Ty Majeski Tops NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Practice at Phoenix
By David Morgan, Associate Editor
AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ty Majeski has Phoenix Raceway figured out.
The defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, who many have feared as the driver to look out for in the championship finale on the one-mile desert oval, showed exactly why that is on Thursday afternoon by topping the board in the lone practice session of the championship finale weekend.
Majeski’s No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford laid down a lap of 26.920 seconds, 133.764 mph to lead the way ahead of Layne Riggs, Brent Crews, Rajah Caruth, and Giovanni Ruggiero.
Though it has been a winless season for Majeski and ThorSport as a whole, he remains as confident as ever that they will have a shot on Friday night.
“I feel great. I really do,” said Majeski. “Feel as confident as I ever have going into a Truck race. Feel good about our preparation, about what we’re bringing, just having that experience. And not just me, my entire team, I think everybody is pretty much the same from last year.
“So, we’ve all been here, we’ve done that, we’ve won a championship, we know what it takes to do it and do it right. And I think that’s a huge advantage that my team has over some of the others.”
Tyler Ankrum was the next closest of the Championship 4 contenders in seventh, followed by Kaden Honeycutt in 12th, and championship favorite Corey Heim in 15th place.
Majeski added that while Heim may be the favorite will 11 wins on the season, he and the rest of the Championship 4 will be on a level playing field this weekend with the winner take all format.
“I think naturally when somebody goes out and wins almost half the races, naturally everybody else is going to fly under the radar,” said Majeski. “That’s just math, right? That’s just numbers. So obviously the 11 has had a great season, 11 wins or whatever it is, but the fact of the matter is none of that matters anymore.
“There’s no bonus points or anything. It’s winner take all Phoenix and that’s the format we’re all under. So, a good player plays to that format and we feel good about our chances tomorrow night.”
Next up for the Truck Series will be qualifying at 3:35 pm ET and the championship race at 7:30 pm ET. Qualifying will be televised on FOX Sports 2, with the race on FOX Sports 1.
