The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rolls into New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday for the Team EJP 175, the final chance for drivers to shape their postseason fate before the bracket locks. Loudon has a way of tightening the field and exposing anyone who arrives even slightly off‑balance, especially with the flat corners demanding patience that most drivers don’t naturally possess. The regular‑season finale always carries tension, but this one feels heavier, with playoff hopefuls sharing the track with Cup Series talent who aren’t racing for points and won’t hesitate to take the air off someone’s fender.

Even so, the drivers who understand how Loudon changes lap‑to‑lap and how quickly the preferred lane can disappear will be the ones who survive the afternoon. Connor Zilisch returns to the series with more eyes on him than any other driver in the field, and not just because of his future with Hendrick Motorsports. He’s shown all season that he can settle into a rhythm faster than most rookies, especially on tracks where throttle control matters more than raw aggression.

Loudon rewards drivers who can keep the nose planted without overloading the right‑front, and Zilisch’s data from earlier flat‑track races shows he’s one of the few who can maintain pace deep into a run. However, this place has a habit of punishing even the smallest misjudgment, and Zilisch will need to stay ahead of the track as it transitions from early grip to late‑run fade.

John Hunter Nemechek’s return to the Truck Series adds a different kind of pressure to the finale, because he doesn’t race these trucks often, but when he does, he’s a problem for everyone else. His short‑track numbers in the series remain among the best, and his ability to gain positions on restarts is exactly the trait that pays off at Loudon. The flat mile doesn’t offer much room to recover from a bad launch, and Nemechek’s precision in the first 10 laps of a run often sets the tone for his entire afternoon. Yet he’ll need to adapt quickly to TRICON’s current baseline, because Loudon rarely gives drivers time to settle in.

Christopher Bell’s presence in the Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota adds another layer of complexity to a race already overloaded with variables. Bell has always been one of the most efficient operators on flat tracks, and Loudon in particular fits his style of rolling the center without forcing the truck. His long‑run pace tends to improve as the track slickens, which is exactly when most drivers begin to lose the rear tires and fight their way off corner exit. Even so, Bell’s pace could disrupt the playoff math for full‑time drivers who cannot afford to lose points to a Cup Series guest.

Colin Braun returns to Kaulig Racing’s No. 25 Ram with the kind of adaptability that tends to matter at Loudon more than anywhere else. He’s shown all season that he can manage tire wear better than most mid‑pack drivers, especially on tracks where the falloff curve steepens after the first 20 laps. Braun’s biggest challenge will be navigating restarts, where lane choice can swing his race by several positions before the field even reaches Turn 1. However, his ability to keep the truck balanced through the center of the corner gives him a fighting chance against teams with deeper data and larger engineering staffs.

Drivers will face one of the most demanding surfaces on the schedule, with tire falloff often creeping into the quarter‑second‑per‑lap range once the rubber begins to peel away. Loudon’s groove doesn’t widen quickly, which forces drivers to commit to an entry point with almost no margin for correction if the truck steps out. The flat corners magnify any imbalance, especially when the rear tires begin to fade, and throttle application becomes a negotiation rather than a reflex. Yet the biggest challenge may be restarts, where the wrong lane can cost a driver four to seven spots before the field even settles.

Brake heat will also become a storyline, as Loudon’s repeated heavy‑braking zones tend to spike temperatures and destabilize the truck late in a run. Drivers who maintain consistent brake‑release timing usually avoid the mid‑corner chatter that ruins long‑run pace, but even the best operators can get caught out when the bottom lane collects marbles. Uneven rubbering-in forces drivers to adjust their arc mid‑race, and those who fail to adapt often lose pace faster than the stopwatch can show. On the track, that unpredictability separates the disciplined from the desperate.

Fuel strategy remains a lurking variable, especially if the race trends toward long green‑flag stretches. Teams often face windows where pitting early produces a noticeable lap‑time advantage, but the risk of a caution can trap them a lap down and erase their entire strategy. Loudon’s caution frequency typically lands in the three‑to‑six‑yellow range, making every pit call a calculated gamble rather than a guaranteed advantage. Even so, the teams that anticipate the track’s transition from early grip to late fade often gain more than those who simply react.

The Truck Series finale at Loudon rarely unfolds cleanly, and this year’s mix of playoff hopefuls, Cup Series ringers, and free‑agent program entries guarantees a race shaped by pressure rather than comfort. Loudon rewards drivers who understand how to manage pace instead of chase it, and punishes those who try to force speed into a track that refuses to give it. Yet the ones who adapt fastest and stay ahead of the surface as it changes will be the ones who leave New Hampshire with momentum heading into the postseason. Nothing about this finale will come easy, and that’s exactly why Loudon tends to reveal who’s ready for the next round

Team EJP 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway: Entry List

(i) indicates any driver ineligible for earning season and or playoff points.

  • 1. Gavan Boschele — No. 1 — TRICON Garage
  • 2. Luke Baldwin — No. 2 — Team Reaume
  • 3. Connor Hall (i) — No. 4 — Niece Motorsports
  • 4. John Hunter Nemechek (i) — No. 5 — TRICON Garage
  • 5. Connor Mosack — No. 7 — Spire Motorsports
  • 6. Grant Enfinger — No. 9 — CR7 Motorsports
  • 7. Corey LaJoie — No. 10 — Kaulig Racing
  • 8. Kaden Honeycutt — No. 11— TRICON Garage
  • 9. Brenden Queen — No. 12 — Kaulig Racing
  • 10. Cole Butcher — No. 13 — ThorSport Racing
  • 11. Mini Tyrrell — No. 14 — Kaulig Racing
  • 12. Tanner Gray — No. 15 — TRICON Garage
  • 13. Justin Haley — No. 16 — Kaulig Racing
  • 14. Giovanni Ruggiero — No. 17 — TRICON Garage
  • 15. Tyler Ankrum — No. 18 — McAnally Hilgemann Racing
  • 16. Daniel Hemric — No. 19 — McAnally Hilgemann Racing
  • 17. Mason Massey — No. 20 — McAnally Hilgemann Racing
  • 18. Patrick Emerling — No. 22 — Team Reaume
  • 19. Colin Braun — No. 25 — Kaulig Racing
  • 20. Toni Breidinger — No. 26 — Rackley W.A.R.
  • 21. Dawson Sutton — No. 27 — Rackley W.A.R.
  • 22. Frankie Muniz — No. 33 — Team Reaum
  • 23. Layne Riggs — No. 34 — Front Row Motorsports
  • 24. Chandler Smith — No. 38 — Front Row Motorsports
  • 25. Parker Eatmon — No. 42 — Niece Motorsports
  • 26. Andres Perez De Lara — No. 44 — Niece Motorsports
  • 27. Landen Lewis — No. 45 — Niece Motorsports
  • 28. Stewart Friesen — No. 52 — Halmar Friesen Racing
  • 29. Timmy Hill — No. 56 — Hill Motorsports
  • 30. Christopher Bell (i) — No. 62 — Halmar Friesen Racing
  • 31. Derek White (i) — No. 69 — Motorsports Business Management
  • 32. Connor Zilisch (i) — No. 71 — Spire Motorsports
  • 33. Michael Christopher Jr. — No. 72 — Halmar Friesen Racing
  • 34. Spencer Boyd — No. 76 — Freedom Racing Enterprises
  • 35. Tristan McKee — No. 77 — Spire Motorsports
  • 36. Kris Wright — No. 81 — McAnally Hilgemann Racing
  • 37. Ty Majeski — No. 88 — ThorSport Racing
  • 38. Christian Eckes — No. 91 — McAnally Hilgemann Racing
  • 39. D.L. Wilson — No. 93 — Costner Motorsports
  • 40. Jake Garcia — No. 98 — ThorSport Racing
  • 41. Ben Rhodes — No. 99 — ThorSport Racing
Original article
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