Drivers are listed below by seeding heading into Bristol Motor Speedway – Playoff Race 2 of 7:
Christian Eckes (No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet)
- Heads to Bristol as the points leader in the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings with 2,090 points.
- Up +60 points on the Round of 8 cutoff.
- This is his fourth postseason appearance (2024, ‘23, ‘22, ’20).
- Has made four series starts at Bristol posting one win (2024), two top fives and three top 10s.
Ty Majeski (No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford)
- Heads to Bristol ranked second in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs standings with 2,074 points.
- Up +44 points on the Round of 8 cutoff.
- This is his third consecutive postseason appearance (2024, ‘23, ‘22).
- Has made three series starts at Bristol posting one win, one top five and one top 10.
Corey Heim (No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota)
- Heads to Bristol ranked third in the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs standings with 2,071 points.
- Up +41 points on the Round of 8 cutoff.
- This is his second consecutive postseason appearance (2024, ‘23).
- Has made three series starts at Bristol posting one win, one top five, and three top 10s.
Nick Sanchez (No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet)
- Heads to Bristol ranked fourth in the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs standings with 2,064 points.
- Up +34 points on the Round of 8 cutoff.
- This is his second consecutive postseason appearance (2024, ‘23).
- Has made three series starts at Bristol posting one top 10.
Taylor Gray (No. 17 TRICON Garage Toyota)
- Heads to Bristol ranked fifth in the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff with 2,043 points.
- Up +13 points on the Round of 8 cutoff.
- This is his first postseason appearance (2024).
- Has made four series starts at Bristol posting one top five and two top 10s.
Tyler Ankrum (No. 18 McAnally-Hilgeman Chevrolet)
- Heads to Bristol ranked sixth in the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs standings with 2,043 points.
- Up +13 points on the Round of 8 cutoff.
- This is his third postseason appearance (2024, ’20, ‘19).
- Has made four series starts at Bristol posting one top five and two top 10s.
Daniel Dye (No. 43 McAnally-Hilgeman Chevrolet)
- Heads to Bristol ranked seventh in the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs standings with 2,039 points.
- Up +9 points on the Round of 8 cutoff.
- This is his first postseason appearance (2024).
- Has made two series starts at Bristol posting a best finish of 13th earlier this season.
Grant Enfinger (No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet)
- Heads to Bristol ranked eighth in the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs standings with 2,032 points.
- Back -2 points from the Round of 8 cutoff.
- This is his sixth postseason appearance (2024, ’23, ’22, ’20, ’19, ‘18).
- Has made eight series starts at Bristol posting five top fives and eight top 10s.
Ben Rhodes (No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford)
- Heads to Bristol ranked eighth in the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs standings with 2,030 points.
- Up -2 points on the Round of 8 cutoff.
- This is his seventh postseason appearance (2024, ’23, ’22, ’21, ’20, ’18, ‘17). Two-time series champion.
- Has made 10 series starts at Bristol posting one top five and six top 10s.
Rajah Caruth (No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet)
- Heads to Bristol ranked 10th in the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs standings with 2,028 points.
- Back -4 points from the Round of 8 cutoff.
- This is his first postseason appearance (2024).
- Has made three series starts at Bristol posting two top 10s.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Next Race: UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics
The Place: Bristol Motor Speedway
The Date: Thursday, September 19
The Time: 8 p.m. ET
The Purse: $720,063
TV: FS1, 8 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 106.6 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 55),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 110), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff Outlook Following Milwaukee Mile (August 25, 2024)
| Rank | Driver | Points | Starts | Race Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Pts | +/- Cutoff |
| 1 | Christian Eckes (P) | 2,090 | 17 | 3 | 9 | 39 | 60 |
| 2 | Ty Majeski (P) | 2,074 | 17 | 2 | 5 | 23 | 44 |
| 3 | Corey Heim (P) | 2,071 | 17 | 5 | 6 | 41 | 41 |
| 4 | Nick Sanchez (P) | 2,064 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 34 |
| 5 | Taylor Gray (P) | 2,043 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| 6 | Tyler Ankrum (P) | 2,043 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 13 |
| 7 | Daniel Dye (P) | 2,039 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 8 | Grant Enfinger (P) | 2,032 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| 9 | Ben Rhodes (P) | 2,030 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| 10 | Rajah Caruth (P) | 2,028 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 9 | -4 |
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing with championship hopes high
With all three full-time drivers fighting their way into the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing has the best shot they’ve ever had to finally hoist their first national series championship. The 2023 season was the first time the team had made a postseason appearance.
In total, the team has won 12 regional series championships:
- NASCAR Whelen All American Series: 1 (1990)
- ARCA Menards Series West: 11 (1999-2001, 2008, 2010, 2015-2017, 2019, and 2020-2021)
As the series prepares to head to Bristol next weekend, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Christian Eckes remains the championship favorite and leads the field in the Playoff standings.
A few weeks ago, the 23-year-old became the eighth different driver to win the regular season title: joining Christopher Bell (2017), Johnny Sauter (2018), Grant Enfinger (2019), Austin Hill (2020), John H. Nemechek (2021), Zane Smith (2022) and Corey Heim (2023).
The driver of the No. 19 Chevrolet has led the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series point standings following 10 of the 17 races this season – series-most in 2024.
“Based off of last year, I feel like it is championship or bust,” Eckes said. “And I feel like everything we’ve done this year in preparation has kind of led towards that being the mentality. So, I definitely feel like we’re capable of that. And that’s what we’re going to go try to achieve.”
“I’ve choked in the Round of 8 the last two years. So yeah, just execution is our biggest thing to work on. I feel like we’ve done a better job of being consistent and executing this year. So, I feel like, we’re more than capable, we just got to do it.”
Survive and Advance: The Round of 10 Veterans
Every lap counts in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs, especially in the Round of 10.
Seven of the 10 championship contenders are well-versed in finding a way to survive and advance out of the first round.
Let’s take a closer look at those seven drivers’ elimination history:
Christian Eckes (No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet)
- Finished the 2023 season fifth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Round of 8.
- Finished the 2022 season eighth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Round of 8.
Ty Majeski (No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford)
- Finished the 2023 season fifth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Round of 8.
Corey Heim (No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota)
- Finished the 2023 season third in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Championship 4 Round.
Nick Sanchez (No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet)
- As a rookie he finished the 2023 season sixth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Round of 8.
Tyler Ankrum (No. 18 McAnally-Hilgeman Chevrolet)
- Finished the 2020 season ninth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Round of 8.
- Finished the 2020 season ninth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Round of 8.
Grant Enfinger (No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet)
- Finished the 2023 season runner‐up in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after making the Championship 4 Round.
- Finished the 2022 season fifth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Round of 8.
- Finished the 2020 season fourth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after making the Championship 4 Round.
- Finished the 2019 season seventh in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Round of 8.
- Finished the 2018 season fifth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Round of 6.
Ben Rhodes (No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford)
- Won the 2023 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship.
- Finished the 2022 season runner‐up in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Championship 4 Round.
- Won the 2021 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship.
- Finished the 2020 season seventh in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Round of 8.
- Finished the 2018 season eighth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Round of 8.
- Finished the 2017 season fifth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff standings after being eliminated in the Round of 6.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, Etc.
Sunoco Rookie Spotlight: Layne Riggs – Front Row Motorsports’ driver Layne Riggs is having a solid rookie campaign this season and currently leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings by 249 points ahead of Connor Jones in second and 277 points ahead of Thadd Moffitt.
Riggs is also the most recent winner in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series taking the victory at the Milwaukee Mile Speedway a few weeks ago.
This season, Riggs has made 17 series starts accumulating one win, five top five and six top 10s.
Riggs made his series track debut at Bristol Motor Speedway earlier this season where he started 28th and raced his way up to a 10th-place finish.
