Camping World helps cash-strapped teams make it to Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Your eyes won’t be playing tricks on you Friday night when a fleet of trucks at Las Vegas Motor Speedway all look exactly the same.

The distinct blue and yellow Camping World logo could be on as many as a dozen trucks as company CEO Marcus Lemonis has taken charge of the sponsorship woes plaguing the Truck Series. Camping World has been the title sponsor of NASCAR’s third-tier series since 2008, but Lemonis over the last month has taken interest in some of the teams running on financial fumes.

He announced before last month’s season-opening race a monetary bonus fund — it even awards money to crew members at various season markers — as well as an emergency fund for teams short on cash.

Grant Enfinger, winner of four races last season and a championship-round driver, appears to be the first driver to have taken Lemonis up on the offer. His ride at ThorSport Racing has been cut in half this year because another driver had sponsorship money to buy races and Enfinger had no seat scheduled for Friday night.

Enfinger took Lemonis up on his offer and brought Camping World sponsorship to CR7 Motorsports so he could race at Las Vegas.

And then the floodgates opened.

Lemonis earlier this week posted an offer on Twitte r: He would pay $15,000 to any team that wrapped its truck in Camping World’s paint scheme. A top-10 finish upped the payout to $25,000, a top-five is worth $35,000 and a victory would pay $50,000.

There has been a flurry of transactions since — seemingly all brokered on Twitter — and not even Lemonis is sure how many trucks will be wrapped in Camping World schemes Friday night. The entry list released earlier this week showed at least seven of 40 trucks did not have sponsorship for Las Vegas.

“I’m embarrassed to say that we...