新闻 - Trucks | Mid-Season Review: Doodle Pulls Away

Trucks | Mid-Season Review: Doodle Pulls Away

As we sail past the half-way mark of Season 39's regular season, some new faces have emerged at the front of the Truck Series pack.

3rd-year Truck Series drivers Sean Molloy and Snicker Doodle have been lighting up the series with their on-track rivalry since Season 37, but in Season 39 the stakes have been raised as the two drivers have been consistently fighting for the lead. Molloy leads the series in stage victories with 5, while Doodle's 3 stage wins and 4 race wins have launched him to a 64 point series lead after his most recent win at Kansas.

Also up front mixing it up this season is Italian first-year series driver Max Velox who currently runs 2nd overall in points with a race win and 4 stage wins. Not to be left out of the conversation, series regular Brian Hicks has grabbed 2 race wins to track on to his 1 stage win. Series newcomer Cleetus Colton has also appeared at the front regularly with 3 stage wins.

When asked about his blistering three-peat start to the season and his full one-race points lead over the field after Kansas, seven Racing's Snicker Doodle spoke more about playoffs than his recent success.

"This series is all about playoff points. We have 23 playoff points right now, which is a great start. I know we're at least 12 points clear of Brian [Hicks] in that respect, but we're really focused on padding that number as much as we can. That 15 playoff point reward for winning the regular season would go a long way to help, but we can't really think about that. My focus, and the focus of our crew chief is on getting as many of the 7 playoff points available each race as possible."

Max Velox and Sean Molloy both suffered DNFs at Kansas which propelled Doodle to a large enough points lead over Velox that he can hold the #1 spot even if he retires on lap 1 and Velox sweeps the stages and the win in the next race. Another garage area rumor came to the surface in Doodle's post-race interview, the idea that seven Racing may be moving.

"I don't know what seven Racing's plans are for next year. We're really focused on trying to make it to Phoenix with a chance to win a championship this year. One thing I respect about the ownership here is that they know the right time to talk about the future. If they want to move and they offer me a seat in a stock car, you bet I'll be there. But right now the most comfortable seat in the world is in the #7 Toyota sitting over there in victory lane."

Playoff points through 9 Truck Series Races are as follows:
Snicker Doodle - 23
Brian Hicks - 11
Sean Molloy - 10
Max Velox - 9
Victoria Kennedy - 5
Cleetus Colton - 3
Craig Jennings - 1
Larry Jackson - 1