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  • NASCAR 2024 Rookie Mid-season Review

    NASCAR 2024 Rookie Mid-season Review

    As the 2024 regular season for NASCAR’s top three national touring series approaches its final set of events before the Playoffs commence, the battle for the Rookie-of-the-Year title intensifies as a handful of rising stars attempt to ascend the racing ladder and establish their marks as future NASCAR stars.

    With 22 races complete and 14 remaining on the 2024 Cup Series schedule, Josh Berry holds a slim advantage of five points over Carson Hocevar in the rookie Cup standings while Zane Smith and Kaz Grala both trail by triple digits.

    For the majority of the season, the battle for this year’s Cup rookie title has been primarily between Berry and Hocevar, both of whom are also campaigning in their first full-time campaign in NASCAR’s premier series.

    Berry, a native of Hendersonville, Tennessee, is piloting the No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry for Stewart-Haas Racing, where he succeeded the 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick following two full-time campaigns in the Xfinity Series. Meanwhile, Hocevar, a native of Portage, Michigan, is driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for Spire Motorsports after spending the previous three seasons in the Craftsman Truck Series with Niece Motorsports.

    After finishing no higher than 11th while also being plagued by seven finishes of 20th or worse through the first 12 scheduled events, Berry rebounded by notching four top-10 results over the next seven races, including two stellar third-place results, that enabled him to move atop the rookie standings.

    Berry, however, is coming off four consecutive finishes of 20th or worse that have him currently situated in 22nd place in the regular-season standings. Berry’s misfortunes have allowed Hocevar to remain within striking distance of toppling Berry for the title. Hocevar, however, has rallied from being involved in an early multi-car wreck during the 66th running of the Daytona 500 to post three top-20 results, including two 15th-place runs, over his next three starts. He has since accumulated 10 additional top-20 runs, including two top-10 finishes, over his next 18 starts and is coming off a 12th-place run at Indianapolis.

    Berry has accumulated the most top-10 results of this year’s rookie class at four and is two spots ahead of Hocevar in 22nd place in the regular-season standings as Hocevar holds the best average-finishing result at 19.4 thanks to his consistent runs of top-20 results.

    Despite both rookies being strapped in “must-win” situations to make the 2024 Playoffs, their year-long battle of who will claim the season-ending prestigious honor of  Cup Series Rookie of the Year remains to be determined.

    Meanwhile, Zane Smith, the 2022 Truck Series champion from Huntington Beach, California, driver of the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, trails both Berry and Hocevar in 33rd place in the standings and the rookie lead by 140 points. Despite notching a career-best second place at Nashville Superspeedway in June, Smith has an average-finishing result of 26th place as he has finished outside the top-20 mark 14 times, which leaves him grinding his gears and striving for more to be more competitive and consistent. In comparison to Berry and Hocevar, Smith’s plans for the 2025 season are unknown, though he is expected to remain on the radar for a ride for years to come.

    Kaz Grala, a fourth Cup rookie candidate of the 2024 season from Boston, Massachusetts, is mired in 35th place in this year’s standings and he trails the rookie lead by 222 points. Thus far, he has racked up three top-20 results in 16 of 26-planned events as he continues to hone his development from the Truck and Xfinity Series divisions to NASCAR’s premier series. Amid Grala’s contention to claim the rookie title, his plans for next season remain undetermined.

    Transitioning to the Xfinity Series, Jesse Love and Shane van Gisbergen are the top two rookie competitors through 20 scheduled events. With six races remaining until the Playoff field is determined, Love and van Gisbergen are set to square off against one another for both the rookie and the driver’s title as both are guaranteed Playoff berths by winning in their first Xfinity campaign.

    The Xfinity rookie candidate who commenced the season on a strong note was Love, the reigning ARCA Menards Series champion who is piloting the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro entry for Richard Childress Racing. Starting in February, Love roared out of the gate to become the first rookie driver to record poles in the first two scheduled races. Despite having his first opportunity of winning spoiled amid a fuel-mileage overtime shootout at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February, the Menlo Park, Californian redeemed himself seven races later by emerging triumphant for the first time at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Before his first career victory, Love had racked up two top-five results and five top-10 results as he was also ranked in the top five in the regular-season rankings. While he is currently ranked in seventh place in the Xfinity standings amid two additional top-five results in his previous 11 starts, Love leads the rookie standings by 87 points as he continues to pursue more victories and momentum before contending for his first Xfinity title. Should Love claim this year’s Xfinity Rookie-of-the-Year title, he would join an elite class of competitors who have done so while driving for Richard Childress Racing, including teammate Austin Hill, Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Since June, however, van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing, has marched his way into the spotlight that started when he recorded his first career win at Portland International Speedway. The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, would proceed to claim his second series victory in back-to-back weeks at Sonoma Raceway before grabbing a third career victory at the Chicago Street Course, the venue where he won in his Cup Series debut a year ago and leaped into NASCAR stardom.

    Amid his road-course dominance that currently has him ranked with the most victories amongst Xfinity regulars, the New Zealander continues to search for more pace to be more competitive on oval-shaped circuits. Despite coming off a strong fourth-place run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which marks his third top-six result on oval-shaped circuits this season, van Gisbergen has 11 ovals mixed with two additional road-course events remaining to leap-frog Love as the top rookie competitor of the 2024 season.

    The third-ranked Xfinity rookie candidate is Leland Honeyman, a native of Phoenix, Arizona, who is 310 points behind in a season where he has notched an average-finishing result of 23.3, a career-best fourth-place run at Talladega in April and is mired in 19th place in the standings. The 2024 season marks Honeyman’s first full-time campaign in the Xfinity circuit as he is driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro for Young’s Motorsports, but needing to gain more ground to be within striking distance of both Love and van Gisbergen at this season’s conclusion.

    Hailie Deegan, a native of Temecula, California, entered this season as a full-time rookie candidate with AM Racing. But, she was replaced by Joey Logano in early July amid a 17-race stretch where she finished no higher than 12th and was strapped with an average finishing result of 26.8. Following the replacement, Deegan has since parted ways and currently has no additional NASCAR plans scheduled for the remainder of the 2024 season.

    Dawson Cram, a native of San Diego, California, had initially entered this season as a full-time Xfinity rookie candidate with JD Motorsports. Through July, however, he did not compete in five events, all being road-course venues and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and recently drove a single event for Mike Harmon Racing and Faction46 between the Xfinity and Truck Series, respectively. In addition, JD Motorsports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and laid off staff members in July, with the No. 4 Chevrolet owners’ points acquired by Alpha Prime Racing. With Cram appearing to declare for points for the remainder of this year’s Truck season, his plans for the remainder of this season remain to be determined.

    With a single regular-season event remaining on this year’s Craftsman Truck Series schedule, eight overall, the series’ rookie title appears to be within the firm grasp of Layne Riggs, who holds a triple-digit advantage between his main rivals Conner Jones and Thad Moffitt amid a mediocre campaign.

    Riggs, a native of Bahama, North Carolina, who joined forces with Front Row Motorsports for his first full-time Truck campaign in the No. 38 Ford F-150, has only racked up three top-five results and four top-10 finishes through 15-scheduled starts. Mired within the strong results are nine finishes of 20th or worse as he has had several strong starts spoiled by on-track incidents. While the results currently have him ranked in 16th place in the driver’s standings, he trails the top-10 cutline to make this year’s Playoffs by 75 points, which places him in a “must-win” situation to make this year’s Truck Playoffs. Despite having a steady advantage in the rookie standings, the next goal for Riggs is to implement a consistent conclusion to the 2024 season while setting his sights on a stronger start for 2025 and beyond.

    Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Riggs’ closest rival for the title is Conner Jones, a native of Fredericksburg, Virginia, who is embarking on a 13-race schedule with ThorSport Racing after spending the previous season campaigning in his first nine series’ starts. Through eight starts, Jones has recorded three top-15 finishes and five top-20 results, with his best result being an 11th-place run at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. In addition to trailing Riggs in the rookie standings by 173 points, Jones’ current average-finishing result is 20.3, which is four spots higher than the result he concluded with following the 2023 season (24.7). With four races remaining in his part-time campaign this season, the sky remains the limit for Jones to gain his first top-10 result in the series.

    Meanwhile, Thad Moffitt, a native of Trinity, North Carolina, trails the rookie lead by 188 points in a season where he graduated to the Truck Series level, initially on a full-time basis with Faction46. Over the last two races, however, Moffitt has been competing with Young’s Motorsports following the shutdown of Faction46 due to financial issues. Prior to the previous two races, Moffitt was absent from competing at Nashville Superspeedway in late June due to a medical issue. These factors are pieces to the puzzle of a struggling season for Moffitt, who has finished no higher than 18th and has been mired with finishes outside the top 20 during his remaining 14 starts. Having made steady ground with consistent runs as an ARCA Menards Series competitor, the task at hand for Moffitt to be competitive within NASCAR’s top three national touring series, beginning with the Truck Series, remains tall and long for him to achieve.

    With the closing stretch of the 2024 NASCAR season inbound following a two-week break due to the Paris Olympics Games, the Craftsman Truck Series season resumes on August 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 at Richmond Raceway for the Clean Harbors 250, which serves as this year’s regular-season finale. The Cup Series season also resumes at Richmond Raceway for the Cook Out 400 on August 11 at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network while the Xfinity Series season returns to action at Michigan International Speedway for the Cabo Wabo 250 on August 17 at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Connor Zilisch set for part-time NASCAR national series campaign in mid-2024, beginning with Truck return at Richmond

    Connor Zilisch set for part-time NASCAR national series campaign in mid-2024, beginning with Truck return at Richmond

    More than four months after generating an impressive NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Circuit of the Americas, Connor Zilisch returns to the series with a five-race plan throughout the final eight-scheduled events of the 2024 season that commences this upcoming weekend at Richmond Raceway.

    The Charlotte, North Carolina, native, who celebrated his 18th birthday two weeks ago, will pilot the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST entry for Spire Motorsports for his second career start in the Truck Series and his first at Richmond as he continues to make his early presence within NASCAR’s top three national touring series well-known across the NASCAR community for years to come.

    Zilisch, who became the first American to win the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy in 2020 before claiming both a Mazda MX-5 Cup Scholarship and Rookie-of-the-Year title over the next two seasons, commenced the 2024 season by being signed by Trackhouse Racing as a development competitor on a multi-year basis in early January. The development program from Trackhouse enabled Zilisch to make starts in the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series divisions along with ARCA, CARS Tour, Trans-Am and IMSA regions. He would proceed to emerge victorious at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in late January, which made him the second-youngest winner of the event at 17 years and 191 days old, before winning at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, both in the LMP2 class with Era Motorsport.

    In March, Zilisch, who currently competes full-time in the ARCA Menards Series East with Pinnacle Racing Group, was announced as the driver of Spire’s No. 7 entry at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for his Truck debut. He was also signed to compete at Talladega Superspeedway and at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the latter event of which is set to occur in a separate entry, in October.

    During his first NASCAR national touring series weekend at Austin, Zilisch stole the show by winning his first pole position with a pole-winning lap at 93.012 mph in 131.983 seconds and becoming the first competitor to win a pole in a Truck debut since Nick Sanchez made the last accomplishment during the 2023 opener at Daytona International Speedway. Despite losing the lead during the opening lap after locking up his front tires and sliding off the track in the first turn amid a three-wide battle, Zilisch, who then endured a roller-coaster event that included spinning shortly after the start of the second stage and being penalized multiple times for short-cutting the course, was able to methodically carve his way back towards the front and survive an overtime restart to finish in fourth place. Ironically, the day did not end for Zilisch, who then traveled to Pensacola, Florida, to compete in the 2024 ARCA Menards Series East season opener at Five Flags Speedway, where he recorded another fourth-place run.

    A month after his Truck debut in Austin, Spire and Silver Hare Racing joined forces to add three Truck events to Zilisch’s schedule, including this upcoming weekend’s event at Richmond. He will also compete at Bristol Motor Speedway in September before making his sixth and final Truck start of the 2024 season at Martinsville Speedway in October.

    Zilisch’s early presence across NASCAR’s top three national touring series does not conclude with the Truck Series in 2024 as the Charlotte native is also set to make his Xfinity Series debut at Watkins Glen International in September, where he will pilot the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. He will then return for three additional Xfinity events of this season including Kansas Speedway in September, Homestead-Miami Speedway in October and the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway in November.

    As he transitions back to the Truck Series spotlight, Zilisch carries another objective besides gaining more on-track experience within NASCAR’s top series. He also strives to keep the Spire Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet team in contention for this year’s owners championship in this weekend’s event at Richmond which serves as the series’ regular-season finale.

    Currently, Spire’s No. 7 entry is ranked fifth in the owner standings on the strength of two victories, both being recorded by two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February and at Texas Motor Speedway in April. In addition, the entry secured two stage victories, five top-five results and nine top-10 results through 15 scheduled events, all while being piloted by Zilisch, Busch, Corey LaJoie, Sammy Smith, Connor Mosack, Andres Perez de Lara and Clint Bowyer. As for Spire’s two full-time Truck competitors that include Rajah Caruth (No. 71) and Chase Purdy (No. 77), Caruth is locked into the Playoffs and set to contend for the driver’s championship after he won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March while Purdy is 44 points below the top-10 cutline to qualify for his first Playoff appearance.

    With Spire’s No. 7 entry being 53 points above the top-10 cutline and looking to contend for the owners’ title over the eight-race Playoff stretch, Zilisch is one of three competitors left to keep the entry in contention for the organization’s first title in NASCAR. With Zilisch scheduled to compete in three of seven Playoff events, Sammy Smith will drive the No. 7 entry at the Milwaukee Mile for the Playoff opener in late August while Connor Mosack will compete at Kansas Speedway in September and at Homestead-Miami Speedway in October. A driver for the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway in November is yet to be determined.

    Amid his early starts in NASCAR, Zilisch is currently in contention to claim the 2024 ARCA Menards Series East title as he has recorded four victories and finished no lower than fourth through six of eight scheduled events. With two races remaining, he leads the ARCA East standings by 23 points over the reigning champion William Sawalich in a season where he is also three-for-three in the ARCA Menards Series division, with his victories occurring at Dover Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

    While his racing plans for the 2025 season are not yet determined, there is unfinished business and plenty of potential surprises for Zilisch to add his early accomplished racing resume with a steady transcendence of his career to only grow bigger and brighter for years to come.

    Connor Zilisch’s second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career start is scheduled to occur at Richmond Raceway for the Clean Harbors 250 on Saturday, August 10, with the event’s air commencement time to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Majeski scores second consecutive Truck victory at Lucas Oil IRP; clinches 2024 Playoff berth

    Majeski scores second consecutive Truck victory at Lucas Oil IRP; clinches 2024 Playoff berth

    For a second consecutive season, Ty Majeski snapped a yearlong winless drought by recording his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the season in the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday, July 19.

    The 29-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, led the final 56 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place, but made his presence at the front known by attempting to grab the lead with a three-wide move through the first two turns. Despite settling in the runner-up spot following the opening lap, Majeski remained upfront in the early portions of the race before he was assessed a drive-through penalty for jumping a restart on Lap 49. Despite serving the penalty, Majeski managed to remain on the lead lap at the first stage’s conclusion and he would charge his way back into third place when the second stage concluded.

    Restarting in the top five when the final stage commenced with 71 laps remaining, Majeski would then overtake Christian Eckes to lead for the first time with 55 laps remaining. From there, the Wisconsin native navigated through the short track in Brownsburg, Indiana, smoothly for the final 55 laps before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claim both his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series victory and a berth into the Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Rajah Caruth notched his second Truck pole position of his career and of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 108.017 mph in 22.863 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Grant Enfinger, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 107.937 mph in 22.880 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Ben Rhodes, Johnny Sauter, Matt Mills and Conor Daly dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Rajah Caruth and Grant Enfinger dueled for the lead through the first two turns before Ty Majeski made a three-wide move on both in an attempt to grab the lead entering the backstretch. With all three going three wide through the backstretch, Enfinger managed to prevail from the outside lane as he aggressively muscled his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead as he also cleared both Caruth and Majeski entering Turn 3. As Majeski was trying to overtake Caruth for the runner-up spot through Turns 3 and 4, Enfinger proceeded to lead the first lap. By then, Majeski acquired the runner-up spot as Caruth fended off Christian Eckes for third place.

    Amid the early on-track battles, Majeski then wasted no time challenging Enfinger for the lead as he tried to gain momentum through every turn and corner. With Enfinger retaining the lead over Majeski’s No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 by the fifth lap mark, Caruth also retained third place ahead of Eckes while Tyler Ankrum trailed in fifth place.

    Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Enfinger was leading by three-tenths of a second over Majeski followed by Eckes, Ankrum and Caruth while Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen, Daniel Dye, Corey Heim and Nick Sanchez trailed in the top 10. Behind, Luke Fenhaus occupied 11th place in front of Ross Chastain, Dean Thompson, Sammy Smith and Chase Purdy while rookie Layne Riggs, Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray, Ty Dillon and Jake Garcia were racing in the top 20 ahead of Jack Wood, Timmy Hill, Bayley Currey, William Sawalich and Mason Massey, with Ben Rhodes mired in 26th place.

    Ten laps later, Enfinger, who caught the tail end of the field and started to lap those running at the rear of the field, retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Majeski while third-place Ankrum and fourth-place Eckes both trailed by three seconds. Behind, Caruth retained fifth place ahead of Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 while Friesen, Corey Heim, Luke Fenhaus and Daniel Dye followed suit in the top 10.

    Another 10 laps later, Enfinger, who was continuing to navigate his way through lapped traffic, was still leading by less than two-tenths of a second over Majeski, who managed to close back in on Enfinger for the top spot. Meanwhile, Ankrum trailed in third place by three seconds as Eckes and Caruth both continued to follow suit in the top five.

    With the event reaching the Lap 40 mark, Enfinger stabilized his advantage to half a second over Majeski as third-place Ankrum continued to trail by more than three seconds. While Eckes and Caruth continued to run in the top five, Ben Rhodes was mired back in 22nd place behind Taylor Gray and William Sawalich, Sanchez was in 13th place behind Daniel Dye and Ross Chastain occupied 15th place in front of Tanner Gray. In addition, Johnny Sauter was mired outside the top 25.

    Two laps later, the event’s first caution period flew as Ty Dillon spun in Turn 3 while Mason Massey limped to pit road with a flat tire and sparks flying out of his No. 02 BRUNT Chevrolet Silverado RST. During the event’s first caution period, the front-runners led by Enfinger pitted, with the latter retaining the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of Majeski.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 49, Enfinger just managed to fend off Majeski through the first two turns and the backstretch to retain the lead and clear the field in the process. With Enfinger leading Majeski, Eckes and Heim battled for third place while Ankrum and Caruth followed suit along with the rest of the field. Shortly after, Majeski was black-flagged and forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road for a restart violation after he jumped the recent start.

    With Majeski serving his pass-through penalty, where he managed to remain on the lead lap, Enfinger was trying to fend off Eckes with the lead while Heim, Ankrum and Caruth tried to close in from the top five. Chastain then started to challenge Caruth for fifth place along with Dean Thompson while Nick Sanchez battled Daniel Dye and Sammy Smith for eighth place as Eckes assumed the lead in his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST from Enfinger on Lap 56.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Eckes captured his sixth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Enfinger followed suit in second along with Heim, Ankrum and Caruth while Chastain, Sanchez, Thompson, Sammy Smith and Dye were scored in the top 10. By then, Majeski, who was mired in 31st place, remained on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, select names, mainly those running in the mid-pack region, pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.

    The second stage period started on Lap 68 as Eckes and Enfinger occupied the front row. At the start, Enfinger executed a bold power slide move on Eckes to reassume the lead from the inside lane and despite sliding up the track entering Turn 1. With Enfinger retaining the lead for a full lap ahead of Eckes, Ankrum, Chastain and Heim followed suit in the top five while Sanchez led Caruth, Riggs and a bevy of truck competitors as Enfinger retained the lead by Lap 70.

    Within Lap 75, Enfinger retained the lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Eckes, who continued to try to gain runs on Enfinger through every turn and corner. Behind, Chastain occupied third place ahead of Ankrum and Sanchez while Majeski was mired in 15th place and trailing a side-by-side battle between Jake Garcia and Taylor Gray.

    Just past the Lap 80 mark and with a flurry of on-track battles ensuing around the short track, Enfinger continued to lead by nearly three-tenths of a second over Eckes while third-place Chastain trailed by a second. Top-five competitors Ankrum and Sanchez also followed suit in the top five as they were running ahead of Riggs, Heim, Caruth, Thompson and Fenhaus while Daniel Dye pitted under green to address a flat tire to his No. 43 Bettenhausen Automotive Chevrolet Silverado RST, where he lost a lap to the leaders in the process.

    Within the Lap 85 mark, Heim fell off the pace with a flat left-front tire to his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro that left his truck igniting sparks around the track. Shortly after, Conor Daly drew a caution as he had a right-front tire flat to his No. 44 Power Plus Chevrolet Silverado RST as he too drew sparks out of his truck following an incident in Turn 1. During the caution period, Heim, who zipped through pit road with the flat tire, ran into the side of Eckes to express his displeasure over an earlier contact between the two that resulted with the cut tire.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 92 featured Eckes fending off Enfinger with the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch while Enfinger was trying to fend off Chastain for the runner-up spot. With the field behind jostling and scrambling for spots during the proceeding laps, Chastain acquired second place from Enfinger, who was left to fend of Ankrum and Riggs for third place. Enfinger, however, would be overtaken by both by the Lap 95 mark as he had more challenges coming from Dean Thompson, Sanchez and Majeski for more spots while Heim, who remained on the lead lap, charged his way back towards the front as he was up within the top 15 in the leaderboard.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Eckes was leading by six-tenths of a second over Chastain as Ankrum, Riggs, Thompson, Majeski, Sanchez, Caruth, Fenhaus and Enfinger were running in the top 10 on the track. As Enfinger continued to backslide and drop out of the top 10 a lap later, Heim bullied his way back into the top 10 as he immediately challenged Fenhaus for more while Majeski, who cycled his way back into the top five, was challenging Riggs for the fourth spot.

    By Lap 110, Eckes extended his advantage to two seconds over Chastain as Ankrum, Majeski and Riggs continued to follow suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Heim carved his way up to sixth place after he overtook Caruth, Crafton, Sanchez and Thompson on the track while Enfinger continued to fall back as he was down in 15th place.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Eckes notched his seventh Truck stage victory of the 2024 season and his second of the night as he led by two seconds over Heim. Both Heim and Majeski rallied from their separate instances of on-track issues during the first two stages to finish second and third, respectively, while Crafton, Ankrum, Chastain, Riggs, Thompson, Caruth and Sanchez were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Eckes pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Eckes retained the lead after he exited pit road first as he was followed by Heim, Majeski, Thompson, Sanchez, Caruth, Ankrum, Crafton, Sammy Smith and Riggs.

    With 71 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Eckes and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes muscled ahead of Heim to retain the lead while Heim retained second ahead of Majeski, Thompson and a jumble of competitors jostling for late spots. Amid the on-track battles that generated three-wide actions through the corners, Majeski started to challenge Heim for the runner-up spot and Enfinger bolted his way up to sixth place while he started to pressure Thompson and Ankrum for more. In the process, Eckes stretched his advantage to more than a second.

    With 60 laps remaining, Eckes stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Majeski while Ankrum, Enfinger and Sanchez were scored in the top five. While Enfinger bolted his way back towards the front, Heim drifted back to seventh as he trailed Sanchez and Riggs on the track while Caruth, Sammy Smith and Chastain were racing in the top 10 ahead of Thompson, Fenhaus, Currey, Tannery Gray and Crafton.

    Shortly after, a side-by-side action for the lead between Eckes and Majeski ignited, with the latter trying to use the inside lane to gain a run on the former through every turn and corner. Despite Eckes’ effort in using the outside lane to retain the lead amid strong launches off the turns, Majeski managed to move his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 in front of Eckes in Turn 1 while avoiding the lapped competitor of Thad Moffit to lead with 55 laps remaining. Majeski would proceed to stretch his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Eckes with 50 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Majeski continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by a second over Eckes while third-place Enfinger trailed by four seconds. Ankrum and Riggs followed suit in the top five while Sanchez, Caruth, Sammy Smith, Heim and Chastain trailed in the top 10 ahead of Fenhaus, Thompson, Currey, Tanner Gray and Chase Purdy followed suit in the top 15.

    Ten laps later, Majeski stretched his advantage to lead by more than two seconds over Eckes while Enfinger, Ankrum and Riggs continued to follow suit in the top five. Meanwhile, teammates Caruth and Sammy Smith were battling for sixth place as Sanchez, Fenhaus and Chastain were running in the top 10. Heim, however, was mired back in 12th place behind teammate Thompson and his other teammate, Tanner Gray, was running 15th behind Purdy and Currey. Tanner’s brother, Taylor Gray, was mired in 18th place, two spots ahead of Ben Rhodes, Crafton was down in 22nd and Daniel Dye, who was not scored on the lead lap, was mired in 27th.

    With 20 laps remaining, Majeski stabilized his advantage to two-and-a-half seconds over Eckes while third-place Enfinger trailed by more than three seconds. Amid lapped traffic, Majeski kept leading by two-and-a-half seconds over Eckes, with Enfinger, Ankrum and Riggs remaining in the top five on the track.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Majeski continued to lead by more than two seconds over Eckes. With Majeski proceeding to lap Heim, who was mired in 14th place, he would also stretch his lead to three seconds over Eckes with five laps remaining.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski remained as the leader by a comfortable margin over Eckes. Having no challenges closing in from behind, Majeski cruised his Ford around Lucas Oil IRP for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claim his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 season as he won the race by four seconds over Eckes.

    With the victory, Majeski secured his fourth Craftsman Truck Series career win in his 81st series start and his first since winning at Lucas Oil IRP at year ago, which marks his second consecutive victory at the track and the first to accomplish the feat since Ron Hornaday Jr. made the last accomplishment from 2009-10. The victory was also the first of the season for ThorSport Racing and the Ford nameplate.

    Above all, Majeski, who came into Indiana 125 points above the top-10 cutline to make the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs and had clinched his spot based on points earlier in Friday’s event, officially secured his spot into the postseason battle for the title with his victory as he became the fourth series’ regular to win in this year’s regular-season stretch.

    Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[The win]’s huge,” Majeski said on FS1. “Obviously, I made a little bit of a mistake. It was probably a little bit of a close call on that restart [I jumped]. I had to pony up and get it back. Obviously when you make a mistake as a driver, you drive a little bit harder to try and make up for it, but these [No. 98] guys have my back. Awesome pit stops. It’s been an up-and-down year. We’ve had the speed to win. Just haven’t been able to put it together. I’ve had some bad luck around the way. Some of it’s self-inflicted, but man, so proud of this Road Ranger group. So happy to bring the trophy home.”

    Christian Eckes, who led a race-high 73 laps and had a post-race conversation with Corey Heim following their earlier run-in, settled in second place for his sixth top-three result of the 2024 season while Grant Enfinger backed up his strong result at Pocono by finishing in third place after he led 71 laps. The third-place result, which left him with a 72-point advantage above the top-10 cutline, was enough for Enfinger to secure his berth into the Playoffs with a single regular-season event remaining on the calendar.

    Tyler Ankrum came home in fourth place, which keeps him 78 points above the cutline, as he too secured a Playoff berth. Rookie Layne Riggs finished in fifth place for his second top-five result of the season.

    Sammy Smith, Luke Fenhaus, pole-sitter Rajah Caruth, Dean Thompson and Nick Sanchez completed the top 10 in the final running order.  

    With a 20th-place finish, Tanner Gray occupies the 10th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs by five points over Daniel Dye, who ended up in 28th place. As Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes remain above the cutline, the following names that include Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Chase Purdy, Dean Thompson, Layne Riggs, Jake Garcia, Bayley Currey, Ty Dillon and Bret Holmes are among several who trail the cutline approaching next month’s regular-season finale at Richmond Raceway.

    There were five lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 27 laps. In addition, 13 of 35 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 15th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes continues to lead the regular-season standings by 50 points over Corey Heim.

    Results.

    1. Ty Majeski, 56 laps led

    2. Christian Eckes, 73 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    3. Grant Enfinger, 71 laps led

    4. Tyler Ankrum

    5. Layne Riggs

    6. Sammy Smith

    7. Luke Fenhaus

    8. Rajah Caruth

    9. Dean Thompson

    10. Nick Sanchez

    11. Ross Chastain

    12. William Sawalich

    13. Chase Purdy

    14. Bayley Currey

    15. Jack Wood

    16. Taylor Gray

    17. Corey Heim

    18. Ty Dillon

    19. Timmy Hill

    20. Tanner Gray

    21. Ben Rhodes

    22. Matt Mills

    23. Johnny Sauter

    24. Matt Crafton

    25. Marco Andretti, one lap down

    26. Bret Holmes, one lap down

    27. Daniel Dye, two laps down

    28. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    29. Conor Daly, three laps down

    30. Jake Garcia, three laps down

    31.  Tyler Tomassi, three laps down

    32. Thad Moffitt, five laps down

    33. Stewart Friesen, six laps down

    34. Spencer Boyd, 36 laps down

    35. Mason Massey – OUT

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, for the lean Harbors 250, which will also serve as this year’s regular-season finale and determine this year’s 10-truck Playoff field. The event is scheduled to occur on August 10 and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Rajah Caruth claims second Truck career pole at Lucas Oil IRP

    Rajah Caruth claims second Truck career pole at Lucas Oil IRP

    Rajah Caruth zipped his way to the second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole of his career and of the 2024 season for the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) on Friday, July 19.

    The 22-year-old Caruth from Washington D.C. posted his best qualifying lap at 108.017 mph in 22.863 seconds, which was enough to claim the top starting spot by 0.017 seconds over Grant Enfinger in his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports.

    With his accomplishment, Caruth, who finished in seventh place in his first Truck event at Lucas Oil IRP in 2023, earned his second career pole position in the Truck Series and his first since Las Vegas Motor Speedway in early March, where he would proceed to claim his first career victory. Despite being currently ranked in fifth place in this year’s Truck Series regular-season standings and trailing points leader Christian Eckes by 188 points, he is guaranteed one of 10 spots in this year’s Playoffs with his Vegas victory.

    The pole position left Caruth surprised after he posted the 23rd-fastest time during Friday’s practice session, but looking ahead for momentum as this year’s regular-season season reaches its conclusion.

    “I was honestly surprised [with our qualifying run],” Caruth said on FS1. “I was enthused with our HendrickCars.com Silverado. Kind of after a long run in practice, I’m honestly really surprised by the qualifying speed. Gotta thank the men and women at Spire Motorsports…We’ll hopefully have a good night this evening and something good for my team to think about for the Olympic break.”

    Enfinger, winner of the 2022 Truck Series event at Lucas Oil IRP, will start alongside Caruth after he posted his best qualifying lap at 107.937 mph in 22.880 seconds. He is coming off a strong runner-up result from Pocono Raceway, which currently places in seventh place in this year’s regular-season standings. Above all, he is 46 points above the top-10 cutline to make this year’s Playoffs.

    Tyler Ankrum, who is ranked in sixth place in the standings and 49 points above the cutline, will start in third place and share the second row with Ty Majeski, winner of last year’s Truck event at Lucas Oil IRP and who was the fastest during Friday’s practice session. Matt Crafton, three-time champion of the series, will line up in fifth place alongside Christian Eckes, this year’s leader in the regular-season standings.

    Daniel Dye, Stewart Friesen, Corey Heim and Chase Purdy will start in the top 10 while Nick Sanchez and Sammy Smith will follow suit in 11th and 12th, respectively.

    Notably, Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes, both of whom are currently above the cutline, will start 13th and 15th, respectively, while names including rookie Layne Riggs, Jake Garcia, Dean Thompson, Ty Dillon, Tanner Gray and Bayley Currey, all of whom are below the cutline, will line up 17th to 22nd, respectively. In addition, Ross Chastain, who is pulling double-duty between Lucas Oil IRP and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will start 16th, William Sawalich will start 26th and Johnny Sauter will start 28th in the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota entry.

    In addition, the following names that include Spencer Boyd, rookie Thad Moffitt, Matt Mills and Conor Daly will round out the 35-truck field after all lined up based on owner points.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Rajah Caruth, 108.017 mph, 22.863 seconds

    2. Grant Enfinger, 107.937 mph, 22.880 seconds

    3. Tyler Ankrum, 107.786 mph, 22.912 seconds

    4. Ty Majeski, 107.730 mph, 22.924 seconds

    5. Matt Crafton, 107.313 mph, 23.013 seconds

    6. Christian Eckes, 107.299 mph, 23.016 seconds

    7. Daniel Dye, 107.174 mph, 23.043 seconds

    8. Stewart Friesen, 107.122 mph, 23.054 seconds

    9. Corey Heim, 107.053 mph, 23.069 seconds

    10. Chase Purdy, 107.011 mph, 23.078 seconds

    11. Nick Sanchez, 106.928 mph, 23.096 seconds

    12. Sammy Smith, 106.821 mph, 23.119 seconds

    13. Taylor Gray, 106.766 mph, 23.131 seconds

    14. Luke Fenhaus, 106.591 mph, 23.169 seconds

    15. Ben Rhodes, 106.568 mph, 23.174 seconds

    16. Ross Chastain, 106.536 mph, 23.181 seconds

    17. Layne Riggs, 106.471 mph, 23.195 seconds

    18. Jake Garcia, 106.183 mph, 23.258 seconds

    19. Dean Thompson, 106.169 mph, 23.261 seconds

    20. Ty Dillon, 106.146 mph, 23.266 seconds

    21. Tanner Gray, 106.069 mph, 23.283 seconds

    22. Bayley Currey, 106.028 mph, 23.292 seconds

    23. Jack Wood, 105.728 mph, 23.358 seconds

    24. Lawless Alan, 105.651 mph, 23.375 seconds

    25. Timmy Hill, 105.260 mph, 23.462 seconds

    26.  William Sawalich, 105.148 mph, 23.487 seconds

    27. Mason Massey, 105.844 mph, 23.555 seconds

    28. Johnny Sauter, 104.826 mph, 23.559 seconds

    29. Marco Andretti, 104.675 mph, 23.593 seconds

    30. Bret Holmes, 104.335 mph, 23.593 seconds

    31. Tyler Tomassi, 103.896 mph, 23.770 seconds

    32. Spencer Boyd, owner points

    33. Thad Moffitt, owner points

    34. Matt Mills, owner points

    35. Conor Daly, owner points

    The 2024 TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park is set to occur on Friday, July 19, and air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Indianapolis – July 2024

    NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Indianapolis – July 2024

    This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2.5-mile oval as the the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series heads to the .686-mile asphalt oval at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP).

    The pressure to make the Playoffs is mounting with only five races remaining in the Cup Series regular season at Indianapolis, Richmond, Michigan, Daytona and Darlington.

    Five Cup Series drivers have clinched a spot in the 16-driver playoff field – Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, and Christopher Bell.

    Seven Xfinity Series drivers have secured a place in the 12-driver playoff field with seven races remaining in the regular season – Shane van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, and Jesse Love.

    There are only two races to go in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regular season. Four drivers have claimed a spot in the 10-driver playoff field with only two races remaining in the regular season – Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez and Rajah Caruth.

    The ARCA Menards Series is also competing this weekend at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday with practice at 1:30 p.m. and qualifying at 2:30 p.m. The ARCA Circle City 200 is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on FS1.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, July 19
    1:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice
    1:30 p.m.: ARCA Practice ARCA Race Center
    2:20 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying ARCA Race Center
    2:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice
    3:30 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (IRP) USA
    4:05 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (IRP) USA
    5:30 p.m.: ARCA Circle City 200 – FS1

    8:30 p.m.: Truck Series TSport 200 (IRP)
    Distance: 137.2 miles (200 Laps)
    Stages: Lap 60, Lap 120, Lap 200
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $672,492

    Saturday, July 20
    12:05: Xfinity Series Qualifying – USA
    1:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – USA
    NASCAR Press Pass: Post Cup Qualifying

    3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250
    Distance: 250 miles (100 Laps)
    Stages: Lap 30/Lap 60/Lap 100
    USA/IMS Radio/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Purse: $1,873,623
    NASCAR Press Pass: Post Xfinity race

    Sunday, July 21
    2:30 p.m.: Cup Series Brickyard 400
    Distance: 400 miles (160 Laps)
    Stages: Lap 50/Lap 100/Lap 160
    NBC/SiriusXM/IMS Radio
    Purse: $9,596,601
    NASCAR Press Pass Post Cup race

  • Johnny Sauter joins Hattori Racing Enterprises for Truck return at IRP

    Johnny Sauter joins Hattori Racing Enterprises for Truck return at IRP

    Johnny Sauter is scheuled to compete in the upcoming NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) with Hattori Racing Enterprises (HRE) on Friday, July 19.

    The 2016 Truck Series champion from Necedah, Wisconsin, is set to pilot the No. 16 AISIN Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for HRE, an organization that claimed the 2018 series’ title with Brett Moffitt and spent a total of seven seasons (2017-23) fielding at least one full-time entry in the Truck Series, where the organization accumulated a total of 14 victories and four Playoff appearances, before scaling back to a part-time campaign this season.

    The No. 16 HRE Toyota team, which is led by veteran crew chief Richie Wauters, attempted to qualify at North Wilkesboro Speedway in May with veteran competitor Aric Almirola, but they were unable to due to posting a slow practice time and the on-track qualifying session being canceled amid on-track precipitation as the starting lineup was determined by a qualifying metric formula from the NASCAR Rule Book.

    With 35 competitors entered for the upcoming event at Lucas Oil IRP, where all will qualify since a Truck Series field can go as high as 36, it will mark Sauter’s third Truck Series start of the 2024 season after he competed in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February and at Texas Motor Speedway in April, both with Niece Motorsports. In addition to making his first start with HRE, Sauter is also scheduled to make his sixth career start at Lucas Oil IRP. His best result in five previous starts at the course is a runner-up finish during the 2004 season as he strives to improve his previous result up by a single spot.

    “[Lucas Oil IRP] is a unique track, it has a very unique layout with multi-groove racing,” Sauter said. “I think track position is going to be key and staying up front out of trouble is the goal. Getting back to the truck series with Richie has been something I’ve been looking forward to since we first discussed racing at Indianapolis Raceway Park a couple weeks ago. I want to thank Shige Hattori for the opportunity to drive the No. 16 AISIN Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for the TSport 200.”

    Sauter, who grew up racing across the Midwest regions before winning the 2001 ASA National Tour title, made his inaugural presence across NASCAR’s top three national touring series at Richmond Raceway in the Xfinity Series in September 2001, where he piloted the No. 21 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing to an impressive fifth place. He would collect his first two career victories in the Xfinity circuit over the next two seasons.

    In 2003, Sauter competed in his first three Truck Series career races with Fasscore Motorsports. He would make eight additional starts over a four-year span (2004-05, ’06 & ’08) before inking a full-time ride with ThorSport Racing in 2009. During the 2009 season, he scored his first Truck career victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finished in sixth place in the final standings and claimed the Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    From 2009 to 2021, Sauter would establish himself as a top veteran in the Truck Series as he would add 23 additional victories to his resume, all of which he achieved between ThorSport and GMS Racing. His top accomplishment is winning his first series’ title in 2016 during his first campaign with GMS. Other accomplishments for Sauter as a Truck Series competitor include becoming the first three-time series’ winner at Daytona, winning a career-high six races in 2018, securing Playoff berths in four consecutive seasons (2016-19) along with the 2018 Truck Series Regular Season Championship, recording a career-high 19 top-10 results during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and notching sixth-place average-finishing results as a full-time competitor during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

    Through 322 previous starts in the Truck Series, Sauter has achieved 24 victories, which have him ranked in fifth place in the series’ all-time wins list. He has also recorded nine poles, 116 top-five results, 186 top-10 results, 2,695 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.2. In addition to his success in the Truck Series, Sauter has three Xfinity victories and 85 Cup career starts featured to his racing resume.

    Should Sauter win this weekend’s event at Lucas Oil IRP, he would join Brett Moffitt and Austin Hill as the only competitors to win in the Truck Series while driving for HRE.

    “We’re excited to have Johnny behind the wheel of our No. 16 AISIN Toyota Tundra TRD Pro at Indianapolis Raceway Park,” Shige Hattori, owner of HRE, added. “His experience in the series, with many different platforms of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series trucks, will be invaluable. He understands the unique challenges of these vehicles and this bullring-style track. Johnny will also give us a great understanding of where we are at as a team and give us some valuable feedback.”

    Johnny Sauter’s first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start with Hattori Racing Enterprises is scheduled to occur this Friday, July 19, at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Corey Heim dominates Pocono for 10th Truck Series career victory

    Corey Heim dominates Pocono for 10th Truck Series career victory

    Corey Heim struck back amid Christian Eckes’ lap-by-lap win at Nashville Superspeedway by claiming a dominant NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the rain-delayed CRC Brakleen 175 at Pocono Raceway on Friday, July 12.

    The 22-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, led twice for a race-high 55 of 70-scheduled laps in an event where he started alongside Eckes on the front row based on a qualifying metric formula due to rain canceling the event’s on-track qualifying session. Despite getting quickly shuffled out of the top five and nearly getting turned on the opening lap, Heim made up the rough start by returning to the runner-up spot on the sixth lap. Then after taking the lead from Eckes for the first time on Lap 12, Heim quickly made himself and his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota team forces to be reckoned with as the driver proceeded to win the event’s first two stages, all while stretching his fuel tank through both periods.

    After pitting for the first and only time prior to the final stage period, Heim quickly cycled his way past Jake Garcia to reassume the lead following a restart with 34 laps remaining. With the event eventually being red-flagged twice under the final 10 laps due to a steady increase of on-track precipitation before having enough sunlight to finish its scheduled distance, Heim capitalized on a three-lap shootout to muscle away from Grant Enfinger, Eckes and the field to cruise to his fifth Truck victory of the 2024 season and his first at Pocono, the track dubbed “The Tricky Triangle.”

    With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Friday canceled due to precipitation, the starting lineup for the main event was determined through a qualifying metric formula. As a result, Christian Eckes, winner of the previous Truck event at Nashville Superspeedway two weeks ago and the fastest during Friday’s practice session, was awarded the pole position and he shared the front row with Corey Heim.

    Prior to the event, rookie Layne Riggs started at the rear of the field in a backup truck after he wrecked his primary truck during Friday’s practice session. Bryan Dauzat and Justin Carroll also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch as Christian Eckes, who started on the outside lane, retained the lead through the first turn before navigating his way through Long Pond Straightaway. Behind, teammate Tyler Ankrum and Ty Majeski charged their way up to second and third, respectively, as Daniel Dye, Grant Enfinger and Rajah Caruth, the latter of which made a three-wide attempt for the lead from third place, followed suit. Meanwhile, Corey Heim, who started on the inside lane from the front row, was backsliding as he nearly got turned through the Long Pond Straightaway. As the field continued to jostle for early spots through the Tunnel Curve before entering a final turn, Eckes proceeded to lead the first lap followed by Ankrum as Majeski, Enfinger, Stewart Friesen and Heim followed suit in the top six while Caruth found himself backsliding.

    Over the next three laps, Eckes extended his advantage to a second over Ankrum as Heim, who lost four spots at the start, charged his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro back up to third place as he tried to close in on Ankrum for the runner-up spot. Eckes would proceed to lead the fifth lap mark by eight-tenths of a second over Ankrum with Heim closing in from third place as Daniel Dye and Majeski trailed in the top five. Behind, Grant Enfinger was in sixth place ahead of Stewart Friesen and Nick Sanchez while Ben Rhodes and the Gray brothers of Tanner and Taylor followed suit.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Eckes continued to lead in his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Heim, who overtook Ankrum’s No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado RST for the runner-up spot four laps earlier and made up a second deficit to Eckes. Behind, Ankrum trailed in third place by two seconds while Dye, Majeski, Enfinger, Sanchez, Friesen and the Gray brothers of Tanner and Taylor were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Rhodes was mired in 11th ahead of Jake Garcia, Chase Purdy, Matt Mills and Rajah Caruth while Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton, Dean Thompson, Connor Mosack and Lawless Alan were racing in the top 20 ahead of Bret Holmes, Kris Wright, Ty Dillon, Luke Fenhaus and Timmy Hill.

    Shortly after, a tight side-by-side and crossover battle between Eckes and Heim ignited, with the former retaining the top spot by an advantage before the latter, who fended off a crossover move by Eckes through the Tunnel Curve, led for the first time on Lap 12. After assuming the lead on Lap 12, Heim, who wheeled his truck from the left to right to break off Eckes’ draft and run through the frontstretch, would stretch his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Eckes by Lap 13.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 15, Heim captured his fifth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Eckes followed suit in second along with Ankrum, Dye and Enfinger while Majeski, Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Friesen and Tanner Gray were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some including the top-six competitors that included Heim, Eckes, Ankrum, Dye, Enfinger and Majeski remained on the track while the rest led by Sanchez pitted. Among those who also remained on the track without pitting included Friesen, Taylor Gray, Caruth, Lawless Alan, Luke Fenhaus and Bayley Currey. During the pit stops, Mason Maggio had a tire roll away from his pit stall and was penalized while Zane Smith received a long service due to his pit crew addressing a broken right-rear shock to Smith’s No. 91 SpeedyCash.com Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    The second stage period started on Lap 20 as Heim and Ankrum as occupied the front row. At the start, most of the field remained in two-by-two formation through the frontstretch and entering the first turn as Heim retained the lead. Behind, Eckes charged his way back to second as he was pursued by Daniel Dye while Ankrum slipped to fourth, all while the field behind jostled entering Long Pond Straightaway. Amid the battles around Pocono’s tricky turns, Heim retained the lead for the following lap while Eckes, who opted to restart on the second row before reclaiming the runner-up spot during the restart, followed suit along with teammate Dye, Ankrum, Enfinger and Majeski. Behind, Sage Karam’s No. 21 CRC Brakleen Ford F-150 was smoking amid contact with Ty Dillon, but the race remained under green flag conditions.

    By Lap 25, Heim extended his advantage to more than a second over runner-up Eckes while Dye, Enfinger and Ankrum trailed in the top five and by five seconds. Behind, sixth-place Taylor Gray trailed by six seconds ahead of Majeski, Friesen, Chastain and Tanner Gray while Matt Mills, who was racing on four fresh tires after he pitted during the first stage break period, was in 11th place ahead of Caruth, Sanchez, Holmes, Rhodes, Connor Mosack, Chase Purdy, Fenhaus, Dean Thompson and Garcia.

    With nearly three laps remaining until the second stage’s conclusion, Taylor Gray and Nick Sanchez peeled off the racetrack to pit their respective entries under green. Meanwhile, Heim remained on the track as he was leading by nearly two seconds over Eckes as Dye and Enfinger battled for third place in front of Ankrum.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 30, Heim notched his second Truck stage victory of the day and sixth of the 2024 season. Eckes trailed in second place by three seconds while Dye, Enfinger, Ankrum, Majeski, Chastain, Friesen, Tanner Gray and Matt Mills were scored in the top 10. By then, 29 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Heim pitted while select names including Jake Garcia, Thad Moffitt and Nick Sanchez remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Bayley Currey was penalized for having crew members over the pit wall too soon while Eckes, who entered pit road in second place, plummeted back to within the top 20 following a slow pit service. Not long after, Moffitt, who recently joined Young’s Motorsports, pitted, which left both Garcia and Sanchez strapped on the front row.

    With 34 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Garcia and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out as wide as four lanes through the frontstretch as Garcia was being challenged by Mills for the lead entering Turn 1. Despite fending off Mills through the first two turns, Heim, who restarted fifth, quickly charged right to the rear bumper of Garcia through Long Pond Straightaway. Then after trailing Garcia through the Tunnel Curve, Heim used a bold move on the outside lane through the final turn to reassume the lead as he led the following lap. As Heim both retained and started to stretch his advantage on his four fresh tires, Garcia retained second ahead of Sanchez and Enfinger while Eckes zipped his way back into the top five following his slow pit service as he was battling Chastain for fifth place. Not long after, Garcia, who made on-track contact with Sanchez, pitted his No. 13 Quanta Services Ford F-150 under green with 31 laps remaining. Amid Garcia’s pit service, where he lost a bevy of spots and time due to a slow service, Heim retained the lead by nearly two seconds over Chastain with 30 laps remaining.  

    With 26 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Caruth spinning his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST in Turn 1 after he got loose underneath teammate Mosack while racing for ninth place, though Caruth was able to prevent his truck from hitting the wall. At the time of the caution, Heim had stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over Chastain while Enfinger, Eckes, Purdy, Mills, Dye, Thompsons, Mosack and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Sanchez, who pitted two laps earlier to top off on fuel, was mired back in 27th place as Garcia was down in 29th place. During the caution period, some led by Dye and including Mosack, Rhodes, Taylor Gray, Ankrum, Bayley Currey, Timmy Hill, Ty Dillon, Caruth and Garcia pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.

    With the event restarting with 22 laps remaining, where Heim and Enfinger occupied the front row, the field jumbled out and then fanned out through the frontstretch as Heim was pushed by Chastain to retain the lead. Behind, Enfinger retained second over Chastain while Eckes, Mills and Purdy followed suit in the top six through Long Pond Straightaway. With more jostling of spots occurring within the field, Heim continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Enfinger with 20 laps remaining while Chastain was fending off Eckes for third place. Behind, Mills and Purdy retained fifth and sixth, respectively, while Majeski was racing in seventh place ahead of a tight battle between teammates Thompson and Taylor Gray.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Heim stretched his advantage to a second over Enfinger as Eckes, Chastain and Taylor Gray followed suit in the top five. Behind, Mills occupied sixth place ahead of Purdy, Thompson, Sanchez and Friesen while Holmes, Crafton, Tanner Gray, Rhodes and Mosack were in the top 15 ahead of Caruth, Fenhaus, Dye, Ankrum and Currey. Meanwhile, Majeski, who made an unscheduled pit stops two laps earlier due to a power issue and needing a new battery to his No. 98 Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford F-150, was mired back in 32nd place as he also lost two spots in the process.

    With 10 laps remaining, Heim stabilized his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over runner-up Enfinger as both third-place Chastain and fourth-place Eckes trailed by within 10 seconds. Eckes would then overtake Chastain for the runner-up spot shortly after as Chastain nearly got loose in Turn 1.

    A lap later and amid a rapid decrease in temperature, the caution flew due to rain falling on the Pocono circuit. Another lap later, the field led by Heim was directed to pit road and the event was placed in a red flag period due to the on-track rain. Ten-and-a-half minutes later, the red flag was lifted and the field led by Heim returned to the track under a cautious pace amid a light drizzle before the continuation of the drizzles forced the field to return to pit road and placed in a second red flag period after just one caution lap. Approximately 24 minutes later, the red flag was lifted and the race resumed under a cautious pace with six laps remaining.

    During the caution period, select names including Currey, Fenhaus, Garcia, Timmy Hill, Zane Smith, Layne Riggs, Lawless Alan and Sage Karam pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period with three laps remaining featured a brief side-by-side battle between Heim and Eckes through the frontstretch until Eckes nearly got turned sideways by Chastain entering the first turn. This allowed Heim, who was getting pushed by Enfinger as Enfinger opted to restart behind Heim, to muscle ahead from the outside lane and lead through the first two turns. Behind, Enfinger battled Eckes for second place in front of Chastain and Taylor Gray through Long Pond Straightaway. With more battles and competitors fanning out to multiple lanes ensuing through the Tunnel Curve before navigating through the final turn, Heim began to stretch his advantage as he was leading by six-tenths of a second over Enfinger and a hard-charging Eckes.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim remained as the leader by nine-tenths of a second over Enfinger, who was trying to fend off Eckes for the spot in his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST. With the latter two unable to generate a final lap charge nor decrease Heim’s large deficit, Heim was able to cruise his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro around the Pocono circuit for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and emerged victorious for his fifth checkered flag of the 2024 season.

    With the victory, Heim, who was overtaken by former team owner/teammate Kyle Busch for the Pocono victory a year ago, notched his 10th Craftsman Truck Series career win in his 55th series start, his first since winning at World Wide Technology Raceway in early June and his eighth as a driver for TRICON Garage, with the organization claiming its fifth victory of the 2024 season.

    The Pocono victory validated the strong driver-crew chief bond shared between Heim and Scott Zipadelli, the 2018 Truck Series championship-winning crew chief who claimed his 23rd series’ victory, as both continue to gain more bonuses prior to the start of the 2024 Playoffs two races from now, where both will attempt to contend for this year’s series title at Phoenix Raceway in November.

    “[Scott Zipadelli and I]’ve had such a close bond,” Heim said on FS1. “He just does a phenomenal job giving me fast Safelite Tundra TRD Pros every week. This week wasn’t any different. This [truck] was badass. Got a badass crew, badass truck week in and week out. So proud of these guys. [I] Can’t say enough about five wins. It’s something that I never thought I’d achieve in a single season, but here we are and we got many more to go, so I’m pumped. It’s awesome…We’re focused on 2024. We got all the potential in the world right now. Just a phenomenal day for us.”

    Grant Enfinger settled in second place for the second time of the 2024 season while Christian Eckes ended up in third place after leading the first 11 laps. Taylor Gray rallied from wrecking out at Nashville Superspeedway to finish in fourth place for his fourth top-five run of the season while Ross Chastain, the 2019 Truck Series winner at Pocono, survived to finish in fifth place in his fourth Truck start of the year.

    Chase Purdy, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Dean Thompson and Rajah Caruth completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Nick Sanchez settled in 13th place in front of Tyler Ankrum, Daniel Dye ended up in 16th place, Tanner Gray settled in 19th place behind Ben Rhodes, Zane Smith finished in 20th place in front of Jake Garcia and Ty Majeski ended up in 31st place, two laps down, following his late power issues.

    With his 16th-place result, Daniel Dye, who notched top-four finishes during the event’s two stage periods and accumulated critical stage points, holds a one-point advantage over Tanner Gray for the 10th and final transfer spot to the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs with two regular-season races remaining on the schedule. As Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes join Dye in being above the top-10 cutline based on points, others including Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Chase Purdy, Jake Garcia, Dean Thompson and rookie Layne Riggs join Tanner Gray as competitors currently scored outside the cutline.

    There were three lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 17 laps. In addition, 29 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 14th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes leads the regular-season standings by 32 points over Corey Heim.

    Results.

    1. Corey Heim, 55 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    2. Grant Enfinger

    3. Christian Eckes, 11 laps led

    4. Taylor Gray

    5. Ross Chastain

    6. Chase Purdy

    7. Stewart Friesen

    8. Matt Crafton

    9. Dean Thompson

    10. Rajah Caruth

    11. Matt Mills

    12. Bret Holmes

    13. Nick Sanchez

    14. Tyler Ankrum

    15. Connor Mosack

    16. Daniel Dye

    17. Bayley Currey

    18. Ben Rhodes

    19. Tanner Gray

    20. Zane Smith

    21. Jake Garcia, four laps led

    22. Luke Fenhaus

    23. Timmy Hill

    24. Mason Massey

    25. Ty Dillon  

    26. Kris Wright

    27. Mason Maggio

    28. Justin Carroll

    29. Thad Moffitt

    30. Layne Riggs, one lap down

    31. Ty Majeski, two laps down

    32. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    33. Sage Karam, three laps down

    34. Bryan Dauzat, five laps down

    35. Stephen Mallozzi – OUT, Transmission

    36. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Hub

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Indiana. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, July 19, and air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Weekend schedule for NASCAR at Pocono Raceway – July 2024

    Weekend schedule for NASCAR at Pocono Raceway – July 2024

    NASCAR heads to Pocono Raceway this week for a full schedule of racing. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series headlines Friday evening, followed by the Xfinity Series Saturday at 3 p.m. On Sunday afternoon the Cup Series takes center stage with The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VisitPA.com.

    With Alex Bowman’s win at the Chicago Street course, 12 Cup Series drivers have secured a place in the 16-driver Playoff field – Bowman, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez and Austin Cindric.

    Six Xfinity Series competitors have earned a spot in the 12-driver Playoff field via wins, including Shane van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Justin Allgaier and Jesse Love. Cole Custer (the current points leader) is also eligible for the Playoffs, leaving 5 open spots.

    Only four Truck Series drivers have guaranteed their place in the 10-driver Playoff field with wins – Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez and Rajah Caruth -leaving six remaining spots

    NASCAR Press Pass will be live post-qualifying for the Cup Series and post-race for all series.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, July 12
    2 p.m.: Truck Series Practice
    Timed/All Entries/20 minutes – FS2

    2:30 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying
    Impound/All Entries/Single Vehicle/1 Lap – FS2

    5:30 p.m.: Truck Series CRC Brakleen 175
    Stages 15/30/70 Laps = 175 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    2023 race winner: Kyle Busch
    Purse: $757,128

    Saturday, July 13
    10 a.m.: Xfinity Series Practice
    Timed/All Entries/20 minutes – USA

    10:30 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying
    Impound/All Entries/ Single Vehicle/1 Lap – USA

    Noon: Cup Series Practice
    Timed/Group A & B – 20 Minutes Each Group
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM

    12:45 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying
    Impound/Group A & B/Single Vehicle: 1 Lap/2 Rounds
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM

    3 p.m.: Xfinity Series Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 race
    Stages 20/40/90 Laps = 225 Miles
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM
    2023 race winner: Austin Hill
    Purse: $1,439,558

    Sunday, July 14
    2:30 p.m.: Cup Series The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.com
    Stages 30/95/160 Laps = 400 Miles
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM
    2023 race winner: Denny Hamlin
    Purse: $7,776,907

  • Carson Hocevar fined, docked by NASCAR for wrecking Harrison Burton under caution at Nashville

    Carson Hocevar fined, docked by NASCAR for wrecking Harrison Burton under caution at Nashville

    Carson Hocevar has been fined $50,000 and docked 25 points in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series driver’s standings for violating the sport’s Member Code of Conduct Penalty Options and Guidelines sections from the NASCAR Rule Book after he sent Harrison Burton for a spin under caution during this past weekend’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

    The incident involving Hocevar’s actions at Nashville occurred with 58 laps remaining when the caution flew due to Austin Dillon hitting and sending Brad Keselowski backward against the outside wall in Turn 2, eliminating Keselowski from contention. Then just ahead of Keselowski’s carnage and with the field reducing pace under the caution period, Hocevar bumped and clipped the right-rear quarter panel of Burton’s No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry and sent Burton for a spin through the backstretch while Hocevar, who barely made contact with Todd Gilliland’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry, proceeded. Hocevar, who is campaigning in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series for Spire Motorsports, finished in 16th place, one spot ahead of Gilliland. Burton would end up in 28th place after he was eliminated in a multi-car wreck during the event’s second of a record five overtime attempts.

    With his docked points, Hocevar, who was ranked in 22nd place in the driver’s standings, drops to 24th place in the standings. Currently, the 21-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, and is competing for the Rookie-of-the-Year title, trails the top-16 cutline to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs by 181 points with seven regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

    Additional penalties levied from this past weekend’s triple-header weekend at Nashville involved two Craftsman Truck Series crew chiefs who were fined $2,500 for a single unsecured lug nut discovered on their respective entries. The fined penalties involved Jon Leonard, crew chief for the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST entry piloted by Matt Mills, and Jeriod Prince, crew chief for the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 entry piloted by Matt Crafton. During this past Friday’s Truck Series event at Nashville, Mills ended up in eighth place while Crafton settled in 23rd place.

    With the Craftsman Truck Series entering a one-week break, the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series’ teams return to action for this upcoming weekend’s second annual Chicago Street Course events in Downtown Chicago, Illinois. The Xfinity Series’ The Loop 110 is set to occur on Saturday, July 6, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC while the Cup Series’ Grant Park 165 is set to occur on Sunday, July 7, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Eckes leads every lap en route to third Truck victory of 2024 at Nashville; cashes in on third Triple Truck Challenge bonus

    Eckes leads every lap en route to third Truck victory of 2024 at Nashville; cashes in on third Triple Truck Challenge bonus

    Christian Eckes capped off a perfect run that involved leading every lap en route to a resounding NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday, June 28.

    The 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion from Greenville, New York, led all 150-scheduled laps in an event where he started in third place, quickly assumed the lead from pole-sitter Stewart Friesen on the first lap, swept both stage periods and withstood a flurry of caution flags and restart periods from start to finish. Retaining the lead both on the track and on pit road, Eckes had enough muscle to power away from teammate Daniel Dye and the field during the final restart period with 32 laps remaining to win by two seconds and cash in with both his third Truck victory of the 2024 season and first $50,000 prize as part of the Triple Truck Challenge.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Friday, Stewart Friesen notched his first Truck pole position of the 2024 season and his first since 2019 after posting a pole-winning speed at 158.980 mph in 30.117 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Grant Enfinger, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 158.859 mph in 30.140 seconds.

    Before the event, Nick Sanchez dropped to the rear of the field in a backup truck after he wrecked his primary truck during Friday’s qualifying session. Timmy Hill also dropped to the rear of the field due to a transmission change. Ty Dillon, Matt Mills and Tanner Gray all started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    The start of the race lasted for three turns as a multi-truck wreck that involved Dean Thompson, Bret Holmes, Mason Massey, Mason Maggio, Timmy Hill and Akinori Ogata, all of whom started towards the rear of the field, wrecked in Turn 4. Prior to the early carnage, Eckes, who started in third place and behind Friesen on the inside lane, had muscled past both Enfinger and Friesen through the first two turns to assume the lead.

    The start of the next restart period on the seventh lap lasted only a lap as Holmes, who was trying to continue after being involved in the opening lap wreck, spun and wrecked his No. 32 Golden Eagle Chevrolet Silverado RST against the outside wall in Turn 2. At the time of Holmes’ incident, Eckes had managed to fend off Friesen from the inside lane to retain the lead.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 14, the field fanned out to multiple lanes as Eckes muscled ahead of Friesen to retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Behind, Riggs battled and overtook Friesen for the runner-up spot while Majeski, Honeycutt and Enfinger followed suit in the top six. Amid the early battles, Eckes led by half a second over Riggs by the Lap 20 mark.

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Eckes was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Riggs followed by Friesen, Kaden Honeycutt and Corey Heim while Ty Majeski, Daniel Dye, Grant Enfinger, Rajah Caruth and Clint Bowyer were scored in the top 10. Behind, Tyler Ankrum trailed in 11th place and ahead of Stefan Parsons, Chase Purdy, Tayor Gray and Ben Rhodes while Bayley Currey, Jake Garcia, Matt Crafton, Matt Mills and Jack Wood were mired in the top 20 ahead of Brenden Queen, Lawless Alan, Connor Jones, Ty Dillon and Dawson Cram.

    Ten laps later, Eckes extended his advantage to over Riggs while third-place Honeycutt was up to third and trailing by less than four seconds despite reporting the sight of smoke and the smell of gear oil within his No. 45 AutoVentive/Precision Chevrolet Silverado RST. Another lap, however, Honeycutt surrendered third place and nursed his truck to the garage due to his mechanical issue. Honeycutt’s early misfortune moved Heim, Friesen and Enfinger in the top five on the track while Eckes retained his advantage by more than a second.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Eckes captured his fourth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Riggs followed suit in second place ahead of Heim, Enfinger and Daniel Dye while Caruth, Friesen, Majeski, Bowyer and Tyler Ankrum were scored in the top 10. By then, 25 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while select drivers, including Tanner Gray and Nick Sanchez, were lapped by the field.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Eckes pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Eckes retained the lead after exiting pit road first while Heim, Riggs, Caruth, Enfinger, Dye, Taylor Gray, Ankrum, Chase Purdy and Ben Rhodes followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Matt Mills was penalized for equipment interference.

    The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Eckes and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, however, the caution quickly returned when Taylor Gray, who restarted in the top 10, was bumped by Rhodes as Gray got sideways before he shot back across the track and wrecked his No. 17 Caden Ingram Foundation Toyota Tundra TRD Pro against the Turn 1 outside wall as he was taken out of contention. The start of the following restart on Lap 59 also did not last a single turn as the field got jumbled up through the frontstretch, with Bowyer ramming into the rear of teammate Purdy, who was stacking up the field after he ran into the rear of Ankrum, while Lawless Alan, who was rammed in the rear by Dawson Sutton, rammed and sent the No. 46 Faction46 Chevrolet Silverado RST piloted by Dawson Cram for a spin through the frontstretch’s grass.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 65, the field fanned out as Eckes fended off Riggs and Heim to retain the lead. With the field still fanning out through the frontstretch during the following lap, Enfinger and Dye battled for fifth place in front of Rhodes while a flurry of competitors including Friesen, Ankrum, Majeski, Crafton, Jack Wood, Jake Garcia, Stefan Parsons and Bayley Currey battled for positions as high as eighth place. Amid the battles, Eckes stabilized his advantage to half a second over Heim by the Lap 70 mark.

    Just past the Lap 75 mark, Eckes stretched his advantage to a second over Heim while Caruth battled and overtook Dye for third place. Meanwhile, Riggs dropped to sixth place as he was running behind Enfinger while Rhodes, Friesen, Parsons and Crafton were mired in the top 10 ahead of Ankrum, Currey, Majeski, Wodd and Conner Jones. Meanwhile, Sanchez was racing back in 20th place ahead of Brenden Queen while Bowyer, who pitted for extensive repairs to his truck, was running in 24th place ahead of teammate Purdy.

    By Lap 85, Eckes continued to lead by a second over Heim while third-place Caruth trailed by three seconds. Dye and Enfinger continued to run in the top five ahead of Rhodes and Friesen while Riggs, who was continuing to lose ground of the leaders, was trying to fend off Parsons for eighth place. Shortly after, Parsons and Riggs both made contact entering the frontstretch while battling for eighth place, which allowed Crafton and Ankrum to overtake them for positions.

    Then on Lap 92, Riggs, who was fiercely battling Parsons for 13th place and had made repeated contact with Parsons as both dropped out of the top-10 mark on the track, rammed into the rear of Parsons’ No. 75 Popsells.com Chevrolet Silverado RST as Parsons was sent sideways and wrecked against the outside wall in Turn 4. The incident was enough for NASCAR to enforce a two-lap penalty on Riggs with the driver forced to serve the penalty in his pit stall for reckless driving.

    As a result of the Riggs and Parsons incident, the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 95 officially concluded under caution as Eckes proceeded to captured his fifth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season and sweep both stages at Nashville. Heim settled in second followed by Caruth, Dye and Enfinger while Rhodes, Friesen, Crafton, Ankrum and Majeski were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Eckes returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Eckes retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Caruth, Dye, Rhodes, Ankrum, Friesen, Crafton and Wood while Heim exited in ninth place due to losing seven spots as he struggled to launch his truck out of his pit box following his service.

    With 48 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Eckes and Caruth occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Eckes muscled ahead with the lead while Dye and Rhodes quickly overtook Caruth to move up to second and third, respectively. As Eckes continued to lead in front of Dye, Rhodes and Caruth for the following lap, Friesen, who endured a slow pit service earlier in the event that cost him spots, muscled his way back into the top five while Ankrum, Heim, Crafton, Tanner Gray and Connor Jones were battling within the top 10.

    Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Eckes was leading by more than half a second over teammate Dye while Caruth, Rhodes and Ankrum trailed in the top five. Behind, Heim carved his way up to sixth place while Friesen, Tanner Gray, Matt Mills and Crafton battled in the top 10 ahead of Garcia, Enfinger, Wood, Connor Jones and Bowyer.

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Jack Wood, who was running in 13th place, received a tap from Connor Jones that sent Wood’s No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet Silverado RST spinning down the apron in Turn 4 and just past the entrance of pit road, though Wood managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage. During the caution period, some including Friesen, who had a loose left-rear wheel, pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.

    As the event restarted under green with 32 laps remaining, Eckes fended off teammate Dye to retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch while Caruth was trying to fend off Rhodes and Ankrum for third place. With Heim charging his way back into the top, he then made a bold three-wide move to boost his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro all the way up to third place during the following lap. Soon after, Ankrum overtook Rhodes for fifth place and Tanner Gray carved his damaged No. 15 Dead On Tools Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to seventh place while Eckes retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Dye with less than 30 laps remaining.

    With 25 laps remaining, Eckes extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Dye while third-place Heim and fourth-place Caruth both trailed the lead by more than two seconds. Eckes would add another second to his advantage with 20 laps remaining, thus leaving Dye to trail teammate Eckes by two seconds as Caruth, who overtook Heim for third place earlier, was trying to close in on Dye’s No. 43 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet Silverado RST for the runner-up spot. By then, Heim, Ankrum and Rhodes remained in the top six while Enfinger and Garcia overtook Tanner Gray for seventh and eighth on the track.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Eckes stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Dye and by nearly three seconds over Caruth as Heim and Ankrum continued to round out the top five. Behind, Rhodes, Enfinger, Garcia, Matt Mills and Friesen were in the top 10 while Majeski, Connor Jones, Tanner Gray, Nick Sanchez and Brenden Queen trailed in the top 15. As Crafton, who had been drifting out of the top 10, pitted his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 under green and dropped out of the lead lap category, Eckes grew his advantage to three seconds over teammate Dye with 10 laps remaining.

    With five laps remaining, Eckes’ advantage barely decreased as he was still leading by less than three seconds over teammate Dye while third-place Caruth continued to trail Dye by four-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Heim and Ankrum trailed Eckes by three and four seconds, respectively, in the top five.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Eckes remained as the leader by two seconds over teammate Dye while Heim overtook Caruth’s No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST amid a fierce late-race battle for third place. With the latter three unable to gain any ground on Eckes, Eckes was able to navigate his No. 19 Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet Silverado RST around the Nashville circuit smoothly for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by two seconds over teammate Dye.

    With the victory, Eckes, who joins Corey Heim as the second competitor to achieve three or more victories through the first 13-scheduled events, became the first competitor to lead every lap en route to a Truck Series win since Timothy Peters made the last accomplishment at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2012. In addition, Eckes achieved his eighth career win in the Craftsman Truck Series, his first since winning at Martinsville Speedway in early April and his first at Nashville Superspeedway. The victory was the third of the season for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and the ninth of the year for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    As an added bonus, Eckes pocketed his first $50,000 bonus by winning the third and final Triple Truck Challenge event of the 2024 season, thus becoming the 15th competitor to achieve the bonus in the initiative’s sixth season of existence.

    “It was just a badass truck,” Eckes said on FS2. “Man, I can’t say enough about these [No. 19] guys. We felt like we should’ve won last time at Gateway and came up a little bit short, finished second and we were really motivated to get this truck better. [The truck]’s done its job for the day. What an Adaptive One Chevy. That was an ass-kicking today. I love it. I saw [Corey Heim] have four [race-winning stickers] on [his truck]. I got a little bit upset when I walked in, so now, we got another one to go catch.”

    Teammate Daniel Dye was also left smiling on pit road as he achieved his first top-five career result in the Truck Series by notching a runner-up result in his 36th series start. With the result, Dye trails the top-10 cutline to make the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs by 14 points with three regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

    “Man, the confidence is so important when you’re driving a race car and to finish second like this,” Dye said. “Obviously, Christian [Eckes] drove away, but I think there at the end, we were running similar speeds. Man, it feels really good. Our NAPA Nightvision Chevy was really fast. Just super excited that this happened…To finish runner-up feels good.”

    Corey Heim rallied from his late pit road issues to finish in third place for his ninth top-three result of the 2024 season, Rajah Caruth nabbed his first top-five result since winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March by finishing in fourth place and Tyler Ankrum recorded his fourth top-five result of the season by finishing in fifth place.

    Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes, Matt Mills, Ty Majeski and Jake Garcia finished in the top 10.

    Notably, Stewart Friesen came home in 11th place, Brenden Queen ended up in 19th place in his second Truck career start, Matt Crafton ended up in 23rd place while two laps down and Frankie Muniz settled in 31st place in his Truck debut while scored 20 laps down.

    In addition, Clint Bowyer nursed his damaged No. 7 Rush Truck Centers Chevrolet Silverado RST to a 17th-place result in his 15th Truck Series career start, first since 2016 and first with Spire Motorsports.    

    “I will be back!” Bowyer exclaimed while being interviewed by former team owner Michael Waltrip. “I promise you there’s no way in hell I’m ending on that note.”

    There were no lead changes for a single leader. The race featured seven cautions for 42 laps. In addition, 20 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 13th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes continues to lead the regular-season standings by 40 points over Corey Heim, 89 over Nick Sanchez, 92 over Ty Majeski and 163 over Rajah Caruth.

    Results.

    1. Christian Eckes, 150 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    2. Daniel Dye

    3. Corey Heim

    4. Rajah Caruth

    5. Tyler Ankrum

    6. Grant Enfinger

    7. Ben Rhodes

    8. Matt Mills

    9. Ty Majeski

    10. Jake Garcia

    11. Stewart Friesen

    12. Conner Jones

    13. Nick Sanchez

    14. Tanner Gray

    15. Ty Dillon

    16. Jack Wood

    17. Clint Bowyer

    18. Dawson Sutton

    19. Brenden Queen

    20. Dawson Cram

    21. Chase Purdy, one lap down

    22. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

    23. Matt Crafton, two laps down

    24. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    25. Layne Riggs, two laps down

    26. Stefan Parsons, two laps down

    27. Timmy Hill, three laps down

    28. Dean Thompson, four laps down

    29. Bayley Currey, four laps down

    30. Akinori Ogata, six laps down

    31. Frankie Muniz, 20 laps down

    32. Mason Massey – OUT, Brakes

    33. Kaden Honeycutt, 66 laps down

    34. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident

    35. Mason Maggio – OUT, Mechanical

    36. Bret Holmes – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, for the CRC Brakleen 175. The event is scheduled to occur on July 12 and air at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1.