Who is Stewart Friesen? All you need to know about Michigan Truck race winner
Stewart Friesen concluded the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway with his first win of the year. He notably snapped a 72-race winless streak against a star-studded entry list after emerging to the front in the closing laps.
Hailing from Ontario, Canada, Friesen is a veteran Truck Series driver who debuted at Eldora Speedway in 2016. The 41-year-old came from racing in Dirt Modifieds and Sprint Cars, where he won almost 400 races since 1999.
The latest NASCAR race winner currently drives the #52 Toyota Tundra under Halmar Friesen Racing, a race team he and Halmar International CEO Chris Larsen established in 2017. The team also operates a dirt-modified program based in Upstate New York.
During the DQS Solution & Staffing 250 at Michigan, Stewart Friesen stayed outside the top 10 throughout the race until the top contenders were taken out in the final stage. On the final restart, he found himself alongside Grant Enfinger before taking the checkered flag with a winning margin of 0.111 seconds.
The Michigan win was the Canadian driver's fourth Truck Series victory. His last win came at Texas Motor Speedway three years ago. He made the Championship 4 once in 2019, but a championship-winning run is yet to be fulfilled.
“I don't know what to say”: Stewart Friesen on surprise win at Michigan
In a post-race interview, Stewart Friesen was asked about how rewarding the Michigan win was, considering the team has been struggling this year. He instead acknowledged the crowd cheering him on, saying that having a good time was what mattered.
The #52 Halmar Friesen Racing driver said (via NASCAR on YouTube):
“I don’t know what to say, thank you to Chris Halmer and all these sponsors and all these race fans, I know there’s a lot of Canadians and a lot of Americans. Everybody's having a good time together, and that's what it's all about.” [0:51]
Grant Enfinger and pole-sitter Luke Fenhaus followed Stewart Friesen to complete the top three at Michigan International Speedway. Ben Rhodes came home in fourth, while Corey LaJoie, who made his return to NASCAR racing, finished fifth.
After 13 races this year, Friesen has one win, three top-5s, and five top 10s. A win means he is returning to the playoffs after failing to make it in the last two seasons.