After 22 races in the Craftsman Truck Series, it has all come down to one final race in the 2024 season. Corey Heim, Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger, and Christian Eckes will all battle it out for the title of champion. And for four Truck Series drivers it will be their “swan song” as they run their final race in the Truck Series before moving on to the cars of the Xfinity Series.
Thirty-five teams have brought trucks to Phoenix Raceway for 36 starting spots including Conner Jones after his one race suspension for intentionally sending Matt Mills into the wall.
After a full practice session, Corey Heim, Ty Majeski, and Grant Enfinger topped the leaderboard with Christian Eckes in sixth.
The drivers will qualify under the hot Arizona sky before racing under the lights.
The first driver on the track to make a qualifying run is Frankie Muniz who posted a time of 27.951 seconds around the one-mile track.
Lawless Alan gets into the wall while making his qualifying run and will have to move to a backup truck.
With 20 trucks having qualified, the top three drivers are separated by just eleven thousandths of a second!
With a time of 26.053 seconds, Ty Majeski puts his number 98 truck on the pole with Corey Heim starting alongside on the front row. All four playoff drivers will start in the top five.
The starting lineup for the Championshp Truck Race in Phoenix:
Ty Majeski
Corey Heim
Stewart Friesen
Christian Eckes
Grant Enfinger
Dean Thompson
Nick Sanchez
Kaden Honeycutt
Connor Mosack
Chase Purdy
Layne Riggs
Tyler Ankrum
Conner Jones
Taylor Gray
Tanner Gray
Daniel Dye
William Sawalich
Bayley Currey
Rajah Caruth
Ben Rhodes
Jack Wood
Matt Crafton
Stefan Parsons
Brett Moffitt
Dawson Sutton
Andres Perez De Lara
Jake Garcia
Matt Mills
Timmy Hill
Spencer Boyd
Frankie Muniz
Keith McGee
Nathan Byrd
Thad Moffitt
Lawless Alan
Stages one and two are 45 laps each with stage three lasting 60 laps for a total of 150 laps around the one mile track. The drivers can run 80 to 85 laps on a single load of fuel.
Ty Majeski brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Corey Heim on the inside lane. Majeski edges out for the lead as the drivers spread out at least five wide.
Lap two, Ty Majeski has a one second lead on Corey Heim; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Stewart Friesen round out the top five.
Lap five, Ty Majeski has pulled out to a second and a half lead on Corey Heim; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Stewart Friesen round out the top five.
Lap seven, Dean Thompson and Stewart Friesen battle for fifth.
Lap 15, ty Majeski now has a lead of over two seconds on Corey Heim; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Stewart Friesen continue to round out the top five.
Ty Majeski is running some of the fastest laps on the track and has begun lapping slower traffic.
Lap 18, Grant Enfinger passes Stewart Friesen for fifth.
Lap 26, there are 29 trucks on the lead lap.
Lap 22, Ty Majeski has led every lap and is easily working his way through the field.
Lap 29, ty Jajeski reports that he is losing right rear grip; his lead is down to under a second over Corey Heim; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Grant Enfinger round out the top five. There are 23 trucks on the lead lap.
With 13 laps remaining in stage one, Ty Majeski holds on to the lead but is just half a second in front of Corey Heim.
Lap 39, Corey Heim catches up to leader Ty Majeski and passes for the lead. There are only 20 trucks on the lead lap.
Five laps remain in stage one with Corey Heim leading the race and Ty Majeski in second; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Grant Enfinger round out the top five.
The caution flag comes out with just three laps to go in stage one for Frankie Muniz who spun out after some contact on the track from William Sawalich. The drivers barely misses leader Corey Heim.
Stage one ends under caution with Corey Heim winning the stage.
While stage points have little meaning where the playoff drivers are concerned, points earned during the race do have a bearing on where the drivers will finish in the standings.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Corey Heim
Ty Majeski
Christian Eckes
Nick Sanchez
Grant Enfinger
Dean Thompson
Connor Mosack
Layne Riggs
Conner Jones
Stewart Friesen
Twentieth place driver Daniel Dye is the “lucky dog”.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Ty Majeski winning the race off of pit road and Christian Eckes in second. Corey Heim had a slower stop after having to back up in his pit box.
Several of the drivers are reporting that their pit boxes are “slick as ice”.
Ty Majeski brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two with Christian Eckes alongside on lap 55. Ty Majeski and Christian Eckes battle for the lead as the field spreads out several trucks wide on the track. Majeski edges out Eckes for the lead.
Corey Heim passes Christian Eckes for second.
The top five are Ty Majeski, Corey Heim, Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Dean Thompson.
Lap 59, the caution flag comes out when Jack Wood gets into the wall. Wood was in the bottom lane in a three wide battle with Bayley Currey and Matt Crafton when he spun out.
Stefan Parsons is the “lucky dog”.
Ty Majeski brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 65. Corey Heim gets out in front for the lead with drivers spread out all across the track.
The top five are Corey Heim, Ty Majeski, Nick Sanchez, Christian Eckes, and Layne Riggs.
NASCAR has flagged Dean Thompson for a restart penalty. He will have to serve a passthrough penalty for the violation.
Jack Wood is the first driver out of the race.
Lap 70, Ty Majeski and Corey Heim battle for the lead and make contact. Majeski takes the lead.
Lap 77, Ty Majeski has pulled out to a lead of nearly a second and a half on Corey Heim; Nick Sanchez, Layne Riggs, and Christian Eckes round out the top five. There are 21 trucks on the lead lap.
Ten laps remain in stage two; ty Jajeski has increased his lead to nearly two and a half seconds on Corey Heim; Nick Sanchez, Layne Riggs, and Christian Eckes round out the top five.
Three laps remain in stage two; Ty Majeski has a near three second lead on Corey Heim.
Ty Majeski wins stage two for his seventh stage win of the season.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Ty Majeski
Corey Heim
Layne Riggs
Nick Sanchez
Christian Eckes
Connor Mosack
Grant Enfinger
Taylor Gray
Stewart Friesen
Ben Rhodes
Drivers come down pit road for service with Ty Majeski winning the race off of pit road. Corey Heim lost three spots on pit road. Several of the drivers were spinning their tires trying to get out of their pit boxes.
Matt Crafton was charged with improper fueling of the truck.
Ty Majeski brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 100 with Nick Sanchez alongside. Drivers spread out across the track.
The caution flag comes out on lap 100 involving several trucks when Connor Mosack hits the wall and collects up Tyler Ankrum, Stefan Parsons, Frankie Muniz, Thad Moffitt, William Sawalich, Spencer Boyd, Stewart Friesen, and Andres Perez de Lara.
Playoff driver Corey Heim has been charged with a restart violation and will have to serve a penalty.
NASCAR has red flagged the race in order to get the track cleaned of debris and fluid.
After about a five minute delay, NASCAR pulls the red flag and displays the yellow caution flag and the drivers get moving once again.
Ty Majeski brings the field down for the green flag restart with 43 laps remaining in the race. Majeski takes the lead from the outside lane. Drivers spread out across the track.
The top five are Ty Majeski, Layne Riggs, Nick Sanchez, Taylor Gray, and Grant Enfinger. Corey Heim is in the top 20 in 16th.
The caution flag comes out with 40 to go when Conner Jones spins out after a battle with teammate Jake Garcia.
Corey Heim has already made it back in the top 10.
Kaden Honeycutt was charged with a restart violation.
Several of the drivers come down pit road for fresh tires with leader Ty Majeski staying out on the track.
Ty Majeski brings the field down for the green flag restart with Layne Riggs alongside on lap 117. Drivers get five and six wide. Corey Heim goes from eighth to third in just on corner.
Layne Riggs spins out to bring out caution flag number six after some contact with Nick Sanchez.
Ty Majeski brings the field down for the green flag restart with just 27 laps remaining in the race. Majeski holds on to the lead as drivers get five wide.
The top five are ty Majeski, Corey Heim, Nck Sanchez, Daniel Dye, and Christian Eckes.
Daniel Dye was charged with a restart violation and will have to serve a passthrough penalty.
Twenty-three laps remain in the race; Ty Majeski has a near second and a half lead on Corey heim; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Taylor Gray round out the top five.
With 17 laps to go, Ty Majeski has pulled out to a lead of two and a half seconds on Corey Heim; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Grant Enfinger round out the top five.
With 13 to go, Ty Majeski has increased his lead to over three seconds on Corey Heim.
Ten to go, Ty Majeski has a near four second lead on Corey Heim; Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Grant Enfinger round out the top five.
Seven to go, all four playoff drivers are in the top five with Ty Majeski nearly four seconds in front of Corey Heim.
Five to go, Ty Majeski has increased his lead to over four seconds.
Ty Majeski takes the white flag with a lead of over four seconds on Corey Heim.
Giving Thor Sport their second championship in a row, Ty Majeski joins teammate Ben Rhodes as a Craftsman Truck Series champion! This makes championship number six for Thor Sport.
The unofficial results of the championship race in Phoenix:
Ty Majeski
Corey Heim
Christian Eckes
Nick Sanchez
Grant Enfinger
Taylor Gray
Kaden Honeycutt
Connor Mosack
Ben Rhodes
Layne Riggs
Tanner Gray
Chase Purdy
Rajah Caruth
Jake Garcia
Dean Thompson
Brett Moffitt
Conner Jones
Stewart Friesen
Matt Crafton
Dawson Sutton
Bayley Currey
Timmy Hill
Stefan Parsons
Daniel Dye
Matt Mills
Nathan Byrd
Thad Moffitt
Spencer Boyd
Keith McGee
Lawless Alan
Andres Perez de Lara
William Sawalich
Tyler Ankrum
Frankie Muniz
Jack Wood