KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Three drivers who have won a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event on a dirt track are entered in Friday night’s Corn Belt 150, the debut event for the series at Knoxville Raceway.
Series regulars Matt Crafton and Stewart Friesen will be joined by NASCAR Cup Series rookie Chase Briscoe as the series tackles the historic half-mile, black dirt track at the Marion County Fairgrounds. All three drivers have won a Truck Series race at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway.
Crafton races a DIRTcar modified when his schedule allows, Friesen is a prolific winner in DIRTcar big-block modified competition in the Northeast and Briscoe got his start racing sprint cars on dirt.
Briscoe will drive the Roper Racing No. 04 at Knoxville.
John Hunter Nemechek leads the Truck Series standings and will be behind the wheel of the familiar Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4. Ben Rhodes and Todd Gilliland rank second and third in the standings and have both competed in multiple Truck Series events on dirt.
One of the most experienced dirt racers in the field is reigning Truck Series champion Sheldon Creed, who came from an off-road racing background, and ranks fourth in the current standings.
Also with an off-road racing background, another Truck Series veteran with dirt track experience, including at Knoxville Raceway, is Hailie Deegan. Deegan ranks 17th in the Truck Series standings but finished second to Tony Stewart in the recent Camping World Superstar Racing Experience event at Knoxville Raceway.
Friesen, who has multiple dirt-track victories this season, will have an interesting teammate this week as his wife Jessica will take the wheel of a No. 62 Truck fielded from the same Halmar Int’l stable as Stewart Friesen’s No. 52. Jessica Friesen is a proven winner in dirt sprint car and modified competition.
Brett Moffitt, the 2018 Truck Series champion, returns to his roots, driving a second truck for A Racing. An Iowa native, Moffitt was the youngest modified winner in Knoxville Raceway when he claimed a victory there in 2007.
Another Iowan in the field is NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Michael Annett, who will steer the Young’s Motorsports entry.
Three talented sprint car racers will make their Camping World Truck Series debut in the Corn Belt 150 — Donny Schatz, Brian Brown and Parker Price-Miller.
Schatz, the 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion, is also a 10-time winner of the prestigious NOS Energy Knoxville Nationals run annually at Knoxville Raceway. He’s won 300 World of Outlaws features during his career. Schatz’s ride will be the David Gilliland Racing No. 17 Ford.
Brian Brown is a five-time Knoxville Raceway sprint car track champion with 53 victories at the legendary track where he grew up in the pits and the grandstands. Brown will drive the No. 51 Toyota fielded by Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Price-Miller, 23, a one-time sprint car winner at Knoxville, will handle the No. 3 Chevrolet fielded by Jordan Anderson Racing.
Truck Series practice will be run on Thursday night prior to Friday’s Corn Belt 150 presented by Premier Chevy Dealers. The USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car Series and Knoxville 410 sprint cars will be in action on Saturday night for the BRANDT Professional Agriculture Corn Belt Clash.
Tickets for all three nights are still available by clicking here or by calling the ticket office at 641-842-5431.