Ty Majeski mounts successful defense of victory at Indianapolis short track

Ty Majeski, driver of the #98 Road Ranger Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series TSport 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 19, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

By Reid Spencer / NASCAR Communications

INDIANAPOLIS — Ty Majeski’s victory in Friday night’s TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park wasn’t the sort of dominating performance he enjoyed last year—until the final stage of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race.

Majeski overcame a restart violation on Lap 50 that sent him to the rear of the field but rallied to defend his 2023 victory at the 0.686-mile short track. The driver of the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford earned his first victory of the season and the fourth of his career.

Majeski, who swept the stages and led 179 laps in last year’s win, was penalized for jumping the restart after the first caution of the race for Ty Dillon’s spin in Turn 3 on Lap 43. He scored no points in Stage 1, but by the time the second stage ended, Majeski had charged to third.

Sixteen laps after the restart for the final stage, Majeski took the lead for the first time, using the lapped truck of Thad Moffitt as a pick and charging past Eckes through Turns 1 and 2.

The Seymour, Wisconsin, driver led the final 56 of 200 laps and took the checkered flag 4.129 seconds ahead of Eckes.

“It’s huge,” Majeski said. “Obviously, I made a little bit of a mistake. It was probably a little bit of a close call on that restart. I had to pony up and get it back. Obviously, when you make a mistake as a driver, you drive a little bit harder to make up for it, but these guys had my back—awesome pit stops.

“It’s been an up-and-down year. We’ve had the speed to win. Just haven’t been able to put it together, had some bad luck along the way, some of it self-inflicted. But, man, so proud of this Road Ranger group.”

Grant Enfinger finished third after leading 71 laps. Tyler Ankrum was fourth, followed by Layne Riggs, Sammy Smith, Luke Fenhaus, pole winner Rajah Caruth, Dean Thompson and Nick Sanchez.

Fenhaus’ seventh-place result was his best in three Truck Series starts.

By the time he took the checkered flag, Majeski already had clinched a Playoff spot on points, leaving three berths still available in the postseason, with the Aug. 10 race at Richmond left to decide the final Playoff grid.

With a 20th-place finish on Friday, Tanner Gray took over the 10th and final Playoff-eligible position from Daniel Dye, who came home 27th after an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 81. Dye trails Gray by five points entering the last regular-season race.

Five-time race winner Corey Heim finished 17th, a lap down, after contact from Eckes’ No. 19 Chevrolet cut his left-front tire and forced him to the pits under caution on Lap 88. Forced to use his last set of tires prematurely, Heim finished second in Stage 2 on the fresh rubber but faded in the final stage.

“I just misjudged the straightaway,” said Eckes, who led a race-high 73 laps. “He’s got every right to be mad.”

Eckes retained the series lead by 50 points over second-place Heim.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – TSport 200
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park
Indianapolis, Indiana

1. (4)  Ty Majeski, Ford, 200.
2. (6)  Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 200.
3. (2)  Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 200.
4. (3)  Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 200.
5. (17)  Layne Riggs #, Ford, 200.
6. (12)  Sammy Smith(i), Chevrolet, 200.
7. (14)  Luke Fenhaus, Ford, 200.
8. (1)  Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 200.
9. (19)  Dean Thompson, Toyota, 200.
10. (11)  Nick Sanchez, Chevrolet, 200.
11. (16)  Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 200.
12. (26)  William Sawalich, Toyota, 200.
13. (10)  Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 200.
14. (22)  Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 199.
15. (23)  Jack Wood, Chevrolet, 199.
16. (13)  Taylor Gray, Toyota, 199.
17. (9)  Corey Heim, Toyota, 199.
18. (20)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 199.
19. (25)  Timmy Hill, Toyota, 199.
20. (21)  Tanner Gray, Toyota, 199.
21. (15)  Ben Rhodes, Ford, 199.
22. (34)  Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 199.
23. (28)  Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 199.
24. (5)  Matt Crafton, Ford, 199.
25. (29)  Marco Andretti, Chevrolet, 199.
26. (30)  Bret Holmes, Chevrolet, 199.
27. (7)  Daniel Dye, Chevrolet, 198.
28. (24)  Lawless Alan, Ford, 198.
29. (35)  Conor Daly(i), Chevrolet, 197.
30. (18)  Jake Garcia, Ford, 197.
31. (31)  Tyler Tomassi, Ford, 197.
32. (33)  Thad Moffitt #, Chevrolet, 195.
33. (8)  Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 194.
34. (32)  Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 164.
35. (27)  Mason Massey, Chevrolet, Accident, 44.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  82.238 mph.
Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 40 Mins, 6 Secs. Margin of Victory:  4.129 Seconds.
Caution Flags:  4 for 27 laps.
Lead Changes:  5 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   R. Caruth 0;G. Enfinger 1-55;C. Eckes 56-68;G. Enfinger 69-84;C. Eckes 85-144;T. Majeski 145-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Christian Eckes 2 times for 73 laps; Grant Enfinger 2 times for 71 laps; Ty Majeski 1 time for 56 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 19,9,11,18,71,45,2,5,7,43
Stage #2 Top Ten: 19,11,98,88,18,45,38,5,71,2