WEST ALLIS, Wisc. — While Christian Eckes and Corey Heim dominated the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular season, a non-playoff driver stole the show Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile Speedway.
Layne Riggs secured his first career victory, holding off a flurry of playoff drivers in the final laps of the Round of 10 opener.
That said, nobody advanced to the second round of the playoffs. While drivers like Eckes (+60), Ty Majeski (+44), Heim (+41) and Nick Sanchez (+34) all have substantial cushions, it’s much tighter further down the board.
5th: Taylor Gray (+13)
Taylor Gray put together one of his strongest races of the season, finding himself in the mix for most of the afternoon and coming home fifth. It’s his second consecutive top-five as he finished third at Richmond (Va.) Raceway earlier in the month.
“Props to Jeff Hensley (crew chief) making awesome adjustments on the box and getting us upfront and being able to contend for a top five,” he said. “It’s a step in the right direction. Just got to work on getting a little bit better in terms of the speed and things like that to contend for wins right now. I can’t thank my guys enough at TRICON Garage for bringing me a really good JBL Tundra TRD Pro. Just needed a little bit more to contend for a top three or a win.”
Generally speaking, it’s been a solid season for Gray. He’s got 10 top 10s on the campaign and has otherwise been consistent outside of hiccups at World Wide Technology (Ill.) Raceway and Nashville Superspeedway.
In his first playoff appearance, he hopes to advance beyond the opening round.
6th: Tyler Ankrum (+13)
Maybe flying under the radar, Ankrum finished sixth on Sunday and gave himself a small cushion heading to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Ankrum started the season on a high note, recording four top 10s in the first six races and holding the championship points lead through most of March. While a crash at Texas Motor Speedway commenced a rocky spring stretch, the Californian seems headed in the right direction with three consecutive finishes of sixth or better.
7th: Daniel Dye (+9)
The final driver to make it into the playoffs, Dye arguably had the most significant gain at Milwaukee.
Dye finished eighth and jumped from 10th to seventh in points, continuing to build momentum. It’s his second straight top 10, and while he hasn’t always gotten the most deserving finishes, his McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team has contended. He finished second at Nashville a few months ago and dug himself out of a substantial points hole to race for a title.
8th: Grant Enfinger (+2)
Last year’s Milwaukee winner didn’t quite have the same success this year.
Grant Enfinger finished 13th and dropped from +5 to +2, falling two overall spots. While he hasn’t always had race-winning speed, Enfinger has remained consistent with CR7 Motorsports, having not finished outside the top 20 since early April.
Sunday’s finish was his worst since WWT Raceway, earning just 25 points. While he’s still inside the provisional Round of 8, the 10-time series winner has plenty of work to do.
9th: Ben Rhodes (-2)
Defending series champion Ben Rhodes remained ninth in points, dropping from -1 to -2 with a ninth-place finish. While his finishing position is respectable, he earned just two stage points the entire afternoon.
But as it has been proven before, it’s hard to count out Rhodes – who’s searching for his third title. He won just once last year – Charlotte Motor Speedway in the spring – meaning he went the entire playoff run without a victory. Could a similar run be in store?
10th: Rajah Caruth (-4)
Winner at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the spring, Rajah Caruth had a rough go of it in Milwaukee. He finished 18th – by far the worst of the playoff drivers – and recorded just 19 points.
Caruth had to come from the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments, and ended up plateauing midfield after nose damage.
Entering Sunday at +7, Caruth fell below the cutline as he had the most significant drop among the playoff drivers. It was his second consecutive finish outside the top 15.
Still, there’s plenty of time for the Spire Motorsports driver to position himself before the Round of 10 closes.