ThorSport Racing finds Gateway to trouble
ST LOUIS — Almost anything that could’ve gone wrong for ThorSport Racing did go wrong Saturday at Gateway.
Ty Majeski led 55 laps and had two runner-up stage finishes. However, Ben Rhodes had the best finish – seventh – while the other ThorSport drivers finished the race from the garage or pit road.
The entrance to the turns was the biggest problem for the Rhodes’ teammates. On lap 68, Conner Jones smacked the turn two wall after diving into the corner too deep under Matt DiBenedetto.
Jones finished 33rd, just ahead of teammate Hailie Deegan in 32nd.
On lap 88, Deegan wrecked in turn 3 after a bump from Nick Sanchez. She spun to the inside of the track, drifted back up and slammed the outside wall.
Gateway was Deegan’s third DNF and fourth straight finish of 20th or worse.
With six laps to go in the 160-lap race, Ty Majeski restarted on the front row to the inside of Zane Smith. Majeski had new tires and seized on it by diving to the inside of Smith entering turn 3.
However, Majeski dove in too hard. He slid into Smith and each of them wrecked into the outside wall in turn 3.
The wreck took Majeski out, pushing him to 30th and his first DNF of 2023.
Adding salt to the wound, a left-front wheel issue knocked teammate Matt Crafton pitted out of a top-10 spot just before overtime.
Crafton’s team found his left-front tire came loose and busted the studs out, knocking him back to a 25th-place finish, two laps down.
Rhodes is virtually locked into the playoffs on wins. Thanks to their points position, Majeski (+113) and Crafton (+21) are currently in a playoff spot. However, Deegan is 107 points out of a playoff spot and is in a must-win situation with four races until the playoffs begin.
The NASCAR Craftsmaan Truck Series heads to Nashville Superspeedway next for the June 23 Rackley Roofing 200 (9 p.m. ET; Broadcast: FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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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