Tracking the Trucks: Remaining NASCAR 2024 Silly Season Dominoes

The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is just weeks away from dropping the green flag on another thrilling season. But with only a few weeks left, there remain a number of open rides that have yet to be announced.

With seats needing to be filled and talent waiting to sign on the dotted line, let’s go over what seats remain and what could be the best fit for each driver and team.

First, here are the dominoes have already fallen for 2024 in the Truck Series.

Returning Drivers/Teams

Of drivers making their return to their respective rides, the biggest name staying put is Championship 4 contender Corey Heim. Heim ended 2023 with the series’ highest average finish of 6.8 in the TRICON Garage No. 11 Toyota Tundra.

Heim returns to what will be a five-truck operation for TRICON along with full-time teammates Dean Thompson in the No. 5, Tanner Gray in the No. 15 and Taylor Gray in the No. 17.

In the Chevrolet camp, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing made a splash with the return of standout Christian Eckes to the No. 19. Eckes finished 2023 tied for the most wins at four and won the season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Nick Sanchez, who made the playoffs in his rookie season, is also set to make his return to the No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet.

Three of the four ThorSport Racing entries will also feature familiar faces in Matt Crafton, Ty Majeski and defending champion Ben Rhodes.

New Faces in New Places

As for everyone else, the deck has been reshuffled by teams and drivers since the end of last season.

Front Row Motorsports hired rookie Layne Riggs, the son of former NASCAR driver Scott, full time for the No. 38 Ford F-150. Riggs replaces former champion Zane Smith, who departed to the Cup Series and a ride with Spire Motorsports and Trackhouse Racing. Riggs ran part time in both the Truck and NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2024, posting a best finish of third at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park last summer.

At Thorsport, Jake Garcia will pilot the No. 13 entry in his sophomore season. Garcia, who came from MHR, fills the gap left by Hailie Deegan, who heads to the Xfinity Series after one season with the team.

MHR, meanwhile, expanded its operation to three trucks after absorbing some of the remnants of GMS Racing. A rebranded No. 18 will be piloted by Tyler Ankrum, while Daniel Dye will bring the No. 43 and his sponsorship to the team for 2024.

At Rackley WAR, veteran Ty Dillon will drive the No. 25 Chevrolet Silverado as a full-time replacement for Matt DiBenedetto. 2024 will be Dillon’s first full-time season in the Truck Series since 2013.

Championship 4 driver Grant Enfinger joined CR7 Motorsports and its No. 9 Chevrolet after the shutdown of GMS and brought sponsorship from Champion Power Equipment. The organization has a new alliance with MHR.

Niece Motorsports has confirmed two new drivers for 2024 with Bayley Currey in the No. 41 and Matt Mills in the No. 42, replacing now-Cup rookie Carson Hocevar. 2024 will mark both drivers’ first full-time season in the Truck Series.

Chase Purdy will drive the No. 77 truck for the Spire Motorsports organization. He’ll be the lone driver running for the championship there in 2024, barring any additions.

Further down the garage area, a newly established team, Faction 46, features Thad Moffitt driving its No. 46 Chevrolet.

All these changes have built excitement with the 2024 season less than a month away. But what about the seats remaining to be filled? Here’s what’s left to decipher before the haulers unload at Daytona International Speedway for the season opener.

Niece Motorsports No. 45 Chevrolet

With the departure of Lawless Alan to the Reaume Brothers Racing No. 33 Ford, Niece has yet to fill its seat for their No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado. Alan raced in 21 of the 23 races this season after failing to qualify at Daytona International Speedway and the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track. He finished 22nd in points, the lowest of his teammates at Niece.

A fit owner Al Niece could use for this ride and his team would be the veteran Matt DiBenedetto. DiBenedetto offers both experience and leadership for a team fielding two drivers, Currey and Mills, attempting their first full-time Truck seasons.

DiBenedetto earned his lone win in the Truck Series at Talladega Superspeedway with Rackley in 2022 and made an appearance in the playoffs for the team last season. Additionally, he has seven years of Cup experience from 2015 to 2021, including a playoff appearance for Wood Brothers Racing in 2020.

The downside is that DiBenedetto continues to struggle to acquire a sponsor for the 2024 season. The driver from Grass Valley, Calif., revealed his struggles in a recent update on Jan. 19.

With that in mind, Niece could look at other candidates who have raced with the team previously, such as Kaden Honeycutt or Chad Chastain. However, time is running slim for Niece to place someone in the No. 45 for 2024.

Second Spire Truck

In 2023, Spire acquired the facilities of the famed and established KBM. Along with acquiring Purdy to drive its No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado, the question still remains of who will join Kyle Busch to fill out the remaining 18 races of the schedule.

One name that jumps out of the selection of drivers remaining that could assist Spire in a full-time season is Derek Kraus.

Kraus raced two times for the team in 2023, finishing a season-best eighth at The Milwaukee Mile, as well as competing in eight races for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series. Additionally, Kraus raced for MHR from 2020 to 2022, scoring a career-best finish of second in 2020 and finishing with a total five top fives and 24 top 10s for the team.

Kraus seems like the best fit left available for Spire and the No. 7 truck if it chooses to run the entry full time in 2024.

Hattori Racing Enterprises & Reaume Brothers Racing

After two seasons, owner Shigeaki Hattori and Ankrum parted ways, leading Ankrum to sign on with MHR for the 2024 season. Since then, however, Hattori Racing Enterprises has yet to announce who will run its No. 16 Toyota Tundra or its part-time No. 61 Toyota Tundra for the 2024 season.

Additionally, according to TobyChristie.com via team owner Josh Reaume, Hattori has sold its 2023 owner points for the No. 16 to Reaume Brothers Racing in a three-way owners points acquisition that included AM Racing’s No. 22 and On Point Motorsports’ No. 30.

With the sale of the No. 16’s owner points, the status of the 2018 Truck championship-winning team is suddenly in doubt. It remains to be seen whether it’ll run full time or at all in 2024.

On the other hand, with new sets of owner points and a team expansion, RBR will have to find new drivers to join Alan in its 2024 lineup. It’s already announced Keith McGee, and Jason White, a past RBR driver, has also said he plans to race at Daytona International Speedway.

Young’s Motorsport

Young’s Motorsports made the jump to the Xfinity Series with Leland Honeyman Jr. at the helm of the No. 42, but what about its Truck operation? No reports have been made about Young’s Motorsports plans for any of their Truck Series teams for 2024.

Spencer Boyd, who raced for the team for five seasons and won at Talladega Superspeedway for the team in 2019, left to form and race for his own organization, Freedom Racing Enterprises. The team’s longtime No. 02 entry was filled with part-timers such as Honeycutt, Will Rodgers, Garrett Smithley and others after Kris Wright was released in the middle of the season. Its No. 20 also fielded a merry-go-round of different drivers throughout the season.

Out of all of the talented prospects, Honeycutt looks like the best fit to run a full-time season with the team after finishing in the top 10 three times last season (twice with Young’s and once with Roper Racing Team). Honeycutt even finished ahead of Boyd, who attempted the full season, in points with just 11 starts.

As for the other pieces of Young’s, it is still uncertain who will actually field the trucks full time next season, if that is the decision the team makes for 2024.

TRICON Garage No. 1 Toyota

Although TRICON has already announced ARCA Menards East Series champion William Sawalich to the ride for nine races in 2024, 14 races still remain to be filled in what’s one of the strong part-time openings in the Truck Series.

One of the top names rumored for a return to the ride is Toni Breidinger. She ran three races for the team in 2023 and earned a best finish of 15th at Kansas Speedway. With the backing of sponsors such as Victoria’s Secret and Raising Cane’s, it should be no shock to see her back as the ARCA regular looks to advance her career.

The No. 1 could also see NASCAR veterans and Toyota drivers such as John Hunter Nemechek, owner David Gilliland and Bubba Wallace, if TRICON opts to fill the truck with such competitors.