Stewart Friesen

The veteran driver is coming off one of his less consistent and less productive campaigns in the past three years. Friesen would only manage seven Top-10 finishes and a 12th-place points effort in 2023. His average finish would balloon from 9.9 to 17.6 year-over-year. We expect a rebound to a certain extent for the 39-year-old driver in the upcoming season. Friesen is capable of double digit Top 10's and challenging for race wins, and while he may not get all the way back to that level, he should get close. Jimmy Villeneuve joins the team as crew chief and brings his 43 starts of experience to the table. He guided Chase Purdy to 11 Top-10 finishes and two poles last season. Friesen should enjoy a bit of a resurgence in 2024.

Friesen's fifth full season in the Craftsman Truck Series claimed one win and 13 Top-10 finishes en route to a respectable sixth-place finish in the final points. The Canadian returns to the No. 52 Toyota team in 2023 and will continue his pursuit of a championship in this division of NASCAR. Friesen is one of the top veterans at now 39-years-old and with 138 truck series starts to his credit. He's a very seasoned driver in what is increasingly a young man's division of the sport. Jon Leonard returns at crew chief and he will continue the work that Friesen and he have put together at this race team. Multiple wins and double digit Top 5's are within their reach.

The Canadian had a bit of a perplexing campaign in 2021. Friesen fetched just nine Top-10 finishes (a four-season low mark) but still managed a deep drive into the playoffs and finished sixth in the final standings. He accomplished all this despite being winless last season. The No. 52 Halmar Racing Toyota team will be back in 2022 and look to improve on last season's performance. Friesen has shown the ability to win in the past and needs to rediscover that skill. Also, the 38-year-old driver needs to improve his consistency over last season. If Friesen can accomplish these things, he can have a big campaign ahead.

Friesen was the biggest disappointment of the top tier drivers last year. The Canadian raced a winless campaign in 2020 and saw his Top-10 totals drop from 16 to 12 from 2019 to last season. Friesen's average finish ballooned from 8.5 in 2019 to an inflated 15.7 last year. He'll look to correct these inconsistencies and issues in the upcoming season. The young driver will once again drive the No. 52 Toyota and be paired with crew chief, Trip Bruce. This same duo finished fourth in the driver points in 2019, so they have big potential. Getting all the way back to that level won't likely happen all at once. This small race team has some very stiff competition, and Friesen will likely have to claw his way back inside the Top 5 of the driver rankings one step at a time going forward.

The Canadian driver took big steps in 2019, and took this No. 52 HFR team into championship contention in the process. Friesen won two events and posted career-high marks of 12 Top-5 and 16 Top-10 finishes. The 36-year-old veteran raced his way deep into the playoffs, but pulled up short of the title finishing 11th-place at Homestead. It was still a very impressive campaign for the four-season driver. Friesen will once again pilot the No. 52 truck again in the upcoming season, but HFR switches from Chevrolet to Toyota. The team will get trucks from Kyle Busch Motorsports in a cooperative effort with that strong organization. Trip Bruce will once again call the shots as crew chief, and Friesen will slug it out with all comers looking to win the championship.

The veteran Canadian racer grew by leaps and bounds last year in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Friesen started all 23 events in his No. 52 Chevy Silverado and posted some great numbers. His nine Top-5 and 16 Top-10 finishes were career-best marks. Friesen would make a good push into the truck series playoffs, but fall short of racing for the crown at Homestead. Still, he would race among the leaders in last season's finale and finish an impressive fourth in the last race of last season. Friesen has served notice that he can compete at the front of the pack and challenge for victories. While he's yet to break through into victory lane to this point in his career, Friesen should make that breakthrough in 2019.