NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series News & Notes – Texas Motor Speedway

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Next Race: SpeedyCash.com 250
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
Track Length: 1.5 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Friday, May 2
The Time: 8 p.m. ET
The Purse: $782,900
TV: FS1, 8 p.m. ET
Radio: NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 250.5 miles (167 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 40),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 80), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 167)

Where To Watch NASCAR This Week:

Friday, May 2

NXS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (CW App at 5 p.m. ET)

NCTS Race: SpeedyCash.com 250 (FS1, NRN, SiriusXM at 8 p.m. ET)

Saturday, May 3

NCS Practice & Busch Light Pole Qualifying (Amazon Prime, PRN, SiriusXM at 11 a.m. ET)

NXS Race: Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 (CW, PRN, SiriusXM at 2 p.m. ET)

Sunday, May 4

NCS Race: Würth 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM at 3:30 p.m. ET)

Texas Storylines and Insights:

This weekend marks the 51st running of a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway (1997-2025) – the most races of any track in the series.
Texas is the first of a six consecutive week stretch of Truck races, the longest stretch of the season, this stretch will go through Michigan the first week of June.
Texas Motor Speedway is the third of five 1.5-mile tracks on the 2025 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series schedule – Homestead, Las Vegas, Texas, Kansas and Charlotte.
There have been five different winners in the last five CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races at Texas Motor Speedway.
Five of the last six Texas Truck Seres races have seen the final lead change occur with 9 laps or less to go, including two last lap passes.
There have been four last lap passes for the win at Texas, tied with Mosport for the most among non-drafting tracks in the Truck Series.
Six drivers have earned their first career CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win at Texas, the most recent was Carson Hocevar (April 1, 2023).
Two former CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Texas Motor Speedway winners are running fulltime this season – Matt Crafton (two wins: 2014, 2015) and Stewart Friesen (2022).
The driver who has led the most laps has won six of the last eight CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races at Texas.
Corey Heim leads all active Truck Series drivers in average finishing position at Texas Motor Speedway with a 5.3 in three starts but has yet to win at the track. His best finish at Texas is second in 2024.
Corey Heim leads the Truck Series driver standings following Rockingham by 22 points over Chandler Smith in second and up 62 points on Tyler Ankrum in third. Heim has held the points lead following the last four races.
Corey Heim has led 346 laps this season, almost twice as much as the next driver (Chandler Smith-187). Heim is the only driver to lead laps in all seven Truck Series races this season.
A total of 10 drivers have won stages in the Truck Series in 2025, led by Corey Heim with four stage wins.
Only one driver has finished every lap of the seven Truck Series races this season (100% laps completed): Daniel Hemric.
Tyler Ankrum is on a streak of six top-10 finishes, including the last four being top fives and his win at Rockingham. Ankrum ended a 130-race winless streak at Rockingham, the most starts between wins in Truck series history.
Five drivers finished top-10 in the first two 1.5 mile track races of 2025: Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger, Corey Heim, Layne Riggs, Chandler Smith.
Four Truck Series drivers are on streaks of top-10 finishes of three or more – T. Ankrum (6), C. Heim (5), J. Garcia (4) and R. Caruth (3).
Prior to his 13th at Rockingham (seventh race of 2025), Chandler Smith finished inside the top-10 in each of the first six races.
The last 21 Truck Series races ended at the scheduled distance, the longest streak ever without an overtime finish in Trucks. The last overtime finish was at Darlington on May 10, 2024
Four drivers are on the longest top-10 streak of their careers: Tyler Ankrum (6), Jake Garcia (4), Kaden Honeycutt and Gio Ruggiero (2).
Ford remains winless in 2025; they did not win for the first time in 2024 until race 15.
Ford is winless in the last 45 Texas races; their last win was by Greg Biffle in June of 2000.
Corey Heim led the most laps in four of the last five races of 2025 but won only one of the four races

Hot Start To CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Season (Through First Seven Races)

Six different winners in the first seven races, tied for second most (7 in 2012).
Each of the last six races of 2025 were won by different drivers.
The 105 lead changes and 58 leaders in 2025 are the most ever through seven races in a season.
11 drivers have DNF’d due to accidents in 2025, tied for the fewest through seven races (1995).
19 full time driver have a top-10 in 2025, third most all time through seven races.
28 different driver have led a lap in 2025, tied for the most all time through seven races.
Seven full-time drivers have a top-10 average finish in 2025, tied for most through seven races.

NASCAR & Texas, Etc.

Historical & Significant Events at Texas Motor Speedway:

Construction on Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) began in 1995 just outside the Dallas/Fort-Worth area of Texas.
The 1.5-mile track sits on approximately 1,500 acres.
The first NASCAR national series race at Texas Motor Speedway was a NASCAR Xfinity Series event on April 5, 1997. The race was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin driving an RFK Racing Ford (122.993 mph).
The first NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway was on April 6, 1997, and the race was won by Jeff Burton in an RFK Racing Ford (125.111 mph).
In 1997, the speedway held a two-day country music festival titled Country Fest, attracting 260,000 people. A week later, the speedway held RockFest ’97, a rock music festival that attracted around 400,000 people.
A 10-story building named the Lone Star Tower overlooks the second turn and is used for condominiums and office space. The Lone Star Tower broke ground in 1996 and was completed in early 1998.
Texas Motor Speedway underwent its first repave between the 2001 and 2002 NASCAR Cup Series seasons.
The infield road course at Texas Motor Speedway has four length variations – 2.324 miles, 1.07 miles, 0.7 mile, 0.5 mile.
Texas Motor Speedway hosted its first NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race on November 6, 2005 – the postseason race won by RFK Racing driver Carl Edwards (151.055 mph).
In 2010, the track hosted FortyFest, a Christian rock music festival.
In 2011, the spring NASCAR Cup Series race was moved from Sunday to Saturday night under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway. The 2017 season marked the first year it was moved back to a Sunday afternoon race.
In 2013, TMS announced the construction of Big Hoss TV, which when constructed, was set to become the biggest HD screen in the world. The video screen was completed in March 2014 and was officially certified by Guinness World Records as the largest HD television LED screen in the world.
Texas Motor Speedway underwent its second repave between the 2016 and 2017 NASCAR Cup Series seasons. The renovation added a new layer of asphalt over the existing pavement, an expansive French drainage system on the frontstretch and backstretch and reduced the banking in Turns 1 and 2 by four degrees (now 20 degrees).
The 2021 season marked the first time the track hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race instead of the points-paying spring event. Texas Motor Speedway hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race in 2021 and in 2022 instead of spring race.
Texas Motor Speedway has hosted one NASCAR Cup Series race from 1997 – 2004 and two races per year from 2005 – 2020.
In 2021 and 2022, the track hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race and one point-paying Playoff race.
In 2023, TMS hosted a second location of the HWY30 Music Fest, a country music festival that originated from Filer, Idaho.
Texas Motor Speedway has earned the nickname of “The Great American Speedway.”
Since 2023, the NASCAR Cup Series has only competed at Texas Motor Speedway once a season. In total, Texas Motor Speedway has hosted 44 NASCAR Cup Series races from 1997 – 2024.

Latest Track Storylines:

Film and television actor Shea Whigham, best known for his standout roles in acclaimed projects such as “Boardwalk Empire,” “True Detective,” “Joker” and “American Hustle,” has been named the Grand Marshal for the NASCAR Cup Series race this Sunday, May 4, at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). The talented veteran actor co-stars with Tom Cruise in “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – The Final Reckoning,” which will have a gala screening on May 14 at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
The other primary dignitary role for the WÜRTH 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY will be filled by Sebastian Würth, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Würth Group. He will serve as the Honorary Starter and wave the green flag to officially start the 11th race of the season. Benjamin Würth, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Würth Group, will be a co-Honorary Race Official alongside Moses Brings Plenty, who is best known for his portrayal of “Mo” in the Paramount Network hit series, “Yellowstone.”
Former NCS star Kasey Kahne will buckle in as the Honorary Pace Car Driver and help lead the field to the green flag. Kahne was an 18-race winner in the NCS and was part of the closest Cup Series finish in TMS history. He was edged by Elliott Sadler by 0.028 second in the 2004 race.
Football champion running back Spencer Tillman will provide the pre-race invocation for the WÜRTH 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY. Tillman spent eight years in the NFL with the Houston Oilers (1987-88, ’92-94) and San Francisco 49ers (’89-91). He was also an All-American and captain of the University of Oklahoma’s 1985 national championship team. Tillman is currently a college football game analyst for FOX Sports.
Another esteemed dignitary will be National Anthem singer Don Graves, who will celebrate his 100th birthday the day prior to his appearance at the NCS race. He is a U.S. Marine veteran who is part of an exceptional group of living American heroes who took part in the successful invasion on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during World War II. It will be Graves’ second visit to TMS to perform, having sung “God Bless America” prior to the 2023 fall NCS Playoff race.