Latest news with #MattCrafton
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Newsweek
Legendary NASCAR Truck Driver Set to Retire After 2025 Season
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. ThorSport Racing announced the retirement of Matt Crafton, the driver of the No. 88 Craftsman Truck Series entry, who has been behind the wheel for his 26th year. Crafton will finish the 2025 season and step aside for the following campaign, allowing his current teammate and defending champion, Ty Majesk, to take over the No. 88. "ThorSport Racing today announced a new chapter for its storied No. 88 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entry," ThorSport Racing said in a statement. "Three-time series champion Matt Crafton will conclude his full-time driving career after the 2025 season. Beginning in 2026, teammate and 2024 series champion Ty Majeski will take the wheel of the No. 88 full-time." Matt Crafton, driver of the #88 Chi Chis/Menards Ford, speaks to a crew member during practice for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 23, 2025... Matt Crafton, driver of the #88 Chi Chis/Menards Ford, speaks to a crew member during practice for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 23, 2025 in Concord, North Carolina. More Photo byAs the longest-running driver in truck series history, Crafton has accomplished a lot in the sport - winning titles in 2013, 2014, and 2019 - sitting second all-time in series championships. He is also the only driver in the Craftsman Truck Series to win back-to-back titles. His 23-year partnership with Menards is the longest driver/sponsor relationship in NASCAR history. By the end of the season, he is projected to have more than 560 consecutive career starts. Crafton is at the top of series history in wins with 15, 328 top-10 finishes, 16 poles, and 2,716laps led. He isn't done yet - the truck series legend qualified for the 2025 playoffs and can add to a storied career so far. Who is Ty Majeski? As the driver of the No. 98 car, Majeski has climbed up the ranks as a driver and has established himself in the upper echelon. He won the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title after breaking into the racing series back in 2022. In 2024, he closed the season on an impressive run of results, which landed him the title. "This is so much fun racing with this group," Majeski said after his championship win. "So proud to have the opportunity to drive these great race trucks. There's a lot of times in my career where this looks like a far dream, and [team owners] Duke and Rhonda [Thorson] really gave me my third opportunity after I had two opportunities that failed. I can't thank them enough. "It's been a long road here. These people behind me, everybody at Ford, really gave me another opportunity when my career looked like it could have ended, and they brought me on as an engineer in 2021 with a few races and turned into a full-time deal. "We made our first Championship 4 in '22, and now we're sitting here as champions." Now, Majeski steps into some big shoes with the No. 88 car. For more NASCAR news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
Matt Crafton To Retire From Full-Time Nascar Craftsman Truck Series Racing
Three-time Nascar Craftsman Truck Series champion Matt Crafton is set to retire from full-time racing at the end of the 2025 season. Crafton, who's competed with ThorSport Racing for the majority of his career, will step down as the driver of the No. 88 truck. Ty Majeski, who won the Truck Series title in 2024, will move from the No. 98 entry to the No. 88 truck. Crafton won back-to-back championships in 2013 and 2014, along with the 2019 title, a year in which he didn't win a race. He has 15 career victories, all of which have come with ThorSport Racing. His last victory came at Kansas Speedway in July of 2020. Throughout Crafton's career, he has been supported by one sponsor: Menards. His 23-year relationship with the chain is among the longest in Nascar history. This year, he only has three top 10s with an average finish of 18.3, almost seven positions lower than his career average of 11.8. Crafton made his Truck Series debut in 2000 with ThorSport Racing. He only left the team in 2004 to compete for Kevin Harvick Inc. before returning to ThorSport a year later. A rare lifetime Truck Series driver, Crafton could be a future Nascar Hall of Famer due to his success in the series. The only major Truck Series driver in the Hall of Fame is Ron Hornaday Jr., who won four titles and 51 races. Jack Sprague was nominated to be in the Hall of Fame. He won three championships, as well, but had 28 wins. Crafton never had a major opportunity to compete for wins in the Cup Series or Xfinity Series. He replaced a few drivers for qualifying sessions over the years, as well as an injured Kyle Busch in the 2015 Daytona 500, finishing 18th. He made two other Cup Series starts in 2019 and 2023. He also made three Xfinity Series starts for Richard Childress Racing in 2013, with two third-place finishes.
Reuters
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Corey Heim runs away with Truck Series race at Charlotte
May 24 - CONCORD, N.C. -- This time, Corey Heim didn't just slam the door on his NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series competition -- he nailed it shut. Heim's three previous 2025 wins notwithstanding, the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota has had difficulty closing out races with a dominant truck this season. That was emphatically not the case on Friday night, when Heim led 98 of 134 laps and beat runner-up Ross Chastain to the finish line by 6.229 seconds in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Heim's first victory at Charlotte and his fourth of the season was the 15th of his career, tying him with Matt Crafton for 10th on the career list. At age 22, he is the youngest to reach the 15-win milestone. It was a perfect night. Heim swept the first two stages of the race and set the fastest lap, scoring a maximum 61 points to widen his series lead to a massive 100 points over second-place Chandler Smith. His margin of victory was the largest ever in the series at Charlotte. "I felt like we've had the speed the last couple years here, but circumstances haven't let us get it done," said Heim, who has won five of the last nine Truck Series races on intermediate speedways. "Obviously, it was such a good truck. I had to execute on my part. The pit crew did a great job. Just a really nice clean day. ... It feels great. It feels like we've had a lot of opportunities to do that this year, really. Just can't say enough about these guys. My team gave me a great Tundra, and we just really checked all of the boxes tonight. It feels great." Chastain was the best of three Neice Motorsports Chevrolet drivers in the top seven. Kaden Honeycutt ran third, and Matt Mills was seventh. But none of the Niece trucks could mount a challenge to the race winner, particularly on longer runs. "Best in class," Chastain said of his own effort. "The 11 (Heim) is the best in the field right now, and none of us had anything for him. The 7 (Kyle Busch), the 38 (Smith), the 34 (Layne Riggs)-it was a heck of a race (for second) back there between us, but we've got to make it last longer." Riggs and Busch came home fourth and fifth, respectively, followed by Grant Enfinger, Mills, Daniel Hemric, Rajah Caruth and Brandon Jones. Smith fell victim to a Lap 71 wreck involving pole winner Gio Ruggiero, reigning series champion Ty Majeski and Connor Mosack. The winner last week at North Wilkesboro, Smith was the first driver eliminated from the race and finished 34th. There were three cautions for 20 laps, two of the yellows for stage breaks. The only negative for Heim is that there are no more 1.5-mile intermediate speedways remaining on this season's Truck Series schedule. Next up for the trucks is the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway at 8 p.m. on May 30. NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race -- North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, North Carolina Friday, May 23, 2025 1. (3) Corey Heim, Toyota, 134. 2. (4) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 134. 3. (5) Kaden Honeycutt, Chevrolet, 134. 4. (7) Layne Riggs, Ford, 134. 5. (12) Kyle Busch(i), Chevrolet, 134. 6. (18) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 134. 7. (16) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 134. 8. (6) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 134. 9. (8) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 134. 10. (13) Brandon Jones(i), Toyota, 134. 11. (10) Jake Garcia, Ford, 134. 12. (23) Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 134. 13. (32) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 133. 14. (24) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 133. 15. (19) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 133. 16. (14) Andes Perez De Lara #, Chevrolet, 133. 17. (21) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 133. 18. (33) Luke Fenhaus, Ford, 133. 19. (27) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 133. 20. (26) Matt Crafton, Ford, 132. 21. (1) Giovanni Ruggiero #, Toyota, 132. 22. (20) Stefan Parsons, Chevrolet, 132. 23. (15) Connor Mosack #, Chevrolet, 132. 24. (28) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 132. 25. (22) Jack Wood, Chevrolet, 132. 26. (2) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 130. 27. (31) Frankie Muniz #, Ford, 126. 28. (34) Mason Maggio(i), Ford, 123. 29. (29) Cody Dennison, Ford, 121. 30. (25) Toni Breidinger #, Toyota, 121. 31. (17) Dawson Sutton #, Chevrolet, Driveshaft, 104. 32. (11) Ty Majeski, Ford, 103. 33. (30) Justin Carroll, Toyota, Suspension, 75. 34. (9) Chandler Smith, Ford, Accident, 70. Average Speed of Race Winner: 128.8 mph. Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 33 Mins, 38 Secs. Margin of Victory: 6.229 Seconds. Caution Flags: 3 for 20 laps. Lead Changes: 14 among 8 drivers. Lap Leaders: G. Ruggiero # 1-2;C. Heim 3-4;R. Chastain(i) 5-15;C. Heim 16-34;K. Honeycutt 35-39;C. Heim 40-43;K. Honeycutt 44;C. Heim 45-64;K. Honeycutt 65-68;C. Heim 69-103;M. Mills 104;R. Caruth 105-114;S. Friesen 115;T. Hill 116;C. Heim 117-134. Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Corey Heim 6 times for 98 laps; Ross Chastain(i) 1 time for 11 laps; Kaden Honeycutt 3 times for 10 laps; Rajah Caruth 1 time for 10 laps; Giovanni Ruggiero # 1 time for 2 laps; Matt Mills 1 time for 1 lap; Stewart Friesen 1 time for 1 lap; Timmy Hill 1 time for 1 lap. Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,44,34,45,7,17,19,38,98,42 Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,45,7,34,44,19,98,17,38,9 --By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR ejects four car chiefs after Truck Series inspection failures
On Friday, each of the 31 NASCAR Truck Series entries for Kansas Speedway rolled through inspection. Most of the teams made it through without much drama, but not all of them. Four trucks, including three from ThorSport Racing, struggled to pass. They were the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford of Ben Rhodes, the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford of Ty Majeski, the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford of Matt Crafton, as well as the No. 26 Rackley W.A.R. Chevrolet of Dawson Sutton. Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing Ford Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing Ford Sean Gardner / Getty Images Sean Gardner / Getty Images Advertisement Each of these trucks failed twice before passing on the third attempt. As a result, each team will lose pit stall selection for next weekend's race at North Wilkesboro, but there was a more immediate punishment as well. Each of their car chiefs -- or rather, 'truck' chiefs, have been ejected from the track for the remainder of the race weekend. This is common protocol for when there are two failures in trying to pass pre-race inspection. Brad Means (No. 98), Derek Rohlfing (No. 99), Tyler Kontos (No. 88), and Tucker Scanlon (No. 26) will be watching the race from afar on Saturday. This will be the extent of the penalties. ThorSport, which has won the last two Truck Series titles (Rhodes in 2023 and Majeski in 2024), have yet to visit Victory Lane this year. The team's fourth entry is the No. 66, driven by Luke Baldwin this weekend, which made it through tech without issue. Read Also: Judge warns 23XI and FRM "you can't have your cake and eat it too" Will Buxton: Jeff Gordon BAR move "would have broken F1 in America" decades earlier 2025 NASCAR at Kansas schedule, entry list, and how to watch To read more articles visit our website.
