Rookie of the Year Candidate Sits Seventh in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Points Standings
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (May 5, 2015) – After a month-long break in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule, Ray Black Jr. looks to pick up where he left off when NASCAR rolls into Kansas Speedway this weekend. Friday’s Toyota Tundra 250 will be his first start at the speedway with his No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet Silverado.
Ray Black Jr. has had quite the strong start to his rookie season. In just three races, he scored one Top-5 and two Top-15 finishes. He scored his series-best finish at the season opener at Daytona International Speedway with a fifth place finish. Black currently sits seventh in NASCAR’s driver point standings, only 39 points behind leader Matt Crafton.
“Our team has done an amazing job so far,” said Black. “We’ve been learning together since this is a new team for me, but it’s been quicker than most people would think. The fifth place finish at Daytona was a great momentum starter for the season for us. At Atlanta we were running really well – in the Top-10 – and had mechanical issues that set us back to a 25th place finish. Then we rebounded at Martinsville with a 13th-place finish. I had raced there before and finished 24th. Short tracks are not my best tracks – so that was a great finish. It’s been a great start to this season for us.”
Coming off of a Top-15 finish at Martinsville Speedway, Black hopes to continue the momentum into his next race with another great finish despite not having previous on-track experience at Kansas Speedway.
“This will be my first time at Kansas, so I’ll watch a lot of previous race footage to build my knowledge base,” he said. “I pay attention to a lot of the details when I’m watching past races – how long ago it was, what time of year it was – because the groove can change year-over-year or based on track temperature.”
“We’ll be taking the same truck we had in Atlanta,” he continued. “It’s a good piece – the team put a new body on it and upgraded some parts. Atlanta is a rough track and I’ve heard Kansas is really smooth. I’m excited to get there and work towards a top-15 finish, or better!”
The Toyota Tundra 250 will air on Friday, May 8, 2015 at 8:30 pm ET on Fox Sports 1. The race will also be broadcast by MRN Radio.
Fans can keep up with Ray Black Jr.’s race weekend by following him and his sponsor, ScubaLife on Twitter at @TeamScubaRacing and @RayBlackJr.
