Ty Majeski scored his second straight pole at World Wide Technology Raceway. (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)
MADISON, Ill. — Some drivers remember their losses more vividly than their wins. For Ty Majeski, Saturday will show whether or not he has learned from past mistakes.
Majeski dominated Friday to score the Cometic Gasket Pole for the Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway, his second in a row at the 1.25-mile oval.
Even with the pole, Majeski thought he had more speed to give.
“I thought it was going to be maybe a little bit quicker than what we went,” Majeski told Regan Smith of Fox Sports. “So much cooler than what we’ve had here the last couple years. Glad that [32.]47 held. I thought I hit a really good 1-2 and not so good 3-4.”
Also like last year, Majeski’s No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 posted the fastest lap and fastest 10-lap average of all competitors.
In last year’s running, Majeski led 55 laps and found himself in position to battle for the win, when he lost it in Turn 3 and took out himself and Zane Smith.
Majeski said that he has gone back and analyzed what he might have done differently knowing how things played out.
“You have to,” Majeski said. “On one token, you can’t dwell on the past, right? But you have to go back and understand what you did wrong and fix it. Never a good situation when you have one of the better trucks and you wreck a fellow Ford truck for the win.
“I went back and looked at it and thought about what I could have done different and hopefully not make that same mistake again. But hopefully we’re in that same position again.”
Ty Majeski is looking to score his fourth-career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win Saturday. (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)
Majeski will start to the inside of points leader, Christian Eckes, in Saturday’s running.
The 29-year old was in the points lead after Martinsville. But three finishes outside of the top-10 in the last five races, as well as losing the win late at Darlington, have slipped him back to fourth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points.
As this hectic five-week stretch of races concludes, Majeski says he’s looking to finish it on a high note, with a chance to win $50 thousand by going to victory lane.
“We’ve had an up-and-down season,” Majeski said. “The speed has always been there. But these last couple of weeks, we’ve kind of been up-and-down on the execution side of it. The hard part is finding the speed.
“Sometimes we don’t have the speed, and it’s hard to find it. I feel like we haven’t lacked that all year. We just have to do a better job at making the best of whatever that day offers us.”
Saturday’s Toyota 200 will take the green flag at 1:30 p.m. E.T. on Fox Sports 1. Majeski will look to join Corey Heim, Kevin Harvick and Ted Musgrave to win this race from the pole.