Majeski Snags Pole For Truck Series Championship Race

Ty Majeski celebrates the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole at Phoenix Raceway. (Ben Earp/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Time trials for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway Friday afternoon may well have been a preview of the season finale itself.

All four Championship 4 drivers qualified inside the top five, but it was ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski who was fastest among the quartet and earned the pole for the Craftsman 150.

Majeski toured the one-mile desert oval in 26.053 seconds (138.180 mph), just a shade off of William Byron’s 2016 track record and enough to give him his 11th career Cometic Gasket Pole Award.

It’s the sixth time this season the Seymour, Wis., native has topped qualifying for a Truck Series race, and it may prove to be the most consequential if he goes on to secure his first title Friday night.

“I don’t know that qualifying means too much, even though you obviously want the track position. It’s a long race and long-run speed is going to come into play,” explained Majeski after his qualifying lap. “We don’t know when the cautions are going to fall, so there are a lot of questions in play tonight, but my guys brought us a really fast Road Ranger Ford F-150 that’s a testament to all the effort we’ve put in to get ready for this race and to try and win a championship.

“I’m excited to go for it and we’ll see what happens after 150 miles under the lights.”

Joining Majeski on the front row for the Phoenix finale will be one of his title rivals in TRICON Garage’s Corey Heim. Heim was three hundredths of a second slower than the pole time at 26.083 seconds (138.021 mph).

Stewart Friesen was the only non-playoff driver to qualify inside the top five and starts third (26.314/136.809) for Halmar Friesen Racing, followed by the other two Championship 4 contenders in McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Christian Eckes (26.380/136.467) and CR7 Motorsports’ Grant Enfinger (26.403/136.348).

Heim’s teammate Dean Thompson rolls off sixth, followed by Rev Racing’s Nick Sanchez, Niece Motorsports’ Kaden Honeycutt, and the Spire Motorsports duo of Connor Mosack and Chase Purdy.

Notables starting deeper in the field include Layne Riggs (11th), Tyler Ankrum (12th), Taylor Gray (14th), Daniel Dye (16th), Rajah Caruth (19th), outgoing series champion Ben Rhodes (20th), and three-time titlist Matt Crafton (22nd).

Lawless Alan got loose off turn two and crashed during his qualifying lap. He’ll go to a backup truck and start last in the 35-driver field.

Broadcast coverage of the Craftsman 150, which will determine the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, is slated for 8 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.