The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is getting closer and closer to their first ever Chase. Just three races at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Richmond Raceway, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway stand between 10 drivers and a chance at the 2026 Craftsman Truck Series championship.
Currently, 11 drivers sit within one race of the Chase cutline. From series veterans to young drivers looking for their first win, these drivers all have a very different path to ending up on the bubble. North Wilkesboro Speedway was a surprisingly calm race following a chaotic two road course races at Naval Base Coronado and Lime Rock Park.
Virtual Locks and Eliminations
Layne Riggs and Kaden Honeycutt are mathematically locked into the Chase. Though not mathematically locked, Chandler Smith is over two races to the good of the cutline and has a strong chance to clinch in Indianapolis. Christian Eckes and Gio Ruggiero are both over one race above the cutline and will likely make it barring multiple DNFs.
On the flip side, Dawson Sutton, Mini Tyrell, Cole Butcher, and Kris Wright are over one race below the cutline and may well face elimination following IRP or Richmond.
Drivers Above
6th: Ty Majeski +64
Making the Chase is not the goal for Ty Majeski, championship contention is. Majeski has had a very topsy-turvy season; curiously, he’s had no finish worse than 12th in an odd-numbered schedule entry and no finish better than 23rd in one that’s even-numbered. If Majeski continues this output, he will likely make the Chase but may not be a championship contender.
However, the next three races could be Majeski’s time to break the mold. He has two wins at Indianapolis Raceway Park plus one at Richmond, along with a top-five in his only start at New Hampshire. While it isn’t likely he’ll catch Eckes or Ruggiero before the Chase starts, three strong races could turn Majeski’s season around and send him on a path to his second championship.
7th: Ben Rhodes +50
The only other active champion, Ben Rhodes, is chasing his third title. Rhodes has had a solid season with four top-fives and five top-10s, but has not shown the speed of a championship contender. The 29-year-old has finished top-15 but not top-10 at both short tracks, and is on a three-year streak of missing the top-10 at IRP.
Rhodes finished 24th at New Hampshire in 2025, but has back-to-back top-10s at Richmond. With his 50-point lead on the cutline and the inconsistencies of the drivers behind him, a third top-10 at Richmond should be enough for the two-time champion to return to the postseason after missing out in 2025.
8th: Daniel Hemric +40
Despite a difficult start to the season, Daniel Hemric sits 40 points to the good of the cutline. Hemric finished second and sixth at the last two road courses but has not finished top-10 in either short track race this season.
Last season, Hemric finished seventh, 33rd, and 12th at the final three tracks the series heads to this regular season. With the lead Hemric has on the cutline, matching these results should be enough to make the Chase. The 35-year-old would need a disastrous stretch to not make his second consecutive postseason.
9th: Grant Enfinger +20
Entering Lime Rock, Grant Enfinger was having what many considered an underwhelming season. He seemed likely to miss the Chase in a full season of competition for the first time since 2017. Everything changed at the road course in Connecticut, when Enfinger earned a potentially season-saving win. The 41-year-old reverted to the mean the next week, earning a 25th-place finish at North Wilkesboro.
Enfinger has short track finished of 25th and 27th this season. Only two top-fives and four top-10s are unusually low for Enfinger. On paper, the next three tracks line up nicely: he has a win and three top-fives in four IRP starts, is historically strong at Richmond, and finished sixth at New Hampshire in 2025. But, also on paper, Enfinger is a championship contender. A great run at IRP could be enough for a return to the postseason, but a bad day could ultimately be what shuts him out.
10th: Stewart Friesen +0
For the first time since his injury in 2025, Friesen earned back-to-back top-10s in the last two races. The Canadian driver-owner has earned one top-five and five top-tens in 2026. A 42-year-old driver returning from a violent injury may not sound like a Chase contender, but Friesen currently sits above the cutline with three races remaining.
The next three tracks are interesting for Friesen. He crossed the line third in the 2025 IRP race, but was disqualified and wound up with his third consecutive finish outside the top-30 at the track. Friesen’s past two Richmond finishes are 27th and 25th, and he has not raced New Hampshire since 2017. Given that he’s only above the cutline on a tiebreaker, Friesen is going to need more results like his third-place at IRP and top-five at Rockingham, and fewer like his past Richmond results and the five-race stretch in the spring without a top-10 if he hopes to return to the postseason for the first time since 2022.
Drivers Below
11th: Tyler Ankrum -0
Tied with Stewart Friesen at the cutline is Tyler Ankrum. Ankrum has had a down year, with only one top-five and four top-10s after a win and seven top-fives in 2025. Unlike Friesen, who’s riding the momentum of consecutive top-fives, Ankrum has finished 19th or worse in the last three races.
Ankrum has an average finish of 6.0 in two IRP races with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, an average finish of 8.5 at Richmond, and an 11th-place in the 2025 running at New Hampshire. In order to make his third consecutive postseason, Ankrum will need to return to his 2025 form and stop the bleeding; he has lost 23 points to the cutline in the past two races.
12th: Jake Garcia -11
Jake Garcia has earned five top-10s this season, but like Ankrum he has diminishing momentum. A 13th-place finish at North Wilkesboro broke a two race streak outside the top-20, but fell short of a first top-10 since Michigan International Raceway.
Garcia has shown flashes of brilliance on short tracks, but a seventh-place at Richmond was his only 2025 top-10 finish at one of these final three tracks. Garcia is an excellent qualifier though, and if he continues that brilliance and retains his track position then a second consecutive postseason appearance is still very much in the cards for the 21-year-old.
13th: Brenden Queen -23
North Wilkesboro was a day to forget for Ram as a whole, with rookie Brenden Queen as their best finisher in 21st place. Queen has earned an impressive four top-10s and is Ram’s best chance to earn a postseason appearance in their first season back. Most impressively, Queen only has four finishes outside of the top-20 this year.
Queen is known as a short track ace, which makes this three-race stretch great in theory. However, Ram showed little speed at North Wilkesboro and the 28-year-old’s only NASCAR experience at any of the final three tracks was a 16th-place finish for Spire Motorsports in the 2025 truck race. If the speed is there, Queen could earn multiple top-10s and steal a Chase spot. But Kaulig Racing’s speed has been inconsistent all season.
14th: Andrés Pérez de Lara -31
Two top-10s is a disappointing statline for Andrés Pérez de Lara in his second full-time season. His best finish on a non-drafting oval is 14th, but strong runs at road courses have kept him within one race of the cutline.
Pérez’s IRP and Richmond races were forgettable in 2025, but New Hampshire was perhaps the best race of the Mexican driver’s career with 47 laps led. If Pérez wants to make the Chase, leading laps and securing a landmark first victory could be his only chance to do so.
15th: Tanner Gray -40
While his teammates sit second and fifth in points, Tanner Gray is 40 points outside of the Chase with only two top-10s on the season. Gray has earned 18th and 20th-place finishes at short tracks this season.
IRP and Richmond were top-15 days for Gray in 2025, but top-15s will not be enough for a postseason berth. In order to secure his first Chase entry, Gray will likely need at least consecutive top-fives for the first time since 2020, if not his first victory along the way.
16th: Justin Haley -41
Justin Haley is the final driver within one race of Chase contention. He has three top-10s this season, but his best non-drafting oval finish is 10th. The 27-year-old has provided a veteran presence in Ram’s NASCAR return, but that hasn’t translated to results on-track.
Like Gray, Haley will likely need multiple top-fives and potentially a win to secure a Chase spot. He’s never seen IRP in a truck before, and finished outside the top 30 in his Cup Series starts at Richmond and New Hampshire in 2025.
Owner’s Chase
The owner’s Chase looks very different from the driver’s Chase. The Front Row Motorsports No. 34 is mathematically locked in while the Tricon No. 1, 11, and 17, Spire Motorsports No. 7, Front Row Motorsports No. 38, McAnally No. 91, and Niece Motorsports No. 45 all sit over a race above the cutline.
The Spire No. 77 is currently 19 points above the cutline in ninth place. Like the driver’s Chase, the owner’s Chase has a tie for 10th and 11th: Halmar-Friesen’s No. 62 and ThorSport Racing’s No. 88.
Additionally seven other entries sit within one race of the cutline. The Thorsport No. 99 is 14 points out while their No. 98 sits 75 points out, the McAnally No. 19 is 24 points out with their No. 18 at 64 points out, CR7 Motorsports’ No. 9 sits 44 points out, Tricon’s No. 5 is 49 points out, and Halmar-Friesen’s No. 52 sits 64 points out.
