The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series just finished a stretch of six consecutive races and will have their first off week since April, followed by a near-month break in June and July. The series has remained as competitive as ever, with five different drivers winning the past six races. Carson Hocevar outdueled Gio Ruggerio for a win at Texas Motor Speedway, Kaden Honeycutt beat road racing superstars to the line at Watkins Glen International, Kyle Busch secured one last victory at Dover Motor Speedway, Layne Riggs won back-to-back weather-impacted races at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway, and it was Heim Time once again at Michigan International Speedway.
My power rankings are based on performance in the last four races from the now 20 full-time Craftsman Truck Series drivers, with equipment and speed considered above DNFs. Additionally I’ve included an outlook to the next three races, the road courses at Naval Base Coronado and Lime Rock Park, as well as the short track of North Wilkesboro Speedway. Now, let’s get to ranking.
20. Cole Butcher (-2)
Cole Butcher has had a miserable six-race stretch, with a best finish of 16th-place and four DNFs. Butcher is a short track legend but has not shown the results so far in NASCAR. His best finish remains 14th and things have gotten worse as the season goes on. The only thing he has going for him is that he finished top-15 at St. Petersburg, and we are heading to three short tracks after the road courses.
19. Kris Wright (=)
Kris Wright’s last six races haven’t been much better than Butcher’s, with a best finish of 17th at Dover, but I rank him above for two reasons. One, he only has two DNFs rather than four. Two, we are heading to two road courses, and the Pennsylvania native comes from a road course background.
18. Mini Tyrell (+2)
Mini Tyrell has been slightly better these past six races than his first six, earning his first career top-ten at Watkins Glen. Kaulig Racing clearly has work to do, but they have arguably been strongest on road courses, and we head to two the next two races. After that, we head to one of the few tracks on the schedule Tyrell has actually raced before: the Virginia native has two podiums in four CARS Tour starts at North Wilkesboro.
17. Dawson Sutton (=)
Dawson Sutton has been fairly consistent as a mid-pack driver; his last place DNF at Michigan is his only result not between 16th and 23rd in this six race stretch. Sutton is a quiet, consistent driver that rarely tears up his equipment. This matters when we head to back-to-back road courses, which usually result in chaotic NCTS races. Sutton is also consistent at North Wilksboro, the only problem being he’s consistent in finishing in the mid-20s with 26th and 28th place finishes there the past two seasons.
16. Tanner Gray (=)
Tanner Gray earned his first top-ten of the season at Charlotte, but it was only his second top-15 finish of the season driving for the team with a series-leading four wins this year. Gray has road course finishes of 20th and 30th this season, but is historically solid at right turns and is three-for-three in top-20 finishes at North Wilkesboro.
15. Andrés Pérez de Lara (-2)
Four drivers in these rankings have not finished top-10 in the past six races: Butcher, Wright, Sutton, and Andrés Pérez de Lara. The 21-year-old has four finishes inside the top-20, but his other two are 28th and 30th place results. We now head to two road courses, a track type Pérez de Lara tends to show speed at, but the Mexican driver does not always get the finishes to match that speed.
14. Justin Haley (-7)
Justin Haley’s last two finishes are 28th and 31st. These are two of four finishes outside the top-20 for the former Cup Series driver in this stretch, including a disappointing 23rd at Watkins Glen. Progress is being made as Haley earned a top-ten at Dover, and road courses and short tracks have been Kaulig Racing’s bread and butter.
13. Grant Enfinger (+2)
Grant Enfinger’s middle third of the regular season got off to an abysmal start, with two DNFs at Texas and Watkins Glen, but he’s seen four straight top-20 finishes including a seventh at Nashville. Despite this, Enfinger still sits 26 points outside of a Chase spot, and he may lose even more ground as we head to back-to-back road courses where he’s been poor over the past couple seasons.
12. Brenden Queen (=)
Brenden Queen only has two finishes worse than 15th the past six races, and scored a top-ten at Watkins Glen. Road courses are not the 28-year old’s strong suit, but he’s proven his adaptability. As previously mentioned Kaulig’s Rams have some work to do, but showed strong speed at Bristol. We’re headed to three short tracks after the twin road courses. Queen has one career top-five in Truck Series competition: his debut at North Wilkesboro, which we’ll return to on July 18.
11. Stewart Friesen (-3)
The past six races have been mixed for Stewart Friesen, with only two finishes better than 18th but a worst finish of only 26th. The Canadian driver-owner is still above the Chase cut line, but has finished worse than 20th in two of the last three races. Despite 2026 road course finishes of 18th and 26th, Friesen has shown speed on the track type in the past. He has the speed to be a Chase driver, but needs to stop the bleeding while he’s only nine points outside of the Chase.
10. Jake Garcia (=)
Jake Garcia is currently the last driver in the Chase, nine points to the good. Garcia had higher highs than Friesen over this last stretch, but lower lows with two DNFs. He has been solid on road courses this season and is a good short track racer. If the Georgia driver wants to cement his spot as a Chase driver, he simply needs to clean up the mistakes.
9. Tyler Ankrum (+1)
Tyler Ankrum is riding back-to-back top-tens, including a top-five at Nashville. All four of Ankrum’s top-tens have come on ovals longer than a mile, and we only have one of that track type left in the regular season. Ankrum has finished 17th and 31st in this year’s two road course races, but finished top-ten at all three road courses (Including Lime Rock) last season. Ankrum is positioned well to make the Chase, but he needs to continue logging top-tens to ensure his spot as he is only 14 points to the good.
8. Daniel Hemric (+6)
Outside of a 30th-place finish at Dover, Daniel Hemric has finished top-15 in every race since Rockingham on April 3. Hemric has two top-tens on road courses this season, and drives for arguably the fastest short track team in the series (his lone Truck win came at Martinsville last season). While championship contention is a long-shot, the North Carolina native should rise multiple spots in the points before the regular season closes out.
7. Ben Rhodes (+2)
Ben Rhodes is difficult to rate, but I like seventh for him. He has had the speed, as he showed with top-fives at Texas and Charlotte, but doesn’t always execute as shown by his back-to-back finishes outside the top-20. Larger tracks have been kind to Rhodes, including a third-place result at St. Pete, but execution could account for multiple spots’ difference in the final regular season standings.
6. Ty Majeski (=)
If I copy and pasted my writing about Ty Majeski from my past power rankings, it would still apply. Curiously, in odd numbered races this season (the first, third, fifth, etc.), Majeski has a worst finish of 12th place. But in the even numbered races (the second, fourth, sixth, etc.), he has a best finish of 23rd place. One week Majeski shines and looks like a championship contender, the next week he looks like a far cry from Chase contention. If the pattern continues, the Wisconsin native should be a lock to finish top-ten at Coronado and North Wilkesboro, but he’ll regress outside the top-20 at Lime Rock.
5. Gio Ruggiero (=)
Gio Ruggiero has continued a solid, consistent season. He has only had one finish outside the top-20 all season, at St. Pete back in February. A top-five at Charlotte is the high point of these past six races. Road courses have surprisingly been a struggle for Ruggiero this season following three third-place results last season, but the all new street course at Coronado could be the Massachusetts driver’s chance to turn it around on the right turns and win his second Truck Series race.
4. Christian Eckes (=)
Christian Eckes has had ten issue free races this season, finishing top-ten in seven of them. Unfortunately two of the other three were road courses. His 32nd-place run at Michigan broke a three race top-ten streak, starting his first six-race stretch shut out of the top-five since his first six starts in 2018 and 2019. Eckes remains a top-five driver and has led the second most laps of all full-timers, but needs to consistently finish top-five if he wants to avenge his 2024 championship loss.
3. Chandler Smith (-2)
A six-race stretch with three top-fives and four top-tens does not typically result in a loss of two spots, but two other drivers have been even better. Chandler Smith has been very strong this season, but had a couple disappointing runs at Charlotte and Nashville plus a disqualification at Rockingham that kept him fourth in points. Smith has two top-fives in the year’s two road course races and is the defending North Wilkesboro winner. While the Georgia driver is still very much a championship contender, he needs to win his first non-drafting Truck Series race since that North Wilkesboro win to cement himself as a true championship favorite.
2. Kaden Honeycutt (+1)
“Until that win comes, and until he proves a top-5 result on a road course isn’t a fluke, he sits in third.” That’s how I ended my writing about Kaden Honeycutt in the last power rankings. He then proceeded to win at Watkins Glen, and there is conceivably a world where Honeycutt has earned four wins this season. A 27th-place at Nashville is his only finish outside the top-five during this stretch, and the Texan remains very much a championship favorite.
1. Layne Riggs (+1)
Watch out Truck Series field, because Layne Riggs is back. The past six races have brought two wins, four top-fives, and five top-tens for the North Carolina native. The only non-top-ten was a 22nd at Watkins Glen, but Riggs’ other win this season was at St. Pete and he was battling for the win late at North Wilkesboro with Corey Heim last season. Until Honeycutt, Smith, Eckes, or someone else prove otherwise, Riggs is the championship favorite.
