William Sawalich notched his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career pole position for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 9.
The two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, posted his best qualifying lap at 134.168 mph in 26.832 seconds, which was enough to claim the top-starting spot over teammate Sheldon Creed, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 133.432 mph in 26.980 seconds.
With the pole position, Sawalich, who is set to make his third career start in the Xfinity circuit and in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 “all-star” Toyota Supra entry, will lead the field to the green flag for Saturday’s 2024 finale at Phoenix. He is set to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing on a full-time Xfinity basis in 2025, where he will be piloting the No. 18 Toyota Supra entry.
Speaking of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota entry, Sheldon Creed, who is making his final start with the Gibbs organization before he transitions to the Haas Factory Team in 2025, will share the front row with teammate Sawalich. The 2024 Xfinity finale is set to mark Creed’s fifth time starting on the front row this season as he aims to capture his first elusive victory in the series.
Riley Herbst and Chandler Smith will start third and fourth, respectively, while Austin Hill will be the highest-starting Championship- 4 contenders in fifth place as he strives to win his first Xfinity Series championship.
Rounding out the top-10 starting spots are rookie Jesse Love, Championship 4 finalist Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, Championship 4 finalist AJ Allmendinger and Parker Retzlaff.
Notably, Justin Allgaier, the fourth Championship 4 finalist, will start in 37th place of the 38-car field and in a backup car. This is a result of Allgaier wrecking his primary car during Friday’s practice session after he ran over spilled fluid from Brennan Poole’s entry, slid and pounded the outside wall hard against Turns 1 and 2. Aric Almirola, who is contending for the 2024 Xfinity owner’s championship for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota team, was also involved in the practice carnage as he will start in 38th place, dead last, in a backup car.
All 38 competitors entered for Saturday’s finale at Phoenix earned a starting spot.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
William Sawalich, 134.168 mph, 26.832 seconds
Sheldon Creed, 133.432 mph, 26.980 seconds
Riley Herbst, 132.989 mph, 27.070 seconds
Chandler Smith, 132.915 mph, 27.085 seconds
Austin Hill, 132.523 mph, 27.165 seconds
Jesse Love, 132.343 mph, 27.202 seconds
Cole Custer, 132.270 mph, 27.217 seconds
Sam Mayer, 132.178 mph, 27.236 seconds
AJ Allmendinger, 132.139 mph, 27.244 seconds
Parker Retzlaff, 132.042 mph, 27.264 seconds
Matt DiBenedetto, 131.868 mph, 27.300 seconds
Anthony Alfredo, 131.690 mph, 27.337 seconds
Daniel Dye, 131.651 mph, 27.345 seconds
Stefan Parsons, 131.454 mph, 27.386 seconds
Sammy Smith, 131.372 mph, 27.403 seconds
Jeb Burton, 131.324 mph, 27.413 seconds
Shane van Gisbergen, 131.081 mph, 27.464 seconds
Jeffrey Earnhardt, 130.976 mph, 27.486 seconds
Josh Williams, 130.957 mph, 27.490 seconds
Ryan Ellis, 130.785 mph, 27.526 seconds
Connor Zilisch, 130.766 mph, 27.530 seconds
Jeremy Clements, 130.657 mph, 27.553 seconds
Ryan Sieg, 130.577 mph, 27.570 seconds
Dylan Lupton, 130.572 mph, 27.571 seconds
Blaine Perkins, 130.482 mph, 27.590 seconds
Leland Honeyman, 130.359 mph, 27.616 seconds
Dawson Cram, 130.086 mph, 27.674 seconds
Brennan Poole, 129.767 mph, 27.742 seconds
Kyle Sieg, 129.534 mph, 27.792 seconds
Patrick Emerling, 129.450 mph, 27.810 seconds
Parker Kligerman, 129.231 mph, 27.857 seconds
Josh Bilicki, 128.834 mph, 27.943 seconds
Brandon Jones, 128.599 mph, 27.994 seconds
Joey Gase, Owner Points
Greg Van Alst, Owner Points
Garrett Smithley, Owner Points
Justin Allgaier, Owner Points
Aric Almirola, Owner Points
The 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway is set to occur on Saturday, November 9, and air at 7 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
Ty Majeski stormed to his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship by securing a dominant victory in the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, November 8.
After starting on the pole, the 30-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, led a race-high 132 of 150-scheduled laps in the season-finale event. He led the first 38 laps before he was overtaken by Championship 4 contender Corey Heim. Majeski finished the first stage in second place at the conclusion of the first stage. He regained the lead during the first stage’s pit stop period and before the start of the second stage, Majeski prevailed after a mid-stage battle with Heim on the track to claim the second stage victory.
Majeski would then lead the field to the start of the final stage period with 52 laps remaining. During three caution periods due to on-track carnages and three restart periods throughout the final stage, Majeski retained the lead through every restart period. He executed the final one with 27 laps remaining to his advantage as he motored away from Heim along with Championship 4 finalists Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger. Majeski capped off the 2024 season with his third Craftsman Truck Series victory this year and his first championship in his third full-time series campaign.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Championship 4 finalist Ty Majeski claimed the final pole position of the 2024 season and the sixth of the season with a pole-winning lap at 138.180 mph in 26.053 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Championship 4 finalist Corey Heim, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 138.021 mph in 26.083 seconds. Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger, the remaining two Championship 4 finalists, lined up in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Before the event, Lawless Alan dropped to the rear of the field in a backup after he wrecked his primary truck during the finale’s qualifying session.
When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Ty Majeski led the way through the first two turns. Majeski pulled away through the backstretch and led the first lap. His Championship 4 rivals Corey Heim and Christian Eckes followed suit in second and third, respectively.
Over the next four laps, Majeski stretched his early advantage to more than a second over Heim and Eckes while Nick Sanchez and Stewart Friesen followed suit in the top five. Behind, Dean Thompson retained sixth place ahead of Connor Mosack, Championship 4 finalist Grant Enfinger, Kaden Honeycutt and rookie Layne Riggs. Conner Jones, Chase Purdy, Rajah Caruth, Tyler Ankrum and the Gray brothers of Tanner and Taylor were racing in the top 16.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Majeski continued to lead by two seconds over Heim while third-place Eckes trailed by three-and-a-half seconds. Behind, Sanchez and Friesen remained in the top five. Enfinger, who lost three spots despite starting in fifth place, was up to seventh place behind Thompson. Majeski stabilized his lead to more than two seconds over Heim and by nearly six seconds over Eckes 10 laps later as Enfinger drove his way back to fifth place behind Sanchez.
At the Lap 30 mark, Majeski’s lead decreased to six-tenths of a second over Heim as the latter started to close in on the former for the top spot. Majeski slightly increased his lead to nine-tenths of a second over Heim at the Lap 35 mark before Heim assumed the lead from Majeski entering the backstretch on Lap 39. By then, Eckes retained third place and trailed the lead by more than four seconds. Enfinger retained fifth place behind Sanchez but trailed the lead by more than 10 seconds.
On Lap 41, the finale’s first caution period flew when Frankie Muniz got bumped by William Sawalich as he slid sideways in Turn 3 as Heim barely avoided McGee’s sideways truck. Muniz’s incident was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 45, to officially conclude under caution as Heim claimed his 10th Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Majeski, Eckes, Sanchez and Enfinger followed suit in the top five while Thompson, Mosack, Riggs, Conner Jones and Friesen were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, they pitted for the first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Majeski reassumed the lead as he exited pit road first. He was followed by Eckes, Heim, Sanchez and Enfinger. Amid the pit stops, Heim endured slow pit service after he was forced to reverse his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into his pit stall to ensure his pit crew could change the left-side tires. Enfinger barely clipped his rear tire changer while entering his pit stall.
The second stage period started on Lap 54 as Majeski and Eckes occupied the front row. The field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Majeski and Eckes dueled for the lead. Majeski would then use the outside lane to muscle his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 ahead and gain the lead through the first two turns as Heim muscled through into second place ahead of Eckes and Sanchez. As the field continued to fan out through the backstretch, Majeski led the next lap over Heim while Eckes, Sanchez, Thompson and Enfinger followed suit in the top six.
On Lap 58, the caution returned when Jack Wood, who was racing outside the top 25, got sideways after making contact with Bayley Currey who was racing in a three-wide battle with Matt Crafton. It resulted in Wood spinning and backing his No. 91 Mongoose Chevrolet Silverado RST into the outside wall in Turn 2. The incident and damage to the rear end of Wood’s truck were enough to make Wood the first retiree of the finale. During the caution period, Crafton and Daniel Dye pitted while the rest of the field, led by Majeski, remained on the track.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 64, a four-wide battle for the lead ensued between Majeski, Heim, Sanchez and Thompson through the frontstretch’s dogleg. Heim muscled ahead from the inside lane entering the first two turns and Majeski closed to Heim’s rear bumper entering the backstretch. Majeski tried to make a move beneath him, but Heim transitioned to the outside lane and fended off Majeski to retain the lead. With Heim leading the race, Majeski retained second ahead of Sanchez and Eckes while Riggs moved up into the top five. Riggs then challenged Eckes for fourth place while Mosack, Enfinger and Thompson closed in from sixth to eighth, respectively. By then, Thompson was penalized for a restart violation.
At the halfway mark on Lap 75, Majeski, who overtook Heim for the lead five laps earlier despite making contact with the latter, extended his advantage to more than a second over Heim. Sanchez, in third place, trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Riggs and Eckes trailed in the top five ahead of Mosack, Friesen, Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Purdy. Ben Rhodes, Rajah Caruth, Tanner Gray, Conner Jones, Kaden Honeycutt, Daniel Dye, William Sawalich, Tyler Ankrum, Matt Crafton and Stefan Parsons followed suit in the top 20.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Majeski had stretched his advantage to more than three seconds and captured his seventh Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Heim followed suit in second while Riggs, Sanchez, Eckes, Mosack, Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Friesen and Rhodes were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Majeski returned to pit road for service. After the pit stops, Majeski retained the lead after he exited pit road first while Sanchez, Eckes, Riggs, Heim, Mosack, Taylor Gray, Enfinger, Caruth and Tanner Gray followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Crafton was penalized for improper fueling to his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150.
With 52 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Majeski and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as both Sanchez and Majeski dueled in front of the field entering the first two turns. Majeski and Sanchez would continue to duel for the lead entering the backstretch in front of Heim and Riggs before Mosack, who was racing in the top six behind Eckes, ran up the track and hit the outside wall.
As the field scattered to avoid hitting Mosack, Tyler Ankrum then got bumped by Sawalich as he spun his No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado RST back across the middle of the backstretch, which triggered a multi-truck wreck that involved Sawalich, Andres Perez de Lara, Stefan Parsons, Friesen, Frankie Muniz, Spencer Boyd and rookie Thad Moffitt. The carnage was enough to place the finale in a red flag period for more than six minutes. By then, Heim, who restarted in fifth place and had moved up to third place before the caution, was penalized for a restart violation, after he steered his No. 11 Safelite Toyota to the left and below the frontstretch’s apron before reaching the start/finish line.
Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, some of the drivers, including Mosack, Friesen and Currey, pitted while the rest of the field, led by Majeski, remained on the track.
The next restart period began with 43 laps remaining and featured Majeski as he fended off Sanchez, Eckes and Riggs through the frontstretch’s dogleg and the first two turns. Majeski proceeded to lead Riggs through the backstretch while Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Enfinger, Caruth and Eckes all followed suit. Meanwhile, Heim, who restarted 19th after serving his penalty, was up to 16th place. As Heim proceeded to climb his way into the top 14, Majeski held a narrow lead over Riggs with 40 laps remaining as Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Enfinger and Eckes followed suit in the top six.
Shortly after, the caution returned when Conner Jones, who was racing in 11th place, spun in Turn 2 after he made contact with teammate Jake Garcia amid close-quarters racing and was nearly hit by teammate Ben Rhodes while sliding towards the outside wall. The incident occurred in front of Heim, who made his way into 11th place. During the caution period, some of the drivers, including Enfinger and Eckes, pitted while the rest, led by Majeski, remained on the track.
During the next restart period with 33 laps remaining, Majeski and Riggs led the field to the start as Majeski muscled ahead from the outside lane through the frontstretch’s dogleg. Heim went to the apron to gain spots towards the top-five mark entering the first two turns, as Majeski muscled away from the field entering the backstretch. But the caution quickly returned as Riggs made contact with Sanchez in a battle for the runner-up spot and spun his No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford F-150 in Turn 2. Nathan Byrd also spun as he jammed on the brakes to avoid Riggs.
The following restart period with 27 laps remaining featured Majeski muscling ahead of a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot. Heim, Sanchez and Daniel Dye battled through the frontstretch’s dogleg and the first two turns before Heim muscled his way into the runner-up spot entering the backstretch. As the field fanned out, Majeski led the following lap ahead of a hard-charging Heim while Sanchez, Eckes and Dye were in the top five.
Meanwhile, Enfinger was mired in ninth place as Majeski stretched his advantage to a second over Heim. Eckes would then charge his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST into third place on the track. With his fresh tires and only 24 laps remaining, it placed three Championship 4 finalists in the top three on the track while Dye was assessed a restart violation penalty.
Down to the final 20 laps of the finale, Majeski was leading both the race and the championship battle by more than a second over Heim while third-place Eckes trailed by more than two seconds. Meanwhile, Enfinger was in sixth place behind Sanchez and Taylor Gray while Honeycutt, Mosack, Tanner Gray and Rhodes were in the top 10.
Five laps later, Majeski added another second to his advantage as he led by more than two seconds over Heim while Eckes trailed in third place by three-and-a-half seconds. By then, Enfinger moved his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST up to fifth place despite trailing the lead by more than seven seconds. Majeski, who was posting the fastest lap times on the track, continued to extend his advantage to more than three seconds over Heim with 10 laps remaining.
With five laps remaining, Majeski stabilized his advantage to more than four seconds over Heim while Eckes continued to trail in third place by five seconds. Meanwhile, Enfinger trailed in fifth place on the track by nine seconds while Sanchez was mired in fourth place.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski remained in the lead both in the race and the championship battle by more than four seconds over Heim. Heim was unable to narrow the gap between himself and Majeski for a final lap charge. Majeski smoothly navigated his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 around the Phoenix circuit for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch to claim the checkered flag and win both the race and his first Truck Series championship.
With his first title, Majeski also claimed his sixth career race victory and became the 21st competitor overall to win a championship in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series division. He was also the third consecutive Ford competitor to win a Truck championship in recent seasons and the seventh to achieve a first title under the series’ current inception of the Playoff-elimination format.
Majeski also delivered both the sixth Truck driver’s championship and the third owner’s championship for ThorSport Racing while veteran crew chief Joe Shear Jr. notched his second title in the series.
The 2024 season marks the fourth time over the previous seven seasons that the championship-winning competitor won the season-finale event on a schedule and the third time over the last five seasons that it occurred at Phoenix Raceway. Majeski’s 2024 championship comes in his third full-time Truck season driving for ThorSport Racing, a team whom Majeski drove for in select events in 2021 before he was elevated to a full-time ride in 2022.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“God, I can’t believe it,” Majeski said on the frontstretch on FS1. “Just huge thank you to [team owners] Duke and Rhonda Thorson. Joe Shear Jr., he’s one bad dude. This is so much fun racing with this group. So proud to have the opportunity to drive these great race trucks. There’s a lot of time in my career where this [championship] looks like a far dream and Duke and Ronda really gave me my third opportunity after I had two opportunities that failed. Man, I can’t thank them enough. We have had a lot of ups and downs and just so proud of these guys.”
During his championship interview, Majeski, a five-time ARCA Midwest Tour champion who grew up competing in late models and short-track events, evoked an inspiring message to short-track racers striving to emerge as a future NASCAR champion.
“[Winning]’s possible,” Majeski said. “You just need to find a way to set yourself apart from everybody else. I did that by working in the shop. [I] Started as an engineer at ThorSport [Racing] in 2021 with three or four races, didn’t know what it was going to turn into and now, we’re champions. Man, this is special. We’re going to celebrate this one.”
As Majeski celebrated both the race victory and his first championship on the stage with his team, the remaining three Championship 4 finalists including Corey Heim, Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger were left disappointed on pit road as the trio fell short of winning their first title in the series.
Heim, the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota entry, ended up in the runner-up spot both on the track and in the final standings and was left surprised by the late restart violation penalty. He admitted though that he could not keep pace with Majeski to battle for the title amid his late-race rally. Heim, who capped off the season with a series-leading six victories, will return to the Truck Series with TRICON Garage for the 2025 season as he strives to make another run for his first championship.
“It’s hard to even be upset,” Heim said. “I did almost everything right except for that restart violation, but we were able to get our track position back pretty quick and make the most of it. I just had nothing for [Majeski] all day. He was so fast. I’m just proud of myself for not driving through the fastest truck like I drove through last year by [Carson] Hocevar and we’re going to go with our heads up high. A six-win season, career highs for myself, my team, organization, everybody. Just one sport short of the championship.”
Meanwhile, the late pit stops for both Eckes and Enfinger did not pay dividends for either driver as Eckes settled in third place on the track and in the final standings while Enfinger came home in fifth place on the track and fourth place in the final standings.
“[I] Just didn’t have enough today,” Eckes, who achieved four race victories, a season-high 11 stage victories and is set to graduate to the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing in 2025, said. “[Majeski] and [Heim] were just stronger than us. We threw a Hail Mary with the tires and I thought for a second I would be able to catch them and just didn’t have enough. I wish we could have finished [the season] off with a championship, but just came up a little short. So proud of my guys and we’ll move on to 2025.”
“Honestly, [I needed] just more speed,” said Enfinger, who notched back-to-back victories during the Round of 8 and will be remaining with CR7 Motorsports for the 2025 Truck Series season.
“Really proud of the CR7 Motorsports group. All we’ve overcome all year. I feel like we came here with the right mindset, the right game plan and honestly, pretty much the right execution for the stuff in our control. We just flat out didn’t have the speed tonight…It is a special year. Definitely disappointing performance for us tonight, but overall, proud of everything we did. We just flat out didn’t have the short-run speed. I think after 15 laps, we were respectable, but just couldn’t go on the short run.”
Nick Sanchez finished in fourth place, which was enough to settle in fifth place in the final standings and his final campaign in the Truck Series with Rev Racing as he is set to move up to the Xfinity Series with Big Machine Racing in 2025. Taylor Gray, Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack, Ben Rhodes and Layne Riggs, the latter of whom claimed the 2024 Truck Series Rookie-of-the-Year title, completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were seven lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 43 laps. In addition, 22 of 35 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Ty Majeski, 132 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Corey Heim, 16 laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. Christian Eckes
4. Nick Sanchez
5. Grant Enfinger, two laps led
6. Taylor Gray
7. Kaden Honeycutt
8. Connor Mosack
9. Ben Rhodes
10. Layne Riggs
11. Tanner Gray
12. Chase Purdy
13. Rajah Caruth
14. Jake Garcia
15. Dean Thompson
16. Brett Moffitt
17. Conner Jones
18. Stewart Friesen
19. Matt Crafton
20. Dawson Sutton
21. Bayley Currey
22. Timmy Hill
23. Stefan Parson, one lap down
24. Daniel Dye, one lap down
25. Matt Mills, two laps down
26. Nathan Byrd, three laps down
27. Thad Moffitt, three laps down
28. Spencer Boyd, four laps down
29. Keith McGee, four laps down
30. Lawless Alan, four laps down
31. Andres Perez de Lara – OUT, Accident
32. William Sawalich – OUT, Accident
33. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Accident
34. Frankie Muniz – OUT, Accident
35. Jack Wood – OUT, Accident
*Bold indicates championship finalists
Final standings
1. Ty Majeski
2. Corey Heim
3. Christian Eckes
4. Grant Enfinger
5. Nick Sanchez
6. Taylor Gray
7. Rajah Caruth
8. Tyler Ankrum
9. Ben Rhodes
10. Daniel Dye
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 14, 2025, for a new season of competition.
Layne Riggs has officially been named the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
Riggs, a second-generation racer from Bahama, North Carolina, made his Truck Series debut at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in July 2022. By then, he was contending for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series championship, which he would achieve after he racked up 16 victories and thus becoming the youngest-series champion at age 20. Driving the No. 62 Halmar Friesen Racing (HFR) Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for his Truck debut at Indianapolis, Riggs started 23rd and finished seventh following an overtime shootout. He would make two additional Truck starts with HFR throughout the season, where he finished 19th at Richmond Raceway before finishing 13th during the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway in November after he started on the front row.
The following season, Riggs, who made his first three career starts in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing, also made three starts in the Truck Series. His first start of the 2023 season was with TRICON Garage at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, where he finished 28th. He then finished 27th in his second start at Nashville Superspeedway while driving for Young’s Motorsports. His third and final Truck start of the season occurred at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park with Spire Motorsports, where he notched his first top-five career result by finishing third.
In December 2023, Riggs was named a full-time Truck Series competitor for the 2024 season, where he replaced Zane Smith in the No. 38 Ford F-150 entry for Front Row Motorsports. He commenced his rookie campaign in 33rd place after being involved in a multi-truck wreck on the opening lap and failing the Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) to continue. The North Carolinian would then finish no higher than 10th over his next eight starts before he recorded a stellar third-place run at North Wilkesboro Speedway in May. He then finished fifth at World Wide Technology Raceway in June two races later and cap off the regular-season stretch with back-to-back fifth-place results. With an average-finishing result of 19.4 throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, however, Riggs ended up falling short of making his first Truck Playoffs.
Riggs then responded back by scoring his first Truck career victory in the 2024 Playoff opener at the Milwaukee Mile in an event where he led 53 of the 175 scheduled laps. With his accomplishment, Riggs became the 125th competitor overall to win in the Truck Series as he joined his father, Scott, in the series’ all-time wins list.
Not long after becoming the second competitor overall to win a Truck Series Playoff opener as a non-Playoff contender, Riggs then became the first non-Playoff contender to win the series’ first two Playoff events on a schedule as he doubled down with a dominant victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in September. As a result, Riggs also became the first competitor to back up a first Truck career victory with a second in back-to-back starts since Ford competitor Chase Briscoe made the last accomplishment between 2017-18.
During the next event on the schedule at Kansas Speedway, Riggs fell short of winning three races in a row, but managed to claim a runner-up result amid a late fuel-mileage battle. After finishing no higher than 22nd during his next two-scheduled events, Riggs would cap off the 2024 season with two consecutive top-10 results, which was enough to claim 11th place in the final driver’s standings by 38 points over Stewart Friesen. As a result, this made Riggs the highest-finishing competitor in the standings who did not make the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs.
With the rookie title accomplishment, Riggs became both the first Ford competitor and the first North Carolina-raised competitor to achieve a Truck Series’ rookie title since Charlotte native Myatt Snider made the last accomplishments in 2018. Riggs also became the first competitor representing Front Row Motorsports to achieve a rookie title across NASCAR’s top three national touring series and he joined his father, Scott, as a Rookie-of-the-Year recipient within one of NASCAR’s top three national touring series.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Riggs’ closest rival for this year’s Truck rookie title was Conner Jones, who made 13 starts in the No. 66 Ford F-150 entry for ThorSport Racing and achieved a season-best 11th-place result at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Thad Moffitt, another rookie contender, initially commenced the season as a full-time competitor for Faction46 before he transitioned to Young’s Motorsports towards the halfway mark of the season. He then did not compete in five of the final six events on the schedule as he only returned to compete in the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway, where he finished 27th on the track and 32nd in the final standings, one spot behind Jones.
With the rookie title achieved, Riggs is currently slated to remain at Front Row Motorsports for a second full-time Truck Series campaign in 2025 as he strives to make his first Playoffs and contend for his first series championship.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2025, for a new season of competition.
The NASCAR 2024 Cup Series Championship season finale is set for this weekend at Phoenix Raceway. As the contenders gear up for an action-packed weekend, they met with the media Thursday to share their thoughts.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Ryan Blaney – Team Penske – Reigning Cup Series Champion
If Blaney wins the championship title, he will be the first back-to-back champion under the current format and the first driver to win consecutive championships since Jimmie Johnson (2006-2010).
Blaney was asked how he thinks his team compares with the other three championship drivers he will face in the Playoffs.
“Every one of us is going to say we feel great about our chances and we think we’re the best group, as they should, right? Everyone needs to be confident in their team.
“I can personally say about our group, I feel like we’ve been incredibly strong all year really. I mean, it doesn’t really show how great we’ve been really as a 12 team. It’s easy for me to see it, how they are operating. I feel like it has been just unbelievable.
“This place has been pretty good to us in the past. I feel like our performance at these types of racetracks this year has been really, really strong. Hopefully that continues.
“But yeah, you never know. You never know who has what speed. We’re going to know tomorrow night (during practice) kind of where everyone stacks up.”
William Byron – Hendrick Motorsports
Bryon qualified for the championship after Christopher Bell was penalized for a safety violation (riding the wall) at Martinsville Speedway and is focused on the challenge ahead.
“I haven’t ever felt as bonded to my team as I am now,” he said. “We had a meeting on Sunday night about it. I feel like we’ve turned the page really, really quickly.
“For me personally, I’ve blocked out a ton of the noise. I haven’t looked at social media. I don’t really care. I’m just focused on trying to get the 24 car as fast as I can. I think past experiences have probably helped fuel that where I’ve been through enough BS in my Cup career where I kind of know what to focus on and what to block out.”
“I feel like this place has always been pretty good to me. It’s just trying to figure out those last couple of little steps to be a little bit better. At the same time, I feel like this week through my prep and things, I feel like I found some things that I want to work on in practice. Like I said, it’s always been a really good track for me. It’s just trying to figure out how to make it that little bit better.”
Joey Logano – Team Penske Cup Series
Logano joins teammate Ryan Blaney in the quest for a championship title. If successful, it would be the third consecutive Cup Series championship for Team Penske and Logano’s third championship.
As he looks ahead to the final race of the season, Logano is primarily focused on the team.
“I guess when it comes to individually, I don’t think about it that much,” he said. He continued, “I think of it more of a team ’cause I know what a championship is worth to everybody. I think that matters more. The individual piece of saying you got three of ’em, like that’s great, don’t get me wrong. I think ’cause I’m still doing it, I guess I don’t look at that that much. But I’d like to see the people that I care about at our race team celebrate.”
He also spoke about the “old man” advantage.
“We feel solid about our position. I told everyone we’re going to old man them to death. That’s our goal. That’s our advantage, is that we got the experience over all of ’em. You do something more than once, you get better at it. You do it more than three times, you get better at it. For us, we’ve been able to kind of put together a program to where we know how to prepare and we feel comfortable in these scenarios now.”
Tyler Reddick – 23XI Racing Cup Series
This will be Reddick’s first time in the Championship 4 but he is not as nervous as one might expect. Instead, he says he feels a “sense of ease.”
“In a really good place I feel like mentally going into this weekend,” he said. “We know what’s ahead of us, but not letting it overwhelm us or myself really for that matter. Coming into this knowing what we have in front of us, ready to go out there and get to work.
He summed up his thoughts heading into the championship weekend and the pressure versus the incentive.
“As a competitor, these are the moments you live for, being able to be in this situation, in this position to go fight for a championship. But certainly when I think of Michael, Denny, the rest of the owners, when I think of everyone back at Airspeed, those that travel on the road, dedicate their lives to this goal, certainly it’s good pressure, but you say ‘incentive’, yeah, there’s a lot of that as well trying to get the job done.”
You can tune into the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Ty Majeski commenced his pursuit for his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship on a high note by winning the pole position for the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, November 8.
The 30-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, commenced the weekend by being the third-fastest competitor during the series’ lone practice session on Thursday, November 7. During Friday’s qualifying session, he posted a pole-winning lap at 138.180 mph in 26.053 seconds, which was enough to claim the top-starting spot over Corey Heim, the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 138.021 mph in 26.083 seconds.
By claiming the series’ final pole position of the 2024 season, Majeski notched his sixth pole position of the year, the 14th of his Truck Series career and his first since starting in first place at Kansas Speedway in late September. The 2024 season marks Majeski’s third consecutive full-time campaign in the series, all while driving for ThorSport Racing, and their second time making the Championship 4 round as he attempts to claim his first title in the series.
Majeski will share the front row with Corey Heim, a Championship 4 finalist who is also striving for his first series’ title after ending up in fourth place in the final standings a year ago. Heim, who is set to remain at TRICON Garage for the 2025 Truck Series season, was the fastest competitor during the event’s practice session on Thursday.
Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger, both of whom are contending in the Championship 4 round and squaring off against themselves along with Majeski and Heim, will start fourth and fifth, respectively. The only non-Championship 4 finalist to start in the top five is Stewart Friesen, who will line up in third place after he posted his best qualifying lap at 136.809 mph in 26.314 seconds.
Dean Thompson, Nick Sanchez, Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack and Chase Purdy rounded out the top 10 starting spots for the finale.
All 35 competitors entered for Friday’s finale at Phoenix earned a starting spot.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
Ty Majeski, 138.180 mph, 26.053 seconds
Corey Heim, 138.021 mph, 26.083 seconds
Stewart Friesen, 136.809 mph, 26.314 seconds
Christian Eckes, 136.467 mph, 26.380 seconds
Grant Enfinger, 136.348 mph, 26.403 seconds
Dean Thompson, 135.952 mph, 26.480 seconds
Nick Sanchez, 135.947 mph, 26.481 seconds
Kaden Honeycutt, 135.916 mph, 26.487 seconds
Connor Mosack, 135.895 mph, 26.491 seconds
Chase Purdy, 135.890 mph, 26.492 seconds
Layne Riggs, 135.839 mph, 26.502 seconds
Tyler Ankrum, 135.461 mph, 26.576 seconds
Conner Jones, 135.201 mph, 26.627 seconds
Taylor Gray, 135.064 mph, 26.654 seconds
Tanner Gray, 135.064 mph, 26.654 seconds
Daniel Dye, 135.044 mph, 26.658 seconds
William Sawalich, 134.948 mph, 26.677 seconds
Bayley Currey, 134.831 mph, 26.700 seconds
Rajah Caruth, 134.736 mph, 26.719 seconds
Ben Rhodes, 134.338 mph, 26.798 seconds
Jack Wood, 134.318 mph, 26.802 seconds
Matt Crafton, 134.013 mph, 26.863 seconds
Stefan Parsons, 133.804 mph, 26.905 seconds
Brett Moffitt, 133.670 mph, 26.932 seconds
Dawson Sutton, 133.615 mph, 26.943 seconds
Andres Perez de Lara, 133.571 mph, 26.952 seconds
Jake Garcia, 132.363 mph, 27.198 seconds
Matt Mills, 131.661 mph, 27.343 seconds
Timmy Hill, 131.411 mph, 27.395 seconds
Spencer Boyd, 130.199 mph, 27.650 seconds
Frankie Muniz, 128.797 mph, 27.951 seconds
Keith McGee, Owner Points
Nathan Byrd, Owner Points
Thad Moffitt, Owner Points
Lawless Alan, Owner Points
The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway is set to occur on Friday, November 8, and air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
NASCAR heads to Phoenix Raceway this weekend for the highly anticipated 2024 season finale. The four drivers will compete for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship title.
Blaney goes for another championship title
Reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney is prepared for a tough battle heading into the weekend, attempting to capture the 2024 championship title.
“Everyone’s going to be strong. I don’t think there’s like any favorites, to be honest with you,” Blaney said. “And I never look at favorites when it gets to the Champ 4 because everyone’s there for a reason. They’re all teams that are really fast, and they’re gonna be fast no matter what, any given weekend, at any given track.”
Blaney has three wins, 11 top fives, 17 top 10s, one pole, and the seventh-best season-to-date driver rating of 89.3.
Will it be three times?
Two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano has three wins, six top fives, 12 top 10s, three poles, and the ninth-best season-to-date driver rating of 84.2. Logano will be making his sixth appearance in the Championship 4 since the format was introduced in 2014. Logano aims to become the 10th driver to win at least three titles, joining legends like Tony Stewart, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, David Pearson, and Lee Petty, four-time champion Jeff Gordon, and seven-time titleholders Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, and Richard Petty.
For the second year in a row, Byron attempts to capture his first championship title
In his second Championship 4 Round appearance, William Byron will attempt to win his first NASCAR Cup Series championship and the 37th different driver to win it. This season, Byron has three wins, 12 top fives, 20 top 10s, one pole, and the fifth-best season-to-date driver rating of 91.8.
“It’s a short week for sure, you’re not home much because of obligations and just prepping for the weekend. It’s a lot of fun though. I enjoyed being a part of it last year. I feel like I learned a lot, not just for on-track but also off-track and what my routine would be going back this year. It’s something as a competitor you want to be a part of.” Byron said.
“For us, we had really good qualifying last year. We qualified on the pole which was awesome. We just need to continue and improve for sure. We want to try to be better through out the whole race though, especially the last run. That’s the part of the race that means the most, you don’t get paid for the first two stages, only the end.” Byron added.
Reddick attempts to capture his first championship
Tyler Reddick has three wins, 12 top fives, 20 top 10s, three poles, and the sixth-best season-to-date driver rating of 90.0. This is Reddick’s first Championship 4-round appearance and his first chance to win it. If he wins the championship, he will become the fourth driver to win the regular season championship and the championship title in the same season.
NASCAR Cup Series 2024 Championship 4 Round Drivers at Phoenix Raceway
Rank
Driver
Races
Poles
Wins
Top 5s
Top 10s
DNFs
Average Finish
Driver Rating
1
Ryan Blaney
17
3
0
8
12
2
10.9
99.2
2
Joey Logano
31
2
3
8
16
5
13.5
93.4
3
Tyler Reddick
9
0
0
2
3
1
17.9
82.3
4
William Byron
13
1
1
2
7
0
11.8
93.6
You can also read the weekend schedule and catch all the racing action this weekend.
The Craftsman Truck Series finale at Phoenix is scheduled for Friday, November 8th, at 8 pm Eastern time on FS1. The Xfinity Series finale will follow suit on the CW Network on Saturday, November 9, at 7 pm Eastern time. The Cup Series finale will cap off the weekend on Sunday, November 10, at 3 pm Eastern time on NBC.
Trackhouse Racing lost its appeal in overturning the penalties levied to the organization’s No. 1 Chevrolet team for violating the Member Code of Conduct section from the NASCAR Rule Book following this past weekend’s Cup Series Playoff event at Martinsville Speedway.
The No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet team piloted by Ross Chastain was one of three teams that came under scrutiny during the Martinsville event, where they and Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 Chevrolet team piloted by Austin Dillon were both forming a side-by-side roadblock for Chevrolet teammate William Byron in the closing laps. During the time, Byron, a 2024 Cup Series Playoff contender, was trying to nurse his ill-handling car and race his way into the Championship 4 round over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell.
Ultimately, Byron would finish ahead of both Dillon and Chastain on the track in sixth place while Bell initially crossed the finish line in 18th place after he overtook Toyota teammate Bubba Wallace, who had fallen off the pace after claiming that he had a right-front tire going down, and accelerated his car against the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 approaching the finish line during the final lap. Bell, however, would be relegated to 22nd place for illegally maneuvering his way to gain a spot to make the Championship 4 round by scraping the wall, which enabled Byron to claim the final title berth by four points.
Two days after the event, Chastain along with Dillon and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace were all levied massive penalties for attempting to manipulate the outcome of the Martinsville finish by providing an on-track advantage for their respective Playoff manufacturer teammates. The penalties levied included a $100,000 fine to both the drivers and owners, a dock of 50 driver/owner points and a one-race suspension to the competition executive, crew chief and spotter.
Following the announcement of the penalties, all three of the competitors’ teams (Richard Childress Racing, Trackhouse Racing and 23XI Racing) declared intentions to appeal the penalties. By Thursday, November 7, Richard Childress Racing and 23XI Racing withdrew their penalty attempt, which left Trackhouse as the lone team attempting to appeal.
Upon hearing Trackhouse’s appeal attempt, the National Motorsports Appeal Panel ruled that the team violated the initial rules set forth within the NASCAR Rule Book and upheld the penalties levied. As a result, Chastain’s crew chief Phil Surgen, spotter Brandon McReynolds and competition executive Tony Lunders remain suspended from participating in this weekend’s 2024 Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Despite being docked 50 points, Chastain remains in 19th place in the driver’s standings.
Following the decision of Trackhouse’s penalties being upheld, the panel, which included Kelly Housby, Lyn St. James and Steve York, released the following statement.
“We feel in the best interest of racing and to protect the integrity of the sport, it was appropriate to uphold and affirm NASCAR’s decision with regard to the NASCAR rule 4.4, attempting to manipulate the outcome of the race.”
In addition, Trackhouse took to social media to announce that the team will not be attempting to appeal the National Motorsports Appeals Panel’s decision to the Final Appeals Officer and focus to Phoenix.
The penalties also resulted with the suspensions of crew chief Justin Alexander, spotter Brandon Benesch and team executive Keith Rodden from Richard Childress Racing, and crew chief Bootie Barker, spotter Freddie Kraft and team executive Dave Rogers from 23XI Racing. With the points penalties, Wallace dropped from 17th to 18th in the standings while Dillon dropped from 28th to 33rd in the standings.
No penalties were levied to Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team and to William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team, the latter of whom will be contending for the 2024 Cup Series championship against Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano along with 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick.
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to conclude this upcoming Sunday, November 10, at Phoenix Raceway for the 2024 Championship Race, where a champion will be crowned. The finale’s broadcast time is slated to commence at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing took to social media to announce that Matt McCall, who currently serves as a crew chief to driver/owner Brad Keselowski and the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse team in the NASCAR Cup Series division, will not be returning to the organization for the 2025 season.
McCall, a former racer turned engineer and crew chief from Denver, North Carolina, is a graduate from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in engineering. He first joined RFK Racing at the start of the 2022 season. By then, the organization had been rebranded from Roush Fenway Racing as Keselowski joined the organization as a part-time owner with owner Jack Roush and competitor of the organization’s iconic No. 6 Ford entry. In addition, McCall had departed Chip Ganassi Racing as the organization’s assets were acquired by Trackhouse Racing.
After failing to qualify for the 2022 Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the duo of McCall and Keselowski achieved a non-points victory in the first of two Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona International Speedway that led to the 64th running of the Daytona 500, where they proceeded to finish in ninth place despite leading a race-high 67 laps.
Over the next three seasons (103 current events total), McCall navigated Keselowski and the No. 6 RFK Racing team to 17 top-five results, 36 top-10 results and two Cup Series Playoff appearances, including this season. The highlight of the driver-crew chief duo was when they won at Darlington Raceway this past May, which snapped a three-year winless drought for both McCall and Keselowski as they also navigated the organization’s No. 6 Ford entry to its first Cup victory since July 2011.
Prior to RFK Racing, McCall, who made his Cup crew chief debut on an interim role for a single event with Richard Childress Racing and Jeff Burton in July 2013, spent the previous seven seasons (2015-21) as a crew chief for Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 1 Chevrolet team, where he worked with Jamie McMurray during the first four season before working with Kurt Busch during the latter two. During the six-year span, McCall notched his first Cup career victory as a crew chief at Kentucky Speedway with Busch in July 2019. He would achieve two additional victories with Busch between the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Overall, McCall has accumulated four victories, two poles, 47 top-five results, 134 top-10 results and eight Playoff appearances while working with four different competitors in 356 events as a Cup Series crew chief. He and Keselowski are currently ranked in 13th place in the 2024 driver’s standings on the strengths of nine top-five results and 14 top-10 results as they strive to conclude the 2024 season on a strong note.
In the social media announcement made by RFK Racing of McCall’s departure, the team stated: “We want to thank Matt for his dedicated efforts over the last three seasons, his role in the success that we have had and we wish him well in future endeavors.”
Plans for both McCall and RFK Racing’s new crew chief for the 2025 Cup Series season remain to be determined.
Matt McCall’s final event as a crew chief for Brad Keselowski and the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse team is scheduled to occur this upcoming Sunday, November 10, at Phoenix Raceway for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race that will cap off the 2024 season. The finale’s broadcast time is slated to commence at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
NASCAR heads to Phoenix Raceway this weekend for the highly anticipated 2024 season finale. Four drivers in each division will compete for the coveted championship title, with the highest-finishing eligible driver in each series claiming victory.
Reigning Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney is prepared for a tough battle heading into the weekend.
“Everyone’s going to be strong. I don’t think there’s like any favorites, to be honest with you,” Blaney said during media availability Tuesday afternoon. “And I never look at favorites when it gets to the Champ 4 because everyone’s there for a reason. They’re all teams that are really fast and they’re gonna be fast no matter what, any given weekend, at any given track.”
All times are Eastern.
Cup Series Championship Contenders
Ryan Blaney William Byron Joey Logano Tyler Reddick
Xfinity Series Championship Contenders
Justin Allgaier AJ Allmendinger Cole Custer Austin Hill
Truck Series Championship Contenders
Christian Eckes Grant Enfinger Corey Heim Ty Majeski
Weekend Schedule
Thursday, Nov. 7
7 p.m.: Truck Series Practice
8 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Practice
9:20: ARCA Menards Series West Qualifying
Friday, Nov. 8
1:30 p.m.: ARCA West Valley 100 – FloRacing
4:05 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS2
5:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – USA/NBC Sports App
6:05 p.m.: Cup Series Practice USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
NASCAR levied major penalties to three Cup Series teams for violating the sport’s Member Conduct sections within the Rule Book following this past weekend’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway that occurred on Sunday, November 3.
The teams that were affected under the penalty report were Trackhouse Racing’s No. 1 Chevrolet team piloted by Ross Chastain, Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 Chevrolet team piloted by Austin Dillon and 23XI Racing’s No. 23 Toyota team piloted by Bubba Wallace.
In the closing laps of last Sunday’s event at Martinsville, both Chastain and Dillon were performing a side-by-side roadblock for oncoming competitors while remaining behind Chevrolet teammate William Byron, who was racing in sixth place at the time of the actions made between Chastin and Dillon. By then, the handling of Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet entry was fading as Byron was trying to retain his sixth-place spot that would enable him to claim the fourth and final berth to the Championship 4 round by a single point over Christopher Bell, who was racing a lap down in 19th place.
Then prior to the final lap, Bubba Wallace, a Toyota teammate to Bell who was racing in 18th place and had been lapped earlier by the leaders, began to fall off the pace as he radioed a potential tire going down on his No. 23 Toyota entry. With Byron, Dillon, Chastain and a host of competitors overtaking Wallace’s slow entry through the frontstretch on the final lap, Bell then caught up to Wallace through the backstretch. Just as Bell overtook Wallace entering Turn 3 for 18th place, he got loose and hit the outside wall. Bell then proceeded to accelerate and scrape his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry through Turns 3 and 4 before he crossed the finish line. As a result, Bell initially overtook Byron in the Playoff standings to claim the final transfer spot to the Championship 4 round.
Following an extensive review of the finish, however, Bell was levied a safety violation for maneuvering his way to the finish line while scraping the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 since the move had been banned for future use, particularly since the start of the 2023 season amid Ross Chastain’s use of it in November 2022. As a result, Bell was demoted to 22nd place in the final running order, which kept him four points out of making his third consecutive Championship 4 appearance. In the process, Byron was awarded the final transfer berth as he is set to square off against reigning series champion Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick for the 2024 Cup Series championship this upcoming weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
Despite the Championship 4 field being determined, Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, then said during the post-race conference at Martinsville that officials would also examine the actions and radio dialogue made by Chastain, Dillon and Wallace over their on-track actions while racing both Bell and Byron over any forms of manipulation and to provide an advantage for one Playoff competitor over the other.
With the official determination and penalty report levied to Chastain, Dillon and Wallace on Tuesday, November 5, the trio and their respective teams have been fined $100,000 apiece and docked 50 driver/owner points. The points penalty dropped Wallace from 17th to 18th and Dillon from 28th to 34th in the driver’s standings, respectively, while Chastain retained 19th.
In addition, each of their crew chiefs and spotters has been suspended from this upcoming weekend’s Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. The suspensions include Chastain’s crew chief Phil Surgen and spotter Brandon McReynolds, Dillon’s crew chief Justin Alexander and spotter Brandon Benesch, and Wallace’s crew chief Bootie Barker and spotter Freddie Kraft. Tony Lunders, Keith Rodden and Dave Rogers, all of whom serve as team executives for Trackhouse Racing, Richard Childress Racing and 23XI Racing, respectively, have also been suspended for participating in the finale.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Following the announcement of the penalties, Richard Childress Racing, Trackhouse Racing and 23XI Racing declared plans to appeal the penalties.
The penalties to Chastain, Dillon, Wallace and their respective teams were not the only penalties levied from this past weekend’s triple-header events at Martinsville. In addition to Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet team, Richard Childress Racing’s No. 8 Chevrolet team piloted by Kyle Busch was assessed a safety violation due to a loose left-front wheel that detached off of Busch’s entry entering Turn 3 and prior to a restart with 94 laps remaining. As a result, front-tire changer Michael Russell and jackman Josh Sobecki were levied a two-race suspension, including the 2024 Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. Following the incident, Busch would proceed to finish 28th place, three laps down.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
In the Xfinity Series, Chandler Smith, who finished in third place during last Saturday’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville, was fined $10,000 for being involved in a post-race altercation with Cole Custer, where the former swung a punch to the latter to express his displeasure over being bumped by Custer, who retaliated from being bumped by Smith earlier, during a late-race restart that knocked Smith out of contention to making the Championship 4 round. Meanwhile, Custer, who finished fourth at Martinsville, was able to claim a Championship 4 berth as he will square off against Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill to defend his series’ title at Phoenix.
In the Craftsman Truck Series, Ty Majeski, who finished in 11th place during last Friday’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville, was fined $12,500 for not performing a media obligation. The fine did not affect Majeski’s outcome of making the Championship 4 field as he is set to square off against Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger and Corey Heim for the series’ title at Phoenix.
Next on the schedule is the 2024 season-finale events for NASCAR’s top three national touring series at Phoenix Raceway, where a champion in each series will be crowned. The Craftsman Truck Series finale at Phoenix is scheduled to occur this Friday, November 8, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1 while the Xfinity Series finale will follow suit this Saturday, November 9, at 7 p.m. ET on the CW Network. The Cup Series finale will cap off the weekend on Sunday, November 10, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
