Majeski Dominates Truck Playoff Opener at IRP

(Photo: Jake Barton | The Podium Finish)

BROWNSBURG, Ind. — Ty Majeski seemed to have a win in the bag at Richmond Raceway before he sped on pit road. A strategy call went awry then sealed his fate in the closing laps.

Two weeks later at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, the ThorSport Racing driver sealed the deal. In the exact same truck, Majeski led 179 of 200 laps to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoff-opening TSport 200 and lock himself into the Round of 8.

“As a team, we really executed on all fronts tonight,” the Seymour, Wisconsin native said after the race. “Zero mistakes, and that’s what it takes to get through these playoffs. You don’t really have a mulligan. If you have a bad night, it’s hard to recover from that from a points perspective. It’s all about executing and not making any mistakes these next six races or so.

“It was a long eight-hour ride back together after Richmond. We drove through the night and the message was we win and lose as a team … Joe [Shear Jr., crew chief] made great calls during the race and the truck was great.”

After qualifying second, it took Majeski just three laps to get past Corey Heim and set sail. Christian Eckes briefly took the lead for 18 laps on a Lap 22 restart, but otherwise, Majeski led every circuit.

When the race restarted on Lap 148 after a Hailie Deegan crash, Majeski almost expected a series of late cautions leading up to the final laps. Instead, the race stayed green and Majeski cruised to a 3.422-second victory over Eckes.

After struggling on short tracks all season, Christian Eckes finished second at IRP. (Photo: Logan Skidan | The Podium Finish)

“You never want late-race restarts, especially here, the track is so wide and they’re just going to go where you’re not,” Majeski said. “Every time I’m in these truck races and we win it, with the exception of Homestead, it always seems like there’s a late-race caution that throws a wrench into it. We were leading here last year [and] the same thing happened.

“Thankfully it went green and thankful I was able to execute pretty well on the restarts leading up to that point.”

Heim ran in second for the majority of the first two stages as did Grant Enfinger in the top 10. However, Heim had to go to the rear for a pit member falling over the wall during service while Enfinger made a second stop to get lugnuts tightened.

Heim finished eighth. Enfinger finished 12th.

“I don’t think it was a bad effort overall. Obviously, we want to win – but we are points racing to try to get to Phoenix,” Heim said. “Definitely a contending Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro tonight – the 98 (Majeski) was just by far the best. We have a little bit of work to do, but I think we have some good tracks coming up for us.”

Corey Heim recovered for a top 10 at IRP. (Photo: Jake Barton | The Podium Finish)

With two races remaining in the Round of 10, Matt Crafton is two points below the cutline and Matt DiBenedetto is three points below.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Ty Majeski
2. Corey Heim
3. Christian Eckes
4. Layne Riggs
5. Jake Garcia
6. Carson Hocevar
7. Grant Enfinger
8. Rajah Caruth
9. Tanner Gray
10. Zane Smith

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Ty Majeski
2. Corey Heim
3. Grant Enfinger
4. Christian Eckes
5. Carson Hocevar
6. William Sawalich
7. Zane Smith
8. Tanner Gray
9. Layne Riggs
10. Nick Sanchez

TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park Results

Playoff Standings