As NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers enter the second playoff elimination round, the Championship 4 race couldn’t be much tighter.
Corey Heim tops the Playoffs standings, but he’s only 24 points ahead of eighth-place Nick Sanchez entering Thursday’s UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol Motor Speedway (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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Interestingly, Heim leads the standings without posting a victory in the Round of 10. Ty Majeski won at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Grant Enfinger took the checkered flag at the Milwaukee Mile and Christian Eckes triumphed in dramatic fashion at Kansas Speedway.
“It’s exciting, but you know at the same time the job is not finished,” Eckes said during an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I came here to win a championship, and that’s what I want to do. So, we have a lot more work to do to get there, but the job’s not finished.”
In two career Truck starts at Bristol, Eckes has two top-12 finishes, including an eighth-place finish at the short track in 2022. Enfinger, on the other hand, has a more extensive and thoroughly impressive record at Thunder Valley. In six career starts at the 0.533-mile high-banked short track, Enfinger has never finished outside the top 10. He boasts a best result of second in 2021 and an average finish of 5.2.
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“Our GMS team puts a lot into every race, but we’ve put everything we have into Bristol,” Enfinger said. “It’ll be important to have speed, but it’s just as important to have a truck that you can drive hard every lap.
“Everything happens so fast at Bristol, so you have to be on your game all race long. GMS Racing has had a lot of success at Bristol in the past, and we’re hoping to add to that on Thursday.”