The race for the final spot in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ postseason Chase couldn’t be tighter – literally.
Stewart Friesen and Tyler Ankrum are tied for the final berth, with Friesen holding the tiebreaker, but the determining factor over the next three races will be performance on tracks of one mile in length or shorter.
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The Truck Series heads to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park for Friday night’s TSport 200 presented by Warn Industries (8 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Recently, the 0.686-mile oval has been the province of series leader and defending winner Layne Riggs and two-time winner Ty Majeski (2023-2024).
But Friesen and Ankrum will stage their own show as they battle for a berth in the postseason. Ankrum lost ground with consecutive finishes of 31st on the Naval Base Coronado Street Course, 25th at Lime Rock Park and 19th last Saturday at North Wilkesboro.
“It has been tough the last couple weeks, to say the least, but we are not focusing on the negatives and only throwing forward the positives,” Ankrum said. “This No. 18 (McAnally-Hilgemann Racing) team has put in so much work at the shop and at the track to give us what we need to stay in contention in these races, and I’m extremely confident our day will come soon.
“We’re in rough shape with just three races remaining before The Chase, but if we can just knock out a few solid points races here in the next month, we will be good to go.”
Riggs, on the other hand, is in excellent shape entering a race he won last year. His second-place run at North Wilkesboro bumped his lead in the standings over second-place Kaden Honeycutt to 59 points.
Majeski is sixth in the standings, 67 points behind fifth-place Gio Ruggiero, but the 2024 series champion will look to make a significant move over the next three races – on his three best oval tracks by average finish: IRP, 3.75 in four starts; Richmond Raceway, 2.0 in four starts and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, fifth in his only start.