This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series travels to Nashville Superspeedway for the fourth consecutive year. Chevrolet has dominated the series at the 1.33-mile concrete track. Ross Chastain is the defending Cup Series race winner as Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott (2022) and Kyle Larson (2021) also return as previous winners.
Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race is the 25th event for the series at Nashville. But only two past winners, Justin Allgaier (2022) and AJ Allmendinger (2023), are entered in this year’s race.
The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series returns to competition Friday evening after a 3-week break for the final race of the 2024 Triple Truck Challenge. Current Cup Series driver, Carson Hocevar, is the defending race winner.
Clint Bowyer will make his first NASCAR start since his retirement in 2020 and his first at Nashville Superspeedway. Bowyer will drive the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet in this weekend’s Truck Series Rackley Roofing 200.
NASCAR Press Pass will be available post-race for all series and post-Cup Series qualifying.
All times are Eastern
Friday, June 28 4:30 p.m.: Truck Series Practice Timed: All Entries, 20 Minutes – FS2
5 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying Impound: All Entries, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap – FS2
8 p.m.: Truck Series Rackley Roofing 200 Distance: 199.5 miles (150 Laps) Stages end on Lap 45, Lap 95, Lap 150 FS2/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $897,631
Saturday, June 29 Noon: Xfinity Series Practice Timed: Groups 1 & 2, 15 minutes each – USA
12:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying Impound: All Entries, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap – USA
2:05 p.m.: Cup Series Practice Timed: Groups A & B, 20 minutes each USA/PRN/SiriusXM
2:50 p.m. Cup Series Qualifying Impound: Groups A & B, Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds USA/PRN/SiriusXM
5 p.m.: Xfinity Tennessee Lottery 250 Distance: 250.04 miles (188 Laps) Stages end on Lap 45, Lap 90, Lap 188 USA/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $1,420,381
Sunday, June 30 3:3 p.m.: Cup Series Ally 400 Distance: 399 miles (300 Laps) Stages end on Lap 90, Lap 185, Lap 300 NBC/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $8,915,372
In his quest to both defend and capture his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, Ben Rhodes is set to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s series event at Nashville Superspeedway, the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 driver will make his 200th career start in the Truck Series.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Rhodes made his inaugural presence in the Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway in March 2014. By then, he was competing for the ARCA Menards Series East title with Turner Scott Motorsports after previously competing with TSM in the ARCA Menards Series East on a part-time basis in 2013 and in the UARA-STAR Series with Marcos Ambrose Motorsports in 2012. Driving the No. 32 Chevrolet Silverado for TSM, Rhodes started 12th and finished eighth in his series debut. He would make three additional Truck starts with TSM at Dover Motor Speedway in May, Bristol Motor Speedway in August and at Phoenix Raceway in November, where he finished 22nd, ninth and fifth, respectively. By then, he had also secured the 2014 ARCA East title.
After competing in 10 Xfinity Series events with JR Motorsports in 2015, Rhodes entered the Truck Series full-time for the 2016 season, where he piloted the No. 41 Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing. He commenced the season by finishing seventh at Daytona International Speedway in February before finishing sixth and 16th during his next two events. By then, he had notched his first career pole position at Martinsville Speedway in April. At Kansas Speedway in May, Rhodes was within striking distance of notching his first victory amid an overtime shootout until he made contact with veteran Johnny Sauter with two turns remaining and sent both into the outside wall, with Rhodes ending up in 18th place.
Despite finishing no higher than 11th during his next three starts, he rallied by finishing fourth at Iowa Speedway and a career-best runner-up result at World Wide Technology Raceway, respectively, in June. With only a single extra top-10 result recorded during the final seven regular-season events on the schedule, Rhodes did not make the 2016 Truck Series Playoffs. Ultimately, he would finish no higher than 12th during the seven-race Playoff stretch before concluding his first Truck Series season in 14th place in the final standings.
Remaining at ThorSport Racing while sporting the No. 27 alongside his entry for the 2017 Truck Series season, Rhodes began the season by finishing 12th at Daytona after being involved in a final lap multi-truck wreck that collected all four ThorSport Racing entries. After finishing fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway and 20th at Martinsville Speedway, respectively, Rhodes was in position to achieve his first career victory at Kansas. He led 25 laps and had outdueled Kyle Busch in the closing laps until he blew his engine with eight laps remaining and retired in 23rd place. Amid the disappointment at Kansas, the Kentucky native would accumulate four top-five results, a runner-up result at Pocono Raceway in July and seven top-10 results during the following 11 regular-season events on the schedule.
After finishing in sixth place during the regular-season finale at Chicagoland, Rhodes managed to claim the eighth and final transfer spot to the 2017 Playoffs in a tie-breaker over Ryan Truex. Then after finishing seventh in the Playoff opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, Rhodes made a daring three-wide pass on Truex and Christopher Bell for the lead during a seven-lap dash to the finish before fending off Bell to score his first elusive career victory in his 46th Truck start and transfer from the Round of 8 to 6.
Four races later, however, Rhodes’ hopes of transferring into the Championship 4 round came to an end during the Round of 8 finale at Phoenix Raceway after he got turned by Playoff rival Austin Cindric and made head-on contact into the inside wall before he slid up the track and collected teammate Matt Crafton during a restart with 21 laps remaining. Settling in 19th place during the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway after running out of fuel with five laps remaining, Rhodes would conclude his sophomore Truck season in fifth place in the final standings. By then, he tripled his top-five results (six) and earned seven additional top-10 results compared to his previous season (12). He had also led 203 laps and recorded an average-finishing result of 12.4.
Returning to sport the No. 41 alongside his entry as ThorSport Racing changed manufacturers from Toyota to Ford, Rhodes commenced the season with two consecutive fourth-place finishes and five top-10 results through the first 10 scheduled events. Then after finishing in the runner-up spot at Chicagoland in June, Rhodes notched his first Truck victory of the season and the third of his career at his home track, Kentucky Speedway, in July after leading 38 laps. He notched two top-seven results during the final four regular-season events before the Playoffs began and made his second consecutive Playoff appearance.
After being eliminated early from title contention with respective results of 14th, fourth and 16th throughout the Round of 8, he earned two top-five results and finished no lower than 12th during the final four events on the schedule before ending up in eighth place in the final standings. By then, he accumulated a career-high three poles, eight top-five results, and 13 top-10 results, with 232 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.9 to coincide with his Kentucky victory.
With Rhodes entering his fourth consecutive Truck Series season at ThorSport with his fourth different number, 99, for the 2019 season, he commenced the season with a 14th-place finish at Daytona after being involved in a multi-truck wreck during an overtime shootout despite leading 11 laps and leading when the incident occurred. Despite finishing in the runner-up spot three times and notching eight top-10 results during the 16-race regular-season stretch, Rhodes missed the Playoffs for the first time since 2016. He would finish in the top five twice and in the top 10 four times during the seven-race Playoff stretch before settling in ninth place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 11.3.
Like the previous season, Rhodes’ season commenced with a wreck at Daytona after he was involved in a multi-truck wreck with three laps remaining while battling for the lead and ending up in 25th place in the final running order. He would rally by finishing in the top 10 during his next three starts as he would reach 100 career starts in the Truck Series. After finishing in the top five four times during his next 10 starts, Rhodes snapped a 48-race winless drought by notching his fourth career victory at Darlington Raceway in September after fending off Derek Kraus during an overtime shootout and etching his name back into the Playoffs.
Despite transferring from the Round of 10 to 8 after respective finishes of 13th, 23rd and fourth throughout the Round of 10, Rhodes finished 20th, 20th and second, respectively, during the Round of 8, which were not enough for him to make the Championship 4 cutline. With a seventh-place finish during the finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, Rhodes ended up in seventh place in the final standings. By then, he notched a career-high nine top-five results, 14 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 10.0.
The 2021 Truck Series season was a career year for Rhodes, who remained as a ThorSport Racing competitor for the sixth consecutive season and his third piloting the No. 99 truck while the team returned to fielding Toyota Tundras. During the season opener at Daytona, Rhodes overtook Cory Roper entering the tri-oval on the final lap before edging a hard-charging Jordan Anderson to claim his fifth Truck career victory and first at Daytona. He would then go back-to-back in victories and win multiple races in a Truck season for the first time in his career after winning the Daytona International Speedway Road Course during the following weekend.
From there, Rhodes would finish in the top three three times and collect eight top-10 results during the final 13 regular-season events before the Playoffs commenced. Implementing consistency in the form of two top-three results and a total of four top-10 results throughout the Playoffs, Rhodes managed to make his first Championship 4 appearance. Then during the finale at Phoenix, Rhodes achieved his first Truck Series championship after finishing in third place on the track and emerging as the highest-finishing title contender over Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek and teammate Matt Crafton. With his accomplishment, Rhodes became the 19th different competitor to win a Truck Series title as he delivered both the fourth series’ driver’s title and first owner’s title for ThorSport Racing. Overall, Rhodes concluded the season with eight top-five results, a career-high 16 top-10 results, 99 laps led and a career-best average-finishing result of 9.3.
Entering the 2022 Truck Series season as the reigning champion, Rhodes commenced the season by finishing in second place at Daytona. Six races later, he overtook Carson Hocevar with four laps remaining to notch his first victory of the season and the seventh of his career at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April. He would proceed to finish in the top 10 four additional times for the final 10 regular-season events before making his sixth consecutive appearance in the Playoffs. With two runner-up results throughout the Playoffs and a sixth-place finish during the Round of 8 finale at Homestead in October, Rhodes managed to transfer from the Round of 10 to the Championship 4 round by a single point. Amid a late pit strategic move for two fresh tires in the closing laps that enabled him to assume the lead both in the race and the title battle, Rhodes would be overtaken and beaten by title rival Zane Smith amid an overtime shootout as he would settle in second place in the final standings. While he did not defend his title, Rhodes concluded the 2022 Truck season with eight top-five results, 13 top-10 results, a career-high 271 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.7.
Returning to pilot a Ford while retaining control of ThorSport’s No. 99 entry for the 2023 Truck Series season, Rhodes commenced the season by finishing 11th at Daytona amid a rain-shortened event. He would then record three top-five results and five top-10 finishes during his next nine starts before notching his eighth Truck career victory and his first at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, with Rhodes collecting the first Triple Truck Challenge $50,000 bonus of the season. The Charlotte victory also guaranteed a spot into the 2023 Truck Playoffs for the Kentucky native, who finished no lower than 12th during the final five regular-season events.
Despite enduring a difficult Round of 10, where he finished no higher than 16th twice, Rhodes managed to earn the eighth and final transfer spot into the Round of 8. Then, after finishing seventh and second, respectively, in the Round of 8’s first two events, he capitalized on a gusty pit call made by his championship-winning crew chief Rich Lushes to pit with 53 laps remaining, lead 22 laps and nurse his No. 99 Ford for the remainder of the event as the tires wore out to finish second at Homestead and secure the fourth and final transfer spot into the Championship 4 in a tie-breaker over rookie Nick Sanchez.
During the finale at Phoenix, Rhodes withstood four overtime shootouts amid a series of late carnages that affected all four title contenders, including Rhodes himself, to fend off a late charge from title rival Grant Enfinger and finish fifth on the track, but as the highest-finishing title contender over Enfinger, Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar, that enabled Rhodes to win his second Truck Series championship. With the accomplishment, Rhodes became the fifth competitor to achieve multiple Truck Series championships as he also delivered the fifth series title for ThorSport Racing.
This season, Rhodes has racked up two top-five results and four top-10 results through the first 12 scheduled events, with his highest result being a third-place run at Darlington in May. He is currently ranked in eighth place in the 2024 driver’s standings. Despite trailing the points lead by 177 points, he is 36 points above the top-10 cutline to make the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs with four regular-season events remaining on the schedule.
Through 199 previous Truck starts, Rhodes has achieved two championships, seven victories, five poles, 58 top-five results, 107 top-10 results, 1,234 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.6 as he strives to make the 2024 Playoffs and contend for his third series title.
Ben Rhodes is scheduled to make his 200th Craftsman Truck Series career start at Nashville Superspeedway for the Rackley Roofing 200. The event is set to commence this upcoming Friday, June 28, and will air at 8 p.m. ET on FS2.
Reaume Brothers Racing has announced that Frankie Muniz will join the team for three races this season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Muniz will take part in three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events at Nashville Superspeedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway.
He will also compete at Michigan International Speedway in August in the ARCA Menards Series for the team.
Video from Black Flags Matter
Muniz has raced part-time in the Xfinity Series this season for Emerling-Gase Motorsports where his best finish was 30th at Phoenix Raceway for the Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200.
Last year he had a great season in the ARCA Menards Series for Rette Jones Racing and led the points standings for a long time, showing that he could race well with his opponents and demonstrating good car control.
It will be exciting to see how well Muniz does in the Truck Series as he continues to build his resume in NASCAR with Ford and Reaume Brothers Racing.
You can watch Muniz in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut behind the wheel of the No. 22 Ford F-150 at Nashville Superspeedway, on Friday, June 28 at 8 p.m. ET on FS2.
Corey Heim’s recent hot pursuit on the track continued after the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro raced his way to a strong, dominant victory in the Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday, June 1.
The 21-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, led twice for a race-high 65 of 160-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified ninth and settled in the top five during both stage periods before he assumed the lead for the first time at the start of the final stage period with 83 laps remaining.
Then, amid a late cycle of green flag pit stops, followed by a single-truck incident involving Vicente Salas, Heim cycled his way back into the lead for the start of the final restart period with 23 laps remaining. Despite restarting on the inside lane, which was deemed a struggling lane on restarts, Heim rocketed ahead with the lead and led the remainder of the event as he beat runner-up Christian Eckes by more than a second. It was his fourth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2024 season as he also cashed in on the second Triple Truck Challenge bonus.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, May 31, Ty Majeski claimed his third Truck pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 138.568 mph in 32.475 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Christian Eckes, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 138.041 mph in 32.599 seconds.
Prior to the event, Tanner Gray dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his TRICON Garage entry.
When the green flag waved and the race started following a three-hour delay due to on-track precipitation, the field within the middle of the pack fanned out to three lanes through the frontstretch as Ty Majeski used the outside lane to his advantage to muscle his No. 98 Road Ranger/Bucked UP Ford F-150 ahead of Christian Eckes through the first two turns and retain the lead through the backstretch. As the field behind continued to fan out through the backstretch, Majeski fended off Eckes to lead the first lap.
Through the second to fifth lap marks, Majeski retained the lead as he stretched it to as high as half a second over Eckes while Nick Sanchez, Stewart Friesen and Dean Thompson trailed in the top five. Behind, Ben Rhodes trailed in sixth place by four seconds while Corey Heim, Taylor Gray, Grant Enfinger and Daniel Dye were racing in the top 10.
Just past the Lap 10 mark, the event’s first caution period flew when newcomer Luke Fenhaus, who was racing in the mid-20s and battling both Bayley Currey and Lawless Alan amid three lanes, got loose underneath Currey before he spun his No. 66 Soda Sense Ford F-150 in Turn 1. During the event’s first caution period, select names, mainly those running within the mid-pack region, pitted, among which included Tanner Gray, Matt Mills, Connor Mosack, Bayley Currey and rookie Thad Moffitt, while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 15, Majeski and Eckes battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch as Sanchez pursued in third. Amid the tight battle, Eckes managed to lead the next lap from the inside lane and he would lead the following lap by a tenth of a second until Majeski reassumed the top spot by Lap 18. Not long after Eckes was fending off Sanchez for the runner-up spot, Friesen proceeded to battle Sanchez amid close-quarters racing for third place. With Friesen muscling ahead of Sanchez for third, Majeski retained the lead by half a second over Eckes while Dean Thompson occupied fifth place.
Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Majeski was leading by more than a second over Eckes followed by Sanchez, Friesen and Corey Heim while Thompson, Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes, Daniel Dye and Taylor Gray were running in the top 10. Behind, Rajah Caruth occupied 11th place ahead of Tyler Ankrum, Chase Purdy, Ty Dillon and Jake Garcia while rookie Layne Riggs, newcomer Andres Perez de Lara, Tanner Gray, Bayley Currey and Lawless Alan followed suit in the top 20 along with Colby Howard, Mason Massey, Matt Crafton, Matt Mills and Bret Holmes.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 35, Majeski claimed his fourth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Eckes settled in second ahead of Sanchez, Friesen and Heim while Thompson, Enfinger, Rhodes, Dye and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. By then, all but one of 32 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Majeski pitted while the rest led by Tanner Gray, including those who pitted earlier, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Daniel Dye was penalized for speeding on pit road as Sanchez emerged as the first competitor off of pit road.
The second stage period started on Lap 41 as Tanner Gray and Colby Howard occupied the front row. At the start, Gray muscled ahead from the outside lane to retain the lead while Mosack also retained second ahead of Sanchez and Howard as the field fanned out through the backstretch. Gray would proceed to lead by two seconds over Mosack while Sanchez, Rhodes, Howard and Majeski trailed in the top six.
Within Lap 45, the caution returned after Howard, who was in the top five, wrecked his No. 1 Coastal Sports Cards Toyota Tundra TRD Pro hard against the outside wall in Turn 3 after he lost a right-front tire. By then, Sanchez had overtaken Mosack to claim the runner-up spot while Tanner Gray was still leading. During the caution period, Crafton, who was battling electrical issues earlier in the event, pitted his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 to have his issues further addressed. Crafton would make multiple trips to pit road but he would remain on the lead lap.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 54, Tanner Gray and Sanchez dueled for the lead entering the first two turns. They then rubbed fenders and nearly wrecked entering the backstretch, but they kept their trucks running straight. Their stalled momentum, however, enabled Ben Rhodes to go three wide in between both of them exiting the backstretch as Rhodes made the move stick and he led the following lap over both Sanchez and Tanner Gray. Amid the tight battle, Rhodes would proceed to lead in his No. 99 Bommarito Automotive Group Ford F-150 ahead of Sanchez, and Tanner Gray dropped to third as Majeski closed in and eventually overtook Gray for third place.
By Lap 60, Rhodes was leading by two-tenths of a second over Sanchez followed by Majeski, Sanchez and Tanner Gray while Heim, Enfinger, Chase Purdy, Taylor Gray and Rajah Caruth trailed in the top 10. Behind, Connor Mosack was in 11th ahead of Ty Dillon, Friesen, Tyler Ankrum and Dean Thompson as rookie Layne Riggs, Andres Perez de Lara, Daniel Dye, Jake Garcia and Bret Holmes occupied the top 20.
Six laps later, Majeski, who spent the previous six laps navigating his way into the runner-up spot and was closing in on teammate Rhodes for the lead, overtook Rhodes to reassume the lead. Not long after, Eckes navigated past Rhodes for the runner-up spot while Sanchez was trying to close in for third place. In addition, Heim trailed in fifth place by more than two seconds while Tanner Gray and Enfinger both trailed by seven seconds in the top seven.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 70, Majeski claimed his fifth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season and completed the sweep of both stages of the event. Eckes settled in a close second followed by Sanchez, Rhodes and Heim while Enfinger, brothers Tanner and Taylor Gray, Purdy and Dillon were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Majeski pitted while Kieth McGee and Thad Moffitt remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Ankrum and Dye exited first and second, respectively, after both opted for two fresh tires while Heim, who exited third, was the third competitor to have four fresh tires on his entry. Not long after, McGee and Moffitt pitted their respective entries as Ankrum assumed the lead
With 83 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Ankrum and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Heim muscled his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead into the lead from the inside lane. As a flurry of battles ensued within the field, Heim retained the lead by half a second over Ankrum at the halfway mark with 80 laps remaining. Meanwhile, Majeski trailed in third place and by eight-tenths of a second along with Sanchez and Dye while Rhodes, Eckes, Tanner Gray, Enfinger and Caruth were scored in the top 10.
With 70 laps remaining, Heim was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Majeski followed by Sanchez, Ankrum and Rhodes while Eckes, Dye, Enfinger, Caruth and Tanner Gray were racing in the top 10 ahead of Friesen, Purdy, Thompson, Dillon and Crafton. Meanwhile, Taylor Gray pitted his No. 17 Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro and his pit crew raised Gray’s hood up to address a brake issue as Gray lost multiple laps on pit road.
Ten laps later, Heim extended his advantage by more than a second over Majeski as Sanchez, Rhodes and Eckes continued to follow suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Dye was in sixth and he was racing ahead of Ankrum, Enfinger, Caruth and Friesen while Heim proceeded to slightly extend his advantage to nearly two seconds over Majeski with 50 laps remaining.
Then with 45 laps remaining, green flag pit stops commenced as the leader Heim pit along with Jake Garcia. Majeski then pitted during the following lap before more names, including Rhodes, Enfinger, Caruth, Dillon, Dye and Ankrum, pit during the proceeding laps. With more names peeling off the track to pit their respective entries, Sanchez, who has yet to pit, was leading ahead of Eckes and Friesen while Tanner Gray and Purdy were scored in the top five with 40 laps remaining.
With less than 35 laps remaining, more names, including Sanchez, pitted under green while select names led by Tanner Gray, Purdy and Luke Fenhaus, all of whom have yet to pit, were running in the top-three spots.
Then with nearly 30 laps remaining, the caution flew after Vicente Salas spun in Turn 4 as Heim had to take evasive action to avoid hitting Salas. At the time of caution, Tanner Gray had pitted while Purdy, Fenhaus and Crafton, all of whom had yet to pit, were still on the track and occupying the top three spots. During the caution period, select names including Purdy, Crafton and Fenhaus pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track as Heim cycled back into the lead.
With 23 laps remaining, the event restarted under green as Heim and Majeski occupied the front row. At the start, Heim, who restarted on the inside lane, retained the lead by a narrow advantage over Majeski through the first two turns and back to the backstretch. With the battle for the lead intensifying, Heim retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Majeski while third-place Eckes tried to close in from third place and as he trailed by six-tenths of a second with 20 laps remaining.
With less than 15 laps remaining, Heim extended his advantage by nearly a second over Majeski while Eckes, Sanchez and Rhodes were in the top five. Riggs, Purdy, Friesen, Andres Perez de Lara and Luke Fenhaus followed suit in the top 10 while Heim continued to lead by a second with 10 laps remaining. Behind him, Eckes and Sanchez started to pressure Majeski for second.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Heim retained the lead by a second over Eckes and Sanchez while Majeski dropped to fourth as he trailed by three seconds. Meanwhile, Layne Riggs was up into fifth place as he occupied the spot over Purdy and Rhodes.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim remained as the leader by more than a second over Eckes as Sanchez trailed by two seconds. Having a reasonable lead to his advantage, Heim was able to smoothly navigate his way around Gateway for a final time before he navigated back to the frontstretch to claim his fourth checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season.
With the victory, Heim, who became the first four-time race winner of this season, notched his ninth career win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series division, his first since winning at North Wilkesboro Speedway two races ago and his second at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway after he won his first in 2022.
As an added bonus, Heim, who was absent from last year’s Truck event at Gateway due to an illness, claimed the second $50,000 bonus as part of the Triple Truck Challenge, which also marks his second time claiming the prize after he achieved his first in 2022.
Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Total team effort today,” Heim said on FS2. “We actually struggled a bit yesterday and worked overnight on [the truck]. I just have to say [that] this pit crew redeemed themselves. Last week, we felt like we could’ve won the race and admittedly they made some mistakes, but they redeemed themselves today and that’s what it’s all about. That was awesome. [I’m] On top of the world right now. We’ve got such a great race team and such a long season ahead.”
Christian Eckes settled in the runner-up position for a third consecutive event at Gateway while Nick Sanchez, Ty Majeski and rookie Layne Riggs finished in the top five.
Chase Purdy, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, and newcomers Andres Perez de Lara and Luke Fenhaus completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 13 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 32 laps. In addition, 20 of 32 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 12th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes leads the regular-season standings by 31 points over Corey Heim, 53 over Nick Sanchez and 64 over Ty Majeski.
Results.
1. Corey Heim, 65 laps led
2. Christian Eckes, two laps led
3. Nick Sanchez, 10 laps led
4. Ty Majeski, 43 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
5. Layne Riggs
6. Chase Purdy, five laps led
7. Ben Rhodes, 11 laps led
8. Stewart Friesen
9. Andres Perez de Lara
10. Luke Fenhaus
11. Tanner Gray, 19 laps led
12. Daniel Dye
13. Ty Dillon
14. Dean Thompson
15. Tyler Ankrum, four laps led
16. Rajah Caruth
17. Grant Enfinger
18. Timmy Hill
19. Lawless Alan
20. Matt Crafton
21. Bret Holmes, one lap down
22. Connor Mosack, one lap down
23. Matt Mills, one lap down
24. Jake Garcia, one lap down
25. Vicente Salas, three laps down
26. Spencer Boyd, four laps down
27. Keight McGee, four laps down, one lap led
28. Thad Moffitt, five laps down
29. Bayley Currey, seven laps down
30. Taylor Gray, eight laps down
31. Mason Massey – OUT, Engine
32. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee, for the Rackley Roofing 200. The event is scheduled to occur on June 28 and air at 8 p.m. ET on FS2.
This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and the Craftsman Truck Series travel to World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway). Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch is the defending Cup Series race winner of the 1.25-mile oval.
The Toyota 200 is the second race of the Triple Truck Challenge and the winner of the event will receive a $50,000 bonus except Nick Sanchez who won the first race of the bonus program last week at Charlotte. If he wins at Gateway, he will receive an increased bonus of $150,000.
The Xfinity Series and the ARCA Menards Series West head to Portland International Raceway. AJ Allmendinger won the first Xfinity race at the 1.97-mile road course track in 2022 while Cole Custer took home the trophy last year.
NASCAR Press Pass will be available throughout the weekend. All times are Eastern.
Friday, May 31 2:35 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Practice (Portland) Race Center 5:30 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Qualifying (Portland) Race Center
6:05 p.m.: Craftsman Truck Series Practice (Gateway) FS1 6:35 p.m.: Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying (Gateway) FS1
7 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Portland 112 – FloRacing/MRN
Saturday, June 1 9:30 a.m.: Cup Series Practice (Gateway) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM 10:15: Cup Series Qualifying (Gateway) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
1:30 p.m.: Truck Series Toyota 200 (Gateway) Fox/MRN/SiriusXM Distance: 200 miles (160 Laps) Stages end on Lap 35, Lap 70, Final Stage ends on Lap 160 Purse: $752,252
11:30: Xfinity Series Practice (Portland) No TV Noon: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Portland) FS1 4:30: Xfinity Series Pacific Office Automation 147 (Portland) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Distance: 147.75 miles (75 Laps) Stages end on: Lap 25, Lap 50, Final Stage ends on Lap 75 Purse: $1,408,568
Sunday, June 2 3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 (Gateway) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Distance: 300 miles (240 laps) Stages end on: Lap 45, Lap 140, Final Stage ends on Lap 240 Purse: $7,776,907
On a night where the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series division achieved a milestone feat in series’ history, Nick Sanchez has 50,000 reasons to celebrate after storming to a late victory in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, May 24.
The 2022 ARCA Menards Series champion from Miami, Florida, led the final nine of 134 scheduled laps in an event where he started 16th and spent the first half of the event mired outside the top 10 and trying to manage his way to the front. Initially poised for a top-10 run when the event was placed in a late caution period with 15 laps remaining, Sanchez was one of multiple competitors who opted to pit for fresh tires. Then after restarting in the fourth lane with nine laps remaining, Sanchez quickly bolted his way to the front as he overtook Christian Eckes for the lead through the frontstretch. From there, he fended off a late charge from Corey Heim to score his second Truck Series career victory in the series’ 700th event in history and cash in the first of three $50,000 bonuses as part of this year’s Triple Truck Challenge.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Tanner Gray notched his first Truck Series pole position of the 2024 season and the second of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 178.241 mph in 30.296 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Corey Heim, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 177.795 mph in 30.372 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Lawless Alan, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Christian Eckes and Tyler Ankrum 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, Tanner Gray gained the early advantage from the inside lane as he muscled his No. 15 Dead on Tools Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead from teammate Corey Heim through Turns 1 and 2. As the field behind jostled for early spots, Gray proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of a side-by-side battle between Heim and Ty Majeski while Rajah Caruth, rookie Layne Riggs, Jack Wood and Chase Purdy followed suit.
Three laps later, Heim zipped his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro past teammate Tanner Gray to assume the lead from the backstretch through Turns 3 and 4. Heim would proceed to lead by nearly three-tenths of a second over Gray as Majeski, Caruth and Riggs followed suit in the top five through the first five scheduled laps. Behind, Wood retained sixth ahead of Purdy as Connor Mosack, Kaden Honeycutt and Ben Rhodes trailed in the top 10.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Heim was leading by nine-tenths of a second over teammate Tanner Gray followed by Majeski, Caruth and Riggs while Honeycutt, Purdy, Mosack, Wood and Rhodes continued to race in the top 10. Behind, Dean Thompson occupied 11th place ahead of Taylor Gray, Bayley Currey, Stewart Friesen and Ty Dillon while Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger, Matt Mills, Christian Eckes and Nick Sanchez followed suit in the top 20. Notably, Brett Moffitt was in 22nd, Tyler Ankrum was mired in 25th ahead of Connor Jones and Jeffrey Earnhardt was down in 34th.
Ten laps later, Heim extended his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Tanner Gray as Majeski, Caruth and Honeycutt were in the top five. Behind, Riggs dropped to sixth while Purdy, Rhodes, Thompson and Mosack were in the top 10.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Heim, winner of last weekend’s Truck Series event at North Wilkesboro Speedway, captured his fifth stage victory of the 2024 season. Honeycutt, who overtook Tanner Gray for the runner-up spot three laps earlier, settled in second ahead of Gray, Caruth and Majeski while Riggs, Purdy, Thompson, Rhodes and Mosack were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the field led by Heim pitted for a first round of service. Following the pit stops, Tanner Gray reassumed the lead after exiting first ahead of Heim while Honeycutt, Purdy, Majeski, Caruth, Riggs, Taylor Gray, Thompson and Mosack followed suit. During the pit stop sequence, Caruth was forced into the grass amid a side-by-side contact with Majeski, who was trying to avoid Riggs as Riggs was exiting his pit stall. In addition, Stewart Friesen returned to pit road for his first service of the night after missing his pit stall during the first sequence with the field. Soon after, Caruth also pitted again to address a tire rub from the damage with Majeski’s contact.
The second stage period started on Lap 37 as teammates Tanner Gray and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Gray and Heim battled dead even in front of two stacked lanes while Honeycutt, who restarted in the second lane, made a move to the outside lane in an attempted three-wide battle towards the front. With the field behind also fanning out to nearly three lanes through the backstretch, Tanner Gray barely managed to muscle ahead of Heim to retain the lead while returning back to the frontstretch. Behind, a series of battles ensued as Purdy and Majeski battled for third place, Thompson battled Honeycutt for fifth place, Riggs and Mosack battled for fifth place and Taylor Gray battled Jack Wood for 10th place.
On Lap 40, Heim, who kept teammate Tanner Gray within close distance over the previous four laps, drew his Toyota alongside Gray’s through Turns 3 and 4 and back to the frontstretch. Heim would then muscle ahead of Gray from the inside lane and through Turns 1 and 2 as he reassumed the lead.
At the Lap 45 mark, Heim was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Tanner Gray followed by Purdy, Majeski and Thompson while Riggs, Honeycutt, Mosack, Taylor Gray and Wood were in the top 10. Behind, Nick Sanchez trailed in 11th ahead of Daniel Dye, Dillon, Rhodes and Grant Enfinger while Caruth, Matt Mills, Eckes, Moffitt and Crafton were in the top 20.
By Lap 50, Heim slightly extended his advantage as he was leading by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Gray followed by Purdy, Thompson and Majeski while Honeycutt, Riggs, Mosack, Gray and Sanchez trailed in the top 10.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 60, Heim swept both stage periods of the night while also claiming his sixth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Tanner Gray settled in second ahead of Purdy, Honeycutt and Thompson while Majeski, Riggs, Mosack, Sanchez and Daniel Dye were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, the field led by Heim returned to pit road for another round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Heim retained the lead after exiting first ahead of Tanner Gray, Majeski, Mosack and Purdy as Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Riggs, Thompson and Honeycutt followed suit in top 10. Amid the pit stops, however, Honeycutt was penalized for dragging his gas can out of his pit stall.
Towards the halfway mark of the event, the final stage commenced as teammates Heim and Tanner Gray occupied the front row once again. As Heim retained the lead, the caution quickly returned for a multi-truck wreck that erupted just past the backstretch when contact from Moffitt got Ankrum loose as he spun his No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado RST below the apron in Turn 3 before his truck went right back towards the outside wall and was T-boned on the right side by Thad Moffitt as Keith McGee and Jeffrey Earnhardt were also involved while trying to avoid the wreckage.
During the following restart with 58 laps remaining. Heim gained the advantage from the inside lane and muscled ahead to retain the lead while Connor Mosack challenged Tanner Gray for the runner-up spot. As Gray and Mosack continued to battle for second in front of Taylor Gray, Majeski and Purdy, Heim led the field back to the frontstretch.
Four laps later, however, the caution returned after Matt Crafton lost a tire and slapped his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 hard against the outside wall in Turn 3. During the caution period, the following names that included Purdy, Mason Massey, Stefan Parsons, Friesen, Connor Jones, Boyd, Eckes and Currey remained on the track while the rest led by Heim pitted. During the pit stops, Heim’s dominant run hit a braking zone after a slow pit stop due to a broken jack while his No. 11 team was trying to change the right-side tires plummeted to 28th place.
As the event restarted with 47 laps remaining, Purdy muscled ahead with a slight advantage over Eckes before Eckes made his move beneath Purdy and assumed the lead in his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST exiting the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4. As Eckes led Purdy, Stefan Parsons was in third place as he was racing in front of Connor Jones, Stewart Friesen and Ben Rhodes while Grant Enfinger was in seventh. With more battles ensuing within the field, Eckes, who was dealing with voltage issues earlier in the race, retained the lead with 45 laps remaining.
With 40 laps remaining, Eckes was leading by nearly a second over Purdy as they were being followed by Parsons, Friesen, Rhodes, Honeycutt and Sanchez. Meanwhile, Heim, who restarted 27th following his pit stop miscue, had muscled his way all the way up to eighth place while Jones and Moffitt trailed in the top 10 ahead of Majeski, Caruth, Enfinger, Dillon and Mosack.
Ten laps later, Eckes retained the lead by nearly seven-tenths of a second over Purdy while Parsons, Honeycutt and Friesen were scored in the top five. Behind, Heim was in sixth place and trailing the lead by more than three seconds while Sanchez, Rhodes, Moffitt and Majeski were in the top 10. By then, Tanner Gray was mired in 12th behind Caruth, Thompson was back in 16th behind Dillon and Mosack was battling Matt Mills for 17th along with Taylor Gray and Dye.
Another three laps later, the battle for the lead ignited as Purdy made a move beneath Eckes for the lead in Turn 1. Despite assuming the top spot, however, Purdy went wide, which allowed Eckes to pull a crossover move entering the backstretch as both he and Purdy battled dead even for the lead through Turns 3 and 4. Then as Eckes slid in front of Purdy entering the frontstretch, Purdy pulled a crossover move on Eckes through the frontstretch as they dueled for the lead again. Purdy then slid up the track in Turn 1 for a second time, which allowed Eckes to muscle ahead and maintain a reasonable advantage over a hard-charging Purdy. Amid the battle between Eckes and Purdy, third-place Honeycutt started to close in in his No. 45 R.C.D. Shoe Company Chevrolet Silverado RST while Heim was in fifth place and trailing the lead by more than two seconds.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Eckes, who was beginning to be mired in lapped traffic, retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Purdy while Honeycutt made it a three-truck battle for the lead as he trailed by half a second. Behind, Heim trailed by more than three seconds in fourth place while Parsons was in fifth.
Four laps later, Purdy scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2, which stalled his late momentum and his challenge on Eckes for the lead. Despite scraping the wall, Purdy remained on the track, but he would lose the runner-up spot to Honeycutt as Eckes continued to lead. A lap later, however, Purdy’s strong run went sour after he scrubbed the outside wall for a second time through Turns 1 and 2, which was enough for the event to be placed in a late caution period as Purdy, who lost a tire in the process, nursed his damaged No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST back to pit road. The caution also erased Eckes’ six-second advantage over Honeycutt as Heim was up to third place.
During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Honeycutt and Heim pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Honeycutt and Heim both lost a bevy of spots after both endured slow pit services. For Honeycut, a broken air gun resulted in his tire changer having issues changing the right-rear tire. For Heim, the issue stemmed from his rear tire changer struggling to get the lug nuts tightened on the left-rear tire as Heim started to spin his tires, which left his No. 11 team uncertain if the lug nuts on the truck were tightened as Heim lined up in 11th place.
Down to the final nine laps, the event restarted under green as Eckes and Parsons occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Eckes rocketed away with the lead followed by Caruth and Sanchez while Parsons was struggling to launch. Then through the frontstretch to complete the following lap, Sanchez, who pitted during the latest caution period and passed Caruth for the runner-up spot, overtook Eckes for the lead as Heim, who was charging to the front for a second time since the restart, bolted past Eckes through Turns 3 and 4 to move into third place. Heim would then overtake Friesen for the runner-up spot during the following lap as he set his sights on Sanchez for the lead and potential victory.
With five laps remaining, Sanchez maintained the lead by nearly three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Heim while Friesen trailed in third place by eight-tenths of a second. As the field behind jostled for late spots, pole-sitter Tanner Gray spun sideways towards the apron in Turns 1 and 2, but the event remained under green flag conditions as Heim was trying to gain a run on Sanchez for the lead.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Sanchez, who had managed to keep his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST in front of Heim’s Toyota, remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Heim. Through Turns 1 and 2, Heim ran his truck close towards the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 in an effort to gain a run, but Sanchez maintained his advantage through the backstretch. With Heim unable to mount a final lap rally for two final turns, Sanchez was able to cycle back to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed the checkered flag to win by half a second over Heim.
With the victory, Sanchez, who notched his first career win at Daytona International Speedway in February, became the 82nd competitor overall to achieve multiple victories in the Truck Series and the 13th to win a Truck event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
With Sanchez winning the series’ 700th event in recorded history, the Miami native joins an exclusive club of competitors to win during a milestone event for the series. Ron Hornaday Jr., a four-time champion of the series, won the 100th recorded Truck Series event in history at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington, in 1999 before winning the 300th series event at Dover Motor Speedway eight years later. Ted Musgrave, the 2005 champion, won the series’ 200th race at Memphis Motorsports Park in 2003, Clint Bowyer won the series’ 400th event at Kansas Speedway in 2011 and Austin Dillon won the series’ 500th event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2015. Recently, Kyle Busch won the series’ 600th event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2020.
As an added bonus, Sanchez, who recorded the 284th Truck victory for the Chevrolet nameplate and the second overall for Rev Racing, claimed the first of three Triple Truck Challenge bonuses and a $50,000 check.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“It’s awesome,” Sanchez said on FS1. “What can I say more about this team? We started off bad. We knew it. [We] Did not let it affect us. We went to work. We put ourselves in position when it mattered most. It’s great to get [win] number two. [I’ll] Probably put the [$50,000 bonus] in the savings. I totally forgot about that, so yeah, added bonus. Sweet.”
Sanchez’s Charlotte victory was the most meaningful for Chris Showalter, the truck chief for both Sanchez and Rev Racing as he has been working through all 700 recorded events in the Truck Series since the first event at Phoenix Raceway in February 1995.
“[This race] just probably popped to number one [favorite],” Showalter, who fought tears of joy, said. “It’s a long battle. This is about people and I love this group of people. I’ll do anything for this group of people.”
Heim, who led a race-high 72 laps and swept both stages, settled in second place for his seventh top-three result of the 2024 season as he fell short of winning at Charlotte Motor Speedway for a second consecutive season.
“Obviously, an eventful day for us,” Heim said. “[I] Just felt like it got away from us on separate occasions there. We had control of the race and as soon as you don’t, you’re just victim to the leader and they can control the air. Nick [Sanchez] did a great job at just blocking my air the best he could. I felt like we had the best truck by a long shot. When you’re behind the leader, you can’t do much, but I feel like we were able to get through traffic so well. Glad I could make it entertaining at least, but it doesn’t really matter for us. We finished second.”
Shortly after, however, Heim was disqualified from the runner-up result due to his truck having three lug nuts not safely secured following his recent pit service. As a result, Stewart Friesen, who missed his pit stall and was running in the middle of the pack earlier in the day, was promoted to second place as Grant Enfinger, Matt Mills and Ben Rhodes ended up in the top five.
Finishing in the top 10 were Jake Garcia, Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack, Dean Thompson and Christian Eckes. Notably, Chase Purdy ended up 13th behind Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth fell back to 16th behind Brett Moffitt, pole-sitter Tanner Gray ended up 17th, Ty Majeski slid to 23rd and Stefan Parsons ended up 25th.
There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 31 laps.
Following the 11th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes leads the regular-season standings by 30 points over Corey Heim, 50 over Nick Sanchez, 64 over Ty Majeski and 99 over Taylor Gray.
Results.
1. Nick Sanchez, nine laps led
2. Stewart Friesen
3. Grant Enfinger
4. Matt Mills
5. Ben Rhodes
6. Jake Garcia
7. Kaden Honeycutt
8. Connor Mosack
9. Dean Thompson
10. Christian Eckes, 37 laps led
11. Connor Jones
12. Taylor Gray
13. Chase Purdy, five laps led
14. Bret Holmes
15. Brett Moffitt
16. Rajah Caruth
17. Tanner Gray, 11 laps led
18. Mason Massey
19. Daniel Dye
20. Spencer Boyd
21. Jack Wood
22. Timmy Hill
23. Ty Majeski
24. Ty Dillon
25. Stefan Parsons
26. Bayley Currey
27. Mason Maggio
28. Layne Riggs, one lap down
29. Memphis Villarreal, three laps down
30. Lawless Alan – OUT, Brakes
31. Matt Crafton, 15 laps down
32. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Accident
33. Thad Moffitt – OUT, Accident
34. Keigh McGee – OUT, Accident
35. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident
36. Corey Heim – Disqualified 72 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the series’ annual visit to Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, for the Toyota 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 1, and air at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Tanner Gray won Friday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He topped NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series qualifying with a 178.241 mph lap in the No. 15 Toyota for TRICON Garage to earn his first pole this season and his second consecutive Truck Series pole at Charlotte.
Gray’s teammate, Corey Heim, will start beside him on the front row. Ty Majeski qualified third followed by Rajah Caruth and Layne Riggs to complete the top five.
Chase Purdy, Connor Mosack, Jack Wood, Kaden Honeycutt and Bayley Currey rounded out the top 10 in qualifying.
Truck Series points leader, Christian Eckes, will start at the rear of the field after damage during practice.
Justin Carroll and Jennifer Jo Cobb did not qualify for the race.
The North Carolina Education Lottery 200 is scheduled for Friday at 8:30 p.m. on FS1 with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
NASCAR is set to race Memorial Day Weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway headlined by the 65th running of the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday night. Once again NASCAR will pay tribute to the Armed Forces with the NASCAR Salutes Together with Coca-Cola program.
As part of the program, every NASCAR Cup Series car participating in the Coca-Cola 600 will feature the name of a fallen service member on the windshield and Goodyear tires will feature a special “Honor and Remember” sidewall design. NASCAR and Coca-Cola will also host Gold Star Families who have lost family members as a result of serving.
Team Penske driver, Ryan Blaney, is the defending race winner.
The ARCA Menards Series and the Craftsman Truck Series will compete Friday night as the Xfinity Series takes to the track Saturday afternoon.
Friday, May 24 11:40 a.m.: ARCA Menards Series Practice (Al Entries) Race Center 12:40 p.m.: ARCA Menard Series Qualifying (Impound, Timed, All Entries) Race Center
1:35 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (Timed, All Entries, 20 Minutes) FS1 2:05 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound, All Entries, Single Vehicle -1 Lap) FS1
3:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice (Timed, All Entries, 20 Minutes) FS1 4:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound, All Entries, Single Vehicle – 1 Lap) FS1
6 p.m.: ARCA General Tire 150 (100 Laps-150 Miles) FS1/MRN
8:30 p.m.: Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Stages 30/60/134 Laps = 201 Miles – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $782,014 NASCAR Press Pass: Post Race
Saturday, May 25 1 p.m.: Xfinity Series BetMGM 300 Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 300 Miles – FOX/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $1,383,384 NASCAR Press Pass: Post Race
5:05 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (Groups A & B, 20 Minutes each) FS1/PRN/SiriusXM 5:50 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound, Groups A & B, Single Vehicle – 1 Lap/2 Rounds) FS1/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Press Pass: Post Qualifying
Sunday, May 26 6 p.m.: Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 Stages 100/200/300/400 Laps = 600 Miles FOX/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $9,874,821 NASCAR Press Pass: Post Race
For the second time of the 2024 season, Corey Heim made it known to the NASCAR community that it is Heim Time after notching a dominant NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the rain-delayed Wright Brand 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, May 19.
The 21-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, led twice for a race-high 66 of 250-scheduled laps in an event. He started 12th but quickly marched his way to the front as he spent the first stage period running inside the top five. Heim was scored in third place when the event was postponed from Saturday night to Sunday morning due to an ongoing increase of precipitation that flooded the circuit.
He spent the second stage period and a majority of the final stage period running towards the front until he muscled away from Jake Garcia to assume the lead during a late restart period with 65 laps remaining. After retaining the lead through another late-race restart period with 32 laps remaining, Heim pulled away from Grant Enfinger, rookie Layne Riggs and teammate/newcomer Brenden “Butterbean” Queen by as much as three seconds to score his third Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2024 season and his first at North Wilkesboro.
The starting lineup for the event was determined through a metric system after the event’s on-track qualifying session scheduled to occur on Saturday morning was canceled due to precipitation. Through the metric, Christian Eckes, the current series’ regular-season leader in the standings, was awarded the pole position and he shared the front row with Nick Sanchez.
When the green flag waved and the race started on Saturday, May 18, Eckes muscled his No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead with the lead from the inside lane through the first two turns. As the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch, Eckes proceeded to lead the first lap while Ross Chastain overtook Sanchez to move into the runner-up spot. Tanner Gray would follow suit in his bid for third place along with Ty Dillon. As more battles within the field ensued, Eckes stretched his lead to more than a second by the fifth lap mark while Sammy Smith was penalized for a start violation, where he pulled his Spire Motorsports entry out of line.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Eckes continued to extend his early advantage as he was leading by more than two seconds over Chastain followed by Tanner Gray, Dillon and Grant Enfinger while Corey Heim, Sanchez, Ben Rhodes, Ty Majeski and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10 ahead of Jake Garcia, Daniel Dye, Chase Purdy, Lawless Alan and Bayley Currey. Behind, Tyler Ankrum, rookie Layne Riggs, Matt Mills, Brenden Queen and Rajah Caruth followed suit in the top 20 ahead of Stewart Friesen, Jack Wood, Mason Massey, Bret Holmes and Dean Thompson while Matt Crafton was mired in 27th.
Ten laps later, Eckes stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Chastain while Tanner Gray, Dillon and Heim trailed by within three seconds in the top five on the track. Behind, Enfinger was trying to fend off Sanchez and Rhodes in sixth place while Majeski and Taylor Gray trailed in the top 10.
Another 10 laps later, Eckes continued to lead by more than two seconds over Chastain while teammates Tanner Gray and Heim battled for third place, though both started to close in on Chastain for the runner-up spot, as Dillon trailed by three seconds in fifth place. Eckes’ would have his advantage slightly decrease to one-and-a-half seconds over Chastain by the Lap 40 mark while Heim closed in while running in third place.
Just past the Lap 50 mark, Eckes retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Chastain while third-place Heim kept pace with the leaders as he trailed by a second. Behind, Tanner Gray trailed in fourth place by two seconds while Majeski was up to fifth ahead of Rhodes, Dillon, Sanchez, Taylor Gray and Jake Garcia. Meanwhile, Enfinger had fallen to 16th as he trailed Daniel Dye, Ankrum, Purdy, Riggs and Brenden Queen on the track.
A few laps past the Lap 55 mark, the event’s first caution period flew due to precipitation being reported in the venue. During the caution period and with a flurry of pit strategies ensuing, a majority of the field led by Eckes pitted while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Riggs was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while Friesen and Bayley Currey were both penalized for speeding on pit road.
With three laps remaining in the first stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, Majeski muscled his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 ahead of teammate Rhodes and managed to transition from the outside to the inside lane through the first two turns as he retained the lead through the backstretch. As Majeski slowly started to pull away, Rajah Caruth battled Rhodes for the runner-up spot while Heim was trying to overtake both teammate Taylor Gray and Dillon for positions on the track.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 70, Majeski claimed his third Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Rhodes, racing with a damaged right-front fender after making contact with Bret Holmes earlier, settled in second while Caruth, Taylor Gray, Heim, Dillon, Eckes, Tanner Gray, Jack Wood and Ankrum were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, some including Rhodes, Taylor Gray, Dillon and Wood pitted while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Spencer Boyd lost a jack on the track after dragging it out of his pit stall and onto the track.
Then on Lap 81, the field, led by Majeski was directed to pit road and the event was placed in a red flag period due to a lightning hold with lightning being reported near the circuit. With more lightning holds occurring along with a rapid increase of precipitation over the next several hours, NASCAR elected to postpone the remainder of the event to Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET on FS1. At the time of the red flag period, Majeski was scored the leader ahead of Caruth, Heim, Eckes and Tanner Gray while Ankrum, Chastain, Connor Jones, Sanchez and Jake Garcia were scored in the top 10.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 86 on Sunday morning, Caruth muscled away from Majeski and the field from the outside lane to inherit the lead through the first two turns. As Caruth led the race, Ankrum challenged Majeski for the runner-up spot as Heim and Connor Jones joined the battle. Caruth would retain the lead past the Lap 90 mark while Majeski was trying to narrow the gap.
Two laps later, however, the caution returned after Caruth, who was being pressured by Majeski for the lead through the first two turns, slid sideways and barely clipped Majeski before he spun his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST from the middle to the bottom apron of Turn 2 without getting hit by incoming traffic. During the caution period, some including Ankrum, Garcia, Friesen, Caruth and Rhodes pitted while the rest led by Majeski and Heim remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Friesen was penalized for speeding on pit road.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 98, Majeski muscled away from Heim to retain the lead. Majeski, who would then fend off an early challenge from Heim for the lead, would proceed to lead at the Lap 100 mark while Heim, Eckes, Jones and Sanchez trailed in the top five. Majeski would stabilize his advantage to nearly half a second over Heim just past the Lap 110 mark as Eckes, Jones and Sanchez continued to trail in the top five.
Following another caution period on Lap 116 due to Lawless Alan spinning in Turn 2, multiple competitors led by Majeski pitted while some led by Ankrum, who pitted during the initial caution period, remained on the track. During the next restart on Lap 123, Ankrum fended off Garcia and Jack Wood to retain the lead while Sanchez was penalized for changing lanes too soon. As the field behind jostled for spots, Ankrum would lead the halfway mark of the event on Lap 125 while Garcia, Friesen, Wood and Riggs trailed in the top five.
Then on Lap 137, the caution flew after Bret Holmes spun and wrecked in Turn 2. Holmes’ incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 140 to conclude under caution as Ankrum captured his second Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Garcia followed suit in second along with Friesen, Wood, and Riggs while Rhodes, Eckes, Heim, Daniel Dye and Grant Enfinger were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, some including Matt Crafton, Dillon, Mason Massey, Matt Mills and Timmy Hill pitted while the rest led by Ankrum remained on the track.
With 104 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Ankrum and Garcia occupied the front row. At the start, Garcia muscled his No. 13 Quanta Services Ford F-150 way past Ankrum’s No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado RST and moved into the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Riggs then overtook Ankrum for the runner-up spot as Garcia retained the lead during the following lap.
Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Garcia was leading by two-tenths of a second over Riggs followed by Ankrum, Rhodes and Heim while Friesen, Enfinger, Wood, Eckes and Dye trailed in the top 10. In addition, Dean Thompson occupied 11th place ahead of Sammy Smith, Caruth, Stefan Parsons and Tanner Gray while Taylor Gray, Brenden Queen, Dillon, Jones and Chastain followed suit in the top 20.
Ten laps later, Garcia continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Riggs while Ankrum, Heim and Rhodes trailed in the top five. Garcia would proceed to lead by three-tenths of a second over Riggs with 80 laps remaining as Ankrum, Heim and Rhodes continued to trail in the top five. Another six laps later, the caution flew after Jones wrecked his No. 66 Farm Paint/ThorSport Racing entry in Turn 4. During the caution period, some including Wood, Caruth, Dillon, Parsons, Tanner Gray and Jones pitted while the rest led by Garcia remained on the track.
With the event restarting under green with 66 laps remaining, Heim challenged Garcia for the lead and overtook him for the top spot during the following lap. With clean air to his advantage, Heim stretched his lead to more than a second over Garcia with 60 laps remaining while Riggs, Eckes and Brenden Queen trailed in the top five within three seconds.
With 50 laps remaining, Heim extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Garcia as Riggs, Eckes and Queen trailed in the top five. Ankrum, Enfinger, Sammy Smith, Rhodes and Dye would trail in the top 10 as Heim stretched his lead to another second to three over Garcia with 40 laps remaining.
A few laps later, the caution returned after Dean Thompson, who was running 12th, spun and barely avoided hitting the outside wall in Turn 2 as he was also dodged by Chastain.
Down to the final 32 laps of the event, the event restarted under green as Heim muscled his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro away from Garcia and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. Riggs would move into the runner-up spot over Garcia as both Enfinger and Eckes trailed in the top five ahead of Queen and Sammy Smith while Heim led by a second with 25 laps remaining.
With less than 15 laps remaining, Heim stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Riggs as Enfinger, Queen and Sammy Smith were scored in the top five ahead of Eckes, Sanchez, Ankrum, Dye and Garcia. Heim’s advantage grew to nearly three seconds over Riggs with 10 laps remaining while third-place Enfinger trailed by three seconds.
Down to the final five laps, Heim continued to lead by more than three seconds over a three-truck battle for the runner-up spot involving Riggs, Enfinger and Queen while fifth-place Sammy Smith, who rallied from his opening lap penalty on Saturday, trailed by less than four seconds. Amid lapped traffic, Enfinger would overtake Riggs’ No. 38 Infinity Communications Group Ford F-150 for the runner-up spot while Queen tried to follow suit over Riggs.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Enfinger’s No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST. Despite having a flurry of lapped traffic in front of him, Heim utilized his large advantage to cruise around the North Wilkesboro circuit smoothly for a final time as he cycled back to the frontstretch to claim his third checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season.
With the victory, Heim, who became the first three-time winner of this season, notched his seventh career win in the Craftsman Truck Series and his second in the previous three races after winning at Kansas Speedway earlier in May. Heim also joined an exclusive club of Truck Series competitors to win at North Wilkesboro Speedway, a list that includes Kyle Larson, Mark Martin and Mike Bliss as he delivered the third victory of the season for both TRICON Garage and Toyota.
NORTH WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – MAY 19: Corey Heim, driver of the #11 Safelite Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Wright Brand 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 19, 2024 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images).
“That was crazy,” Heim said on FS1. “A crazy weekend with the weather and what not, but I knew since practice we had the speed. [I] Can’t say enough about these TRICON Garage guys. What a truck, what a weekend. I knew we had potential from practice and we put it all together and executed great today.”
Both Enfinger and Riggs rallied from slow starts to this season by notching their first top-five runs in second and third, respectively.
“Overall, [today provided] the best execution of the season,” Enfinger said. “This is the third time, second in a row, we brought a really good, fast Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet. We haven’t been performing to our ability or our standards earlier on in the year. I feel like last week at Darlington was the turning point in our season and I’m standing by that. Very, very proud of this truck, proud of our pit crew all year long. Finally, we have a little bit of results to show for it.”
“We really needed this,” Riggs said. “We finally finished where we deserve to finish today. It was a great day for us and hopefully, we can just keep building this momentum.”
Meanwhile, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, a CARS Tour late model stock car standout from Chesapeake, Virginia, who notched four victories and settled in the runner-up spot in the 2023 standings, capitalized from being the fastest during Friday’s practice session by finishing in fourth place in his Truck Series debut while piloting the No. 1 Best Repair Company Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage. The solid top-five result also occurred after Queen rallied from an early pit road speeding penalty as he received a standing ovation from the North Wilkesboro crowd.
“Man, [this opportunity]’s what I’ve worked for my whole life and never knew if I’d get this opportunity,” Queen said. “I’m just blessed, man, and I just hope I can turn this into some more opportunities. I love racing my late model, but this is my dream to get to the next level. Those guys at the shop [TRICON Garage], they put the hours in and that’s why this truck’s fast. I’m the lucky guy that gets to hold the wheel…I’d love to be full-time [NASCAR racing] next year.”
Sammy Smith settled in fifth place while Eckes, Sanchez, Ankrum, Daniel Dye and Friesen finished in the top 10. Notably, Ty Majeski ended up 11th ahead of Jack Wood, Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth and Ross Chastain. In addition, Jake Garcia drifted back to 21st ahead of Ben Rhodes while Matt Crafton settled in 20th.
There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 58 laps. In addition, 26 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 10th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes leads the regular-season standings by four points over Corey Heim, 64 over Ty Majeski, 66 over Nick Sanchez and 98 over Taylor Gray.
Results:
1. Corey Heim, 66 laps led
2. Grant Enfinger
3. Layne Riggs
4. Brenden Queen
5. Sammy Smith
6. Christian Eckes, 62 laps led
7. Nick Sanchez
8. Tyler Ankrum, 26 laps led, Stage 2 winner
9. Daniel Dye
10. Stewart Friesen
11. Ty Majeski, 50 laps led, Stage 1 winner
12. Jack Wood
13. Taylor Gray
14. Rajah Caruth, six laps led
15. Ross Chastain
16. Tanner Gray
17. Stefan Parsons
18. Matt Mills
19. Bayley Currey
20. Matt Crafton
21. Jake Garcia, 40 laps led
22. Ben Rhodes
23. Mason Massey
24. Chase Purdy
25. Ty Dillon
26. Timmy Hill
27. Dean Thompson, one lap down
28. Dawson Sutton, two laps down
29. Bret Holmes, three laps down
30. Lawless Alan, four laps down
31. Thad Moffitt, five laps down
32. Spencer Boyd, five laps down
33. Josh Reaume, five laps down
34. Clayton Green, five laps down
35. Connor Jones – OUT, Accident
36. Trey Hutchens – OUT, Transmission
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, May 24, and air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
The remainder of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Wright Brand 250 event at North Wilkesboro Speedway has been postponed to Sunday, May 19, at 11:30 a.m. ET due to an ongoing increase of precipitation that has prevented the event from being completed on Saturday, May 18.
The event’s postponement is one of several on-track weekend sessions at North Wilkesboro that have been impacted due to the ongoing precipitation, which includes the NASCAR All-Star Open qualifying session being canceled due to rain and the lineup being set based on the owner’s standings while the NASCAR All-Star Race qualifying session was postponed to early Saturday afternoon due to rain canceling the scheduled session for Friday, May 17.
At the time of the Truck Series event’s delay and eventual postponement, 81 of 250 scheduled laps had been completed. Ty Majeski, who claimed the Stage 1 victory on Lap 70, was scored the leader ahead of Rajah Caruth, Corey Heim, Christian Eckes and Tanner Gray while Tyler Ankrum, Ross Chastain, Connor Jones, Nick Sanchez and Jake Garcia were scored in the top 10.
In addition to the Truck event, the NASCAR All-Star Race’s two scheduled Heat qualifying events, each spanning 60 laps, have been canceled from occurring on Saturday evening. As a result, the initial starting lineup for the event that was determined through a combined session between on-track qualifying and the Pit Crew Challenge will become the official starting lineup for the All-Star Race instead of the two heat events determining the majority of the lineup.
Joey Logano, a two-time Cup Series champion and the 2016 All-Star Race winner from Middletown, Connecticut, had already secured the pole position for Sunday’s All-Star event after posting the best three-lap qualifying time in one minute, 29.75 seconds. With the cancellation of the two All-Star Heat events, Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Cup champion from Rochester Hills, Michigan, who posted the second-fastest three-lap qualifying session in one minute, 30.14 seconds, will officially start on the front row alongside Logano.
Christopher Bell, whose pit crew won this year’s Pit Crew Challenge with a lightning-fast four-tire pit service in 13.223 seconds, will start in third place followed by Daniel Suarez and Chris Buescher while Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr., Michael McDowell and AJ Allmendinger will start in the top 10.
With 17 of 20 starting spots already determined and occupied by competitors eligible for the event, the final three starting spots will be determined through the All-Star Open event that will occur at 5:30 p.m. on FS1. The top two finishers in the Open will automatically transfer into the All-Star Race while one extra competitor will claim the final starting spot for the main event after being named the Fan Vote winner.
The Craftsman Truck Series’ Wright Brand 250 will resume on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET on FS1. The All-Star Race is also scheduled to occur on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on FS1 following the All-Star Open.
