Despite being off this weekend three NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series drivers are entered to compete in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race – Corey Heim, Daniel Dye and Taylor Gray.
TRICON Garage’s Corey Heim returns to Dover Motor Speedway for his first double duty weekend at the one-mile track piloting the No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota on Saturday in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race and then will jump in the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota for the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday. Heim was tapped by LMC to drive this weekend as a replacement driver for an injured Erik Jones. It will be Heim’s NASCAR Cup Series career debut.
Looking to Dover, Heim made his Xfinity Series debut at the Monster Mile last season finishing 35th. The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series breakout star will look to rebound from last year’s finish this weekend. Heim has made five starts in the Xfinity Series this season with a best finish of fourth at Richmond.
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Daniel Dye will attempt to make his Dover Motor Speedway debut this weekend in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, piloting the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. The 20-year old has made two previous Xfinity starts this season at Daytona and Texas, finishing 27th and 24th, respectively.
Corey Heim’s TRICON Garage teammate, Taylor Gray, will also attempt to make his Dover debut this weekend, behind the wheel of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Gray has made four previous Xfinity starts this season (Richmond, Martinsville, Texas, Talladega). The 19-year old finished third in his Xfinity debut at Richmond.
Five different NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series winners in seven races
Through seven races of the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season, five different winners have visited Victory Lane. When the series returns to action at Kansas Speedway for the Heart of America 200 (Saturday, May 4, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM Radio), it could very well see a sixth.
Nick Sanchez, Kyle Busch, Rajah Caruth, Christian Eckes, and Corey Heim have all raced their way into Victory Lane this season. Busch and Eckes are two-time winners.
ThorSport Racing’s Matt Crafton is searching for his first win, but it could be on the horizon. The veteran driver owns a vast majority of the records at Kansas Speedway – the race record (139.857 mph – 05/08/2015), most races (27), tied for most wins with Kyle Busch (3), most top fives (7), top 10s (14), and laps completed (4,148).
The driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Ford finished 11th in the 2023 Spring Kansas race.
Of the five different winners this season, Sanchez, Caruth, Eckes, and Heim are the four that have earned their spot in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs by virtue of their wins.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff Projection following Texas:
| Rank | Driver | Points | Starts | Race Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Pts | SE Playoff Pts | Projected Pts | +/- Cutoff |
| 1 | Christian Eckes | 287 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 15 | 28 | In On Wins |
| 2 | Corey Heim | 285 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 16 | In On Win |
| 3 | Nick Sanchez | 260 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 13 | In On Win |
| 4 | Ty Majeski | 275 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 113 |
| 5 | Rajah Caruth | 233 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 9 | In On Win |
| 6 | Taylor Gray | 249 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 87 |
| 7 | Tyler Ankrum | 244 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 82 |
| 8 | Matt Crafton | 195 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 33 |
| 9 | Tanner Gray | 171 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 10 | Grant Enfinger | 167 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 11 | Daniel Dye | 162 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -5 |
| 12 | Ben Rhodes | 161 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -6 |
| 13 | Stewart Friesen | 150 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -17 |
| 14 | Bayley Currey | 143 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -24 |
| 15 | Jake Garcia | 143 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -24 |
| 16 | Bret Holmes | 131 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -36 |
| 17 | Chase Purdy | 130 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -37 |
| 18 | Dean Thompson | 122 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -45 |
| 19 | Timmy Hill | 119 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -48 |
| 20 | Ty Dillon | 108 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -59 |
| 21 | Layne Riggs # | 106 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -61 |
| 22 | Mason Massey | 99 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -68 |
| 23 | Spencer Boyd | 91 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -76 |
| 24 | Lawless Alan | 90 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -77 |
| 25 | Matt Mills | 71 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -96 |
| 26 | Thad Moffitt # | 55 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -112 |
| * – SE Playoff Pts – Regular Season End Playoff Points | |||||||||
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Next Race: Heart Of America 200
The Place: Kansas Speedway
The Date: Saturday, May 4
The Time: 8 p.m. ET
The Purse: $770,294
TV: FS1, 7 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 201 miles (134 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 30),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 60), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 134)
Kansas Speedway awaits the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
While the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series tackle the concrete oval of Dover Motor Speedway this weekend, the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series has one more weekend off before firing the engines up at Kansas.
The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will return to competition under the lights at Kansas Speedway for the Heart of America 200 (Saturday, May 4 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM Radio).
The 1.5-mile track has hosted 27 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races since its inaugural CRAFTSMAN Truck Series event on July 7, 2001 – a race won by Ricky Hendrick, driving the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
The Heart of America 200 will be broken up into three stages. The first two stages will be 30 laps each and the final stage will be 74 laps for a race total of 134 laps (201 miles).
Practice will begin Saturday, May 4 at 12:05 p.m. ET on FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio followed by qualifying at 12:35 p.m. ET.
Eckes jumps to Truck standings lead with Kansas in his sights
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Christian Eckes has catapulted himself into the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series points lead following his fourth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway. This is just the third time in his career he has led the points standings.
Through seven CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races this season, there have been four drivers from three organizations that have led the standings – Tyler Ankrum, Ty Majeski, Corey Heim, and now Christian Eckes.
The driver of the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet is currently two points ahead of TRICON Garage’s Corey Heim in second and 12 points ahead of ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski in third.
Eckes will look to hold on to the standings lead at Kansas Speedway next weekend. The 23-year old from Middletown, New York has made eight CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at Kansas posting one win, four top fives, and six top 10s. Eckes is the most recent Kansas winner in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, Etc.
Brett Moffit joins TRICON Garage for multi-race slate – The 2018 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt will pilot the No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota in multiple events this season.
The longtime Truck Series standout will make his season debut at Kansas Speedway on May 4, and is currently slated to compete alongside veteran signal-caller Seth Smith. Last year, Smith helped make NASCAR history at Kansas Speedway, guiding Toni Breidinger to a top-15 finish – the best debut by a female in series history.
Moffitt brings a lengthy and decorated Truck Series resume with him to TRICON. In 93 career starts, the Grimes, Iowa native has tallied 13 victories, 40 top fives and 54 top 10s with over 1,230 laps led. Nearly half of those victories have come at speedways between one and two miles in length, including a victory at Kansas in October of 2020.
Connor Mosack added to star-studded lineup with Spire Motorsports – Connor Mosack, one of the most versatile drivers in the sport, has been given the nod to join Spire Motorsports’ all-star lineup in select NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races behind the wheel of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.
Beginning with the Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway, Mosack will also be back in the seat at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 24), Pocono Raceway (July 12), Kansas Speedway (September 27), and Homestead-Miami Speedway (October 26).
In 2023, Mosack competed in select ARCA Menards Series events and put the competition on notice with an average finish of 3.5 over six races, including a win last September at Kansas Speedway. He has made 24 Xfinity Series appearances with his best results coming at Watkins Glen International (fifth) and Portland International Raceway (eighth).
He finished 19th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in his lone NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start of 2024 and logged a solid fourth-place finish in ARCA Menards Series competition a week later at Phoenix Raceway.