Justin Lofton earns pole for Friday night's Truck race at Texas - MotorSportsTalk

Justin Lofton will start Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 400 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from the pole at Texas Motor Speedway.

Lofton (179.677 mph) edged second-fastest Mat Crafton (179.384) to take the pole.

Third-fastest was Ryan Blaney (178.636), followed by Johnny Sauter (178.601), Erik Jones (178.577), Joe Nemechek (177.637).

Seventh through 12th were Darrell Wallace Jr. (177.503), German Quiroga (177.491), John Wes Townley (177.299), Ron Hornaday Jr. (176.916), Jeb Burton (176.846) and Tyler Reddick (176.713).

Here’s the starting grid for Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 400:

Row 1 Justin Lofton, Matt Crafton

Row 2 Ryan Blaney, Johnny Sauter

Row 3 Erik Jones, Joe Nemechek

Row 4 Darrell Wallace Jr., German Quiroga

Row 5 John Wes Townley, Ron Hornaday Jr.

Row 6 Jeb Burton, Tyler Reddick

Row 7 Brennan Newberry, Tayler Maisam

Row 8 Timothy Peters, Bryan Silas

Row 9 Tyler Young, Ben Kennedy

Row 10 Joey Coulter, Mason Mingus

Row 11 TJ Bell, Jennifer Jo Cobb

Row 12 Jimmy Weller, BJ McLeod

Row 13 Justin Jennings, Norm Benning

Row 14 Ryan Ellis

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The NTT IndyCar Series’ 2023 schedule will feature the same number of races and tracks as this season with some minor reshuffling of dates.

IndyCar will open the 2023 season March 5 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, and will conclude Sept. 10 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. The 107th Indy 500 will take place May 28 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 17-race schedule will conclude with a stretch of eight races in the final nine weeks.

“The NTT IndyCar Series is on an impactful upward trajectory, making progress at a pace that befits our thrilling style of competition,” Penske Entertainment Corp. president and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “The 2023 season provides an opportunity to further build on this trend, bringing our sport and its stars to more markets and households and reaching new consumers across the globe.”

There will be 15 events on NBC: 13 races (including six of the final seven) plus Indy 500 qualifying May 20-21. There also are three races on USA Network and the Toronto race exclusively on Peacock. All races on NBC and USA also will have live simulstreams on Peacock.

In partnership with NBC Sports, the 2022 IndyCar season was the most-watched in six years and the most-watched across NBC Sports on record. The 2022 season also was the most streamed season on record.

“We’re very excited for our 2023 NTT IndyCar Series schedule and to build on this past season’s viewership milestones,” NBC Sports vice president of programming Mike Perman said in a release. “In providing comprehensive coverage across NBC, Peacock and USA Network, NBC Sports is once again looking forward to telling the stories of these world-class drivers and this compelling series.”

Notable elements on the 2023 schedule:

–There will be the same balance of seven road course races, five street courses and five ovals.

–St. Pete will be the season opener for the 13th time.

–The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix will move from Belle Isle to the streets of downtown.

–The NASCAR doubleheader weekend at the IMS road course will shift to mid-August.

–The World Wide Technology Raceway event will move from Saturday to Sunday.

Start times for the 2023 events will be announced at a later date.

Here’s the 2023 IndyCar schedule:

Date	Race/Track	Network/Platform
Sun., March 5	Streets of St. Petersburg	NBC, Peacock
Sun., April 2	Texas Motor Speedway	NBC, Peacock
Sun., April 16	Streets of Long Beach	NBC, Peacock
Sun., April 30	Barber Motorsports Park	NBC, Peacock
Sat., May 13	Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Road Course)	NBC, Peacock
Sun., May 28	The 107^th Indianapolis 500	NBC, Peacock
Sun., June 4	Streets of Detroit	NBC, Peacock
Sun., June 18	Road America	USA Network, Peacock
Sun., July 2	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	USA Network, Peacock
Sun., July 16	Streets of Toronto	Peacock
Sat., July 22	Iowa Speedway – Race 1	NBC, Peacock
Sun., July 23	Iowa Speedway – Race 2	NBC, Peacock
Sun., Aug. 6	Streets of Nashville	NBC, Peacock
Sat., Aug. 12	Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Road Course)	USA Network, Peacock
Sun., Aug. 27	World Wide Technology Raceway	NBC, Peacock
Sun., Sept. 3	Portland International Raceway	NBC, Peacock
Sun., Sept. 10	WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca	NBC, Peacock

*dates and networks/platforms are subject to change

Justin Lofton earns pole for Friday night’s Truck race at Texas

IndyCar releases schedule for 2023 season