This weekend, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to America’s Heartland for the first of two races this season at Kansas Speedway. The track appears once again as the Round of 10 elimination race in the Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs this September, so, the spring race is critical for Playoff hopefuls looking for information for a deep run.
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Honestly, I feel like a broken record at this point discussing the favorites, but, every race winner this season has come from the same three race teams or affiliates of those teams, Spire Motorsports, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, and, TRICON Garage. These organizations also combined to sweep the top 6 at both intermediate races so far this season, Las Vegas and Texas.
Corey Heim is the one to watch from TRICON Garage with top-3s in both intermediate track races this season plus top-4s in both Kansas races in 2023. Taylor Gray is a solid dark horse pick as well, as he finished 2nd at Kansas in the fall of 2023. Could we see a first-time winner in 2024?
McAnally-Hilgemann’s Christian Eckes won at Kansas last fall, but, felly Chevy outfit Spire Motorsports is set to bring their “A” Game as well. Spire has swept the intermediate track wins so far this season with Rajah Caruth winning at Las Vegas and Kyle Busch (Not entered this weekend) winning at Texas. Nick Sanchez led the most laps at Kansas last fall, so, he’s one to watch out for.
Grant Enfinger qualified in the top 10 in the last race at Texas, but, he finished a disappointing 29th. He has little room for error, sitting only 5 points above the Playoff cutline with only 9 races left before the Postseason. Luckily for Enfinger, he won at Kansas in the spring of 2023.
Stewart Friesen’s issue in 2024 has been putting a whole race together. Good runs at Bristol, Las Vegas, and Texas were done in by mishaps during the race. Friesen sits 17 points below the Playoff cutline, so, each race is critical towards getting into the Playoffs.
Ben Rhodes continued a disappointing 2024 season at Texas with a 24th-place finish, but, he is only 6 points out of the Playoffs heading into this weekend. He led laps in both races at Kansas in 2023 but failed to record a top-10. The speed is there, but, can he put it all together?
Layne Riggs continued his abysmal start to 2024 with a 31st-place finish at Texas following an accident. Now 61 points below the Playoff cutline, he is likely within must-win territory. The turnaround has to start at Kansas.
Thad Moffitt had a weekend to forget at Texas, crashing out on lap 2. A tough blow for a new team with some things to smile about after Martinsville. After a two-week break, Kansas gives Moffitt and the team a fresh start.
Conner Jones is once again not entered this weekend for ThorSport.
Brett Moffitt makes his long-awaited return to the Truck Series this weekend in the No. 1 Truck for TRICON Garage. The 2019 Champion is easily a candidate to win this weekend given both his equipment and the win at Talladega last fall.
Connor Mosack takes on the Truck Series this weekend in the Spire Motorsports No. 7 Truck. He is pulling double duty this weekend, also starting in the ARCA Menards Series race earlier on Saturday.
Supercars star Cam Waters makes his second Truck Series start this weekend for ThorSport. He struggled in his first career start at Martinsville, finishing 30th after crashing out with 24 laps to go.
Zane Smith is the only Cup Series regular in the field. He is a former winner at Kansas, taking home the checkered flag in 2022.
The Craftsman Truck Series is set to put on a show at Kansas. It’s the first of 5 consecutive Truck Series race weekends, so, there’s plenty of Truck Series racing on the way.
