Ty Majeski (left) and Corey Heim (right) battling for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Michael Donahue | The Podium Finish)
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ty Majeski showed championship-winning pace Friday night at Phoenix Raceway, but after late race chaos and a dominant drive from Corey Heim in the No. 11, the famed trophy did not return to the No. 98 team.
Their speed was evident in practice when Majeski topped the boards with ease, but the real question was if that would hold up in the race the following day. The answer for Majeski was yes. The only problem for the No. 98 was that the No. 11 and now 12-time winner in Heim was his direct competition.
From the drop of the green flag, Majeski was clearly the only truck on the track that could keep up with the pace and lap times that the No. 11 laid down. By Lap 26 in the 160-lap championship race, Majeski was sitting third while Heim had taken the lead of the field.
Those places in the running order stood strong for the finish of Stage 1. In Stage 2, Majeski slowly worked away at the margin between himself and Heim. Both trucks ran first and second for almost the entirety of Stage 2 and finished in those respective spots.
The veteran Ford driver had a shot to crumble an overwhelmingly dominant season for Heim and his TRICON Garage group, but when a season is coming to a close, chaos is always looming for any truck on the racetrack. Unfortunately for Majeski, some events near the end of the show did not mix well with his positioning, paired with a great short-run truck in the No. 11 machine.
Ty Majeski leads the field on a restart during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race from Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Michael Donahue | The Podium Finish)
On a restart with what would eventually be 37 laps remaining, Majeski did not have the run he needed to chase down Heim as the No. 98 was passed by Layne Riggs three laps later. With some luck for Majeski, Connor Mosack made significant contact with the frontstretch wall, bringing out a caution that sent the event into overtime.
All of the Championship 4 drivers came down pit road, and in a wild sequence of events, Majeski and fellow championship competitor Kaden Honeycutt came off pit road with two tires, while Heim and his crew decided to play it safe and go with four.
Heim’s strategy worked out at the end of the day as two overtime restarts took place, giving the No. 11 an incredibly large advantage over Majeski. The No. 98 did everything he could to hold off the No. 11 one final time, but his pace was not there for the final two laps, allowing Heim to storm off with his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship in dominant fashion.
“Really proud of the whole season this group put together,” said Majeski in his post-race comments with NASCAR.com.
The veteran driver did not mince his words when he discussed the late race call to go with two tires to end the race, but he supported the call and tried to make the best of the situation the No. 98 was in compared to the No. 11.
“Proud of (crew chief) Joe (Shear) for making that gutsy call… you always want to be on offense at the end of these races. I think two tires gave us the best opportunity to win tonight.”
Majeski will look forward to the 2026 season, as the honor of driving the No. 98 ended at Phoenix. The 6-time Craftsman Truck Series winner will be taking the place of a retiring Matt Crafton in the iconic No. 88 machine for the foreseeable future.
