“The real season starts now.”
That’s what you hear from many NASCAR drivers in any series after the chaos of the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, which usually involves a plethora of crashes and surprise underdogs finding their way to Cinderella finishes.
Usually, week two designates “the real season” beginning, but since the repave of Atlanta Motor Speedway to characterize it as another drafting-style racetrack, drivers now look ahead to week three for “the real season” to begin.
For the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, week three comes after two weeks off following the chaos of Daytona and Atlanta. Its “real season” begins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where 200 miles of racing in Sin City await the truckers.
But because of the chaos Daytona and Atlanta both caused, there are a couple full-time drivers that now are starting “the real season” from behind due to their points — or lack thereof.
Three drivers, in particular, are likely hoping to enter Vegas with the intention of completely turning their season around before they get too far behind early on.
Connor Mosack
The start of the season was tough for Connor Mosack before he even took the green flag at Daytona. The transmission on his No. 81 suffered some sort of issue on the grid, and the truck was stuck in reverse when the engines fired. After a couple trips to the garage, Mosack finished just 21 laps behind, albeit in 33rd (which turned into 32nd following race winner Parker Kligerman’s DQ).
The following week at Atlanta started out the best way possible for Mosack, after he won his first career pole prior to the race. He led 30 laps and scored a boatload of stage points, but found the wall late in the race. He ended up finishing 25th, four laps behind race winner Kyle Busch.
As such, Mosack currently sits 25th in the point standings. He currently trails two drivers who have only run one race — Johnny Sauter and Jason M. White. But with as fast as his truck has shown itself to be, combined with how strong his team, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, is as a whole, the talented Mosack easily ought to be able to claw his way back in the next few races.
Toni Breidinger
Though Mosack and Toni Breidinger are both vying for Rookie of the Year honors in 2025, Mosack has much more experience behind the wheel of a truck than Breidinger, as Mosack has 11 starts compared to Breidinger’s five.
Speaking of the No. 5, that’s the number Breidinger drives, taking the truck over from Dean Thompson this season. Though, unlike Thompson last season, Breidinger still has some growing pains to work through. Several crashes at Daytona relegated her to a 29th-place finish (28th after Kilgerman’s DQ), and she was unable to rebound at Atlanta, finishing 25th, three laps behind Busch.
But as stated earlier, Daytona and Atlanta are crapshoots. Where you run or finish at those tracks aren’t entirely indicative of performance. Breidinger has one truck start at a mile-and-a-half similar to Vegas, at Kansas Speedway in 2023. It was her debut Truck Series race, and she was able to stay out of trouble and came home a respectable 15th — to date her best finish in the Truck Series.
She currently sits 28th in points, worse than Mosack. Beyond Sauter and White, she also trails Timmy Hill and Luke Fenhaus, who also have only run one race each this season. With “the real season” starting at Vegas, now is the time for Breidinger and the No. 5 team to figure out what they need to put Breidinger back in the hunt for the Rookie of the Year award.
Rajah Caruth
Talk about having a horrible start to the season.
Rajah Caruth has crashed out of both of the first two races of the season, resulting in 30th and 29th-place finishes, respectively. That puts him 30th in points — not only does he trail Sauter, White, Hill and Fenhaus (as well as Norm Benning, who also has only run one race), but he is also last among all full-time drivers in the point standings.
Yikes.
Fortunately, Vegas could be just the perfect track for Caruth to head back to. Why you ask?
NASCAR Truck Series winner Rajah Caruth! 🏆 https://t.co/PjvXFygo4l pic.twitter.com/S4upcNMgyi
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 2, 2024
Caruth won his first (and to date, only) career Truck Series race a year ago at this very track. If there’s any track Caruth is looking forward to most to turn his season around, it’s Las Vegas.
Both of Spire Motorsports’ full-time truck drivers (Caruth and Andres Perez) have not had the most ideal start to the season, but now that the crapshoots have passed, the cream will begin to rise to the top, and Caruth will absolutely be one of those drivers to keep an eye on come playoff time.
Mosack, Breidinger and Caruth, along with 29 other hungry truckers, will head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Ecosave 200 on Friday (March 14) at 9 p.m. ET. FOX Sports 1 will provide television coverage, while the brand new NASCAR Racing Network will provide exclusive radio coverage for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Truckin’ Tidbits
- Luke Baldwin, son of former Cup Series team owner Tommy Baldwin, will run three races in ThorSport Racing’s No. 66, beginning at Martinsville Speedway. Baldwin will be the third driver to wheel the No. 66, as Sauter piloted the truck at Daytona, and Fenhaus will drive the truck for most of the rest of the season.
- Speaking of Fenhaus, the television broadcast at Atlanta Motor Speedway mentioned that he will run for Rookie of the Year despite running part-time, similar to what Conner Jones did last season in the same ride. However, neither Fenhaus nor ThorSport have confirmed a run for the ROTY title. Additionally, beyond Las Vegas, Fenhaus’ schedule with ThorSport has not been announced, so it’s unknown if he will run enough races to make a legitimate run at Rookie of the Year.
- AJ Waller will attempt his Truck Series debut with Reaume Brothers Racing later this season at Martinsville Speedway. Waller previously tested an ARCA Menards Series car for KLAS Motorsports at Daytona in January.
- Frankie Muniz has acquired sponsorship from the Morgan & Morgan Law Firm for four races, beginning this weekend at Las Vegas. Morgan & Morgan currently sponsor Richard Childress Racing Cup Series drivers Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon. Previously, Morgan & Morgan also sponsored Chris Hacker.
Follow @AnthonyDamcott on X.
Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and serves as an at-track reporter. He has also assisted with short track content and social media, among other duties he takes/has taken on for the site. In 2025, he became an official member of the National Motorsports Press Association. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight coordinator in his free time.
You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.