Charlotte 2 Preview

This weekend marks a return to the Charlotte oval for the track's fall event after an eight-year run on the ROVAL course. Three active Ford drivers have victories on the oval track, including Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney. Blaney is the only one of those three that also had a win on the ROVAL, winning the inaugural event in 2018.

THE SCHEDULE:

Friday, October 9 -- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 5 p.m. ET (FOX)
Sunday, October 11 -- NASCAR Cup Series, 3 p.m. ET (USA)

UP TO SPEED

THE RACE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
This Saturday will mark 125 years to the day that Henry Ford won his first and only race, beating Alexander Winton on Oct. 10, 1901 at the Detroit Driving Club in a car Ford designed, built and named Sweepstakes. He used the publicity from that victory to attract the necessary investors and eventually start the Ford Motor Company, which officially opened for business on June 16, 1903. Ford’s racing program has grown to the point where it now races around the globe, competing in 36 series, 28 countries and six continents. The photo above shows Henry Ford behind the wheel with riding mechanic Edward "Spider" Huff alongside.

FORD DRIVERS IN THE CHASE
4th – Joey Logano (-71 behind leader Kyle Larson)
5th – Ryan Blaney (-80)
9th – Austin Cindric (-128)
15th – Chris Buescher (-196)
16th – Ryan Preece (-200)

CINDRIC SOLID IN CHASE
Austin Cindric continued his strong run in the Chase as he paced Ford for the second straight week with a fourth-place finish in Las Vegas. That came on the heels of a season-best second two weeks ago at Kansas Speedway. In the first five races, Cindric has an average finish of 8.0 and has been no lower than 13th at the checkered flag. That string of solid efforts has also allowed him to move up from 15th when the Chase started to ninth going into Sunday’s event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Overall, Cindric has a streak of eight straight races where he has finished no worse than 13th.

CINDRIC CHASE FINISHES
13th – Darlington
10th – Gateway
11th – Bristol
2nd – Kansas
4th – Las Vegas

LOGANO DOMINATES IN 2015
Joey Logano had one of the more dominating days of his career in winning the 2015 Bank of America 500 as he led 227 of the 334 laps. The victory not only automatically punched his ticket to the Round of 8, but it sparked a streak that saw him win the next two races at Kansas and Talladega. That marked Logano’s first win at the speedway and remains the last Ford victory on the Charlotte oval in the fall event.

FORD NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES DRIVERS IN THE CHASE
2nd – Layne Riggs (-37 behind leader Kaden Honeycutt)
3rd – Chandler Smith (-71)
7th – Ty Majeski (-88)
8th – Ben Rhodes (-98)

RIGGS SEEKING CHARLOTTE SEASON SWEEP
Layne Riggs goes into the third race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase looking to make up ground after losing his lead two weeks ago at Kansas Speedway. Riggs finds himself 37 points behind Kaden Honeycutt, but he enters Friday night’s scheduled race looking to complete a Charlotte Motor Speedway season sweep. Riggs led a race-high 52 laps in the rain-delayed event earlier this season that ended 40 circuits short of the advertised distance due to time constraints.

MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP RACE HEATING UP
Ford is looking for its first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series manufacturer’s championship since 2000 and goes into this weekend’s race with a 25-point advantage over Toyota. Ford’s nine wins this year is its highest single season total since winning 12 times in 2000. That’s when Greg Biffle won five times and claimed the first driver’s championship for Ford and owner Jack Roush.

FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT CHARLOTTE

1960 – Speedy Thompson (2)

1962 – Nelson Stacy (1)

1963 – Fred Lorenzen (1)

1964 – Fred Lorenzen (2)

1965 – Fred Lorenzen (Sweep)

1969 – Donnie Allison (2)

1970 – Donnie Allison (1)

1978 – Bobby Allison (2)

1982 – Neil Bonnett (1)

1984 – Bill Elliott (2)

1985 – Cale Yarborough (2)