ThorSport Racing Extends Championship Legacy In Trucks

AVONDALE, Ariz. – ThorSport Racing further cemented its legacy as one of the most decorated teams in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Friday night with a third championship in the past four years.

Courtesy of a dominant title race by Ty Majeski, who led 132 of 150 laps at the one-mile Phoenix Raceway en route to victory lane, the Sandusky, Ohio-based organization collected its sixth overall driver’s championship at NASCAR’s third-highest level.

It’s an unparalleled modicum of success in the Truck Series, as team boss Duke Thorson now has double the number of driver’s crowns as the next-best team in Hendrick Motorsports, which won three of the first seven Truck Series championships.

ThorSport also tied the now-defunct Kyle Busch Motorsports for the most overall championships in Truck Series history with nine – adding owner’s titles in 2021, 2023, and this season to its six-pack on the driving side.

In short, the Thorson family has “been there, done that” many times over, considering the team dates back to the very first season of Truck Series competition in 1995. Friday was just the latest example.

“We’ve been in the Truck Series for a long time. We love the Truck Series. It’s very relatable. It’s wonderful in our eyes,” said Allison Thorson, the daughter of co-owners Duke and Rhonda Thorson, in representing ThorSport Racing during the championship festivities at Phoenix.

“A truck is – you see it on the road, and working with Ford – it’s really fun and relatable with our sponsors. We have a great group of people underneath our roof,” she continued. “I’ve seen a lot of guys around the shop since I’ve been in diapers, and it's kind of cool to see everyone all grow. We’ve gone through the highs and lows together. We all stick together.

“When you keep at it and stay consistent, and you’re passionate about it as we are, results happen. It’s super nice to have now six championships in the Truck Series in 11 years.”

Much of that success came on the back of Truck Series veteran Matt Crafton, who earned ThorSport’s first three championships in 2013, 2014, and 2019, but the team’s run of success since the turn of the decade has been thanks to younger stars in two-time titlist Ben Rhodes and now Majeski.

It’s a delicate balance of youth and experience that ThorSport has managed perhaps better than any other team in the series, if not across NASCAR as a whole.

“In our group we have a mix of veteran drivers. You know Matt Crafton; he’s been with us for a long time. But for us, we have a group of people that go for both the highs and lows, and when Ty came to us we definitely said, ‘Why not? Let’s do this together,’” explained Thorson. “We love the underdog [stories].

“I won’t say he was an underdog because he has wonderful talent. You see him win all the time in late models. But we looked at his record and figured, you know, why not piece that together with what we have and see what we can all do together. I think the results of that are clear after tonight.”

The younger Thorson then pointed to Majeski’s fierce work ethic as a major reason he’s become such a force in the Truck Series, noting that “his dedication is unmatched in our eyes.”

“The reason why Ty is a champion is because he puts in the work, day in and day out. He doesn’t give up, and he’s a familiar face in the shop,” she explained. “He’s gotten a nickname of ‘Golden Shoes’ because he just does everything right. You can't find anything you don’t like about him. It’s become a nickname around the shop for him.

“With my dad Duke, if you don’t have a nickname, you probably aren’t on his favorite list … even though he swears he doesn’t do favorites,” Thorson continued. “He’s kind of a hard-core guy.”

Majeski’s nickname came to light Friday on the championship stage, when he took one of his – appropriately gold – racing shoes off and performed a ‘shoey’ with the victory champagne.

It was, perhaps, the most flair Majeski has shown over his three full-time seasons in the Truck Series and brought a chuckle to both Thorson and crew chief Joe Shear Jr. when all was said and done.

“My dad is sneaky. He won’t tell anybody because he doesn’t want that sticker like he bought them, but he definitely ran with the golden shoes,” Thorson said with a smile.

Though ThorSport has made its living at the Truck Series level, questions have become more and more frequent about a potential rise into the NASCAR Xfinity Series or NASCAR Cup Series.

But as Thorson later explained, the Truck Series has been her family’s home and continues to be.

“At ThorSport that’s a common question, is ‘Why aren't you guys in the Cup Series? Do you not have any ambition for that?’ But we have a lot of other businesses under our roof besides ThorSport Racing, and the business interactions that we have with our sponsors are valuable,” she said. “We also sponsor other racing series, including the NHRA, IMSA, and stuff like that. We know what it’s like to be a sponsor.

“It’s hard for a lot of teams to make that happen, but I say with the experience of the business leadership from my family, we’re able to give guys options for what they want to do. If someone wants to further their career in other series, go ahead. We’re right there patting their back. If they want to make a home here [in the Truck Series], we’ll help them, and we’ll help them be as successful as possible.

“At our core, we want to win. It’s not about what level we do it at … we just want to win.”

From starting as an engineer for ThorSport in 2021 to winning them a championship three years later, Majeski’s evolution with the team has been one that Thorson said they’ve been “blessed” to be a part of.

“I think there’s a quote: ‘If you keep doing the right thing, then things will pay off,’ she said. “That’s kind of the picture for Ty.”

It’s the picture for ThorSport Racing, as well, as they’ve ascended the ranks to become one of the greatest Truck Series teams of all time.