NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff Media Day

Column By: Holly Cain / NASCAR MEDIA – DAYTONA BEACH, F.L – While the 10-driver NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff field does not deny Regular Season Champion Corey Heim – a series-best seven-time race winner – certainly holds a commanding presence in the 2025 title run, his competition says it is ready to be put to the championship test.

All 10 of the championship-eligible drivers – Heim, Layne Riggs, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum, defending series champ Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger, Rajah Caruth, Kaden Honeycutt and Jake Garcia – met with the media Tuesday in advance of the seven-race Playoff run that begins Aug. 30 at the historic Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

Heim’s competitors all conceded he’s having a season for the ages and carries an enviable “favorite” tag into the championship run. But starting at Darlington, all bets are off.

And the 23-year-old TRICON Garage driver, Heim, says he’s ready to hoist the champion’s trophy after being favored previously only to finish third (2023) and runner-up (2024) the last two seasons.

The driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota has led 1,125 laps on the year – nearly double his previous single season total and almost 900 more laps than anyone else in the series. He has the seven wins, but also 12 top-five finishes in the 18-race regular season.

“I think the main thing for us is that we’ve really connected a lot of the dots on maybe the prior struggles we’ve had so far and got a lot of things to improve in the Playoffs still regardless as far as keeping that going or keeping the momentum going,” said Heim, the only multi-time Regular Season Champion in series history, who has earned a huge 62-point lead over Front Row Motorsports driver Layne Riggs going into the Playoff run.

“I feel like for me, there was some struggle areas last year that kind of lingered throughout the year and we never quite got past that. But we were able to hone in on that in the offseason and sort of clear those up as far as maybe some packages that we brought to specific race tracks that didn’t work, and maybe some pit road stuff.

“My personal development as far as my driving style at some places. I feel like just within my 11 team and within TRICON and Toyota, we’ve done a great job of just honing in on the things that maybe didn’t work throughout the year and lingered and just kind of fixing that for 2025 and hoping to extend that into the Playoffs as well.”

Heim’s amazing season statistics are not un-noticed by his competition.

“The 11-truck is in his own zip code most weekends,” said Front Row Motorsports’ Smith, a two-race winner this season and ranked third entering the Playoff stretch.

Even so – and not surprisingly – every single driver said Tuesday he was prepared to give Heim a run for his money.

“Of course, there’s a lot of pressure, but I feel like I’m ready for it,” said Riggs, driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, adding, “No Hail Marys in the Playoffs, that’s the goal for us.

*RESPECT AMONGST COMPETITORS

There have been seasons when the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series did not always feature a “gentlemen’s agreement” of sorts when it came to close-quarter driving or important Playoff cutoff races. Interestingly, the drivers this season, say competition has been notably more respectful than in some previous years.

“You’re got to assess your situation and pick and choose your battles,” said Front Row Motorsports’ Smith, who is third – 46 points behind Heim – in the standings.

“The racing has cleaned up a lot,” he added. … “I’m proud to say, this year the start of the season was a little bumpy with a few instances. … But a lot of it is cleaned up and it’s been tamed down.

“That’s been pretty encouraging to see that we’re not all going out there just running over each other like it was three years ago when I left the series [for Xfinity Series].

Spire Motorsports driver Rajah Caruth, the Nashville Superspeedway race winner who is making his second Playoff appearance agrees with Smith about the calmer vibe. The driver of the No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado goes into the title run ranked eighth, with a slim two-point edge on Honeycutt and Garcia.

“I think you can race hard respectfully and not let guys get over on you for sure,” Caruth said. “I don’t think it’s the right way to go to get back at guys or do things in a retaliatory manner. … I think the culture has changed in hopefully a good way in the Truck Series this year.”

ThorSport’s Garcia shared the sentiment – but with a caveat. He said to expect bold moves as the Playoffs move into the increasingly intense cut-off races – at New Hampshire, Martinsville – and then in the title run at Phoenix.

“My goal is to be in a good enough position, hopefully not be involved,” he said smiling.

Garcia is encouraged about his Playoff chances considering both his fulltime teammates have won series titles. ThorSport’s Matt Crafton is a three-time series champ and Majeski is the reigning series champ. He is ranked 10th in the standings, but only three points below eighth place Caruth.

“There is certainly championship pedigree at ThorSport,” he said, noting he feels some pressure to get a championship so he’s not “the odd man out.”

*NEW PLAYOFF OUTLOOK, NEW PLAYOFF TRACKS

This season’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series seven-race Playoff slate will feature a couple different venues – the one-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the Charlotte ROVAL road course high on the minds of the drivers.

The EJP 175 on Sept. 20 marks the series’ first race at New Hampshire since 2017 – a race won by current NASCAR Cup Series star Christopher Bell. Enfinger is the only current Playoff driver who competed in that race eight years ago and he finished fourth.

The series heads to the Charlotte ROVAL road course on Oct. 3 – the middle event of the second round of races.

Having competed fulltime in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series previously, Hemric, is the only driver among the Playoff 10 who has competed at both New Hampshire and the ROVAL. He said adding them to the Playoff slate was “interesting and intriguing” even from the fans’ perspective.

“I feel like the drivers in general, the ROVAL is a place not many have been there, fortunately I have been there a lot, but there are lots of little nuances that make the places intriguing,” said Hemric, the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion and driver of the No. 19 McAnally Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet Silverado.

“And then Loudon,” he continued. “I didn’t realize a lot of the drivers in the series had never raced there either. There are some things there, you can do all the simulation and all the prep, but until you run laps there it won’t fully qualify what that place is. At the end of the day, speed creates a lot of opportunities and if you have that you can kind of go and explore and maximize. I don’t look forward to it shaking things up too much within the Playoffs with contenders and who will contend, but definitely see adapting to have success.”

*FRESH LOOK ENTERING THE PLAYOFFS

CRAFTSMAN Truck Series rookie Kaden Honeycutt goes into his first Playoff appearance in rather unusual circumstances. The talented 22-year-old drove a truck for Niece Motorsports the first 16 weeks of the season and is now steering the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota for the Playoffs.

Honeycutt addressed the change in teams Tuesday and said he was optimistic going forward, driving the truck for the injured owner-driver Stewart Friesen.

In his first fulltime season the Texan has earned a pair of top-five finishes and 10 top-10 showings. His best showings of third-place were at Charlotte and Pocono, Pa. He finished an encouraging 10th-place in his debut with HFR last weekend at Richmond. He enters the Playoffs ranked ninth among the 10-drivers, but only two points below the cutoff line.

“I’m pretty passive person when it comes to situations and stuff happening to me,” Honeycutt said. “I’m pretty much able to put that behind me as much as possible, and you know, everything ended on a good note so there’s definitely no issues on any side of mine, personally.

“I think that makes it a lot easier for myself. It was definitely hard at first, but now that we’re moved on, everyone’s doing what they need to do and we’re just looking forward to the rest of these Playoffs with this No. 52 crew.”

*FOND FAREWELL FOR CRAFTON

While a championship trophy on the forefront of the Playoff field of drivers, they were also mindful of paying respect to former three-time series champion Matt Crafton, who announced this week he would be retiring from fulltime competition at the end of the season.

The 50-year-old Crafton won series titles in 2013-14 and 2019 and finished runner-up in the championship two more times (2009 and 2016). He won 15 races – the last coming at Kansas Speedway in 2020. He’s had a profound effect on the series, his ThorSport team and mentoring his young teammate, 20-year-old Jake Garcia who is making his first Playoff appearance.

“It’s been great to have Matt as a teammate these last two seasons at ThorSport,” said Garcia, noting that Crafton and his father helped Garcia out when he was younger and running quarter-midgets

“I’ve known him forever and it’s been really great to grow up and become his teammate in the Truck Series and be able to work with him. He brings a ton of experience every week and if I ever need anything I can ask a question and he usually has an answer for me because he’s been to that track so many times.

“I’m really grateful to have him as a teammate and looking forward to finishing out the rest of the year with him.”

In announcing the retirement plans this week for Crafton, the ThorSport team also revealed that beginning next year, Majeski would move from his current No. 98 Ford into Crafton’s former No. 88.