NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series is the first of the sanctioning body’s three national touring series to set its playoff field and while regular season champion Corey Heim is the clear title favorite with seven victories this season, the most recent coming in Friday night’s Truck series regular season finale at Richmond, there are a few interesting twists heading into the post-season.
ThorSport Racing, whose drivers have won the championship three of the last four years, placed two entries in the title hunt, but the organization has yet to win a race this year. Ty Majeski earned the opportunity to defend his 2024 title on points, but two-time champion Ben Rhodes and three-time champion Matt Crafton won’t be in the post-season. Jake Garcia beat out ThorSport teammate Rhodes for the final playoff position by 19 points.
“Obviously, our regular season didn’t go the way we wanted,” said Rhodes, who finished eighth in the regular season finale at Richmond Raceway. “There are a few races that come to mind right away. Rockingham, a power-steering failure. Homestead, we got caught up in a turn one, lap one wreck from having to go to the back after a mechanical issue in qualifying, so there is stuff like that we could clean up and I think it would have been a different story tonight, but that’s part of it.”
Rhodes, who hasn’t won a race since 2023 when he claimed his second championship, says the remainder of this season will be research and development for his team.
“Now, we get to kind of try things and do things we didn’t think we could do, so you’re no longer in a box,” Rhodes said. “I don’t necessarily have to run for points, and we can set ourselves up for the end of the race for wins. We weren’t able to do that at Watkins Glen last week and quite a few races now. I guess that’s the silver lining if there is one.”
Initially, there were only three playoff positions open via points in the 10-driver field, but when Stewart Friesen’s team didn’t apply for a medical waiver that opened up four berths. Friesen, who won at Michigan earlier this year, suffered multiple injuries in a dirt modified race in Canada in late July. In a statement released on X (formerly Twitter) the day before the regular season finale, Halmar Friesen Racing owner Chris Larsen said the team had withdrawn a medical waiver for Friesen since it had become apparent that he couldn’t compete for the championship.
In addition to Majeski and Garcia, the other two drivers in the playoff field who have yet to win this year are Grant Enfinger, who is in the playoffs for the fourth straight year, and Kaden Honeycutt, who makes the playoffs for the second consecutive season. However, Honeycutt won’t be driving for Niece Motorsports, which was his team for the season’s first 16 races. Niece Motorsports released Honeycutt less than two weeks ago after the 22-year-old driver told the team he had committed to a different organization and manufacturer for 2026. Since Honeycutt was in the playoffs via points, Friesen’s team hired him to finish the season.
Both Front Row Motorsports Truck teams made the playoffs with drivers Chandler Smith and Layne Riggs. It’s Smith’s third post-season appearance and Riggs’ first. Both drivers already possess two victories this season. Drivers who earned a playoff berth with one victory are Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum and Rajah Caruth.
It’s Heim, however, who has been untouchable in the victory department. When he acquired his seventh win this season in Richmond’s eero 250 that gave him an 18-career total. At age 23, he is the youngest driver to ever possess 18 Truck Series victories. Previously, Kyle Busch was the youngest at 24.
The playoffs begin Aug. 30 at Darlington Raceway.
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