The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns from a week off for Friday’s MillerTech Battery 200 at Pocono Raceway (5 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
It’s been a busy summer for the teams, which raced six consecutive weekends between May 2 and June 7 – a string of races that featured five different winners and two first-time winners on the season (Rajah Caruth and Stewart Friesen).
The series championship leader, Tricon Garage’s Corey Heim, is the defending Pocono race winner. There’s absolutely no reason he won’t be the favorite this weekend. Heim led a dominating 55 of the 70 laps last year, including the final 34 to best Grant Enfinger to the line by nearly a second.
Chandler Smith is the only other full-time driver with a previous Pocono victory — taking the trophy in 2022.
RELATED: Truck Series standings | Qualifying order for Pocono
With only five races remaining to set the 10-driver playoff field, there are six drivers eligible based on wins. Enfinger, Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt, and reigning series champion Ty Majeski currently hold the four positions based on points only. Majeski is four points up on Jake Garcia, who sits 11th in points. Two-time series champion Ben Rhodes is 55 points below the cutline.
There are 12 drivers making their first Pocono start. The last six Pocono races have been won by six different drivers – four of them by full-time Truck Series competitors.
Practice is Friday at 12:35 p.m. ET followed immediately by Kennametal Pole Qualifying at 1:40 p.m. ET – both sessions available on FS2. Christian Eckes, now an Xfinity Series rookie, started from pole position in this race last year.