Record Lap Carries Majeski To Martinsville Truck Pole
Ty Majeski celebrates the pole award Friday at Martinsville Speedway. (Jacob Seelman/Race Face Digital photo)
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Going out late in the order for Friday’s Cometic Gasket Pole Qualifying session at Martinsville Speedway, even with a blustery wind, didn’t matter a bit to Ty Majeski.
With a track-record lap of 19.417 seconds (97.522 mph), Majeski hustled the No. 98 Soda Sense Ford F-150 to the top starting spot for the Long John Silver’s 200 at the .526-mile paper clip.
Majeski earned $1,200 for the Cometic Gasket Pole Award, his seventh career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole, second of the season, and first at Martinsville.
The Seymour, Wis., native and long-time short track veteran in the late model ranks is hoping to convert track position into his first-ever Martinsville Speedway grandfather clock trophy by the end of the night.
“You never know how the race is going to play out here, so starting up front is always important,” said Majeski, who drives for ThorSport Racing. “It takes having the right strategy, though, so it’s going to be a balance between keeping the track position and what the rest of the field does with tires. You don’t want to be on too big of a disadvantage here out front without tires.
“Overall, though, I’m just super proud of this (No.) 98 team,” Majeski continued. “We’ve been working pretty hard at ThorSport to make our trucks a little bit better, and I think we’re doing that. I’m a short track guy, I love short track racing, and I love Martinsville. I’m happy to be here and I think we have a good shot [at the win].”
Joining Majeski on the front row will be McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Christian Eckes, who posted a time of 19.437 seconds (97.422 mph) good enough for second on the grid with the No. 19 NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet Silverado.
Rookie Layne Riggs, who held the provisional pole for much of the session, ended up third-fastest after his lap of 19.502 seconds (97.097 mph). The top three in qualifying all bested the old Truck Series qualifying mark of 19.504 seconds set by Joey Logano back in 2015.
Corey Heim will flank Riggs on the second row, with Daytona winner Nick Sanchez and two-time series champion Ben Rhodes starting fifth and sixth, respectively.
Jake Garcia, Dean Thompson, Tyler Ankrum, and Jack Wood closed out the top 10 starters.
Notables deeper on the grid include Taylor Gray (12th), Sammy Smith (13th) in his first of four planned Truck starts this year for Spire Motorsports, Rajah Caruth (16th), Kaden Honeycutt (17th), Australian Supercars ace Cam Waters (22nd) in a fifth ThorSport truck, and three-time titlist Matt Crafton (24th).
With 34 trucks on the property, all drivers made the race, however Thad Moffitt (brake issues) and Justin S. Carroll (multiple inspection failures) both did not take a lap in qualifying.
Coverage of Friday night’s Long John Silver’s 200 is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
