Five to watch in Saturday’s NASCAR Heart of America 200 trucks race at Kansas Speedway

Here are some top drivers to keep an eye on during the NASCAR trucks race this weekend at Kansas Speedway.

The race is set for 7 p.m. Saturday on FS1.

Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Toyota

Rhodes, the defending series champion, owns five top-five finishes in seven starts for ThorSport Racing, including a win at Bristol. Rhodes, 25, has six career wins but none in eight starts at Kansas, where his best finish was second in 2019.

John Hunter Nemechek, No. 4 Toyota

Nemechek, 24, has posted five straight top-four finishes, capped by last week’s win at Darlington for Kyle Busch Motor Sports, his 12th career victory. Nemechek, nephew of former Cup veteran Joe Nemechek (a 2004 Cup and Xfinity winner at Kansas), trails Rhodes by 30 points in the standings. He was fifth at Kansas in 2021.

Chandler Smith, No. 18 Toyota

Smith, 19, has four top-10 finishes in seven starts for Kyle Busch Motorsports, including a win at Las Vegas, a 1.5-mile tri-oval similar to Kansas Speedway. Smith, the 2021 trucks Rookie of the Year, owns two career wins, at Bristol and Phoenix last year. He was fifth in 2020 and 11th in 2021 at Kansas.

Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Toyota

Friesen, from Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, Canada, owns two career wins (Eldora and Phoenix in 2019) but is still looking for his first victory in six starts at Kansas. Friesen, 38, has a top finish of second this season at Las Vegas for a team he co-owns with Chris Larsen.

Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford

Smith, 22, started the season strong by winning the opening race at Daytona and has six top-10 finishes for Gallagher Motorsports. Smith led 50 laps and 37 laps in the 2020 races at Kansas Speedway but was unable to win. He was seventh in the 2021 race.

This story was originally published May 12, 2022 at 12:38 PM.