With the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series taking center stage tomorrow night in Daytona, there’s a lot to look forward to the 31st year in the series, in the midst of things changing, while others stay the same. With a slight schedule shakeup, a new roster of Rookies and a few rules changes, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will definitely have a lot to look forward to this year.
Ty Majeski enters the year as the defending champion, sealing the deal with Ohio-based ThorSport Racing last fall at Phoenix. Majeski’s biggest competition will be Grant Enfinger, another series veteran who had a hard-charge during last years Playoffs, Daniel Hemric, who’s taking a few steps down from the Cup Series, Layne Riggs, who’s been on a role since the beginning of last year’s Playoffs and Corey Heim, a raw talent who’s entering his third year in the series and played bridesmaid last year as the runner up in the points.
Schedule Changes
One of the biggest surprises of the 2025 schedule is the addition of Lime Rock Park, located in Lakeville, Connecticut, and the tough trucks will contest there on June 28. Rockingham Speedway will host the series on April 18, which will be the first time they’ve had a race on the 1.017-mile oval since 2013. The series recently tested at “The Rock”, along with the NASCAR Xfinity Series, meaning the notebook should be full for those who participated in the test, come April and drivers look forward to taking on this high-banked North Carolina oval.
Michigan International Speedway will have their first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race since 2020 on June 7, with a Noon start time. Watkins Glen International will play host to their first race since 2021, with the Trucks contesting on August 8 at the 2.45-mile New York Road Course, two races before their Playoffs start. New Hampshire Motor Speedway is back on the schedule for the first time since 2017, hosting the elimination race in the Round of 10. The Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL™ configuration will play host to the opening race in the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs and will contest on Friday, October 3.
On the short end of the stick, Circuit of the Americas, World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway), the Milwaukee Mile and the Fall Kansas event will not be on the calendar for the 2025 season, so these new events can take place and all of these tracks will offer a unique challenge for the these tough trucks.
Driver Changes and Rookies
The garage has a lot of drivers on the move, coming up from the ARCA Menards Series and coming down from the Cup Series. Daniel Hemric will pilot the #19 Chevrolet Silverado for Billy McAnally Racing, from Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, while Chandler Smith leaves Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series to compete for Front Row Motorsports in the #38 Ford F-150. Jack Wood will be Hemric’s teammate, piloting the #91 Chevrolet, after competing part-time in 2025.
Rookies will include Dawson Sutton in the #26 Rackley W.A.R. Chevrolet, Frankie Muniz, former Malcolm in the Middle actor, will drive the #33 Reaume Brothers Racing Ford and Toni Breidinger will drive the #5 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage. Others include Connor Mosack, piloting the #81 Chevrolet for Billy McAnally Racing, with Andrés Pérez de Lara will drive the #77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports and Gio Ruggiero is expecting to get behind the wheel of the #17 Toyota for Tricon Garage.
Who to watch out for
With Ty Majeski coming off the momentum of winning last year’s title, expect him to be a contender for a repeat title. Last year, he amassed three wins, en-route to his title, which is a clear indication that the competition will be fierce this year. Corey Heim collected six wins and couldn’t seal the deal at Phoenix, so Heim has a fire lit under him going into tomorrow’s season-opener. Expect Heim to make another charge to the front throughout the season, including another Championship 4 appearance.
Rajah Caruth will return for another full-time campaign, driving Spire Motorsports’ #71 Chevrolet and emerged victorious at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last year. With Spire upping their entire program, including a fourth Truck this season, Caruth will benefit from Cup veterans, Michael McDowell and Justin Haley running various events for Spire, as teammates. Hendrick Motorsports development driver, Corey Day will also have a lot of races on his 2025 schedule in the #7 Chevrolet, and has shown a lot of promise last year during his short-track stint.
Niece Motorsports has powerhouse Kaden Honeycutt behind the wheel of the #45 Chevrolet and has shown that he’ll be a contended every weekend behind the wheel, as will Layne Riggs in the #34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. Riggs had a consecutive top-2 run at the start of the Playoffs last season, after missing the post season and having a rough start at the beginning of the year.
Other drivers that’ll have a strong showing will be Ben Rhodes, behind the wheel of the #99 Ford for ThorSport Racing, as well as his teammate, Jake Garcia in the #13. Rhodes won the title in 2021 and 2023, and after he and Garcia’s teammate, Ty Majeski won last year, ThorSport will be up front quite a bit this year. Long-time veteran, Matt Crafton, will once again drive the #88 Ford and is still going strong after decades of being in the sport.
The 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be a record-setting year, with every race being on Fox Networks. The season kicks off tomorrow night at Daytona during the Fresh from Florida 250 takes place tomorrow at 7:30 PM EST on Fox Sports 1.
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