Daily Archives: "November 8, 2024"

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – The short track ace delivered. Ty Majeski has had Phoenix Raceway circled on the calendar for months, knowing that if he and his No. 98 ThorSport Racing team made it to the season finale as one of the four NASCAR Truck Series championship contenders, the title would have to go through them. With all but one of his now six career wins coming on short tracks, Majeski had the skillset necessary to get the job done on the one-mile Phoenix oval and fromRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — A whole round team effort by Grant Enfinger and CR7 Motorsports have brought them to the Championship 4. Despite ending up fourth among the Championship 4 competitors, Enfinger and the No. 9 organization will leave Phoenix Raceway with their chin up and go at it again in 2025. On a cool Friday night that saw Ty Majeski dominate the 150-lap contest and hoist his maiden NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, speed was an elusive battle for Enfinger. In a race where he hadRead More
By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor  AVONDALE, Ariz. — Corey Heim knew he would need to drive a near-perfect race to snag the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship Friday night at Phoenix Raceway.  In the end, even that wasn’t enough to beat Ty Majeski, who dominated from the start to win the race and capture his first series championship. Majeski led 132 of the 150 laps and controlled the final 26 laps after a late caution flag.  Heim, clearly the best of the rest and the only real challenger to Majeski,Read More
By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Chalk one up for the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion. In Friday’s lone practice session of the Cup championship race, Ryan Blaney and his No. 12 Team Penske ended the 50-minute warm-up at the top of the board with a lap of 27.174 seconds, 132.480 mph. In addition to posting the fastest single lap speed, Blaney was also the fastest in the five and 10 lap average speed, giving his team some good mojo as they start their title defense. “I felt prettyRead More
By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor  AVONDALE, Ariz. — A.J. Allmendinger and his Kaulig Racing team haven’t left anything untouched in their preparation for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway.  The team tweaked the No. 16 Chevrolet to the point it couldn’t be tweaked any more.  As for the driver, Allmendinger drove so many laps around the one-mile track on a simulator that he was ready for the real thing by early in the week.  “It got to the point I think on Tuesday I was probably on ourRead More
By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – As is custom at the season finale, NASCAR President Steve Phelps and Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell took to the stage in front of assembled media to discuss a range of topics currently concerning the sport in 2024. This year, the focus was on the recent race manipulation penalties at Martinsville, officiating challenges that have occurred in multiple series this year, charter negotiations, the Playoff format and whether the drivers vying for the championship are the most deserving, among others. After nearly anRead More
By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor AVONDALE, Ariz. — Christian Eckes has been here before, victory lane in a championship race at Phoenix Raceway. But then, he hasn’t.  The 23-year-old won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series final race last year on the one-mile oval, but he wasn’t among the four drivers running for the championship. Sweet as it was to win and finish fifth in the standings, he has one focus Friday night when he straps into his McAnally Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet Silverado.  Claim the championship.  “We’ve turned it into aRead More
By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be the first title fight of the weekend to be settled, as the four remaining drivers in the Playoffs will duke it out Friday night at Phoenix Raceway for the right to hoist the championship trophy when the checkered flag falls. Eight drivers started the Playoffs with a berth in the championship race in mind, but half of them fell by the wayside, leaving Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, and Ty Majeski as the four driversRead More