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  • Christian Eckes claims 2024 Truck Series Regular Season Championship

    Christian Eckes claims 2024 Truck Series Regular Season Championship

    Christian Eckes capped off the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular-season stretch by officially capturing his first regular-season championship with a runner-up finish in the Clean Harbors 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, August 10.

    The 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion from Greenville, New York, came into the regular-season finale at Richmond with a 50-point advantage over Corey Heim in the standings. He commenced the weekend on a strong note by notching his third Truck Series pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 118.655 mph in 22.755 seconds.

    Eckes led the first 12 laps of the main event before he was overtaken by Ty Majeski for the lead. Despite restarting in fourth place during the event’s first caution period on Lap 56 and amid early pit and tire strategies, Eckes used his four fresh tires to quickly bolt his way back to the lead. Once in clear air, Eckes proceeded to capture the first stage victory on Lap 70, which also marked his eighth stage victory of the 2024 campaign. With the stage victory, Eckes garnered enough points to automatically clinch the regular-season title.

    For the remainder of the event, Eckes, who retained the lead at the start of the second stage period on Lap 79 through 115, battled towards the front and kept his No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet Silverado RST intact amid a series of on-track incidents, various shuffles within the field and late-race restarts.

    During the final restart period with eight laps remaining, Eckes attempted to make a three-wide move on eventual winner Ty Majeski and Grant Enfinger for the lead. Despite navigating his way past Enfinger in the closing laps, he lost ground to Majeski and would take the checkered flag in second place while trailing Majeski by nine-tenths of a second.

    With the runner-up spot, Eckes officially wrapped up the regular-season title by 74 points and became the eighth competitor overall to claim the championship since the Playoff’s inception in 2016. The regular-season championship was also the first for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing as Eckes also became the first Chevrolet competitor to claim the title since Johnny Sauter made the last accomplishment in 2018.

    With an additional 15 Playoff points awarded to him and his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet team, Eckes will commence the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs in second place in the Playoff standings with 2,038 points, where he only trails Corey Heim by three points entering the Playoff opener at the Milwaukee Mile two weeks from now.

    The 2024 season marks Eckes’ fourth full-time campaign in the Truck Series, second driving the No. 19 entry for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and third consecutive season making the Playoffs as the New York native strives to make the Championship 4 round and contend for the series title after missing the cutline a year ago.

    “Confidence is high, for sure,” Eckes said on FS1. “I feel like we’re in better position than we were last year and I thought we were in a pretty good position last year too, so just overall proud of the team. We didn’t have quite we needed today. I was just way too tight all race, but overall proud of everybody and just ready to get these next seven races underway.”

    To add with the confidence, Eckes, who is in his second season driving for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, took note of the points he garnered over the 16-race regular-season stretch highlighted with three victories, 10 top-five results and 15 top-10 results for an average-finishing result of 5.9.

    “The points are good, for sure,” Eckes added. “I’ve said it multiple times today, I missed [the Championship 4] by, I think, four points last year than six points the year before, so any kind of points you can get is definitely crucial when you get to those final rounds. Excited about that, but more excited to get this [Playoff] underway.”

    Eckes’ opponents for the 2024 Truck title include teammates Tyler Ankrum and Daniel Dye, both of whom made the Playoffs based on points, as all three will square off against Corey Heim, Ty Majeski, Nick Sanchez, Rajah Caruth, Grant Enfinger, Taylor Gray and the reigning series’ champion Ben Rhodes.

    Christian Eckes’ pursuit of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series championship behinds on August 25 at the Milwaukee Mile for the LiUNA! 175, with the event’s broadcast time slated to commence at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Majeski rallies to win regular-season finale at Richmond for second consecutive Truck victory of 2024

    Majeski rallies to win regular-season finale at Richmond for second consecutive Truck victory of 2024

    Three weeks after breaking through with his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2024 season at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Ty Majeski capped off the regular-season stretch by doubling down with a second consecutive victory in recent weeks in the Clean Harbors 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, August 10.

    The 29-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, led three times for 70 of 250-scheduled laps in an event where he started alongside pole-sitter Christian Eckes on the front row and rallied from having brief issues launching at the start to assume the lead for the first time on Lap 13. Then after opting to remain on track on old tires during the event’s first caution period on Lap 51, Majeski endured a handful of challenges that hindered his performance that began as he struggled to keep pace on his worn tires during the following restart on Lap 63 and lost a bevy of spots. Just as he pitted for fresh tires during the first stage break period, he was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    Restarting at the tail end of the field for the start of the second stage period, Majeski would spend a majority of the event methodically charging his way back to the front as the event endured a series of caution periods and pit strategies amongst the field. Having marched his way back into the top 10 within the closing stages, Majeski used fresh tires and capitalized on a late-race skirmish involving Grant Enfinger and William Sawalich to return atop the leaderboard during a late-race restart with 20 laps remaining. Amid an additional caution period and late-race restart with eight laps remaining, Majeski fended off Enfinger amid contact to remain out in front of the field and cruise to his second consecutive Truck Series victory of the 2024 season while also entering the Playoffs with early momentum.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Christian Eckes secured the pole position with a pole-winning lap at 118.655 mph in 22.755 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski as he clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 118.033 mph in 22.875 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Christian Eckes rocketed his No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead with the lead from the inside lane. In the process, Grant Enfinger followed suit in second while Ty Majeski, who struggled to launch from the outside lane, was trying to retain third place from William Sawalich. Amid the early jostles of spots around the track, where a three-wide action occurred between Sawalich, Layne Riggs and Taylor Gray for fourth place through the backstretch, Eckes proceeded to lead the first lap from Enfinger as Majeski, Taylor Gray, Riggs and Sawalich followed suit in the top six.

    During the second lap, Majeski, who regained pace amid his rocky start, navigated his way past Enfinger for the runner-up spot as Taylor Gray was trying to fend off Layne Riggs, William Sawalich, Nick Sanchez and Ben Rhodes for fourth place. While Gray continued to occupy his spot as both Majeski and Enfinger railed in second and third, respectively, Eckes retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second by the fifth lap mark.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Eckes was leading by three-tenths of a second over Majeski followed by Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Riggs while Rhodes, Sawalich, Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez and Daniel Dye were scored in the top 10 on the track. Behind, Kaden Honeycutt occupied 11th place ahead of teammate Bayley Currey, Tyler Ankrum, Jake Garcia and Stewart Friesen while Rajah Caruth, Ty Dillon, Matt Crafton, newcomer Connor Hall and Connor Zilisch trailed in the top 20 ahead of Matt Mills, Timmy Hill, Dean Thompson, Lawless Alan, Tanner Gray and Chase Purdy.

    A few laps later, Majeski dueled with Eckes in a side-by-side battle for the lead and the former would continue to battle Eckes before he pulled his No. 98 Soda Sense Ford F-150 ahead from the outside lane on Lap 13. By Lap 17, Majeski stretched his advantage to a second over Eckes and he would stabilize his advantage to a second while third-place Enfinger trailed Eckes by four-tenths of a second. Behind, Taylor Gray and Riggs remained in the top five.

    At the Lap 25 mark, Majeski retained the lead by more than a second over Eckes while Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Riggs continued to trail in the top five on the track. Rhodes, Heim, Sawalich, Dye and Sanchez followed suit in the top 10 as Honeycutt, Currey, Ankrum, Friesen and Crafton followed suit in the top 15.

    Ten laps later, Majeski, who was starting to lap the competitors running towards the bottom of the leaderboard, stretched his advantage to more than three seconds over Eckes as Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Riggs remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Taylor Gray, Rhodes and Dye, all three of whom were currently scored inside the top-10 cutline in their efforts to make the 2024 Playoffs, were running in the top nine on the track while Friesen and Crafton, both of whom came into Richmond trailing the cutline by 16 and 43 points, respectively, were mired within the top 15. In addition, Tanner Gray, who came into the event five points above the cutline with the final transfer spot, was scored nine points below the cutline as he was mired in 23rd place in front of teammate Dean Thompson.

    By Lap 50, Majeski lost a second to his advantage, but he was still leading by more than two seconds over Eckes as top-five competitors Taylor Gray, Enfinger and Riggs trailed the lead by four seconds. Five laps later, Taylor Gray would overtake Eckes for the runner-up spot. By then, Taylor’s older brother, Tanner, was lapped by Majeski as he was mired in 22nd place.

    Six laps later, the event’s first caution period flew when Matt Mills lost a right-front tire and went dead straight into the Turn 4 outside wall from 15th place. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by runner-up Taylor Gray pitted for four fresh tires and fuel while the rest led by the leader Majeski and including Ankrum and Connor Zilisch remained on the track.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 63, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch as Eckes used the outside lane and four fresh tires to blast by Ankrum through the first two turns before he then quickly dispatched Majeski for the lead through the backstretch. By the following lap and amid a series of on-track shuffles, Eckes was leading ahead of Taylor Gray and Enfinger while Majeski plummeted to seventh place on his old tires as Rhodes, Riggs and Dye all overtook him. Majeski would then drop to 18th place just past the Lap 65 mark as Ankrum and Zilisch also plummeted in the leaderboard on their old tires while Eckes retained the lead by less than half a second over Taylor Gray.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 70, Eckes captured his eighth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Taylor Gray settled in second ahead of Enfinger, Rhodes and Riggs while Dye, Matt Crafton, Heim, Sanchez and Rajah Caruth were scored in the top 10.

    Amid the battles towards the front, Tanner Gray, who restarted in 22nd place and was trying to emerge as the first competitor a lap down at the first stage’s conclusion, had dropped to 28th place and was the seventh competitor scored a lap down as 22nd-place competitor Bret Holmes received the free pass. As a result, he was left with a 22-point disadvantage to Dye in the battle for the cutline. Meanwhile, Eckes’ first stage victory was enough for him to clinch the regular-season championship while runner-up Taylor Gray garnered enough stage points to clinch his spot into the Playoffs based on points.

    Under the first stage break, some led by Majeski and including Zilisch and Ankrum pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track. During the pit stops, Majeski was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation and was sent to the rear of the field before the second stage’s start.

    The second stage period started on Lap 79 as Eckes and Taylor Gray occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes muscled away from the field and the inside lane to retain the lead while Gray and Enfinger battled for the runner-up spot in front of Riggs, Rhodes, Dye and Heim. Amid a series of battles around the track, Heim overtook Dye for sixth place and Crafton trailed in eighth place. In the process, Eckes’ advantage stabilized to more than half a second over Enfinger while third-place Taylor Gray trailed by a second as he was ahead of Riggs and Rhodes. With Friesen mired in 13th place, Purdy and Tanner Gray were back in 26th and 27th, respectively.

    By Lap 90, Eckes was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Enfinger as Taylor Gray, Riggs and Rhodes trailed by four seconds in the top five. Heim, Dye, Crafton, Ty Dillon and Sanchez would follow suit in the top 10 as Conner Jones, Zilisch, Ankrum, Caruth and Honeycutt were mired in the top 15. Meanwhile, Majeski was trying to rally his way into the top 20 amid his tire violation while Friesen and Tanner Gray were running 16th and 24th, respectively.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Eckes’ advantage decreased to three-tenths of a second over Enfinger while Taylor Gray, Riggs and Rhodes continued to run in the top five ahead of Heim, Dye, Ty Dillon, Crafton and Conner Jones. Over the next five laps, Eckes, who was slowly catching lapped traffic, kept leading by above half a second over Enfinger as Taylor Gray kept the two leaders close within his front windshield.

    Then on Lap 115, Enfinger overtook Eckes and moved his No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead through the frontstretch. Enfinger continued to lead by three-tenths of a second by the following lap as Taylor Gray, who tracked the two leaders, passed Eckes for the runner-up spot during the ensuing lap. As Enfinger retained the lead by three-tenths of a second towards the Lap 120 mark, Riggs and Rhodes followed suit in the top five while Ankrum was up to sixth place ahead of Heim, Dye, Ty Dillon and Zilisch.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 125, Enfinger continued to lead by a narrow margin over Taylor Gray before Gray used a bold move beneath Enfinger, who was trapped behind Jake Garcia, entering Turn 1 to grab the lead. Gray stretched his advantage to half a second on the following lap as Eckes trailed by a second in third place while Riggs and Ankrum were in the top five.

    Then on Lap 127, the caution flew when Matt Crafton, who was running in the top 15, spun in Turn 4 after he slipped underneath Kaden Honeycutt, where Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 spun from the middle to the bottom of the track and made light contact with the inside wall as Crafton continued. During the caution period, a majority of the lead lap field led by Taylor Gray pitted for service while the rest led by Ty Dillon, who pitted during the first stage’s break period, remained on the track. Friesen and Currey would also remain on the track while Enfinger beat Taylor Gray off of pit road first as he lined up in fourth place on the track.

    The start of the following restart period on Lap 135 featured the field getting jumbled up and fanning out through the frontstretch as Friesen jumped ahead with a brief advantage over Dillon on the inside lane. With the field fanning out to four lanes, Enfinger used the four fresh tires to bolt his way to the front from the outside lane as he carved his way back into the lead just past the first two turns.

    Eckes followed suit along with Dye, Riggs, Heim and others while Friesen, Dillon and Currey plummeted down the leaderboard on their old tires. Amid the scrambling for spots, Enfinger stretched his advantage to more than half a second with the second stage’s conclusion approaching.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 140, Enfinger, who clinched his spot into the Playoffs based on points, claimed his first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Eckes followed suit in second along with teammate Dye, Riggs and Heim while Rhodes, Caruth, Ankrum, Taylor Gray and Conner Jones were scored in the top 10. By then, Dye had a 28-point advantage over 23rd-place Tanner Gray for the final transfer spot into the Playoffs, though Gray was awarded the free pass for being the first competitor scored a lap down, while Friesen, Crafton, Riggs, Purdy, Dean Thompson and Jake Garcia all trailed the cutline by 39+ points.

    During the stage break, some including Friesen, Currey, Jake Garcia, Kaden Honeycutt, Nick Sanchez, Tanner Gray, Ty Dillon, Crafton and Stefan Parsons pitted while the rest led by Enfinger remained on the track.

    With 101 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Enfinger and Eckes occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Enfinger and Eckes dueled for the lead in front of Riggs while Heim made contact with Dye while trying to force his way beneath him and have a shot at a top five. Shortly after, the caution quickly returned for a multi-truck wreck that erupted between Turns 3 and 4 when Purdy bumped and sent Ty Dillon running into the rear of Dean Thompson, which resulted in Thompson spinning up the track and in front of oncoming traffic as Sawalich, Stefan Parsons, Keith McGee, rookie Thad Moffitt, Bayley Currey, Mason Massey and Crafton all sustained damage to their respective entries.

    As the event restarted under green with 85 laps remaining, Enfinger rocketed away with the lead as the field fanned out approaching the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Enfinger led Rhodes, who navigated past Eckes for the spot, as Ankurm and Riggs battled for fourth place in front of Heim and Caruth. The caution, however, returned for the following lap after Lawless Alan spun in Turn 3 amid contact with Crafton and Bayley Currey.

    Following an extensive caution period, the race restarted under green with 73 laps remaining. At the start, Enfinger and Rhodes dueled for the lead as Ankrum, Heim and Caruth all made three-wide moves of their own approaching the first turn. Enfinger would then clear Rhodes and muscle ahead to retain the lead as Eckes would navigate his way into the runner-up spot over Rhodes during the following lap. Amid the late-race battles, Enfinger retained the lead by half a second over Eckes, Rhodes, Riggs and Ankrum while Majeski was up to seventh place behind Heim. The caution, however, would return with 69 laps remaining due to Conner Jones falling off the pace and nearly coming to a stop just past the frontstretch as the Virginia native missed the pit road entrance. During the caution period, some including Heim, Caruth, Sawalich, Purdy, Sanchez and Tanner Gray pitted for fresh tires while the rest led by Enfinger remained on the track.

    With the event restarting under green with 63 laps remaining, Enfinger fended off Rhodes to retain the lead from the outside lane as Heim used the four fresh tires to storm his way back to the front while running on the outside lane. With Tanner Gray also using his fresh tires to try to move up the leaderboard despite being mired in 16th place, Enfinger retained the lead by nearly a second over Rhodes with 60 laps remaining as Heim was making his way into the top five. Heim would then overtake Ankrum for fourth place and he would gain ground on Eckes while Majeski, Riggs, Friesen, Ty Dillon and Dye were mired in the top 10.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Enfinger was leading by less than two seconds over a hard-charging Heim while Rhodes, Eckes, Majeski, Ankrum, Riggs, Friesen, Dillon and Crafton were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Dye, who slipped to 12th place, was 12 points above the cutline with the final transfer spot over Tanner Gray, who was still mired in 16th place and trying to overtake Friesen for the spot. In the process, Taylor Gray was back in 17th place while Sanchez was mired in 22nd place behind Purdy, Garcia and Stefan Parsons.

    Ten laps later, Enfinger stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over runner-up Heim while Majeski trailed the lead by four seconds as he navigated his way up to third place. With teammate Rhodes and Eckes trailing in the top five, Riggs was down in sixth place while Sawalich, Ankrum, Crafton and Caruth were in the top 10. By then, Dye was down in 13th place behind Dillon and Zilisch while Tanner Gray was in 15th place behind Friesen.

    Another eight laps later, Heim drew his truck alongside Enfinger as both dueled for the lead before Enfinger muscled ahead to retain the lead and pull away from Heim by two-tenths of a second during the following lap. Heim would then challenge Enfinger a second time for the lead with 30 laps remaining before he prevailed and had the top spot to his control for the following lap. With Heim leading Enfinger, Majeski trailed in third place by two seconds while Riggs and Sawalich were in the top five.

    Then following another caution with 26 laps remaining due to Kaden Honeycutt spinning in Turn 4 after he got hit by Stefan Parsons, the entire lead lap field led by Heim pitted for service, with most pitting for a final set of fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Sawalich exited pit road first with only two fresh tires while Enfinger, Heim, Majeski and Eckes, all of whom opted for four fresh tires, exited in the top five. Amid the pit stops, Dye, who pitted from the top 10, exited pit road outside the top 20, which left him with only a one-point advantage over Tanner Gray as Gray was scored in 12th place.

    During the following restart with 20 laps remaining, Enfinger tried to bolt away from Sawalich as the field fanned out approaching the first turn. Sawalich, however, slipped up the track and made contact with Enfinger through the first two turns. This allowed Majeski to overtake both for the lead as Enfinger was left to battle Riggs for the runner-up spot in front of Eckes and Heim. As Sawalich began to drop in the leaderboard, Enfinger and Riggs continued to battle hard for the runner-up spot during the proceeding laps. Eckes would join the battle between Enfinger and Riggs while Heim was being overtaken by Ankrum, Taylor Gray, and Dillon. Behind, Dye was up to 11th place on fresh tires while Tanner Gray down to 21st place on older tires to Dye.

    With 15 laps remaining, Majeski was leading by more than a second over Enfinger and Riggs. The following lap, however, the caution returned after Holmes hit and send Zilisch into the outside wall in Turn 2, with Zilisch backing his No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST into the wall and retiring due to the damage. During caution, few including Tanner Gray, pitted while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track.

    Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Enfinger jumped ahead from Majeski. Then while trying to clear and block Majeski, Majeski kept his foot in the gas and nearly turned Enfinger, which got Enfinger loose and stalled his momentum as Majeski, who then got hit and nearly turned by Enfinger entering Turn 3, powered back into the lead. The contact allowed Eckes to challenge Enfinger for the runner-up spot as Riggs and Taylor Gray tried to join the battle. Over the next two laps, a four-wide battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Enfinger, Eckes, Riggs and Taylor Gray, with neither giving an inch. Meanwhile, Majeski managed to pull away and he would retain the lead by half a second over Enfinger with five laps remaining as Eckes, Taylor Gray and Riggs remained in close pursuit within the top five.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski remained the leader by nine-tenths of a second over Eckes as Enfinger, Riggs and Taylor Gray trailed closely behind. Having no competition lurking close enough to his rear bumper, Majeski cycled his Ford around Richmond smoothly for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch victorious for his second checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season.

    With the victory, Majeski notched his fifth career win in the Craftsman Truck Series division and his first at Richmond Raceway. The victory was also the second of the 2024 season for both ThorSport Racing and the Ford nameplate as Majeski, who qualified for his third consecutive Playoffs, will commence his pursuit for his first Truck Series championship over a seven-race Playoff stretch that begins at the Milwaukee Mile two weeks from now.

    “[The win] feels good,” Majeski said on FS1. “We’ve had great ThorSport trucks here at Richmond the last two years. Found different ways to lose’em. We tried to do it again tonight. Another mistake, we really need to clean that stuff up before Playoff time, but so proud of these guys sticking behind me. [I] Wouldn’t be able to it without [owners] Duke and Ronda Thorson. They gave me a huge opportunity a few years ago and I’m having the time of my life racing for this team. Proud of these ThorSport Racing guys. We work so hard at the shop. We’re proud to do this from Sandusky, Ohio and we’re gonna try and bring another trophy back home.”

    Behind Majeski, Christian Eckes, the 2024 Truck Series Regular Season Champion, settled in second place followed by Taylor Gray and Grant Enfinger, all of whom are among 10 competitors who have made the Playoffs. Meanwhile, rookie Layne Riggs finished in fifth place but was among several who did not make the Playoffs.

    Tyler Ankrum and Ben Rhodes finished sixth and seventh as both are in the Playoffs along with Daniel Dye, who rallied from an up-and-down season to clinch the 10th and final berth to the Playoffs by 12 points over 12th-place finisher Tanner Gray. Ty Dillon and Connor Hall finished in the top 10 on the track.

    Notably, Corey Heim, Rajah Caruth and Nick Sanchez, all of whom ended up 16th, 17th and 30th on the track, will compete in the Playoffs for this year’s championship while top names including Stewart Friesen, Chase Purdy, Ty Dillon and Matt Crafton did not make the Playoffs, with the latter having his streak of making the Playoffs for eight consecutive seasons and since the Playoff’s inception 2016 came to an end.

    There were 12 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 69 laps. In addition, 21 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Ty Majeski, 70 laps led

    2. Christian Eckes, 64 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Taylor Gray, five laps led

    4. Grant Enfinger, 98 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Layne Riggs

    6. Tyler Ankrum

    7. Ben Rhodes

    8. Daniel Dye

    9. Ty Dillon, four laps led

    10. Connor Hall

    11. Stefan Parsons

    12. Tanner Gray

    13. Jake Garcia

    14. Kaden Honeycutt

    15. Matt Crafton

    16. Corey Heim, six laps led

    17. Rajah Caruth

    18. Lawless Alan

    19. Timmy Hill

    20. Chase Purdy

    21. Bret Holmes

    22. William Sawalich, one lap down, three laps led

    23. Bayley Currey, one lap down

    24. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

    25. Stewart Friesen, two laps down

    26. Mason Massey, three laps down

    27. Justin Carroll, three laps down

    28. Mason Maggio, four laps down

    29. Connor Zilisch – OUT, Accident

    30. Nick Sanchez – OUT, Clutch

    31. Conner Jones – OUT, Electrical

    32. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    33. Thad Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    34. Keith McGee – OUT, Accident

    35. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    36. Jerry Bohlman – OUT, Too Slow

    The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to commence at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin, for the LiUNA! 175. The event is scheduled to occur on August 25 and air at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

    1. Ty Majeski, 56 laps led

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

    3. Grant Enfinger, 71 laps led

    4. Tyler Ankrum

    5. Layne Riggs

    6. Sammy Smith

    7. Luke Fenhaus

    8. Rajah Caruth

    9. Dean Thompson

    10. Nick Sanchez

    11. Ross Chastain

    12. William Sawalich

    13. Chase Purdy

    14. Bayley Currey

    15. Jack Wood

    16. Taylor Gray

    17. Corey Heim

    18. Ty Dillon

    19. Timmy Hill

    20. Tanner Gray

    21. Ben Rhodes

    22. Matt Mills

    23. Johnny Sauter

    24. Matt Crafton

    25. Marco Andretti, one lap down

    26. Bret Holmes, one lap down

    27. Daniel Dye, two laps down

    28. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    29. Conor Daly, three laps down

    30. Jake Garcia, three laps down

    31.  Tyler Tomassi, three laps down

    32. Thad Moffitt, five laps down

    33. Stewart Friesen, six laps down

    34. Spencer Boyd, 36 laps down

    35. Mason Massey – OUT

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

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

    Corey Heim dominates Pocono for 10th Truck Series career victory

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

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

    2. Grant Enfinger

    3. Christian Eckes, 11 laps led

    4. Taylor Gray

    5. Ross Chastain

    6. Chase Purdy

    7. Stewart Friesen

    8. Matt Crafton

    9. Dean Thompson

    10. Rajah Caruth

    11. Matt Mills

    12. Bret Holmes

    13. Nick Sanchez

    14. Tyler Ankrum

    15. Connor Mosack

    16. Daniel Dye

    17. Bayley Currey

    18. Ben Rhodes

    19. Tanner Gray

    20. Zane Smith

    21. Jake Garcia, four laps led

    22. Luke Fenhaus

    23. Timmy Hill

    24. Mason Massey

    25. Ty Dillon  

    26. Kris Wright

    27. Mason Maggio

    28. Justin Carroll

    29. Thad Moffitt

    30. Layne Riggs, one lap down

    31. Ty Majeski, two laps down

    32. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    33. Sage Karam, three laps down

    34. Bryan Dauzat, five laps down

    35. Stephen Mallozzi – OUT, Transmission

    36. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Hub

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

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

    2. Daniel Dye

    3. Corey Heim

    4. Rajah Caruth

    5. Tyler Ankrum

    6. Grant Enfinger

    7. Ben Rhodes

    8. Matt Mills

    9. Ty Majeski

    10. Jake Garcia

    11. Stewart Friesen

    12. Conner Jones

    13. Nick Sanchez

    14. Tanner Gray

    15. Ty Dillon

    16. Jack Wood

    17. Clint Bowyer

    18. Dawson Sutton

    19. Brenden Queen

    20. Dawson Cram

    21. Chase Purdy, one lap down

    22. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

    23. Matt Crafton, two laps down

    24. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    25. Layne Riggs, two laps down

    26. Stefan Parsons, two laps down

    27. Timmy Hill, three laps down

    28. Dean Thompson, four laps down

    29. Bayley Currey, four laps down

    30. Akinori Ogata, six laps down

    31. Frankie Muniz, 20 laps down

    32. Mason Massey – OUT, Brakes

    33. Kaden Honeycutt, 66 laps down

    34. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident

    35. Mason Maggio – OUT, Mechanical

    36. Bret Holmes – OUT, Accident

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

  • Corey Heim rallies for fourth Truck victory of 2024 at Gateway

    Corey Heim rallies for fourth Truck victory of 2024 at Gateway

    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.

  • Nick Sanchez wins 700th Truck Series event at Charlotte; snags first Triple Truck Challenge bonus

    Nick Sanchez wins 700th Truck Series event at Charlotte; snags first Triple Truck Challenge bonus

    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.

  • Corey Heim scores dominant Truck victory at North Wilkesboro

    Corey Heim scores dominant Truck victory at North Wilkesboro

    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. 

  • Christian Eckes to make 100th Truck career start at Darlington

    Christian Eckes to make 100th Truck career start at Darlington

    In his fourth full-time campaign in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Christian Eckes is poised to achieve a milestone start of his own. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway, the driver of the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST will reach 100 career starts in the Truck circuit.  

    A native of Greenville, New York, Eckes, winner of the 2016 Snowball Derby and Myrtle Beach 400, made his Truck Series debut at Iowa Speedway in June 2018. By then, he was competing on a part-time basis in the ARCA Menards Series for Venturini Motorsports and was coming off his first career victory at Salem Speedway. Driving the No. 46 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports, Eckes started ninth and finished eighth in his series debut. In the following event at World Wide Technology Raceway, he led 34 laps and won the second stage before ending up in 28th place following a late wreck after he got bumped and turned by Stewart Friesen into the outside wall entering the backstretch. Eckes would return for his third Truck career start at Martinsville Speedway in October, where he finished ninth, before finishing ninth for the third time in his career at Phoenix Raceway in November. 

    The following season, Eckes, who contended for the ARCA Menards Series championship for Venturini Motorsports, made a total of eight Truck Series starts in the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota entry. His first start occurred during the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, where he started on pole position for the first time in his career. Despite leading the first lap, Eckes ended up 22nd after being involved in two late incidents. His next start occurred at World Wide Technology Raceway in June, where he started on pole, led a race-high 57 laps and was contending for the victory until he got turned by Friesen on the final lap and dropped to 14th place in the final running order.

    He would then finish fourth, sixth, and 15th during his next three starts at Pocono Raceway, Eldora Speedway and Michigan International Speedway, respectively, before finishing third at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September and 17th at Martinsville in October, both of which he started on pole position. During the season-finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the New York native started on the front row and led 26 laps before settling in third place on the track and delivering the seventh Truck Series owner’s championship for Kyle Busch Motorsports. By then, Eckes, who had notched three top-five results, four top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 10.8 through eight Truck starts, had also claimed the 2019 ARCA championship. 

    Following two strong part-time seasons, Eckes moved up to the Truck Series on a full-time basis in 2020 behind the wheel of the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra, where he contended for the Rookie-of-the-Year title. After commencing the season by finishing no higher than 14th during the first three scheduled events, he notched his first top-five result of the season by finishing third at Atlanta. He then claimed two top-10 results during his next three starts before posting a career-best runner-up result behind team owner Kyle Busch at Texas Motor Speedway in July. Eckes then claimed back-to-back runner results at Kansas Speedway and at Michigan International Speedway, respectively, before posting a single top-five result within the final five regular-season events.

    By then, Eckes managed to qualify for the 2020 Truck Series Playoffs based on points. His Playoff run, however, came to an early end following respective finishes of 17th, eighth and 18th during the Round of 10. Managing three top-six finishes during the final four-scheduled events, including back-to-back fourth-place runs at Martinsville and Phoenix, Eckes settled in eighth place in the final driver’s standings and in the runner-up spot behind Zane Smith for the rookie title. 

    After being released by Kyle Busch Motorsports following the 2020 season, Eckes joined ThorSport Racing and competed on a part-time basis in the 2021 Truck Series season while sharing the No. 98 Toyota Tundra with Grant Enfinger. His first start occurred at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in February, where he finished 10th. He then finished ninth and fourth, respectively, during his next two events at Las Vegas and Kansas before managing three top-15 results during his next five starts. Then at Las Vegas in September, Eckes capitalized on a four-lap shootout to capture his first Truck Series career victory in his 44th series start and amid a historic 1-2-3-4 finish for ThorSport Racing. Eckes would conclude the 2021 season in sixth place during the season-finale at Phoenix as ThorSport Racing’s No. 98 entry ended up in ninth place in the final owner’s standings. 

    Achieving a full-time ride in ThorSport Racing’s No. 98 entry for the 2022 Truck season, Eckes commenced the season on a high note by finishing third at Daytona. He then recorded two top-six results during the following six events on the schedule before posting four consecutive top-five results, including two runner-up finishes, during his next four starts. With three additional top-10 results occurring during the final five regular-season events, Eckes made his second career appearance in the Truck Series Playoffs as a title contender. Following respective finishes of 16th, eighth and 10th throughout the Round of 10, he transferred into the Round of 8. Despite finishing no lower than eighth during the Round of 8, Eckes did not transfer into the Championship 4 round and would conclude the season in eighth place in the final standings. By then, Eckes claimed a career-high stat in top 10s (15) and posted a career-best average-finishing result of 10.9 as a full-time competitor. 

    The 2023 season presented another new beginning for Eckes, who departed ThorSport and joined McAnally-Hilgemann Racing to drive the No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado RST on a full-time basis, where he replaced the 2019 ARCA Menards Series West champion, Derek Kraus. After settling in third place during the season-opening event at Daytona followed by a sixth-place finish at Las Vegas amid a wild save while being sideways, the New York native capitalized on an overtime shootout to edge rookie Nick Sanchez on the final lap and at the moment of caution to grab his second Truck Series career victory at Atlanta in March. Amid respective finishes of 30th, 15th, 30th, 15th and 30th during his next five starts, Eckes capitalized on two overtime shootouts to grab his second Truck victory of the season at Darlington Raceway in May. He would then notch four top-seven results, including two top-three results, during his next six events before officially qualifying for the Playoffs.

    Commencing the 2023 Playoffs by finishing second at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway followed by a third-place finish at the Milwaukee Mile and winning the Round of 10 finale at Kansas, Eckes raced his way into the Round of 8. Despite achieving a runner-up result during the Round of 8 opener at Bristol Motor Speedway in September, he finished 19th and 20th during the next two Round of 8 events, which were not enough for him to make the Championship 4 round by a mere margin. Despite falling short of contending for his first Truck Series championship, Eckes capped off the 2023 season by scoring a career-high fourth victory of the season at Phoenix, which was enough to settle in a career-high fifth place in the final standings. By then, he achieved a career-high 10 top-five results, three poles, a career-high 351 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.1. 

    This season, Eckes has achieved dominant victories at two short track venues: Bristol in March and Martinsville Speedway in early April. To go along with a total of four top-five results and top-10 finishes in all but one of the first eight events on the 2024 schedule, Eckes is currently ranked in second place in the driver’s standings and trails points leader Corey Heim by seven points. 

    Through 99 previous Truck starts, Eckes has achieved seven victories, seven poles, 34 top-five results, 58 top-10 results, 1,119 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.4 as he continues his pursuit for his first Truck Series championship. 

    Christian Eckes is scheduled to make his 100th Craftsman Truck Series career start at Darlington Raceway for the Buckle Up South Carolina 200. The event is set to occur this upcoming Friday, May 10, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1. 

  • Corey Heim records dominant Truck victory at Kansas

    Corey Heim records dominant Truck victory at Kansas

    Corey Heim settled his score with Kansas Speedway by notching a dominant NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the Heart Of America 200 in the Heartland state on Saturday, May 4, after fending off Cup Series rookie Zane Smith for the top prize. 

    The 21-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, led four times for a race-high 79 of 134 scheduled laps in an event where he started in 13th place but quickly carved his way to the front as he led for the first time on Lap 12. Following an early battle with Zane Smith, Heim would proceed to win the first stage period before he would battle Christian Eckes and Smith for the lead during the second stage period. After regaining the lead from Nick Sanchez on the track with 65 laps remaining, Heim would have to re-cycle back into the lead with 32 laps remaining during a late cycle of green flag pit stops.

    Amid a late charge from Smith, Heim managed to maintain his ground and racing line along with navigating through lapped traffic to remain ahead of Smith and prevail for his second Truck Series victory of the 2024 season and his first at Kansas.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Chase Purdy notched his third Truck career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 175.735 mph in 30.728 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 175.713 mph in 30.732 seconds. 

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Jake Garcia, Mason Massey and Timmy Hill dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective trucks. Nick Sanchez also started at the rear of the field due to his Rev Racing entry failing the inspection process three times which prevented him from posting a qualifying lap. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Chase Purdy muscled his No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead from the field through the first two turns with the lead as teammate Connor Mosack and Ty Dillon took Ty Majeski three wide to assume second and third place on the track. With the field fanned out as far as four wide exiting the backstretch and back towards the frontstretch, Purdy proceeded to lead the first lap while teammate Mosack, who won the ARCA Menards Series event at Kansas earlier in the day, followed suit in second place. 

    A lap later, the event’s first caution flew when Majeski, who started on the front row but was losing a bevy of spots through the frontstretch, scraped the outside wall in Turn 1 after cutting a left-front tire. The incident pinned Majeski two laps behind the leaders as his pit crew attempted to keep Majeski’s No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 raceable. 

    As the event restarted under green on the sixth lap, Purdy retained the lead ahead of Zane Smith, Christian Eckes, Mosack and Ben Rhodes while the rest of the field behind started to fan out through the first two turns and through the backstretch. Purdy would lead the proceeding lap until Smith made a move beneath Purdy through Turns 3 and 4 to assume the lead. With Smith leading the race, Purdy was pressured by a hard-charging Corey Heim, who would claim the runner-up spot by the ninth lap, as Eckes tried to follow suit.  

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Zane Smith was leading by a tenth of a second ahead of a hard-charging Heim followed by Purdy, Eckes and Rhodes while Daniel Dye, Ty Dillon, Mosack, Kaden Honeycutt and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. Behind, Rajah Caruth was in 11th ahead of Stewart Friesen, Brett Moffitt, Tyler Ankrum and Matt Crafton while Bayley Currey, Grant Enfinger, Tanner Gray, Dean Thompson and Matt Mills were running in the top 20. 

    Two laps later, Heim ignited a side-by-side challenge against Smith for the lead, where Heim led the Lap 12 mark through the frontstretch before Smith led the following lap as both remained dead even for the lead. As Stewart Friesen pitted his No. 52 Halmar Toyota Tundra TRD Pro under green after getting into the wall a few laps earlier, Heim managed to muscle his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead and clear Smith’s No. 91 Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet Silverado RST to assume the lead with both lanes to his control by Lap 14. 

    At the Lap 20 mark, Heim was leading by half a second over Smith as Purdy, Eckes and Rhodes continued to follow suit in the top five. Behind, Honeycutt was up to sixth place ahead of Ty Dillon and Daniel Dye while Mosack and Taylor Gray were racing in the top 10. 

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Heim notched his second Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Zane Smith settled in second followed by Eckes, Purdy and Kaden Honeycutt while Rhodes, Mosack, Tyler Ankrum, Ty Dillon and Daniel Dye were scored in the top 10. By then, Majeski, who lost several laps since the restart following his opening lap incident, took his truck to the garage as he retired in 33rd place, dead last. 

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Heim pitted for service for the first time in the event. Following the pit stops, Eckes emerged as the new leader after exiting pit road first followed by Honeycutt, Smith and Heim. Amid the pit stops, Dean Thompson, Daniel Dye and rookie Thad Moffitt were penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Jake Garcia was penalized for a pit box interference while Cam Waters, who was making his second Truck career start, was also penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.  

    During the pit stops, Lawless Alan overshot his pit box and hit his front tire changer Brandon Henry. As a result, Henry, who survived the incident, was taken to the infield care center while a new tire changer took over to complete the pit service. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 37 as Eckes and Honeycutt occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes rocketed his No. 19 Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead with the lead from the inside lane as the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. Amid the battles, Smith claimed the runner-up spot from Honeycutt while Nick Sanchez, who carved his way towards the front from the rear of the field and restarted in the top 10, was losing a bevy of spots as he was being pinned in the middle of a bevy of three-wide battles. Smith would then waste little time overtaking teammate Eckes to reassume the lead on Lap 39, but Eckes would pressure Smith on the track during the proceeding laps as he tried to reclaim the lead. 

    Through the Lap 45 mark, Smith retained the lead by a tenth of a second over teammate Eckes, who continued to intimidate his McAnally-Hilgemann Racing teammate for the top spot, while Heim, Honeycutt and Purdy followed suit in the top five. Behind, Nick Sanchez was up to sixth place as Moffitt, Mosack, Rhodes and Dillon were running in the top 10 ahead of Caruth, Tanner Gray, Bayley Currey, Taylor Gray and Ankrum. 

    Five laps later, Smith continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Heim as third-place/teammate Eckes trailed by a second. By then, Honeycutt and Purdy continued to run in the top five as Moffitt overtook Sanchez for sixth place. In addition, Caruth was up to 10th place as he trailed teammate Mosack and Rhodes on the track while Dillon dropped to 13th. Amid the on-track battles, Smith stabilized his advantage to six-tenths of a second over Heim by the Lap 55 mark. 

    When the second stage period ended on Lap 60, Smith cruised to his first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Heim followed suit in second along with Eckes, Honeycutt and Purdy while Moffitt, Sanchez, Caruth, Mosack and Rhodes were scored in the top 10. By then, 27 of 33 starters were scored on the lead lap. 

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Smith returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Eckes reassumed the lead after exiting pit road first for the second time of the event followed by Heim, Honeycutt, Sanchez, Moffitt and Mosack while Smith exited out of pit road in eighth place. Amid the pit stops, Ankrum was assessed a safety violation penalty that sent him to the rear of the field from a top-15 running spot. 

    With 67 laps remaining, which marked the halfway mark of the event, the final stage commenced as Eckes and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes received a push from Sanchez on the inside lane to storm ahead with the lead through the first two turns as the field fanned out. Amid the field fanning out during the following lap, Sanchez cycled his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead before Heim used a crossover move on Sanchez through the frontstretch to reassume the lead. Honeycutt would muscle his No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST into the runner-up spot while Sanchez tried to fend off Eckes and Smith for third place. 

    With less than 60 laps remaining, Heim was leading by two-tenths of a second over Honeycutt followed by Smith, Eckes and Moffitt as Tanner Gray, Currey, Sanchez, Taylor Gray and Matt Crafton trailed in the top 10 ahead of Purdy, Rhodes, Dye, Mosack, Jake Garcia, Caruth, Thompson, Dillon, Bret Holmes and Enfinger. Meanwhile, rookie Layne Riggs was mired in 23rd ahead of Ankrum and Cam Waters. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Heim retained the lead by over two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Honeycutt as Smith, Eckes and Moffitt continued to run in the top five. Behind, brothers Tanner and Taylor Gray were running sixth and eighth while Currey was placed in the middle of the Gray brothers as Sanchez and Crafton continued to trail in the top 10. 

    Ten laps later, Heim extended his advantage to a second over Honeycutt, who closed in on Heim for the lead earlier before losing ground, as Smith, Eckes and Moffitt continued to trail in the top five. 

    Shortly after, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Heim led Smith and a bevy of competitors to pit road for service before Honeycutt led another group of leaders, including Eckes and Moffitt, to pit road with 39 laps remaining. By then, Rajah Caruth pitted under green two laps earlier as more pitted during the proceeding laps while Daniel Dye, who has yet to pit, was leading. Mason Massey, who also has yet to pit, would then assume the lead with 34 laps remaining as Dye pitted under green. Amid the pit stops, Purdy lost multiple laps due to a loose wheel during his green flag pit service. 

    Then with 32 laps remaining, Heim cycled back into the lead after Massey pitted under green. Smith would cycle into second place followed by Eckes and Honeycutt as Heim was scored the leader by three seconds with 30 laps remaining. 

    With 25 laps remaining, Heim retained the lead by nearly three seconds over Smith while Eckes, Honeycutt and Moffitt were racing in the top five. Behind, Tanner Gray, Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Timmy Hill and Currey were in the top 10. Hill would then pit during the following lap before Taylor Gray slapped the outside wall in Turn 2 after sustaining a flat right-front tire to his No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Amid Gray’s incident, where he pitted, the race remained under green flag conditions as Heim stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Smith with 20 laps remaining. 

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Heim continued to lead by two seconds over Smith while Eckes trailed in third place. As Honeycutt and Moffitt trailed in the top five, the following names that included Sanchez, Tanner Gray, Currey, Thompson and Crafton were racing in the top 10 as Dye, Enfinger, Caruth, Bret Holmes and Dillon followed suit in the top 15. 

    Five laps later, Heim’s advantage decreased to just over a second over Smith, who was trying to narrow the deficit between himself and the leader, while third-place Eckes trailed by four seconds. Honeycutt and Moffitt continued to run in the top five and sixth-place Sanchez trailed the lead by 16 seconds while Heim stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Smith with five laps remaining. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim remained as the leader by a second over a hard-charging Smith. As Smith tried to narrow the gap while Heim was mired in lapped traffic through the backstretch, the latter was able to stabilize his advantage to perfection and cruise his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro back to the frontstretch victorious for his second checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season. 

    With the victory, Heim notched his seventh career win in the Craftsman Truck Series, his first since winning at Circuit of the Americas this past March and his first at Kansas after finishing within the top four during both Truck Kansas events in 2023. Heim also joins Eckes as the only two series regulars to achieve multiple victories thus far into the 2024 Truck Series season while also delivering the second victory of the season for both TRICON Garage and the Toyota nameplate.

    Heim’s Kansas victory also extends his strong start to the 2024 season as he has finished in the top 10 through the first eight events on the schedule while he also continues his pursuit for his first Truck Series championship. The Georgia native will also be making his second Cup Series career start as a relief competitor for Legacy Motor Club and the injured Erik Jones on Sunday. 

    “[I] Can’t say enough about these guys at TRICON Garage,” Heim said on FS1. “Top to bottom, we executed so well today. Pit crew, everyone back at the shop at TRICON Garage. What a truck. Definitely struggled with being free for most of the race, so I can’t say it was easy, but even with the balance I had, this truck has so much more potential to get better. [I] Really wanted this one today and drove my butt off for it.” 

    “[I] Just keep getting better, keeping that gap ahead of the second place guy’s the main thing,” Heim added. “I feel like we were so due on this place and I really wanted this one today, so I knew we were gonna be capable of winning today. It’s about putting some more consistency together for the rest of the year and going after that championship.” 

    Smith, a Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year candidate who led three times for 29 laps, settled in second place in his fourth and final Truck Series start of the 2024 season, all while piloting the No. 91 entry for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. Amid his strong run, Smith expressed his disappointment in losing a bevy of spots from the lead on pit road prior to the final stage period.

    “I was surprised with how much we caught [Heim] there at the very end,” Smith said. “[You] Can’t lose eight spots on pit road. I let that [race] got away there.” 

    Teammate Christian Eckes, who led 11 laps, came home in third place followed by Kaden Honeycutt, who notched his first top-five career result after finishing fourth, while Brett Moffitt finished in fifth place in his first of select starts driving for TRICON Garage. 

    “It definitely sucks to come that close and not finish the job, but still a great run,” Honeycutt said. “You got to crawl before you walk, so this is the start of something of our part-time schedule.” 

    “It was a good night,” Moffitt added. “[I] learned a lot and we’ll move onto the next one and hopefully, be a little bit better.”  

    Nick Sanchez rallied from starting at the rear of the field to finish sixth while Tanner Gray, Dean Thompson, Daniel Dye and Matt Crafton finished in the top 10. 

    Notably, Rajah Caruth finished 13th, Rhodes ended up 16th behind Ty Dillon, Ankrum ended up 20th, Taylor Gray was mired in 27th, and pole winner Chase Purdy concluded his event in 28th place. In addition, rookie Layne Riggs and Cam Waters, both of whom made contact on the frontstretch prior to the event’s conclusion and had a heated post-race discussion on pit road, finished 18th and 19th, respectively.   

    There were 13 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 16 laps. In addition, 14 of 33 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the eighth event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, which marks the halfway mark of this year’s regular-season stretch, Corey Heim leads the regular-season standings by seven points over Christian Eckes, 49 over Nick Sanchez, 65 over Ty Majeski and 80 over Tyler Ankrum. 

    Results. 

    1. Corey Heim, 79 laps led, Stage 1 winner 

    2. Zane Smith, 29 laps led, Stage 2 winner 

    3. Christian Eckes, 11 laps led 

    4. Kaden Honeycutt, one lap led 

    5. Brett Moffitt 

    6. Nick Sanchez, one lap led 

    7. Tanner Gray 

    8. Dean Thompson 

    9. Daniel Dye, four laps led 

    10. Matt Crafton 

    11. Bayley Currey 

    12. Grant Enfinger 

    13. Rajah Caruth 

    14. Bret Holmes 

    15. Ty Dillon, one lap down 

    16. Ben Rhodes, one lap down 

    17. Jake Garcia, one lap down 

    18. Layne Riggs, one lap down 

    19. Cam Waters, one lap down 

    20. Tyler Ankrum, one lap down 

    21. Mason Massey, one lap down, two laps led 

    22. Timmy Hill, two laps down 

    23. Matt Mills, two laps down 

    24. Thad Moffitt, two laps down 

    25. Stewart Friesen, two laps down 

    26. Lawless Alan, two laps down 

    27. Taylor Gray, three laps down 

    28. Chase Purdy, three laps down, seven laps led 

    29. Mason Maggio, three laps down 

    30. Connor Mosack, three laps down 

    31. Spencer Boyd, five laps down 

    32. Jennifer Jo Cobb, six laps down 

    33. Ty Majeski – OUT, DVP 

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the Buckle Up South Carolina 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, May 10, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.