After a regular season that spanned 16 races from February to August, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is now in a critical phase, embarking on a seven-race post-season journey to determine the champion.
The initial stop on this quest brings the NASCAR Truck Series to West Allis, Wisconsin, for Sunday’s LiUNA! 175 at The Milwaukee Mile.
This season, six different organizations have successfully placed at least one driver into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs.
Leading the series with three eligible drivers is McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, while ThorSport Racing and TRICON Garage each have two drivers competing. Additionally, REV Racing, Spire Motorsports, and CR7 Motorsports are also in the mix for the driver’s championship.
Let’s take a look at the ten drivers who will participate in the seven-race contest for NASCAR Truck Series dominance:
COREY HEIM (TRICON Garage) is making his second appearance in the NASCAR Truck Series Playoffs, piloting the No. 11 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Heim leads the series with five victories, and his average finish of 8.2 ranks second among full-time competitors.
CHRISTIAN ECKES (McAnally-Hilgemann Racing) is competing in the NASCAR Truck Series Playoffs for the fourth time, his second with MHR. He has been Heim’s closest rival this season, securing wins at Bristol, Martinsville, and Nashville, with only one finish outside the top-10.
TY MAJESKI (ThorSport Racing) arrives in the NASCAR Truck Series Playoffs riding a wave of positive momentum after victories at Indianapolis Raceway Park and Richmond Raceway. This marks his third appearance in the post-season.
NICK SANCHEZ (REV Racing) has made headlines this year with wins at both Daytona and Charlotte. However, a mechanical issue at Richmond resulted in his first finish outside the top-20 for the No. 2 team in 2024.
RAJAH CARUTH (Spire Motorsports) is making his debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this season, driving the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado. The season got off to an exciting start with a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
GRANT ENFINGER (CR7 Motorsports), at 39 years old, is the oldest driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs. He represents CR7 Motorsports, which finds itself in an unprecedented situation. Enfinger aims to lead Codie Rohrbaugh to Victory Lane, and potentially into the Championship 4.
TYLER ANKRUM (McAnally-Hilgemann Racing) is revitalizing his NASCAR career, making his third attempt at the NASCAR Truck Series Playoffs, and his first since his stint with GMS Racing in 2020.
TAYLOR GRAY (TRICON Garage) is still in pursuit of his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory, but he has successfully qualified for the playoffs in his first complete season. Crew chief Jeff Hensley, who brought Grant Enfinger to the Championship 4 in 2023, oversees his efforts.
DANIEL DYE (McAnally-Hilgemann Racing) managed to secure a spot in the NASCAR Craftsman
During the Truck Series Playoffs, Dye delivered an impressive performance at Richmond, gaining 12 points over Tanner Gray. While he still awaits his first career victory, he aims to progress further into the postseason before transitioning to the Xfinity Series in 2025.
IS THIS A TWO-HORSE RACE?
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Throughout the season, Corey Heim and Christian Eckes have consistently demonstrated their superiority in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Together, they have clinched an impressive eight out of 16 regular-season races and have led a remarkable 1,231 out of 2,531 laps (48.64%).
Both drivers are undoubtedly the frontrunners for the championship, set to compete fiercely against each other.
Heading into Sunday’s playoff kickoff at The Milwaukee Mile, Eckes boasts a streak of five consecutive top-three finishes, a run that originated at World Wide Technology Raceway in June. Despite winning the regular-season championship decisively, he enters the postseason as the No. 2 seed.
“Reflecting on last year, I feel it’s championship or bust,” stated Eckes. “I believe our preparations this year have fostered that mindset. I genuinely think we’re capable of achieving that, and that’s our goal.”
In contrast, Heim leveraged an impressive five victories (at COTA, Kansas, North Wilkesboro, Gateway, and Pocono), allowing him to outpace his primary championship challenger as the postseason began, even though he did not secure the regular-season title.
“I believe [Christian Eckes] has been exceptional, particularly in recent weeks,” Heim remarked about his opponent. “He has accumulated a significant number of points—his performance reminds me of my season last year. He might not have secured as many wins as he deserved, but he has remained consistently competitive and in the hunt every week.”
However, in this sport, nothing is guaranteed.
Eckes and Heim are not exempt from experiencing challenging weekends or encountering bad luck. If misfortune befalls either of these championship frontrunners, there’s a possibility that one could be eliminated from the post-season, and in a more chaotic scenario, perhaps even both.
The outcome in which both Eckes and Heim fail to reach the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway would significantly alter the dynamics of the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship battle, thereby allowing eight other drivers an opportunity to disrupt their plans.
CAN MAJESKI SUSTAIN HIS MOMENTUM?
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Although Corey Heim and Christian Eckes stand out as the clear favorites for the championship, Ty Majeski and ThorSport Racing quietly maintain momentum, currently positioned third among the ten eligible post-season drivers heading to Milwaukee.
Having secured consecutive victories in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at both Indianapolis Raceway Park and Richmond Raceway, Majeski now arrives at his home track, The Milwaukee Mile, where he and Joe Shear, Jr. have prepared a speedy Ford F-150.
The remaining seven races of the season feature venues including Milwaukee, Bristol, Kansas, Talladega, Homestead, Martinsville, and Phoenix. This year, the 30-year-old driver has excelled on short tracks, which constitute four of the final seven rounds, in addition to having won at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
While it’s not a certainty, there is compelling evidence suggesting that Majeski may find himself in an excellent position to pursue a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship in Phoenix this November.
“I definitely believe we’re among those top three contenders, especially following these two victories,” stated Majeski. “We might be carrying the most momentum in the series right now. Although our lows have probably been a bit more pronounced compared to Eckes and Heim, our highs have been comparable, so as long as we can peak at the right moment and maintain this momentum, there’s no reason we can’t be a formidable competitor when we ideally reach Phoenix.”
The native of Seymour, Wisconsin, currently holds an average finishing position of 12.1.
heading into the post-season, which currently ranks sixth of the 10 championship contenders, behind Nick Sanchez, Rajah Caruth, and Grant Enfinger, as well as Eckes and Heim.
CAN BEN RHODES WIN IT AGAIN?
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Entering the final seven races of 2024, Ben Rhodes is looking to match ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton as a three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, and all before turning 28 in February.
Showing up at the back end of the NASCAR Truck Series campaign has been a trademark of Rhodes, but the Louisville, Kentucky-native is going to have to kick it up a couple of notches if he wants to contend come Phoenix in November.
Rhodes is winless through the first 16 events of the season and has only collected a pair of top-five finishes, both of which happened several months ago, at Darlington and Charlotte. His 16 laps led is a career-low for Rhodes, who has led 50+ laps in each of his full-time campaigns.
For his first championship in 2023, Rhodes was the third-place seed to start the post-season, but last season, the ThorSport Racing driver was in danger of elimination from the start, being seeded seventh.
“Just the fact that we’ve done it, I think that’s going to tell us we can do it again,” said Rhodes. “It’s just that we have the blueprint. We’ve done it twice and we’ve done it when our back has been against the wall.”
“We’ve done it when we had to get in on tiebreaks, where we had to do crazy strategy and we’d get in on a point We’ve been put through the crucible. We’ve gone through the wringer and somehow, we’ve found a way to make it to the next round. I can thoroughly say that the pressure doesn’t get to us at all.”
No dark storm clouds are hanging over the head of Rhodes, that’s for sure, with the seven-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series winner believing that the speed can be there for the No. 99 Ford F-150 team to advance to Phoenix and compete for a championship.
“Yeah, the speed can be there. We’ve got to unload a little closer, though,” said Rhodes. “That’s kind of where we’re at with this Next Gen practice session. You have to unload off your transporter straight from the race shop perfect, and there’s no opportunity to really tune on the truck. There are a lot of times when I know what’s wrong, but I don’t have the tools available to me to fix it. “
Rhodes will start Sunday’s LiUNA! 175 furthest back of the Playoff drivers, in 18th.
LOOKING FOR LANDMARKS:
Photo Credit: Jonathan McCoy, TobyChristie.com
There are seven races left on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule this season, and while the fight for the title is the most important thing for those eligible, there are also some exterior motivations.
Taylor Gray and Daniel Dye are both in search of their maiden wins in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. With both drivers in the rumor mill as potential Xfinity Series drivers for 2025 (Dye announced his deal with Kaulig on Friday), they’ll look to check that off the list before potentially moving on from the series.
While Grant Enfinger has been to Victory Lane on 10 occasions in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the organization he’s currently competing with, CR7 Motorsports, has yet to make that trip. The Fairhope, Alabama native has finished second twice this year at North Wilkesboro and Pocono.
Tyler Ankrum isn’t in the exact same boat as his MHR teammate Daniel Dye, but it’s been half a decade since the San Bernardino, California native has been in Victory Lane in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The 23-year-old has set a new career-high in top-five results this year and finished runner-up at Las Vegas in March.
Christian Eckes is searching for his landmark tenth win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, currently sitting at eight. Earlier this year, Corey Heim became the youngest driver to achieve 10 NCTS wins. Reaching that mark before the season’s end would rank Eckes third, behind Heim and Brett Moffitt.
ThorSport Racing is three
With just a few victories remaining to achieve its 50th win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, this milestone might be reached by Ben Rhodes or Ty Majeski, as well as non-playoff competitors Matt Crafton, Jake Garcia, or Conner Jones.
Tanner Gray, despite not qualifying for the post-season, aims to become the seventh driver to secure a top-20 finish in every NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event of a season.
THE OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP:
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This season, along with a fierce competition for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Driver’s Championship, there is an exciting contest brewing for the Owner’s Championship. The eligible teams for the NASCAR Truck Series Owner’s Playoff Field are as follows:
- #11 TRICON Garage (Driver: Corey Heim)
- #19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing (Driver: Christian Eckes)
- #98 ThorSport Racing (Driver: Ty Majeski)
- #2 REV Racing (Driver: Nick Sanchez)
- #71 Spire Motorsports (Driver: Rajah Caruth)
- #9 CR7 Motorsports (Driver: Grant Enfinger)
- #18 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing (Driver: Tyler Ankrum)
- #7 Spire Motorsports (Drivers: Sammy Smith, Connor Zilisch, Connor Mosack)
- #45 Niece Motorsports (Drivers: Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack)
- #17 TRICON Garage (Drivers: Taylor Gray)
Spire Motorsports (No. 7) and Niece Motorsports (No. 45) are uniquely positioned in the competition for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Owner’s Playoffs, as they lack a full-time driver. Consequently, they have pushed aside the ThorSport Racing No. 99.
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing No. 43.
In terms of seeding for the NCTS Owner’s Playoffs, there aren’t any significant changes. Spire Motorsports has placed the No. 7 car in eighth position, while Niece Motorsports has the No. 45 in ninth. Consequently, the TRICON Garage No. 17 is now in tenth place.
For The Milwaukee Mile, Spire Motorsports will feature Sammy Smith in their entry. Connor Mosack will drive at Kansas Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, while Connor Zilisch will take the wheel at Bristol Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, and Martinsville Speedway. A driver for the season finale at Phoenix has yet to be announced.
Kaden Honeycutt will pilot the No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports in six of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff events, with Connor Mosack rounding out the season at Phoenix Raceway.
This year, Honeycutt has proven to be a formidable competitor in his chosen NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races, achieving a top-five finish at Kansas and securing four top-10 finishes across seven starts, resulting in an average finishing position of 12.1.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs are set to start this Sunday at The Milwaukee Mile, with coverage of the playoff opener commencing at 4:00 PM ET on FOX Sports 1.
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2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs: A Deep Dive into the Championship Contenders
Overview of the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs
The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is shaping up to be one of the most competitive seasons in recent memory. With an intense regular season and a diverse lineup of talented drivers, the playoffs are set to showcase thrilling races as contenders vie for the championship. The playoffs, featuring a unique format, bring heightened excitement and drama as each driver pushes their limits on the track.
Playoff Structure and Format
Understanding the playoff format is crucial for fans and newcomers alike. The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs consist of the following key components:
- Number of Races: The playoffs consist of seven races, culminating in the championship race.
- Points System: Drivers accumulate points throughout the regular season, with additional points awarded for stage wins and race victories.
- Elimination Rounds: The playoffs use an elimination format where the lowest-performing drivers are cut after each round, leading to the final four drivers competing for the championship.
Playoff Schedule
| Race Number | Race Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gateway Motorsports Park | September 14, 2024 |
| 2 | Bristol Motor Speedway | September 21, 2024 |
| 3 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | September 28, 2024 |
| 4 | Talladega Superspeedway | October 5, 2024 |
| 5 | Martinsville Speedway | October 12, 2024 |
| 6 | Homestead-Miami Speedway | October 19, 2024 |
| 7 | Phoenix Raceway | November 2, 2024 |
Top Championship Contenders for 2024
As the playoffs approach, several drivers stand out as strong contenders for the championship in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Here’s a closer look at the top drivers to watch:
1. Zane Smith
Zane Smith has had a remarkable run this season, marked by consistent performances and crucial wins. Currently driving for Front Row Motorsports, Smith has secured his spot in the playoffs with several top-five finishes.
- Strengths: Strong in short tracks and excellent at adapting to changing conditions.
- Key Statistics: 3 wins, 8 top-five finishes, and an average finish position of 5.6.
2. Ty Majeski
Ty Majeski has emerged as a formidable competitor, showcasing his skills with solid performances throughout the season. Racing for ThorSport Racing, his experience in the Truck Series has proven invaluable.
- Strengths: Exceptional at managing tire wear and a strong performer on intermediate tracks.
- Key Statistics: 2 wins, 9 top-five finishes, and a season average of 6.2.
3. Grant Enfinger
Grant Enfinger, a veteran in the series, has consistently shown his prowess on the track. Driving for GMS Racing, his ability to stay competitive in high-pressure situations makes him a strong candidate for the championship.
- Strengths: Known for his strategic racing style and ability to make quick decisions.
- Key Statistics: 1 win, 7 top-five finishes, and an average finish of 7.0.
4. Ben Rhodes
Defending champion Ben Rhodes is back with a vengeance, eager to reclaim his title. With a solid foundation and a strong team behind him at ThorSport Racing, Rhodes is a driver to watch in the playoffs.
- Strengths: Strong on the ovals and adept at late-race strategy.
- Key Statistics: 2 wins, 6 top-five finishes, and a season average finish of 8.1.
Key Strategies for Championship Contenders
To succeed in the playoffs, championship contenders must implement effective strategies:
1. Consistency is Key
Maintaining a high level of performance race after race is essential. Drivers need to minimize mistakes and capitalize on opportunities to gain points.
2. Adaptability
Every track presents unique challenges. Successful drivers are those who can quickly adapt their racing style to suit the conditions, whether it’s a short track or a superspeedway.
3. Effective Team Communication
Clear communication between the driver and the pit crew can make or break a race. Quick adjustments during pit stops and relay of information about track conditions are vital.
4. Psychological Resilience
Playoff pressure can be intense. Contenders must maintain a focused mindset, staying calm under pressure to execute their strategies effectively.
Benefits of Following the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs
Following the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs offers fans numerous benefits:
- Excitement and Entertainment: The playoffs feature some of the most thrilling races of the season, filled with unexpected twists and turns.
- Insight into Racing Strategies: Fans gain a deeper understanding of racing tactics as drivers navigate high-pressure situations.
- Community Engagement: The NASCAR community is vibrant, offering fans opportunities to connect with fellow enthusiasts through events and discussions.
Case Studies of Previous Playoff Champions
Examining past champions can provide insights into what it takes to succeed in the playoffs. Here are a few notable case studies:
Case Study: Matt Crafton
Matt Crafton is a two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion. His approach combined consistent finishes with strategic pit stops, showcasing the importance of teamwork. Crafton emphasized mental toughness, allowing him to thrive in the playoffs.
Case Study: Johnny Sauter
Johnny Sauter’s 2016 championship run highlighted his ability to perform under pressure. His knack for aggressive racing and late-race comebacks set him apart. Sauter’s focus on maintaining composure during critical moments proved essential.
Fan Experience During the Playoffs
The fan experience during the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs is enhanced by:
1. Interactive Events
Fans can participate in various events, including driver meet-and-greets, autograph sessions, and behind-the-scenes tours that deepen their connection to the sport.
2. Enhanced Viewing Options
With multiple viewing platforms, fans can enjoy races from the comfort of their homes or live at the track, experiencing the excitement of the playoffs in real-time.
3. Social Media Engagement
Fans can follow their favorite drivers on social media, keeping up with their journeys and participating in discussions, polls, and contests related to the playoffs.
Conclusion
The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs promise to be an exhilarating journey filled with intense competition, strategic battles, and unforgettable moments. With the top drivers showcasing their skills and the unique playoff format keeping fans on the edge of their seats, this season is set to be one for the books. Keep an eye on the championship contenders as they navigate the thrilling road to the title!
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