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.
Ten drivers started the Playoffs with a berth in the championship race in mind, but six of them fell by the wayside, leaving Corey Heim, Kaden Honeycutt, Ty Majeski, and Tyler Ankrum as the four drivers to battle for supremacy and bring home the Truck Series title.
By the Numbers
What: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship, Race No. 22 of 22
Where: Phoenix Raceway – Avondale, Arizona
When: Friday, October 31
TV/Radio: FOX Sports 1, 7:30 pm ET / MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Channel 90
Track Size: 1.0-mile oval
Banking: Eight to nine degrees in Turns 1-2, 10 to 11 degrees in Turns 3-4 and frontstretch dogleg
Race Length: 150 laps, 150 miles
Stage Lengths: Stage One/Two – 45 laps each, Final stage – 60 laps
November 2024 Race Winner: Ty Majeski – No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford (Started on pole, 132 laps led)
Tale of the Tape – How the Championship 4 Stacks Up:
Corey Heim – No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota
2025 Stats: 11 wins, 18 top-five finishes, 20 top-10 finishes, 10 poles, 1525 laps led, 5.2 average finish
Phoenix Specific Stats: Three starts, one top-five finish, two top-10 finishes, one pole, 68 laps led, 9.0 average finish
How He Got Here: To say Corey Heim has had a dominant season would be an understatement. In his third full-time season in the Truck Series, the TRICON Garage driver has taken it to a whole new level in 2025 by nearly quadrupling the number of wins his next closest competitor has accumulated and among the Championship 4 has a double-digit lead in the win column over the only other driver in the title fight with a win this season (Ankrum)
In an alternate reality, Heim would have already locked up the title, but instead he’ll have to carry his season long dominance into Phoenix and bank on the status quo remaining the same to deliver him the championship.
Should Heim not win the title after such a dominant season, there is no doubt the social media sphere would go into nuclear meltdown and only accelerate the growing calls to change the current one-race championship format.
What the Driver Says: “This season, I think we’ve just really honed in on what the weaknesses were,” said Heim. “In years past of course, we’ve been strong in 2023 and 2024, and I’ve been learning kind of what my weaknesses were and how to improve on that.
“But as a race team, I think we’ve just been so complete I guess, would be the best way to put it as far as just showing up everywhere and having speed, very limited mistakes as far as race execution and whatnot. So yeah, just definitely a complete race team. And I feel like I’m definitely happy where I’m at there.”
Kaden Honeycutt – No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota
2025 Stats: No wins, three top-five finishes, 13 top-10 finishes, 51 laps led, 13.2 average finish
Phoenix Specific Stats: Three starts, three top-10 finishes, 8.0 average finish
How He Got Here: Honeycutt certainly took an unconventional path to get to the Championship 4 in his first full time season in the Truck Series.
After starting the season with Niece Motorsports and running the first 16 races of the season with the organization, putting himself in prime position to make the Playoffs as well. However, when Honeycutt signed with Toyota for next season, Niece elected to pull the plug on Honeycutt’s employment with the team, leaving him in limbo.
Following a vicious big block modified crash in Canada that left Stewart Friesen injured and unable to compete for the remainder of the season, Honeycutt got the call up to take over the No. 52 Toyota to finish out the year starting at Richmond Raceway. Honeycutt would make a one-race stopover at Youngs Motorsports to bridge the gap between Niece and HFR.
Honeycutt battled his way through the Playoffs and secured his spot in the Championship 4 with a clutch runner-up finish last weekend at Martinsville to punch his ticket to Phoenix by one point over Layne Riggs.
What the Driver Says: “Everything happens for a reason, right? God’s been really awesome in my life and gave me a lot of opportunities and met the right people, who have shown me the right path to go on. Like I said, everything does happen for a reason and I think the reason when Stewart (Friesen, co-owner) got hurt was for me to fill in and do the job right home and show off how good his team is in this Playoff that he wasn’t able to do because of his injury. I think that’s the reason why we’re here for that.”
“…When I first started the Playoffs, I told everybody that this run was for Stewart (Friesen, co-owner) and HFR (Halmar-Friesen Racing) only. Me winning the (drivers’) championship would just be a plus. I feel like this would be amazing for him and obviously pay out. It would mean a lot for them. We’re just going to focus on trying to win the race because I think that would be the solidifying moment for us to win it all.”
Ty Majeski – No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford
2025 Stats: No wins, nine top-five finishes, 17 top-10 finishes, 190 laps led, 10.2 average finish
Phoenix Specific Stats: Four starts, one win (2024), one pole, 132 laps led, 11.5 average finish
How He Got Here: Despite a winless season thus far, the defending Truck Series champion has put in a consistent season to get himself back to Phoenix with a chance to play spoiler in Heim’s dominant season and a track that he is most feared at.
Majeski didn’t back down from being the bad guy ahead of on-track activity in Phoenix, repeatedly alluding to the fact that even though Heim has 11 wins on the season, he and the other drivers are all in the Championship 4 are all on a level playing field with the current winner-take-all format.
In fact, Majeski is relishing in the role of possibly being the guy to steal the championship away from Heim and has already started the weekend off on the right foot by leading Thursday’s lone practice session.
What the Driver Says: “Corey has had a great season with 11 wins, but we’re coming in with a clean slate, nothing matters, it’s winner-take-all. I think maybe on paper Corey is probably the favorite, but in my mind we’re the favorites. We’re coming off a championship and a dominating win here, and I really do feel like we’re the ones to beat even after the season the 11 has had.”
Majeski threw down the gauntlet further, explaining that his sights are set firmly on dethroning Heim and bringing home the championship for a second year in a row.
“He’s overshadowed the entire series and credit to them, but we’re here in Phoenix and none of that matters anymore,” said Majeski. “He’s not carrying any of those Playoff points. I caught an interview that he did after Martinsville and he was talking a lot about how it would be a shame if we were able to take it from him and how dumb the format is, so I think we’ve got him right where we want him.
“I think he’s worried about the 98. I don’t think he wanted to race us this weekend and here we are with another shot at it.”
Tyler Ankrum – No. 18 McAnally–Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet
2025 Stats: One win, eight top-five finishes, 15 top-10 finishes, 102 laps led, 10.7 average finish
Phoenix Specific Stats: Seven starts, two top-10 finishes (2018, 2020), 17.6 average finish
How He Got Here: A win in the series return to Rockingham this past spring got Ankrum into the Playoffs and he has been flying under the radar ever since, just doing his job behind the wheel, keeping himself out of trouble and banking a spot in the championship finale at Phoenix after three straight top-10 finishes in the Round of 8.
Though he may be overlooked in the Championship 4 battle, Ankrum is perfectly fine coming in without a lot of noise and letting his driving on Friday night do the talking instead.
What the Driver Says: “I do feel like that we were kind of the quiet man coming in, but I’d much rather be the quiet man going in just because knowing that you’re the quiet man meant that you did nothing wrong most of the time.
“If they’re talking about you, something catastrophic happened, good or bad. But no, we came into this just doing what we do best, just executing, not beating ourselves on the race track, scoring as many points as we possibly can, and that’s how we found ourselves here.”
Should Ankrum be able to secure the championship on Friday, he has already planned out what his first big purchase would be with the prize money – a brand-new Chevrolet Corvette.
“I’m here for a check and a cool trophy, and if I do get to win the championship, I’m probably going home. I’m going to go to the dealership Saturday, Sunday and drive the Corvette home,” said Ankrum.
“That’s not even really a thought for me about beating those two guys. If I can beat a guy like Corey in the race where it means the most, I’d be incredibly excited. I couldn’t even probably tell you what I would be feeling in the moment. It would probably be a humbling experience later on Twitter, but for the moment, it would be fun to sit in Victory Lane.”
