It’s been a long year for the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series truckers and it has all come down to this. Friday night under the lights at Phoenix International Raceway, we crowned our season champion. Four drivers were eligible but only one escaped the Valley of the Sun with the Craftsman hardware. Did your pick leave with the trophy or were they one of the three left in bitter defeat? Let’s talk about!
Ty Majeski won tonight’s race and, as a result, the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship in dominating fashion. He started from the pole and led nearly the first 40 laps of the race before briefly losing the lead to championship rival, Corey Heim. He went on to finish second in the stage. But, after a race-winning pit stop, he regained the lead to start the second stage and he never looked back. He ran the race to the end from the lead and nobody in the closing stages really had anything from him. He was over seconds ahead of Heim as he crossed the line to capture his first Truck Series title, leading the most laps he’s led all season long–132 or the 150 laps. Congratulations to him and the ThorSport team! They’ve done it again with a different driver, the team’s 6th title and Majeski’s 6th career win.
This is Ty Majeski’s first NASCAR Truck Series Championship in only his second Championship 4 appearance. He is the third driver to win a Truck Series title for ThorSport Racing, being proceeded by Matt Crafton (3 times) and Ben Rhodes (2 times). This race also marked Majeski’s third win on the year, his previous two coming at IRP and Richmond Raceway. Again, we offer our congratulations to Ty Majeski and ThorSport for their stellar showing at Phoenix Raceway.
Corey Heim started the race strong. After running in the 2nd position for the first 40 laps of the race, Heim overtook Majeski for the lead as the driver of the number 98 started to fade on the long run. Heim went on to win the opening stage but it was all for not. Ending the stage was a caution which flew when Frankie Muniz spun around in front of the leaders. After Heim nearly avoided disaster, he slid through his pit box and had to back up for service. He lost the lead and never regained it.
Heim’s bad luck continued as the final stage began. Corey switched lanes prematurely, resulting in a penalty which saw him have to restart the race in the back of the pack. Still, he made his way to the front in a hurry. But despite restarting late on Majeski’s rear bumper, Heim just had nothing for Majeski in the closing laps. As the laps wound down, the number 98 ThorSport truck grew smaller and smaller to the eventual checkered flag. Heim will have to wait another year to hoist the Truck Series Championship Trophy. He will return to Tricon Garage in 2025.
Christian Eckes seemed noticeably behind Heim and Majeski tonight. He ran in the top-3 for most of the race but never really broke into the top-2 to even be a serious contender for the title. It’s heartbreaking, considering the kind of year Eckes has had. On paper, he was the class of the field in 2024. Still, this year is nothing to hang his head about. He will not return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series next year. Rather, he will move up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series driving the number 16 for Kaulig Racing.
Grant Enfinger entered tonight’s race as the loveable underdog and he ended the race as the loveable underdog. He was the 4th best driver of the 4 for the entire race and consistently ran between 5th and 8th all night. Still, it’s a great story for him and his team. He finished the race in 5th. He will return to the number 9 truck next year to again chase his first Truck Series title.
John Walker IV reacted to the Heim penalty to begin stage 1. He seemed to be pretty thrilled with the call.
Other fans weren’t so thrilled. MattCameraMan and Gandee misunderstand that Phoenix isn’t a superspeedway race. The yellow line rule isn’t in effect. The issue was that Heim switched lanes before the start-finish line, whether he improved his position or not.
Fans Checkered Past and Jerry USA got in on the congratulations spilling over on X (formerly Twitter)! Yes, Congratulations to Ty Majeski and that whole ThorSport team!
Another NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is in the books! To echo Corey Heim’s post-race comments, at least there weren’t any shenanigans this year. Ty Majeski is your 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion! How many of you had that on your BINGO cards? Did you pick him or did you pick someone else? Let us know! And be sure to keep your computer screen tuned in right here at DailyDownforce.com all weekend long! We have two more championship races left in the 2024 season! Here’s to it only getting better from here!
