is made up of the top eight in the regular season points. Todd finished second by a mere point. The eye is on the title. The team finished second in the Ice Breaker. This could be the year the 47 takes home it's first ProTruck Championship. Maybe. No one had the #01 of Nikolas Frechette penciled in as their pick to win the ProTruck Championship. The IceBreaker marked his first time driving a full size race vehicle of any type. It also marked his first time racing the historic track. He managed a podium finish. He then went on to perform well at all of the series venues despite each one being the first time to compete there. He is the 2023 regular season Champion. He's managed to be runner up on a few but does not have his first series win yet. Could we see a first win and his first Championship happen over the next two weeks? It could happen. There is no doubt
the 2023 Evolve ProTruck Challenge has the makings of being the most
exciting playoff ever but there is much more to Thompson's World
Series event. The race is dedicated to the memory of Harold
and Terri Churchill and of course Cindy Burdick. Harold and
Terri helped put on the events while Cindy often owned multiple
entries to help create the excitement these ProTruck provide over
the years.
There is no doubt the elimination race Sunday at Thompson is packed with excitement. Be there if you can for we have an exciting event plan at Thompson Speedway's World Series Sunday October 8th.
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Hudson International
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The ProTrucks get back underway at Hudson Speedway August 13th.
Rain resulted in a cancellation at Lee USA. The event lost to
mother nature has created more pressure on teams to make the
playoffs. Only three races remain to get into the top 8 in points.
To win the championship, teams need to make that cut. So who are the
favorites to make the Elite 8? Devin Deshaies seemed to be a serious threat. especially after winning the last event at Monadnock however the team has opted to move on to ACT type late models and legends cars. Devin is currently 5th in points. Obviously a driver with Devin's talents is an attractive option for many truck owners however no ride has been rumored. It is doubtful Deshaies will pick up a ride this late in the season to continue his shot at the Championship. Defending Challenge Champion and 2023 Thompson Speedway winner Gerard Giordano Jr. was expected to cruise his way into the playoffs. Long Island's top ProTruck driver missed Monadnock dropping him from 1st to 12th in the points standings. G-Rod will have to gain approximately 30 points per show on his competitors to fight his way back in. Odds are the 15 jr team is up to the task however there is very little room for error. Andy Pellegrini in the 6, Chris Taylor in the 5, RJ Surdell in the 151 and Duane Noll in the 2 all are within 11 points of each other. All had rough starts at Thompson. Noll is currently 8th in the point standings. It would be against all odds but mathematically all four can make the playoffs The sentimental favorite for most is Josh Stringer. He has steadily done what is needed as he drives in honor of the memory of Jim Boyle, his father in law that was lost during the off season. 3 more solid performances could propel Stinger in to the Elite 8. Dennis Charette is in the famed 1ne Silverado. The team seems to be gaining momentum. Crew chief and owner Mike Leone leaves no stone unturned. Although there is not a lot of room for error, this team is expected to get stronger with every week and should make the Elite 8.
The heat is on for every race and every performance carries more weight. They all want that $5000 check from Lance Adie and Evolve Mortgage at the banquet. They want the Championship Trophy even more than that. Expect great racing at Hudson International Speedway Sunday August 13th during round III of the Evolve ProTruck Challenge |
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Deshaies Dominates the Duel at the Dog |
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Perfect weather and an awesome crowd greeted the ProTruck
competitors Sunday May 6th as they squared off for race two of the
2023 season. The 2nd Annual Duel at the Dog has become a premier
short track event in New England. Monadnock Speedway was
packed with competitors and fans. Noticeably absent in the pit area was the 15 of points leader Gerard Giordano Jr. Devin Deshaies put everyone on notice early that his Silverado had plenty of speed by leading both practices. Qualifying was soon to follow. Deshaies set fast time with a blistering fast time of 14.213. Time trials set the field from 7th back. The top 6 redraw for final starting position. Randy Burr drew the pole position. Devin would have to start 4th. A field of 13 ProTrucks line up to take the green. Outside of pole sitter Randy Burr was the 01 Silverado of Nikolas Frechette. Duane Noll had his #2 Silverado lined up third. Deshaies was outside in forth. Dennis Charette and #29 Jake Vanada rounded out the fast 6. Early season races often end up with early cautions. Immediately the yellow was out as #6 Andy Pellegrini got into turn one a bit too hard and ran in to the back of Charett's #1. Pellegrini spun. The 02 of Josh Stringer, and the 87 of Jim Thompson were also involved. The field was gathered up quickly. The 01 of Frechette got a great start and was able to hang on the outside of Burr's #32 F-150. Frechette's Silverado nosed ahead on lap 4. Burr fought back and the low lane eventually prevailed. Duane Noll, Jake Vanada and Devin Deshaies freight trained the 01 of Frechette. Before the 01 could get back in line he was all of the way back to fifth.
By lap 38 Deshaies was cruising with a comfortable lead when the 02 of Josh Stringer spun in turn 4. The yellow closed the field once again. It was a quick caution that only lasted for 2 laps The field was lined up quickly and the ProTrucks were ready to rumble. Coming to the restart line it was the 64 of Deshaies with veteran and former series Champ Duane Noll on his outside. Randy Burr tucked in behind Deshaies. Vanada, in the 29 was to his outside. The 87 of Jim Thompson lined up next. Dennis Charette, in the 1ne, lined outside of Thompson. Deshaies handled the restart with ease. Noll in the 2, Burr in the 32, Vanada in the 29, and Charette in the 1 rounded out the top five. The final caution flew
with 10 to go as RJ Surdell spun his #151 F-150 in
between turns three and four. Deshaies would have to
survive one more restart. Noll lined up outside
again, Burr and Vanada made up row 2. Charette
was now in fifth with Todd Taylor to his outside.
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With Thompson's Ice Breaker under their belt, the Evolve
ProTruck teams head to the Duel at the Dog with the expectation of
positioning themselves to qualify for this year's Chase.
The new points structure makes missing an event tough to recover
from. The shorter schedule means each event has heightened
importance.
At the Ice Breaker a few teams simply ran out of racing luck. Shawn Passero suffered a mechanical failure resulting in crash damage during practice. The 151 of RJ Surdell lost a motor as did the 5 of Chris Taylor. Despite the mishaps, 23 trucks took the green. Unfortunately, early on Andy Pellegrini also lost a brand new motor. Most of those competitors are ready for the Duel. The race was a one man show. Duane Noll was fast in every session including the feature event. Reigning Chase Champion Gerard Giordano Jr's number 15 Silverado couldn't find his way to mount a challenge. Todd Taylor's 47 was fast. He ran fast throughout the day. Devin Deshaies was also fast but a mechanical failure took out the 64 early. Two racers new to the series, Nicholas Frechette in the 01, and Jake Vanada in the 29 had their own private duel lap after lap. Frechette won this round. Number 78, Emma Monahan was quick as always. All of these teams had outstanding performances. When it was over Noll parked in Victory Lane. The celebration was to be short lived. Pro Trucks have a unique motor rule. All trucks must pass a dyno test on Mondays. Noll had changed carburetors. The new carb was a great one. It was a bit to good and produced way more horsepower than the team expected. The 2 failed the dyno and was moved to the rear of the field. The win was awarded to the 15 team. Giordano is no stranger to victory lane at Thompson. He also set fast time for the weekend. The race was dedicated to the memory of Jim Boyle, a driver that was lost over the off season.. Giordano and Boyle had many on-track battles over the years, but had earned a mutual respect and friendship. The Jim Boyle Memorial Trophy will have a special place in Giordano's trophy room. Giordano scored 192 points for the win, along with a check for $1100.00. As we head into Monadnock, Gerard Giordano holds the point lead. Due to other commitments the 15 is not expected at the next event. We will definitely have a new points leader without Long Islands top ProTruck team there. Who will it be? Will Todd Taylor grab his first tour win? Can Duane Noll rebound and find his way to victory lane? How good is Nikolas Frechette? He turned heads at Thompson. Without Giordano, or Souza, or Lucas Leone, is this the week we see Randy Burr's 32 head back to the winner's circle. Will Jake Vanada prevail and get the trophy from his brother Josh. It is a must see event. Every truck in the field is capable of winning. The Evolve Pro Truck Challenge 55 is Saturday May 6th. Be there if you can.
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2023 Ice Breaker |
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The 2023 Season gets underway at Thompson Speedway Friday night,
and with it comes the first race of the new Evolve Mortgage ProTruck
Challenge Chase format. Teams will have more emphasis on
points. To get in the Chase, the team will have to be in the
top 8 in points by the next to last race of the season.
Drivers will no longer have to win a race to be a Chase participant.
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