Stewart Friesen

40-Year-Old Driver  
Halmar Friesen Racing
2023 Fantasy Outlook
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. Read Past Outlooks
Third in Toyota 200
Craftsman Truck Series
June 3, 2023
Friesen finished third in the Toyota 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway Saturday afternoon.
ANALYSIS
The driver of the No. 52 Toyota would race inside the Top 10 the full 200-miles at Gateway. Friesen would work his way to the front and lead 10 laps in addition to taking the win in stage 2. He'd use that good track position in stage 3 to hold off Carson Hocevar on the last restart of the day to capture the impressive third-place finish. It was Friesen's fourth Top-5 finish of the season.
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Stewart Friesen See More
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
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.
More Fantasy News
Runner-up Finish at Darlington
Craftsman Truck Series
May 12, 2023
Friesen finished second in the Buckle Up South Carolina 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Darlington Raceway Friday night.
ANALYSIS
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Takes Heat Race 2
Craftsman Truck Series
April 8, 2023
Friesen won heat race 2 for the Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Dirt Saturday afternoon.
ANALYSIS
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Third in SpeedyCash.com 250
Craftsman Truck Series
April 1, 2023
Friesen finished third in the SpeedyCash.com 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon.
ANALYSIS
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Third at Homestead
Gander Outdoors Truck
October 22, 2022
Friesen finished third the Baptist Health 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway Saturday afternoon.
ANALYSIS
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Fast Nashville Practice
Gander Outdoors Truck
June 24, 2022
Friesen was fastest in Happy Hour practice for the Rackley Roofing 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway Friday afternoon. He turned a fast lap of 156.017 mph.
ANALYSIS
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