Ty Majeski is the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion

Ty Majeski just couldn’t be denied on Friday night at Phoenix Raceway. He was the last driver to move to Championship 4, but he made the most of it in the title-deciding race. He crossed the finish line more than four seconds ahead of his nearest rival and took victory and the series title at the age of 30.

“I can’t believe it,” said Majeski, who dominated the evening by leading 132 of 150 total laps. “Just a big thank you [ThorSport owners] Duke and Rhonda Thorson. [Crew chief] Joe Shear Jr. – he’s a bad guy. It’s so much fun racing with this group. I’m so proud to have the opportunity to drive these great race trucks. There are a lot of times in my career where this seems like a distant dream, (but) Duke and Rhonda really gave me my third chance after I had two chances (and) I failed. I can’t thank them enough. My wife…man, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs, but we’re just so proud of these guys.

He continued how he started at ThorSport by working as an engineer in the workshop in 2021 and only doing a handful of races behind the wheel. “I didn’t know what would come of it and damn, now we’re champions.”

Home narrowly misses again

The first loser was Corey Heim, who finished second, 3.9 seconds behind the championship title. He made a sensational comeback on the final stage, forcing his way through the field after a restart violation and falling one place short of the top prize. He recently retired from TRICON Garage and will return to the Truck Series for another title fight in 2025.

“Really disappointed to come up so short,” Heim said. “It’s hard to be upset at all. I did almost everything right except for the restart violation, but we were able to regain our position on the track pretty quickly and make the most of it. We just didn’t have anything for the 98.” [Majeski] all day. He’s so fast, but I’m just proud of myself for not going through the fastest truck like Hocevar ran me through last year. We will move forward with our heads held high and a six-win season.”

Of the other Championship 4 drivers, Christian Eckes took third place and Grant Enfinger took fifth place. Nick Sanchez was the highest placed driver not part of Championship 4 with fourth place. The rest of the top ten were Taylor Gray, Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack, Ben Rhodes and Layne Riggs.

The final stage of the event began with about 50 laps to go. Majeski was in control and Heim was his next challenger. But when Heim tried to break the dogleg shortly before reaching the start/finish line, he was given a restart violation.

As this was unfolding, chaos broke out in the middle of the pack. Mosack was pushed out of the lane and hit the wall, resulting in a multi-truck accident. Those involved included Frankie Muniz, Tyler Ankrum, Stefan Parsons, Brett Moffitt and William Sawalich. There was a brief red flag to clean up.

While Majeski ran away with the lead, Heim fought his way back through the field and just as he was back in the top ten another caution flag reset the field. Enfinger and Eckes decided to make a pit stop to get new rubber and started the race again in 15th and 16th respectively.

On the ensuing restart, Layne Riggs lost control near the front, but fortunately no one else collided with his spinning truck. Heim had moved back up to the second row, but despite restarting on Majeski’s rear bumper he had nothing going for him in the closing laps.