Rookie Wins Milwaukee Mile

In a stand alone event the Craftsman Truck Series begins their playoffs at the Milwaukee Mile and some Sunday afternoon racing.

Thirty-seven teams brought trucks to Milwaukee for the Liuna! 175 to fill 36 spots.

At the end of the 20 minute practice session, Ty Majeski topped the leaderboard.

Norm Benning is the first driver on the track to make a qualifying run and posts a time of 34.037 seconds around the one mile track.

Matthew Gould not only broke the 34 second mark/ he crushed it with a time of 31.047 seconds.

Just the third driver out, Marco Andretti broke the 31 second mark with a qualifying run of 30. 670 seconds.

Nine of the 16 drivers to make a qualifying run so far have all been in the 30 second range with Bayley Currey at the top of the board with a time of 30,271 seconds.

Tanner Gray broke the 30 second mark with a qualifying time of 29.836 seconds.

With a time of 29.815 seconds, Ty Majeski will sit on the pole for the Liuna! 175 with Tanner Gray starting alongside on the front row.

Christian Eckes was the only other driver to post a sub 30 second lap time.

Norm Benning failed to qualify for the race.

The starting lineup for the Liuna 175:
Ty Majeski
Tanner Gray
Christian Eckes
Corey Heim
Nick Sanchez
William Sawalich
Kaden Honeycutt
Rajah Caruth
Tyler Ankrum
Daniel Dye
Taylor Gray
Grant Enfinger
Bayley Currey
Matt Crafton
Ty Dillon
Layne Riggs
Matt Mills
Ben Rhodes
Sammy Smith
Jake Garcia
Chase Purdy
Dean Thompson
Stewart Friesen
Marco Andretti
Jack Wood
Conner Jones
Timmy Hill
Bret Holmes
Mason Maggio
Lawless Alan
Matthew Gould
Dexter Bean
Thad Moffitt
Spencer Boyd
Justin Carroll
Jayson Alexander

Stages one and two are 55 laps each with stage three lasting 65 laps for a total of 175 laps around the one mile track.  The drivers can run 75 to 80 laps on a single load of fuel.

Rajah Caruth’s crew made an unapproved adjustment to his truck and as a result, Caruth will have to start the race from the back of the field.

Ty Majeski brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Tanner Gray alongside. Majeski jumps out in front for the lead…and with that the playoffs have begun.

Lap two, the drivers are spread out all over the track.

Ty Majeski leads the race with Christian Eckes in second; Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez, and Tanner Gray round out the top five.

Lap four, Ty Majeski has pulled out to a lead of over half a second on Christian Eckes.

Lap five, after starting the race from the back of the field, Rajah Caruth has moved up to 27^th place. 

Lap eight, Ty Majeski now has a lead of over a second on Christian Eckes; Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez, and Kaden Honeycutt round out the top five.  Rajah Caruth is now in 26^th place.

Lap 16, Ty Majeski has a lead of over a second on Christian Eckes; Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez, and Kaden Honeycutt round out the top five.  Ty Majeski has led every lap so far.

Bayley Currey had to make an unscheduled trip down pit road with a flat tire.

Lap 19, Rajah Caruth is now in 24^th place after starting the race at the back.

Lap 22, Christian Eckes has closed the gap on leader Ty Majeski to under a half a second; Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez, and Kaden Honeycutt round out the top five.  Rajah Caruth is up to 22^nd place.

Lap 30, Ty Majeski has pulled out to a one second lead on Christian Eckes; Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez, and Kaden Honeycutt round out the top five.  Rajah Caruth has entered the top 20.

With 23 laps remaining in stage one, all 10 of the playoff drivers are in the top 20.

Sammy Smith flew up from Daytona after the Xfinity Series race on Friday night, but there are a number of drivers in the race who ran in the ARCA Series race earlier in the day.

Lap 36, there are 25 drivers on the lead lap.

Lap 37, Ty Majeski continues to lead the race and has a one second lead on Christian Eckes; Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez, and Kaden Honeycutt round out the top five.

Twelve laps remain in stage one, Christian Eckes passes Ty Majeski to take the lead; Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez, and Kaden Honeycutt round out the top five.

Nine laps remain in stage one, only 21 trucks are on the lead lap with all 36 drivers on the track.

The caution flag comes out with just seven laps remaining in stage one when Jayson Alexander gets loose and taps the wall.

Several of the drivers come down pit road for service.  Milwaukee is very abrasive on tires with two and three second fall offs.

Corey Heim was caught speeding on pit road and will have to restart the race from the back of the field.

Stage one ends under caution with Ty Dillon winning the stage after staying out on the track.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Ty Dillon
Jake Garcia
Christian Eckes
Ty Majeski
Nick Sanchez
Layne Riggs
Daniel Dye
Tanner Gray
Taylor Gray
Tyler Ankrum

This is the first race since Memorial Day weekend that Christian Eckes has not been in the top two at the end of a stage.

Dexter Bean gets stalled on the track, extending the caution.  He gets the truck moving again.

Christian Eckes brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two with Ty Majeski alongside on lap 63 with 28 trucks on the lead lap.  Christian Eckes takes the lead from the inside lane with Layne Riggs taking second; Ty Majeski, Nick Sanchez, and Tanner Gray round out the top five.

With the wave around trucks, Corey Heim restarts the race in 21^st place.

Lap 68, Corey Heim is now in the top 15; Rajah Caruth is mired back in 20^th.  Christian Eckes has a lead of under half a second on Layne Riggs.

Lap 70 – playoff driver positons:
Christian Eckes – 1
Ty Majeski – 3
Nick Sanchez – 4
Taylor Gray – 6
Daniel Dye – 8
Tyler Ankrum – 9
Grant Enfniger – 12
Ben Rhodes – 13
Corey Heim – 15
Rajah Caruth – 20

Lap 74, Christian Eckes ahs a  half second lead on Layne Riggs, Ty Majeski, Nick Sanchez, and Tanner Gray round out the top five.

Lap 80, Christian Eckes has a lead of over half a second on Layne Riggs; Ty Majeski, Nick Sanchez, and Tanner Gray round out the top five with 27 trucks on the lead lap.

Lap 83, Christian Eckes now has a one second lead on Layne Riggs; Ty Majeski, Nick Sanchez, and Tanner Gray round out the top five with Taylor Gray in sixth behind brother Tanner.

Jayson Alexander is out of the race with 26 trucks on the lead lap.

Lap 87, Rajah Caruth has moved up to 18^th, over 20 seconds behind the leader.

Ty Majeski passes Layne Riggs for second with Nick Sanchez on Riggs’ bumper looking to take third.

Lap 89, Christian Eckes has pulled out to a near two second lead on Ty Majeski.

With 14 laps remaining in stage two, Christian Eckes has pulled out to a lead of nearly three seconds.  He has led laps in every race so far this season.

The top five are Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, Layne Riggs, Nick Sanchez, and Taylor Gray.

There are 24 trucks on the lead lap.

Lawless Alan is on pit road.

With six laps to go, there are 21 trucks on the lead lap.

Four laps to go in stage two, six of the 10 playoff drivers are in the top 10 with Christian Eckes leading the way over two seconds out in front.

Christian Eckes wins stage two for his ninth stage win of the season.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Christian Eckes
Ty Majeski
Layne Riggs
Nick Sanchez
Taylor Gray
Daniel Dye
Tyler Ankrum
Matt Crafton
Kayden Honeycutt
Grant Enfinger

Drivers come down pit road for service with Christian Eckes winning the race off of pit road and Layne Riggs coming off second.

Christian Eckes brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 120 with Layne Riggs alongside.  Drivers spread out three and four wide.  Ty Majeski gets out in front for the lead with Layne Riggs in second; Christian Eckes, Taylor Gray, and Corey Heim round out the top five.

Matt Mills gets into the wall but the track stays green.

Lap 121 Ty Majeski and Layne Riggs battle for the lead with Christian Eckes on their bumper.

Lap 123, Layne Riggs takes the lead.

Rajah Caruth has been unable to move up through the field and is still mired back in 20^th place.  The remainder of the playoff drivers are all in the top 15.

Lap 125, the top five are Layne Riggs, Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, and Nick Sanchez.

Just 44 laps remain in the race with Layne Riggs nearly a half a second out in front of Ty Majeski; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Corey Heim round out the top five.

Forty to go, Layne Riggs now has a lead of over half a second on Ty Majeski.

Eight of the 10 playoff drivers are in the top 10.

With 37 laps to go, Layne Riggs has increased his lead to a second on Ty Majeski; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Corey Heim round out the top five.

Thirty to go, Layne Riggs has a lead of over a second on Ty Majeski; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Corey Heim round out the top five.

Just 24 laps to go, Layne Riggs has a one second lead on Ty Majeski; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Corey Heim round out the top five.  Ben Rhodes reports that his truck “just isn’t right”.

Twenty to go!  Layne Riggs has a lead of nearly a second and a half on Ty Majeski with 21 trucks on the lead lap.

There have only been four leaders in the race today – Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Ty Dillon, and Layne Riggs.

Just 13 laps to go, Layne Riggs continues to lead the race but second place driver Ty Majeski has closed the gap to under a second; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Corey Heim round out the top five.  Corey Heim, Tyler Ankrum, and Taylor Gray battle for fifth.

Ten to go, Layne Riggs holds on to a near one second lead on Ty Majeski.  Taylor Gray passes Corey Heim for fifth.

There are 20 trucks on the lead lap with Layne Riggs out in front.

Five to go, Layne Riggs has a lead of over a second on Ty Majeski.  The 22 year old second generation driver is looking for his first career win in the Truck Series.

Layne Riggs takes the white flag!

With a lead of nearly a second and a half, Layne Riggs wins the Truck Series race for his first win.

The unofficial results of the Liuna 175:
Layne Riggs
Ty Majeski
Christian Eckes
Nick Sanchez
Taylor Gray
Tyler Ankrum
Corey Heim
Daniel Dye
Ben Rhodes
Matt Crafton
Tanner Gray
Kaden Honeycutt
Grant Enfinger
William Sawalich
Jack Wood
Ty Dillon
Sammy Smith
Rajah Caruth
Dean Thompson
Stewart Friesen
Jake Garcia
Conner Jones
Chase Purdy
Matt Mills
Timmy Hill
Bret Holmes
Mason Maggio
Spencer Boyd
Bayley Currey
Dexter Bean
Marco Andretti
Thad Moffitt
Matthew Gould
Justin Carroll
Lawless Alan
Jayson Alexnader

Winner Layne Riggs dislocated his shoulder during his celebration.  And Dad Scott was on hand to see the win!