ThorSport Racing officially announced, what was widely expected on Thursday — they will field Toyota Tundras for the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. The team had fielded Ford F-150s for the past three seasons, but announced a change would be coming in the offseason.
In addition to the new manufacturer news, ThorSport finally revealed their official driver lineup for the new season.
Johnny Sauter is back in the team’s No. 13 truck for 2021. Sakar International will sponsor the truck with their Vivitar brand.
Joe Shear Jr. will be the crew chief for that truck.
Sauter struggled through a frustrating 2020 campaign, which saw him not win a race for the first time since the 2015 season. Sauter will look to return to his winning ways, but at the very least, he should expect to finish higher than 13th in the championship standings.
Matt Crafton will return to the No. 88 Menards machine. That truck will also have vendor partners ideal Door, ZEP, Slim Jim, Flex Seal, Hormel Black Label Bacon, Denali, Aire, Mold Armor, Great Lakes Flooring, Jack Links, Chi-Chi’s and Oklahoma Joes featured on the truck this season.
Carl Joiner Jr. will once again serve as Crafton’s crew chief. Crafton and Joiner won a race together in 2020 and finished fifth in the overall championship standings.
The No. 98 truck will see a change as Grant Enfinger, who finished fourth in the 2020 Truck Series point standings, will move to part-time and will share the entry with Christian Eckes this season. Champion Power Tool will return as a sponsor on the truck.
This news is particularly interesting because Enfinger not only led the team in wins (four) and points ranking (fourth) this past season, but he had the best year of his Truck Series career in 2020.
Conversely, Eckes did not win a race this past season, while driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports and finished eighth in the championship standings.
According to the ThorSport release, Eckes is set to run roughly 10 races, his first start will be at the Daytona Road Course.
Jeriod Prince will move to the No. 98 team as crew chief. He had previously served as the No. 88 team’s truck chief.
Last but not least, Ben Rhodes will return to the No. 99 truck in 2021. He will have a new sponsor in Bombardier and Rich Lushes will move over to be his crew chief this season. Lushes was previously the No. 13 team’s truck chief.
Rhodes scored a victory in 2020 and wound up seventh in the final championship standings.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season gets kicked off next Friday, February 12th at Daytona International Speedway.
