Truckin’ Thursdays: Setting the Stage for the 2024 Championship

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to crown a champion in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

On Friday night (Nov. 8) when the checkered flag flies at Phoenix Raceway, the Truck Series will crown a brand-new champion, as all four drivers vying for the crown have never won it before.

A first-time champion will be crowned Friday night in Phoenix. #Championship4 pic.twitter.com/SwOBdPY4Y2

— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) November 6, 2024

It’s time to break down this year’s Championship 4 and give a pick in advance of the 150-lap champion-deciding showdown out west.

The Championship 4

Corey Heim

Wins: 6
Best Points Finish: 4th (2023)
Best Phoenix Finish 7th (2022)

For the second year in a row, the driver of the TRICON Garage No. 11 Toyota enters the season finale far and away the championship favorite. Things didn’t quite work out in his favor last season (more on that later), so Heim enters Phoenix with a chip on his shoulder — and likely a vengeance too.

With a series-leading six wins on the season, Heim’s 2025 plans are still up in the air — he could be staying in the Truck Series another season, or he could (and should) be moving up to either the Xfinity or Cup series next season. A championship could easily accelerate talks with teams (mainly Toyota stables) to figure out where he will compete in 2025.

It will be very hard to take the title from Heim, just as it was last year. But he has one big obstacle standing in his way, and that’s in the form of the No. 19 truck.

Christian Eckes

Wins: 4
Best Points Finish: 5th (2023)
Best Phoenix Finish: Winner (2023)

Eckes was one lapped truck away from winning Bristol Motor Speedway last year, which would have sent him into the Championship 4. He then went on to win Phoenix, which would have made him the champion. So just like Heim, Eckes enters Phoenix seeking a little bit of redemption.

Not only does Eckes enter the championship fight as the defending winner of Phoenix, which already gives him and his team some momentum, but he also enters in a much better position than last year. Four wins on the season to this point have kept him in the hunt with Heim throughout the season, even besting the No. 11 for the regular season championship.

Eckes and the No. 19 have all the confidence in the world right now as the most recent winners at Martinsville Speedway and the aforementioned defending winner at Phoenix. However, with his Martinsville win came some foes that might have a say in whether or not he can come away with a title. Though he dominated the race, he had to move both Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes on a late restart to win the race.

Both Gray and Rhodes are teammates to drivers in the Championship 4, with Gray serving as Eckes’ primary rival — and Gray is Heim’s teammate. While Gray promised “clean racing” in post-race interviews after the pair’s Martinsville dust-up, it doesn’t mean he still won’t race Eckes super aggressively and give the No. 19 fits to help Heim out.

But if anyone can take down Heim for the title and is probably deserving of doing so, it’s Eckes. But he has an uphill battle to fight from the jump.

Grant Enfinger

Wins: 2
Best Points Finish: 2nd (2023)
Best Phoenix Finish: 4th (2018)

Not to say Enfinger had a bad season prior to the playoffs by any means, but once the postseason started, the No. 9 team really came alive. Back-to-back wins in the Round of 8 more than solidified his spot in the Championship 4. Enfinger finished runner-up in the Championship 4 last season, and he brings his team, CR7 Motorsports, to its first Championship 4 in what can only be described as a career year for the stable.

Enfinger himself is no underdog for the championship, but if he can bring home the crown for CR7, it would be a huge upset, as that team was barely fighting for top 20s as late as last season. Enfinger raced cleanly for the title last year, but came up short. If he’s running second in the title fight late in the going, he may not be so nice this time around.

Ty Majeski

Wins: 2
Best Points Finish: 4th (2022)
Best Phoenix Finish: 11th (2019)

Majeski returns to the Championship 4 for the first time since 2022. He could’ve made the final round in 2023, but suffered a season-crushing penalty that effectively ended his title hopes. It’s been a quiet season overall for the No. 98, but two back-to-back wins right before the playoffs helped propel the Wisconsinite into his second Championship 4.

ThorSport Racing is looking for back-to-back titles and its third title in four years after Rhodes won two of them in 2021 and 2023. ThorSport as a whole seems to have been a step off this season, but Majeski and the No. 98 team have remained consistent and quiet and could be a dark horse for the 2024 championship.

Who Will Be the Champion?

It’s hard to go against Heim. He’s been the dominant truck all season and was in this very situation last year before … chicanery happened (that’s as generous as I could put it). He’s probably got the biggest chip on his shoulder from last year over anybody, and he will not be denied.

My prediction for the 2024 championship is Corey Heim.

Truckin’ Tidbits:

• Following the Martinsville race, Brett Griffin implied on X that teammates Tanner Gray and Dean Thompson got in a physical altercation after the race, with Thompson supposedly handedly winning the fight. However nothing has confirmed this, though it wouldn’t be an outlandish thought, as the two tangled during the race and left Gray upset with the No. 5.
• Majeski was fined $12,500 for missing mandatory Championship 4 media obligations on Nov. 5. However, Nov. 5 was also Election Day, so Majeski likely missed media day because he was out voting. It seems absurd that NASCAR would have any activity scheduled on an important day for the people to do their civic duty. The fine, which is really high for Truck Series standards, seems a little unfair, but Majeski has not announced whether or not he will appeal the penalty.
• Rookie of the Year Layne Riggs will have shoulder surgery in the offseason. It’s the same shoulder he dislocated while celebrating his win at the Milwaukee Mile. Riggs is expected to fully recover in time to begin the 2025 season.