Don’t look now, but we’re just four races away from the Craftsman Truck Series Chase, where 10 drivers will battle over seven races for championship glory. Full-timers have won just seven of 14 races this year, but the postseason picture is rapidly taking shape after a springtime surge from Layne Riggs.
Beginning this Saturday at North Wilkesboro (12:30 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the tailgaters begin a stretch of five races at tracks a mile in length or shorter, spanning through the regular-season finale at New Hampshire and to the Chase opener at Bristol in September. While some drivers yearn for the rough-and-tumble style of racing ahead, others may be looking back at missed opportunities at recent road courses and intermediates.
With just over a month until The Chase, see how the standings look before the truckers head for the North Carolina foothills, and which drivers are on the right and wrong sides of the bubble.
RELATED: North Wilkesboro schedule | Truck Series standings
LOCKED IN
Just two drivers have secured postseason berths so far, and they are in the midst of a heated battle for the elusive No. 1 seed. Riggs leads the series by 41 points over Tricon Garage’s Kaden Honeycutt, but Honeycutt made a noticeable dent into his deficit at Lime Rock. The two were caught up in a late-race incident, and Riggs suffered the worst of it, finishing 23rd after leading 48 circuits. Honeycutt finished third and boasted a 54-point afternoon, shaving 21 points off Riggs’ series lead. The two spoke after the race and calmly found an understanding.
Both, obviously, are among the top championship contenders come November, and their numbers back it up. Riggs’ four wins are best in class, but Honeycutt tops him in top fives, top 10s and average finish, also earning three poles. He owns just one win at Watkins Glen in May, but it certainly feels like the No. 11 driver has more in the tank down the stretch. But if Riggs continues his torrid pace — winning three of the last five — he’ll be tough to track down in the next four races.
SAFE
Chandler Smith, Christian Eckes and Gio Ruggiero are near shoulder-to-shoulder in the ranks, making up spots three through five with just ten points separating the trio. Of them, Smith is the only one with a victory, winning the season opener at Daytona and pacing the series after each of the first four races. But after taking the checkered flag fourth at Rockingham, the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team was disqualified following post-race inspection, a major points swing that will likely remove Smith from contention for the No. 1 seed. He’s 154 points back from Riggs, but also 140 points above the cutline.
Eckes and Ruggiero are among the most consistent in the series, each scoring four top fives this season and ranking inside the top five in average finish. Surprisingly, despite four victories apiece in 2023 and 2024, Eckes hasn’t scored a win thus far in his return to McAnally-Hilgemann Racing after a year in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Meanwhile, Ruggiero is searching for his first dub since his maiden victory at Talladega last fall, though both he and Eckes are comfortably above the cutline at +130 and +139, respectively.
ABOVE THE BUBBLE
This is where The Chase tightens, starting with 2024 champion Ty Majeski — currently sixth in points. It’s pretty much feast or famine right now for the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford, alternating top-12 efforts with finishes of 23rd or worse. He’s +62 to the cutline. Meanwhile, his teammate and two-time champion Ben Rhodes is right behind him at +54, going on three years without a series victory. Rhodes started the year strong with three straight finishes of 12th or better — including a pair of top fives — but enters North Wilkesboro finishing 21st or worse in three of the last four.
McAnally-Hilgemann’s Daniel Hemric is eighth at +53 and quietly on an upturn after sitting 18th in the series ranks through five races. He’s earned seven finishes of 15th or better in the last eight races, including a runner-up last month at Naval Base Coronado. Could he be a postseason dark horse? Grant Enfinger turned his season around in the biggest way possible last weekend at Lime Rock Park, prevailing in a wild race for his first win in nearly two seasons. That victory shot him inside the top 10 in points for the first time all season (+42 to the cutline), but the question is, can he sustain this? Enfinger has just four top 10s so far, and seven finishes of 22nd or worse. Finally, Tyler Ankrum is the 10th and final driver above the cutline for now, but he has just one top-five finish. Road courses have been his weakness this year, finishing 25th or worse in three of the four, but maybe he can heat up with ovals the rest of the way.
BELOW THE BUBBLE
The six drivers immediately below The Chase cutline are within 41 points of Ankrum, further emphasizing the postseason hunt. Stewart Friesen and Jake Garcia are the closest, each just 17 points behind. Friesen scored a much-needed top 10 at Lime Rock after a Naval Base Coronado DNF, jumping him two spots in the series ranks. He’s shown flashes of speed, but the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing squad hasn’t had sustained consistency. The same goes for Garcia, who’s failed to finish two of the last four after surging as high as eighth in points.
Leading the Kaulig Racing brigade is Brenden Queen in 13th, 21 points below the cutline. Growing pains were certainly expected for the five-truck operation in its first year in Trucks and with Ram. But with back-to-back strong road-course efforts, the longtime late model ace is right in the thick of it. Andrés Pérez is 14th, and despite just two top 10s — both at road courses — he’s only 31 points back in Niece Motorsports’ No. 44 Chevrolet. He’s finished inside the top 20 at each of the last three ovals, so maybe a breakout is on the way. Justin Haley (minus-34) and Tanner Gray (minus-41) make up spots 15 and 16 in the ranks, and both are looking for sustained consistency over the final weeks of the regular season.
The bubble battle couldn’t be tighter, and with a short-track swing on the horizon, it’ll make or break drivers’ hopes to pursue a championship.