Ty Majeski leads the field during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Ricky Martinez | The Podium Finish)
AVONDALE, Ariz. — After being winless throughout the majority of the season, Ty Majeski, driver of the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford, came through for the win in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway.
He won the last two races before the Truck Series Playoffs began and raced well, paving his way to the championship race in Phoenix.
Starting off his Friday by winning the pole, Majeski set the tone for the race by being fast and toward the front all season.
Majeski had tough competition to face off with in the likes of Corey Heim, driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota, who easily had the best season out of all the full-time drivers in the series, racking up six wins and 18 top 10 finishes throughout the year.
Grant Enfinger and Christian Eckes were also in the mix. Enfinger was coming off of a historic Round of 8, winning his only two races of the season at Talladega Superspeedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Eckes was fresh off a big win in Martinsville to lock himself into the Championship 4 as well.
Friday did not look like it would be a walk in the park for Majeski, but that was how the race wound up.
Majeski had a great jump from the start, leading the first 38 laps, but Corey Heim was able to run him down and claim the Stage 1 win. That was the only scare the No. 98 team faced all evening.
From there on out, Majeski led 94 laps and cruised to a Stage 2 win, and he ultimately had the upper hand over his opposition in track position, especially at shorter tracks like Phoenix.
There were a few cautions for incidents in the final stages of the race, but that never fazed the speed of the No. 98 truck.
Leading Corey Heim by 3.975 seconds, Majeski dominated the closing laps of the event, and picked up his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship.
Ty Majeski celebrates after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship. (Photo: Ricky Martinez | The Podium Finish)
“I can’t believe it,” said Majeski after the race. “This is so much fun racing with this group. I’m so proud to have the opportunity to drive these great race trucks.”
In his fourth season with ThorSport Racing, Majeski capitalized after having a strong season last year in the No. 98, and had another great year this time around.
Struggling early in his career to find his footing in NASCAR, Majeski was able to secure a development contract with Roush Fenway Racing in 2017.
However, Majeski did not show enough in his limited schedule to prove that he had the talent to compete in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Dropping down to the ARCA Menards Series in 2019, he won three races and proved himself enough to scrape together some Truck Series opportunities with the fledgling Niece Motorsports operation.
In 2021, Majeski announced that he would be driving part-time in a fifth truck for ThorSport Racing, which eventually became a full-time occupation for Majeski in 2022.
It is safe to say that Majeski had his hurdles and challenges to overcome, but he proved to everyone last night that he deserved to be a champion in one of NASCAR’s national series.
Majeski gave credit where it was due to the owners of ThorSport for giving him the opportunity to compete at the level he did last night, and for the past few years.
“There’s a lot of times in my career when this looked like a far dream. Duke and Rhonda really gave me my third opportunity after I had two opportunities that failed. Man, I can’t thank them enough.”
As the newest NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion, Majeski can look ahead to next season to defend his title.
