Wisconsin proud: Majeski adds to racing legacy with Truck title

AVONDALE, Ariz. — A hometrack hero became a national champion Friday at Phoenix Raceway as Ty Majeski hoisted the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship trophy.

Majeski won the championship in convincing fashion, leading 132 of 150 laps in not only the championship but also the race, claiming the checkered flag in the end.

Majeski’s biggest challenger all night was Corey Heim. Heim led 16 laps and won the first stage, appearing to have a better long-run truck. Under caution, Heim lacked grip in his pit box and lost the lead to Majeski, whose team made an adjustment. While Heim took the lead on a restart, Majeski passed him back and held on to the lead for the 28-lap run to end the stage.

Again, during the second stage break and what ended up being the final pit stop, Heim had issues with grip in the pit box. He dropped back a few spots, putting the hammer right in place over what seemed like the final nail in the coffin of his title hopes. On the lap 98 restart, officials hit Heim with a violation that sent him to the rear of the field.

But that couldn’t even keep him down. Heim went from 19th on lap 107 to 16th to 12th on lap 110 and 11th on lap 112. After gaining three positions under caution, he went from eighth on lap 117 to third on lap 118 to second on lap 124 after a caution.

However, that was where Heim’s progress ended. With around 15 laps to go, Heim was losing time, almost three seconds back, and said, “I can’t get any closer.”

That was okay for Ty Majeski, who brought home the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship to ThorSport Racing.

TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 150): Ty Majeski, Corey Heim, Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, Grant Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack, Ben Rhodes, Layne Riggs

Riggs rallied to a top-10 finish after a spin during the final caution on lap 119. Mosack recovered after being in the eye of an incident on lap 100.

The organization is now back-to-back champions and champions in four of the last six NCTS seasons. In total, ThorSport has six championships in the last 12 seasons.

Majeski has been through a lot since he first came to NASCAR on the heels of a rich tradition of racing in Wisconsin. At age nine, in 2004, he began his racing career in go-karts. Eight years later, in 2012, he segued into late models and won the inaugural Kulwicki Driver Development Program championship in 2015.

Another few years later, Majeski survived a tough foray into NASCAR with Roush-Fenway Racing in 2017 and 2018 and Niece Motorsports in 2020 to take a chance on himself at ThorSport Racing. Using his engineering degree, Majeski worked internally with the team in 2021, scanning in parts and seeing every truck before it went out the door.

That season, Ben Rhodes won the championship with those trucks. The next season, Majeski joined Rhodes in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. At the track, in 1988, KDDP’s namesake Alan Kulwicki effectively trademarked the Polish Victory Lap after his first NASCAR Cup Series win, beginning a legacy that paved the way for Majeski to run for a championship.

“Looking back at Alan’s championship season and he was able to do a Polish victory lap here at Phoenix to make it really come full circle,” Majeski said. “To come here as a NASCAR champion and do that Polish victory lap is so special for that program and Alan’s legacy. Was happy to carry that legacy on tonight. He was definitely in my thoughts as I was doing that victory lap.”

Majeski is the third NCTS champion from Wisconsin, following in the footsteps of Travis Kvapil and Johnny Sauter, who won the title in 2003 and 2016, respectively.