Four races ago, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings looked slightly different.
Series veteran Grant Enfinger sat below the Chase cutline heading into the road course at Lime Rock Park. Many expected the 41-year-old to lose more points to the cutline but Enfinger exceeded all expectations and secured an upset victory. In four races, Enfinger went from five points out of the Chase to 65 points to the good. While he has not clinched mathematically, the driver of the No.9 Chevrolet Silverado for CR7 Motorsports will likely make his third consecutive postseason.
Now, there is only one race until the inaugural Truck Series Chase. Six drivers have clinched an appearance while ten drivers will battle for the four remaining spots at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Only one driver clinched a spot at Richmond Raceway: Ty Majeski. The 2024 series champion joined Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt, Chandler Smith, Christian Eckes, and Gio Ruggiero as drivers who locked in early. The other full-time drivers, Dawson Sutton, Cole Butcher, Mini Tyrell, and Kris Wright have all been mathematically eliminated.
Above the Cutline
Grant Enfinger +65
With a top-5 finish at Richmond, Grant Enfinger gained 39 points to the cutline. So long as Enfinger doesn’t wreck early with Stewart Friesen or Jake Garcia winning, he’s set to compete in the Chase. The 41-year-old has an average finish of 5th-place at New Hampshire, and could pass Ty Majeski for the sixth seed entering the Chase with another great run.
Ben Rhodes +53
Despite a somewhat underwhelming 18th-place finish at Richmond, Rhodes gained ten points to the cutline. As I wrote previously, counting on New Hampshire to make the Chase would have been worrying. Luckily for the two-time series champion, duplicating his 2025 track result of 24th-place will likely be all he needs to return his Thorsport Racing No. 99 Ford F1-150 to the postseason.
Daniel Hemric +35
Hemric secured a top-10 finish at Richmond, which greatly aided his Chase run. A top-10 run helped Hemric gain 21 points to the cutline with one race to go. New Hampshire is not the 35-year-old’s best track. Two top-5s in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series are two of only three career top-10s at the venue.
“Really good to move in the right direction,” Hemric said on his run at Richmond postrace.
Avoiding a terrible race will be what it takes for Hemric to make his second consecutive Truck Series postseason. This has not been the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing No. 19 team’s strong point: He has five DNFs in his last 20 series starts and an additional three finishes outside the top-20.
Tyler Ankrum +20
Ankrum finished one position behind his teammate at Richmond, securing an 11th place finish and gaining 28 points to the cutline. In his only career start at New Hampshire last season, he finished 12th-place. So long as the driver of the No. 18 Chevrolet continues his summer short track speed, he will likely join teammates Hemric and Eckes in the postseason.
“No, there is no relief until you’re done,” Ankrum said on his points situation entering New Hampshire. “These guys are fierce competitors. I’ve been racing with them for a longtime, and especially a guy like Friesen. I know that he wants to prove something. So until the checkered flag falls at New Hampshire, that’s when I’ll go have a cocktail and relax.”
Below the Cutline
Stewart Friesen -20
A part of why the drivers above the cutline gained so many points was because of a late race issue with Stewart Friesen. Inside of 35 laps to go at Richmond, the only caution for an incident came out for Friesen crashing. The Canadian driver-owner went from running 18th-place to finishing 36th-place. Had he maintained 18th, he would only be two points below the cutline.
The 41-year-old did not compete at New Hampshire in 2025, but did finish top-5 in his latest track start in 2017. The driver of the Halmar Friesen Racing No. 52 Toyota Tundra will need a strong day to return to the postseason for the first time since 2022.
Jake Garcia -21
A strong 6th-place from Jake Garcia at Richmond was the result he needed. This helped him gain 11 points to the cutline and left him as the only other driver below the cutline in realistic contention.
“We’ll just have to do all we can next week and see where the cards fall with the [Nos.] 18 and 52,” Garcia told Frontstretch. “We’ll run as good as we can. Hope we can have another fast Quanta Services [No.] 98 F-150 and we’ll give it a shot. If it comes down to the end, you try something with strategy, but I feel at the moment to do what you can to have a fast truck and see where it shakes out.”
The driver of ThorSport Racing’s No. 98 Ford finished 16th-place at New Hampshire, which will likely not be good enough to secure consecutive postseason appearances. He will need a similar strong run to make it, perhaps a first top-5 since spring of 2025 at Rockingham Speedway.
Brenden Queen -47
Yet another disappointing short track result left Queen as a mathematical long-shot to make the Chase as a rookie. A 20th-place finish cost Queen four points to the Chase. Ram has had a difficult short track run, and the one mile at New Hampshire shows little sign of being better. The 28-year-old has never raced at New Hampshire and has not finished top-10 on an oval since Bristol Motor Speedway.
If a Ram 1500 will be in the Chase, their No. 12 will need to secure the manufacturer’s first victory since 2012.
Andrés Pérez de Lara -49
Despite a great run in qualifying, Pérez de Lara finished 23rd-place and lost seven points to the cutline. His one bright spot is the 27 laps led at New Hampshire in 2025. With the Mexico native sitting 49 points below the cutline, the Niece Motorsports No. 44 will need to lead the final lap to have any chance at a Chase spot.
Tanner Gray -59
A solid 13th-place finish from Gray helped him gain three points to the cutline. However, a day with three points gained is not enough to propel the 27-year-old to his first Chase appearance. Looking ahead, the driver of the No. 15 Toyota for Tricon Garage failed to finish the 2025 race at New Hampshire. Like Queen and Pérez, the two-time runner-up will need to cross the line first to have any chance at a postseason spot. With a win being worth 55 points, Gray will also be eliminated if he earns less than five stage points.
Justin Haley -70
One of the main storylines entering Richmond was Kaulig Racing and RAM’s first newly built truck. In that truck, Haley finished a somewhat disappointing 27th-place and lost another 11 points to the cutline. While not mathematically eliminated, a driver can earn a maximum of 76 points and a minimum of one point at New Hampshire. Not only will Haley need to win, he will need to finish no worse than 6th in either stage. In eight nationally touring series starts at the venue, the 27-year-old’s best finish is 6th-place.
Owner’s Chase Battle
Six entries have clinched a spot in the Owner’s Chase: Front Row Motorsports’ No. 34 and 38, the Tricon No. 1 and 11, along with the Spire Motorsports No. 7 and the MHR No. 91. Nine cars will battle for the final four spots at Richmond.
Tricon No. 17 driven by Gio Ruggiero: +69
Niece No. 45 driven by Landen Lewis: +56
Spire No. 77 driven by Tristian McKee: +41
ThorSport No. 88 driven by Ty Majeski: +21
HFR No. 62 driven by Cup Series driver Christopher Bell: -21
CR7 Motorsports No. 9 driven by Grant Enfinger: -32
ThorSport No. 99 driven by Ben Rhodes: -44
Tricon No. 5 driven by Cup Series driver John Hunter Nemechek: -62
MHR No. 19 driven by Daniel Hemric: -62
Unless the No. 77 has an early DNF or Enfinger secures a second win in the No. 9, the battle for the final Chase spots is likely between the No. 88 and 62 entries.
