The west coast swing continued tonight as the truckers of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series suited up for a high-rolling brawl out in Las Vegas. Vegas has long been a favorite track for fans, and with 11 drivers in the field tonight making their first Vegas start, excitement and entertainment were all but guaranteed. The big questions coming out are: What driver was able to beat the house? Who gambled away too much? And did any of these 11 drivers have beginner’s luck? Let’s break it down! Here are the 3 key takeaways from tonight’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The big story of this race was the bizarre movement when it came to the weather. Rain and even a wintery mix threatened the race for much of the night. Meanwhile, when we were racing under green flag conditions, no one driver really stood out among the rest. Polesitter Corey Day led a couple of laps early on before losing the lead to Ty Majeski. The driver to lead the second-most laps at 38 was Tyler Ankrum but a slow pit stop and an incident late took him out of condition.
Stewart Friesen led a handful of laps as did the 34 of Lane Riggs. But late, it was Corey Heim who found himself in the prime position to win the race. He went on to do just that, scoring his 12th win in the Truck Series. At 20 years old, Heim became the youngest driver to ever reach 12 wins in the series.
Rain is fairly uncommon in the desert where Las Vegas Motor Speedway is located. But despite rain not being in the forecast, a pop-up shower brought the awesome racing of the first stage to an unfortunate and unsatisfactory end. Before the light rains rolled in, the top 5 runners were essentially cast under a blanket. Fast early on were the Spire drivers. However, as they battled amongst themselves, Tyler Ankrum was able to power by for the race lead. Only a couple of laps later, defending series champ Ty Majeski took the point. But he wasn’t able to escape the clutches of Ankrum who kept him perfectly within sight.
What looked like a promising and exciting finish to end the stage left us with a sour taste in our mouths as light rain started to fall. This brought our stage to a premature win. Under caution, Majeski was able to win the stage. One year ago, Majeski swept both of the stages at Las Vegas. He was looking to do that again here tonight, hopefully this time is better results. He was awarded 10 points and 1 Playoff point.
Rain lasted a little longer than expected with the delay clocking in at about an hour. As the FS1 crew started showing Best of Las Vegas Radioactive, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway crew jumped into action, drying the track. The race did restart at about 10:50PM EST and we were able to run to the conclusion of the second stage. That said, Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports pointed out that rain kept popping up and swelling around the area. With the conclusion of the second stage, the race would be official if any more showers popped up in the area.
Tyler Ankrum went on to win the second stage. After pit stops during the stage break, a slow stop cost him 7 spots on the track. Corey Heim cycled to the lead when the rain started to pick up once again. Cars were subsequently brought down pit road and we were in our second rain delay. This one was significantly shorter. Shortly after bringing the trucks down pit road and the drivers got out, they were called back to their trucks. We were going back racing momentarily!
Meanwhile, the threat of more rain still loomed.
Over the course of the last several years, driver of the number 18 Chevy for MHR was almost an afterthought, constantly being out shinned by his then-teammate of Christian Eckes. He was pretty well for the most part but was a far cry from the championship heavy-hitter that Eckes was. Hos with Eckes graduating up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, who the new top dog at MHR was a legitimate debate and question. Ankrum made his case today as he took the lead early on and led a handful of laps before falling to Majeski. He ended the first stage in 2nd but the second stage was really where he shone.
At the drop of the green flag to kick off the second stage, Ankrum rocketed out front and ran to the end of the 30-lap stage to take the win. At this point in the race, Ankrum earned the most stage points of any active full-time driver. This performance proved that he had a lightning-fast truck. If he could just clean up a few careless mistakes and put a full race together, he could be a legitimate threat for the title in the future.
Due to him losing much of his track position, Ankrum was involved in this incident involving the 45 truck. The 18 of Ankrum got into the wall and received moderate damage. He was able to continue but he never was in contention again.
When it comes to legends of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Matt Crafton is often mentioned among them. In his career, he has won 15 races and 3 championships. However, it has been almost five years since his last win, back in 2020. And even before that, he went winless for two straight years, including his championship-winning 2019 season. Recently, there has been a clear fall-off in performance, many citing age as the main culprit.
Last year, Crafton had one of the worst seasons in his career, finishing 14th in the points. After an abysmal start to the year with 27th and 24th place finishes at Daytona and Atlanta, respectively, it may lead many to ponder how many years the driver of the 88 Menards Ford has left behind the wheel. His only real highlight tonight came during the rain delay, where NASCAR caught one of his crewmen on camera tampering with the truck under red flag conditions. Needless to say, driver number 88 was not happy. He was forced the start the second stage at the tail end of the longest line. He spent the rest of the race running towards the middle of the pack.
This was a long one for the truckers out in Sin City. But we were able to finish the race and run the whole distance despite Mother Nature’s difficulties. What did you think of this race, NASCAR fans? Did you enjoy the product? Are you happy NASCAR chose to go the distance rather than calling it prematurely? Let us know what you’re thinking! And be sure to keep it here at DailyDownforce.com all weekend long for our coverage of racing out in the Las Vegas desert.
