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  • Ty Majeski dominates for first Truck Series championship at Phoenix

    Ty Majeski dominates for first Truck Series championship at Phoenix

    Ty Majeski stormed to his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship by securing a dominant victory in the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, November 8.

    After starting on the pole, the 30-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, led a race-high 132 of 150-scheduled laps in the season-finale event. He led the first 38 laps before he was overtaken by Championship 4 contender Corey Heim. Majeski finished the first stage in second place at the conclusion of the first stage. He regained the lead during the first stage’s pit stop period and before the start of the second stage, Majeski prevailed after a mid-stage battle with Heim on the track to claim the second stage victory.

    Majeski would then lead the field to the start of the final stage period with 52 laps remaining. During three caution periods due to on-track carnages and three restart periods throughout the final stage, Majeski retained the lead through every restart period. He executed the final one with 27 laps remaining to his advantage as he motored away from Heim along with Championship 4 finalists Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger. Majeski capped off the 2024 season with his third Craftsman Truck Series victory this year and his first championship in his third full-time series campaign.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Championship 4 finalist Ty Majeski claimed the final pole position of the 2024 season and the sixth of the season with a pole-winning lap at 138.180 mph in 26.053 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Championship 4 finalist Corey Heim, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 138.021 mph in 26.083 seconds. Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger, the remaining two Championship 4 finalists, lined up in fourth and fifth, respectively.

    Before the event, Lawless Alan dropped to the rear of the field in a backup after he wrecked his primary truck during the finale’s qualifying session.

    When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Ty Majeski led the way through the first two turns. Majeski pulled away through the backstretch and led the first lap. His Championship 4 rivals Corey Heim and Christian Eckes followed suit in second and third, respectively.

    Over the next four laps, Majeski stretched his early advantage to more than a second over Heim and Eckes while Nick Sanchez and Stewart Friesen followed suit in the top five. Behind, Dean Thompson retained sixth place ahead of Connor Mosack, Championship 4 finalist Grant Enfinger, Kaden Honeycutt and rookie Layne Riggs. Conner Jones, Chase Purdy, Rajah Caruth, Tyler Ankrum and the Gray brothers of Tanner and Taylor were racing in the top 16.

    Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Majeski continued to lead by two seconds over Heim while third-place Eckes trailed by three-and-a-half seconds. Behind, Sanchez and Friesen remained in the top five. Enfinger, who lost three spots despite starting in fifth place, was up to seventh place behind Thompson. Majeski stabilized his lead to more than two seconds over Heim and by nearly six seconds over Eckes 10 laps later as Enfinger drove his way back to fifth place behind Sanchez.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Majeski’s lead decreased to six-tenths of a second over Heim as the latter started to close in on the former for the top spot. Majeski slightly increased his lead to nine-tenths of a second over Heim at the Lap 35 mark before Heim assumed the lead from Majeski entering the backstretch on Lap 39. By then, Eckes retained third place and trailed the lead by more than four seconds. Enfinger retained fifth place behind Sanchez but trailed the lead by more than 10 seconds.

    On Lap 41, the finale’s first caution period flew when Frankie Muniz got bumped by William Sawalich as he slid sideways in Turn 3 as Heim barely avoided McGee’s sideways truck. Muniz’s incident was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 45, to officially conclude under caution as Heim claimed his 10th Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Majeski, Eckes, Sanchez and Enfinger followed suit in the top five while Thompson, Mosack, Riggs, Conner Jones and Friesen were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, they pitted for the first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Majeski reassumed the lead as he exited pit road first. He was followed by Eckes, Heim, Sanchez and Enfinger. Amid the pit stops, Heim endured slow pit service after he was forced to reverse his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into his pit stall to ensure his pit crew could change the left-side tires. Enfinger barely clipped his rear tire changer while entering his pit stall.

    The second stage period started on Lap 54 as Majeski and Eckes occupied the front row. The field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Majeski and Eckes dueled for the lead. Majeski would then use the outside lane to muscle his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 ahead and gain the lead through the first two turns as Heim muscled through into second place ahead of Eckes and Sanchez. As the field continued to fan out through the backstretch, Majeski led the next lap over Heim while Eckes, Sanchez, Thompson and Enfinger followed suit in the top six.

    On Lap 58, the caution returned when Jack Wood, who was racing outside the top 25, got sideways after making contact with Bayley Currey who was racing in a three-wide battle with Matt Crafton. It resulted in Wood spinning and backing his No. 91 Mongoose Chevrolet Silverado RST into the outside wall in Turn 2. The incident and damage to the rear end of Wood’s truck were enough to make Wood the first retiree of the finale. During the caution period, Crafton and Daniel Dye pitted while the rest of the field, led by Majeski, remained on the track.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 64, a four-wide battle for the lead ensued between Majeski, Heim, Sanchez and Thompson through the frontstretch’s dogleg. Heim muscled ahead from the inside lane entering the first two turns and Majeski closed to Heim’s rear bumper entering the backstretch. Majeski tried to make a move beneath him, but Heim transitioned to the outside lane and fended off Majeski to retain the lead. With Heim leading the race, Majeski retained second ahead of Sanchez and Eckes while Riggs moved up into the top five. Riggs then challenged Eckes for fourth place while Mosack, Enfinger and Thompson closed in from sixth to eighth, respectively. By then, Thompson was penalized for a restart violation.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 75, Majeski, who overtook Heim for the lead five laps earlier despite making contact with the latter, extended his advantage to more than a second over Heim. Sanchez, in third place, trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Riggs and Eckes trailed in the top five ahead of Mosack, Friesen, Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Purdy. Ben Rhodes, Rajah Caruth, Tanner Gray, Conner Jones, Kaden Honeycutt, Daniel Dye, William Sawalich, Tyler Ankrum, Matt Crafton and Stefan Parsons followed suit in the top 20.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Majeski had stretched his advantage to more than three seconds and captured his seventh Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Heim followed suit in second while Riggs, Sanchez, Eckes, Mosack, Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Friesen and Rhodes were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Majeski returned to pit road for service. After the pit stops, Majeski retained the lead after he exited pit road first while Sanchez, Eckes, Riggs, Heim, Mosack, Taylor Gray, Enfinger, Caruth and Tanner Gray followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Crafton was penalized for improper fueling to his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150.

    With 52 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Majeski and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as both Sanchez and Majeski dueled in front of the field entering the first two turns. Majeski and Sanchez would continue to duel for the lead entering the backstretch in front of Heim and Riggs before Mosack, who was racing in the top six behind Eckes, ran up the track and hit the outside wall.

    As the field scattered to avoid hitting Mosack, Tyler Ankrum then got bumped by Sawalich as he spun his No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado RST back across the middle of the backstretch, which triggered a multi-truck wreck that involved Sawalich, Andres Perez de Lara, Stefan Parsons, Friesen, Frankie Muniz, Spencer Boyd and rookie Thad Moffitt. The carnage was enough to place the finale in a red flag period for more than six minutes. By then, Heim, who restarted in fifth place and had moved up to third place before the caution, was penalized for a restart violation, after he steered his No. 11 Safelite Toyota to the left and below the frontstretch’s apron before reaching the start/finish line.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, some of the drivers, including Mosack, Friesen and Currey, pitted while the rest of the field, led by Majeski, remained on the track.

    The next restart period began with 43 laps remaining and featured Majeski as he fended off Sanchez, Eckes and Riggs through the frontstretch’s dogleg and the first two turns. Majeski proceeded to lead Riggs through the backstretch while Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Enfinger, Caruth and Eckes all followed suit. Meanwhile, Heim, who restarted 19th after serving his penalty, was up to 16th place. As Heim proceeded to climb his way into the top 14, Majeski held a narrow lead over Riggs with 40 laps remaining as Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Enfinger and Eckes followed suit in the top six.

    Shortly after, the caution returned when Conner Jones, who was racing in 11th place, spun in Turn 2 after he made contact with teammate Jake Garcia amid close-quarters racing and was nearly hit by teammate Ben Rhodes while sliding towards the outside wall. The incident occurred in front of Heim, who made his way into 11th place. During the caution period, some of the drivers, including Enfinger and Eckes, pitted while the rest, led by Majeski, remained on the track.

    During the next restart period with 33 laps remaining, Majeski and Riggs led the field to the start as Majeski muscled ahead from the outside lane through the frontstretch’s dogleg. Heim went to the apron to gain spots towards the top-five mark entering the first two turns, as Majeski muscled away from the field entering the backstretch. But the caution quickly returned as Riggs made contact with Sanchez in a battle for the runner-up spot and spun his No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford F-150 in Turn 2. Nathan Byrd also spun as he jammed on the brakes to avoid Riggs.

    The following restart period with 27 laps remaining featured Majeski muscling ahead of a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot. Heim, Sanchez and Daniel Dye battled through the frontstretch’s dogleg and the first two turns before Heim muscled his way into the runner-up spot entering the backstretch. As the field fanned out, Majeski led the following lap ahead of a hard-charging Heim while Sanchez, Eckes and Dye were in the top five.

    Meanwhile, Enfinger was mired in ninth place as Majeski stretched his advantage to a second over Heim. Eckes would then charge his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST into third place on the track. With his fresh tires and only 24 laps remaining, it placed three Championship 4 finalists in the top three on the track while Dye was assessed a restart violation penalty.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the finale, Majeski was leading both the race and the championship battle by more than a second over Heim while third-place Eckes trailed by more than two seconds. Meanwhile, Enfinger was in sixth place behind Sanchez and Taylor Gray while Honeycutt, Mosack, Tanner Gray and Rhodes were in the top 10.

    Five laps later, Majeski added another second to his advantage as he led by more than two seconds over Heim while Eckes trailed in third place by three-and-a-half seconds. By then, Enfinger moved his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST up to fifth place despite trailing the lead by more than seven seconds. Majeski, who was posting the fastest lap times on the track, continued to extend his advantage to more than three seconds over Heim with 10 laps remaining.

    With five laps remaining, Majeski stabilized his advantage to more than four seconds over Heim while Eckes continued to trail in third place by five seconds. Meanwhile, Enfinger trailed in fifth place on the track by nine seconds while Sanchez was mired in fourth place.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski remained in the lead both in the race and the championship battle by more than four seconds over Heim. Heim was unable to narrow the gap between himself and Majeski for a final lap charge. Majeski smoothly navigated his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 around the Phoenix circuit for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch to claim the checkered flag and win both the race and his first Truck Series championship.

    With his first title, Majeski also claimed his sixth career race victory and became the 21st competitor overall to win a championship in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series division. He was also the third consecutive Ford competitor to win a Truck championship in recent seasons and the seventh to achieve a first title under the series’ current inception of the Playoff-elimination format.

    Majeski also delivered both the sixth Truck driver’s championship and the third owner’s championship for ThorSport Racing while veteran crew chief Joe Shear Jr. notched his second title in the series.

    The 2024 season marks the fourth time over the previous seven seasons that the championship-winning competitor won the season-finale event on a schedule and the third time over the last five seasons that it occurred at Phoenix Raceway. Majeski’s 2024 championship comes in his third full-time Truck season driving for ThorSport Racing, a team whom Majeski drove for in select events in 2021 before he was elevated to a full-time ride in 2022.

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “God, I can’t believe it,” Majeski said on the frontstretch on FS1. “Just huge thank you to [team owners] Duke and Rhonda Thorson. Joe Shear Jr., he’s one bad dude. This is so much fun racing with this group. So proud to have the opportunity to drive these great race trucks. There’s a lot of time in my career where this [championship] looks like a far dream and Duke and Ronda really gave me my third opportunity after I had two opportunities that failed. Man, I can’t thank them enough. We have had a lot of ups and downs and just so proud of these guys.”

    During his championship interview, Majeski, a five-time ARCA Midwest Tour champion who grew up competing in late models and short-track events, evoked an inspiring message to short-track racers striving to emerge as a future NASCAR champion.

    “[Winning]’s possible,” Majeski said. “You just need to find a way to set yourself apart from everybody else. I did that by working in the shop. [I] Started as an engineer at ThorSport [Racing] in 2021 with three or four races, didn’t know what it was going to turn into and now, we’re champions. Man, this is special. We’re going to celebrate this one.”

    As Majeski celebrated both the race victory and his first championship on the stage with his team, the remaining three Championship 4 finalists including Corey Heim, Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger were left disappointed on pit road as the trio fell short of winning their first title in the series.

    Heim, the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota entry, ended up in the runner-up spot both on the track and in the final standings and was left surprised by the late restart violation penalty. He admitted though that he could not keep pace with Majeski to battle for the title amid his late-race rally. Heim, who capped off the season with a series-leading six victories, will return to the Truck Series with TRICON Garage for the 2025 season as he strives to make another run for his first championship.

    “It’s hard to even be upset,” Heim said. “I did almost everything right except for that restart violation, but we were able to get our track position back pretty quick and make the most of it. I just had nothing for [Majeski] all day. He was so fast. I’m just proud of myself for not driving through the fastest truck like I drove through last year by [Carson] Hocevar and we’re going to go with our heads up high. A six-win season, career highs for myself, my team, organization, everybody. Just one sport short of the championship.”

    Meanwhile, the late pit stops for both Eckes and Enfinger did not pay dividends for either driver as Eckes settled in third place on the track and in the final standings while Enfinger came home in fifth place on the track and fourth place in the final standings.

    “[I] Just didn’t have enough today,” Eckes, who achieved four race victories, a season-high 11 stage victories and is set to graduate to the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing in 2025, said. “[Majeski] and [Heim] were just stronger than us. We threw a Hail Mary with the tires and I thought for a second I would be able to catch them and just didn’t have enough. I wish we could have finished [the season] off with a championship, but just came up a little short. So proud of my guys and we’ll move on to 2025.”

    “Honestly, [I needed] just more speed,” said Enfinger, who notched back-to-back victories during the Round of 8 and will be remaining with CR7 Motorsports for the 2025 Truck Series season.

    “Really proud of the CR7 Motorsports group. All we’ve overcome all year. I feel like we came here with the right mindset, the right game plan and honestly, pretty much the right execution for the stuff in our control. We just flat out didn’t have the speed tonight…It is a special year. Definitely disappointing performance for us tonight, but overall, proud of everything we did. We just flat out didn’t have the short-run speed. I think after 15 laps, we were respectable, but just couldn’t go on the short run.”

    Nick Sanchez finished in fourth place, which was enough to settle in fifth place in the final standings and his final campaign in the Truck Series with Rev Racing as he is set to move up to the Xfinity Series with Big Machine Racing in 2025. Taylor Gray, Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack, Ben Rhodes and Layne Riggs, the latter of whom claimed the 2024 Truck Series Rookie-of-the-Year title, completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were seven lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 43 laps. In addition, 22 of 35 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Ty Majeski, 132 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Corey Heim, 16 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Christian Eckes

    4. Nick Sanchez

    5. Grant Enfinger, two laps led

    6. Taylor Gray

    7. Kaden Honeycutt

    8. Connor Mosack

    9. Ben Rhodes

    10. Layne Riggs

    11. Tanner Gray

    12. Chase Purdy

    13. Rajah Caruth

    14. Jake Garcia

    15. Dean Thompson

    16. Brett Moffitt

    17. Conner Jones

    18. Stewart Friesen

    19. Matt Crafton

    20. Dawson Sutton

    21. Bayley Currey

    22. Timmy Hill

    23. Stefan Parson, one lap down

    24. Daniel Dye, one lap down

    25. Matt Mills, two laps down

    26. Nathan Byrd, three laps down

    27. Thad Moffitt, three laps down

    28. Spencer Boyd, four laps down

    29. Keith McGee, four laps down

    30. Lawless Alan, four laps down

    31. Andres Perez de Lara – OUT, Accident

    32. William Sawalich – OUT, Accident

    33. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Accident

    34. Frankie Muniz – OUT, Accident

    35. Jack Wood – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates championship finalists

    Final standings

    1. Ty Majeski

    2. Corey Heim

    3. Christian Eckes

    4. Grant Enfinger

    5. Nick Sanchez

    6. Taylor Gray

    7. Rajah Caruth

    8. Tyler Ankrum

    9. Ben Rhodes

    10. Daniel Dye

    The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 14, 2025, for a new season of competition.

  • Layne Riggs named 2024 Truck Series Rookie of the Year

    Layne Riggs named 2024 Truck Series Rookie of the Year

    Layne Riggs has officially been named the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Sunoco Rookie of the Year.

    Riggs, a second-generation racer from Bahama, North Carolina, made his Truck Series debut at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in July 2022. By then, he was contending for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series championship, which he would achieve after he racked up 16 victories and thus becoming the youngest-series champion at age 20. Driving the No. 62 Halmar Friesen Racing (HFR) Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for his Truck debut at Indianapolis, Riggs started 23rd and finished seventh following an overtime shootout. He would make two additional Truck starts with HFR throughout the season, where he finished 19th at Richmond Raceway before finishing 13th during the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway in November after he started on the front row.

    The following season, Riggs, who made his first three career starts in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing, also made three starts in the Truck Series. His first start of the 2023 season was with TRICON Garage at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, where he finished 28th. He then finished 27th in his second start at Nashville Superspeedway while driving for Young’s Motorsports. His third and final Truck start of the season occurred at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park with Spire Motorsports, where he notched his first top-five career result by finishing third.

    In December 2023, Riggs was named a full-time Truck Series competitor for the 2024 season, where he replaced Zane Smith in the No. 38 Ford F-150 entry for Front Row Motorsports. He commenced his rookie campaign in 33rd place after being involved in a multi-truck wreck on the opening lap and failing the Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) to continue. The North Carolinian would then finish no higher than 10th over his next eight starts before he recorded a stellar third-place run at North Wilkesboro Speedway in May. He then finished fifth at World Wide Technology Raceway in June two races later and cap off the regular-season stretch with back-to-back fifth-place results. With an average-finishing result of 19.4 throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, however, Riggs ended up falling short of making his first Truck Playoffs.

    Riggs then responded back by scoring his first Truck career victory in the 2024 Playoff opener at the Milwaukee Mile in an event where he led 53 of the 175 scheduled laps. With his accomplishment, Riggs became the 125th competitor overall to win in the Truck Series as he joined his father, Scott, in the series’ all-time wins list.

    Not long after becoming the second competitor overall to win a Truck Series Playoff opener as a non-Playoff contender, Riggs then became the first non-Playoff contender to win the series’ first two Playoff events on a schedule as he doubled down with a dominant victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in September. As a result, Riggs also became the first competitor to back up a first Truck career victory with a second in back-to-back starts since Ford competitor Chase Briscoe made the last accomplishment between 2017-18.

    During the next event on the schedule at Kansas Speedway, Riggs fell short of winning three races in a row, but managed to claim a runner-up result amid a late fuel-mileage battle. After finishing no higher than 22nd during his next two-scheduled events, Riggs would cap off the 2024 season with two consecutive top-10 results, which was enough to claim 11th place in the final driver’s standings by 38 points over Stewart Friesen. As a result, this made Riggs the highest-finishing competitor in the standings who did not make the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs.

    With the rookie title accomplishment, Riggs became both the first Ford competitor and the first North Carolina-raised competitor to achieve a Truck Series’ rookie title since Charlotte native Myatt Snider made the last accomplishments in 2018. Riggs also became the first competitor representing Front Row Motorsports to achieve a rookie title across NASCAR’s top three national touring series and he joined his father, Scott, as a Rookie-of-the-Year recipient within one of NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Riggs’ closest rival for this year’s Truck rookie title was Conner Jones, who made 13 starts in the No. 66 Ford F-150 entry for ThorSport Racing and achieved a season-best 11th-place result at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Thad Moffitt, another rookie contender, initially commenced the season as a full-time competitor for Faction46 before he transitioned to Young’s Motorsports towards the halfway mark of the season. He then did not compete in five of the final six events on the schedule as he only returned to compete in the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway, where he finished 27th on the track and 32nd in the final standings, one spot behind Jones.

    With the rookie title achieved, Riggs is currently slated to remain at Front Row Motorsports for a second full-time Truck Series campaign in 2025 as he strives to make his first Playoffs and contend for his first series championship.

    The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2025, for a new season of competition.

  • NASCAR reveals Homestead penalty report

    NASCAR reveals Homestead penalty report

    Conner Jones issued a one-race Truck Series Suspension

    Conner Jones was issued a one-race suspension for his on-track actions following this past weekend’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff event at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 26 as part of a triple-header weekend in South Florida.

    Jones’s actions occurred on Lap 75 of 134, where he deliberately hit the rear end of Matt Mills’ No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST entry following an earlier altercation between both competitors. The contact from Jones got Mills loose before he veered to the right across the racetrack and hit the Turn 4 outside wall on the right side hard as Mills’ damaged truck then erupted in flames.

    Mills escaped the wreckage with the aid of medical personnel and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. Two days later on October 28, he was released and took to social media to express his gratitude for the support he received during his recovery. He has also been medically cleared to race for this upcoming weekend’s event at Martinsville Speedway.

    Jones received a two-lap penalty for the incident and finished in 25th place of the 34-truck field. Following the event, he declined to speak to the media but later apologized for his actions through a statement.

    Jones, previously set to mark the 13th of 14 planned events on the Truck Series schedule during the upcoming weekend at Martinsville, will miss the race due to the suspension. However, he will return to action for next weekend’s season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway. As a result, former Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter, initially set to compete with Hattori Racing Enterprises, is will pilot Jones’ No. 66 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 entry at Martinsville, per the qualifying order sheet.

    Layne Riggs Truck Series Team Issued L1 Penalty

    NASCAR also issued an L1-level penalty to the Craftsman Truck Series No. 38 Front Row Motorsports (FRM) Ford F-150 entry piloted by rookie Layne Riggs due to an improperly mounted ballast that resulted in Riggs starting at the rear of the field for the main event. Riggs would proceed to finish in 22nd place, the final truck scored a lap down, after he ran out of fuel while running in second place on the penultimate lap.

    Riggs’ No. 38 FRM Ford team was also docked 10 driver/owner points as a result of the ballast penalty, and crew chief Dylan Cappello was issued a one-race suspension. Amid the points penalty, Riggs remains in 11th place in the driver’s standings.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Three Xfinity Series crew chiefs fined $5,000 each

    Three Xfinity Series crew chiefs were issued fines due to a single lug nut that was not secured on each of their respective entries The crew chiefs penalized include Mardy Lindley, crew chief for Playoff contender Sam Mayer and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team, Andy Street, crew chief for Playoff contender and race winner Austin Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Chevrolet Camaro team and Joe Williams, crew chief for Kyle Sieg and the No. 39 RSS Racing Ford Mustang team.

    The lug nut penalty issued to RCR’s No. 21 team and the fine to Street do not affect Hill’s victory as he is already guaranteed a spot into this year’s Championship 4 round and compete for the 2024 Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway next Saturday.

    NASCAR Cup Series

    There were no penalties levied on any Cup Series teams following this past Sunday’s Playoff event at Homestead which was won by Playoff contender Tyler Reddick.

    The NASCAR Craftsman Truck, Xfinity and Cup Series divisions return to action this upcoming weekend at Martinsville Speedway for the final Round of 8 events for all three series. The Truck division will commence the weekend on Friday, November 1, at 6 p.m. ET on FS1 while the Xfinity division will occur the following day, November 2, at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network. The Cup division will conclude the weekend on Sunday, November 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Grant Enfinger doubles down with dramatic fuel-mileage Truck victory at Homestead

    Grant Enfinger doubles down with dramatic fuel-mileage Truck victory at Homestead

    Three weeks after securing a Championship 4 berth by winning the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Talladega Superspeedway, Grant Enfinger doubled down in his bid to be known as a legitimate championship contender for this season’s finale by winning the Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, October 26, following a fuel-mileage battle to the victory.

    The 39-year-old Enfinger from Fairhope, Alabama, led twice for 32 of 134-scheduled laps in an event where he started ninth and cruised to a sixth-place result during the event’s first stage period. Then in the closing laps of the second stage period, he charged up the leaderboard and overtook pole-sitter Corey Heim to assume the lead and race his way to the second stage victory. Despite getting entangled with an on-track incident with Playoff contender Christian Eckes at the start of the final stage period that forced Enfinger to eventually pit and lose a lap amid a tire rub, the Alabama veteran seized an opportunity to rally back through the field that started when Conner Jones intentionally wrecked Matt Mills with 60 laps remaining. During the caution period, he received the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap and pitted for fuel that would enable him to reach the event’s scheduled distance.

    Then starting with the final restart period with 52 laps remaining, Enfinger began his fuel economy run to the finish while also carving his way back up the leaderboard. While most of his fellow Playoff contenders pitted for fuel midway into the final stage period, Enfinger remained on the track and returned to the lead with 21 laps remaining. Despite reducing his pace for the remainder of the event, Enfinger had built a reasonable gap from his closest competition and had enough fuel saved in his tank to reach the event’s scheduled distance and claim the checkered flag for his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2024 season and in recent weeks.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, October 25, Playoff contender Corey Heim notched his first Truck pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 165.062 mph in 32.715 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender and teammate Taylor Gray, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 164.689 mph in 32.789 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that include Tanner Gray, Matt Mills and rookie Layne Riggs dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, the field quickly fanned out through the frontstretch as teammates Corey Heim and Taylor Gray dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field continued to fan out through the backstretch, Heim managed to muscle his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead from the inside lane through Turns 3 and 4 and he would proceed to lead the first lap.

    Over the next four laps and amid a series of early on-track action within the field, Heim proceeded to extend his advantage to as high as seven-tenths of a second over teammate Taylor Gray while Playoff contender Christian Eckes followed suit in third place. Behind, Kaden Honeycutt and Connor Mosack trailed in the top five ahead of Playoff contenders Rajah Caruth and Stewart Friesen while Playoff contenders Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger and Nick Sanchez followed suit in the top 10.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Heim stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over teammate Taylor Gray while third-place Eckes trailed by eight-tenths of a second. Behind, Honeycutt and Mosack remained in the top five ahead of Majeski, Caruth, Friesen, Enfinger and Sanchez while Daniel Dye, Dean Thompson, Matt Crafton, Connor Zilisch and Playoff contender Tyler Ankrum were racing in the top 15.

    Five laps later, Heim stretched his early advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Honeycutt, who overtook Taylor Gray for the runner-up spot a few laps earlier, while Eckes followed suit in fourth place as he trailed Gray by a second. Not long after, Majeski would move into the top five in fifth place as a trio of Playoff contenders that include Caruth, Enfinger and Sanchez were racing from seventh to ninth, respectively, while Heim retained the lead by half a second over Honeycutt at the Lap 20 mark.

    By Lap 25, Honeycutt used the outside lane to gain a big draft on Heim through the backstretch, but Heim moved in front of Honeycutt’s No. 45 Moore’s Venture Foods Chevrolet Silverado RST to stall his momentum. Honeycutt, who was running faster lap times than Heim, would proceed to use the outside lane to continue to gain more ground towards Heim’s rear bumper through every corner and straightaway during the proceeding laps as Heim was navigating his way through lapped traffic.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Heim, who came into Homestead 30 points above the top-four cutline in the Playoff standings, fended off Honeycutt to notch his ninth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Honeycutt settled in second ahead of Majeski, Taylor Gray and Eckes while Enfinger, Mosack, Sanchez, Caruth and Dean Thompson were scored in the top 10. With all but one of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points by finishing in the top 10, the remaining Playoff contender, Tyler Ankrum, settled in 16th place behind teammate Daniel Dye.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Heim pitted for a first round of pit service that included a change of four fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Heim retained the lead as he exited pit road first ahead of teammate Taylor Gray, Honeycutt, Eckes and Enfinger while Majeski, who lost three spots following his pit service, exited in sixth place ahead of Sanchez, Thompson, Mosack and Matt Crafton. Shortly after, Sanchez was sent to the rear of the field due to speeding while exiting pit road.

    The second stage period started under green on Lap 38 as teammates Heim and Taylor Gray occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through both the frontstretch and the backstretch as Gray received a draft from Eckes to muscle ahead of Heim through the backstretch. As Enfinger muscled into fourth place ahead of Majeski and a steaming pack of trucks through Turns 3 and 4, Eckes challenged Gray for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch during the following lap while Heim followed in close pursuit.

    Taylor Gray would then slide his No. 17 Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in front of Eckes’ No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST entering the frontstretch and lead the next lap before Eckes pulled a crossover move to the inside lane and assumed the lead through Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 40. Shortly after, Heim overtook teammate Gray for the runner-up spot as Eckes led the following lap. Heim then overtook Eckes to reassume the lead entering the frontstretch on Lap 42 and he would proceed to slowly muscle away with the top spot. By Lap 45, Heim stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Eckes while Taylor Gray, Enfinger and Majeski followed suit in the top five. Behind, Mosack occupied sixth place as Caruth, Honeycutt, Crafton and Dye were in the top 10.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Heim extended his advantage to a second over Eckes while Enfinger muscled his way up to third place as he trailed the lead by two seconds. Meanwhile, Taylor Gray fell back to fourth place ahead of Majeski while Mosack, Caruth, Honeycutt, Dye and Crafton were in the top 10. Towards the middle of the field, Playoff contenders Ankrum and Sanchez were mired in 17th and 19th, respectively, as Heim proceeded to lead by seventh-tenths of a second over Eckes by Lap 55.

    Then on Lap 57, Enfinger, who overtook Eckes for the runner-up spot a lap earlier and had been gaining ground on the leaders, steered his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead from Heim through Turns 3 and 4 while he also almost got sideways entering the frontstretch. He then fended off Heim entering Turns 1 and 2 to retain the top spot.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 60, Enfinger, who is already guaranteed a spot into this year’s Championship 4 field by winning the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Talladega Superspeedway earlier in October, notched his third Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Heim settled in second ahead of Eckes, Majeski and Honeycutt while Taylor Gray, Dye, Mosack, Caruth and Crafton were scored in the top 10. With six of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s second round of Playoff points, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Ankrum and Sanchez were mired in 16th and 17th, respectively.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Enfinger returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Enfinger exited pit road first as he was followed by Taylor Gray, Heim, Connor Zilisch, Eckes, Honeycutt, Majeski, Caruth, Mosack and Thompson. Shortly after, Zilisch returned to pit road for service due to the Charlotte rookie missing his pit stall during the first cycle with the field.

    With 67 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Enfinger and Taylor Gray occupied the front row. At the start, Taylor Gray muscled ahead into the lead from the inside lane while Eckes and Enfinger collided against one another entering the first turn. As the field fanned out through the first two turns, Eckes fended off Majeski for the runner-up spot while Enfinger, who quickly reassumed third place through the backstretch, had a left-rear tire rub and smoke puffing out of his truck. During the following lap, Enfinger continued to nurse his damaged truck on the track despite dropping out of the top five mark and losing more spots as Taylor Gray retained the lead.

    With 64 laps remaining, however, Eckes and Taylor Gray dueled for the lead as Heim and Majeski followed suit in close pursuit. As Enfinger pitted under green to have his damaged truck assessed prior to the following lap, Eckes was out in front of a tight four-truck battle for the lead that involved Heim, Gray and Majeski. Heim then rocketed back into the lead with 62 laps remaining while Eckes followed suit in second. As Gray and Majeski battled for third place, Layne Riggs carved his way up to fifth place while Caruth, Honeycutt, Sanchez, Mosack and Thompson were in the top 10.

    Then with 60 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Matt Mills, who was racing in the top 20, getting loose after he received a bump from Conner Jones’ No. 66 TSPORT Ford F-150 and smacked the outside wall in Turn 4 as flames erupted out of his No. 42 Utilitra/J.F. Electric Chevrolet Silverado RST. Following the incident, Mills managed to climb out of his damaged truck under his own power while Jones, who vocally expressed his displeasure with Mills over an earlier on-track battle, was assessed a two-lap penalty for reckless driving. Mills would eventually be taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.

    During the caution period, some led by Riggs and including Sanchez and Ankrum pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track. Enfinger, who received the free pass during the caution period, also pitted.

    The start of the next restart period with 52 laps remaining featured Heim receiving a draft from Majeski to muscle ahead of Eckes to retain the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns. Then exiting the backstretch, Majeski, who was in third place, shot his No. 98 Poppi/Road Ranger Ford F-150 below the track entering Turns 3 and 4 as he tried to bolt into the lead. Heim, however, used the outside lane and a draft from Eckes to muscle back ahead and retain the lead for the following lap. By then, Majeski managed to claim the runner-up spot as Caruth intimidated Eckes for third place.

    Then as Caruth tried to go below Eckes for third place in Turns 3, he got loose, which allowed Riggs and Dye to overtake him as Caruth was left to battle Sanchez and Taylor Gray for seventh place. Shortly after, Riggs overtook Eckes and Majeski on his four fresh tires before he assumed the lead from Heim with 49 laps remaining.

    With less than 45 laps remaining, Riggs extended his advantage to more than a second over Sanchez, who also bolted his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST to the front on four fresh tires. With Heim dropping to third place, Mosack followed suit in fourth place ahead of Enfinger, Majeski, Ankrum, Dye, Friesen and Ben Rhodes while Eckes, Caruth and Taylor Gray dropped to 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively. As Heim was overtaken by both Mosack and Enfinger, Riggs retained the lead by a second with 40 laps remaining.

    With 36 laps remaining, mixed strategies within the field ensued as Caruth pitted his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST for four fresh tires and fuel under green. Eckes would then pit for the following lap before more names including Crafton, Honeycutt and Majeski pitted during the next lap. Teammates Heim and Taylor Gray would then pit their respective Toyotas under green with 33 laps remaining as Riggs, who was approaching lapped traffic, stabilized his advantage to six-tenths of a second over Sanchez.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Riggs, who was among several competitors who continued to race on the track and aiming to stretch their fuel tank to the scheduled distance, continued to lead by a second over Sanchez while third-place Enfinger also trailed by a second. As Mosack, Ankrum, Friesen, Rhodes, Tanner Gray, Chase Purdy and Dawson Sutton followed suit in the top 10, Heim, the first competitor who recently pitted under green, trailed the lead by 31 seconds in 11th place as Majeski, Timmy Hill, Eckes and Caruth were mired in the top 15, with Taylor Gray trailing in 17th place.

    Three laps later, Enfinger challenged Riggs for the lead and he would overtake him to lead the following lap. Enfinger, who was also racing on fumes to stretch his fuel tank to the scheduled distance, would proceed to lead by half a second over Riggs while Sanchez trailed in third place by nine-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Heim trailed the lead by 26 seconds in 10th place as he remained ahead of Majeski, Eckes and Caruth.

    With 15 laps remaining, Enfinger, who was slowly reducing his speed while remaining on the track to stretch his fuel tank, continued to lead by more than a second over Riggs while third-place Sanchez trailed by more than two seconds. With Mosack and Friesen in the top five ahead of Ankrum, Heim carved his way up to eighth place and trailed the lead by 24 seconds.

    Five laps later, Enfinger retained the lead by more than two seconds over runner-up Riggs and by more than three seconds over Sanchez while Heim, who was still in eighth place, trailed by 21 seconds. By then, Caruth and Taylor Gray, both of whom were strapped in 13th and 14th, respectively, un-lapped themselves while Majeski and Eckes were racing in ninth and 11th, respectively.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Enfinger stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Riggs, who was slowly gaining ground on the former, as Sanchez continued to trail in third place by nearly seven seconds. A lap later, Heim cycled to seventh place but still trailed the leader Enfinger by 18 seconds. Another two laps later, Riggs ran out of fuel as he coasted his No. 38 Love’s RV Stops Ford F-150 below the apron through the first two turns and past Purdy, who also ran out of fuel.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Enfinger remained in the lead by more than 10 seconds over Sanchez. As Sanchez ran out of fuel and dropped off the pace through the backstretch, Enfinger managed to have enough fuel in his dry tank to coast his No. 9 Chevrolet around the Homestead circuit smoothly for a final time and return to the frontstretch victorious for his second consecutive checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season.

    With the victory, Enfinger notched his 12th career win in the Craftsman Truck Series division and his first at Homestead as this marks the first time ever where the Alabama veteran has notched back-to-back Truck victories in recent weeks. The Homestead victory was also the second ever for CR7 Motorsports and the 10th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate as Enfinger eyes additional momentum before his bid and the primary focus for the championship battle in the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway two weeks from now.

    “I think the truck we had here was equally as good [as the one from Darlington Raceway] and I feel like we were able to take a disadvantage with whatever happened on that restart [with 67 laps remaining],” Enfinger said on the frontstretch on FS1. “I didn’t think I did anything wrong and my buddy Christian [Eckes] was, I guess, trying to split the middle and just cut our tire a little bit, but just racing. At the end of the day, [crew chief] Jeff Stankiewicz just had the best truck out here. This Champion Power Equipment Chevy was really fast after about five laps yesterday and it was the same way today. [Spotter] Tim [Fedewa] did a good job of managing me with the tires and then Jeff did a good job managing me with the fuel. I felt like I saved at least 20% more than I did in the first run, but Jeff was on me pretty hard. Hard to beat these two weeks.”

    “We’ve had potential all year,” Enfinger added. “There’s been some times I haven’t executed. There’s been some times we just had bad luck, but maybe this is the time we get our momentum and like I told the guys, we’ll just not get too worked up over this one. Just focus on Phoenix, but it’s hard not to have momentum. Just overall, proud of the execution of these guys. More than anything, just proud of the speed. We had the fastest truck all day and when you do that, you can even have some slip-ups or mistakes and overcome them.”

    With Enfinger winning the race, Ty Majeski came home in second place and Connor Mosack settled in third place while Corey Heim could carve his way back up to as high as fourth place ahead of Tyler Ankrum.

    Stewart Friesen, Daniel Dye, Rajah Caruth, Christian Eckes and Taylor Gray finished in the top 10. Meanwhile, Sanchez, who ran out of fuel on the final lap, ended up in 13th place, the final competitor scored on the lead lap, while Riggs fell back to 22nd place, a lap down.

    As a result, Heim, Eckes and Majeski enter next weekend’s Round of 8 finale above the top-four cutline to the Championship 4 field while Caruth, Taylor Gray, Ankrum and Sanchez trail the cutline.

    There were nine lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 19 laps. In addition, 13 of 34 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Grant Enfinger, 32 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Ty Majeski

    3. Connor Mosack

    4. Corey Heim, 68 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    5. Tyler Ankrum

    6. Stewart Friesen

    7. Daniel Dye

    8. Rajah Caruth

    9. Christian Eckes, three laps led

    10. Taylor Gray, four laps led

    11. Matt Crafton

    12. Ben Rhodes

    13. Nick Sanchez

    14. Kaden Honeycutt, one lap down

    15. Dean Thompson, one lap down

    16. Corey Day, one lap down

    17. William Sawalich, one lap down

    18. Connor Zilisch, one lap down

    19. Dawson Sutton, one lap down

    20. Tanner Gray, one lap down

    21. Lawless Alan, one lap down

    22. Layne Riggs, one lap down, 27 laps led

    23. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    24. Jake Garcia, two laps down

    25. Conner Jones, two laps down

    26. Chase Purdy, three laps down

    27. Spencer Boyd, three laps down

    28. Conor Daly, three laps down

    29. Nathan Byrd, four laps down

    30. Marco Andretti, seven laps down

    31. Bayley Currey, nine laps down

    32. Justin Mondeik, 20 laps down

    33. Frankie Muniz, 29 laps down

    34. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Grant Enfinger – Advanced

    2. Corey Heim +49

    3. Christian Eckes +38

    4. Ty Majeski +22

    5. Rajah Caruth -22

    6. Taylor Gray -24

    7. Tyler Ankrum -41

    8. Nick Sanchez -43

    The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to conclude at Martinsville Speedway for the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200, which will determine this year’s Championship 4 field. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, November 1, and air at 6 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Grant Enfinger scores dominant victory at Talladega, clinches Championship 4 berth

    Grant Enfinger scores dominant victory at Talladega, clinches Championship 4 berth

    The feeling of winning at home never felt sweeter for Grant Enfinger, who guaranteed himself an early shot to contend for this year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship after capping off a dominant performance with a victory in the Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, October 4.

    The 39-year-old Enfinger from Fairhope, Alabama, led nine times for a race-high 34 of 85-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place and spent a majority of the event racing upfront amid the draft and up against both his fellow Playoff and non-Playoff contenders. After finishing second in the first stage before winning the second stage, Enfinger, who would endure three restarts throughout the final stage period, retained the lead at the start of the final one with nine laps remaining. He then fended off late challenges from Playoff contenders Christian Eckes and Taylor Gray through the frontstretch on the final lap and amid a multi-truck wreck approaching the finish line to record his first elusive victory of the season and automatically transfer his way into this year’s Championship 4 round.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, William Sawalich, the 2024 ARCA Menards Series East champion, notched his first Truck Series career pole position after he posted a pole-winning lap at 175.764 mph in 54.482 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ben Rhodes, who posted his best qualifying lap at 175.648 mph in 54.518 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Keith McGee dropped to the rear of the field as a result of replacing Bryan Dauzat in the FDNY Racing entry. Bayley Currey also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change to his Niece Motorsports entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, William Sawalich muscled his No. 1 Starkey/Soundgear Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead with the lead from the inside lane as he was followed by Ben Rhodes and Playoff contenders Ty Majeski and Taylor Gray through the first two turns. Sawalich proceeded to lead through the backstretch as a bevy of competitors behind dueled early for positions in two drafting lanes. When the field returned to the frontstretch, Playoff contender Grant Enfinger received a draft from Chase Purdy from the outside lane to rocket his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead and lead the first lap ahead of Sawalich.

    Through the second to fifth lap, the field fanned out to three drafting lanes as Purdy, Enfinger and Matt Mills all took turns leading at the front while Jake Garcia, Sawalich, Connor Zilisch, Dean Thompson, Majeski, Playoff contender Tyler Ankrum, Dean Thompson and Lawless Alan all followed pursuit. By then, Ben Rhodes, who started on the front row alongside Sawalich, was penalized for jumping the start, as he launched ahead of Sawalich when he was not in control of bringing the field up to race pace before the event’s start. After serving a drive-through penalty for the penalty, however, Rhodes was penalized a second time, this time for a blend violation as he moved up the racing surface early through the backstretch. The pair of penalties would result in Rhodes losing a lap to the field while Mills and Enfinger dueled for the lead in front of the field.

    Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Enfinger was leading ahead of Purdy, Sawalich, Mills and Majeski while Garcia, Playoff contender Taylor Gray, Zilisch, Ankrum and Dean Thomson were racing in the top 10. Behind, Playoff contender Corey Heim occupied 11th place ahead of, Lawless Alan, Playoff contender Christian Eckes, Playoff contender Rajah Caruth and Ryan Reed while Bret Holmes, Nick Sanchez, Stefan Parsons, Stewart Friesen and Tanner Gray were mired in the top 20.

    Five laps later, Enfinger, who led three of the previous five laps, was leading by a hair amid a side-by-side battle with Mills while the rest of the field racing in two-packed lanes followed suit. By then, Garcia, Sawalich and Zilisch were running in the top five as Playoff contenders Majeski, Taylor Gray and Ankrum were racing in the top-10 mark. In addition, Heim and Caruth were battling within the top-15 mark while Eckes and Sanchez were mired within the top-20 mark. Meanwhile, Johnny Sauter, who was making his second Truck start of the season with Hattori Racing Enterprises, had pitted to have a broken spoiler brace fixed.

    With two laps remaining in the first stage period, Sanchez and Currey pitted their respective entries, primarily for fuel, as Enfinger retained the lead.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Matt Mills received a draft from Garcia to overtake Enfinger from the outside lane through the backstretch and claim his first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Enfinger settled in second ahead of Garcia, Zilisch and Sawalich while Thompson, Majeski, Alan, Taylor Gray and Tanner Gray were scored in the top 10 on the track. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders that included Ankrum, Heim, Eckes and Caruth were mired within the top 16 while Sanchez was down in 32nd place.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Mills pits while the rest including Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Spencer Boyd and Sanchez remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Enfinger exited pit road first ahead of Majeski, Garcia, Alan, Zilisch, Eckes, Thompson, Taylor Gray, Caruth and Tyler Ankrum. Friesen, Crafton and Boyd would eventually pit prior to the second stage’s start while Sanchez, who pitted before the first stage’s conclusion, remained on the track and inherited the lead.

    The second stage period started on Lap 27 as Sanchez and Enfinger occupied the front row. At the start, Sanchez and Enfinger dueled for the lead for a full lap and in front of two stacked lanes. Enfinger was being pushed by Garcia while Sanchez was being pushed by Majeski and Zilisch. By then, Taylor Gray pitted to have a punctured tire on his No. 17 Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro removed as both Sanchez and Enfinger continued to duel for the lead by the Lap 30 mark.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, the caution flew after Sanchez, who had both lanes to his control before Enfinger came storming back to challenge him for the lead, got loose by Zilisch through the frontstretch. Sanchez then slid sideways into the path of Zilisch, where Zilisch kept pushing Sanchez’s spinning No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST while Sauter, Rhodes and Purdy all wrecked against the outside wall while trying to avoid the wreck. The incident occurred as Mills and Parsons made contact, but avoided igniting a wreck entering the frontstretch while being mired behind Playoff contenders Heim, Ankrum and Taylor Gray, the latter of whom had lost a lap to the field.

    The multi-truck incident on Lap 37 was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 40 to officially conclude under caution as Enfinger was awarded his second Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Garcia, Eckes, Alan, Caruth, Thompson, Heim, Tanner Gray, Ankrum and Stefan Parsons were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some, led by Crafton and including Boyd while the rest led by Enfinger pitted. During the pit stops, Mason Maggio, who made contact with Ankrum on pit road, was penalized for having too many men over his pit wall. Soon after and amid the caution period, a bevy of names including Playoff contender Taylor Gray, Sanchez all returned to pit road for additional services.

    With 39 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Dye and Caruth occupied the front row. At the start, Daniel Dye, who received drafting help from a bevy of Chevrolet teammates, including teammate Eckes, muscled his No. 43 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead of Caruth before he then moved in front of Caruth entering the backstretch. Eckes would also follow suit and he also transitioned his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST in front of Caruth on the inside lane. By the following lap, Dye was leading ahead of a five-truck breakaway from the field along with teammate Eckes, Ankrum, Caruth and Dean Thompson while Enfinger and Corey Heim dueled for sixth place in front of two lines of stacked competitors.

    With 35 laps remaining, teammates Eckes and Dye dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes of competitors. Five laps later, the top-10 competitors on the track were separated under a second as Eckes was leading ahead of Enfinger, teammate Dye, Caruth and Parsons while Mills, Garcia, Alan, Kaden Honeycutt and Sanchez were in the top 10.

    Then with 28 laps remaining, a majority of field led by Eckes and Enfinger pitted under green. During the pit stops, Caruth blew a tire while he was slamming on the brakes and locking up his front tires of his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST while trying to enter pit road. Caruth, however, would be penalized for being too fast while trying to enter pit road as he eventually lost a lap. In addition, Dye missed pit road and could not pit with the front-runners while Norm Benning spun on pit road after making contact with Stefan Parsons. Soon after, Purdy was seen limping his slowed truck below the apron on the backstretch, but he continued without drawing a caution.

    Back on the track with 25 laps remaining, Jason White was leading ahead of Dawson Sutton, Mason Maggio, Honeycutt and Sanchez while Enfinger, Eckes, Garcia, Riggs and Friesen were scored in the top 10.

    Shortly after, the caution flew when Garcia got turned off the front nose of Parsons that resulted in Garcia colliding with rookie Layne Riggs and clipping Riggs again that sent Riggs back across the track and into Tanner Gray and Matt Mills up against the outside wall. Connor Zilisch and Dean Thompson would also get involved in the carnage while Playoff contenders Tyler Ankrum and Taylor Gray slid through the infield grass and kicked up dirt to avoid the carnage.

    During the caution period, some led by the leader Jason White and including Sutton, Mason Maggio, Clay Greenfield, Cory Roper, Spencer Boyd and Ankrum pitted while the rest led by the new leader Honeycutt remained on the track.

    Down to the final 17 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Honeycutt received a draft from Eckes on the inside lane to rocket ahead with the lead through the first two turns. As the field started to fan out to three lanes through the backstretch, Eckes made his move to the outside lane as he overtook Honeycutt while he was followed by Sanchez. Sanchez then made a move beneath Eckes in Turn 4 as he assumed the lead and led the following lap ahead of Honeycutt and Eckes. Sanchez would then be placed on defense to block Eckes and Honeycutt as Enfinger and Taylor Gray started to muscle up into the top five by the following lap.

    The caution would then return with 15 laps remaining after Sanchez received a push from Eckes that got him sliding sideways below the apron entering Turn 3. While trying to save his truck from spinning, Sanchez slid up the track backward in between Turns 3 and 4 and barely clipped Dye, which sent Dye for a spin below the turn’s grass. With nearly the entire field dodging Sanchez’s truck, Keith McGee and Mason Maggio wrecked along with Dawson Sutton while avoiding Sanchez.

    The start of the following restart period with nine laps remaining featured Enfinger rocketing ahead with the lead with drafting help from Eckes and Alan while Taylor Gray, who restarted outside the front row, blended in line in fourth place ahead of Ryan Reed and Ankrum. With a majority of the front-runners running in a long single-file line towards the inside lane, Enfinger retained the lead for the following lap and ahead of Eckes, Alan, Ankrum and Reed.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, the top 12 competitors were racing under a second while the top 16 were separated within a second. In the process, Enfinger was leading ahead of Eckes, Alan, Taylor Gray and Reed while Ankrum, Friesen, Heim, Caruth and Majeski were mired in the top 10 ahead of Bret Holmes and Spencer Boyd.

    During the following lap, the field behind Enfinger slowly started to fan out to multiple drafting lanes as Heim, racing in eighth place, was leading a charge from the outside lane with drafting help from Caruth. Heim and Caruth then made contact entering the backstretch, which stalled their momentum and forced both to blend back in the long drafting lane towards the double yellow lines and behind Enfinger, who continued to lead in front of Eckes.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Enfinger remained as the leader ahead of Eckes, Alan, Taylor Gray and Reed while Daniel Dye was trying to ignite a final drafting charge from the outside lane along with Caruth, Parsons and Heim. Enfinger would continue to lead through the backstretch along with Turns 3 and 4 as both Taylor Gray and Ankrum transitioned to the outside lane to receive the drafting momentum Dye was receiving.

    Then through the frontstretch and with the finish line in sight, Lawless Alan would then transition to the outside lane, but Taylor Gray and Eckes pinned him in three-wide formation. As Enfinger retained the lead, trouble ignited as Ankrum was bumped and sent spinning through the frontstretch before he was hit in the driver’s side by Friesen. Eckes then slid sideways off the front nose of teammate Reed and shot back across the track, where he collected a majority of the front-runners. Meanwhile, Enfinger managed to fend off a charge from Taylor Gray to claim the checkered flag and grab the victory.

    With the victory, Enfinger, who scored his first series victory at Talladega in 2016, became the first Playoff competitor to win the Truck Series Playoff event at Talladega and he became the fifth competitor to achieve multiple Truck victories at Talladega. He also notched his 11th career win in the Craftsman Truck Series and his first since winning at the Milwaukee Mile in August 2023.

    Above all, Enfinger, who came into Talladega strapped in seventh place in the Playoff standings, became the first competitor to clinch a spot into this year’s Championship 4 round, where he will contend for the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series championship at Phoenix Raceway on November 8.

    “[My team] knew stuff was going to get dicey,” Enfinger, who credited spotter Tim Fedewa with the victory, said on FS1. “We didn’t make all the perfect decisions today, but we had a Champion Power Equipment Chevy [that] was fast enough to get it done today. That was hairy coming right [to the finish]. I knew Taylor [Gray] was coming with a run. Tim told me to go up, then he told me to come down. It’s just Talladega right there. Hopefully, all the fans enjoyed it. It’s nothing like winning at your hometown, home track. On top of that, we get to race for a championship at Phoenix.”

    Enfinger’s Talladega victory was also the first ever for CR7 Motorsports, a team that debuted in 2018 and had hired Enfinger as a part-time competitor in 2021 before signing him to a full-time, multi-year deal at the start of this season. Now after recording five top-five results and barely transferring into the Playoff’s Round of 8 throughout the previous 19 events on this year’s schedule, the organization will receive its first opportunity to contend for a NASCAR championship with the veteran Enfinger also setting his sights on claiming the title one year after being one position shy of claiming it.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “There are just so many people that make this team,” Enfinger added. “It’s a little bit of the little team that could, but we have great resources with our friends over there at [McAnally-Hilgemann Racing]. Obviously, great resources from everybody at Team Chevy. We’ve been knocking on the door. I know it’s speedway race, but we’ve been knocking on the door at all the tracks. I feel like we stumbled that first round of the Playoffs, but it really doesn’t matter now. [I was] able to win our way to Phoenix. Now, we can just focus on that. Looking forward to having some fun the next couple races, but a championship’s on the line now.

    Behind Enfinger, Taylor Gray tied his career-best result of second place as he just missed his first victory and an early ticket to the Championship 4 round by 0.041 seconds. Daniel Dye managed to cross the finish line in third place with a destroyed race truck while Rajah Caruth and Lawless Alan finished in the top five. Christian Eckes, Ryan Reed, Stefan Parsons, Bret Holmes and Spencer Boyd finished in the top 10 on the track.

    With Playoff contenders Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Caruth and Eckes finishing in the top 10 on the track, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Corey Heim, Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum and Nick Sanchez ended up 11th, 12th, 14th and 22nd, respectively. As a result, Eckes, Heim and Majeski leave Talladega above the top-four cutline to the Championship 4 round while Caruth, Gray, Sanchez and Ankrum trail the cutline.

    There were 27 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 25 laps. In addition, 23 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Grant Enfinger, 34 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Taylor Gray

    3. Daniel Dye, three laps led

    4. Rajah Caruth, two laps led

    5. Lawless Alan

    6. Christian Eckes, eight laps led

    7. Ryan Reed

    8. Stefan Parsons

    9. Bret Holmes

    10. Spencer Boyd

    11. Corey Heim

    12. Ty Majeski

    13. Stewart Friesen, one lap led

    14. Tyler Ankrum

    15. Clay Greenfield

    16. Cory Roper

    17. Danny Bohn

    18. Mason Maggio

    19. Kaden Honeycutt, three laps led

    20. Jason White, seven laps led

    21. Norm Benning

    22. Nick Sanchez, 10 laps led

    23. Matt Crafton, one lap led

    24. Dawson Sutton, four laps down, one lap led

    25. Chase Purdy, 14 laps down, one lap led

    26. Keith McGee – OUT, Accident

    27. William Sawalich, 21 laps down

    28. Layne Riggs – OUT, Accident

    29. Jake Garcia – OUT, Accident

    30. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident

    31. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident, 14 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    32. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    33. Connor Zilisch – OUT, Accident

    34. Johnny Sauter – OUT, DVP

    35. Ben Rhodes – OUT, Accident

    36. Bayley Currey – OUT, Rear Gear

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Grant Enfinger – Advanced

    2. Corey Heim +30

    3. Christian Eckes +29

    4. Ty Majeski +5

    5. Rajah Caruth -5

    6. Taylor Gray -13

    7. Nick Sanchez -20

    8. Tyler Ankrum- 23

    The second Round of 8 event in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to occur at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, and is scheduled to occur on October 26 and air at noon ET on FS1.

  • Corey Heim rallies for wild final-lap Truck Series victory at Kansas; Playoff’s Round of 8 field set

    Corey Heim rallies for wild final-lap Truck Series victory at Kansas; Playoff’s Round of 8 field set

    Corey Heim capped off a roller coaster event that started with starting at the rear of the field to quickly carve his way to the front, dominating and playing a late fuel-mileage battle to perfection on the final lap to win the Kubota Tractor 200 at Kansas Speedway on Friday, September 27.

    The 22-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, led three times for a race-high 64 of 134 scheduled laps in an event where he started at the rear of the 34-truck field due to hitting the wall when a part of his suspension rubbed against his right-side tire while trying to post a qualifying lap, which resulted with his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota team opting to repair the truck and the driver not posting a qualifying lap.

    Once he took the green flag from the rear of the field, Heim quickly rocketed his way to a third-place result after the first stage period that spanned 30 laps. He would then muscle the lead away from Playoff rival Christian Eckes at the start of the second stage period and proceed to claim the stage victory. Heim would dominate the final stage period before pitting from the lead with less than 30 laps remaining as part of a late cycle of green flag pit stops.

    Then as he cycled his way back to the front in the closing laps, Heim zipped by Playoff contender Ty Majeski, who ran out of fuel on the final lap after he was trying to stretch his fuel tank to the event’s scheduled distance and proceeded to cruise to his sixth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2024 season. As a result of his victory, Heim and seven additional Playoff contenders officially transferred from the Playoff’s Round of 10 to 8 while two contenders, including the reigning series champion Ben Rhodes, were eliminated from title contention.

    On-track qualifying determined the starting lineup on Friday. Playoff contender Ty Majeski secured his fifth Truck Series pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 175.023 mph in 30.853 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Connor Mosack, who posted his best qualifying lap at 174.565 mph in 30.934 seconds.

    Before the event, Playoff contender Corey Heim dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his TRICON Garage Toyota entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Ty Majeski received a push from Playoff contender Christian Eckes from the inside lane to muscle ahead of Connor Mosack through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes, Eckes issued an early side-by-side challenge with Majeski for the lead through Turns 3 and 4, where he would lead the first lap by a narrow margin from the outside lane.

    Over the next three laps, Eckes and Majeski dueled fiercely for the lead through every corner and straightaway while Connor Mosack followed closely in third place. Amid the early battle for the lead, early trouble struck for Playoff contenders Rajah Caruth and Daniel Dye, both of whom hit the outside wall on separate occasions, with Caruth hitting the wall entering the backstretch on the second lap as Dye scraped the wall entering the frontstretch on the third lap. Amid the scrapes, both kept their trucks running straight and proceeding without drawing a caution.

    By the fifth lap, Eckes managed to muscle ahead of Majeski to have both lanes under his control with the top spot. As Conor Daly served a pass-through penalty through pit road for diving his No. 44 Polkadot Chevrolet Silverado RST below the frontstretch’s white lines before taking the green flag, Playoff contender Taylor Gray bounced off the frontstretch’s outside wall and got loose off the front nose of Dawson Sutton while just behind, rookie Layne Riggs nearly spun sideways after he almost brushed the wall. Miraculously, both continued to race straight.

    Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Majeski, who reassumed the lead from Eckes two laps earlier, was leading by over Eckes as Playoff contender Nick Sanchez, Stewart Friesen and Mosack were in the top five. Behind, Kaden Honeycutt, Playoff contender Ben Rhodes, Playoff contender Taylor Gray, Dawson Sutton and Layne Riggs were in the top 10 while Tanner Gray, Corey Heim, Jake Garcia, Matt Mills and Daniel Dye were mired in the top 15. With seven of 10 Playoff contenders racing in the top-15 mark, the remaining Playoff contenders including Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger and Rajah Caruth were mired in 18th, 21st and 22nd, respectively.

    Shortly after, Daniel Dye, who hit the outside wall for a second time, pitted his No. 43 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet Silverado RST under green and lost a lap in the process. By then, Majeski had stretched his advantage to two seconds over Eckes as Sanchez, Friesen and Honeycutt followed suit in the top five.

    At the Lap 20 mark, Majeski stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Sanchez while Eckes dropped to third place. Behind, Honeycutt and Taylor Gray followed suit in the top five while Friesen, Riggs, Heim, Tanner Gray and Mosack were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Rhodes was mired in 14th, Ankrum was scored in 18th, Enfinger and Caruth were mired back in 20th and 21st, respectively, and Dye was mired in 33rd as he would pit for a second time to address a flat right-front tire, which cost him two more laps in the process.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Majeski, who came into Kansas 58 points above the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, captured his sixth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. With the 10 stage points, Majeski officially clinched his spot into the Playoff’s Round of 8. Eckes followed suit in second along with Heim, who thundered his way from the rear of the field, while Honeycutt, Riggs, Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Tanner Gray, Friesen and Mosack were scored in the top 10. By then, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Caruth, Rhodes, Ankrum, Enfinger and Dye were scored in 16th, 17th, 18th, 21st and 34th, respectively, with the latter three laps down.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Majeski pitted for a first round of service while Timmy Hill remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Eckes exited pit road first followed by Heim, Majeski, Sanchez and Riggs. With Hill eventually pitting under the caution period, Eckes cycled back to the lead.

    The second stage period started on Lap 37 as Eckes and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes, who gained a strong start from the inside lane, quickly darted his No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST to the outside lane to move in front of Heim. Eckes’ move enabled Majeski to try to gain a run from the inside lane as the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. With Eckes proceeding to lead the following lap, Majeski and Heim dueled for the runner-up spot while Riggs and Sanchez battled for fourth place in front of Taylor Gray and Kaden Honeycutt. As a series of on-track battles towards the front continued, Eckes led by two-tenths over Heim, with Majeski, Riggs and Sanchez in the top five by Lap 40.

    By Lap 45, Heim dueled with Eckes for the lead amid a crossover moves through the frontstretch, where he led a lap for himself for the first time from the inside lane and he would muscle ahead by three-tenths of a second over the following lap. Behind, Riggs trailed in third place by eight-tenths of a second followed by a trio of Playoff contenders that included Majeski, Sanchez and Taylor Gray. With Caruth scored in 11th place behind non-Playoff contenders Tanner Gray, Honeycutt, Bayley Currey and Friesen, Enfinger was in 14th place, Ankrum was scored in 19th place and Rhodes was in 21st place. Meanwhile, Dye was scored two laps down in 31st place.

    Five laps later, Heim stretched his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Riggs, who overtook Eckes for the spot, while Majeski, Taylor Gray and Sanchez continued to follow suit in the top six.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 60, Heim, who had already secured his spot into the Round of 8 by points, notched his eighth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Riggs followed suit in second place as he trailed by three-and-a-half seconds while Eckes, Majeski, Taylor Gray, Sanchez, Tanner Gray, Honeycutt, Currey and Caruth were scored in the top 10. The remaining Playoff contenders included Enfinger, Ankrum, Rhodes and Dye were mired in 15th, 16th, 21st and 31st, respectively.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Heim returned to pit road for another round of service. Following the pit stops, Heim exited pit road first as he was followed by Riggs and Eckes. Amid the pit stops, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen and Ankrum were both penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while Dawson Sutton was penalized for being too fast while exiting pit road. Not long after, Taylor Gray, who had a slow pit service, returned to pit road due to an issue with his right front tire.

    With 66 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Heim and Riggs occupied the front row. At the start, Heim and Riggs dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Heim muscled ahead from the inside lane. As the field fanned out to multiple lanes while Eckes challenged Riggs for the runner-up spot, Heim rocketed away with the top spot as he led the following lap.

    Not long after, Eckes, who was fiercely battling Riggs for the runner-up spot, got loose and caused Riggs to step off the gas as he dropped to fifth place. With Eckes retaining second, Sanchez and Tanner Gray followed suit in third and fourth, respectively. Amid the fierce battle for the runner-up spot, Heim was leading by four-tenths of a second with 60 laps remaining.

    A few laps later, the caution returned when Matt Mills, who was battling Taylor Gray and Corey Day for a spot in the top 15, veered dead right into Day as Day made contact against the side of Gray’s No. 17 Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro before he hit the Turn 3 outside wall head-on as Mills also slipped and wrecked against the wall. During the caution period, select names including Playoff contenders Majeski, Taylor Gray, and Rhodes pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track. Soon after, Rhodes pitted for a second time for fuel that would enable him to reach the event’s scheduled distance on his full tank.

    With the race restarting under green with 51 laps remaining, Heim and Eckes battled dead even for the lead in front of two stacked lanes from the first two turns through the backstretch as both Riggs and Sanchez tried to join the battle. Heim would then manage to muscle ahead of Eckes for the lead through Turns 3 and 4 and back to the frontstretch for the following lap. Riggs, who was battling Sanchez for third place during the previous lap, would then overtake Eckes for the runner-up spot a few laps later as he commenced his charge on Heim for the lead while Currey, Sanchez, Chase Purdy and Caruth battled for fourth place.

    With nearly 45 laps remaining, the top five competitors were separated by a second as Riggs, who was trying to use every lane to gain ground on Heim through every turn and straightaway, only trailed Heim by a tenth of a second. Behind, Eckes retained third place ahead of Currey and Purdy as Sanchez, Caruth, Mosack, Majeski and Tanner Gray were racing in the top 10. Not long after, Matt Crafton was penalized for a restart violation. Then while trying to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road, Crafton was penalized a second time, this time for missing the commitment line to enter pit road.

    As the event was down to its final 40 laps, Heim retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Riggs while third-place Eckes and fourth-place Currey trailed by two seconds. Purdy retained fifth as he trailed the lead by three seconds while Sanchez, Caruth, Majeski, Tanner Gray and Mosack continued to race in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Enfinger, Ankrum, Rhodes, Taylor Gray and Dye were mired in 12th, 13th, 17th, 19th and 27th, with the latter pinned two laps behind.

    Then 10 laps later and with Heim slightly stretching his advantage to eight-tenths of a second, a late cycle of green flag pit stops and strategies ensued as Riggs and Enfinger peeled off the track to pit their respective entries. By then, Tanner Gray and Sanchez had pitted under green before Currey and Bret Holmes pitted during the following lap. Mosack, Ankrum and Dean Thompson would pit during the next lap before the leader Heim pitted with 27 laps remaining. More names including Caruth, Eckes, Purdy and Caruth would all pit with 25 laps remaining as Majeski cycled into the lead.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Majeski, who opted to remain on the track to stretch his fuel tank and worn tires as far as possible, was leading by seven-and-a-half seconds over runner-up Honeycutt and by eight seconds over third-place Sutton while Rhodes, who commenced his fuel stretch to the event’s scheduled distance and to race his way into the Playoff’s Round of 8, was scored in fourth place. Behind, Heim navigated his way up to seventh place behind teammate Taylor Gray while Enfinger was mired in 17th place behind Caruth.

    Five laps later, Majeski continued to lead by nine seconds over Honeycutt while third-place Sutton trailed by 10 seconds. As Rhodes, who was locked in a heated duel with Enfinger for the final transfer spot into the Round of 8, retained fourth place and trailed the lead by 11 seconds, Heim was up to fifth place and trailing the lead by 16 seconds while Friesen, who opted to remain on the track to try to stretch his fuel tank to the distance, dropped to sixth place as he was in front of Riggs.

    With 10 laps remaining, Majeski retained the lead by 10 seconds over Honeycutt as Heim boosted his way up to third place. With Sutton following suit in fourth place, Rhodes dropped to fifth place, which left him in jeopardy of not advancing to the Round of 8, as Enfinger, who boosted himself back above the cutline, was up to 13th place on the track and trying to overtake Currey for more.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Majeski, whose lap time continued to decrease while he was on fuel-conservation mode, was ahead by six seconds over a hard-charging Heim while Honeycutt, Riggs and Rhodes were scored in the top five. By then, Eckes and Caruth were in seventh and ninth, respectively, while Enfinger was up to 11th as Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Ankrum and Dye were mired in 15th, 17th, 19th and 27th, respectively.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski, who led by three seconds during the previous lap, remained as the leader by more than a second over Heim, but he dropped his No. 98 Soda Sense Ford F-150 below the frontstretch’s apron as he ran out of fuel. By then, both Friesen and Rhodes also ran out of fuel and lost pace with the field as Heim rocketed past Majeski entering Turn 1. Having enough fuel in his fuel tank, Heim smoothly navigated his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro around the Kansas circuit for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed the checkered flag.

    With the victory, Heim, who had already secured his spot into the Playoff’s Round of 8 by points, claimed his 11th career win in the Craftsman Truck Series division, his sixth of the season and his second at Kansas after he won the spring Kansas event in May. Heim also became the first competitor to sweep both Truck Kansas events in a single season as he continues his quest to return to the Championship 4 and contend for this year’s Truck Series championship.

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[I had] Just a deep sigh of relief [when Majeski ran out of fuel],” Heim said on the frontstretch on FS1. “We were the best truck all night. Just huge thank you to my TRICON Garage guys. This is my favorite track. I love coming here. I had a smile on my face all week coming to this place. Just glad we could sweep the year here. It’s just such an awesome place to come. [I] Certainly thought we had [the race] lost there with [Majeski] almost making it on fuel, but it just shows my team made the right [pit] call.”

    Behind Heim, rookie Layne Riggs, who was bidding for a third consecutive Truck Series race victory, came home in second place as Christian Eckes, Kaden Honeycutt and Dawson Cram finished in the top five. Ty Majeski, who led 51 laps from pole position, coasted across the finish line in 15th place, the final competitor on the lead lap, after he ended up a single lap shy of having enough fuel to win.

    Meanwhile, Grant Enfinger steered his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST to a ninth-place result, which was enough for him to claim the eighth and final transfer spot into the Round of 8. He will join Corey Heim, Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, Nick Sanchez, Rajah Caruth, Tyler Ankrum and Taylor Gray as eight Playoff contenders transferring into the second round of the Playoffs.

    “[Tonight was] Definitely a little bit stressful. Definitely too close for comfort,” Enfinger said. “[Crew chief] Jeff Stankiewicz and all these guys at CR7 Motorsports have done a great job all year, but this is a round we want to forget. We snuck through here and now, we’re looking forward to going to Talladega next week.”

    For Ben Rhodes, however, the reigning two-time series champion ended up in 22nd place and a lap down after he ran out of fuel despite trying to stretch his fuel tank in his No. 99 Kubota Ford F-150 to the distance from when he last pitted on Lap 82. The final result left both him and Daniel Dye eliminated from the Playoffs, with the former not remaining in contention for a third title in 2024.

    “We could have been a lot better to fire off [tonight’s race],” Rhodes said. “All in all, I’m thankful for all of our partners. I wish we were able to get [my sponsors] another championship run, but the past three seasons have been really good to us.”

    The remaining Playoff contenders including Rajah Caruth, Nick Sanchez, Tyler Ankrum, Taylor Gray and Daniel Dye finished seventh, 12th, 14th, 18th and 27, respectively, on the track.

    There were 10 lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 20 laps. In addition, 15 of 34 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results:

    1. Corey Heim, 64 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Layne Riggs

    3. Christian Eckes, 19 laps led

    4. Kaden Honeycutt

    5. Dawson Sutton

    6. Tanner Gray

    7. Rajah Caruth

    8. Bayley Currey

    9. Grant Enfinger

    10. Connor Mosack

    11. Chase Purdy

    12. Nick Sanchez

    13. Dean Thompson

    14. Tyler Ankrum

    15. Ty Majeski, 51 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    16. Bret Holmes, one lap down

    17. Conor Daly, one lap down

    18. Taylor Gray, one lap down

    19. Nathan Byrd, one lap down

    20. Brenden Queen, one lap down

    21. Jake Garcia, one lap down

    22. Ben Rhodes, one lap down

    23. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    24. Stewart Friesen, two laps down

    25. Matt Crafton, two laps down

    26. Justin Mondeik, three laps down

    27. Daniel Dye, three laps down

    28. Spencer Boyd, five laps down

    29. Frankie Muniz, five laps down

    30. Lawless Alan, six laps down

    31. Jennifer Jo Cobb – OUT, Electrical

    32. Corey Day – OUT, Accident

    33. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    34. Marco Andretti – OUT, Brakes

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings:

    1. Corey Heim – Advanced

    2. Christian Eckes – Advanced

    3. Nick Sanchez – Advanced

    4. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    5. Rajah Caruth – Advanced

    6. Taylor Gray – Advanced

    7. Tyler Ankrum – Advanced

    8. Grant Enfinger – Advanced

    9. Ben Rhodes – Eliminated

    10. Daniel Dye – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to occur at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, for the Love’s RV Stop 225. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, October 4, and air at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Layne Riggs doubles down with second consecutive Truck victory at Bristol

    Layne Riggs doubles down with second consecutive Truck victory at Bristol

    Three weeks after winning the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff opener as a non-Playoff contender, rookie Layne Riggs spoiled the Playoffs for a second consecutive race by grabbing a late dominant victory in the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday, September 19.

    Riggs, a second-generation racer from Bahama, North Carolina, led the final 80 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified 18th and methodically carved his way up the leaderboard, where he would finish in the top 10 at the conclusion of the first stage period before he moved up into the top-five by the end of the second stage period.

    Then at the start of the final restart period with 80 laps remaining, Riggs overtook Playoff contender Corey Heim to lead for the first time. Despite having his momentum stalled twice due to a pair of late-race caution periods, starting with 44 laps remaining before occurring again with 19 laps remaining, Riggs, who prevailed during the proceeding restarts, capitalized on the final one with 13 laps remaining to muscle his Ford away from a bevy of Playoff contenders and cruise to his second Truck Series career victory in back-to-back races and of his career at Thunder Valley.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Thursday, Connor Zilisch scored his second pole position in three Truck Series starts after he posted a pole-winning lap at 125.207 mph in 15.325 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Corey Heim, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 124.186 mph in 15.451 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Kaden Honeycutt and Playoff contender Ty Majeski dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. As a result of Majeski’s penalty, his truck chief Tyler Shullick was ejected for the event and the driver was revoked a pit selection for next weekend’s event at Kansas Speedway.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Connor Zilisch gained an early advantage from the outside lane and proceeded to fend off Corey Heim through the first two turns. As the field jostled for early spots through the backstretch before navigating back to Turns 3 and 4, Zilisch led the first lap in his No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    Over the proceeding four laps, Zilisch maintained a steady advantage over Heim and William Sawalich while Playoff contenders Rajah Caruth, Christian Eckes and Nick Sanchez followed suit in the top six ahead of Stewart Friesen and Tanner Gray. Behind, Playoff contender Daniel Dye started to battle Tanner Gray for eighth place as Chase Purdy overtook Ty Dillon for 10th place.

    Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Zilisch was leading by half a second over Heim as Sawalich, Caruth, Eckes and Sanchez continued to follow suit in the top six. Meanwhile, Friesen, Dye, Tanner Gray and Purdy also followed suit in the top 10 while Matt Crafton, Playoff contender Tyler Ankrum, Ty Dillon, Dean Thompson, Layne Riggs, Playoff contender Grant Enfinger, Stefan Parsons, Jake Garcia, Playoff contender Taylor Gray and Connor Mosack all occupied the top-20 spots. Behind, Playoff contender Ben Rhodes was mired in 23rd place and teammate Ty Majeski was back in 32nd place behind Bret Holmes and Matt Mills.

    Fifteen laps later, Zilisch stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Heim while third-place Sawalich and fourth-place Caruth both trailed by a second. With Eckes and Sanchez continuing to follow suit in fifth and sixth, respectively, ahead of Friesen, Dye, Purdy and Matt Crafton, Majeski was still mired in 28th place and in jeopardy of being lapped by Zilisch while the remaining Playoff contenders that included Ankrum, Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes were racing within the top-21 mark.

    Another 10 laps later, Zilisch retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Heim, who started to close in to Zilisch’s rear bumper as the latter was getting mired in lapped traffic. Behind, Caruth overtook Sawalich for third place while Eckes, who was radioing brake issues to his truck, was trying to fend off Sanchez for fifth place.

    On Lap 42, Heim made his move beneath Zilisch through the backstretch before he assumed the lead for the first time through Turns 3 and 4. As Heim started to muscle away with a steady advantage by the Lap 45 mark, Caruth started to challenge Zilisch for the runner-up spot while Sawalich, Sanchez and Eckes trailed by more than a second in the top-six mark.

    By Lap 50, Caruth managed to fend his way through lapped traffic to overtake teammate Zilisch for the runner-up spot. While Eckes and Friesen pinned the lapped competitor of Keith McGee in a three-wide battle for sixth place ahead of Riggs, Caruth would then overtake Heim for the lead from the outside lane and through the frontstretch on Lap 52.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 55, Caruth, who came into the event four points below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, fended off Heim amid a bevy of lapped traffic to notch his first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Heim settled in second ahead of Eckes, Zilisch and Sanchez while Friesen, Sawalich, Riggs, Purdy and Daniel Dye were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Taylor Gray, Majeski, Ankrum, Rhodes and Enfinger were mired in 17th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 24th, respectively, while 30 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Caruth pitted for a first round of pit service while Timmy Hill remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Heim exited pit road first ahead of Caruth, Eckes, Zilisch and Sanchez while Sawalich, Riggs, Tanner Gray, Friesen and Dye followed suit in the top 10, respectively.

    The second stage period started on Lap 65 as Timmy Hill and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Heim used the four fresh tires on the inside lane to rocket his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro away from Hill with the lead entering the backstretch. With Heim pulling away, Caruth and Eckes overtook Hill for second and third, respectively, as the field behind scrambled for positions. With Zilisch making his way up to fourth place and a series of on-track battles ensuing, Heim proceeded to lead just past the Lap 70 mark.

    At the Lap 75 mark, Heim was leading by nearly half a second over Caruth while third-place Eckes trailed by nearly a second. Behind, Zilisch and Riggs were in the top five ahead of Sanchez, Friesen, Sawalich, Crafton and Timmy Hill as Dean Thompson, Purdy, Daniel Dye, Tanner Gray and Majeski trailed in the top 15 ahead of Taylor Gray, Enfinger, Conner Jones, Mosack and newcomer Corey Day. With Playoff contenders Rhodes and Ankrum mired within the top-30 mark, Heim maintained the lead by half a second by Lap 80.

    Just past the Lap 90 mark, Heim’s advantage stabilized to four-tenths of a second over Caruth, with both approaching lapped traffic, as Eckes trailed in third place by a second. As Zilisch and Riggs continued to trail in the top five ahead of Sanchez on the track, Caruth started to issue his challenge on Heim for the lead from the inside lane and he would emerge ahead to lead the Lap 100 mark before Heim fought back from the outside lane. Eckes then joined the battle a few laps later and he would overtake Caruth for the runner-up spot while Heim maintained the lead. Heim would then lap Rhodes, who was mired in 29th place, another lap later.

    Then on the final lap of the second stage period, the caution flew due to Zilisch spinning in Turn 4 from the top five after he got a bump from Sanchez’s No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST exiting the backstretch. The incident involving Zilisch, who lost a lap while trying to straighten his truck, was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 110 to officially conclude under caution as Heim, who came into the event 41 points above the cutline, claimed his seventh Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Eckes, Caruth, Riggs and Sanchez followed suit in the top five while Friesen, Sawalich, Crafton, Thompson and Purdy were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Dye, Taylor Gray, Majeski, Enfinger, Ankrum and Rhodes were mired in 11th, 12th, 13th, 16th, 24th and 30th, respectively, while 27 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    During the stage break, select names led by Nick Sanchez pitted for service while the rest led by Heim, including a majority of the front-runners, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, newcomer Corey Day was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    With 80 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Heim and Eckes occupied the front row. At the start, Heim gained a strong launch from the outside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns. Then as Heim transitioned to the inside lane in front of Eckes, Riggs, who restarted behind Heim, remained on the outside lane to challenge and overtake Heim for the lead through the frontstretch. With Riggs leading the following lap by a hair, he then cleared Heim while remaining on the outside lane and proceeded to lead the next lap mark. With Riggs continuing to lead with 75 laps remaining, Heim and Eckes followed suit in second and third, respectively, while Friesen and Caruth battled for fourth place in front of Sawalich and Crafton.

    With 65 laps remaining, Riggs stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Heim as Eckes, Caruth and Friesen followed suit in the top five. As non-Playoff contenders Sawalich, Crafton, Purdy and Thompson followed suit in the top nine, Playoff contenders Sanchez, Majeski, Taylor Gray, Daniel Dye, Ankrum and Enfinger followed suit from 10th to 15th, while Rhodes was mired in 30th and trapped a lap down.

    Fifteen laps later, Riggs stabilized his steady advantage to half a second over Heim as both Caruth and Eckes trailed by a second in third and fourth, respectively. With Friesen retaining fifth place ahead of Sawalich, Crafton and a hard-charging Sanchez, Playoff contenders Majeski, Taylor Gray, Dye, Ankrum and Enfinger were all mired in the top 15 as Rhodes, who was lapped for a second time, was back in 30th place.

    Six laps later, the caution flew when Playoff contender Daniel Dye, who was running in 14th place and had a flat tire to his No. 43 Champion Container Chevrolet Silverado RST, slipped sideways entering the frontstretch and was hit by Kaden Honeycutt as the latter sustained significant damage to his No. 45 Moore’s Venture Foods Chevrolet Silverado RST. With Honeycutt being taken out of contention, Dye would drop out of the lead lap category as his truck was being repaired.

    During the caution period, select names including Bayley Currey, Ty Dillon, Enfinger, Tanner Gray, Stefan Parsons, Matt Mills, Lawless Alan and Rhodes pitted while the rest led by Riggs remained on the track.

    The start of the following restart period with 29 laps remaining featured Riggs and Heim dueling for the lead through the first two turns until Heim got loose underneath Riggs entering the backstretch. Heim’s slip allowed Riggs to muscle his No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford F-150 ahead with two clear lanes to his advantage as he led the following lap. Riggs would proceed to lead with 25 laps remaining while Playoff contenders Heim, Eckes and Caruth followed suit in the top four ahead of Crafton, Friesen, Sanchez, Sawalich, Purdy and Taylor Gray.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Riggs extended his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Heim as Eckes, Caruth and Crafton trailed in the top five by within two seconds. Another lap later, however, Riggs’ momentum was stalled due to the caution returning as Jack Wood, who was running within the top-20 mark, spun his No. 91 Mongoose Chevrolet Silverado RST due to contact from Ben Rhodes that started when they exited the backstretch before the incident concluded with Wood sliding to a halt below the apron in Turn 4. By then, Dye lost more laps after he pitted under green earlier.

    With the race restarted under green with 13 laps remaining, Riggs and Heim again dueled for the lead as Caruth tried to make the battle fanned out to three lanes entering the first two turns. Amid the battle, Riggs used the outside lane to muscle ahead with the lead through the backstretch as Heim, Caruth and Eckes battled for second place in front of the field. With Heim, Caruth and Eckes fiercely battling for the runner-up spot, Riggs continued to lead with 10 laps remaining.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Riggs extended his advantage to over a second over a three-truck battle involving Heim, Caruth and Eckes as Sanchez was up to fifth place ahead of Crafton, Purdy, Majeski, Friesen, Ankrum and Sawalich.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Riggs remained as the leader by a second over Heim and Caruth while Eckes was losing ground and trailing by two seconds in fourth place. With a comfortable advantage and no challengers closing in from behind, Riggs was able to smoothly cruise his way around the Bristol circuit for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and zipped back across the finish line for his second consecutive checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season.

    With the victory, Riggs, who celebrated his first career win at the Milwaukee Mile three races ago in late August, became the first competitor to back up a first career victory with a second in back-to-back Truck Series starts since Chase Briscoe made the last accomplishment between winning his first career race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November 2017 and winning in his one-race series’ return at Eldora Speedway in July 2018. Riggs also became the 26th competitor overall to win a Truck race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Riggs’ victory was the fourth of the season and in recent weeks for the Ford nameplate and the 10th overall for Front Row Motorsports in the Truck Series. While this season marks the first time a competitor won the first two Truck races of the Playoffs since Sheldon Creed made the previous accomplishment in 2021, Riggs became the first non-Playoff competitor to commence the Playoffs with back-to-back victories.

    “Oh my gosh,” Riggs said on FS1. “We have just learned so much with the cars and trucks. My team, Dylan [Cappello], my crew chief, he’s badass. He works so hard at night. We as a team, we’re a young team. I think the average age [of the No. 38 team] is like in the 20s. It’s so amazing. To be running fifth, 10th and all of sudden, go back to back [with victories] in the Playoffs. Man, I wish I was in the Playoffs so bad. I think we’d be a real threat to win this championship.”

    Behind Riggs, Corey Heim edged a hard-charging Rajah Caruth to claim his third runner-up result of the 2024 season. The result was enough for Heim to clinch a spot by points into the Playoff’s Round of 8 as he continues his pursuit for his first series’ championship.

    “[I] Didn’t quite have it when the grooves started to move around there,” Heim said. “Every time we got a heat cycle on the tires, it seemed like it got tighter and tighter. Just didn’t quite have it, but solid points day in the Playoffs. That’s what you need. I’ll keep moving forward with TRICON Garage, Safelite, Toyota Racing. Huge thanks to all those guys and looking forward to my favorite place next week [at Kansas].”

    In addition to Heim, Christian Eckes and Nick Sanchez have also secured their spots into the Round of 8 by finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

    “It’s a great turnaround for us because I felt like we were maybe a 10th to 12th-place race car in practice,” Eckes said. “Kudos to [crew chief] Charles [Denike] and the [No. 19] guys for getting [the truck] tuned up to run top five. We weren’t race-winning capable, but still a decent run. Just proud of everybody. It’s cool to be locked in the next [Playoff] round, but I got to go take care of business at Kansas first.”

    “[I’m] Happy to recover to fifth,” Sanchez added. “Obviously, I show up to win, so [I] need to be a little better than fifth on my end on some things, but yeah, good night. We locked in the Rev Racing Gainbridge Chevrolet [into the Round of 8]. We go to Kansas and just focus on winning.”

    Matt Crafton, Chase Purdy, Ty Majeski, Stewart Friesen and Tyler Ankrum finished in the top 10 on the track while the remaining Playoff contenders that included Taylor Gray, Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes ended up 12th, 17th and 30th, respectively.

    As a result, Daniel Dye and Ben Rhodes are the two Playoff contenders who enter next weekend’s Round of 10 finale below the cutline in the Playoff standings while Enfinger holds sole possession of the eighth and final transfer spot above the cutline by seven points.

    There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 39 laps. In addition, 23 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Layne Riggs, 80 laps led

    2. Corey Heim, 65 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Rajah Caruth, nine laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Christian Eckes

    5. Nick Sanchez

    6. Matt Crafton

    7. Chase Purdy

    8. Ty Majeski

    9. Stewart Friesen

    10. Tyler Ankrum

    11. William Sawalich

    12. Taylor Gray

    13. Bret Holmes

    14. Dean Thompson

    15. Bayley Currey

    16. Stefan Parsons

    17. Grant Enfinger

    18. Corey Day

    19. Connor Zilisch, 41 laps led

    20. Connor Mosack

    21. Jake Garcia

    22. Timmy Hill, five laps led

    23. Tanner Gray

    24. Lawless Alan, one lap down

    25. Matt Mills, one lap down

    26. Jack Wood, one lap down

    27. Ben Rhodes, two laps down

    28. Justin Mondeik, two laps down

    29. Spencer Boyd, two laps down

    30. Ty Dillon, two laps down

    31. Mason Maggio, four laps down

    32. Daniel Dye, six laps down

    33. Keith McGee, six laps down

    34. Tyler Tomassi, eight laps down

    35. Kaden Honeycutt – OUT, Accident

    36. Conner Jones – OUT, Overheating

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Christian Eckes – Advanced

    2. Corey Heim – Advanced

    3. Nick Sanchez – Advanced

    4. Ty Majeski +58

    5. Rajah Caruth +35

    6. Tyler Ankrum +25

    7. Taylor Gray +23

    8. Grant Enfinger +7

    9. Daniel Dye -7

    10. Ben Rhodes -12

    The Round of 10 in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to conclude at Kansas Speedway for the Kubota Tractor 200, where the first of two elimination processes will occur. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, September 27, and air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Layne Riggs spoils the 2024 Playoff opener with first Truck career victory at Milwaukee

    Layne Riggs spoils the 2024 Playoff opener with first Truck career victory at Milwaukee

    For a second time since the inception of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Playoff format, a non-Playoff contender stole the final spotlight in the Playoff opener as rookie Layne Riggs dominated the final stage and cruised to his first Craftsman Truck Series career victory in the LiUNA! 175 at the Milwaukee Mile on Sunday, August 25.

    The 22-year-old, second-generation racer from Bahama, North Carolina, led the final 53 of 175-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified in 16th place but methodically drove his way to the front, where he would spend the majority of the event running upfront with a bevy of Playoff contenders.

    Then after notching a total of 13 stage points between the event’s first two stage periods, Riggs flexed his horsepower at the start of the final stage period with 56 laps remaining to move into second place before he then muscled past Playoff contender Ty Majeski for the lead three laps remaining. With the lead in his sole possession, Riggs would maintain it for the remainder of the event and beat Majeski by one-and-a-half seconds to score his first elusive Truck Series career win.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, August 24, Playoff contender Ty Majeski notched his fourth Truck pole position of the 2024 season after he posted a pole-winning lap at 122.556 mph in 29.815 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Tanner Gray, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 122.469 mph in 29.836 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Playoff contender Rajah Caruth and Justin Carroll dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Ty Majeski rocketed his No. 98 Road Ranger/Soda Sense Ford F-150 ahead with a strong start from the inside lane and he retained the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch while Playoff contender Christian Eckes, who started behind Majeski on the inside lane, used every inch of the first two turns to muscle his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST past Tanner Gray’s No. 15 Dead On Tools Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for the runner-up spot. As the field behind jostled for early spots, Majeski proceeded to lead the first lap.

    Over the next four laps, Majeski stabilized his lead to as high as six-tenths of a second over runner-up Eckes while Playoff contenders Corey Heim and Nick Sanchez made their way into third and fourth, respectively, ahead of Tanner Gray and Kaden Honeycutt. With William Sawalich, winner of the ARCA Menards Series event at Milwaukee earlier in the day, running in seventh, Playoff contenders and teammates Tyler Ankrum and Daniel Dye followed suit in the top nine while rookie Layne Riggs occupied 10th place ahead of Playoff contender Grant Enfinger.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Majeski extended his early advantage to more than a second over Eckes while Heim, Sanchez and Honeycutt followed suit in the top five ahead of Tanner Gray, William Sawalich, Ankrum, Daniel Dye and Riggs. Behind, Enfinger retained 11th place ahead of Matt Crafton, with Playoff contenders Ben Rhodes and Taylor Gray occupying 13th and 14th, respectively, ahead of Sammy Smith, Jake Garcia, Dean Thompson, Matt Mills, Chase Purdy and Ty Dillon. Meanwhile, Playoff contender Rajah Caruth was up to 24th place after starting at the rear of the field while Bayley Currey plummeted to 36th place, dead last, due to pitting under green from the top-15 mark after getting squeezed into the frontstretch’s outside wall by Taylor Gray and Crafton that cut Currey’s left-front tire on the sixth lap.

    Ten laps later, Majeski’s advantage was reduced to eight-tenths of a second over Eckes as Heim and Sanchez trailed the lead as far back as five seconds. Behind, Ankrum retained eighth place and was running two spots ahead of Dye while Enfinger, Rhodes, and Taylor Gray were running 11th, 13th, and 14ty, respectively. By then, Caruth was still mired in 23rd as Honeycutt continued to run as the highest non-Playoff contender in fifth place ahead of Tanner Gray and Sawalich.

    Another 15 laps later, Majeski regained his wide advantage from early in the race as he was now leading by more than a second over Eckes. Behind, Heim continued to fend off Sanchez in third place, where the former was ahead of the latter by half a second, while Honeycutt retained fifth place ahead of Tanner Gray, Sawalich, Ankrum, Dye and Riggs. Meanwhile, Caruth cracked the top 20 as he was running in 20th place behind Matt Mills while Playoff contenders Enfinger, Ben Rhodes and Taylor Gray remained in 11th, 13th and 14th, respectively.

    Then on Lap 42, Eckes took advantage of Majeski getting mired behind lapped traffic, starting through the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4 before returning to the frontstretch, to move into the lead as he used the outside lane to overtake Majeski along with lapped competitors Bret Holmes and Chase Purdy. Eckes proceeded to stretch his advantage to more than a second just past the Lap 45 mark while Heim, Sanchez and Honeycutt trailed the lead as far back as six seconds.

    Then on Lap 47, the event’s first caution period flew when Jayson Alexander got loose and hit the outside wall in Turn 3, where his truck came to a stop. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Eckes pitted while Ty Dillon and Jake Garcia remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Eckes exited pit road first ahead of Majeski, Sanchez, Heim, Riggs and Dye, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Heim was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

    With the caution period being extended towards the first stage’s conclusion period at Lap 55, the first stage period officially concluded under caution. As a result, Ty Dillon, who remained on the track, claimed his first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Jake Garcia, who also remained on the track, followed suit in second ahead of Eckes, Majeski and Sanchez while Riggs, Dye, Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray and Ankrum were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Enfinger, Rhodes, Caruth and Heim were mired back in 13th, 18th, 19th and 22nd, respectively, as they missed the first round of opportunities for stage points.

    Under the stage break and extended caution period, select names including the leader Ty Dillon, Garcia, Stewart Friesen, Conner Jones and Chase Purdy pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.

    Amid an extended caution period, where Dexter Bean stalled on the frontstretch just past the Lap 60 mark, the second stage period started on Lap 62 under green as Eckes and Majeski occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes muscled ahead of Majeski to retain the lead through the first two turns and from the inside lane while Riggs overtook Majeski for the runner-up spot entering the backstretch. As Eckes proceeded to lead the following lap, Riggs followed suit in second ahead of Majeski, Sanchez and the Gray brothers while Crafton was battling Dye for seventh place ahead of Ankrum, Honeycutt and Enfinger.

    By Lap 70, Eckes maintained a narrow lead over Riggs as Majeski, Sanchez and Tanner Gray followed suit in the top five. Eckes would proceed to slightly stabilize his advantage to three-tenths of a second by Lap 75 over Riggs as Majeski, Sanchez and Tanner Gray continued to trail in the top five. Meanwhile, Heim, who restarted just outside the top 20 amid his pit road speeding penalty, was up to 14th place in his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro behind Rhodes while Taylor Gray, Dye, Crafton, Ankrum and Honeycutt rounded out the top 10 ahead of Enfinger and Dean Thompson. Amid the battles upfront for a majority of the Playoff contenders, Caruth was mired back in 20th place.

    Ten laps later, Eckes retained the lead by half a second over Riggs, with third-place Majeski trailing the lead by a second and fourth-place Sanchez trailing by more than two seconds. Behind, the Gray brothers retained fifth and sixth, with older brother Tanner racing ahead of younger brother Taylor, while Dye occupied seventh place as he was two spots ahead of teammate Ankrum.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 87 and 88, Eckes extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Majeski and Riggs as Sanchez, Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray, Dye, Crafton, Anrkum and Honeycutt followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Enfinger, Rhodes, Thompson, Heim, Sammy Smith, Ty Dillon, Matt Mills, Caruth, Garcia and Sawalich.

    Through the Lap 100 mark, Eckes stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Majeski while Riggs, Sanchez and Taylor Gray trailed the lead as far back as six seconds. By then, Playoff contenders Dye and Ankrum were in sixth and ninth, respectively, while Enfinger, Rhodes and Heim trailed in the top 13. In addition, Caruth was mired back in 18th place behind Dillon and Mills.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 110, Eckes cruised to his ninth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Majeski followed suit in second ahead of Riggs, Sanchez and Taylor Gray while Dye, Ankrum, Crafton, Honeycutt and Enfinger were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Rhodes, Heim and Caruth were mired back in 11th, 13th and 19th, respectively.

    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 as he exited pit road first ahead of Riggs, Majeski, Sanchez, Dye, Taylor Gray, Ankrum, Heim, Tanner Gray and Enfinger.

    With 56 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Eckes and Riggs occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes gained a brief advantage from the inside lane through the frontstretch until he went wide, which allowed Majeski to capitalize and clear Eckes off of Turn 2 with the lead. As the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch, Riggs then joined the battle for the lead with Majeski and Eckes, but Majeski retained the top spot as Matt Mills got sideways off the front nose of Caruth and hit the wall in Turn 3, though the race remained under green flag conditions. With Majeski leading Riggs for the following lap, Eckes fell back to third as he had Heim, Taylor Gray, Ankrum, Sanchez and more trailing in from behind.

    Then with 53 laps remaining, Riggs battled and overtook Majeski to lead for the first time through the backstretch. Riggs proceeded to lead by half a second in his No. 38 Zorn Compressor & Equipment Ford F-150 over Majeski with 50 laps remaining as Eckes, Heim and Sanchez trailed in the top five by less than three seconds. By then, nine of 10 Playoff contenders were running in the top 13 while Caruth, the lone Playoff contender who was not running inside the top 13 on the track, was mired back just within the top-20 mark.

    With 40 laps remaining, Riggs stabilized his advantage to six-tenths of a second over Majeski while Eckes, Sanchez and Heim trailed in the top five by as far back as four seconds. Meanwhile, Taylor Gray trailed in sixth place by five seconds while Ankrum, Rhodes, Tanner Gray and Dye were scored in the top 10 ahead of Crafton, Honeycutt, Enfinger, Sawalich and Ty Dillon. Meanwhile, Caruth was mired back in 19th place in front of Dean Thompson.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Riggs extended his advantage to a second over runner-up Majeski as Eckes, Sanchez and Heim were running in the top five, with the latter three trailing by more than four seconds. Behind, Taylor Gray, Ankrum, Rhodes, Dye and Tanner Gray followed suit in the top 10 while Playoff contenders Enfinger and Caruth were mired back in 13th and 17th, respectively.

    Five laps later, Riggs continued to lead the race ahead of eight Playoff contenders and by a second over his closest challenger Majeski. Riggs would proceed to retain the top spot by seven-tenths of a second over runner-up Majeski with 15 laps remaining while third-place Eckes trailed in third place by one-and-a-half seconds

    With 10 laps remaining, Riggs, who was being mired in lapped traffic and had his steady advantage steadily decreasing over the last several laps, continued to lead by nine-tenths of a second over Majeski while third-place Eckes continued to trail by one-and-a-half seconds in third place ahead of Sanchez and Heim. Heim would then be entangled in a battle for fifth place with teammate Taylor Gray and Ankrum while Dye, Rhodes and Crafton trailed in the top 10.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Riggs stretched his advantage back up to a second over runner-up Majeski as Majeski had Eckes trailing him by nine-tenths of a second. By then, fourth-place Sanchez trailed by three seconds while Taylor Gray, who persevered in his late battle against teammate Heim and Ankrum, was running in fifth place and trailing the lead by six seconds.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Riggs remained as the leader by one-and-a-half seconds over Majeski. With Majeski unable to quickly narrow the deficit, Riggs, who was mired within no lapped traffic that could stall his momentum, cycled his Ford smoothly around the Milwaukee circuit for a final time before he streaked back to the frontstretch and claimed his first checkered flag in his 23rd series’ start.

    With the victory, Layne Riggs, the leading Rookie-of-the-Year candidate who did not make the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs, became the 125th competitor overall to win in the Craftsman Truck Series division, a list that includes his father and former NASCAR competitor, Scott Riggs. He also joined Nick Sanchez and Rajah Caruth as competitors to record their first Truck victories in 2024 and he notched the ninth Truck career victory for Front Row Motorsports, with the team winning for the first time since Talladega Superspeedway in October 2023 with Brett Moffitt. The victory was also a first for rookie crew chief Dylan Cappello.

    Prior to his first Truck career victory, Riggs had only notched four top-five results while ending up with 10 results of 18th or worse through 16 starts in his rookie campaign. Riggs’ Milwaukee victory, which made him the spoiler of the day as a non-Playoff contender, resulted in the 10 qualified Playoff contenders missing their first shot of automatically transferring past the Round of 10 to 8 by not winning the Playoff opener.

    The only thing that went wrong for Riggs’ first victory was the driver dislocating his shoulder while standing atop his roof and pumping his fists in the air and in front of the Milwaukee fans after claiming his checkered flag. Nonetheless, Riggs would receive assistance from his No. 38 pit crew to climb back down from his truck’s roof as he then proceeded to celebrate both on the frontstretch and in Victory Lane.

    “I don’t even know how to describe [the first win],” Riggs said in Victory Lane on FS1. “The biggest thing I can do is just thank Zorn that was on the truck this weekend. It’s their first race. It’s awesome for them. Thank you to [team owner] Bob Jenkins, [general manager] Jerry Freeze for letting me drive this [No. 38] truck. I mean, it’s been no surprise that we’ve had a terrible year. It’s been an awful year. I’ve learned so much, though, and I went through my rookie season. After the start, I thought there’s no way we were going to get a win. We do the best we can, but we’re just learning for next year. I knew in practice, this [truck] was pretty awesome. [Me and my team] have a good time together and we’re a family now.”

    “[My shoulder] hurts like a mug, but hey, it was worth it,” Riggs jokingly added. “It’s not the first time it’s happened to me, but it ain’t going to slow me down.”

    Behind Riggs, Ty Majeski, the pole winner who led 45 laps and was a local hero of the venue as a native of Seymour, Wisconsin, settled in second place as he fell short of winning three races in a row in recent weeks while Eckes, the 2024 Truck Series Regular Season Champion who led a race-high 71 laps, came home in third place for his ninth top-three result of the 2024 season.

    Amid the disappointments of not winning the Playoff opener and automatically transferring into the second Playoff round, both Majeski and Eckes continue to set their sights on transferring to this year’s Championship 4 round at Phoenix Raceway and contending for their first series championship.

    “I think the fact that we missed [the setup] as bad as we did and we were as close as we were is super encouraging,” Majeski, who is 44 points above the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, said. “That means we have a lot of speed in our trucks. It’s just up to us to hit the package right. [Crew chief] Joe [Shear Jr.] and I put our heads together to come up with our Phoenix [Raceway] package and come up with some changes to it, to try and make it better for Phoenix. [I] Don’t know that we got there quite yet, but super proud of the run we’ve had the last three races. We’re hitting on all eight cylinders right now and super proud of everybody. Everybody back at the shop has been working hard over the course of the Olympic break, into Richmond and into Milwaukee here to get our trucks better. We’re seeing that improvement and I feel good about where we’re at. We’re poised to make a pretty good run here, so we got to keep it going.”

    “I was leading on the bottom [lane] and [the truck] bottomed out for the first time all day,” Eckes, who leads the Playoff standings and is 60 points above the cutline, added. “It shot up the racetrack and just couldn’t recover. I was way too tight. [I] Felt like it was going to build tight and it did and we just weren’t aggressive enough on adjustments. Proud of everybody, but definitely a pretty big missed opportunity. We’ll see what happens, but disappointed in that.”

    Nick Sanchez rallied from a late retirement at Richmond Raceway two weeks ago by finishing in fourth place while Taylor Gray muscled his No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to a strong fifth-place result.

    Playoff contenders Tyler Ankrum, Corey Heim, Daniel Dye and Ben Rhodes finished sixth through ninth, respectively, while Matt Crafton came home in 10th place.

    Notably, Playoff contender Grant Enfinger ended up in 13th place behind Kaden Honeycutt while Playoff rookie Rajah Caruth capped off his long afternoon in 17th place behind Sammy Smith.  

    There were five lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured two cautions for 22 laps. In addition, 20 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Layne Riggs, 53 laps led

    2. Ty Majeski, 45 laps led

    3. Christian Eckes, 71 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Nick Sanchez

    5. Taylor Gray

    6. Tyler Ankrum

    7. Corey Heim

    8. Daniel Dye

    9. Ben Rhodes

    10. Matt Crafton

    11. Tanner Gray

    12. Kaden Honeycutt

    13. Grant Enfinger

    14. William Sawalich

    15. Jack Wood

    16. Ty Dillon, six laps led, Stage 1 winner

    17. Sammy Smith

    18. Rajah Caruth

    19. Dean Thompson

    20. Stewart Friesen

    21. Jake Garcia, one lap down

    22. Conner Jones, one lap down

    23. Chase Purdy, two laps down

    24. Matt Mills, two laps down

    25. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    26. Bret Holmes, two laps down

    27. Mason Maggio, two laps down

    28. Spencer Boyd, three laps down

    29. Bayley Currey, three laps down

    30. Dexter Bean, three laps down

    31. Marco Andretti, five laps down

    32. Thad Moffitt, six laps down

    33. Matthew Gould, six laps down

    34. Justin Carroll, eight laps down

    35. Lawless Alan – OUT, Suspension

    36. Jayson Alexander – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Christian Eckes +60

    2. Ty Majeski +44

    3. Corey Heim +41

    4. Nick Sanchez +34

    5. Taylor Gray +13

    6. Tyler Ankrum +13

    7. Daniel Dye +9

    8. Grant Enfinger +2

    9. Ben Rhodes -2

    10. Rajah Caruth -4

    With the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs underway, the next event on the schedule is Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, for the UNOH 200, which will serve as the second Round of 10 event. The event is scheduled to occur on September 19 and air at 8 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.

  • NASCAR 2024 Rookie Mid-season Review

    NASCAR 2024 Rookie Mid-season Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.

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

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

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