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It has been a long season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and it has all boiled down to this: The fall Martinsville race is in the books, and our Championship 4 is officially set heading into the season finale at Phoenix Raceway next Friday night. Who made the cut and who was left on the outside looking in? Let’s talk about it.
Resting smoothly in this penultimate race in the Round of 8 was Grant Enfinger. The driver of the number 9 Chevy won the first two races of the round, meaning that he punched his ticket to the Championship 4 weeks ago. It will be interesting to see how he does at Phoenix. Enfinger hasn’t been the best driver in 2024 but momentum does seem to be on his side. With the extra time to keep his eyes on the prize, could he be in contention to take it all come next week in Phoenix?
Christian Eckes came into this race knowing that he was going to have to earn his spot in the Championship 4. He has had a stellar season but has faltered in recent weeks, finding himself in a must-win scenario in Martinsville. And win he did and he did so in dominant fashion, leading 187 of the 200 laps. But the win did not come without controversy. On the last restart, Eckes tangled with Taylor Gray who was also in a must-win situation, much to Gray’s displeasure. But, at the end of the day, it was Eckes standing tall in Martinsville. It will be interesting to see if this latest bit of drama will bleed over next week into Phoenix where he will be running for a championship and Taylor Gray will have nothing to lose.
Corey Heim came into tonight’s race pretty safe. Like Eckes, Heim has been one of the top-tier drivers in the series this season. So far in 2024, he has visited victory lane 6 times and earned 13 top-5s, and 16 top-10s over 22 races. After how last year’s championship race went, Heim is looking for retribution. No doubt he’s one of the favorites heading into next week.
Ty Majeski was also sitting fairly pretty heading into tonight’s race as he was 22 points above the cutline. And, in the end, he was able to survive tonight’s race and punch his ticket into the Championship 4. He has had a quietly consistent year this year as he has won twice (two back-to-back wins at IRP and Richmond) and has 9 top-5s and 13 top-10s. The most interesting fact about Majeski’s championship run is the track he ran well at this year, namely flat, short ovals. Will that translate to Phoenix next week?
Rajah Caruth was the first driver to be decidedly eliminated from Championship 4 contention. Just after the conclusion of Stage 1, it was reported by Regan Smith that Rajah Caruth was experiencing brake issues. The issue seemed to manifest itself in the last lap of the opening stage. After the second stage began, Caruth fell through the field like a stone. Inevitably, he found himself behind the wall. His crew was able to fix the issue, but by the time he was able to rejoin his fellow competitors, the damage was done. Caruth found himself in an impossible hole to dig out of and he was effectively eliminated from championship contention.
Now let’s talk about the drivers who were left on the outside looking in. First up is Tyler Ankrum. Ankrum has had a consistent season but was noticeably behind, to terms of his performance, teammate Christian Eckes. Still, he’s had a pretty good season, definitely one he and his team can build on heading into the 2024 season.
Nick Sanchez came into tonight’s race with a clear head and one goal on his mind: to win. Sanchez has had a career year this season, scoring two wins at Daytona and Charlotte. But an unfortunate run at Talladega and a running out of gas while running 2nd at Homestead put him in a must-win scenario tonight. Unfortunately for him and his Rev Racing team, he just wasn’t able to get the job done.
The most heartbroken of the bunch was Taylor Gray. Gray had been in contention all day and was really racing Christian Eckes aggressively (but still cleanly) just before the final caution of the night. When the trucks lined up for the final restart of the night, Gray chose to take the outside. He then made a clean but hard pass on Christian Eckes as the laps wound down. In desperation, this led to Eckes ramming Gray from behind and knocking him up and out of the groove. It was this move that ended his championship hopes. Understandably upset, Gray approached Eckes during his victory celebration. No punches were thrown but he did warn Eckes: “I’m coming for you next week”. We’ll see if the tension between the drivers will continue into next week’s championship race. Hopefully, we won’t get another debacle like last year.
22 races down and 1 to go in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. Did your picks make this year’s championship 4? Are you surprised with who was left out? Let us know what you think! And be sure to keep it right here at DailyDownforce.com for all the updates and news heading into Championship weekend at Phoenix!
