Jake Garcia will be joining ThorSport Racing and will pilot a Ford F-150 for the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
The news comes as the 18-year-old Garcia from Monroe, California, is coming off his first full-time campaign in the Truck Series, where he contended for the Rookie-of-the-Year title. Driving for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, Garcia notched three top-five results, nine top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 14.0 through 22 series’ starts. He was unable to compete in the series opener at Daytona International Speedway due to age restrictions and before turning 18 years of age in early March, but was able to end up in 13th place in the final driver’s standings and achieve a career-best runner-up result during the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway.
“To have the chance to race for a championship organization like ThorSport Racing is huge for me,” Garcia said. “I’m extremely excited for this opportunity and cannot wait to get the 2024 season started.”
Garcia, who grew up competing in quarter midgets before ascending his way through the midget ranks and late model competition, is the 2021 Southern Super Series champion, where he became the youngest champion in the series at 16 years of age. He would also claim the 2023 North-South Challenge event in the Super Late Model division.
In 2021, Garcia competed in the final ARCA Menards Series West event for David Gilliland Racing at Phoenix, where he finished sixth. He would then compete in his first five Truck Series event for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in 2022, where he achieved a season-best 16th-place finish at Phoenix in November, before notching a full-time Truck ride in MHR’s No. 35 entry for the 2023 season.
With Garcia set to make his series debut at Daytona International Speedway in February 2024, his entry’s number, crew chief and sponsors remain to be determined. ThorSport Racing’s 2024 driver lineup also remains to be determined as the team is coming off its fifth Truck Series driver’s championship with newly crowned two-time champion Ben Rhodes.
Garcia’s first Craftsman Truck Series season with ThorSport Racing is set to commence at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2024. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Taylor Gray will officially embark in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with TRICON Garage in 2024.
The news comes as the 18-year-old Gray from Artesia, New Mexico, is coming off his rookie season in the Truck Series, where he achieved three top-five results, six top-10 results, two laps led, an average-finishing result of 14.6 through 20 starts and a 15th-place result in the final driver’s standings. He was unable to compete in the series on a full-time basis until he turned 18 years of age in March, which saw him miss the first three events on the schedule.
“The opportunity to continue to grow with TRICON and Toyota is not one that I take for granted,” Gray said. “I am excited to tackle my first complete Truck season and continue developing into a weekly contender. I am ready to hit the ground running and am prepared to win races in 2024.”
Gray, who grew up competing in late models and was elevated to the CARS Late Model Stock Tour and the ARCA Menards Series East with DGR-Crosley, has three ARCA Menards Series victories, one ARCA Menards Series East win and five ARCA Menards Series West victories to date, with his best points result being a runner-up finish in 2022 ARCA East division.
In 2021, Gray made his Truck Series debut at Watkins Glen International with David Gilliland Racing, where he finished 35th. He competed in four additional Truck events throughout the season before returning for eight additional starts in 2022 and then competing for a majority of events this past season with TRICON. His best on-track result to date is a runner-up finish at Kansas Speedway in September. Previously, he achieved a third-place finish at Pocono Raceway in July.
Gray, who will continue to pilot the No. 17 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, becomes the fourth competitor to be retained by TRICON for the 2024 Truck Series season. His older brother Tanner, Corey Heim and Dean Thompson have been confirmed to return to the organization and pilot the Nos. 15, 11 and 5 entries, respectively, next season.
With his racing plans for next season set, Taylor Gray’s first full-time campaign in the Craftsman Truck Series commences at Daytona International Speedway. The season opener is scheduled to occur on February 16, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Tanner Gray will be returning as the driver of the No. 15 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage for the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
The news comes as the 24-year-old Gray from Artesia, New Mexico, is coming off hia fourth full-time campaign in the Truck Series. This past season, Gray achieved his first career pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Despite missing the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs, he notched a total of three top-five results, six top-10 results, 26 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.7 throughout the 23-race schedule before settling in 14th place in the final driver’s standings.
“I am grateful to be back at TRICON for another year in 2024 with my guys on the No. 15 truck,” Gray said. “I really feel like going into next year we will be better, more prepared and have a greater understanding of what we need to do to execute. My biggest focus is on making sure I am getting better every day, and I am excited for what lies ahead.”
Gray, a former NHRA drag racer who won the 2018 NHRA Pro Stock championship, transitioned to stock car racing in 2019 when he first competed in the ARCA Menards Series East for DGR-Crosley. Throughout the season, Gray earned his first career victory at South Boston Speedway in May and finished in the top 10 in nine of 12 events before finishing in third place in the final standings. Through 2021, Gray has made three starts in the ARCA Menards Series West, 13 in the ARCA Menards Series East and 15 in the ARCA Menards Series.
In 2019, Gray made his first career start in the Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway in October with DGR-Crosley, where he finished 20th. He would compete in the final two events on the schedule before graduating to a full-time role in the team’s No. 15 entry for the 2020 season. He would remain with the team through 2021-23 as the team changed names to David Gilliland Racing, beginning in 2021, and to TRICON Garage this past season.
While the 2020 Truck Series season generated Gray’s strongest season in stats with top fives (4), top 10s (8) and average-finishing result (16.1), the 2023 season generated the most points Gray accumulated at 533. For both seasons, the New Mexico native achieved a career-best 14th-place finish in the standings.
Through 94 career starts in the Truck Series, Gray has achieved a pole, 10 top-five results, 22 top-10 results, 46 laps led and an average-finishing result of 18.2 as he continues his pursuit for both his first series victory and first Playoff berth.
Tanner Gray’s return to TRICON Garage completes another missing piece to the team’s driver lineup for next season as Corey Heim and Dean Thompson will also be returning to the team to pilot the No. 11 and No. 5 entries, respectively, in 2024. The rest of the team’s driver lineup remains to be determined.
With his plans for next season set, Tanner Gray’s 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season commences with the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur on February 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Corey Heim has been issued a behavioral penalty from NASCAR following his on-track actions during the season-finale Craftsman 150 at Phoenix Raceway that occurred last Friday, November 3.
The issue stemming from Heim’s actions at Phoenix occurred with 31 laps remaining after the 21-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, who had overtaken title contender Carson Hocevar a lap earlier, was hit by Hocevar in between Turns 1 and 2 causing Heim to spin and collect Stewart Friesen in the process. While Friesen hit the outside wall and damaged his truck, Heim managed to keep his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro off the wall and proceed without sustaining any significant damage.
Then with four laps remaining, Heim, who had rallied his way up to eighth place, returned the favor after he veered to the right in front of Hocevar, who was gaining ground of him, and sent both into the outside wall entering the backstretch. The incident damaged Hocevar’s truck and eliminated him from further contention, where he ended up 29th, while Heim, who was then hit by a spinning teammate Taylor Gray, managed to finish the finale in 18th place.
Despite denying any actions of retaliation during his post-race interview, NASCAR reviewed and determined that Heim had violated Sections 4.4.B & D, which refers to the Member Code of Conduct from NASCAR’s Rule Book.
As a result, Heim was fined $12,500 and docked 25 points in the driver’s standings. He had initially concluded the 2023 Truck Series season in third place in the final standings by virtue of being the third-highest-finishing title contender on the track. The penalty, however, dropped Heim to fourth place in the final standings behind the new third-place finisher, Hocevar. Ben Rhodes would claim his second series championship by finishing in fifth place on the track, one spot ahead of title contender Grant Enfinger.
The 2023 Truck Series season marked Heim’s first full-time campaign in the series, where he joined TRICON Garage after spending the previous season with Kyle Busch Motorsports and winning two races and the 2022 Rookie-of-the-Year title. Throughout the 2023 season, Heim achieved the regular-season championship, three victories, four poles, 12 top-five results, 19 top-10 results, 611 laps led and an average-finishing result of 6.8 throughout the 23-race schedule.
Heim is slated to return to TRICON Garage and continue to pilot the team’s No. 11 entry for the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season as he will bid for both another Championship 4 run and the series’ title.
Heim’s 2024 Truck Series season is slated to commence at Daytona International Speedway for the season-opening Fresh from Florida 250, which will occur on February 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
In a finale that came down to the survival of the fittest, Ben Rhodes withstood a series of late caution periods and on-track carnages that involved his three championship rivals, including himself during the next-to-last restart, to capture his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship in the Craftsman 150 at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, November 3, that was won by Christian Eckes.
The 2021 Truck Series champion from Louisville, Kentucky, rolled off the starting grid from sixth place and managed to remain within title contention as he achieved top-10 results during both stage break periods while rallying from a slow pit stop before the second stage. Restarting within the top 20 at the start of the final stage period, an opportunity for the title presented itself for Rhodes after title rivals Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar made contact that resulted in Hocevar spinning Heim as Heim plummeted below the leaderboard. During the ensuing restart with 26 laps remaining, Rhodes, who restarted ninth, muscled his way past Hocevar to assume the lead in the championship battle.
Amid more late caution periods that sent the field into four overtime attempts, among which involved title rival Grant Enfinger making a pit stop for fresh tires after making contact on the track during the first overtime attempt and Rhodes sustaining damage to his truck after hitting and sending the leader Zane Smith for a spin during the second overtime attempt, Rhodes managed to retain the lead in the championship battle and fend off a final lap charge from Enfinger to clinch his second series title by finishing in fifth place, one spot ahead of Enfinger, as Eckes concluded the season by winning the finale.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, championship contender Corey Heim started in the pole position after posting a lap at 136.654 mph in 26.344 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 136.571 mph in 26.360 seconds. Heim’s title rivals, Ben Rhodes, Carson Hocevar and Grant Enfinger started sixth, 13th and 17th, respectively.
Prior to the event, Stefan Parsons dropped to the rear of the field in a backup truck after wrecking his primary truck during Thursday’s practice session.
When the green flag waved and the finale started, Heim and Majeski dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to three and four lanes through the dogleg and the frontstretch before navigating through Turns 1 and 2. With rookie Nick Sanchez trying to make a three-wide move for the lead, Majeski managed to muscle ahead from the outside lane as he proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Heim.
During the second lap, Majeski retained the lead ahead of Heim while title contender Ben Rhodes muscled his way up to third place in front of Sanchez, Zane Smith and Chase Purdy while Christian Eckes and Jesse Love pursued. Amid the early on-track battles, Majeski was leading by half a second over Heim while third-place Rhodes trailed by more than a second.
Then on the fourth lap, the first caution of the finale flew after Stewart Friesen, who was running 16th, spun entering Turn 4 after getting hit by Derek Kraus, which resulted in Friesen sliding his sideways truck up the track as Hailie Deegan slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting Friesen.
When the race restarted on the ninth lap, Rhodes attempted to make a move in between Heim and Majeski for the lead as the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg and the first two turns. As the field jostled for early spots through the backstretch, Majeski managed to fend off Heim entering Turn 4 to retain the lead to sole possession and with both lanes under his control. With Majeski leading, Heim retained second ahead of Rhodes while Sanchez and Chase Purdy were in the top five. Shortly after, Taylor Gray moved into the top five over Purdy followed by Zane Smith while title contenders Carson Hocevar and Grant Enfinger were in eighth and 10th, respectively. Amid the battles, Majeski retained the lead by nine-tenths over Heim and less than two seconds over Rhodes by the Lap 15 mark.
Through the Lap 20 mark, Majeski was leading by more than a second over Heim while third-place Rhodes trailed by more than three seconds. Behind, Sanchez and Zane Smith were in the top five ahead of Purdy, Taylor Gray, Eckes, Hocevar and Enfinger while Rajah Caruth, Jack Wood, Jake Garcia, Jesse Love and Jake Drew were running in the top 15. Meanwhile, Tanner Gray occupied 16th place ahead of Matt Crafton, Daniel Dye, Dean Thompson and Bayley Currey while Friesen was up in 21st. In addition, Deegan was mired back in 32nd behind Marco Andretti while Tyler Ankrum was in 28th.
Ten laps later, Majeski increased his advantage to more than two seconds over runner-up Heim and by more than four seconds over third-place Rhodes while Hocevar and Enfinger were running eighth and ninth, respectively. Majeski would stabilize his advantage to more than a second over Heim by the Lap 35 mark. By then, Zane Smith overtook Rhodes for third place followed by Sanchez while Hocevar and Enfinger remained in eighth and ninth, respectively.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Majeski claimed his seventh Truck stage victory of the 2023 season. Title contender Heim settled in second followed by Zane Smith, Rhodes and Sanchez while Purdy, Eckes, Hocevar, Enfinger and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Majeski pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Heim exited first and emerged with the lead while Majeski, Zane Smith, Hocevar, Taylor Gray and Eckes followed suit. Behind, Rhodes and Enfinger exited pit road 11th and 12th, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Tanner Gray was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Sanchez would pit for a second time prior to the restart.
The second stage period started on Lap 53 as Heim and Majeski occupied the front row. At the start, Heim dueled with Majeski through the dogleg before muscling ahead entering Turn 1 from the outside lane as he led entering the backstretch. With Heim leading both the race and the championship battle, Majeski fell back to second followed by Zane Smith while Hocevar was in fourth followed by Taylor Gray and Eckes with Jake Garcia and Enfinger following suit. Two laps later, the caution returned after Chris Hacker and Marco Andretti, both of whom were running towards the rear of the field, wrecked in Turn 3.
Once the carnage was cleared amid an extensive caution period, the race restarted on Lap 64. At the start, Heim and Zane Smith dueled for the lead as the field fanned out through the dogleg before entering Turns 1 and 2. With the field still fanned out through the backstretch, Heim managed to muscle away from Smith and maintain the lead from the outside lane while Majeski tried to close in on Zane Smith for the runner-up spot. During the following lap, Majeski overtook Smith for the runner-up spot while Enfinger trailed in fourth place ahead of Garcia, Taylor Gray, Eckes and Hocevar as Rhodes, who endured a slow pit stop during the first stage break period, was mired back in 11th.
Just past the Lap 70 mark, Heim was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Majeski while third-place Zane Smith trailed by more than a second. Behind, title contender Enfinger retained fourth place ahead of Garcia, Taylor Gray and Eckes while Hocevar and Rhodes were mired back in eighth and 10th, respectively. Heim would retain the lead by a second over Majeski by the Lap 75 mark while his title rivals Enfinger, Hocevar and Rhodes continued to trail in fourth, eighth and 10th, respectively.
Shortly after, the caution flew after Tyler Hill spun and wrecked in Turn 2. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Garcia pitted while the rest led by Heim and including Majeski, Zane Smith, Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Rhodes, Jesse Love and Stefan Parsons remained on the track.
With the race restarting on Lap 82, Heim fended off Majeski and Enfinger through the dogleg and entering the first two turns to retain the lead and maintain control of both lanes through the backstretch. With Heim still leading, Zane Smith moved back into second followed by Majeski, Taylor and Eckes while Enfinger fell back to sixth as he was battling Rhodes to maintain the spot. Amid the battles, Heim stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Zane just past the Lap 85 mark.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, title contender Heim captured his series-leading eighth Truck stage victory of the 2023 season. Zane Smith settled in a close second place followed by Majeski, Eckes and Taylor Gray while Rhodes, Purdy, Enfinger, Garcia and Hocevar were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, some led by Heim and including Rhodes and Enfinger pitted while the rest led by Eckes and including Hocevar remained on the track.
With 51 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Eckes and Purdy occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes rocketed away from the outside lane as the field fanned out through the dogleg and the first two turns. With the field still fanned out through the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4, Eckes retained the lead over teammate Garcia while Sanchez, Purdy and Friesen trailed in the top five. By then, Hocevar was trying to make his way into the top five from sixth while Heim, Enfinger and Rhodes trailed within the top 15.
Two laps later, the caution returned after Connor Jones and Jake Drew wrecked in Turn 3, with Jones colliding into Drew and sending both hard against the outside SAFER Barrier while battling for 15th place, as Deegan spun to avoid the carnage.
During the following restart with 41 laps remaining, Eckes and Sanchez dueled for the lead until Sanchez motored ahead through the backstretch. With Eckes fighting back on the outside lane, he managed to motor past Sanchez through Turns 3 and 4 and reassume the lead. With Eckes back out in front over Sanchez, Garcia was in third ahead of Zane Smith and Friesen while Hocevar was the highest-running title contender in sixth place. Meanwhile, Heim was in 10th in front of Enfinger while Rhodes was mired back within the top 15.
With 35 laps remaining, Eckes was leading by half a second over Sanchez followed by Garcia, Zane and Friesen while Hocevar retained sixth ahead of a hard-charging Heim. Meanwhile, Enfinger and Rhodes were in 11th and 12th while Purdy, Crafton and Majeski occupied the top 10.
Three laps later, Heim overtook Hocevar for sixth place on the track through Turns 1 and 2 and reassumed the lead in the championship battle. A lap later, however, Hocevar made contact with Heim and sent Heim’s No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro spinning into Friesen as the latter two wrecked in Turn 2, with Friesen damaging his rear bumper after hitting the wall. The incident left Hocevar frustrated and placing blame on himself over the contact while Heim managed to continue without hitting the wall as he pitted for fresh tires.
With the race restarting with 25 laps remaining, Sanchez fired off with the lead from the outside lane while Hocevar, who nearly got turned at the start, was being fanned out by Eckes and Majeski through the dogleg as the field behind fanned out entering the first two turns. Amid the restart and with the field still fanning out, Rhodes overtook Hocevar from the outside lane on the track as Sanchez and Zane Smith made contact against one another and towards the outside wall through the backstretch. Amid the chaos, Sanchez maintained the lead ahead of Zane Smith followed by Eckes, Majeski and Rhodes while Enfinger made his way into the top six. Meanwhile, Hocevar was plummeting in the leaderboard as Rhodes occupied the lead in the title fight while running in fourth place on the track. Then with 23 laps remaining, Zane Smith overtook Sanchez for the lead entering the frontstretch with Eckes following in second place. Behind, Rhodes was in fourth, one spot ahead of a hard-charging Enfinger, while Heim and Hocevar were mired back in 13th and 18th, respectively.
Then with 21 laps remaining, the caution flew for a multi-truck wreck that erupted in Turn 3 and involved Currey, Daniel Dye and Stefan Parsons. The carnage was enough to place the event in a red flag period during the following lap. By then, Rhodes was leading the title fight in third place, one spot ahead of Enfinger, while Heim and Hocevar were mired back in 11th and 18th, respectively, as Zane Smith was scored the race leader.
Nearly 12 minutes later, the red flag lifted and the field returned under a cautious pace. During the caution period, some including Hocevar pitted while the rest led by Zane Smith remained on the track.
As the race restarted with 15 laps remaining, Zane Smith and Eckes dueled for the lead through the dogleg as the field fanned out. Amid the battles, Smith fended off Eckes entering the backstretch to assume the lead. During the following lap, Smith was leading Eckes while Enfinger was in third place and leading Rhodes for the championship. Behind, Heim moved back up to seventh behind Purdy and Jesse Love while Hocevar was mired back in 19th.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Zane Smith was leading the race by a second over Eckes while Enfinger was running third, but leading the championship battle in front of Rhodes, as Heim climbed up to sixth. By then, Hocevar was mired back in 14th.
With five laps remaining, Zane Smith continued to lead the race by more than two seconds over Eckes while Enfinger, who retained third place, continued to lead the title fight ahead of Rhodes as Heim trailed in sixth place. Meanwhile, Hocevar climbed up to 10th place.
A lap later, the caution flew when Heim, who was running seventh and had Hocevar making a move to his outside for position, went up the track and sent Hocevar into the outside wall in Turn 2 in retaliation from their earlier on-track incident that sent Heim spinning. In this recent incident, Hocevar, who collided into the outside wall amid the contact with Heim, limped his damaged No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST up against the wall while Heim was hit on the driver’s side by teammate Taylor Gray, thus leaving both championship contenders with wrecked trucks. By then and with the race sent into overtime, Zane Smith was still leading the overall race followed by Eckes while Enfinger and Rhodes, both of whom were running third and fourth, were the lone two title contenders left to battle for the title amongst one another.
At the start of the first overtime attempt, Eckes and Zane Smith dueled for the lead as Rhodes tried to thread the middle. With the field still fanning out through Turn 2, Rhodes overtook Enfinger on the track and boosted his way to second place as he challenged Zane Smith for the lead. Amid the field still fanned out through the backstretch, the caution returned and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt after Kraus wrecked in Turn 3 after getting hit by Sanchez. By then, Rhodes settled in second behind Zane while Enfinger, who made contact with Eckes entering the backstretch before he got hit by Love and sent up the track in Turn 3, fell back to ninth. During the caution period, Enfinger pitted his No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST for fresh tires and repairs amid the contact as his title hopes were placed in jeopardy.
At the start of the second overtime attempt, Zane Smith briefly muscled ahead from Eckes through the dogleg until Smith, who missed a shift to fourth gear and quickly fell off the pace, was hit hard in the rear by an oncoming Rhodes as Rhodes turned Smith, who was T-boned by Crafton and Jack Wood through the frontstretch, while Rhodes escaped with front nose damage to his No. 99 Kubota Ford F-150 as he fell back to sixth place, but remained on the track. In the process, Eckes assumed the race lead followed by Purdy and Garcia while the event was sent into a third overtime attempt.
With the event restarting for a third overtime attempt, Chase Purdy muscled ahead of Eckes from the inside lane to assume the lead through the dogleg as the field fanned out through the frontstretch. Shortly after, the caution quickly returned and the event was sent into a fourth overtime attempt after Majeski, who was running towards the front, got turned by Jesse Love through the frontstretch. Amid Majeski’s spin, teammate Matt Crafton spun while trying to avoid carnage as Sean Hingorani, Zane Smith, Colby Howard and Tyler Hill wrecked in the process. At the moment of caution, Purdy was leading Eckes while Rhodes was in sixth. Meanwhile, Enfinger was mired in 17th as he remained within close distance of Rhodes for the title.
During the fourth overtime attempt, Eckes muscled his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead of Purdy’s No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST from the outside lane as he reassumed the lead through the first two turns. With the field fanning out, Enfinger charged his way back into the top 10 and had his eyes on Rhodes, who was battling Kaden Honeycutt and Jesse Love for a spot within the top five.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Eckes remained as the leader over teammate Jake Garcia and Purdy while Rhodes retained the lead in the championship battle by three spots over a hard-charging Enfinger. Even as Tyler Ankrum wrecked entering Turns 3 and 4, the race remained under green flag conditions. Through the dogleg, Rhodes was battling Honeycutt for fifth place, though he remained ahead of Enfinger, who was trying to fend off Sanchez, Dean Thompson and Tanner Gray for spots. Then entering the backstretch, Enfinger, who was still trying to overtake Tanner Gray, had Rhodes in front of him for a final opportunity to snatch the title away from the former. As Enfinger stepped on the gas and tried to get to Rhodes’ No. 99 rear bumper to get Rhodes loose entering Turns 3 and 4, he was unable to make physical contact to get Rhodes loose. With Enfinger sliding up the track, Rhodes was able to step back on the gas and fend off Enfinger for a final turn to streak across the finish line in fifth place and win his second Truck Series championship.
With his accomplishment, Rhodes, who won his first title in 2021, joined Ron Hornaday Jr., Jack Sprague, Todd Bodine and Matt Crafton as the only competitors to achieve multiple Truck Series championships as he became the first competitor to repeat as a champion since teammate Crafton won his third title in 2019. He also delivered the fifth driver’s championship and the second owner’s title for ThorSport Racing while crew chief Rich Lushes, who reunited with Rhodes midway into the 2023 season and who won the 2021 title with Rhodes, captured his second title as a crew chief.
In total, Rhodes, who barely transferred through the Rounds of 10 and 8 to make this year’s Championship 4 by a narrow margin, capped off his second championship-winning season with a victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, seven top-five results and 14 top-10 results throughout the 23-race schedule.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I can’t even believe it. Let’s go!” Rhodes exclaimed on the frontstretch on FS1. “Man, I hate when people do that on TV, so I’m sorry, but hey, this is so awesome, man. To go 25 laps into overtime, you know what that feels like? Almost lose it three times? Look at the front of the truck. It’s crazy. I didn’t think we were going to make it. I thought we were going to pop a tire. I thought anything that could have gone wrong was going to go wrong. Grant [Enfinger] almost got me. Hats off to him. He ran a great race. I wouldn’t want to race against anybody else for the championship. He raced me clean, and I respect the hell out of him for it.”
“I saw [Enfinger],” Rhodes added. “I’m watching the replay right here. I saw him. He went for everything, but he ran me clean, and I thank him for that. That’s what these championships are all about. It’s unfortunate we had so many cautions, but we ran each other clean, all of us did tonight, and great show. I love you guys. Thanks for all the fans coming out. I love it. What a team. I don’t know how we pulled it off, but we got here and we did it.”
While Rhodes celebrated the series’ championship, Enfinger, who finished in sixth place behind Rhodes and achieved three victories this season, was left disappointed on pit road after coming up one spot short of winning his first NASCAR national touring series title and delivering one final championship for GMS Racing, which is set to cease operations at this season’s conclusion.
“It was just the original green-white-checkered [restart] there where we went four wide, Ben [Rhodes] gassed it up there on the bottom [lane], drove us in [Eckes] and tore up our truck and then, we had to restart from 22nd there,” Enfinger, whose racing plans for 2024 remain undetermined, said. “That’s kind of what ended our run. Obviously, we got close there at the end. I don’t know. Maybe if he didn’t have such a run down the back straightaway, but I needed to get under him to make that pass. It’s a shame that the championship came down to a race like that with 15 green-white-checkereds or whatever it was right there, 30 laps extra. I feel like we did everything we could to win this race and just kind of got used up right there. Championship racing, it’s just incredibly unfortunate to end GMS Racing like this. I really felt like we had that championship in grasp and to be honest with you, I don’t know if I’d have done anything different. Just wasn’t meant to be.”
Like Enfinger, Corey Heim, the 2023 Truck Series Regular Season champion who captured three victories this season, was left disappointed on pit road after ending up in 18th place on the track and in third place in the final standings following his pair of incidents with title rival Carson Hocevar.
“Ask [Hocevar] if he stands by the first one,” Heim, who will return to TRICON Garage for the 2024 season, said. “I mean, he wrecked me, then I got my right rear destroyed. From there, I had no side force and he put it on my door and I lost control. Just really got to hold our heads high for a great year. It was a phenomenal year for us. This was our worst finish in like six months. Really put together a good race and really hoped that the guys would race me clean. I’ve got a lot of respect for everybody in the field, but clearly not [Hocevar] anymore. It is what it is. It’s part of racing and unfortunately, that turned into a wreck fest, but I did all I could.”
Meanwhile, Hocevar, who was unable to finish following his second and latest on-track altercation with Heim, ended up in 29th place on the track and in fourth place in the final standings in a season where he notched his first four career victories. The wrecked result marked Hocevar’s final scheduled Truck Series start with Niece Motorsports as he will be moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series to drive for Spire Motorsports in 2024.
“I’m just more mad right now that I cost [TRICON Garage] a shot to win the championship,” Hocevar said. “I don’t care about my reputation right now. I just feel bad that I robbed [Heim]of that. I feel sorry for him. I can’t say that I was mad, I just messed up. I didn’t even want to run the rest of the laps. I wanted to crawl into a hole and I just feel bad. I’m trying so hard to be better and trying to stay with him. I wasn’t going to give up. I just didn’t know how to give up in that moment. I didn’t want to wreck him, I didn’t want to hit him that hard, I didn’t want to spin him. I was just trying to hold him up a little bit.”
Amid Rhodes’ championship celebration, Christian Eckes, who missed the cutline to this year’s Championship 4 by a narrow margin, celebrated in Victory Lane for the fourth time this season and the fifth in his career after leading 36 of 179 over-scheduled laps, including the final three laps during the fourth overtime attempt. The victory was enough for Eckes to conclude his first Truck Series season with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in fifth place in the final standings as he will remain with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing for the 2024 Truck season. The victory, however, did little to ease Eckes’ disappointment over not contending for this year’s title.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“That one’s gonna sting,” Eckes said in Victory Lane. “It still stings. I mean, it’s awesome to win. It’s always awesome to win, especially with our great partners. To come short of the goal to win a championship and being able to come and win the final race kind of stinks for sure, so it is what it is now. We can always look back and Monday morning quarterback in it and say that we could be champions, but at the end of the day, we aren’t. At the end of the day, I’m also really proud of the whole No. 99 group. That was my team last year at ThorSport [Racing] for the most part with a few different pieces. Super proud of them and yeah, it is what it is.”
On the track, Jake Garcia notched a career-best runner-up result in his final Truck event with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing while Chase Purdy finished third in his final event driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, the winningest team in the Truck Series that will cease operations at this season’s conclusion. Jesse Love finished fourth followed by the champion Rhodes and Enfinger while Dean Thompson, Kaden Honeycutt, Tanner Gray and Nick Sanchez, the 2023 Truck Series Rookie of the Year, completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Rajah Caruth finished 12th in his final event driving for the ceased GMS Racing while Hailie Deegan finished 15th in her final Truck Series start as she will be moving up to the Xfinity Series to drive for AM Racing. In addition, Zane Smith ended up in 25th place with a DNF in his final Truck Series event with Front Row Motorsports while Jack Wood and Daniel Dye ended up 27th and 32nd in their final events driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports and GMS Racing, respectively.
There were 10 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured 12 cautions for 77 laps. In addition, 21 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Christian Eckes, 36 laps led
2. Jake Garcia
3. Chase Purdy, eight laps led
4. Jesse Love
5. Ben Rhodes
6. Grant Enfinger
7. Dean Thompson
8. Kaden Honeycutt
9. Tanner Gray
10. Nick Sanchez, five laps led
11. Matt Crafton
12. Rajah Caruth
13. Lawless Alan
14. Ty Majeski, 48 laps led, Stage 1 winner
15. Hailie Deegan
16. Christian Rose
17. Spencer Davis
18. Corey Heim, 47 laps led, Stage 2 winner
19. Nick Leitz
20. Tyler Hill
21. Colby Howard
22. Tyler Ankrum, one lap down
23. Taylor Gray, two laps down
24. Stewart Friesen, four laps down
25. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident, 35 laps led
26. Sean Hingorani – OUT, Accident
27. Jack Wood – OUT, Accident
28. Derek Kraus – OUT, Accident
29. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident
30. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident
31. Bayley Currey – OUT, Accident
32. Daniel Dye – OUT, Accident
33. Jake Drew – OUT, Accident
34. Connor Jones – OUT, Accident
35. Marco Andretti – OUT, Accident
36. Chris Hacker – OUT, Accident
*Bold indicates championship finalists
Final standings
1. Ben Rhodes
2. Grant Enfinger
3. Corey Heim
4. Carson Hocevar
5. Christian Eckes
6. Nick Sanchez
7. Zane Smith
8. Ty Majeski
9. Matt Crafton
10. Matt DiBenedetto
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway to commence the 2024 racing season. The season opener at Daytona is slated to occur on February 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Nick Sanchez has been officially named the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year.
The 22-year-old Sanchez from Miami, Florida, capped off his rookie Truck Series season with Rev Racing in 10th place during the season-finale Craftsman 150 at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, November 3, where he led five of 179 over-scheduled laps and was able to finish in sixth place in the final driver’s standings with 2,319 points.
Sanchez, whose racing career commenced at age 12 with go-karts, joined Rev Racing as he competed in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and the ARCA Menards Series East divisions while being a member of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program in 2019. During the season, his top accomplishments included victories at Langley Speedway and Myrtle Beach Speedway in the Whelen All-American Series, his first pole position at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway and achieving the Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award.
The following season, the Floridian competed for Rev Racing on a full-time basis in the ARCA East division, where he finished in third place in the final standings on the strengths of two top-five results and four top-10 results in six scheduled starts. In addition, he made select starts across the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series West divisions.
In 2021, Sanchez piloted the No. 2 Chevrolet for Rev Racing on a full-time basis in the ARCA Menards Series. After recording eight top-five results and 12 top-10 results in 17 starts, he notched his first career victory in the series in the season-finale event at Kansas Speedway and finished in third place in the final standings. The following season, Sanchez notched three victories throughout the 2022 ARCA season, which occurred at Talladega Superspeedway, Kansas Speedway and Michigan International Speedway. The trio of victories along with nine top-five results, 16 top-10 results, 115 laps led and an average-finishing result of 6.3 were enough for him to achieve the 2022 ARCA Menards Series championship by 14 points over Daniel Dye. By then, Sanchez, who had achieved his first championship in stock car racing, delivered the second championship for Rev Racing and the first since the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson won the ARCA East title in 2012.
Nearly a month after the 2022 ARCA season concluded, Rev Racing announced its expansion to NASCAR’s top three national touring series for the first time by fielding a full-time Craftsman Truck Series entry for Sanchez to pilot as the team formed a technical alliance with Kyle Busch Motorsports. Driving the No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST, Sanchez secured the pole position for the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February in his first stint in the Truck Series.
Despite finishing 26th at Daytona amid a rain-shortened event followed by a 30th-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after wrecking late, he rallied by notching a career-best runner-up result at Atlanta after being overtaken by Christian Eckes on the final lap. Two races later, Sanchez was within striking distance of achieving his first career victory at Texas Motor Speedway after starting on the pole, sweeping both stage periods and leading a race-high 168 of 172 laps.
However, during the second of two overtime attempts, Sanchez, who was locked in a heated battle with reigning series champion Zane Smith for the lead, slipped sideways at the start of the final lap and was bumped by Carson Hocevar exiting the frontstretch as Sanchez ended up wrecking with Smith and Eckes in Turn 1 and strapped with a 16th-place result.
Coming off the Texas result, Sanchez, who only managed three top-10 results during his next seven starts, achieved his second top-five career result after finishing third at Nashville Superspeedway in an event where he started in the pole position and led 37 laps. With respective finishes of ninth, 19th and eighth in the final regular-season events, the Floridian managed to claim a spot into the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs by 42 points. By then, he was the lone rookie competitor to make the Playoffs.
Despite recording respective finishes of 11th, 24th and eighth during the Playoff’s Round of 10, Sanchez transferred into the Round of 8 by 32 points. He commenced the Round of 8 by finishing ninth at Bristol Motor Speedway despite starting at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his truck. Coming off a seventh-place result in the second Round of 8 event at Talladega Superspeedway, which was mired by a post-race fight involving three-time series champion Matt Crafton, Sanchez recorded his fifth pole position for the Round of 8 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Commencing the event four points above the top-four cutline to make this year’s Championship 4 round, he ended up finishing 17th during the main event and missed the cutline in a tie-breaker over the 2021 series champion Ben Rhodes. Nonetheless, Sanchez managed to capture his 12th top-10 result of the 2023 Truck Series season during the finale at Phoenix.
By claiming this year’s rookie title, Sanchez, who earned five poles, four stage victories, two top-five results and 12 top-10 results during his rookie season, became the first competitor from Florida to achieve the Truck Series rookie title since Ben Kennedy made the last accomplishment in 2014 and the first Chevrolet competitor to win the award since Zane Smith made the last accomplishment in 2020. He also became the first competitor from NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program to achieve a rookie title within NASCAR’s top three national touring series since Daniel Suarez claimed the 2015 Xfinity Series rookie title.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Sanchez’s rivals for this year’s Truck rookie title included Rajah Caruth, Daniel Dye, Jake Garcia and Bret Holmes.
With the rookie title achieved, Sanchez is currently slated to remain at Rev Racing for the 2024 Truck Series season as he will bid for both his first series victory and another run for the series title. Sanchez’s crew chief for next season remains to be determined as Danny Stockman Jr., the 2011 Truck Series championship-winning crew chief who guided Sanchez during his rookie campaign, will be returning to the Xfinity Series to crew chief the 2023 ARCA Menards Series champion Jesse Love Jr. for his first Xfinity campaign at Richard Childress Racing.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2024, to commence a new season of racing. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Eleven days after announcing his move to the NASCAR Cup Series for the 2024 season, Carson Hocevar will receive an opportunity to contend for this year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship after leading the final 11 laps en route to winning the Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, October 21.
The 20-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, led the final 11 of 134 scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row and battled within the lead pack. He also scored a handful of stage points throughout the event’s two stage periods. Then, amid a series of late battles and late pit strategies ensuing between Playoff contenders trying to race their way into this year’s Championship 4 round, Hocevar tracked and overtook Playoff rival Ben Rhodes with 11 laps remaining.
He then cruised to his fourth Craftsman Truck Series career victory of the 2023 season and raced his way into the Championship 4 round. As a result, Hocevar will square off against Corey Heim, Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes for this year’s Truck Series championship in the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway in early November.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, October 20, Playoff contender and rookie Nick Sanchez secured his fifth Truck pole position of this season after posting a pole-winning lap at 167.084 mph in 32.319 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Carson Hocevar, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 165.858 mph in 32.558 seconds.
Prior to the event, Spencer Davis, Trevor Bayne, Jonathan Shafer and Armani Williams dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks. Brothers Tanner and Taylor Gray also dropped to the rear of the field due to missing driver introductions.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Sanchez and Hocevar dueled for the lead entering Turn 1 as the field fanned out and jostled early for positions. Through the backstretch, Sanchez managed to muscle his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead of Hocevar from the outside lane as he then maintained control of both lanes through Turns 3 and 4 before he led the first lap. By then, Ty Majeski was in second ahead of Carson Hocevar while Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger were in the top five ahead of a hard-charging Corey Heim, who started eighth.
Five laps later, Heim, who was already guaranteed a spot in this year’s Championship 4 field, made his move and assumed the lead from Sanchez. By Lap 10, Heim was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Hocevar followed by Majeski while Sanchez fell back to fourth ahead of Zane Smith and 38. In addition, Enfinger, Eckes, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton and Tyler Ankrum were running in the top 10 while Playoff contender Ben Rhodes was mired back in 22nd.
At the Lap 20 mark, Heim extended his advantage to more than a second over Majeski followed by Zane Smith, Hocevar and Enfinger while Sanchez, Friesen, Eckes, Crafton and Chase Purdy were in the top 10. Behind, Rhodes was mired in 24th behind teammate Hailie Deegan while Ankrum, Rajah Caruth, Bayley Currey, Dean Thompson and Jack Wood were in the top 15. Notably, Trevor Bayne was in 18th while Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray, Brad Perez and Jake Garcia occupied the top 20.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Heim captured his sixth Truck stage victory of the 2023 season. Majeski settled in second ahead of Hocevar, Zane Smith and Enfinger while Friesen, Eckes, Sanchez, Crafton and Purdy were scored in the top 10. By then, Rhodes was mired in 24th place while 26 of 34 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Heim pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Heim retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Majeski, Hocevar, Zane Smith, Eckes, Friesen, Crafton and Enfinger. Amid the pit stops, Hailie Deegan and Nick Leitz were penalized for uncontrolled tire violations while Memphis Villarreal was penalized for a safety violation. In addition, Marco Andretti was penalized for unapproved fueling.
The second stage period started on Lap 39 as Heim and Majeski occupied the front row. At the start, Heim, who briefly dueled against Majeski for the lead, maintained the lead over Majeski and a bevy of Playoff contenders as the field behind fanned out. With Heim retaining the top spot, a three-way battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Majeski, Zane Smith and Hocevar while Eckes and Friesen tried to join the battle.
At the Lap 45 mark, Heim was leading by a second over Zane Smith followed by Hocevar, Majeski and Friesen while Eckes, Currey, Sanchez, Crafton and Enfinger were in the top 10. Behind, Rhodes was mired in 16th.
Five laps later, Heim stabilized his advantage by a second over Hocevar followed by Zane Smith, Majeski and Friesen while Eckes, Currey, Sanchez, Enfinger and Crafton were battling in the top 10. Meanwhile, Rhodes was still running in 16th behind Bayne.
Three laps later, the caution flew after Spencer Boyd stopped on the track. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Heim returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Heim maintained the lead after exiting first ahead of Zane Smith, Eckes, Currey, Sanchez, Majeski and Friesen. Amid the pit stops, Playoff contender Enfinger was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.
With the race restarting with two laps remaining in the second stage period, Heim maintained the lead over Zane Smith and Currey muscled his way up to third as the field fanned out through the first two turns. Amid the battles, Heim retained the lead over a hard-charging Zane Smith once he started the final lap of the second stage period.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 60, Heim notched his seventh Truck stage victory of the 2023 season and the second of the day. Zane Smith settled in second ahead of a side-by-side duel between Currey and Sanchez while Friesen, Eckes, Majeski, Crafton, Purdy and Hocevar were scored in the top 10. By then, Rhodes was in 11th while Enfinger was mired back in 20th.
With the front-runners remaining on the track during the second stage break period, the final stage commenced with 67 laps remaining as Heim and Zane Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Zane Smith made his way into the lead over Heim as the field fanned out while jostling for late positions. A lap later, however, the caution returned after Colby Howard and Hailie Deegan wrecked on the frontstretch.
During the following restart with 60 laps remaining, Zane Smith and Heim dueled for the lead until the former maintained the top spot ahead of the field. As Smith retained the lead, Currey made his way into the runner-up spot over Heim while Hocevar, Sanchez and Majeski followed suit. Rhodes would also make his way into the top 10 while Enfinger was trying to re-enter the top 10.
Following another caution period with 56 laps remaining after Mason Maggio spun in Turn 4, the race restarted with 50 laps remaining. At the start, Heim, who restarted on the front row alongside Zane Smith, spun the tires, which allowed Smith to pull away with the lead as Hocevar made his way into the runner-up spot. Shortly after, Heim battled and reassumed the runner-up spot over Hocevar while Zane Smith was leading by seven-tenths of a second.
Then with 40 laps remaining, Heim, who had slipped to sixth, pitted his No. 11 Chateau Elan/Explore Braselton Toyota Tundra TRD Pro under green. Playoff contenders Enfinger and Eckes would also pit four laps later before Eckes was penalized for speeding on pit road, thus damaging his hopes of transferring into the Championship 4 field. Within 30 laps remaining, more Playoff names that included Sanchez, Zane Smith and Majeski pitted as Rhodes, who pitted during the previous caution period amid a gusty pit strategic call from crew chief Rich Lushes, cycled his No. 99 Campers Inn RV Ford F-150 into the lead.
With 15 laps remaining, Rhodes was leading by more than five seconds over a hard-charging Hocevar while Zane Smith was in third and trailing the lead by more than five seconds. By then, Heim and Enfinger were in the top five.
Four laps later, Hocevar, who gained massive ground on Rhodes, assumed the lead from Rhodes. Hocevar’s move placed Rhodes only two points above the top-four cutline while Zane Smith was 15 points below and mired in a “must-win” situation to advance.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Hocevar was leading by three seconds over Zane Smith’s No. 38 Ambetter Health Ford F-150 while Rhodes, Heim and Enfinger were scored in the top five. By then, Hocevar, Enfinger and Rhodes were still scored above the cutline along with Heim while Zane Smith, Sanchez, Eckes and Majeski were currently scored below the cutline.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hocevar remained as the leader by nearly three seconds over Zane Smith. With Smith unable to generate a final lap charge as he was too far behind Hocevar, Hocevar was able to smoothly navigate his No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST around Homestead for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim his fourth checkered flag of his career and of the 2023 season.
With the victory, Hocevar also punched his ticket into this year’s Championship 4 round and will officially contend for his first NASCAR National Touring Series championship in the Truck circuit at Phoenix Raceway. Hocevar will compete alongside Corey Heim, Ben Rhodes and Grant Enfinger, all of whom finished in the top five and will contend for their first series title, minus Rhodes, who will contend for his second title.
“We were so fast,” Hocevar said on FS1. “It kills me [that] I can’t do a burnout. We have to take this motor to Phoenix. So good. This truck was so good. We got behind on pit stops and just lost track position, which really was unfortunate. I love winning! I love it! We just got to win at Phoenix. Even with all the setbacks, from the debris and everything, we had a shot to win and we did just that.”
“I don’t know what to think,” Rhodes said. “To be honest, the whole day was so difficult. I knew we were in for a long day. I just didn’t know it was gonna be this difficult, but what an absolute blessing to finish where we did. I can’t thank [crew chief Rich Lushes] enough for making that [pit] call. He’s really good at making these calls when it counts. I just wish we weren’t in this position so much. We’ve dealt with this pressure year over year and every time, we’ve been able to show through we get. I’m thankful for the effort by the team. What a day.”
“It feels great,” Enfinger said. “These guys deserve to be running for a championship at Phoenix. Pretty disappointed in our execution. You can’t make mistakes against these guys. We were blessed to have a second opportunity. [Crew chief] Jeff [Hensley] made some great calls on the truck. The truck was as good as it was gonna be those last two stints. That was all we had. Congratulations to all these guys. Hopefully, we can make the most of it in two weeks.”
“Definitely really excited for Phoenix,” Heim said. “I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work and studying into that race. It’s gonna be the biggest race of my career. We’ve got bigger things on the horizon here, so we’ll focus on that.”
Amid the Championship 4 field being set, Zane Smith, the reigning series champion who finished in the runner-up spot, did not transfer along with Ty Majeski, rookie Nick Sanchez and Christian Eckes.
“Just a bummer,” Smith said. “The Round of 8 was not good to us. It only takes one bad race and unfortunately, we had two. Just one spot short today.”
“We had a truck [that was] able to advance and just kept making mistakes,” Eckes said. “Just wasn’t good enough today.”
“We just missed it a little bit today,” Majeski said. “We were all over the splitter, way too hard to be able to attack on restarts, maintain our track position. Long run, we were OK. Just couldn’t get going. Proud of this No. 98 team. Wished we could’ve been competing for a championship at Phoenix, but I see my teammate Ben [Rhodes] made it, so good for ThorSport [Racing]. All hands on deck these next two weeks, trying to prepare four fast trucks to go to Phoenix and hopefully, bring home a race win and a championship.”
“To miss [the Championship 4] by one point is pretty rough,” Sanchez said. “Guess all you can do is go to Phoenix and try to win, but yeah, it’s on me.”
Following the post-race inspection process, Zane Smith was disqualified from his runner-up result for windshield support violation. Amid Smith’s disqualification, the Championship 4 field occupied by Heim, Hocevar, Enfinger and Rhodes remained unchanged, with Rhodes earning the fourth and final transfer spot in a tie-breaker over Sanchez.
There were eight lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 29 laps. In addition, 15 of 34 starters finished on the lead lap.
*Notably, Chevrolet secured this year’s Craftsman Truck Series manufacturer’s title.
Results.
1. Carson Hocevar, 11 laps led
2. Ben Rhodes, 22 laps led
3. Corey Heim, 57 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner
4. Grant Enfinger
5. Bayley Currey
6. Stewart Friesen
7. Matt Crafton
8. Rajah Caruth
9. Ty Majeski, one lap led
10. Chase Purdy
11. Tanner Gray, four laps led
12. Jack Wood
13. Taylor Gray
14. Trevor Bayne
15. Jake Garcia, one lap down
16. Dean Thompson, one lap down
17. Nick Sanchez, one lap down
18. Marco Andretti, one lap down
19. Lawless Alan, one lap down
20. Christian Eckes, one lap down, five laps led
21. Daniel Dye, one lap down
22. Tyler Hill, one lap down
23. Nick Leitz, one lap down
24. Brad Perez, one lap down
25. Tyler Ankrum, one lap down
26. Jonathan Shafer, two laps down
27. Mason Maggio, three laps down
28. Hailie Deegan, three laps down
29. Memphis Villarreal, three laps down
30. Colby Howard, five laps down
31. Armani Williams, 13 laps down
32. Spencer Davis – OUT, Electrical
33. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Electrical
34. Zane Smith – Disqualified 34 laps led
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings standings
1. Corey Heim – Advanced
2. Carson Hocevar – Advanced
3. Grant Enfinger – Advanced
4. Ben Rhodes – Advanced
5. Nick Sanchez – Eliminated
6. Christian Eckes – Eliminated
7. Ty Majeski – Eliminated
8. Zane Smith – Eliminated
The 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is set to conclude at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, on November 3, where a champion will be crowned. The finale’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 10 p.m. ET on FS1.
Christian Eckes will retain full-time driving responsibilities of the No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado RST for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the 2024 season.
The news comes as the 22-year-old Eckes from Greenville, New York, is currently embarking in his third full-time campaign in the Truck circuit and first with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. Embarking on a career year, he has notched a career-high three victories, three poles, nine top-five results, 12 top-10 results, 315 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.2 through 21-scheduled starts. He is also one of eight competitors currently contending for one of four Championship 4 round spots in this year’s Truck Series Playoffs as he is nine points above the top-four cutline approaching this weekend’s Round of 8 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In addition to Eckes, Charles Denike, who joined McAnally-Hilgemann Racing midway into the 2022 season, will remain as the crew chief of the No. 19 entry that will continue to be sponsored by NAPA Auto Care.
“I’m very excited to return to the No. 19 Silverado next season with Charles [Denike] and our entire NAPA Auto Care team,” Eckes said. “Our current main priority is trying to cap 2023 off with a championship, but having the opportunity to build upon our successes and continue growing MHR is something I’m really looking forward to in 2024. It’s been a pleasure to work with the NAPA store owners, NAPA shop owners, suppliers, and everyone in the NAPA Network. I’m thrilled to continue that relationship, and ready for another great year with all our amazing partners.”
Eckes, the 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion and winners of the 2016 Snowball Derby and Myrtle Beach 400 events, made his inaugural presence in the Truck Series at Iowa Speedway in June 2018, where he piloted the No. 46 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra to an impressive eighth-place finish in his debut. He proceeded to make three additional Truck starts for KBM throughout the 2018 season, where he earned two additional top-10 results, before making eight starts in the No. 51 KBM entry in 2019. After notching three poles, three top-five results, four top-10 results and playing a key hand in delivering the owner’s championship for KBM in 2019, Eckes graduated to a full-time Truck role in KBM’s No. 18 entry for the 2020 season.
Despite making the 2020 Truck Playoffs and finishing in eighth place in the final standings in a season where he accumulated seven top-five results, 11 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 12.3, Eckes was released by KBM at season’s end. He ended up joining ThorSport Racing on a part-time basis in 2021, where he recorded two top-10 results in his first eight starts. Then at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September 2021, Eckes led the final four laps en route to his first Truck Series career victory as part of a historic 1-2-3-4 finish for ThorSport Racing. He remained with ThorSport as a full-time competitor in 2022, where he achieved eight top-five results, 15 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 10.9. He also made the 2022 Truck Playoffs before settling in eighth place in the final standings.
This season, Eckes, who transitioned from ThorSport to McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, claimed his first Truck victory of 2023 and the second of his career at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. He proceeded to win at Darlington Raceway in May before achieving his third and latest victory to date at Kansas Speedway in September. He is coming off a runner-up result at Bristol Motor Speedway and a 19th-place run at Talladega Superspeedway throughout the Playoffs Round of 8 as he aims to make the Championship 4 round and contend for his first Truck Series title.
Through 89 current starts in the Truck Series, Eckes has achieved four victories, six poles, 29 top-five results, 50 top-10 results, 735 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.7.
“Christian coming in has been a major boost to elevate our race team to another level,” Bill McAnally, owner of McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, added. “To have the success we’ve had this season is even sweeter when you can share it with long-time partners like NAPA and all the owners, customers, and suppliers nationwide. We’re excited and looking forward to keeping the No. 19 group together next season, but we want to finish the job this season in Phoenix for everyone in the NAPA Network.”
Eckes’ confirmation of returning to McAnally-Hilgemann Racing completes another missing piece to the team’s lineup for the 2024 season and it comes nearly a month after Daniel Dye announced his move to the team for the upcoming Truck season. It also comes two days after current competitor Jake Garcia took to social media to announce his plans of leaving the team at this season’s conclusion.
With his plans for the 2024 season set, Eckes’ next Truck Series scheduled start is set to occur this Saturday, October 21, at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Round of 8 finale. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at noon ET on FS1.
Trevor Bayne will be making a one-race return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Rackley W.A.R. this upcoming weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The news comes as the 2011 Daytona 500 champion from Knoxville, Tennessee, is coming off three starts in this year’s Xfinity Series season with Joe Gibbs Racing, where he led a total of 26 laps and earned a season-best seventh-place result at Bristol Motor Speedway in September. The news also means that Bayne will become Rackley W.A.R.’s third different competitor of this year’s Truck season behind Matt DiBenedetto and Chandler Smith.
“I definitely didn’t see this coming two weeks ago,” Bayne said. “This deal came together rather quickly. [Owners] Willie Allen and Curtis Sutton have been working very hard over the past few years to improve their truck program. The results have shown all season with their consistent top-10 runs. I look forward to working together with crew chief Chad Kendrick and the Rackley W.A.R. team and produce a strong run this weekend. Homestead-Miami has always been good to me, including last season when we were on the pole and ran sixth in the Xfinity race. I’m thankful to the group for the opportunity to be back behind the wheel.”
Having made 164 career starts in the Xfinity Series and 187 in the NASCAR Cup Series, Bayne made his Truck Series debut at Darlington Raceway in 2020 with Niece Motorsports, where he finished 27th. He then competed in seven of the remaining eight Truck events on the schedule with Niece, where he earned a career-best runner-up result at Talladega Superspeedway in October. His latest start in the series was at Phoenix Raceway, where he finished 18th.
Bayne’s latest NASCAR national touring series victory to date occurred in the Xfinity Series at Iowa Speedway in 2013, which marked his second of two series wins while driving for Roush Fenway Racing. He also remains as the youngest-ever winner of the Daytona 500 at age 20 after notching his first Cup Series victory in his second series career start in the Great American Race in 2011 while driving for Wood Brothers Racing.
“The team is definitely looking forward to our partnership with Trevor for Homestead-Miami,” Willie Allen, president of Rackley W.A.R., added. “Trevor brings a lot of very good experience to the table, and he will be a good measuring stick to help evaluate some of the things we are working on moving forward.”
Rackley W.A.R., which is in its third season of NASCAR Truck Series competition, commenced this season with full-time competitor Matt DiBenedetto piloting the team’s No. 25 Chevrolet Silverado RST entry. He made the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs on the strength of nine top-10 results through 16 regular-season events, but did not transfer from the Round of 10 to 8 despite achieving a third-place result at Kansas Speedway in September. Following Bristol, the team released DiBenedetto with three races remaining on the schedule and competed in the previous Truck Series event at Talladega Superspeedway with Xfinity Series rookie contender Chandler Smith, who finished fourth.
Currently, Rackley W.A.R.’s No. 25 entry is ranked in ninth place in the Truck Series’ owner’s standings. Their lone victory to date occurred at Talladega in October 2022 with DiBenedetto, who also recorded the first NASCAR national touring series victory for himself.
The team’s driver plans for the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway in November remains to be determined.
With his upcoming weekend plans set, Bayne’s first Truck Series start with Rackley W.A.R. is set to occur at Homestead-Miami Speedway this Saturday, October 21, with the event’s broadcast time to occur at noon ET on FS1.
With his racing plans for next season undetermined, Brett Moffitt made the most of a one-race NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series return for Front Row Motorsports by winning the Love’s RV Stop 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, September 30, amid an overtime shootout.
The 2018 Truck Series champion from Grimes, Iowa, led five times for 22 of 99 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started 31st before methodically drafting his way towards the front amid a total of 23 lead changes for 11 different leaders, eight caution periods and late on-track chaos that ensued and collected a host of competitors and Playoff contenders. Leading for the first time on Lap 63, Moffitt lost the lead at the start of overtime to Christian Eckes and Chandler Smith but was quick to cross underneath Eckes and shove Eckes out of the draft at the start of the final lap to muscle ahead from Smith with drafting help from Parker Kligerman through the backstretch. For the final two turns, Moffitt fended off late challenges from Kligerman, Smith and Ben Rhodes through the tri-oval to claim his first checkered flag in the Truck Series in three years and serve as the spoiler for winning the Truck Series Playoff event at Talladega as a non-title contender.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Chase Purdy notched his second Truck pole position of this season and of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 179.433 mph in 53.368 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Nick Sanchez, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 178.480 mph in 53.653 seconds.
Prior to the event, Dean Thompson and Greg Van Alst dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks. Byan Dauzat also dropped to the rear of the field for missing driver introductions. Soon after, rookie Jake Garcia, who qualified third, took his truck to the garage due to a mechanical issue.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Purdy quickly transitioned from the outside to the inside lane in front of Sanchez entering the first turn while teammate Jack Wood was trying to keep pace on the outside lane. With the field quickly fanning out to three lanes through the backstretch, Purdy maintained the lead ahead of Sanchez and Ben Rhodes led a charge from the outside lane followed by teammate Matt Crafton while Wood was falling back after losing the draft. With rookie Rajah Caruth igniting another drafting lane towards the outside wall, Purdy proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Sanchez, Ty Majeski, Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim. By then, Wood was penalized for pulling out of line before the event’s start and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road.
Through the second to fifth lap, Purdy maintained the lead from the inside lane ahead of Sanchez while Caruth was the lead competitor on the outside lane in sixth place. As Chandler Smith tried to form a third drafting lane, Purdy transitioned from the outside to the inside lane to maintain the lead amid the draft. Not long after, Caruth challenged Purdy for the lead on the outside lane, but Purdy rocketed ahead to maintain it on the inside lane. Then as Purdy tried to block Caruth, which he was too late to do so, he got stuck in the middle lane, allowing Sanchez to muscle ahead on the inside lane. With Sanchez leading Majeski, Hocevar, Caruth and Heim, Purdy fell back into the top 10 and towards the middle of the pack that fanned out to three lanes and continued to jostle for early positions.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps and as the field continued to battle amid two tight-packed lanes, Sanchez maintained the lead ahead of Majeski, Hocevar, Parker Kligerman and Heim while Purdy, David Gilliland, Jake Drew, Bret Holmes and Dean Thompson were in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes and Zane Smith were running in the top 16 while Ben Rhodes was back in 24th.
By Lap 15, Sanchez continued to lead ahead of Majeski, Hocevar, Kligerman and Purdy while Heim, David Gilliland, Thompson, Holmes and Enfinger were jostling and battling within the top 10 along with the rest of the field. Behind, Eckes was in 12th, Zane Smith was in 14th and Rhodes was in 20th.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Sanchez, who came into the event 22 points below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, fended off the stacked field to notch his third Truck stage victory of the 2023 season. Hocevar trailed in second while Heim, Majeski, Holmes, Colby Howard, Kligerman, Tanner Gray, Gilliland and Thompson were in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Zane Smith, Rhodes, Enfinger and Eckes were in the top 20 while 32 of 36 starters were scored on lead lap.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Sanchez pitted for the first time as mixed strategies ensued with some taking two tires while the rest opted for four fresh tires. Amid the pit stops, Playoff contender Zane Smith slid his truck sideways while trying to enter his pit stall as he ended up clipping his tire carrier, which sent the tire carrier and two tires the carrier was carrying flying, with the tires rolling out of the pit stall, as Smith ended up having his truck serviced backward in the pit stall.
The second stage started on Lap 27 as Sanchez and Kligerman occupied the front row. At the start, Sanchez received a strong push from Majeski to muscle ahead of Kligerman and retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. With the field quickly fanning out to three stacked lanes, Sanchez continued to lead until Kligerman received drafting help from Gilliland to assume the top spot in his No. 75 Tide Chevrolet Silverado RST through the frontstretch and back to the start/finish line.
At the Lap 30 mark, Kligerman was leading ahead of Hocevar followed by Gilliland, Sanchez and Holmes while Thompson, Majeski, Rhodes, Chandler Smith and Wood were in the top 10. In the midst of the battles towards the front, Playoff contenders Enfinger, Eckes and Heim were running 16th to 18th. Meanwhile, Zane Smith, who sustained damage to the right-rear quarter panel of his truck amid his pit road incident, was mired a lap down in 35th after he had reported his No. 38 Love’s Ford F-150 was jumping out of gear.
Five laps later, Hocevar, who assumed the lead three laps earlier, was leading ahead of Majeski followed by a hard-charging Kligerman, Rhodes and Sanchez while Holmes, Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray, Thompson and Heim were mired in the top 10 and amid the stacked pack. Behind, Eckes was in 14th and Enfinger was back in 27th while Zane Smith took his truck to the garage.
Then with two laps remaining in the second stage period, the caution flew after Eckes made contact with Stewart Friesen, which resulted in Friesen clipping Tyler Ankrum before Friesen’s No. 52 GearWrench Toyota Tundra TRD Pro went dead straight towards the Turn 3 outside wall and wrecked hard as David Gilliland was also collected. As a result of the multi-truck incident, the second stage period that was scheduled to end on Lap 40, instead, concluded under caution as Kligerman claimed the stage victory. Sanchez settled in second followed by Playoff rivals Hocevar, Majeski and Rhodes while Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray, Holmes, Thompson and Heim were scored in the top 10. By then, Eckes and Enfinger were mired in the top 20, Rhodes was scored outside the top 20 and Zane Smith was in the garage amid his mechanical issues.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Kligerman returned to pit road as various pit strategies again occurred with Colby Howard opting for fuel only to his truck and select names including Tanner Gray, Purdy, Heim, Enfinger, Tyler Hill and Dean Thompson changing two tires while the rest opted for four fresh tires.
With 48 laps remaining, the final stage started as brothers Tanner and Taylor Gray occupied the front row. At the start, Tanner Gray muscled his No. 15 Sport Clips Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead on the inside lane while the field quickly fanned out to three lanes through the first two turns and through the backstretch. As the field made its way back to the tri-oval to reach the halfway mark on Lap 47, Tanner Gray maintained the lead ahead of Howard, Heim, Sanchez and Tyler Hill while Thompson, Taylor Gray, Purdy, Holmes and Wood were in the top 10. In the process and amid the stacked racing, Eckes was in 12th, Rhodes was back in 15th followed by Enfinger in 17th, Majeski was strapped in 20th and Hocevar was back in 22nd.
Four laps later, the caution returned after Taylor Gray got turned sideways off the front nose of Bayley Currey entering the backstretch, which resulted in Gray spinning and clipping Ankrum, who also clipped Crafton in the process, as Playoff contender Enfinger was also involved as he spun sideways and emerged with damage to his No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST. During the caution period, select names that included Lawless Alan, Currey, Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Cory Roper, Ryan Vargas, Hailie Deegan and Garrett Smithley pitted while the rest led by Tanner Gray remained on the track.
During the proceeding restart with 38 laps remaining, Tanner Gray and Sanchez dueled for the lead ahead of the stacked pack through the first two turns and the backstretch. Gray and Sanchez would remain in a dead heat for the lead for the next two laps until the caution returned as Currey and Enfinger made the slightest of contact through the frontstretch that got Enfinger loose and turned Currey into the path of Tyler Hill as Currey ended up hitting the inside wall. With Enfinger initially being in the position of cycling back on the lead lap due to being the first competitor a lap down when the carnage ensued, he lost the benefit due to being involved in the incident.
Amid the incident, the field led by Sanchez returned to pit road for service and mainly for fuel. Following the pit stops, Sanchez retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Purdy, Moffitt, Tanner Gray, Chandler Smith and Hocevar.
With the event restarting under green with 33 laps remaining, Sanchez and Holmes battled for the lead entering the first two turns until Sanchez muscled ahead from the outside lane. Then as Sanchez moved to the inside lane and regained drafting momentum, Brett Moffitt muscled his way into the lead after receiving drafting help from Chandler Smtih as Hocevar followed suit. Soon after, Sanchez steered his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST to pit road and served a pass-through penalty for a restart violation as a result of hanging back on the restart. Amid the penalty, Moffitt retained the lead ahead of a long line of competitors with 30 laps remaining.
Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Moffitt continued to lead ahead of Purdy, Chandler Smith, Rhodes and Jake Drew while Crafton, Heim, Hocevar, Lawless Alan and Holmes were in the top 10. Behind, Eckes fell back to 11th, Majeski was back in 20th and both Sanchez and Enfinger were in 25th and 26th.
Two laps later, the caution flew after the hood off of Jack Wood’s No. 51 TrueTimber Chevrolet Silverado RST came loose and disintegrated through the backstretch. The caution occurred after teammate Purdy had reassumed the lead with 27 laps remaining.
During the ensuing restart with 19 laps remaining, trouble struck for Purdy, who started alongside Moffitt on the front row but stacked up the inside lane and dropped off the pace due to a power issue to his No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST. With Purdy dropping out of the racing groove, Moffitt assumed the lead until Crafton challenged on the outside lane with drafting help from Bret Holmes.
Then with 16 laps remaining, the caution returned after Caruth and Ryan Vargas made contact through the frontstretch, which resulted in Vargas hitting the outside wall and Caruth spinning just past the start/finish line while Playoff contender Hocevar barely dodged the incident.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Moffitt rocketed ahead on the inside lane with drafting help from Rhodes, who moved to second through the backstretch before Eckes regained the momentum and assumed the lead through the backstretch with drafting help from Chandler Smith. As Eckes and Smith moved in front of Moffitt, Rhodes and the field entering the frontstretch, the caution quickly returned when Colby Howard and Purdy made contact as Purdy turned Howard before both veered towards the outside wall, with Purdy slapping the wall and damaging his pole-winning truck while Howard spun across the track, the tri-oval grass and down pit road as the field scattered to avoid the carnage. The incident and leaked fluid across the tri-oval would be enough to place the event in a red-flag period for more than five minutes as the on-track safety crew proceeded to clear the carnage.
Once the red flag lifted and the race restarted under green with three laps remaining, Eckes and Moffitt dueled for the lead through the first two laps as Eckes had Chandler Smith drafting him while Moffitt had drafting help from Rhodes. Then as the field approached the tri-oval, the caution returned and the event was sent into overtime after Sanchez made contact with Crafton, who rammed into Bret Holmes and clipped Tanner Gray, with a multi-truck wreck ensuing that collected Caruth, Enfinger, Hocevar, Garrett Smithley, Majeski, Cory Roper and Van Alst, who impacted the outside wall head-on. Amid the carnage, Eckes retained the lead ahead of Moffitt while the event was sent into a second red flag period that spanned for more than five minutes.
Once the red flag lifted and the event restarted in overtime, Moffitt and Eckes dueled for the lead exiting the frontstretch until Moffitt received a shove from Rhodes, Thompson and Kligerman to muscle ahead through the first two turns. With Moffitt briefly losing the draft through the frontstretch, Eckes and Chandler Smith responded back amid a two-truck draft as Smith drafted Eckes into the lead through the frontstretch.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Eckes was leading ahead of Chandler Smith as the rest of the field regained their momentum to catch the two leaders. With Eckes and Smith getting separated, this allowed Moffitt to jump to the outside lane and close in on Eckes for the lead through the first two turns. Eckes then moved his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST up to try to block Moffitt, but Moffitt crossed his No. 34 Fr8Auctions Ford F-150 underneath Eckes. This resulted in Eckes losing momentum and falling out of the draft while Moffitt and Smith dueled for the lead ahead of two stacked lanes through the backstretch. Moffitt then started to muscle back ahead with the lead followed by Kligerman as both managed to move in front of Smith and Rhodes through Turns 3 and 4. Then as Kligerman tried to make his move to Moffitt’s outside, Smith and Rhodes remained with Moffitt on the inside lane while Kligerman started to lose the draft entering the tri-oval. Smith and Rhodes then tried to fan out and gain a final lap run on Moffitt, but the momentum for both was not enough as Moffitt managed to retain the lead and win by 0.089 seconds over Rhodes.
With the victory, Moffitt notched his 13th career win in the Craftsman Truck Series, his first both at Talladega and on a superspeedway venue, and his first since winning at Kansas Speedway in October 2020, which marked his latest full-time stint in the series. In addition to achieving his first Truck victory driving a Ford, Moffitt also recorded the eighth Truck career victory for Front Row Motorsports and the first for FRM’s No. 34 entry in the entry’s debut.
With Moffitt being a former winner and champion in the Truck Series but competing this season on a full-time basis for AM Racing in the Xfinity Series, this season marks the eighth consecutive season where the Truck’s Talladega Playoff event was won by a non-Playoff contender, which extends the streak of non-Playoff competitors winning at Talladega and preventing the current seven Playoff contenders from winning and earning an automatic berth to this year’s Championship 4 field.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Moffitt, whose racing plans for 2024 remain undetermined, said on the frontstretch on FS1. “I’ve notably struggled at superspeedways in the past and dreaded coming to them, but this was all “pressure off” situation that Front Row [Motorsports] gave me, Fr8Auctions to come here and just go out there and try to help a teammate. Obviously, that didn’t work out for that group, but to come here and have a shot at a win and to do it is pretty amazing. Reminds me of the good old days that I wanna get back to doing this on a regular basis, so we’ll see what happens.”
Playoff contender Ben Rhodes was the highest-finishing Playoff contender on the track as he settled in the runner-up spot for a second consecutive year at Talladega while Dean Thompson tied his career-best result of third place. Chandler Smith, who was piloting Rackley W.A.R.’s No. 25 Chevrolet Silverado RST, came home in fourth place while Corey Heim, who is already guaranteed a spot for this year’s Championship 4 finale after winning at Bristol Motor Speedway, finished fifth.
Rookie Daniel Dye, Nick Sanchez, Hailie Deegan, Kligerman and Lawless Alan completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Hocevar and Enfinger finished 11th and 13th while Eckes drifted all the way back to 19th. In addition, Majeski retired in 21st while Zane Smith capped off his long afternoon in 32nd.
There were 23 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 41 laps. In addition, 19 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Brett Moffitt, 22 laps led
2. Ben Rhodes
3. Dean Thompson
4. Chandler Smith
5. Corey Heim
6. Daniel Dye
7. Nick Sanchez, 25 laps led, Stage 1 winner
8. Hailie Deegan
9. Parker Kligerman, 10 laps led, Stage 2 winner
10. Lawless Alan
11. Carson Hocevar, five laps led
12. Rajah Caruth
13. Grant Enfinger
14. Jack Wood
15. Garrett Smithley
16. Bret Holmes, three laps led
17. Ryan Vargas
18. Taylor Gray, one lap led
19. Christian Eckes, eight laps led
20. Jake Drew, one lap down
21. Ty Majeski – OUT, Accident
22. Cory Roper – OUT, Dvp
23. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident
24. Matt Crafton – OUT, Accident, one lap led
25. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident, 12 laps led
26. Greg Van Alst- OUT, Accident
27. Jason M. White, 11 laps down
28. Chase Purdy – OUT, Accident, 11 laps led
29. Jake Garcia, 20 laps down
30. Tyler Hill – OUT, Accident
31. Bayley Currey – OUT, Accident
32. Zane Smith, 44 laps down
33. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Accident
34. Stewart Friesen – OUT, Accident
35. David Gilliland – OUT, Accident
36. Bryan Dauzat – OUT, Handling
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings
1. Corey Heim – Advanced
2. Carson Hocevar +23
3. Christian Eckes +9
4. Nick Sanchez +3
5. Grant Enfinger -3
6. Ben Rhodes -5
7. Ty Majeski -19
8. Zane Smith -36
The Round of 8 in the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to conclude at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, on October 22, where the Championship 4 field will be determined. The event’s coverage is set to commence at noon ET on FS1.
