After going the first 14 races of the Craftsman Truck Series season without a win, Ty Majeski and Ford have now won back-to-back series events, as the No. 98 took home the win in Saturday’s Clean Harbors 250 at Richmond Raceway. The victory is the fifth of Majeski’s career and the first for Ford at Richmond since Grant Enfinger in 2020.
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Clean Harbors 250 at Richmond Results
The victory leaves Majeski with a massive momentum boost heading into the Truck Series playoffs, where he will be one of ten drivers vying to take home the 2024 series championship.
“It feels good. We’ve had great ThorSport trucks here at Richmond the last two years, found different ways to lose ’em, and we tried to do it again tonight, another mistake”, Majeski said in his post-race interview. “We really need to clean that stuff up before playoff time, but so proud of these guys sticking behind me”.
He enters the playoffs with two straight wins! @TyMajeski has the momentum after a Richmond victory. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/yahtQAzKei
— Josh Sims (@JoshRSims) August 11, 2024
Christian Eckes finished second in his No. 19 Chevrolet. Eckes won the pole, led 64 laps, and won stage one en route to winning the Craftsman Truck Series regular season championship. Taylor Gray rounded out third in his No. 17 Toyota. Gray is one of five drivers to point their way into the playoffs and will be seeded eighth going into the Round of 10.
Grant Enfinger finished fourth, joining Taylor Gray as drivers to point their way in. Enfinger won stage two and led a race-high 98 laps. Layne Riggs rounded out the top five in his No. 38 Ford. The finish is the second straight fifth-place finish for Riggs.
Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes, Daniel Dye, Ty Dillon, and Connor Hall completed the top 10. Ankrum, Rhodes, and Dye pointed their way into the playoffs along with Enfinger and Gray, while Hall was able to secure a top-10 finish in his Craftsman Truck Series debut.
Notable drivers to miss the playoffs include Tanner Gray, who battled Dye for the final spot for the duration of the race, Stewart Friesen, and Matt Crafton, who had been the only driver to make every edition of the Truck Series playoffs prior to this season.
Eckes and Majeski led the field to the green, with Eckes quickly taking control of the top spot. On lap 14, however, Majeski powered by the No. 19 on the outside to take the lead in his quest to go back to back at Richmond. Only seventeen laps into the race, Jerry Bohlman, making his NASCAR National Series debut, was parked by series officials for not maintaining minimum speed.
Majeski continued to increase his lead over Eckes until lap 56 when the first caution of the race flew for the No. 42 of Matt Mills. Mills’ truck suffered a flat right front tire going into turn three, sending him into the outside wall. The damage proved to be race-ending, giving Mills his second DNF of the season.
Trouble for @mattmillsracing!
The yellow is out on Lap 56. pic.twitter.com/4H732xSrWc
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 11, 2024
Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, and Connor Zilisch stayed out to lead the field to the restart but were quickly disposed of by the rest of the pack due to their older tires and finished deep in the field for stage one. This handed the keys to the lead back over to Eckes, who held off Taylor Gray for his seventh stage win of the season. Eckes also clinched the Craftsman Truck Series regular-season championship by virtue of his stage win, collecting 15 playoff points toward his title run. Taylor Gray also clinched a spot in the Craftsman Truck Series playoffs with the stage points he earned.
Eckes and Taylor Gray led the field back to the restart. Majeski, who led the majority of stage one, was forced to restart from the rear due to an uncontrolled tire on his pit stop.
Eckes maintained the top position for 45 laps until Grant Enfinger capitalized on Eckes being held up by Spencer Boyd to pass the No. 19. Enfinger would not keep the lead for long, as he was passed for the lead by Taylor Gray just 10 laps later.
Two laps later, the caution came out for a spin involving Matt Crafton. Crafton, who was in a must-win position to make the playoffs after the results of stage one, got loose and spun out of turn four, with the left front of his truck making contact with the inside wall. Crafton’s damage was minimal, and his crew was able to repair it without him losing a lap to the leaders.
Ty Dillon, Bayley Currey, and Stewart Friesen led the field to green with six laps remaining in the stage, as they elected to stay out while the rest of the field pitted for tires. They suffered a similar fate that Majeski, Ankrum, and Zilisch did at the end of stage one, with Enfinger reclaiming the lead after a lot of contact and jostling for position throughout the field. Enfinger was able to fend off Eckes to take home the stage two victory, which was also the first-ever stage win for CR7 Motorsports.
Enfinger and Eckes led the field through the gears to begin stage three, but a multi-truck accident brought the caution back out before a lap was complete. Chase Purdy in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports truck got into the back of Ty Dillon’s No. 25 Rackley WAR truck, sending Dillon into Dean Thompson. The No. 5 spun up the track into turn three, collecting Crafton, Kaden Honeycutt, Mason Massey, Stefan Parsons, Keith McGee, Thad Moffitt, and William Sawalich. Moffitt, McGee, and Thompson all suffered race-ending damage from the incident.
Video: Ty Dillon, Dean Thompson Trigger Multi-Truck Incident in Stage Three at Richmond
After 15 laps under caution, Eckes and Enfinger led the field back to green, but the race would only stay green for a handful of laps. On lap 169, Lawless Alan’s No. 33 Ford went for a spin in the middle of turn three. Alan was able to lock his truck down and continue on without any damage.
The next restart was controlled by Enfinger and Ben Rhodes, with Enfinger regaining the lead once again. Another quick caution would come out, however, as the No. 66 of Conner Jones slowed to a crawl on the frontstretch and into turn one on lap 183.
Enfinger would once again make quick work of Rhodes on the ensuing restart, with the field getting back into a groove and the laps ticking away. Not long after, Corey Heim passed Rhodes for the runner-up spot, with the No. 11 setting his sights on Enfinger. With 30 laps remaining, Heim got by Enfinger to take the race lead.
The next caution occurred on lap 225 for the No. 45 of Kaden Honeycutt. Honeycutt and the No. 75 of Stefan Parsons made contact, sending the No. 45 around in turn four. Under the caution, William Sawalich took two tires, leapfrogging the leaders, and Nick Sanchez’s No. 2 Chevrolet suffered a mechanical issue that required him to be pushed back to his pit stall.
Sawalich and Enfinger led the field back to green with 20 laps remaining. Going into turn one, Majeski got into the back of Sawalich, sending him up the track into Enfinger. Majeski passed both trucks to take the race lead, with Layne Riggs ascending to third as Sawalich faded on his two older tires.
The next caution came out on lap 238 for Connor Zilisch. Zilisch, making his first Truck Series start on an oval, received contact from the No. 32 of Bret Holmes, who got loose under the No. 7 and tapped his rear bumper. Zilisch received major rear-end damage and drove his truck straight to the garage, leaving him with his first career DNF.
After a massive amount of contact between the top five drivers on the restart, Majeski emerged with the lead. Despite constant battling behind him, he was able to fend the field off to take home his second straight victory.
This race concluded the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series regular season. Corey Heim, Christian Eckes, Rajah Caruth, Ty Majeski, and Nick Sanchez secured playoff spots by virtue of winning at least one series race. Defending champion Ben Rhodes, Grant Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Daniel Dye, and Tyler Ankrum were able to point their way in to comprise the 10-driver playoff grid.
The points for the 10 playoff drivers will reset. After bonus points are applied, Rhodes and Dye will enter the Round of 10 as the two drivers below the cut line. The next Craftsman Truck Series race will take place at the Milwaukee Mile on Sunday, August 25th, and will mark the beginning of the playoffs.
