NASCAR Craftsman Truck field shapes up for 2023
December has kicked off with three announcements in the first week that have shaped what the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series field will look like in 2023.
On Tuesday, Petty-GMS Racing named Rajah Caruth as the full-time driver of their No. 24 Chevrolet for the 2023 season.
Caruth will be sponsored by the Wendell Scott Foundation. He will replace Jack Wood, who will drive part-time as the primary driver of the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Chevrolet.
In 2022, Caruth made four Truck starts for Spire, seven Xfinity starts for Alpha Prime and finished third in the ARCA Menards Series points. His best finish in each series was 11th, 12th and 2nd, respectively.
Shortly after the GMS Racing announcement, fellow Chevrolet team McAnally-Hilgemann Racing named Christian Eckes to their No. 19 truck and Jake Garcia to their No. 35 truck.
Christian Eckes will replace Derek Kraus, who drove the No. 19 in 2021 and ’22. Eckes’ deal came together a week before the announcement when he learned he wouldn’t be returning to ThorSport Racing.
Meanwhile, Garcia is being elevated from a part-time Truck tenure with MHR to full-time in the second truck, replacing Colby Howard.
Eckes’ old No. 98 ride is now open at ThorSport Racing, as a return to Ford has been heavily rumored for the Thorson family-owned team. The team still hasn’t confirmed those plans.
TRICON Garage, who announced their switch from Ford to Toyota in October, announced Monday they will bring on Dean Thompson as the full-time driver of their No. 5 Toyota in 2023.
Thompson’s move leaves the No. 40 Niece Motorsports truck open but Niece also hasn’t confirmed how many trucks they will run in 2023.
In 2022, Thompson, Carson Hocevar, Lawless Alan and Kris Wright were all signed to run full-time for Niece, while the team also ran a fifth truck part-time.
Hocevar made the playoffs and was the only full-time driver to net a top-10 finish. Thompson and Alan did finish out the season but Wright was let go with six races to go.
Below is an overview of all of the team changes detailed in this article.
| Driver | Team in 2022 | Team in 2023 |
| Carson Hocevar | No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet | Niece Motorsports (likely) |
| Christian Eckes | No. 98 ThorSport Racing Toyota | No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet |
| Colby Howard | No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet | ??? |
| Dean Thompson | No. 40 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet | No. 5 TRICON Garage Toyota |
| Derek Kraus | No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet | ??? |
| Hailie Deegan | No. 1 David Gilliland Racing (now TRICON Garage) Ford | ??? |
| Jack Wood | No. 24 Petty-GMS Racing Chevrolet | No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Chevrolet (part-time, primary driver) |
| Jake Garcia | No. 35 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet (five Truck races) | No. 35 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet (full-time) |
| Kris Wright | No. 44 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet, then No. 68 Brandonbilt Motorsports Xfinity Chevrolet | ??? |
| Lawless Alan | No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet | ??? |
| Rajah Caruth | Spire Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet (seven Truck races) Alpha Prime Racing Nos. 44/45 (four Xfinity races) REV Racing No. 6 (full-time, ARCA) | No. 24 Petty-GMS Racing Chevrolet |
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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