Category: Truck Series PR

Freedom Racing Enterprises
The One-Truck Team will Race the No. 76 for a Full Season starting in 2024

Mooresville, NC (January 8, 2024) – NASCAR Driver Spencer Boyd announced today at a Charlotte Motor Speedway Press Conference that he and co-owner Chris Miller have formed a new NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Team, Freedom Racing Enterprises. The team will run Chevrolet Silverados with the number 76 for a full-season campaign starting at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2024.

Spencer Boyd will pilot the No. 76 for the second time in his career having run it with Bobby Dotter’s SS Greenlight Racing in the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. With 161 starts at NASCAR’s top levels since entering the sport in 2016, Spencer has found a home in the Truck Series. Boyd earned his first win at Talladega Superspeedway in 2019 and spent the last five seasons with Young’s Motorsports.

Spencer Boyd commented, “This is a wildly proud moment for me. If you asked a wide-eyed 20-year-old me at Martinsville Speedway if I was going to start my own NASCAR team in the next decade, I might have laughed it off. I have been blessed to be able to race cars for a living and remain part of the NASCAR family for as long as I have. I wouldn’t be here without a small group of very important people to my career so I definitely want to thank them for believing in me through thick and thin. They know who they are and hope they are sharing in this feeling of pride.”

Freedom Racing Enterprises (FRE) is named for Spencer’s love of his country in combination with Miller’s company and Boyd sponsor, Freedom Warranty, which provides extended warranties for vehicles of all types. “This is an invigorating endeavor with some very competent people,” said Chris Miller of the team. “Business success is about surrounding yourself with good people all pulling the rope in the same direction and that is what we have here. I look forward to being part of the journey.”

Jeff Hammond, the legendary Crew Chief for Darrell Waltrip and Junior Johnson Motorsports and Fox Sports Analyst, will serve as General Manager for FRE. Hammond brings 50 years of experience in NASCAR to help guide Boyd and FRE to success on and off the track. Hammond said of the new venture, “I’m motivated by the optimism and professionalism in the group of people that Spencer has assembled. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is undergoing many changes this offseason so it is an ideal time to form a new team. We know the Trucks produce some of the greatest racing in the world, so I’m delighted to be energized by Spencer Boyd and Freedom Racing Enterprises!”

Veteran team leader, Greg Ely will be Boyd’s crew chief for the inaugural season. Boyd and Ely have had an existing friendship for years so working together is a natural combination. Rick Bourgeois will serve as Car Chief having worked side by side with Ely for several years. These two leaders of the competition division coupled with the equipment in the newly formed stables will anchor Boyd’s on track performance.

Freedom Racing Enterprises has been acquiring assets throughout 2023 in anticipation of a full-season effort in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Season. Much of the racing fleet was acquired from GMS Racing after their final season of competition last year. When GMS Racing announced they were ceasing racing operations, Boyd and Miller jumped at the opportunity to step up plans for FRE.

Boyd continued, “My parents had no idea what they were getting into when they put me in a go-kart at five years old, but I hope my father Paul and my mother Bonnie will take a moment to realize all the sacrifices they made have led us here. This step in my career is one that allows me to build something that keeps the Boyd name in NASCAR competition for the long haul. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity and look forward to an exciting future.”

There will be some familiar names in Boyd’s sponsorship lineup for 2024 as well as some new ones. Those announcements will be forthcoming as the team heads into Daytona. Longtime business manager, Tom Rice will continue to head up partnerships for Boyd and Freedom Racing Enterprises.

Veteran Jason Trinchere to Call Effort from Atop Pit Box

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (January 3, 2024) – Today, Spire Motorsports announced it has signed Chase Purdy to drive the No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado as preparations ramp up in earnest for the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) season.

Purdy will be paired with veteran race engineer and crew chief Jason Trinchere as the team mounts its first NCTS championship effort since it began competing in select events two years ago.

“Chase Purdy is really coming into his own as a driver and we think pairing him with a crew chief the caliber of Jason Trinchere will elevate his level of competitiveness immediately,” said Spire Motorsports President Doug Duchardt. “We put a lot of thought into putting Chase together with the right person and at the conclusion of that process, it was very clear that Jason is the person to lead the No. 77 team. This is a combination we expect to set a very high bar in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.”

Purdy, 24, began his NCTS career in 2018 and has logged 75 career starts. He finished a career-best 11th in points last season on the strength of two poles, three top-five and 11 top-10 finishes behind the wheel of the No. 4 Chevrolet Silverado for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

“I’m really excited to get going on 2024 with Spire Motorsports,” said Purdy. “Seeing what they’ve done in the last few years and the drivers they’ve had come through, being in that system makes me excited for the future. I’m more determined than ever. There are a few new people, Jason Trinchere, obviously being one of them, but, for the most part, we still have our same core group of guys so we’re looking to keep up that momentum from last year. I’m just really eager to get the new season started. I can’t wait to get to work.”

Trinchere is an Easton, Pa., native who graduated from the Pennsylvania State University with a mechanical engineering degree in 2005. He’s a second-generation racer whose father, Karl, owned championship-winning pavement modifieds, competing mostly in and around northeast Pennsylvania.

Trinchere made the move to North Carolina shortly after earning his Bachelor of Science and began his professional career as the race engineer for the iconic No. 75 Spears Manufacturing NCTS team, owned by series’ pioneers Wayne and Connie Spears.

Following his time with Spears Motorsports, a quick stop at CJM Racing’s NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team in late 2007 preceded his move to Dale Earnhardt Incorporated’s (DEI) NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) operation for the 2008 season.

For the next five seasons, Trinchere served as both a support and design engineer at DEI where he worked with drivers Martin Truex Jr., and Regan Smith, while also serving as the lead engineer for the team’s NASCAR regional touring series efforts. He continued through the organization’s merger with Ganassi Racing and played a key role in Jamie McMurray’s wins at the 2010 Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400.

In 2013, the 42-year-old further fortified his resume with a move to Penske Racing where he managed chassis design for both the team’s NCS and NXS efforts.

Over the next seven seasons, Trinchere was a key contributor in 44 NCS race wins, including the 2015 Daytona 500, 2018 Brickyard 400 and ultimately the 2018 Cup Series championship with driver Joey Logano. Over that same stretch, Penske Racing complied 44 NXS wins and four straight owner’s championships.

Following the 2019 season, he moved to Kaulig Racing where he began as an engineer before being promoted to crew chief in 2021, ultimately serving in that capacity for all three of the organization’s NXS teams. Over that time, Trinchere contributed to 21 wins and 110 top-five finishes. The 2024 season will mark the former modified racer’s 19th as a professional, and first in the NCTS since 2007.

“I am excited for 2024 and look forward to working with Chase and everyone at Spire Motorsports,” said Trinchere “Chase ended the season on a high note, showing speed and consistency, so I look forward to building on that momentum going into the new season.”

The Fresh from Florida 250 from Daytona International Speedway will be televised live on FS1 Friday, February 16, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The first of 23 NCTS races on the 2024 schedule will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports is a NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race team co-owned by long-time NASCAR industry executives Jeff Dickerson and Thaddeus “T.J.” Puchyr. In 2024, Spire Motorsports will campaign the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NASCAR Cup Series with drivers Corey LaJoie, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar, respectively. The team will also field the No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado full time in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series with driver Chase Purdy.

Spire Motorsports earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to its inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win on April 7, 2022, at Martinsville Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on May 20, 2023, when Kyle Larson took the checkered flag in the Tyson 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Layne Riggs Joins Championship NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Team

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (December 14, 2023) – Second-generation racer and champion Layne Riggs is the newest driver of the No. 38 Ford F-150 for Front Row Motorsports (FRM) the team announced today. Riggs, the 21-year-old son of former NASCAR Cup Series driver Scott Riggs, is making the step from the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series after starts in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck and Xfinity Series this past year.

The Bahama, N.C. native is the next FRM development driver after both Todd Gilliland and Zane Smith have won races and Smith a championship with the team. Riggs will be making his full-time NASCAR national series debut in 2024, but already has championship experience while climbing through the ranks of NASCAR.

Dylan Cappello will step up from his lead engineer role to be the crew chief of the team. Chris Lawson will step down from his crew chief role and serve as a consultant to the team to begin the season while working on other projects outside of NASCAR.

Beginning his career at the age of 10, Riggs competed in Limited Sportsman events at the Orange County (N.C.) Speedway where he raced for multiple seasons, eventually earning the track championship. Riggs then moved his career to the CARS Tour where he raced late model stock cars for several seasons. He finished his stint in the series with six wins, eight poles, 32 top-five, and 41 top-10 finishes.

In 2022, Riggs focused on the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. He built an impressive track record featuring 16 wins, 29 top-five, and 35 top-10 finishes across some of the toughest NASCAR tracks in the southeast. Riggs was crowned the 2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National Champion.

This past season, Riggs gained more attention during limited starts in the NASCAR CRAFTMAN Truck and XFINITY Series. He finished third at the Indianapolis (Ind.) Raceway Park in the truck race and followed that by a 10th and 11th-place finishes at the end of the season at the Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway and the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in the Xfinity Series.

Riggs is now set to compete for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year title in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and is signed to a multi-year agreement with FRM.

“I’m really thankful for this opportunity to compete full-time in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series with one of the best teams in the sport,” said Riggs. “I’ve dedicated my life for an opportunity like this, and I’m incredibly appreciative of Bob (Jenkins) and everyone at Front Row for providing me the opportunity to take my next step in my racing career.”

In addition to his racing schedule, Riggs is set to complete his Mechanical Engineering degree at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) while participating in full-time competition.

“I really appreciate Layne’s dedication to his education while also competing at the highest levels,” commented Bob Jenkins, Owner, FRM. “That comes from great parenting and a sense of dedication from Layne. We’ve already seen a lot of potential in Layne and he’s a perfect fit for our program to develop him into a national series NASCAR winner.”

FRM is set to announce team partners for Riggs in the lead-up to the Fresh From Florida 250 at the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway- a race that FRM is the two-time defending winner.

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series team from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Cautions, re-starts, retribution, extra laps and high-action marked Friday night’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. And that was just the final 50 laps.

In the end, ThorSport Racing’s Ben Rhodes claimed his second series championship in the last three years with a hard-earned fifth-place finish in the No. 99 Ford while McAnally Hilgemann Racing’s Christian Eckes raced to his fourth win of the season by a slight .421-seconds over rookie teammate Jake Garcia in four dramatic overtime periods.

That’s the conclusion to an evening that featured 12 caution periods, 29 laps of overtime competition and plenty of high-stakes racing – especially among the four championship contenders that earned a chance to settle the season title.

Perhaps indicative of the night, Rhodes’ finish and ultimate trophy haul wasn’t secure until the checkered flag with championship runner-up Grant Enfinger giving it his all in the No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet coming off Turn 4 in an all-out pursuit to the very end.

Both Rhodes and Enfinger had survived close calls in the overtime laps. Rhodes collided with Zane Smith racing for the lead – hitting Smith’s truck when it appeared Smith missed a shift out front in the second overtime restart. Enfinger had close calls in two of the four extra-lap periods and still was able to pull off that final push forward; ultimately finishing one position behind Rhodes in the standings.

The Regular Season Champion and race polesitter Corey Heim finished 18th after contact from fellow Championship 4 driver Carson Hocevar with 30 laps of regulation remaining in the scheduled 150-lap race.

“I can’t even believe it,” the 26-year-old Kentucky native Rhodes said of his dramatic title win. “It’s just so awesome, man. To go 25 laps into overtime, do you know what that feels like? It’s crazy. I didn’t think we were going to make it. I thought we were going to pop a tire, that anything that could have gone wrong was going to go wrong.

“Grant [Enfinger] almost got me. But hats off to him, he ran a great race. I wouldn’t’ want to race against anybody else for the championship. He raced me clean and I respect the heck out of him for it.”

“I saw him,” Rhodes said of Enfinger’s final push forward in the last corner. “He went for everything, but he ran me clean and I thank him for that. That’s what these championships are all about.”

Enfinger, whose GMS Racing team is closing shop at the end of the season, was especially gutted to come so very close to his first championship.

“I don’t know,” Enfinger said of doing anything differently on that last lap.

“Obviously we got loose there at the end,” he continued. “Maybe if he didn’t have such a good run down the backstretch, we’d be able to make that pass. It’s a shame the championship came down to a race like that with 15 green-white-checkers or whatever it was. I feel like we did everything we could to win this and just got used up.”

The other two championship contenders, Heim and Hocevar had a more contentious situation on-track. Heim, whose 47 laps out front in the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota were second most laps led on the night, was actually leading the championship-eligible drivers when Hocevar hit him going into Turn 2 with 30 laps remaining. The contact sent Heim’s Toyota into Stewart Friesen’s Toyota which hit the wall and brought out a caution. Hocevar continued on and Heim had to pit for repairs and went down a lap.

Heim viewed the hit as intentional and later in the race, collided with Hocevar bringing out another caution period. Heim insisted his car just wasn’t steering properly at the time, while Hocevar said he had fully expected the payback. It was enough to sideline Hocevar’s No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet which was credited with a 29th-place finish from the garage.

“My only goal was to try slow him down,” Hocevar said. “I didn’t want to do that at all. With my track record, I can’t sit here and say I didn’t mean to. I just messed up. I was trying really hard to slow him up and just messed it up.

“I feel bad I robbed him of that and feel sorry for that,” an apologetic Hocevar added of Heim’s championship chances. “I just messed up.”

The 21-year-old Heim had a streak of 15 consecutive top-10 finishes coming into the race and was considered the favorite by many. He had three wins on the season in only his first fulltime year of competition.

“It was a great year, a phenomenal year for us and our worst finish in like six months,” a disappointed Heim said. “Really put together a good race and really hoped the guys would race clean, I have a lot of respect for everybody in the field. But clearly, I don’t anymore. It is what it is, it’s part of racing.

As for the later contact with Hocevar, Heim said it was purely coincidental, “It wasn’t retaliation. I had no side force, he put it on my door and I wrecked [into him].”

“I’ve been racing Carson for a long time, racing since I was eight or nine years-old,” Heim said later. “That’s kind of just what he does. He’ll wreck you and apologize and do it again the next week. So that’s not going to be the last time he does it and certainly the first time he’d done it. I’ve known him for a long time. … it is what it is. I completely expected it.”

As for his victory, the 22-year-old Eckes tried to reconcile the championship race win with having just been eliminated from Playoff contention. He had a win (at Kansas) and a pair of runner-up finishes (Indianapolis Raceway Park and Bristol, Tenn.) during the Playoff stretch but was eliminated after finished of 19th and 20th in the two races leading into the championship finale.

“Those two races that killed the whole Playoffs pretty much and that’s just kind of the nature of it,” Eckes said. “I didn’t do my job last week and really the week before either.

“That gets us out and that puts us in this situation, but it’s motivating for next year and it was motivating for this race too.

“This one kind of stings, I know it’s a win, but the stupid mistakes the last two weeks of a near perfect Playoffs cost us a championship,” Eckes added.

“It’s kind of hard to be happy right now, but overall, just super proud of everybody for the year that we’ve had and just ready for 2024.

Chase Purdy, Jesse Love and Rhodes rounded out the top five. Enfinger, Dean Thompson, Kaden Honeycutt, Tanner Gray and Nick Sanchez completed the top 10. It was a career best finish for the runner-up Garcia as well as Love and Honeycutt.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship

Phoenix Raceway
Avondale, Arizona
Friday, November 3, 2023

            1. (8)  Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 179.

            2. (14)  Jake Garcia #, Chevrolet, 179.

            3. (5)  Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 179.

            4. (10)  Jesse Love, Toyota, 179.

            5. (6)  Ben Rhodes (P), Ford, 179.

            6. (17)  Grant Enfinger (P), Chevrolet, 179.

            7. (15)  Dean Thompson, Toyota, 179.

            8. (27)  Kaden Honeycutt, Chevrolet, 179.

            9. (25)  Tanner Gray, Toyota, 179.

            10. (3)  Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 179.

            11. (28)  Matt Crafton, Ford, 179.

            12. (9)  Rajah Caruth #, Chevrolet, 179.

            13. (31)  Lawless Alan, Chevrolet, 179.

            14. (2)  Ty Majeski, Ford, 179.

            15. (23)  Hailie Deegan, Ford, 179.

            16. (32)  Christian Rose, Ford, 179.

            17. (34)  Spencer Davis, Ford, 179.

            18. (1)  Corey Heim (P), Toyota, 179.

            19. (35)  Nick Leitz, Chevrolet, 179.

            20. (36)  Tyler Hill, Toyota, 179.

            21. (26)  Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 179.

            22. (19)  Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 178.

            23. (12)  Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 177.

            24. (20)  Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 175.

            25. (4)  Zane Smith, Ford, Accident, 172.

            26. (21)  Sean Hingorani, Chevrolet, Accident, 167.

            27. (7)  Jack Wood, Chevrolet, Accident, 162.

            28. (16)  Derek Kraus, Chevrolet, Accident, 156.

            29. (13)  Carson Hocevar (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 146.

            30. (24)  Stefan Parsons, Chevrolet, Accident, 128.

            31. (11)  Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, Accident, 128.

            32. (22)  Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, Accident, 128.

            33. (18)  Jake Drew, Toyota, Accident, 100.

            34. (29)  Conner Jones, Ford, Accident, 100.

            35. (33)  Marco Andretti, Chevrolet, Accident, 54.

            36. (30)  Chris Hacker, Toyota, Accident, 53.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 72.797 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 27 Mins, 32 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.421 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 12 for 77 laps.

Lead Changes: 10 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders: T. Majeski 1-48;C. Heim (P) 49-95;C. Eckes 96-121;N. Sanchez # 122-126;Z. Smith 127-154;C. Eckes 155;Z. Smith 156-162;C. Eckes 163-168;C. Purdy 169-176;C. Eckes 177-179.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Ty Majeski 1 time for 48 laps; Corey Heim (P) 1 time for 47 laps; Christian Eckes 4 times for 36 laps; Zane Smith 2 times for 35 laps; Chase Purdy 1 time for 8 laps; Nick Sanchez # 1 time for 5 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 98,11,38,99,2,4,19,42,23,17

Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,38,98,19,17,99,4,23,35,42