Ty Majeski Gets His Elusive 2024 Win in 2nd Straight IRP Triumph (2024)

In a Nutshell

On Thursday (July 18), I said that all Ty Majeski needed was a win to re-cement himself in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship hunt.

He went out and did just that one day later on Friday (July 19).

Majeski took the lead from Christian Eckes with a little over 50 laps to go and never looked back, en route to winning for the second year in a row at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. This came despite a restart violation penalty after the first restart of the night that sent him to pit road for a pass-through.

Eckes held on to second, while Grant Enfinger, who looked to be the truck to beat at the beginning of the race, finished third.

The win is the first of the season for both Majeski and ThorSport Racing, both of whom have largely struggled this year. He also becomes only the fifth full-time driver to win this season.

The Top Truckers at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park

Winner: Majeski
Polesitter: Rajah Caruth
Stage 1 & 2 Winner, Most Laps Led (73 of 200 laps): Christian Eckes
Biggest Mover: William Sawalich (started 26th, finished 12th)
Rookie of the Race: Layne Riggs

Top Storylines of the Race

• Two Niece Motorsports trucks, the No. 42 of Matt Mills and the No. 44 of Conor Daly, did not post times in qualifying and started the race as the final two drivers, in 34th and 35th. Mills crashed in practice and damaged his truck, while Daly had a rear gear issue that prevented him from turning a lap.
• Ben Rhodes was forced to start at the rear of the field to begin the race due to running over something in the infield. That punctured his tire and the team was forced to change it. This counted as an unapproved change, which relegated the No. 99 team to the rear to begin the event.
• It was a short day for Mason Massey, who crashed on lap 44 after blowing a right front tire. Despite Young’s Motorsports’ best efforts, Massey’s day ended shortly thereafter.
• Stewart Friesen also had a night to forget. A pit road speeding penalty forced the No. 52 to the rear, and then a broken suspension left the team in a position of just surviving until the finish. Friesen ended up 34th, six laps down.

The Winning Move

Majeski became a man on a mission following his restart violation. By the end of stage two, the No. 98 had driven like a madman, all the way up to third.

On the restart, Majeski quickly found himself in second, but Eckes had already pulled away. However, lap by lap, Majeski slowly reeled the No. 19 back in. By lap 140, Majeski was there.

A few laps later, Majeski pulled side-by-side with Eckes and finished the job on lap 144 by using the lapped truck of Thad Moffitt as a pick to clear Eckes for the lead.

Eckes didn’t fall too far behind Majeski, but he ultimately had no chance of catching the No. 98 again without a caution, something that never came after the final stage’s restart.

Championship Rundown

One. Race. Remains.

As such, the playoff picture is pretty blunt. Enfinger and Tyler Ankrum have officially locked themselves in on points, leaving just three spots up for grabs. Everyone 15th in points and below must win if they want a shot at making the playoffs. With a maximum of 60 points at stake, everyone below 14th is mathematically ineligible to point their way in — and with the way this season has been dominated by two drivers, that seems highly unlikely.

For Taylor Gray, Rhodes, Tanner Gray, Daniel Dye, Friesen, Matt Crafton and Chase Purdy, it is still mathematically possible for any of them to make or miss the playoffs on points. All need their nights to go right (especially the Gray brothers and Rhodes, who currently hold the final three spots) if they want to compete for a championship.

The regular season championship has all been locked up by Eckes after Corey Heim finished an uncharacteristic 17th. The gap between the two is now 50 points, meaning Heim would likely need a miracle in the regular season finale to have a shot at those 15 extra playoff points.

Rookie Report

Three starts at IRP and three top-10 finishes for the young Layne Riggs, as he seems to have this place figured out. His fifth-place performance earns him this week’s Rookie of the Race.

It was a tale of two races for the rookies. Of the eight, half of them finished in the top 12, while the other half finished 25th or worse.

No. 1 – Sawalich (12th)
No. 04 – Marco Andretti (25th)
No. 7 – Sammy Smith (sixth)
No. 22 – Tyler Tomassi (31st)
No. 38 – Riggs (fifth)
No. 44 – Daly (29th)
No. 46 – Moffitt (32nd)
No. 66 – Luke Fenhaus (seventh)

Conner Jones Update: The part-time Rookie of the Year candidate will return to the No. 66 the next time the Truck Series returns to the track at Richmond Raceway. Fenhaus has been behind the wheel the last two races at IRP and Pocono Raceway.

One Big Takeaway From This Race

Nearly everyone who works in NASCAR is physically and mentally tough.

Even crew chiefs.

Doug George, a driver-turned-crew chief, served as Lawless Alan‘s crew chief on Friday night. Not just for the Truck Series, but also the ARCA Menards Series race preceding the Truck Series race.

According to Josh Reaume, team owner of Reaume Brothers Racing (for which Alan drives), George fractured his wrist during one of the earlier practice sessions. How it happened is not clear. Just hours later, he was back atop the No. 33 pit box for the ARCA race and later went on to do the Truck Series race too.

Alan crashed out of the ARCA race despite running top five most of the race, then finished a disappointing 28th in the Truck race, but there was one tough cookie leading his team through it all.

As I said, physical and mental toughness is crucial to working in NASCAR. But this is taking it to a whole new level, and I applaud George for getting through the night with an injury like a fractured wrist.

Talkin’ Truckers

Majeski (winner), Ankrum (fourth), Riggs (fifth) and Fenhaus (seventh) break down their evenings at IRP:

Eckes (second) and Heim (17th) have a lively discussion about their run-in, then both give their sides of the contact:

Enfinger locks CR7 Motorsports into the playoffs for the first time after a third-place finish:

Polesitter Caruth not satisfied with eighth, said he was “beat by the best short trackers in the country”:

Paint Scheme of the Race

One awesome paint scheme, complete with a friend riding on board.

Jack Wood and McAnally-Hilgemann Racing rolled into IRP with sponsorship from the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. This gold, blue and green beauty also featured a dinosaur named Rex riding on the side of the No. 91.

The way these three colors blend together almost always makes for a good design, and this paint scheme is no different. Wood brought home a respectable 15th-place finish in this ride.

Next Stop

Paris. Then, the state that is “for Lovers.”

The Craftsman Truck Series will join the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series as they go on a two-week hiatus as the country comes together to witness the 2024 Paris Olympics (coverage can be found on the NBC family networks if you were wondering). Upon the conclusion of the Olympics, the Truckers are back in action with the Cup Series at Richmond Raceway on Aug. 10.

This race is of utmost importance as it is the final race before the playoffs begin. With just a handful of spots left and a tight cut line battle, it’ll be an interesting race to see who gets said spots when the series descends on the 3/4-mile track in Virginia. Carson Hocevar won last year’s race, but because he is now a Cup driver he will not defend his victory.

Coverage for the Worldwide Express 250 begins at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 10. Television coverage shifts to FOX Sports 1, while Motor Racing Network continues its season-long radio broadcast of the Truck Series.