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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results.

1. Ty Majeski, 70 laps led

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

3. Taylor Gray, five laps led

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

5. Layne Riggs

6. Tyler Ankrum

7. Ben Rhodes

8. Daniel Dye

9. Ty Dillon, four laps led

10. Connor Hall

11. Stefan Parsons

12. Tanner Gray

13. Jake Garcia

14. Kaden Honeycutt

15. Matt Crafton

16. Corey Heim, six laps led

17. Rajah Caruth

18. Lawless Alan

19. Timmy Hill

20. Chase Purdy

21. Bret Holmes

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

23. Bayley Currey, one lap down

24. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

25. Stewart Friesen, two laps down

26. Mason Massey, three laps down

27. Justin Carroll, three laps down

28. Mason Maggio, four laps down

29. Connor Zilisch – OUT, Accident

30. Nick Sanchez – OUT, Clutch

31. Conner Jones – OUT, Electrical

32. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

33. Thad Moffitt – OUT, Accident

34. Keith McGee – OUT, Accident

35. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

36. Jerry Bohlman – OUT, Too Slow

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

August 11, 2024
NASCAR 2024 Rookie Mid-season Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.

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

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

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

August 7, 2024
Nick Sanchez wins 700th Truck Series event at Charlotte; snags first Triple Truck Challenge bonus

On a night where the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series division achieved a milestone feat in series’ history, Nick Sanchez has 50,000 reasons to celebrate after storming to a late victory in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, May 24.

The 2022 ARCA Menards Series champion from Miami, Florida, led the final nine of 134 scheduled laps in an event where he started 16th and spent the first half of the event mired outside the top 10 and trying to manage his way to the front. Initially poised for a top-10 run when the event was placed in a late caution period with 15 laps remaining, Sanchez was one of multiple competitors who opted to pit for fresh tires. Then after restarting in the fourth lane with nine laps remaining, Sanchez quickly bolted his way to the front as he overtook Christian Eckes for the lead through the frontstretch. From there, he fended off a late charge from Corey Heim to score his second Truck Series career victory in the series’ 700th event in history and cash in the first of three $50,000 bonuses as part of this year’s Triple Truck Challenge.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Tanner Gray notched his first Truck Series pole position of the 2024 season and the second of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 178.241 mph in 30.296 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Corey Heim, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 177.795 mph in 30.372 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that included Lawless Alan, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Christian Eckes and Tyler Ankrum dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Tanner Gray gained the early advantage from the inside lane as he muscled his No. 15 Dead on Tools Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead from teammate Corey Heim through Turns 1 and 2. As the field behind jostled for early spots, Gray proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of a side-by-side battle between Heim and Ty Majeski while Rajah Caruth, rookie Layne Riggs, Jack Wood and Chase Purdy followed suit.

Three laps later, Heim zipped his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro past teammate Tanner Gray to assume the lead from the backstretch through Turns 3 and 4. Heim would proceed to lead by nearly three-tenths of a second over Gray as Majeski, Caruth and Riggs followed suit in the top five through the first five scheduled laps. Behind, Wood retained sixth ahead of Purdy as Connor Mosack, Kaden Honeycutt and Ben Rhodes trailed in the top 10.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Heim was leading by nine-tenths of a second over teammate Tanner Gray followed by Majeski, Caruth and Riggs while Honeycutt, Purdy, Mosack, Wood and Rhodes continued to race in the top 10. Behind, Dean Thompson occupied 11th place ahead of Taylor Gray, Bayley Currey, Stewart Friesen and Ty Dillon while Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger, Matt Mills, Christian Eckes and Nick Sanchez followed suit in the top 20. Notably, Brett Moffitt was in 22nd, Tyler Ankrum was mired in 25th ahead of Connor Jones and Jeffrey Earnhardt was down in 34th.

Ten laps later, Heim extended his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Tanner Gray as Majeski, Caruth and Honeycutt were in the top five. Behind, Riggs dropped to sixth while Purdy, Rhodes, Thompson and Mosack were in the top 10.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Heim, winner of last weekend’s Truck Series event at North Wilkesboro Speedway, captured his fifth stage victory of the 2024 season. Honeycutt, who overtook Tanner Gray for the runner-up spot three laps earlier, settled in second ahead of Gray, Caruth and Majeski while Riggs, Purdy, Thompson, Rhodes and Mosack were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the field led by Heim pitted for a first round of service. Following the pit stops, Tanner Gray reassumed the lead after exiting first ahead of Heim while Honeycutt, Purdy, Majeski, Caruth, Riggs, Taylor Gray, Thompson and Mosack followed suit. During the pit stop sequence, Caruth was forced into the grass amid a side-by-side contact with Majeski, who was trying to avoid Riggs as Riggs was exiting his pit stall. In addition, Stewart Friesen returned to pit road for his first service of the night after missing his pit stall during the first sequence with the field. Soon after, Caruth also pitted again to address a tire rub from the damage with Majeski’s contact.

The second stage period started on Lap 37 as teammates Tanner Gray and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Gray and Heim battled dead even in front of two stacked lanes while Honeycutt, who restarted in the second lane, made a move to the outside lane in an attempted three-wide battle towards the front. With the field behind also fanning out to nearly three lanes through the backstretch, Tanner Gray barely managed to muscle ahead of Heim to retain the lead while returning back to the frontstretch. Behind, a series of battles ensued as Purdy and Majeski battled for third place, Thompson battled Honeycutt for fifth place, Riggs and Mosack battled for fifth place and Taylor Gray battled Jack Wood for 10th place.

On Lap 40, Heim, who kept teammate Tanner Gray within close distance over the previous four laps, drew his Toyota alongside Gray’s through Turns 3 and 4 and back to the frontstretch. Heim would then muscle ahead of Gray from the inside lane and through Turns 1 and 2 as he reassumed the lead.

At the Lap 45 mark, Heim was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Tanner Gray followed by Purdy, Majeski and Thompson while Riggs, Honeycutt, Mosack, Taylor Gray and Wood were in the top 10. Behind, Nick Sanchez trailed in 11th ahead of Daniel Dye, Dillon, Rhodes and Grant Enfinger while Caruth, Matt Mills, Eckes, Moffitt and Crafton were in the top 20.

By Lap 50, Heim slightly extended his advantage as he was leading by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Gray followed by Purdy, Thompson and Majeski while Honeycutt, Riggs, Mosack, Gray and Sanchez trailed in the top 10.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 60, Heim swept both stage periods of the night while also claiming his sixth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Tanner Gray settled in second ahead of Purdy, Honeycutt and Thompson while Majeski, Riggs, Mosack, Sanchez and Daniel Dye were scored in the top 10.

During the stage break, the field led by Heim returned to pit road for another round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Heim retained the lead after exiting first ahead of Tanner Gray, Majeski, Mosack and Purdy as Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Riggs, Thompson and Honeycutt followed suit in top 10. Amid the pit stops, however, Honeycutt was penalized for dragging his gas can out of his pit stall.

Towards the halfway mark of the event, the final stage commenced as teammates Heim and Tanner Gray occupied the front row once again. As Heim retained the lead, the caution quickly returned for a multi-truck wreck that erupted just past the backstretch when contact from Moffitt got Ankrum loose as he spun his No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado RST below the apron in Turn 3 before his truck went right back towards the outside wall and was T-boned on the right side by Thad Moffitt as Keith McGee and Jeffrey Earnhardt were also involved while trying to avoid the wreckage.

During the following restart with 58 laps remaining. Heim gained the advantage from the inside lane and muscled ahead to retain the lead while Connor Mosack challenged Tanner Gray for the runner-up spot. As Gray and Mosack continued to battle for second in front of Taylor Gray, Majeski and Purdy, Heim led the field back to the frontstretch.

Four laps later, however, the caution returned after Matt Crafton lost a tire and slapped his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 hard against the outside wall in Turn 3. During the caution period, the following names that included Purdy, Mason Massey, Stefan Parsons, Friesen, Connor Jones, Boyd, Eckes and Currey remained on the track while the rest led by Heim pitted. During the pit stops, Heim’s dominant run hit a braking zone after a slow pit stop due to a broken jack while his No. 11 team was trying to change the right-side tires plummeted to 28th place.

As the event restarted with 47 laps remaining, Purdy muscled ahead with a slight advantage over Eckes before Eckes made his move beneath Purdy and assumed the lead in his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST exiting the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4. As Eckes led Purdy, Stefan Parsons was in third place as he was racing in front of Connor Jones, Stewart Friesen and Ben Rhodes while Grant Enfinger was in seventh. With more battles ensuing within the field, Eckes, who was dealing with voltage issues earlier in the race, retained the lead with 45 laps remaining.

With 40 laps remaining, Eckes was leading by nearly a second over Purdy as they were being followed by Parsons, Friesen, Rhodes, Honeycutt and Sanchez. Meanwhile, Heim, who restarted 27th following his pit stop miscue, had muscled his way all the way up to eighth place while Jones and Moffitt trailed in the top 10 ahead of Majeski, Caruth, Enfinger, Dillon and Mosack.

Ten laps later, Eckes retained the lead by nearly seven-tenths of a second over Purdy while Parsons, Honeycutt and Friesen were scored in the top five. Behind, Heim was in sixth place and trailing the lead by more than three seconds while Sanchez, Rhodes, Moffitt and Majeski were in the top 10. By then, Tanner Gray was mired in 12th behind Caruth, Thompson was back in 16th behind Dillon and Mosack was battling Matt Mills for 17th along with Taylor Gray and Dye.

Another three laps later, the battle for the lead ignited as Purdy made a move beneath Eckes for the lead in Turn 1. Despite assuming the top spot, however, Purdy went wide, which allowed Eckes to pull a crossover move entering the backstretch as both he and Purdy battled dead even for the lead through Turns 3 and 4. Then as Eckes slid in front of Purdy entering the frontstretch, Purdy pulled a crossover move on Eckes through the frontstretch as they dueled for the lead again. Purdy then slid up the track in Turn 1 for a second time, which allowed Eckes to muscle ahead and maintain a reasonable advantage over a hard-charging Purdy. Amid the battle between Eckes and Purdy, third-place Honeycutt started to close in in his No. 45 R.C.D. Shoe Company Chevrolet Silverado RST while Heim was in fifth place and trailing the lead by more than two seconds.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Eckes, who was beginning to be mired in lapped traffic, retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Purdy while Honeycutt made it a three-truck battle for the lead as he trailed by half a second. Behind, Heim trailed by more than three seconds in fourth place while Parsons was in fifth.

Four laps later, Purdy scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2, which stalled his late momentum and his challenge on Eckes for the lead. Despite scraping the wall, Purdy remained on the track, but he would lose the runner-up spot to Honeycutt as Eckes continued to lead. A lap later, however, Purdy’s strong run went sour after he scrubbed the outside wall for a second time through Turns 1 and 2, which was enough for the event to be placed in a late caution period as Purdy, who lost a tire in the process, nursed his damaged No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST back to pit road. The caution also erased Eckes’ six-second advantage over Honeycutt as Heim was up to third place.

During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Honeycutt and Heim pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Honeycutt and Heim both lost a bevy of spots after both endured slow pit services. For Honeycut, a broken air gun resulted in his tire changer having issues changing the right-rear tire. For Heim, the issue stemmed from his rear tire changer struggling to get the lug nuts tightened on the left-rear tire as Heim started to spin his tires, which left his No. 11 team uncertain if the lug nuts on the truck were tightened as Heim lined up in 11th place.

Down to the final nine laps, the event restarted under green as Eckes and Parsons occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Eckes rocketed away with the lead followed by Caruth and Sanchez while Parsons was struggling to launch. Then through the frontstretch to complete the following lap, Sanchez, who pitted during the latest caution period and passed Caruth for the runner-up spot, overtook Eckes for the lead as Heim, who was charging to the front for a second time since the restart, bolted past Eckes through Turns 3 and 4 to move into third place. Heim would then overtake Friesen for the runner-up spot during the following lap as he set his sights on Sanchez for the lead and potential victory.

With five laps remaining, Sanchez maintained the lead by nearly three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Heim while Friesen trailed in third place by eight-tenths of a second. As the field behind jostled for late spots, pole-sitter Tanner Gray spun sideways towards the apron in Turns 1 and 2, but the event remained under green flag conditions as Heim was trying to gain a run on Sanchez for the lead.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Sanchez, who had managed to keep his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST in front of Heim’s Toyota, remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Heim. Through Turns 1 and 2, Heim ran his truck close towards the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 in an effort to gain a run, but Sanchez maintained his advantage through the backstretch. With Heim unable to mount a final lap rally for two final turns, Sanchez was able to cycle back to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed the checkered flag to win by half a second over Heim.

With the victory, Sanchez, who notched his first career win at Daytona International Speedway in February, became the 82nd competitor overall to achieve multiple victories in the Truck Series and the 13th to win a Truck event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

With Sanchez winning the series’ 700th event in recorded history, the Miami native joins an exclusive club of competitors to win during a milestone event for the series. Ron Hornaday Jr., a four-time champion of the series, won the 100th recorded Truck Series event in history at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington, in 1999 before winning the 300th series event at Dover Motor Speedway eight years later. Ted Musgrave, the 2005 champion, won the series’ 200th race at Memphis Motorsports Park in 2003, Clint Bowyer won the series’ 400th event at Kansas Speedway in 2011 and Austin Dillon won the series’ 500th event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2015. Recently, Kyle Busch won the series’ 600th event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2020.

As an added bonus, Sanchez, who recorded the 284th Truck victory for the Chevrolet nameplate and the second overall for Rev Racing, claimed the first of three Triple Truck Challenge bonuses and a $50,000 check.

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“It’s awesome,” Sanchez said on FS1. “What can I say more about this team? We started off bad. We knew it. [We] Did not let it affect us. We went to work. We put ourselves in position when it mattered most. It’s great to get [win] number two. [I’ll] Probably put the [$50,000 bonus] in the savings. I totally forgot about that, so yeah, added bonus. Sweet.”

Sanchez’s Charlotte victory was the most meaningful for Chris Showalter, the truck chief for both Sanchez and Rev Racing as he has been working through all 700 recorded events in the Truck Series since the first event at Phoenix Raceway in February 1995.

“[This race] just probably popped to number one [favorite],” Showalter, who fought tears of joy, said. “It’s a long battle. This is about people and I love this group of people. I’ll do anything for this group of people.”

Heim, who led a race-high 72 laps and swept both stages, settled in second place for his seventh top-three result of the 2024 season as he fell short of winning at Charlotte Motor Speedway for a second consecutive season.

“Obviously, an eventful day for us,” Heim said. “[I] Just felt like it got away from us on separate occasions there. We had control of the race and as soon as you don’t, you’re just victim to the leader and they can control the air. Nick [Sanchez] did a great job at just blocking my air the best he could. I felt like we had the best truck by a long shot. When you’re behind the leader, you can’t do much, but I feel like we were able to get through traffic so well. Glad I could make it entertaining at least, but it doesn’t really matter for us. We finished second.”

Shortly after, however, Heim was disqualified from the runner-up result due to his truck having three lug nuts not safely secured following his recent pit service. As a result, Stewart Friesen, who missed his pit stall and was running in the middle of the pack earlier in the day, was promoted to second place as Grant Enfinger, Matt Mills and Ben Rhodes ended up in the top five.

Finishing in the top 10 were Jake Garcia, Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack, Dean Thompson and Christian Eckes. Notably, Chase Purdy ended up 13th behind Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth fell back to 16th behind Brett Moffitt, pole-sitter Tanner Gray ended up 17th, Ty Majeski slid to 23rd and Stefan Parsons ended up 25th.

There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 31 laps.

Following the 11th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes leads the regular-season standings by 30 points over Corey Heim, 50 over Nick Sanchez, 64 over Ty Majeski and 99 over Taylor Gray.

Results.

1. Nick Sanchez, nine laps led

2. Stewart Friesen

3. Grant Enfinger

4. Matt Mills

5. Ben Rhodes

6. Jake Garcia

7. Kaden Honeycutt

8. Connor Mosack

9. Dean Thompson

10. Christian Eckes, 37 laps led

11. Connor Jones

12. Taylor Gray

13. Chase Purdy, five laps led

14. Bret Holmes

15. Brett Moffitt

16. Rajah Caruth

17. Tanner Gray, 11 laps led

18. Mason Massey

19. Daniel Dye

20. Spencer Boyd

21. Jack Wood

22. Timmy Hill

23. Ty Majeski

24. Ty Dillon

25. Stefan Parsons

26. Bayley Currey

27. Mason Maggio

28. Layne Riggs, one lap down

29. Memphis Villarreal, three laps down

30. Lawless Alan – OUT, Brakes

31. Matt Crafton, 15 laps down

32. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Accident

33. Thad Moffitt – OUT, Accident

34. Keigh McGee – OUT, Accident

35. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

36. Corey Heim – Disqualified 72 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the series’ annual visit to Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, for the Toyota 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 1, and air at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

May 25, 2024
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.

April 13, 2024
Kyle Busch scores first Truck victory with Spire Motorsports at Atlanta

For the first time in nearly 15 years, Kyle Busch motored his way to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in equipment not related to him and used the draft to capture a dramatic victory in the Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 24.

The two-time Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, led four times for 33 of 135 scheduled laps in an event where he started seventh and made his presence at the front known in the early stages. After finishing in the top 10 after the first stage’s conclusion, Busch, who would capture the second stage victory, overtook Grant Enfinger for the lead with seven laps remaining. He also had to fend off late charges from Ty Majeski, Corey Heim and Taylor Gray to achieve his first victory as a Spire Motorsports competitor and his 65th Truck Series career victory.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Feb. 23, Daniel Dye notched his first career pole position after a lap at 174.246 mph in 31.817 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Tyler Ankrum, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 173.467 mph in 31.960 seconds.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Ankrum gained an early advantage on the inside lane as he muscled into the lead followed by Ty Majeski and teammate Christian Eckes while Dye fell back to fourth in front of teammate Jack Wood, all while Connor Jones scraped the outside wall and fell off the pace while the event remained under green flag conditions. With Kyle Busch joining the battle, Majeski would lead the first lap by a hair over Ankrum before the latter jumped ahead to lead the next lap. Not long after, Busch and Ankrum would take turns swapping the lead amid a side-by-side battle in front of the pack fanned out to two tight-packed lanes.

Just past the Lap 10 mark, Eckes moved into the lead over Busch as Ankrum, Majeski and Dye were in the top five. Behind, rookie Layne Riggs, Jake Garcia, Chase Purdy, Jack Wood and Bayley Currey were in the top 10 ahead of Grant Enfinger, Rajah Caruth, Nick Sanchez, Ben Rhodes and Matt Crafton while Tanner Gray, Corey Heim, Dean Thompson, Colby Howard and Taylor Gray occupied the top 20.

On Lap 15, the event’s first caution flag flew after Keith McGee, who was lapped by the field, spun in Turn 3. During the caution period, some including Sanchez, Heim, Thompson, Friesen, Ty Dillon and Connor Jones pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.

When the event restarted under green on Lap 21, Eckes and Majeski dueled for the lead, with the latter leading the next two laps before Eckes reassumed the top spot.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Eckes captured his first stage victory of the 2024 Truck Series season. Teammate Ankrum settled in second followed by Riggs, Enfinger and Majeski while Rhodes, Garcia, Busch, Wood and Dye settled in the top 10.

Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Eckes pitted while the rest led by Ankrum remained on the track. During the pit stops, Eckes, who had radioed issues involving his brakes earlier, zipped by his pit stall while having issues to brake his entry. He would pit again to have the braking issues addressed, which took him out of contention for the race victory.

The second stage period started on Lap 36 as Ankrum led the field back to the green. Ankrum would maintain the top spot for the next six laps before Busch carved his way back to the front.

Nearing the Lap 50 mark, the caution flew after Thad Moffitt tried to move in front of Garcia when he got turned across the outside wall on the backstretch, which Moffitt then veered back to the left and into the side of Garcia as Riggs sustained damage to his entry after he was hit by Garcia while Moffitt spun, all occurring in Turn 3.

With the event restarting with six laps remaining in the second stage period, Busch maintained the lead over Ankrum and the field. He would maintain the lead for the next four laps just as the caution returned when Jack Wood spun across the frontstretch’s grass and damaged his front nose. Wood’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 60 to conclude under caution as Busch captured the stage victory followed by Ankrum, Enfinger, Tanner Gray, Heim, Sanchez, Majeski, Caruth, Taylor Gray and Bayley Currey.

During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Busch pitted while the rest led by Mills remained on the track.

With 69 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Thompson and Matt Mills occupied the front row. At the start, Mills and Thompson dueled for the lead exiting the frontstretch until Thompson muscled away from the field on the inside lane through the backstretch, which Mills then reclaimed the lead as the field navigated back to the frontstretch. During the following lap, Rhodes, who made contact with the outside wall, made a pit stop under green flag to address a flat right-front tire as Mills maintained the lead ahead of Thompson while Purdy was trying to gain an advantage from the inside lane followed by Ankrum.

A few laps later and as the field fanned out to three lanes, Ankrum navigated his way back into the lead, where he would then be challenged by Enfinger for the top spot amid the draft. Meanwhile, Mills and Thompson remained in the top five along with Taylor Gray while Heim was trying to fight his way into the top five along with Purdy.

With less than 60 laps remaining, Friesen pitted under green after scraping the outside wall on the backstretch. Caruth, who was running within the top 10, would fall off the pace due to a flat tire on his truck, but the caution would fly with 57 laps remaining due to debris reported on the frontstretch. During the pit stops, the entire field led by Ankrum pitted. Amid the pit services, Sanchez, Caruth and Timmy Hill were penalized for speeding on pit road while Matt Mills was also penalized for running over equipment. In addition, Enfinger had to reverse his truck on pit road to get it full of fuel.

With the event restarting with 50 laps remaining, Ankrum received a push from Heim to muscle ahead with the lead on the outside lane followed by Kyle Busch, Currey and the field. Ankrum would retain the lead amid the draft and in front of two packed lanes during the proceeding laps while Heim settled in second followed by Busch, Currey and Taylor Gray. Shortly after, Mills fell off the pace after cutting a right-front tire from scraping the wall earlier and he pitted under green. The caution, however, returned with 42 laps remaining due to debris being reported in Turn 4. By then, Currey pitted to address his roof hatch being displaced.

During the following restart with 36 laps remaining, Ankrum and Thompson battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns until Majeski shoved Thompson into the lead from the inside lane while Ankrum briefly lost his momentum and drafting boost from Heim on the outside lane. Then just as Majeski attempted to make a move on Thompson, the caution returned due to debris being reported on the frontstretch.

With the event restarting with 31 laps remaining under green, Thompson was shoved out of the draft by Majeski on the outside lane. This resulted in Thompson backsliding as Ankrum moved back into the lead followed by Busch while Majeski was left battling Enfinger, Sanchez and Heim for third place amid two tight-packed lanes.

Not long after, a tight battle for the lead ignited between Ankrum and Enfinger, with Busch settling behind Ankrum while Enfinger had Sanchez drafting him on the inside lane. Following their brief duel, Enfinger moved into the lead with 29 laps remaining. He would retain the lead with 25 laps remaining over Busch, Majeski, Heim, Taylor Gray and Sanchez while Ankrum, who transitioned to the inside lane, was backsliding towards the top-10 mark.

With 20 laps remaining and with the majority of the field running in a long single-file line towards the outside wall, Enfinger was leading followed by Busch, Majeski, Heim and Taylor Gray while Sanchez, Honeycutt, Ankrum, Caruth and Daniel Dye were running in the top 10 ahead of Purdy, Thompson, Holmes, Dillon, Rhodes, Lawless Alan, Garcia, Crafton, Howard and Mason Massey, all of whom occupied the top 20.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Enfinger retained the lead followed by Busch, Majeski, Heim and Taylor Gray while Rhodes, who tried to make a move on the inside lane, was shuffled back to 11th place. Shortly after, Rhodes made contact with the outside wall entering Turn 3, which forced him to pit while the event remained under green flag conditions.

Then three laps later and as the leader navigated through lapped traffic, Busch dived to the left and overtook Enfinger for the lead entering Turns 1 and 2. He was followed by Majeski, Heim, Taylor Gray and the rest of the field while Enfinger was falling off the pace due to a flat tire on his truck, an issue that would result in Enfinger pitting under green, while Busch maintained the lead over a hard-charging Majeski.

With five laps remaining, Busch was still leading ahead of a slight four-truck breakaway that included Maejski, Heim and Taylor Gray while Sanchez and Honeycutt led another drafting group of competitors trying to close in.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Busch remained as the leader ahead of Majeski, Heim and Gray while Sanchez was trying to close in from fifth place. With Majeski, Heim and Taylor Gray unable to gain any advantage for a final circuit, Busch was able to maintain the lead and cycle his way back to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed the checkered flag by a tenth of a second over Majeski.

With the victory, Busch, who remains as the all-time wins leader in the Truck Series with 65 victories, achieved his seventh series victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway and his first since 2021. The victory was also Busch’s first driving for Spire Motorsports, the team that purchased Kyle Busch Motorsports at the conclusion of the 2023 season, and the 19th season overall where Busch has achieved at least one victory in the Truck Series. In addition, Spire Motorsports achieved its third career victory in the Truck circuit.

Busch is scheduled to return as the driver of the No. 7 entry for Spire Motorsports for the upcoming Truck Series events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, both in March, followed by Texas Motor Speedway in April and at Darlington Raceway in May.

HAMPTON, GEORGIA – FEBRUARY 24: Kyle Busch, driver of the #7 Group 1001 Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 24, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images).

“You’re relying on help, right?” Busch said on FS1. “You got to have guys behind you that are willing to work with you. Majeski was that guy today for me. There at the end, we had a bunch of Spire [Motorsports] teammates out there that were great to work with, too. Thanks to Chevrolet, appreciate Spire, Group1001, everybody that’s been a part of this organization from the very start to what we have today. It’s a lot of fun.”

Majeski, who led three laps, settled in the runner-up spot followed by Heim, Taylor Gray and Sanchez while Honeycutt, Ankrum, Caruth, Daniel Dye and Thompson settled in the top 10 on the track.

*Following the post-race inspection process, rookie Layne Riggs was disqualified due to his Front Row Motorsports entry not having windshield fasteners tightened for the entire event.

There were 20 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 37 laps. In total, 20 of the 33 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the second event of the 2024 Truck Series season, Tyler Ankrum continues to lead the regular-season standings by 10 points over Ty Majeski, 12 over Nick Sanchez, 15 over Corey Heim and 24 over Rajah Caruth.

Results.

1. Kyle Busch, 33 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Ty Majeski, three laps led

3. Corey Heim

4. Taylor Gray

5. Nick Sanchez

6. Kaden Honeycutt

7. Tyler Ankrum, 46 laps led

8. Rajah Caruth

9. Daniel Dye

10. Dean Thompson, four laps led

11. Bret Holmes

12. Lawless Alan

13. Matt Crafton

14. Ty Dillon

15. Chase Purdy

16. Jake Garcia

17. Colby Howard

18. Timmy Hill

19. Tanner Gray

20. Mason Massey

21. Keith McGee, one lap down

22. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

23. Stewart Friesen, two laps down

24. Mason Maggio, two laps down

25. Grant Enfinger, two laps down, 23 laps led

26. Thad Moffitt, three laps down

27. Matt Mills, three laps down, six laps led

28. Ben Rhodes, five laps down

29. Connor Jones, six laps down

30. Bayley Currey – OUT, Damage

31. Jack Wood – OUT, Accident

32. Christian Eckes – OUT, Brakes, 20 laps led, Stage 1 winner

33. Layne Riggs – Disqualified

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, March 1, at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

February 24, 2024
Thad Moffitt embraces family legacy as he prepares for his first year with Faction46

It seems poetic that in the 75th year, his family is involved in NASCAR, Thad Moffitt would lead a new generation of the sport.

Being the great-grandson of NASCAR pioneer Lee Petty, and the grandson of King Richard I, Thad Moffitt has racing in his blood, and he was just signed to his first full-time gig in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, being tapped to drive a Silverado for the brand new Faction46 team.

Moffitt says he knew he wanted to drive for the team as soon as he met owner Lane Moore.

“As soon as I met him at Bristol, I was like, man. This has got to happen. He’s a fourth-generation grocer and I’m a fourth-generation race car driver, so we’re kind of cut from the same cloth. And it just kind of had to happen, and so we went back to work, and here a couple months later it’s out, it’s public, it’s announced, and I don’t have to walk around on eggshells anymore.”

When asked about his expectations for the team and himself, Moffitt says he keeps himself grounded.

“You know, I think having realistic expectations is a big thing of mine. I want to go out and compete for a championship, but we’re a brand new team and brand new teams have hiccups. They have bad days. At this point I have a crew chief, a car chief, a mechanic, and an interior guy. We’re still looking for a tire guy, we’re still looking for an engineer. So every role has definitely not been sealed. But I don’t see any reason why we can’t be a competitive top 15, top 10 team for the majority of the year. A major goal of mine would just be to be in the playoff conversation next year when that time rolls around.”

Despite a few understandable shortcomings so far, the team is more prepared than you would think a brand-new team would be.

“We’re pretty ahead of schedule as far as our trucks go equipment wise, we’re already getting seats mounted in the Vegas truck, which isn’t until March of next year,” Moffitt explained.

When I mentioned Moffitt’s family legacy, a small smile crept across his face as I asked him about the difficulty of distinguishing himself from just being Richard Petty’s grandson.

“I want to make a name for myself. Is it kind of hard to bridge that gap sometimes? I would say yeah, absolutely, I think it’s hard to bridge that gap, but there’s a lot of opportunity that comes with that too. Being the grandson of Richard Petty helps me with all kinds of things. It opens doors for me. But then it’s a double edged sword because then I’m compared to him in everything I do, whether it’s the way I interact with fans, what I post on social media, or how I perform in the car, everything I do is compared to the way he lives his life. At the end of the day, I’m my own person, and that’s kind of what Faction46 is, kind of molded after what Trackhouse is, just doing things different.”

“I’m not ashamed of being Richard Petty’s grandson. I’m definitely proud to be part of the family and be a small part of everything he’s accomplished.”

Moffitt’s family legacy also played into his next answer, where I asked him about his dream first-win scenario.

“Man, what it would mean to me to win at Daytona, a place that’s so historic for my family. Grandpa won there several times and Great Grandpa won the very first 500 at the big track, so to be able to be a part of what the Petty’s have done at Daytona would be incredible.”

Moffitt will get his chance to add to that Daytona legacy and start his tenure with Faction46 off on the right foot on the evening of February 16th in the 2024 Fresh From Florida 250 (7:30 PM ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

December 15, 2023
Interview: Locked Down With Thad Moffitt

In continuation of our series “Locked Down,” Speedway Media catches with DGR-Crosley ARCA driver, Thad Moffitt, to find out what he has been up to during the break from racing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SM: It has been a while since we’ve had racing on-track. How have you been holding up during this time off?

TM: ” It has been tough, but I’ve been doing a lot of iRacing and working out keeping myself prepared for when we go back racing,” Moffitt said. “Also I’ve enjoyed a lot of quality family time that I usually don’t get being on the road so much.”

SM: Virtual racing has taken off by storm. Have you been one of the few that have been participating in virtual races? If so, what kind of races have you been partaking in?

TM: “I have been running the Saturday Night Thunder races,” he said. “I’ve also run a few of the short track series by NBCSN. I’ve also been running a lot of the fixed races.”

SM: Drivers are always looking to learn more about specific tracks. With this time off, do you feel as though iRaces are preparing you to keep your mental focus when you revisit the tracks you race later this year?

TM: “I believe that it is a great tool to help with throttle control and your hand-eye coordination but I don’t think you can simulate the actual feeling of going 200 mph,” Moffitt said. “But, iRacing is definitely the closest I’ve been to real racing without driving a car.”

SM: You have a unique story/background, as you are Richard Petty’s grandson. How much has he meant to you in your early career? I’m sure he has given you some great advice.

TM: “I have definitely been surrounded by many great people early in my career with my Grandpa and my uncle Kyle being two of my biggest mentors,” he said. “My grandfather is always the first person to give me constructive criticism because he knows I can run better at times, but also tells me when I do something right. He’s given me many pointers from day one. Things as small as to how to hold the steering wheel based on handling conditions of the car.”

SM: Only two races have been completed this year but do you feel as though this year has started off better than last year? If so, how is this year better than last year?

TM: “I feel more confident going into this year,” Moffitt said. “We showed great speed in both of the races thus far with the exception of blowing a tire at Phoenix. I made multiple mistakes at Phoenix but I know I had a top-five car for sure. I believe you will see me and my DGR Crosley team in victory lane multiple times before it’s all said and done this year. They are a great group of guys and we all work very well together and show up to win every time we hit the track.”

SM: Speaking of wins, whenever you get that first what will the celebration be like?

TM: “Ha-ha. I guess we will have to wait and see later this year but I’m sure it will be special.”

SM: Is there anything you have in mind in 2020 that you would like to improve on from last year?

TM: “One of the biggest things I need to improve on is being more aggressive,” he said. “I’ve lacked aggression in certain situations and I realize that and know it’s something I need to work on.”

SM: Once we get back racing, whenever that is, what tracks do you have your eye on that you think you can perform well at or maybe win at?

TM: “With the schedule kind of up in the air, I have no idea where that race will be but I feel like Charlotte will be a really good race for us because I ran well there last year and so did the DGR-Crosley team,” Moffitt said. “I believe in their car we will have a shot to win. I’m also eyeing some of the short tracks that I’m returning to for a second time like Salem and Lucas Oil Raceway.”

SM: During this time off, have you been able to catch up on anything or find a new hobby that you might otherwise not have the time for?

TM: “I’ve more so been watching my old races and old Cup races just waiting to get the call to get back into the car,” Moffitt said. “My whole family lives and breathes NASCAR so it’s always been our main focus at any point in time.”

SM: This time can also be discouraging to everyone. What have you done to keep positive and look at the big picture moving forward?

TM: “Luckily I’ve been surrounded by very positive people and we’ve all kept a great outlook on the situation,” he said. “But, most of all, I’ve been looking to the man upstairs because I believe everything happens for a reason and he has a greater plan for each of us that we just don’t know yet.”

SM: What’s one thing you miss about being at the track?

TM: “The biggest thing I miss is the feeling when you strap in and the green is about to drop and nothing else in the world matters,” Moffitt said. But another thing I miss is getting to meet all the new people every weekend and interact with the fans and letting them get to know me a little better.”

SM: Wrapping it up, what’s one goal or objective that you hope to achieve before the 2020 season is over?

TM: “One of the biggest goals coming into the season was to win and then win again and again, so I stand by that goal and hope to win multiple races in the 2020 season.”

Fans of Thad can follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

So far in Moffitt’s young racing career, the North Carolina native has made 17 starts during a span of over four years dating back to his first ARCA start at the age of 16 at Nashville. Out of those 17 starts, the 19-year-old has one top-five and six top-10 finishes with a best finish of fifth occurring in the season opener at Daytona.

May 20, 2020