NASCAR Championship 4 trucks to mostly start close together
AVONDALE, Ariz. — The trucks in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Championship 4 will start mostly close together for Friday night’s race at Phoenix Raceway.
Kaden Honeycutt was best of the bunch in qualifying fifth. He was 12th-fastest and showed solid long-run speed in practice Thursday.
Corey Heim qualified sixth while Ty Majeski qualified eighth. Majeski ran the fastest lap time in practice (26.913 seconds) while Heim had the fastest 10-lap average after clocking in the 15th-fastest despite a tire issue.
They’ll get a redux of their 2024 battle for the championship that saw Majeski prevail in commanding fashion.
Much like he has been coming into the weekend, Tyler Ankrum has been somewhat of an outlier. He is the only other Championship 4 driver with a win this season besides Heim — but will start 21st. He was seventh in practice.
The average start of the champion in the Phoenix race is third, ranging from poles in 2022 and 2024 to Ben Rhodes’ sixth-place start in 2023.
Not every year does the champion win the championship race at Phoenix. Every odd year has seen someone other than the champion win — Chandler Smith in 2021 and Christian Eckes in 2023. Four non-Championship 4 drivers start up front — Layne Riggs, Chandler Smith, Brent Crews and Tanner Gray.
Riggs will go to the rear of the field but is sure to charge through the field. He was one of the fastest drivers in practice before posting a pole speed.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com