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Tag: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

  • Darlington Throwback Weekend Schedule

    Darlington Throwback Weekend Schedule

    NASCAR heads to Darlington Raceway for a full weekend of racing as all three national series compete. The racing will culminate on Mother’s Day with the Cup Series Goodyear 400. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron is the defending race winner.

    The Craftsman Truck Series will get the action started Friday night with the Buckle Up South Carolina 200. Christian Eckes is the most recent winner at the 1.366-mile track. Saturday afternoon the Xfinity Series takes center stage for the Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available post-race for all series.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, May 10
    3:05 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (Timed, All Entries, 20 Minutes) FS1
    3:35 p.m.: Truck Qualifying (Impound, All Entries, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap) FS1
    5:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice (Timed, All Entries, 20 Minutes) FS1
    5:35 p.m.: Xfinity Qualifying (Impound, All Entries, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap) FS1
    7 p.m.: Truck Series Driver Intros – FS1
    7:30 p.m.: Truck Series
    Stages 45/90/147 Laps = 200.8 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $770,233

    Saturday, May 11
    10:35 a.m.: Cup Series Practice (Timed, Groups A & B, 20 Minutes each) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    11:20 a.m.: Cup Qualifying (Impound, Groups A & B, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap, 2 Rounds)
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    1:10 p.m.: Xfinity Series Driver Intros – FS1
    1:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200
    Stages 45/90/147 Laps = 200.8 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $1,371,756

    Sunday, May 12
    2:25 p.m.: Cup Series Driver Intros – FS1
    3 p.m.: Cup Series Goodyear 400
    Stages 90/185/293 Laps = 400.2 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $8,090,969

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

    Christian Eckes to make 100th Truck career start at Darlington

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Kyle Busch to make 175th Truck career start at Darlington

    Kyle Busch to make 175th Truck career start at Darlington

    The upcoming NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway is set to mark Kyle Busch’s fifth and final Truck Series start of the 2024 season, with the driver campaigning in his four previous events behind the wheel of Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST. The event is also set to mark a unique milestone start for Busch, who is in his 22nd season with at least one start in the Truck circuit. By competing this weekend at Darington, the two-time Cup Series champion will make his 175th career start in the Truck circuit. 

    A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Busch made his inaugural presence in the Truck Series at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 2001, where he replaced Nathan Haseleu in Roush Racing’s No. 99 Ford midway into the season. By then, the Truck event at Indiana marked Busch’s inaugural presence within NASCAR’s top three national touring series after spending the previous three seasons competing and winning in legends cars and late models in Las Vegas. Starting 23rd in his Truck debut, Busch notched a top-10 result after finishing ninth. He would proceed to finish 17th at Chicago Motor Speedway, 22nd at Richmond Raceway, 33rd at South Boston Speedway, 25th at Texas Motor Speedway and ninth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, respectively. Then at California Speedway in November, Busch, who was the fastest in practice, was not allowed to compete in the event due to being 16 years of age and not meeting the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement that prohibited individuals under 18 years of age from participating in events sponsored by Marlboro cigarettes. Ultimately, Busch would be replaced by Tim Woods for the main event.  

    After being absent from the series in 2002 and 2003 amid NASCAR’s new age restrictions with an imposed minimum age of 18 years for competitors to be granted to compete in NASCAR, Busch, who competed in the American Speed Association and the ARCA Racing Series in 2002 before reigniting his NASCAR career in the Xfinity Series with Hendrick Motorsports the following season, made a single Truck Series start with Morgan-Dollar Motorsports at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 2004. During the event, he finished 11th after starting 16th.  

    In 2005, Busch competed in 11 Truck Series events while driving the No. 15 Chevrolet for Billy Ballew Motorsports. In his first series start of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, he led a race-high 77 laps en route to his first career victory. He would then notch his second consecutive victory during the series’ following event at Dover Motor Speedway before recording three top-five finishes during his next five starts. Busch then grabbed a dramatic final lap victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway in October after restarting ninth during a three-lap shootout to the finish and using four fresh tires amid a pit stop prior to the restart to overtake Jack Sprague on the final lap and final corner to win as a multi-truck wreck ensued entering the frontstretch. Busch would then cap off the 2005 Truck season by finishing third at Texas Motor Speedway and 11th at Phoenix Raceway, respectively. Ultimately, Busch achieved three victories, a pole, seven top-five results, nine top-10 results and 243 laps led during his 11-race Truck schedule. 

    Between the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Busch, who competed for Hendrick Motorsports in between the Cup and Xfinity Series, competed in a total of 18 Truck Series, all occurring with Billy Ballew Motorsports. In 2006, he achieved his lone victory of the season at Charlotte in May and finished in the top 10 in the seven events he entered. The following season, where he switched to BBM’s No. 51 entry, he won at Atlanta in October and at Phoenix in November as he also notched four top-five finishes in 11-entered events. Amid the victories, Busch accumulated a total of seven top-five results, 11 top-10 results and 547 laps led during the two-year stint, with Busch standing at six Truck career wins. 

    During the 2008 and 2009 seasons, Busch, who switched to Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series but continued to compete in Billy Ballew Motorsports’ No. 51 entry on a part-time basis, made a total of 33 Truck starts. He commenced the 2008 season by finishing in the runner-up spot at Daytona International Speedway in February before notching back-to-back victories at Fontana and Atlanta. He then finished second at Texas in June and recorded five top-10 results during his next eight starts before grabbing his third victory of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. Busch would proceed to finish second twice and no lower than eighth place during his final seven Truck events of the 2008 campaign, in which he competed in 18 of 25 scheduled events.

    In 2009, Busch, who competed in 15 events, started the season by finishing second behind at Daytona before winning at Fontana and Atlanta, respectively, for a second consecutive time. After posting two runner-up results during his next five starts, he won in his next five consecutive starts at Bristol, Chicagoland, New Hampshire, Talladega and Texas, respectively, before concluding the season with a runner-up result at Phoenix and a 13th-place run at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Overall, Busch garnered a total of 12 victories, three poles, 21 top-five results, 29 top-10 results and 1,624 laps led, with Busch’s win column increasing to 16. 

    In 2010, Busch debuted his own-operated racing team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, into the NASCAR Truck Series after purchasing the remaining assets of Xpress Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing. Driving the No. 18 KBM Toyota Tundra, Busch’s first Truck event as a driver/owner would be mired with a 22nd-place finish at Daytona after being involved in a multi-truck wreck on the first lap. He would rally by finishing second at Atlanta before securing his first victory both of the season and for KBM at Nashville Superspeedway in April after leading a race-high 131 laps. After finishing 16th at Dover amid a late fuel pump issue, Busch won at Charlotte in May after leading 69 laps before finishing third and second during his next two series starts.

    He then notched back-to-back, dominant victories at Bristol and Chicagoland before finishing seventh at Kentucky, winning at New Hampshire and settling in second at Martinsville during his next three respective starts. At Talladega Superspeedway in October, Busch edged Aric Almirola by 0.002 seconds to win amid a last-lap pass before securing a dominant victory at Texas and another runner-up result at Phoenix during his next two-scheduled starts. He then concluded the 2010 season by scoring his eighth victory of the year at Homestead after leading a race-high 57 laps. With a total of eight victories, six poles, 13 top-five results, 14 top-10 results and a career-high 1,076 laps led in 16 scheduled starts, Busch also earned the 2010 Truck Series owner’s championship for his No. 18 KBM team. To this date, the eight victories earned throughout the 2010 season are the most by Busch in a Truck season as they also tallied Busch’s win column to 24. 

    The 2011 and 2012 Truck Series seasons generated mixed results for Busch, with the Las Vegas native piloting his No. 18 Toyota to six victories and tallying his wins total to 30 as he also garnered two poles, 11 top-five results and 13 top-10 results in 16 starts. Despite surpassing 100 career starts in the Truck Series, the low point of Busch’s career occurred at Texas in November after he intentionally turned and sent four-time champion Ron Hornaday Jr. head-on into the Turn 3 outside wall at full speed amid a caution period as a retaliatory act from an earlier incident where Hornaday slid up the track and caused Busch to scrape the outside wall while battling for the lead.

    The incident not only resulted in Busch being parked by NASCAR for the remainder of the event, but it would carry forth with Busch being suspended from competing in the remaining scheduled events at Texas along with the remaining Truck and Xfinity events of the season. Returning for three Truck events in 2012, Busch finished in the top four in all of his starts but went winless for the first time in his career. The closest he came to winning was during the finale at Homestead, where he led during a two-lap shootout until he was rubbed against the outside wall and edged by a hard-charging Cale Gale at the finish line on the final lap. 

    Sporting the No. 51 alongside his KBM entry for the 2013 Truck Series season, Busch commenced the season by finishing in the runner-up spot behind Johnny Sauter at Daytona in February before ending up in 27th place at Kansas Speedway in April after being involved in a late accident. He would then snap a one-year winless drought by collecting his first victory of the season at Charlotte before doubling down with another victory at Dover. After finishing third and second during his next two starts at Kentucky and Michigan, respectively, Busch won in his next two consecutive starts at Bristol in August and at Chicagoland in September.

    Despite being involved in a vicious final lap multi-truck wreck at Talladega on the final lap before settling in 10th before ending up in 28th place at Texas amid a late engine failure, a victory by Kyle Busch Motorsports’ newcomer Erik Jones at Phoenix followed by Busch notching a dominant victory in the finale at Homestead was enough for Busch to claim his second Truck Series’ owner’s championship and his first for the No. 51 KBM team in a tie-breaker over ThorSport Racing’s No. 88 entry piloted by Matt Crafton, who won the driver’s championship. With five victories, which tallied his wins total to 35, Busch capped off the 2013 Truck Series season with nine top-10 results in 11 starts and 356 laps led. 

    The 2014 Truck Series season was a breakout season for Busch both as a driver and as an owner. As a driver, Busch commenced the season by edging Timothy Peters by 0.016 seconds to claim his first elusive victory at Daytona in the series before proceeding to win seven races, finish in the top 10 in all but one of his 10 starts and lead 747 laps. As an owner, Busch’s Kyle Busch Motorsports team was victorious in 14 of 22 scheduled events, with sophomore competitor Bubba Wallace winning four races and finishing in third place in the final standings while Erik Jones won three races in 12 starts in KBM’s No. 51 Toyota. As a result, Busch and Jones contributed to Busch earning his third Truck Series owner’s championship. 

    From 2015 to 2017, Busch made a total of 15 Truck Series starts, all occurring in his Kyle Busch Motorsports equipment. In 2015, Busch, who was sidelined in February after suffering a compound fracture and broke both his right leg and left foot amid an Xfinity Series accident at Daytona before returning to competition in May, made four Truck starts and won two races: Pocono in July and Michigan in August. The following season, he made four series’ starts and won two races for a second consecutive season, this time at Martinsville Speedway in April and at Chicagoland in September.

    Making seven starts in 2017, Busch emerged victorious in three events: Kansas and Charlotte in May followed by Bristol in September. With a total of seven Truck victories, Busch also accumulated two poles, 10 top-five results, 11 top-10 results and 807 laps led during the three-year stretch, which tallied Busch’s win column to 49. Amid his success as a Truck Series competitor, Busch was also successful as an owner as he notched his first championship as an owner with Erik Jones in 2015, the owner’s title with rookie William Byron in 2016 and his second championship with Christopher Bell in 2017. 

    Scaling to a five-race basis in the Truck Series, Busch commenced the 2018 season with a 21st-place finish at Atlanta in February after leaving pit road amid a late pit stop with the left-rear wheel not properly secured on his entry, which the tire rolled out of Busch’s truck upon exiting pit road and plummeting the Las Vegas native to 21st place in the final running order. He would rally during his next series start at Las Vegas in March by notching his first victory of the season and the 50th of his Truck career after leading 55 laps before finishing in the runner-up spot twice at Kansas and Charlotte, respectively, in May. Then at Pocono in July, Busch withstood a late challenge from teammate Erik Jones to score his 51st Truck Series career win in his 145th series start and tie Ron Hornaday Jr. for the most victories in the series.  

    In 2019, Busch won in all five of his Truck Series starts, starting at Atlanta in February as he became the all-time wins leader in the series with career win No. 52 amid a five-lap dash to the finish. He would then win at Las Vegas and Martinsville in March, where he led a combined 284 laps led, before winning at Texas in April after leading 97 laps. Busch then capped off his 2019 Truck season by winning for the eighth time at Charlotte after leading a race-high 102 laps. At the season’s conclusion, Busch would notch his seventh owner’s title for Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 team. 

    From 2020 to 2022, which marked his final seasons as a Toyota competitor, Busch scored six Truck Series victories while making five starts per season. In 2020, he won for the fourth time in his career at Las Vegas before finishing second at Charlotte in May and 21st at Atlanta in June, respectively. He then won for the third time in his career at Homestead in June after leading a race-high 82 laps before claiming his fifth series victory at Texas after leading a race-high 72 laps and fending off a late challenge from teammate Christian Eckes.

    The following season, he finished in the top five in all five of his scheduled starts while collecting victories at Atlanta in March and at Kansas in May. Then in 2022, Busch finished no lower than seventh during his first four starts before claiming his first victory in his final series start of the season at Sonoma Raceway in June after leading a race-high 45 laps. In total, Busch notched six Truck Series victories, 13 top-five results, 14 top-10 results and 2,016 laps led in 15 starts during the three-year span, which tallied Busch’s win column to 62.  

    This past season, Busch, whose KBM team rebranded to Chevrolet after Busch departed from Joe Gibbs Racing to join Richard Childress Racing in the Cup Series, returned for a five-race stint in his own-operated No. 51 Chevrolet Silverado RST. He won in his first series start of the season at Las Vegas in March after leading a race-high 84 laps, which also marked the 99th Truck victory for KBM. Busch would proceed to finish second at Circuit of the Americas, second at Martinsville and seventh at Kansas, respectively, during his next three starts before notching a dramatic final lap victory over former KBM competitor Corey Heim to win in his fifth and final start of the season at Pocono in July. The Pocono victory not only marked Busch’s 64th Truck Series career win, but it would also mark the 100th and final NASCAR victory for KBM. Two months later, Busch announced that KBM would cease operations at the season’s conclusion after the team was purchased by Spire Motorsports.  

    In late February, Busch was announced as a driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports for five Truck events for the 2024 season. His first start of the season occurred at Atlanta, where he won after he overtook Grant Enfinger with seven laps remaining before fending off Ty Majeski at the finish line. He then competed in the following scheduled events at Las Vegas, where he finished 15th amid a late pit road penalty, and at Bristol in mid-March, where he finished second behind Christian Eckes. During his latest series start at Texas in April, Busch, who briefly lost the lead at the start of a 10-lap shootout, reclaimed it from Eckes two laps later before he fended off a final lap charge from Corey Heim to notch his series-leading 66th career victory and his record-tying sixth at the Lone Star state. 

    Through 174 previous starts in the Truck Series, Busch has achieved 66 victories, which makes him the winningest competitor in the series. He has also notched up 23 poles, 118 top-five results, 141 top-10 results, 8,050 laps led and an average-finishing result of 6.4 as he strives to win for the first time in the Truck circuit at Darlington. 

    Kyle Busch is scheduled to make his 175th Craftsman Truck Series career start at Darlington Raceway for the Buckle Up South Carolina 200 on Friday, May 10, with the event’s broadcast time to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1. 

  • Corey Heim records dominant Truck victory at Kansas

    Corey Heim records dominant Truck victory at Kansas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results. 

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

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

    3. Christian Eckes, 11 laps led 

    4. Kaden Honeycutt, one lap led 

    5. Brett Moffitt 

    6. Nick Sanchez, one lap led 

    7. Tanner Gray 

    8. Dean Thompson 

    9. Daniel Dye, four laps led 

    10. Matt Crafton 

    11. Bayley Currey 

    12. Grant Enfinger 

    13. Rajah Caruth 

    14. Bret Holmes 

    15. Ty Dillon, one lap down 

    16. Ben Rhodes, one lap down 

    17. Jake Garcia, one lap down 

    18. Layne Riggs, one lap down 

    19. Cam Waters, one lap down 

    20. Tyler Ankrum, one lap down 

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

    22. Timmy Hill, two laps down 

    23. Matt Mills, two laps down 

    24. Thad Moffitt, two laps down 

    25. Stewart Friesen, two laps down 

    26. Lawless Alan, two laps down 

    27. Taylor Gray, three laps down 

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

    29. Mason Maggio, three laps down 

    30. Connor Mosack, three laps down 

    31. Spencer Boyd, five laps down 

    32. Jennifer Jo Cobb, six laps down 

    33. Ty Majeski – OUT, DVP 

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

  • Weekend schedule for Kansas Speedway

    Weekend schedule for Kansas Speedway

    The NASCAR Cup Series, CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series travel to Kansas Speedway this weekend. The Xfinity Series is off and returns to competition on May 11 at Darlington Raceway.

    Richard Petty will be honored as the Grand Marshal and will give the command, “Drivers, start your engines,” to kick off Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 as NASCAR continues to celebrate the Petty family’s 75th year in NASCAR.

    Ten current Cup Series drivers have been to victory lane at Kansas led by the defending race winner, Denny Hamlin. He also leads the series with four previous victories at the track (2012, 2019, 2020, 2023).

    The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is back after a two-week break for the eighth race of the season. Grant Enfinger is the defending race winner and Christian Eckes is the most recent winner at the 1.5-mile track.

    Friday, May 3
    10 a.m.: ARCA Menards Series Open Practice (Optional) Race Center

    Saturday, May 4
    10:25 a.m.: ARCA Practice, All Entries – Race Center
    11:10 a.m.: ARCA Qualifying, Impound, Timed, All Entries – Race Center

    12:05 p.m.: Truck Series Practice, All Entries – FS1
    12:35 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying, Impound, All Entries, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap – FS1

    2 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Tide 150 (100 Laps, 150 Miles) FS1/MRN

    5:05 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (Timed) Groups A & B, 20 minutes each
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM

    5:50 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound)
    Groups A & B, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap, 2 Rounds
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Post-Cup Series Qualifying – PressPass

    8 p.m.: Truck Series Heart of America 200
    Stages 30/60/134 Laps = 201 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $770,294
    Post-Truck Series Race – PressPass

    Sunday, May 5
    3 p.m.: Cup Series AdventHealth 400
    Stages 80/165/267 Laps = 400.5 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $7,894,315
    Post-Cup Series Race – PressPass

  • Kyle Busch fends off Heim for record-tying sixth Truck victory at Texas

    Kyle Busch fends off Heim for record-tying sixth Truck victory at Texas

    With a bevy of young guns squaring off and pounding against him through a series of late-race restarts, Kyle Busch had enough horsepower to fend off all of the youngsters’ challengers, including protege Corey Heim on the final lap, to score a big NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, April 12. 

    The two-time Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, led a race-high 112 of 167 scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place and swept both stage periods. After cycling his way back into the lead during an extensive caution period starting with 37 laps remaining that interrupted a late green-flag pit stop sequence and prior to a restart period with 26 laps remaining, Busch would then be challenged by a bevy of young challengers that included Heim, Nick Sanchez and Christian Eckes during two late-race restarts. Despite losing the lead to Eckes during the final restart with 10 laps remaining, Busch would reassume the top spot two laps later and then fend off a late charge from Heim to clinch his second Truck victory of the 2024 season and his record-tying sixth at Texas.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Nick Sanchez notched his first Truck pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 184.811 mph in 29.219 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Christian Eckes, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 184.363 mph in 29.290 seconds. 

    Prior to the event, Tyler Ankrum and Tanner Gray dropped to the rear of the field in backup trucks after both wrecked their respective primary trucks separately during the event’s practice session earlier in the day. Rajah Caruth, Bret Holmes and Memphis Villarreal also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Nick Sanchez and Christian Eckes battled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Sanchez managed to muscle his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead on the inside lane through Turns 3 and 4, where he would lead the first lap. 

    Just past the first lap, the event’s first caution flew after rookie Thad Moffitt, who was running outside of the top 20, went up the track through Turns 1 and 2. Despite avoiding the outside wall, Moffitt then tried to steer his truck to the left to regain his momentum, where he just missed hitting Kris Wright before he collided with Tyler Ankrum. Memphis Villarreal was also involved as Moffitt’s damaged truck spun back across the track in the backstretch, thus knocking Ankrum, Moffitt and Villarreal out of the competition. 

    As the event restarted under green on the eighth lap, Sanchez and Eckes battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns as the field fanned out entering the backstretch. Through the following two turns and back to the frontstretch, Sanchez again muscled ahead to retain the lead from Eckes while Stewart Friesen and Kyle Busch battled for third in front of Daniel Dye, Grant Enfinger and rookie Layne Riggs. 

    Three laps later, the caution returned after Rajah Caruth, who barely dodged the event’s multi-truck incident on the first lap, spun his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST through Turn 2, but he was able to keep his truck from hitting the outside wall as he proceeded without any damage. During the caution period, a handful of competitors including Caruth and Bayley Currey pitted while the rest led by Sanchez remained on the track. 

    During the following restart on Lap 16, Eckes received a strong push from Busch on the outside lane to assume the lead just past the frontstretch and he would retain the top spot through the backstretch and during the proceeding lap while Busch proceeded to battle Sanchez for the runner-up spot. With Sanchez and Busch battling for the runner-up spot in front of Friesen and Zane Smith, Eckes retained the lead in his No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST just past the Lap 20 mark. 

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Eckes was leading over Sanchez followed by Busch, Zane Smith and Daniel Dyle while Friesen, Layne Riggs, Enfinger, Corey Heim and Taylor Gray were running in the top 10. Behind, Dean Thompson occupied 11th place in front of Matt Crafton, Chase Purdy, Johnny Sauter and Ty Majeski while Jake Garcia, Stefan Parsons, Ben Rhodes, Connor Jones and Lawless Alan were racing in the top 20 ahead of Bret Holmes, Matt Mills, Bayley Currey, Ty Dillon and Tanner Gray. 

    Ten laps later, Eckes retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Busch while third-place Sanchez trailed by eight-tenths of a second. Behind, Zane Smith and Dye were running fourth and fifth, respectively, while Friesen trailed in sixth by five seconds along with Riggs, Enfinger, Heim and Taylor Gray. 

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 40, Kyle Busch, who assumed the lead from Eckes two laps earlier, proceeded to capture his fourth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Eckes settled in second ahead of Sanchez, Zane Smith and Friesen while Dye, Riggs, Enfinger, Heim and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the entire field led by Busch pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Busch retained the lead after he exited first followed by Eckes, Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Heim and Matt Mills. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 46 as Busch and Eckes occupied the front row. At the start, Busch, who restarted on the inside lane, retained the lead while Heim overtook Eckes to claim the runner-up spot amid a brief three-wide battle that also involved Sanchez. As a series of battles within the field ensued, where even four-wide action occurred, Heim started to challenge Busch for the lead, where he would draw his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro dead even against Busch’s No. 7 Realtree Chevrolet Silverado RST nearing the Lap 50 mark, before Busch retained the top spot ahead of Heim as Sanchez tried to join the battle. 

    At the Lap 55 mark, Busch was leading by six-tenths of a second over Heim followed by Sanchez, Eckes and Taylor Gray while Zane Smith, Dye, Enfinger, Riggs and Matt Crafton followed suit in the top 10. Busch would proceed to extend his advantage to more than a second over Heim and by more than two seconds over Sanchez by Lap 60 while Eckes and Taylor Gray continued to run in the top five. 

    By Lap 70, Busch continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by more than two seconds over Heim while third-place Sanchez also trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Eckes continued to run in fourth place as he trailed the lead by three seconds while Taylor Gray occupied fifth place as he trailed the lead in his No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro by nearly five seconds. As Zane Smith, Riggs, Dye, Enfinger and Sauter occupied the top-10 spots on the track, Busch would stabilize his advantage to two seconds by Lap 75 while Sanchez and Eckes overtook Heim for second and third. 

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 80, Busch captured his second consecutive Truck stage victory of the night and the fifth of his part-time campaign after stabilizing his lead to more than two seconds. Sanchez and Eckes followed suit in second and third, respectively, along with Heim and Taylor Gray while Riggs, Zane Smith, Dye, Enfinger and Sauter were scored in the top 10. 

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Busch returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Busch retained the lead after exiting pit road first while Taylor Gray, Eckes, Sanchez and Heim followed suit in the top five. 

    With 81 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Busch and Taylor Gray occupied the front row. At the start, Busch and Gray battled dead even for the lead in front of Eckes and Sanchez before Busch muscled ahead from the inside lane through the first two lanes. With Busch leading, Eckes would follow suit in second place before Heim would assume the spot shortly after. Eckes would then return the favor with 80 laps remaining as he would reclaim the runner-up spot while Sanchez was in fourth ahead of Taylor Gray, who dropped to fifth in front of Enfinger, Riggs and Ty Majeski. 

    With 75 laps remaining, Busch was leading ahead of a tight battle for the runner-up spot between Heim and Eckes while Taylor Gray followed suit in fourth place ahead of Sanchez, Enfinger, Riggs, Zane Smith, Dye and Majeski. Busch would extend his advantage to nearly a second over both Heim and Eckes with less than 70 laps remaining while Sanchez and Taylor Gray trailed by a second in the top five. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Busch, who was mired in lapped traffic, stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Eckes while Sanchez, Heim and Taylor Gray trailed by within four seconds in the top five on the track. A lap later, Johnny Sauter pitted his Niece Motorsports entry under green. Chase Purdy would pit his Spire Motorsports entry a few laps later along with Daniel Dye before Sanchez pitted with 46 laps remaining along with Grant Enfinger.  

    Starting with 45 laps remaining, more names that included Heim, Majeski, Taylor Gray, Bayley Currey and Dean Thompson pitted under green while Busch, who was among multiple names who have yet to pit, continued to lead ahead of Eckes. Then with 40 laps remaining, Busch surrendered the lead to pit under green. By then, more names that included Crafton, Stefan Parsons, Ben Rhodes and Friesen pitted before Eckes, who assumed the lead, pitted a lap later.  

    With 37 laps remaining, the caution flew after Layne Riggs, who pitted on Lap 110 under green due to a right-rear tire issue and was off the lead lap category, spun and slapped his No. 38 Infinity Communications Group Ford F-150 against the outside wall in Turn 2. By then, Zane Smith, who pulled off the track to pit road for service, opted to drive his No. 91 SpeedyCash.com entry through pit road, past his pit stall and back onto the track without pitting as he retained the lead ahead of Busch, Heim, Taylor Gray, Eckes, Sanchez and Lawless Alan, all of whom were scored on the lead lap.  

    During the caution period, Zane Smith surrendered the lead to pit while the rest of the field led by Busch remained on the track as Busch cycled back into the lead. In addition, the following drivers including Enfinger, Majeski, Friesen, Daniel Dye, Sauter, Dean Thompson, Crafton and Stefan Parsons took the wave around to cycle back onto the lead lap, thus placing 16 competitors on the lead lap. 

    Following an extensive caution period, the race restarted under green with 26 laps remaining as Busch and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Busch and Heim battled for the lead ahead of Eckes and Taylor Gray before Busch muscled ahead with the lead on the inside lane. Behind, Taylor Gray assumed the runner-up spot as he was battling Eckes to retain the spot while Heim was trying to fend off Sanchez and Zane Smith for fourth place. As Riggs endured another on-track incident while running in the rear of the field, the event remained under green flag conditions.  

    Shortly after, the caution returned with 22 laps remaining after Kris Wright, who was piloting TRICON Garage’s No. 1 entry and mired a lap down, made contact with Mason Massey before he spun sideways in between Turns 1 and 2, where he would get hit by Stewart Friesen’s No. 52 Chili’s entry that caused Wright to collide back against the outside wall while Friesen spun sideways. 

    Down to the final 17 laps of the event, the field restarted under green, where a three-wide action for the lead ensued between Eckes, Busch and Heim before Eckes and Busch both muscled ahead and battle for the lead themselves while Heim dropped to fourth behind teammate Taylor Gray. Amid the tight battles towards the front, the caution, however, quickly returned when Dean Thompson, who was running 12th, got loose and tapped Enfinger entering Turn 3, thus sending both spinning through the turn as Enfinger backed his truck against the wall and Matt Crafton hit Thompson while trying to avoid the incident while Sauter got loose as he just avoided the incident. At the moment of caution, Eckes was scored the leader ahead of Busch. 

    During the following restart with 10 laps remaining, Eckes muscled away from the field with the lead as Busch, who struggled to launch on the outside lane, was left to battle Heim for the runner-up spot through the first two turns. Busch would fend off Heim for the runner-up spot through the backstretch before he ignited his battle with Eckes for the lead during the following two laps. Busch would then overtake Eckes for the lead through the frontstretch with eight laps remaining while Heim, who drafted Busch into the lead, followed suit. Eckes would then go wide entering the backstretch, which allowed Sanchez to assume third place. 

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Busch was leading by three-tenths of a second over Heim, who kept Busch within his sights, while third-place Sanchez trailed the lead by half a second. As Eckes and Daniel Dye trailed in the top five, Heim started to close in on Busch for the lead. Despite narrowing the gap to within a tenth of a second on Heim’s side, Busch, who was trying to navigate his way around different lanes around the Texas circuit while trying to break Heim’s draft and pull away, retained the lead over Heim. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Busch remained as the leader by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Heim. Following the first two turns, Heim then closed in on Busch’s rear bumper with momentum and made a brief move on the inside lane before Busch blocked and stalled his momentum. While Heim kept Busch close within his sights and within a tenth of a second, he could not generate another charge to Busch as Busch was able to cycle back to the frontstretch and beat Heim to claim the checkered flag by a tenth of a second. 

    With the victory, Busch notched his 66th career win in the Craftsman Truck Series, his sixth in the Lone Star state, which ties him with Todd Bodine for the most series victories at Texas, and his second of the 2024 season, with his first occurring at Atlanta Motor Speedway in late February. He also recorded his second series victory driving for Spire Motorsports and his fourth with veteran crew chief Brian Pattie. 

    Tonight’s victory at Texas makes Busch two-for-four in this year’s Truck Series season, where he previously finished 15th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and second at Bristol Motor Speedway in March to coincide with his Atlanta victory. He is scheduled to make his fifth and final Truck start of the 2024 season at Darlington Raceway on May 10. 

    “Great team, everybody here at Spire [Motorsports],” Busch said on FS1. “[I] Appreciate [crew chief] Brian Pattie and everybody that was able to work so hard to prepare us a really fast Realtree Silverado. There’s cooler [wins], but [the competition] definitely kept me honest, I’ll give them that. Corey [Heim] kept us honest right there. He started to find that top [lane] over there and to get some momentum over there. I tried it with three [laps] to go. I chattered really bad, so my front just wasn’t working over there. I needed more laps on my tires to be able to get up there to make that work, but he made it. [He] Got to my rear bumper getting into [Turn] 3 and I just kind of was like, ‘I don’t know which way to go.’ So I ran the middle [lane] and darted bottom and then, he slipped up top. So, I guess we had enough of a gap after that.” 

    Heim, who won at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in late March, settled in the runner-up spot for the second time and for his fifth top-three result through seven events on the 2024 schedule. The result also marks his second time finishing in second place on the track behind his former team owner, Kyle Busch.

    “I did all I could there, trying to take [Busch] through in the last restart and got the caution, unfortunately, and then just trying to build a run on him,” Heim said. “He’s just too good. He does a really good job. Really happy with our run tonight. To finish second is a good day for us and we’ll build on it and get better.” 

    Sanchez, the pole winner, came home in third place while Eckes and Zane Smith finished in the top five. Daniel Dye, Taylor Gray, Tanner Gray, Stefan Parsons and Ty Majeski ended up in the top 10 on the track. 

    There were seven lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 40 laps. In addition, 17 of 34 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the seventh event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes continues to lead the regular-season standings by two points over Corey Heim, 12 over Ty Majeski, 27 over Nick Sanchez and 38 over Taylor Gray. 

    Results. 

    1. Kyle Busch, 112 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner 

    2. Corey Heim 

    3. Nick Sanchez, 16 laps led 

    4. Christian Eckes, 31 laps led 

    5. Zane Smith, eight laps led 

    6. Daniel Dye 

    7. Taylor Gray 

    8. Tanner Gray 

    9. Stefan Parsons 

    10. Ty Majeski 

    11. Lawless Alan 

    12. Rajah Caruth 

    13. Stewart Friesen 

    14. Bayley Currey 

    15. Matt Crafton 

    16. Dean Thompson 

    17. Johnny Sauter 

    18. Connor Jones, one lap down 

    19. Jake Garcia, one lap down 

    20. Mason Massey, one lap down 

    21. Timmy Hill, one lap down 

    22. Bret Holmes, one lap down 

    23. Ty Dillon, one lap down 

    24. Ben Rhodes, two laps down 

    25. Chase Purdy, two laps down 

    26. Matt Mills, two laps down 

    27. Spencer Boyd, five laps down 

    28. Keith McGee, eight laps down 

    29. Grant Enfinger – OUT, Accident 

    30. Kris Wright – OUT, Accident 

    31. Layne Riggs – OUT, Accident 

    32. Thad Moffitt – OUT, Accident 

    33. Memphis Villarreal – OUT, Accident 

    34. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Accident 

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. The event is scheduled for May 4 and airs at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. 

  • Weekend schedule for Texas

    Weekend schedule for Texas

    NASCAR travels to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend as all three series are set to compete at the 1.5-mile track. William Byron captured his third NASCAR Cup Series win of the season last week at Martinsville and heads to Texas as the most recent winner at the 1.5-mile track.

    Jimmie Johnson will make his second start of the season for Legacy Motor Club in the No. 84 Toyota. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion leads the series with seven wins at Texas (2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 sweep and 2017).

    The Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash continues at Texas Motor Speedway in the second of four races as Sam Mayer, Justin Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Sheldon Creed compete for a $100,000 bonus.

    The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will headline the weekend’s events Friday night. There have been 27 different winners in 49 Truck Series races at Texas and six drivers have won their first Truck Series race at Texas – Carson Hocevar (4/1/2023), Jeb Burton (6/7/2013), Clint Bowyer (11/3/2006), Brendan Gaughan (6/7/2002), Travis Kvapil (10/5/2001), and Bryan Reffner (10/13/2000).

    Kyle Busch will join the Truck Series field in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. He has five series wins at Texas (2009, 2010, 2014, 2019, 2020) in 14 starts. Series.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, April 12
    4:05 p.m.: Truck Series Practice
    All Entries, 20 minutes
    4:35 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound)
    All Entries, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap
    TV: FS1

    6 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice
    All Entries, 20 minutes
    6:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound)
    All Entries, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap
    TV: FS1

    8:30 p.m.: Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 250
    Stages 40/80/167 Laps, 250.5 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $794,039
    NASCAR Press Pass: Post Truck Series race

    Saturday, April 13
    10:35 a.m.: Cup Series Practice
    Group A: 20 Minutes, Group B: 20 Minutes
    FS1/PRN/SiriusXM

    11:20 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound)
    Group A & B: Single Vehicle, 1 Lap, 2 Rounds
    FS1/PRN/SiriusXM
    NASCAR Press Pass: Post Cup Series qualifying

    1:30 Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 300
    Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 300 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $1,541,418
    NASCAR Press Pass: Post Xfinity Series race

    Sunday, April 14
    3:30 p.m.: Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400
    Stages 80/165/267 Laps = 400.5 Miles
    FS1/PRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $9,397,736
    NASCAR Press Pass: Post Cup Series race

  • Christian Eckes chimes in for dominant Truck victory at Martinsville

    Christian Eckes chimes in for dominant Truck victory at Martinsville

    Christian Eckes capped off a wild night that commenced by dominating the first half of the Craftsman Truck Series race, then dropping to the mid-pack region before the second half. But he methodically carved his way back to the front while dodging a series of late caution periods to win the Long John Silver’s 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Friday, April 5. 

    The 23-year-old Eckes from Greenville, New York, led twice for a race-high 133 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he snatched the lead from pole-sitter Ty Majeski from the first lap and stretched his fuel tank to the distance of the event’s first two stage periods, He won and led throughout before he relinquished the lead to pit for fresh tires and fuel before the start of the second stage period.

    Despite restarting in the top 20 at the start of the final stage period, Eckes wove his way back to the front amid multiple on-track chaos, repetitive cautions and restart periods before outlasting a late battle with Majeski during a restart period with 28 laps remaining to return to the lead. Amid two late-race restarts, Eckes then muscled away from Majeski and Nick Sanchez during a three-lap shootout to clinch his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2024 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Ty Majeski notched his second Truck pole position of the 2024 season and the seventh of his career after posting a new track record lap at 97.523 mph in 19.417 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Christian Eckes, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 97.422 mph in 19.437 seconds. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started following an extensive pace lap session due to Blake Lothian leaking fluid on the circuit, Christian Eckes gained a strong launch from the outside lane to muscle ahead of Ty Majeski and assume the race lead entering the first turn. Eckes would then fend off Majeski for a full lap in his No. 19 Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet Silverado RST to lead the first lap. 

    Through the second to fifth lap marks, Eckes stretched his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Majeski while rookie Layne Riggs moved his Front Row Motorsports entry into third place. As a result, Corey Heim dropped to fourth ahead of Ben Rhodes. Behind, Nick Sanchez and Jake Garcia trailed in sixth and seventh while Dean Thompson and Tyler Ankrum battled for eighth place in front of Chase Purdy and Sammy Smith. 

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Eckes was leading by three-tenths of a second over Majeski followed by Riggs, Heim and Sanchez while Rhodes, Garcia, Thompson, Ankrum and Purdy were running in the top 10. Behind, Sammy Smith trailed in 11th ahead of Stewart Friesen, Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth and Jack Wood while Kaden Honeycutt, Ty Dillon, Bayley Currey, Grant Enfinger and Tanner Gray occupied the top 20 ahead of Matt Crafton, Daniel Dye, William Sawalich, Matt Mills and newcomer Cam Waters. 

    Ten laps later and with the leaders starting to lap the rear of the field, Eckes continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Majeski while third-place Riggs trailed by a second. Behind, Heim and Sanchez retained fourth and fifth, respectively, while Rhodes, Garcia, Thompson, Ankrum and Purdy also remained in the top 10. 

    Another nine laps later, the event’s first caution period flew after rookie Thad Moffitt went for a spin in Turn 3. During the event’s first caution period, some including Thompson, Currey, Sawalich and Cam Waters pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track. 

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 36, Eckes muscled ahead of Majeski, who struggled to start on the outside lane, and Riggs to retain the lead through the first two turns. With the event remaining under green flag conditions as Jack Wood spun in Turn 2, Eckes retained the lead ahead of Majeski and the field. Eckes would continue to lead through the Lap 40 mark. 

    By Lap 45, Eckes stretched his advantage to more than a second over Majeski followed by Riggs, Heim and Sanchez while Rhodes, Ankrum, Sammy Smith, Garcia and Honeycutt trailed in the top 10, with 29 of 34 starters scored on the lead lap. 

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 50, Eckes captured his second Truck stage victory of the 2024 season as he continued to lead by more than a second. Majeski trailed in second while Riggs, Heim, Sanchez, Rhodes, Ankrum, Garcia, Honeycutt and Purdy were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Majeski pitted while the rest led by Eckes and including Sanchez, Ankrum, Garicia, Honeycutt, Purdy, Caruth and Matt Mills remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Ty Dillon was penalized for speeding on pit road. Stephen Mallozzi was also penalized due to his pit crew jumping over the pit wall too soon. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 60 as Eckes and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes rocketed away from the field to retain the lead through the first turn as Sanchez and Ankrum battled for the runner-up spot. With Eckes leading the race, teammate Ankrum would overtake Sanchez for the runner-up spot followed by Purdy, Honeycutt, Garcia, Currey and Caruth while Mills and Sawalich were racing in the top 10 ahead of Thompson, Timmy Hill, Majeski, Waters and Wood. 

    On Lap 64, the caution returned after Matt Crafton, who was running in the middle of the pack, bumped and sent Tanner Gray for a spin through the first two turns, with Crafton, Justin Carroll and Mason Massey slamming on the brake to avoid Gray’s TRICON Garage entry. During the caution period, Sanchez and Caruth pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.  

    During the following restart period on Lap 73, Eckes fended off Chase Purdy and teammate Tyler Ankrum to retain the lead through the first two turns. Shortly after, however, the caution returned on Lap 75 after Riggs, who was mired in 16th, spun his No. 38 Infinity Communications Group Ford F-150 through the first two turns after getting hit by Jack Wood. 

    The following restart period on Lap 83 featured Eckes fending off Purdy for nearly a lap to maintain the lead as the field behind jostled for positions. As Ankrum and Purdy battled for second place in front of Kaden Honeycutt and Jake Garcia, Eckes was leading by two-tenths of a second just past the Lap 85 mark. 

    Then with two laps remaining in the second stage period, the caution flew after Daniel Dye, who was running in 24th place, bumped and sent Spencer Boyd for a spin along with Riggs, who was sent for a second spin of the night, in Turn 1. The incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 100 to conclude under caution as Eckes captured his second consecutive Truck stage victory of the night and the third of the 2024 season. Teammate Ankrum settled in second followed by Purdy, Majeski and Honeycutt while Garcia, Thompson, Currey, Taylor Gray and Sawalich were scored in the top 10. 

    During the stage break, some of the drivers, led by Eckes, pitted while the rest, led by Majeski, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Ty Dillon was penalized and sent to the rear of the field for a safety violation. 

    With 91 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Majeski and Sawalich occupied the front row. At the start, Majeski muscled his No. 98 Soda Sense Ford F-150 away from Taylor Gray and Sawalich to retain the lead through the first two turns. As Majeski started to motor away from the field, Gray occupied second followed by Sanchez while Sawalich was trying to fend off Stewart Friesen amid on-track contact and in front of the field. 

    With 80 laps remaining, Majeski stretched his advantage to more than a second over Taylor Gray followed by Sanchez, Friesen and Sawalich while Ben Rhodes, Tanner Gray, Heim, Caruth and Grant Enfinger trailed in the top 10 as Eckes, who restarted 18th, was up to 11th. 

    Ten laps later, Majeski stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Taylor Gray while Sanchez, Friesen and Sawalich trailed in the top five. Meanwhile, Eckes carved his way to sixth place after making contact with Heim to assume the spot while Rhodes, Tanner Gray and Caruth followed suit in the top 10. Behind, Enfinger trailed in 11th ahead of Ankrum, Crafton, Matt Mills and Cam Waters while Dye, Honeycutt, Wood, Sammy Smith and Purdy were scored in the top 20. 

    Another three laps later, the caution flew when Honeycutt, who was battling Daniel Dye for 16th place, made contact with Dye and then got sideways and sent Honeycutt’s No. 45 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet Silverado RST spinning toward the bottom of the backstretch’s inside wall. During the caution period, some including Rhodes, Garcia, Waters, Sammy Smith and Crafton pitted while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track. 

    During the ensuing restart with 60 laps remaining, Majeski and Sanchez battled dead even for the lead until Majeski muscled ahead through the first two turn as Taylor Gray assumed the runner-up spot from Sanchez. Behind, Eckes battled Friesen for fourth place while Majeski was trying to drive away from the field.     

    A few laps later, Enfinger, who was running in the top 15, hit the outside wall exiting Turn 4, but the event remained under green flag conditions. The caution, however, returned with 55 laps remaining after Enfinger, who lost a few spots in the process, was hit by Rhodes entering the first turn, which resulted with Enfinger bumping into Dean Thompson and sending Thompson’s No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota Tundra TRD Pro straight into the outside wall hard in Turn 1 as Thompson’s strong run came to a late end. 

    With the event restarting with 46 laps remaining, Sanchez tried to use the outside lane to muscle ahead of Majeski, but Majeski managed to fight back and reassume the top spot during the following lap while the field behind bumped and jostled for late positions. Shortly after, however, the caution returned with 43 laps remaining after Bret Holmes was hit by Honeycutt entering Turn 1. Holmes then collected Justin Carroll as they both spun and made contact with the outside wall in Turn 1. 

    The start of the following restart period with 36 laps remaining did not last long after the caution returned a lap later when Jack Wood, who was caught up in a chain reaction incident and got Caruth sideways in Turn 3, was bumped and sent for a spin by Dye as Waters, Garcia, Lawless Alan and Bret Holmes all wrecked behind Wood. By then, Majeski was leading while Eckes drew himself back into race-winning contention after he had just overtaken Sanchez’s No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST for the runner-up spot.

    With the race restarting with 28 laps remaining, Eckes and Majeski battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns amid contact. They continued to battle for the top spot for a full lap until Eckes managed to use the four fresh tires to his advantage along with more on-track contact to return to the lead over Majeski. As Eckes continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Majeski with 25 laps remaining, Sanchez followed suit in third while Taylor Gray and Ankrum were running in the top five. A lap later, however, the caution flew after Riggs, who was running 17th, got bumped and sent for a spin by Enfinger in Turn 2. With Bayley Currey sustaining cosmetic damage after making contact with Riggs’ spinning truck, Cam Waters T-boned into the rear of teammate Garcia amid a chain reaction, which ended Waters’ Truck Series debut with a crunched No. 66 TRADIE Ford F-150. 

    As the event restarted with 17 laps remaining, Eckes muscled away from Majeski, who spun the tires on the launch, to retain the lead while Sanchez quickly assumed the runner-up spot. Majeski was then left to fend off Ankrum, Taylor Gray and a bevy of competitors to retain third place while Eckes retained the lead by nearly half a second with 15 laps remaining. 

    Four laps later and with Eckes leading by more than a second over Sanchez, the caution flew after Friesen, who was running in the top 15, got bumped and sent for a spin by Enfinger in Turn 2 as Enfinger also spun after getting rammed by Matt Mills, whose roof flew up amid the front nose damage. 

    With the event restarting with three laps remaining, Eckes retained the lead from Sanchez and Majeski while the field attempted to fan out to three lanes through the first two turns. While Majeski managed to grab second place from Sanchez through Turns 3 and 4, Eckes stretched his advantage to two-tenths of a second with two laps remaining. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Eckes remained as the leader by half a second over Majeski. With a flurry of battles ensuing within the field and with Majeski trying to narrow the deficit between himself and Eckes, Eckes hit his marks on all cylinders and smoothly navigated his way around the Martinsville circuit for a final time before cycling back to the frontstretch victorious with his second checkered flag of the 2024 Truck season. 

    With the victory, Eckes, who won two races ago at Bristol Motor Speedway, notched his seventh career win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and his first at Martinsville as he also became the first repeat winner of the 2024 Truck season. The victory was the second of the season for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and the fifth time in six events of the 2024 season where the Chevrolet nameplate achieved a victory.

    “[My team and I are putting together] Something really special,” Eckes said on FS1. “It hasn’t been an easy regular season so far, to say the least. We came here and we weren’t that great last year. We worked really hard on it and here we are in Victory Lane. Just super proud of this team. It’s a good day to be in Victory Lane. Can’t wait for that [grandfather] clock [trophy].” 

    Majeski, who led 66 laps compared to Eckes’ 133, settled in the runner-up spot for the second time of the 2024 season as he also notched his third top-three result through this season’s first six events. Amid the disappointment of settling in the runner-up spot, Majeski assumed the lead in the regular-season standings.

    “We came here with a little bit of a different setup, stepped outside our comfort zone a little bit, trying to try something for the Playoffs, that’s the one that matters,” Majeski said. “I think we’ve gotten better. [Eckes] was stellar tonight. He was just a little bit better than us, and he had better tires. I just could not launch on restarts. Really solid day. Obviously, you want to win. I wanted that grandfather clock, but super proud of this No. 98 Soda Sense team. We’ve been working hard to get our trucks better. Just a little bit short tonight.” 

    Chase Purdy, who finished no higher than 15th during the first five events on the schedule, posted his first top-five result of the season by finishing third while Nick Sanchez and Tyler Ankrum settled in the top five. 

    Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth, Sammy Smith, Kaden Honeycutt and Corey Heim finished in the top 10. 

    There were five lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 81 laps. In addition, 27 of 34 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the sixth event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Ty Majeski leads the regular-season standings by seven points over Corey Heim and Tyler Ankrum, with Christian Eckes trailing by 11 and Taylor Gray trailing by 36. 

    Results. 

    1. Christian Eckes, 133 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    2. Ty Majeski, 66 laps led

    3. Chase Purdy 

    4. Nick Sanchez, one lap led

    5. Tyler Ankrum 

    6. Taylor Gray 

    7. Rajah Caruth 

    8. Sammy Smith 

    9. Kaden Honeycutt 

    10. Corey Heim 

    11. Mason Massey 

    12. Matt Crafton 

    13. Daniel Dye 

    14. Ben Rhodes 

    15. Layne Riggs 

    16. Tanner Gray 

    17. Bayley Currey 

    18. Jack Wood 

    19. Stewart Friesen 

    20. Timmy Hill 

    21. Jake Garcia 

    22. Grant Enfinger 

    23. Ty Dillon 

    24. Bret Holmes 

    25. Spencer Boyd 

    26. William Sawalich 

    27. Thad Moffitt 

    28. Stephen Mallozzi, two laps down 

    29. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    30. Cam Waters – OUT, Accident

    31. Lawless Alan – OUT, DVP

    32. Justin Carroll – OUT, Accident

    33. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident 

    34. Blake Lothian – OUT, Overheating

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, April 12, at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1. 

  • Weekend schedule for Martinsville Speedway

    Weekend schedule for Martinsville Speedway

    NASCAR heads to Martinsville Speedway this weekend as all three series are set to compete. Kyle Larson is the defending Cup Series race winner at the 0.526-mile track.

    It will be a special event for Hendrick Motorsports as the organization celebrates its 40th anniversary at Martinsville. Since their inception in 1984, they have won 304 points-paying races and 14 championships, making them the winningest team in NASCAR Cup Series history.

    Rick Hendrick will be the honorary pace car driver for the Cup Series race. Geoff Bodine, who recorded Hendrick Motorsports’ first Cup Series win in 1984 and nine-time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon will be the Grand Marshals of the race. Team drivers Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson will have special ruby red paint schemes as part of the celebration.

    The Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash program begins this weekend at Martinsville. The field was set after last week’s race at Richmond Raceway with Aric Almirola, Parker Kligerman, Jesse Love and Chandler Smith eligible to compete for a $100,000 bonus.

    There have been 13 Xfinity Series drivers who have won at Martinsville. John H. Nemechek, who currently drives in the Cup Series, won the spring Xfinity Series race at Martinsville last year. JR Motorsports driver, Justin Allgaier, won the 2023 fall race.

    The Craftsman Truck Series has a similar diverse history. There have been five unique race and pole winners this season in the first five Craftsman Truck Series races. And, to add to the intrigue, there have been 10 different winning drivers in the last 10 races at Martinsville. Two previous winners are entered in Friday night’s event – Grant Enfinger and Corey Heim.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, April 5
    3:05 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (Timed) Groups 1 and 2, 15 minutes each – FS1
    3:40 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound) All Entries, Single Vehicle, 2 Laps – FS1
    5:05: p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice (Timed) Groups 1 and 2, 15 minutes each – FS1
    5:40: p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound) All Entries, Single Vehicle, 2 Laps – FS1
    6:30 p.m.: Truck Series Race Coverage on FS1
    7:30 p.m.: Truck Series Long John Silver’s 200
    Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Distance: 105.2 miles (200 Laps) Stages end on Lap 50, Lap 100, Race ends on Lap 200
    Purse: $746,572

    Saturday, April 6
    4:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (Timed) Groups A and B, 20 Minutes each – FS2/MRN/SiriusXM
    5:20 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound) Groups A & B, Single Vehicle, 2 Laps/2 Rounds – FS2/MRN/SiriusXM

    7 p.m.: Xfinity Series Race Coverage on FS1
    7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series DUDE Wipes 250
    Radio: MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Distance: 131.5 miles (250 Laps)
    Stages end on Lap 60, Lap 120, Race ends on Lap 250
    The Purse: $1,507,074

    Sunday, April 7
    2 p.m.: Cup Series Race Coverage on FS1
    3 p.m.: Cup Series Cook Out 400
    Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Distance: 210.4 miles (400 Laps)
    Stages end on Lap 80, Lap 180, Race ends on Lap 400
    The Purse: $7,669,028

  • Tanner Gray to make 100th Truck career start at Martinsville

    Tanner Gray to make 100th Truck career start at Martinsville

    Tanner Gray is set to achieve a milestone start when he competes in his fifth full-time season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. By competing in this weekend’s event at Martinsville Speedway, the driver of the No. 15 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro will reach 100 career starts in the Truck Series. 

    A native of Artesia, New Mexico, and the 2018 NHRA Pro Stock champion, Gray made his inaugural start in the Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway in October 2019. By then, he had completed his first full-time campaign in the ARCA Menards Series East for DGR-Crosley, where he had notched a victory in South Boston Speedway, finished third in the final standings, and had made seven career starts in the ARCA Menards Series.

    Driving the No. 15 Toyota Tundra for DGR-Crosley, Gray started 15th and finished 20th in his Truck debut despite being involved in a final lap incident. He returned in November to compete in the final two Truck Series events of the season for DGR-Crosley at Martinsville Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway where he piloted the team’s No. 7 entry to finishes of 17th and 16th, respectively.

    The following season, Gray graduated to a full-time racing role in the No. 15 Ford F-150 for DGR-Crosley in the Truck Series, where he contended for the rookie title. Commencing the season with a 23rd-place finish at Daytona International Speedway despite being collected in a late multi-truck wreck, Gray would rally the following weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and collect his first top-10 career finish in eighth place. He would then finish in the top 12 in four of his next five starts.

    After retiring at Texas Motor Speedway due to a transmission issue and finishing 18th in the first of a Kansas Speedway doubleheader feature during his next two starts, Gray notched two consecutive top-five results: a fourth-place finish in the second Kansas doubleheader event and a third-place run at Michigan International Speedway.

    Despite managing four top-20 results in the final five regular-season events, Gray did not qualify for the 2020 Truck Series Playoffs. He would commence the Playoffs by posting back-to-back third-place finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After managing only a single top-10 result during the final five events on the schedule, Gray capped off his first full-time Truck season in 14th place in the final standings and in fifth place in the rookie standings. By then, he had notched a total of four top-five results, eight top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 16.1. 

    In 2021, when DGR-Crosley changed names to David Gilliland Racing, Gray began the season with a 35th-place result at Daytona due to a drivetrain issue. He would finish no higher than 10th during his next nine starts before posting his first top-10 result of the season in ninth place at Texas Motor Speedway in June. Finishing no higher than 14th during the final four regular-season events, Gray did not make the 2021 Truck Series Playoffs. Despite managing a third-place result at Martinsville in October, Gray concluded his sophomore Truck season in 18th place in the final standings with an average-finishing result of 22.3. 

    Gray commenced the 2022 Truck season on a high note with a fourth-place finish at Daytona. He finished fifth during the following event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and eighth at Atlanta Motor Speedway before finishing no higher than 15th in the next six consecutive events. Managing only two additional top-10 results during his next seven events, Gray fell short of making the Truck Series Playoffs. Throughout the Playoffs, he finished no higher than 16th twice before capping off the season in third place during the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway and in 15th place in the final standings. By then, he had improved his average-finishing result to 18.0 compared to the 2021 season. 

    This past season, when David Gilliland Racing was rebranded to TRICON Garage and returned to fielding Toyotas, Gray started the season by notching a career-best runner-up result at Daytona amid a rain-shortened event. He then posted four top-10 results during his next eight starts, including a third-place result at Darlington Raceway in May. After finishing 18th at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Gray notched his first Truck career pole position at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, where he would end up 27th.

    Managing only one top-11 finish during the final four regular-season events, Gray fell short of making the Playoffs for a fourth consecutive season. With a ninth-place result in the season-finale event at Phoenix, Gray ended up in 14th place in the final standings. By then, he tied the number of top-10 results from his previous season to six, claimed an extra top-five result from his previous season to three, led a career-high 26 laps and posted an average-finishing result of 16.7. 

    Through 99 previous Truck starts, Gray has achieved one pole, 10 top-five results, 23 top-10 results, 51 laps led and an average finishing result of 18.1. He recently recorded his first top-10 result of the season at Circuit of the Americas in late March by finishing in 10th place and is currently ranked in 10th place in the regular-season standings as he continues his pursuit for both his first series victory and Playoff berth. 

    Tanner Gray is scheduled to make his 100th Craftsman Truck Series career start at Martinsville Speedway for the Long John Silver’s 200. The event is scheduled for Friday, April 5, and will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.