2024 Frontstretch NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Awards

The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series concluded in November with a first-time champion in Ty Majeski, scoring the series title by season’s end at Phoenix Raceway.

There are other awards to give it, too.

From nods for (Frontstretch‘s) rookie of the year to a way to give an award to Marco Andretti for losing an important part of his truck at Circuit of the Americas, let’s take one look back at the season that was.

Read all of Frontstretch‘s content looking back on 2024 here

Driver of the Year

Last year, 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion Christian Eckes proved he belongs at the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series level.

This year, Eckes proved he’s ready for the next step.

Corey Heim may have won more races (six) and Majeski may have finished the year as champion, but neither of them proved to be as dominant and consistent as Eckes.

Eckes finished 32nd in the second race of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Outside of that run, Eckes never finished outside the top 10. Nobody in the series had as many top fives, top 10s or laps led.

He was dominant whenever he won, leading at least 100 laps in each of his four wins — including Nashville Superspeedway, when he paced all 150 laps. Eckes outdueled veteran Kyle Busch for his first win at Bristol Motor Speedway. Controversially, he muscled his way through Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes to claim his victory at Martinsville Speedway. 

After just the year prior proving he can win at the Truck level, Eckes was the class of the field with a firm hold of the points lead throughout the season. It’s why the 22-year-old is getting his next big break in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing in 2025.

Rookie of the Year

There’s no other way to describe Layne Riggs’ regular season than as snake-bitten. Just two top fives in 14 races in a Front Row Motorsports ride that saw plenty of wins with Todd Gilliland and Zane Smith previously.

Then came a late-season stretch of short tracks, and the 22-year-old’s near decade of experience in the CARS Tour paid dividends. 

Riggs scored back-to-back fifth-place finishes at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and Richmond Raceway to close out the regular season but failed to make the playoffs. Rather than roll over, Riggs played spoiler at The Milwaukee Mile for his first career win. 

Even in victory, Riggs had to take his lumps when he threw out his shoulder in celebration.

Riggs knew better when he won again at the next race at Bristol. He added a runner-up finish at Kansas Speedway and two top 10s at Martinsville and Phoenix Raceway to end the season. What started as a miserable rookie season for Riggs ended with him hopeful to put the No. 38 Ford back in title contention in 2025. 

Race of the Year

Any time Busch gets back behind the wheel in the Truck Series, he becomes the odds-on favorite to win.

So what happens when he starts a Truck race at Darlington Raceway and is out after just a dozen laps?

The answer was a pretty spectacular race in the Buckle Up South Carolina 200. The usual high aggression levels from the Truck Series were evident at the start, but there were also some fantastic saves made by the likes of Grant Enfinger and Gray.

Heim swept both stages but was involved in a pileup at the start of the final stage. Majeski eventually passed Eckes for the lead until a late caution forced an overtime restart.

Majeski and others found themselves struggling to get up to pace on old tires on the restart, scattering heading into turn 1. The benefactor was NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain in the No. 45 from Niece Motorsports, who was able to fend off Nick Sanchez to win a thriller that proved to be the best showing of the year from the Truck Series.

The “You Dropped This” Award

Circuit of the Americas isn’t exclusively for four-wheel racing. MotoGP, like NASCAR, has become a fixture of the spring for the winding road course in Texas 

COTA, and for that matter NASCAR, had never seen two-wheel racing like they saw during the XPEL 225 when Andretti’s No. 04 truck decided it didn’t need a rear axle anymore.

It was a painful end to what Andretti said was another “character-building” run at stock cars. Andretti told Frontstretch he had vibrations through both pedals and had lost second gear before finally losing the axle.

Honorable mention to Bayley Currey for his truck deciding to turn into a convertible midway through the race at Atlanta.

The Lake Speed Best Body of Water Award

After NASCAR left North Wilkesboro Speedway, Mother Nature slowly reclaimed the earth that occupied the 0.625-mile track in North Carolina. Through renovation efforts, NASCAR took back its piece of history last season with a return to one of its staple short tracks.

When the Truck Series showed up in May, Mother Nature and NASCAR took shared ownership of the space.

What started as a lightning delay during the Wright Brand 250 turned into a storm of biblical proportions. Drivers wandered pit road in knee-high water. Tires floated through the garage area. Firesuits became swimsuits as one crewman dived off the pit wall into the water.

It took some time to dry and clean the track. When the race resumed the following day, it was Heim time as he took home the checkered flag. 

Quote of the Year

“It felt slow. I’m used to going 200 mph” — Norm Benning after being the last driver to make the Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega on speed with a lap of 172.796 mph. Benning finished 21st in the 247th start of his Truck career.