After a two-week break, the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs continue with Saturday’s Baptist Health Cancer Care 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Noon, ET on FS1, MRN SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – the first of an afternoon NASCAR doubleheader.
By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
This race will formally set the Championship 4 drivers who will compete for the 2023 title on Nov. 3 at Phoenix Raceway.
With a win at Bristol, Tenn. TRICON Garage’s Corey Heim is the only Playoff driver to have formally secured his position to race for the championship, meaning three spots are still to be decided.
Niece Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar tops the standings below Heim and holds a healthy 22-point advantage over fifth place, GMS Racing’s Grant Enfinger. Christian Eckes, who just re-signed with the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team this week and Rev Racing’s Nick Sanchez round out the top-4 heading into Homestead-Miami – nine-points and three-points ahead of the cutoff, respectively.
Former series champion, ThorSport Racing’s Ben Rhodes is sixth in the standings, only five points behind Sanchez. His ThorSport teammate Ty Majeski is 19 points off the top four and defending series champion, Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith is 36 points off the pace.
Majeski is the defending Homestead-Miami race winner, leading 67 of the 134 laps last year to clinch his first Championship 4 appearance – finishing nearly five-seconds ahead of the runner-up Smith. Veteran Matt Crafton, who is no longer championship-eligible, is the only other previous Homestead winner in the field, claiming the trophy in 2015.
Of the championship contenders, Enfinger and Rhodes have the most starts (six). Enfinger has three top-10s – most among the Playoff drivers – and an 11.8 average finish. Majeski is a perfect 2-for-2 in top-10 finishes and boasts the best average finish (5.5) among those with multiple starts.
This will mark the Miami-native Sanchez’ season debut at his home track.
Of note, IndyCar standout Marco Andretti is entered at both Homestead and the Phoenix season finale. He’ll be driving the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. He made his series debut at Mid-Ohio SportsCar Course this summer, finishing 19th.
Practice and qualifying sessions begin at 4:05 p.m. ET on Friday.