BRISTOL, Tenn. — Layne Riggs won Thursday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, marking his second victory in a row.
But because he isn’t a playoff driver, it affects how the championship picture looks ahead of the Round of 10 finale at Kansas Speedway. Here’s where things stand.
1. Christian Eckes (Adv.)
Searching for a Bristol season sweep, Christian Eckes ultimately fell short of that but still had a solid night. He ran inside the top five the entire race and came home fourth, scoring 50 points during the 200-lapper. It was his seventh consecutive finish of fourth or better, dating back to his runner-up at World Wide Technology (Ill.) Raceway.
Eckes scored enough points to clinch a spot in the Round of 8.
2. Corey Heim (Adv.)
Corey Heim inched out Rajah Caruth on the final lap to finish second Thursday at Bristol. It was a solid night for the 22-year-old, leading four times for 65 laps and winning Stage Two.
Heim also clinched a Round of 8 spot.
“Everyone at our TRICON camp did such a good job. They gave me a great Tundra,” Heim said. “They had great pit stops – they did their job to keep me out front, just didn’t quite have it when the groove started to move around there. Every time we got a heat cycle on the tires, it felt like it got tighter and tighter. Just didn’t quite have it, but solid points day in the playoffs.”
3. Nick Sanchez (Adv.)
Nick Sanchez was the third and final driver to secure a spot in the semifinal round, doing so by finishing fifth. That’s essentially where he ran all race – finishing both stages in the same exact position.
All in all, it was a 44-point night for the second-year driver who just announced he’ll move to the Xfinity Series next year.
4. Ty Majeski (+58)
Nearly falling a lap down in Stage One, Ty Majeski persevered to score an eighth-place finish at Bristol. Starting 19th, the two-time winner this year battled an ill-handling truck from the get-go and didn’t score stage points as he ran well outside the top 10 almost the whole night.
But with a few late cautions, he worked his way into the top 10 and earned 29 points.
“We did what we needed to do tonight. Obviously, we fought some adversity,” Majeski said. “I was proud of the team. When you have a little mishap like that, this is the kind of comeback we needed tonight. It’s what we needed.
“We made the most out of it tonight and did exactly what we needed to do. That will put us in a really comfortable spot going to Kansas and we’ll try to capitalize there and move on to Talladega.”
Barring unforeseen circumstances, he’ll advance to the Round of 8 at Kansas.
5. Rajah Caruth (+35)
Rajah Caruth had the biggest upward swing of all playoff drivers.
Entering Thursday’s race four points below the cutline, Caruth had a net gain of +39 as he finished third at Bristol. He contended for the win and had one of the best trucks, marching past Heim to win Stage One – the first stage win of his career.
His 52 points on the evening were the second-best of all drivers.
6. Tyler Ankrum (+25)
Running in the mid-teens most of the night, Tyler Ankrum used late attrition to gather a top 10 at Bristol. Finishing fifth in the spring, the California native expected more and ultimately came home with a net gain of +16.
7. Taylor Gray (+23)
On a quiet, unassuming day, Taylor Gray ran just outside the top 10 for most of the race and finished 12th. The TRICON Garage driver had a net gain of +10, putting himself in a solid position to transfer after recording a top-five at the Milwaukee Mile last month.
“Just not the night we wanted,” Gray said. “Our TRICON guys worked really hard. We brought a decent A Place of Hope Toyota Tundra – just needed some different stuff to be able to contend up front. If we had cleaner air and track position, it would have been different.
“Just struggled being able to get back through traffic and fight for somewhat of a good finish – just looking at good points getting out of here, and putting it behind us.”
8. Grant Enfinger (+7)
Grant Enfinger held his ground in eighth in points but had a net gain of +5 despite finishing 17th. It’s been a slow start to the playoffs for the CR7 Motorsports driver, coming off a 13th-place finish at the Milwaukee Mile.
9. Daniel Dye (-7)
In line for at least a top 10, a blown tire in Stage Three ruined Daniel Dye’s night.
On lap 158, Dye suddenly shot up the track and went for a spin, coming back down the racing groove and into the door of Kaden Honeycutt. Both trucks suffered significant damage as Honeycutt couldn’t continue and Dye finished six laps off the pace.
Dye had a net loss of -16.
10. Ben Rhodes (-12)
In one of the biggest surprises of the race, Ben Rhodes struggled mightily.
The two-time champion finished 28th, two laps off the pace after admitting the team simply missed it. He spent most of the race in the upper 20s and the lower 30s and never showed any signs of competitiveness.
It was a net loss of -10.
“The moment we unloaded from the transporter we had some issues in practice,” Rhodes said. “You can only really tune on the truck and we needed more than fine-tuning today. We tried to fix one thing, but it would hurt another so we were kind of stuck in the middle of no man’s land and not really able to fix the truck. That made myself more less comfortable at times.
“All in all, I wish we had a better outing for this Bommarito Ford F-150, but we’re just gonna have to go get it at Kansas now and work really hard to get our points back.”
The Truck Series returns next weekend at Kansas.