NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MADISON, Ill. – The early bird got the victory on Saturday afternoon at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. In a long green-flag run to start the final stage of the Toyota 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, Corey Heim brought his No. 11 TRICON Garage Tundra to pit road before any of the other top trucks made green-flag stops, and the move paid off with optimum track position. Heim held the top spot for a restart on Lap 138 of 160 and ledRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Nick Sanchez showed what an opportunist can do when the right moment presents itself. Taking advantage of fresh tires and a quick pit stop, Sanchez charged from the 10th position on a restart with nine laps left in Friday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and held off Corey Heim to win his second NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race of the season — and of his career. Sanchez crossed the finish line 0.507 seconds ahead of Heim, whoRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. — Taking advantage of a late caution, Ross Chastain surged ahead during an overtime restart and held off charging Nick Sanchez to win Friday night’s Buckle Up South Carolina 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Darlington Raceway. Moonlighting from the NASCAR Cup Series in a race delayed more than two hours by rain, Chastain, driving for Niece Motorsports, led only the last three laps after seizing the top spot from Ty Majeski on the overtime restart on Lap 149. Sanchez finishedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Corey Heim took control of Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 in the final stage and charged to his second NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory of the season, despite fighting a loose handling condition in the closing stages. Heim took the lead from Nick Sanchez on Lap 70 of 134 at Kansas Speedway and stayed out front the rest of the way, gaining time thorough a cycle of green-flag pit stops in the middle of the final stage. Runner-up ZaneRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service A handful of late race cautions only made it more dramatic but veteran Kyle Busch still managed to hold off a hard-charging field to claim a record-tying sixth NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race victory at Texas Motor Speedway, just bettering Corey Heim by a mere .112-second to win Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 250. Maybe while competing in Texas Busch should consider changing his nickname from “Rowdy” to the popular Texas greeting, “Howdy” because the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has absolutely created an unbelievable markRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. — It was indeed a special night for NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series driver Christian Eckes, who dominated Friday night’s Long John Silver’s 200 at Martinsville Speedway. Eschewing a trip to pit road between the first and second stages at the 0.526-mile short track, Eckes led the first 104 laps, swept the stages and worked his way back through the field from 19th after pitting at the Stage 2 break. Undeterred by the chaos that produced 11 cautions for 81 laps, Eckes tookRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service An afternoon of impressive restarts ultimately handed Corey Heim the winning finish in the XPEL 225 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at the famed Circuit of The Americas (COTA) road course in Austin, Texas Saturday afternoon. Heim dominated the race – his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota leading a race best 31 of the 46 laps and prevailing in an overtime finish to convincingly win his first race of 2024 and sixth of his career – by 1.625-seconds over his teammate Taylor Gray. ThorSportRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. — When Kyle Busch sold his NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series team to Spire Motorsports, he didn’t surrender his prowess behind the wheel. Driving the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet in his first start of 2024, Busch inherited the lead from Grant Enfinger on Lap 129 of 135 and held off Ty Majeski and Corey Heim over the final five laps to win his seventh race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the 65th of his career, extending his own series record. Enfinger wasRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As has become tradition in the NASCAR Truck Series season opener at Daytona, yellow was the primary color of the evening, with a record 12 cautions and an overtime finish that ended with a melee on the backstretch and an airborne truck. In the end, it was Nick Sanchez, the 22-year-old from Miami that was out front when it mattered the most, capturing his first career win in NASCAR’s third-tier series. “It was definitely a pretty wild race, obviously, what happened toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – It may have taken four overtimes to get there, but for the second time in the last three years, Ben Rhodes is a champion in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. As the laps wound down in regulation, it was shaping up to be a race between Grant Enfinger and Rhodes to see which of the two would walk away with the title, but with three laps to go, everything changed. Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar, who had been involved in an incident earlierRead More