It’s the only show in town this weekend when the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes over the Knoxville Raceway, Saturday night.
The only off weekend in the Cup Series schedule falls when the Truck Series takes to the dirt for the second and final time in 2022. A Saturday night special to take place at the Sprint Car Capital of the World. After a much more successful trip to the Bristol dirt this spring, the hopes are high heading into Knoxville.
Event Schedule for this coming weekend for the #CleanHarbors150 presented by Premier Chevy Dealers. pic.twitter.com/c0eyd6kuPJ
— Knoxville Raceway (@knoxvilleraces) June 14, 2022
Dirt Track Expert Stewart Friesen Ready for Knoxville
Truck Series regular and Texas winner Stewart Friesen looks to his dirt track expertise to help his Halmar-Friesen Racing team Saturday night. Not where they have wanted the dirt program to be, Friesen has hopes that some of the changes they have made will prove beneficial.
“Our dirt track program, I believe, still needs a little bit of work,” Friesen said on the Always Race Day Podcast episode no. 49. “You know, last year we struggled a little at Bristol and Knoxville. Then went to Bristol again and thought we were going to be pretty solid. We still struggled a little bit. I think we’ve identified some things we need to change and we’ll implement them going into Knoxville.”
Friesen looks for a little extra help from a second truck when it comes to the dirt track events. Stewart’s wife, Jessica Friesen, is also a dirt track ace and will be aboard the No. 62 entry as she did last summer at Knoxville and earlier this year at Bristol.
Stewart says that she brings her own little twist and outlook on things to help better the program on dirt. All it took for her to get a ride was a truck sitting in the corner of the shop not being used. Suddenly, turned into a dirt truck with Jessica helping them ever since.
“It was Chris Larsen at Halmar just had the idea. We ended up with another speedway truck that we didn’t use and it wasn’t one that we could put into service for Daytona so it sat in the corner of the shop. The guys in the shop started hacking on it one day and built another dirt truck out of it.
“We all kind of decided to put Jess in it and it’s been good to have her. She’s very analytical and knows what she wants in a racecar, whether it’s a Sprint Car, Modified or Truck, and she’s helped us dial in our dirt program. We were a little bit further away than where we thought we’d be at Bristol this year. Our feedback was both the same and they went to work on the front end of both of our trucks in hopes they are little better when we unload at Knoxville.”
The Canada native has won at dirt tracks all over the country in almost any type of vehicle. He was the winner of the 2019 Eldora Dirt Derby in the Camping World Truck Series. It was Friesen’s first career win. Friesen also dominates the dirt tracks in his big block modified and is looking to gain more traction in the team’s late model as well.
Right now though, the attention is on the Truck Series. Following his win at Texas, the third of his career and first with Toyota, Friesen felt a sense of relief. Maybe more important than that is the gain of confidence amongst the team. It had been since 2019 that Friesen last won a truck race and now is a serious threat for a second win on Saturday.
Look for Track Prep to be Better
He does feel that track prep will be a little bit different this time around. They saw a better track and better prep at Bristol earlier this year.
Also throw in that it was Friesen who helped with the implementation of a mud-flap system. With the system most likely in play, plus the fact the trucks have already run at Knoxville once before, Friesen feels the prep will be more conducive to a better race.
“Going to Knoxville, with the trucks being there once already, seeing what we can handle,” Friesen said. “I believe the mud-flap system is going to be implemented when we go. Which was kind of one of my ideas and sat with the Series Director, they laughed about it at first. But it actually was a very good system and helped that mud from flying up on the windshield.
“So it allows the track prep guys to be a little more aggressive with the moisture which will allow us to put on a better show, so looking forward to that all being implemented and getting up on the fence and let it rip.”
Friesen sits fifth in the Camping World Truck Series Playoff standings. With his win at Texas he is locked into the playoffs.
Last year at Knoxville, things got rough and rowdy throughout the late goings of the event. It didn’t end up the way Friesen had hoped. He wound up with a 27th place finish after starting deep in the field. In the event a year ago we also saw a one lane racetrack for most of the night. Many expect similar racing Saturday night as the heavy trucks pack down the black dirt at Knoxville.
This has led to many wanting windshield taken out of the trucks so they can prep the track in a more dirt car friendly matter. Friesen was lucky enough to test the Cup Series Next Gen car on dirt for a Goodyear tire test. While doing this test, NASCAR also took out the windshield and put in a rock screen.
Friesen doesn’t believe we will see a rock screen in the dirt vehicles that NASCAR uses anytime soon. However, he feels there is some substance behind and with a few tweaks the rock screen could actually happen.
“I was able to test (rock screen) in the Next Gen car when we did the tire test at Bristol,” Friesen said. “There’s a lot of electrical components inside the cockpits of these cars that you don’t normally see in a typical dirt car. Part of it’s that and part of it’s a safety issue. The opening is so big if a piece or some debris was able to get in, there’s a pretty good area for it to hit the driver. So the windshield is a protective factor.
“I know some of the dirt purist want to see them off and pull tear-offs. I’m right there with them. I think with the whole mud-flap system and things that have been implemented; I think the tracks get a little more aggressive with the water. We’ll have a better race because of it.”
Friesen and the rest of the Camping World Truck Series unloads at Knoxville on Friday night with two practice sessions. Then check out the Clean Harbors 150 presented by Premier Chevy Dealers from Knoxville Raceway Saturday night. Heat races begins at 6:00pm CT.
Always Race Day will be on the ground all weekend long providing coverage.
