Be sure to listen to the entire interview below. Photo by WikiCommons.
I am joined today by NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular Ryan Truex. We talked a little bit about the 2021 season and how everything came together at Niece Motorsports. We also discussed last week's Bristol dirt race, his experience, and what races he looks forward to this year.
SportsMap: I am joined today by one of my favorite drivers in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Ryan how are you?
Ryan Truex: I'm great thanks for having me on!
SM: It's an honor to talk to you. I have been following you since your K&N East days and am glad to see you at Neice Motorsports!
RT: I appreciate it! It's been quite a journey, I am happy to still be doing it.
SM: It's been great to see you sign with Niece Motorsports. Talk a little bit about how that deal came together.
RT: Yeah, the big thing for me was I wanted to go back to racing full-time, and I figured this team would be a good fit for me. I talked to owner Al Niece about it, and they were willing to commit to it and my sponsors were willing to commit to it, so it was good to get a deal done early. Usually deals get done for me in January.
SM: So, I wanted to talk about that Bristol dirt race. What was your take on the race overall?
RT: Yeah, I had a lot of fun. It was really a big unknown for me, I didn't know how I would do. I have never raced dirt, so I really didn't know exactly what the track would do but luckily my spotter, Steve Reeves, is a champion sprint car driver, so he's been a big help with the track conditions. We really had a lot of issues with overheating and had to go to the back twice which really hurt us. And we ended up finishing twentieth but speed wise we had a really good truck, so I had a really good time and things look promising.
SM: Another big story that came to light yesterday was the announcement that NASCAR would be testing the rain tires at Martinsville. Do you think it would be possible to run rain tires on an oval?
RT: It's definitely possible. It just depends on what kind of race you would want to see. If you gotta go out there, and you're going 70 miles and hour and nobody can pass anybody, then I think you can do it anywhere. But that's not really a good show for the fans, but I think Martinsville is flat enough to where they can get it done.
SM: This 2021 truck series schedule is very diverse with many varieties of tracks, is there a race you guys have circled that you look forward to going to?
RT: Well our big focus is the mile and a half stuff as that's the bulk of our schedule and I felt like we had some work to do on those tracks speed wise and handling wise, so that's really been our big focus.
You can hear the rest of the interview below:
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.