Having collected a record-breaking 11 victories on the campaign, it should be a complete and total no-brainer that Corey Heim is the favorite to win the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, right?
Well, let’s just hold those horses there, because Ty Majeski, the defending champion of the NASCAR Truck Series, has something to say regarding that assumption.
Majeski came out of the box swinging in Thursday’s Championship 4 Media Availability at Phoenix Raceway, expressing his true feelings on the matter: That he and the No. 98 ThorSport Racing team are the true championship favorites, not Corey Heim and TRICON Garage.
“Obviously, Corey [Heim] has had a great season with 11 wins, but we’re coming in with a clean slate, nothing matters, it’s winner-take-all,” Majeski explained. “I think, maybe on paper, Corey is probably the favorite, but in my mind, we’re the favorites. We’re coming off a championship win here, and I really do feel like we’re the ones to beat even after the season the No. 11 has had.”
It’s a bold statement from the native of Seymour, Wisconsin, for sure, who hasn’t been to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series since last November’s Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. In fact, none of ThorSport Racing’s drivers or teams have been to Victory Lane this season, at all, something rather uncharacteristic for the championship-winning organization.
The 31-year-old driver says that Corey Heim has overshadowed everybody in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this year, but noticed something about Heim’s demeanor after his victory at Martinsville last weekend that had him intrigued and rather pumped up on Wednesday.
“He’s overshadowed the entire series, and credit to them, but we’re here in Phoenix, and none of that matters anymore. He’s not carrying any of those Playoff Points,” Majeski said. “I caught an interview that he did after Martinsville, and he was talking about how it would be a shame if we were able to take it from him, and how dumb the format is, so I think we’ve got him right where we want him. I think he’s worried about the No. 98. I don’t think he wanted to race us this weekend, and here we are with another shot at it.”
Honestly, maybe Majeski is onto something; this is the exact type of racetrack that has always seemed to play right into the wheelhouse of him and crew chief Joe Shear, Jr.
“I think anytime you take Joe and I to a flat short track, that’s where we’ve made a living,” the ThorSport Racing driver added. “That’s where he’s been so dominant over the years. Myself on the late model side. This type of racetrack just fits my style, fits his style, and us together we’re very potent on this type of racetrack, so I’m excited to see what we’ve got on a flat short track. I like our chances.”
“I think we just come from similar backgrounds,” Majeski added when asked about what makes these tracks so special for them. “There are those types of race tracks all over Wisconsin, so we have similar backgrounds on the racetracks we grew up at together. He was obviously maybe 30 years before me, but we learned and cut our teeth at the same places, and I just feel like we can correlate a lot of those racetracks to the racetracks we go to on this schedule, and it makes us very difficult to beat.”
Plus, let’s be honest, here… Ty Majeski doesn’t give a DAMN if a driver with 11 victories in a 25-race season doesn’t hoist the championship trophy (unless, of course, it’s at his detriment).
“The fact of the matter is, you play the format. If it were a season-long format or an eight-race format, you’re gonna react differently and you’re gonna play your cards differently based on whatever format you’re playing to,” Majeski explained. “This year, it’s one race, winner-take-all. I’m not saying that we didn’t want to win throughout the year. We did. We tried as hard as we could throughout the season, but it just hasn’t panned out. Like I said, the fact of the matter is we’re all here with an even slate with an even shot at winning a title, and I’m excited about that.”
Should Majeski end up hoisting the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship trophy, and do so at the expense of Corey Heim, the decorated short tracker turned NASCAR star is ready for the firestorm of comments that will come on social media, and honestly, he’ll embrace it.
“It would be great,” Majeski said. “Social media would just explode, and I’m here for all of it. I think that would be fantastic. Obviously, there would be a lot of interesting comments. I love that. I love stirring the pot a little bit, and I’d love to be the guy that did that.”
