Nashville 135

LEBANON, Tenn. — With the Chase quickly approaching, Chris Romano picked an ideal time to remind the rest of the Ideal Family LLC AARN Truck Series field why the No. 44 has become the championship leader. Romano won Race 13 of the regular season Tuesday night at Nashville Superspeedway, leading 28 of 100 laps and beating Tyler Wagner by 3.206 seconds in a relatively clean but highly competitive race that featured plenty of action throughout the field. Only two cautions slowed the event for six laps, leaving the majority of the race to play out under green. Five different drivers spent time at the front and the lead changed hands 10 times, with three of the top championship contenders ultimately occupying the podium.

Romano started seventh and steadily worked his way forward before putting the Revolution Racing Chevrolet in position to control the closing portion of the race. He earned bonus points for leading and winning, finishing the night with 42 points and increasing his championship total to 397. That gives Romano a 17-point advantage over Howard Peeples with only three regular-season races remaining before the Chase. It also continued what has become a strong run for the No. 44.

Romano entered Nashville having taken over the championship lead at New Hampshire, and instead of simply protecting it, he added another victory to the résumé. The win was Romano’s fourth of the season. Wagner finished second after starting from the pole and led 31 laps, one shy of the race-high total. The No. 22 stayed near the front throughout the night and collected two bonus points for leading and completing the race without an incident.

The result moved Wagner’s season total to 374 points, keeping him third in the standings and 23 behind Romano. He also closed the gap to Peeples. Peeples finished third and once again showed why the defending champion has worked his way back into the title conversation. The No. 29 led a race-high 32 laps, earned the fastest-lap bonus and completed the race without an incident.

That combination gave Peeples four bonus points and 38 total for the night. He leaves Nashville second in the championship with 380 points, 17 behind Romano and six ahead of Wagner. Three drivers at the top. Twenty-three points separating them.

Three regular-season races remaining. The battle for the regular-season championship is officially becoming a sprint. Justin Hewitt produced one of the strongest drives of the night outside the championship leaders. Starting 20th, the No. 71 charged all the way to fourth and completed all 100 laps without an incident.

Hewitt gained 16 positions and earned 34 points in one of the biggest forward moves of the race. Douglas Scalice also delivered an important result. The No. 16 started sixth and finished fifth, completing all 100 laps and collecting a clean-race bonus. After several weeks of pressure around the Chase cut line, Scalice’s 33-point night was exactly the kind of result he needed.

He now sits 10th in the standings with 301 points, 27 points ahead of Marc Bender for the final Chase position. That margin is useful, but it is far from secure. Bender finished 11th at Nashville after starting 14th and also completed the race with zero incidents. His 27-point result increased his total to 274, keeping him directly outside the postseason field.

With three races remaining, the fight between the two Scalice-Bender Racing teammates has become one of the major stories around the cut line. Joseph Essenberg had another quietly productive night, finishing seventh and earning a clean-race bonus. The result moved him two positions higher in the standings to seventh with 308 points. Essenberg now sits seven points ahead of Scalice and 34 ahead of the cut line.

Joe Konen followed with an impressive eighth-place run after starting 21st, gaining 13 positions. Robert Wyant finished ninth, while John Shields completed the top 10. Behind them, several championship contenders lost ground. Gary May entered Nashville fourth in the standings and finished 14th, one lap down.

He remains fourth overall with 354 points, but his deficit to Romano grew to 43. Elijah Maupin suffered a more significant setback. The No. 66 started fourth but finished 17th, one lap down. Maupin earned only 20 points and dropped one position in the standings to fifth.

He now has 352 points, 45 behind Romano. The biggest missing name near the front was Shawn Hughes. Hughes did not compete at Nashville and remained at 323 points, leaving him sixth in the championship but now 74 behind the leader. His Chase position is still strong, but the missed opportunity allowed several drivers around him to close the gap and left the No. 75 with considerably less margin than it had earlier in the season.

Dave W. Allen also experienced a difficult night. The No. 31 completed only 54 laps and finished 22nd, earning 15 points. He dropped one position in the standings to eighth with 307 points.

Jason Thomas finished 16th and now sits ninth at 306, only one point behind Allen. That creates a tightly packed group directly above the cut: Joseph Essenberg — 308 Dave W. Allen — 307 Jason Thomas — 306 Douglas Scalice — 301 Only seven points separate seventh through 10th. Then comes Bender at 274.

The next three races could easily rearrange that entire section of the standings. Nashville also created movement in the team championship. Revolution Racing continues to lead and now holds 1,080 points, helped by Romano’s victory and another full-distance run from Lucas Bray. Scalice-Bender Racing remains second at 964.

Great Lakes Racing made the largest move, jumping two positions into third with 911 points, helped by Essenberg’s seventh-place finish, Konen’s charge to eighth and several other solid results. Ideal Racing slipped to fourth at 904, while Corey Powell Racing dropped two positions to fifth at 876. Lucky Dog Racing remains sixth with 811. The relatively clean nature of Nashville made consistency especially important.

With only two cautions, drivers could not rely on repeated restarts to erase mistakes or regain lost track position. Long green-flag runs allowed the fastest trucks to separate themselves, and the championship leaders largely took advantage. Romano, Wagner and Peeples combined to lead 91 of the 100 laps. There was no shortage of action, but the three drivers currently occupying the top three positions in the standings made it very clear who has control of the championship conversation right now.

Romano won. Peeples led the most laps. Wagner started from the pole and finished second. And with only three races remaining before the Chase, the regular-season championship now has three drivers separated by just 23 points.

Behind them, the fight to simply make the postseason is becoming every bit as important. Scalice has 27 points of breathing room. Bender is still within reach. And with three races left, one bad night can erase that cushion quickly.

Nashville may have been relatively clean—but with the Chase getting closer, the pressure is anything but.