On Friday night (April 11) at Bristol Motor Speedway, two favorites to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race were taken out of the action early on in Ty Majeski and Brandon Jones.
On lap 53, Frankie Muniz spun into a four-truck pileup that collected the two front runners.
It appeared that Muniz tried to take a lower lane or pit from the top side of the race track, and in doing so, he collected Majeski and Jones in the ensuing carnage.
After exiting the infield care center, Ty Majeski, who only completed 53 laps of competition, spoke about Muniz’s recent pleas for respect amongst the upper echelon of the series. Just one month prior, Muniz preached to the masses about earning the respect of veteran drivers in the sport.
“You know, he talked about wanting to earn all of our respect earlier on in the year in some of the races, I think Daytona [International Speedway] and Atlanta [Motor Speedway] … it’s a tough spot,” Majeski said. “He’s got his own race out there, too. You can’t (say), ‘Hey, get out of our way,’ that’s not right either.
“I think if there was just a little bit more predictability in what some of these guys were going to do as lapped trucks … he’s talking earlier in the year about earning our respect. We’re not asking you to get out of the way, we’re just asking you to be predictable.”
While Majeski is a series regular and very much in the points hunt, his counterpart on the night, Jones, is not. The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular noted that he’s been in the sport for 11 years now and that Bristol Motor Speedway itself is far from conducive to younger drivers learning the ropes. However, he said that the rookie Muniz needs help in the car before anything else.
“Half of me sort of feels for him, because who’s there to help him?” Jones said. Nobody. It’s him trying to figure it out on his own. I’ve got plenty of people in my corner helping me prepare for these races, and it’s him vs. him. But on the flip side, you’re at the top level, man, so … you need people helping you to make those decisions. I’m sure no one on the spotter’s stand helped him. I’m sure no one in the pit box helped him.”
Jones defended Muniz too, though, and admitted that he was dealt a dead man’s hand to begin the race, considering the fact the drivers didn’t get to run a single practice lap before the green flag dropped.
“We spray PJ1 on the racetrack, we don’t practice, we don’t qualify with all the rain that came in, and then it’s drop the green flag, you’ve got to figure it out,” he said. “I’ve been coming here for 11 years now, so I know exactly where to be and where to place my truck, but if it’s [the] first time or second, or whatever it is, he’s probably looking into turn 1 thinking, ‘where the heck do I go?'”
Muniz ultimately finished the race in 31st after 76 laps, retiring due to complications from the incident. Jones and Majeski ended up 32nd and 33rd, respectively.
Tanner Marlar is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated’s OnSI Network, a contributor for TopSpeed.com, an AP Wire reporter, an award-winning sports columnist and talk show host and master's student at Mississippi State University. Soon, Tanner will be pursuing a PhD. in Mass Media Studies. Tanner began working with Frontstretch as an Xfinity Series columnist in 2022.