The 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs are officially here.
Over the next seven races, 10 drivers will duke it out for a shot to take home a championship.
Who are they? Let’s meet the 10 drivers vying for glory at Phoenix Raceway in a few months.
1. Corey Heim
Points: 2065
Wins: 7
Best points finish: 2nd (2024)
If you want to win the 2025 title, you’re gonna have to go through Corey Heim.
Though we also said that about 2023 and 2024, and he still sits at zero titles.
Maybe third time is the charm for the most dominant Truck Series team.
With seven wins already this year and an even more impressive 65 playoff points to carry with him through the playoffs, you could almost guarantee him a spot in the Championship 4 now. He leads second by 39 points and has shown no signs of slowing down.
The only weakness plaguing that No. 11 team is closing out Phoenix — in 2023, his beef with Carson Hocevar cost them both a shot, while 2024 saw Heim lack speed, forcing him to settle for second. If TRICON Garage can give him a halfway decent truck for Phoenix and he can stay out of trouble, it’ll be tough to stop Heim Time.
2. Layne Riggs
Points: 2026
Wins: 2
Best points finish: 11th (2024)
A strong second half of the regular season has elevated Layne Riggs to a driver who could hold a candle to Heim for the championship. He lacks the playoff points Heim has, but the No. 34 team is closer on speed to Heim than most other playoff contenders.
No matter what happens, Riggs is guaranteed to clinch his best points finish, as he missed the playoffs in his rookie season in 2024. While Riggs has speed everywhere, his real strength will be short tracks. Of the seven races in the playoffs, four of them are a mile or less, one of which he’s won at already at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Those short tracks could benefit Riggs down the stretch. The only problem is that Heim is good on short tracks too. Look for the No. 34 team to try different things to bring down the No. 11 team — especially given the two’s history stemming back to North Wilkesboro Speedway.
3. Chandler Smith
Points: 2019
Wins: 2
Best points finish: 3rd (2022)
Speaking of Wilkesboro, Riggs’ teammate Chandler Smith was the winner of that race. And just like Riggs, short tracks might be Smith’s strength as well, as his other win came at Bristol Motor Speedway — the cutoff race for the Round of 10, conveniently.
Smith’s return to the Truck Series after two years in the Xfinity Series has gone well, which is surprising considering his No. 38 team only came together in January.
Despite the expansion, neither Riggs nor Smith have seen a dip in performance.
However, Smith hasn’t seen the top five since that Bristol win in April. His best finish since then has been sixth, and while he was consistent enough to score third-place bonus points for the playoffs, he needs to find that extra step to get back to victory lane if he wants a legitimate shot at the championship.
4. Daniel Hemric
Points: 2011
Wins: 1
Best points finish: 6th (2016)
Like Smith, Daniel Hemric also moved back to the Truck Series.
It took him five races before he won just his second national series race in 324 starts. Hemric had big shoes to fill in replacing Christian Eckes, Heim’s main rival for the title last season, but Hemric has done a serviceable job in McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s flagship truck.
Hemric only has two finishes worse than 16th, which is absolutely a solid season. However, the lack of wins and stage points compared to those ahead of him will likely come back to bite him in the title fight. But we saw what Hemric did in the Xfinity Series in 2021 — despite going winless the whole year, Hemric made the Championship 4 and muscled Austin Cindric out of the way to win the race and the championship.
We know what Hemric will do for a championship — he just has to get the No. 19 to Phoenix first.
5. Tyler Ankrum
Points: 2010
Wins: 1
Best points finish: 8th (2019, 2024)
For the first time since 2019, Tyler Ankrum won a Truck Series race this season, and much like his first career win, it was a fuel mileage victory. The No. 18 team is continuing the momentum that it had in 2024 and built upon it with the Rockingham Speedway victory.
If you’re looking for a dark horse Championship 4 contender, it could be Ankrum, who had a streak of five straight top fives earlier in the season (including the Rockingham victory) and is riding a streak of four consecutive top 11s heading into the playoffs. Like teammate Hemric, a lack of wins and playoff points prevented Ankrum from a higher place in points.
But the 24-year-old’s confidence might be higher than ever this season, which could prove beneficial down the stretch.
6. Ty Majeski
Points: 2010
Wins: 0
Best points champion: Champion (2024)
The good news for Ty Majeski? He’s the defending champion and only past champion to qualify for the playoffs (teammates Ben Rhodes and Matt Crafton both missed).
The bad news? He has no wins and hasn’t really looked competitive for a title at all this year.
Majeski’s championship run in 2024 really started just before the playoffs began, and despite having two wins less than he did this time last year, the competitiveness the No. 98 showed at Richmond Raceway could be the catalyst to another championship run.
Majeski did end up fourth in the final regular season standings despite going winless. If he had more stage and race wins, he might be above Riggs in the seeding. He knows how to beat Heim at Phoenix — he did it for the title last year — and could be one to watch, even if the stats aren’t in his favor as the playoffs begin.
7. Grant Enfinger
Points: 2007
Wins: 0
Best points finish: 2nd (2023)
Thanks to Grant Enfinger, CR7 Motorsports went from a perennial backmarker to championship contender in just one season in 2024, a season highlighted by Enfinger notching the team’s first two career wins.
It’s been a similar yet different 2025, as Enfinger hasn’t found a ton of consistency but has quietly flown under the radar, grabbing a playoff spot one race early.
The No. 9 team didn’t win in 2024 until October, so perhaps the best is yet to come for Enfinger and CR7.
Enfinger is also no stranger to the Championship 4, with his best championship result as runner-up in 2023. If he can get back to the Championship 4 again, maybe this year could be his year.
8. Rajah Caruth
Points: 2005
Wins: 1
Best points finish: 7th (2024)
A masterful drive at Nashville Superspeedway gave Rajah Caruth his second career win, and in turn his second consecutive playoff berth. However, that’s about the only highlight of Caruth’s season, as he was outside the top 10 in points almost the whole year, even after his Nashville triumph.
Spire Motorsports as a whole has seemed to regress slightly — at least in the Truck Series — in 2025. That seemed evident when the team let Andres Perez walk to Niece Motorsports and shut down its No. 07 all-star truck. Caruth’s performance also took a dip, never really finding consistent top five speed the whole year.
It’s going to take some work for the No. 71 team if they want to make it out of the first round, but Spire will do their damnedest to get Caruth into the title fight.
9. Kaden Honeycutt
Points: 2003
Wins: 0
Best points finish: 19th
Kaden Honeycutt’s first full-time season in the Truck Series has been about what everyone might have expected — a solid playoff contender who has done just about everything but win. He’s met or exceeded expectations and has made the most of his opportunities.
Honeycutt’s unexpected release from Niece Motorsports almost derailed his entire season, but Young’s Motorsports came through for him at Watkins Glen International, while Halmar Friesen Racing signed Honeycutt to drive the No. 52 truck for the rest of the season.
It’s a good pairing — a playoff driver in need of a team, and a playoff team in need of a driver (Stewart Friesen would have been in the playoffs after winning Michigan International Speedway if it weren’t for his injuries). With the sudden change in direction both Honeycutt and HFR have had this season, the fact they both made the playoffs is a win in and of itself.
Anything else is icing on the cake.
10. Jake Garcia
Points: 2002
Wins: 0
Best points finish: 13th (2023)
This season seems to be the year Jake Garcia has finally put it all together. He’s had the speed, but results left a lot to be desired in 2023 and 2024.
While he has yet to win, Garcia secured a playoff spot over teammate Rhodes, guaranteeing him his best points finish by at least three positions. Garcia also benefitted from Friesen’s injury, as Garcia would not have made the playoffs if Friesen was still in a truck.
While “championship contender” might be a stretch (though stranger things have happened), it’s still a major improvement for the No. 13 team — one they can build off of heading into 2026.
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Coverage for the Sober or Slammer 200 begins at approximately noon E.T. on Saturday, Aug. 30. FOX Sports 1 has exclusive television coverage of the Truck Series playoffs, while the all-new NASCAR Racing Network continues its season-long radio broadcast of the Truck Series.
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.