The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) heads into a two week break from competition after an action-packed weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, which means it’s time for a Power Ranking.
Now, if part-time drivers were ranked in a traditional Power Rankings, Corey Heim, who dominated the past three NCTS seasons, would be a clear number one. Heim has run 76 races since 2023 and impressively, he’s won 23 of them. That’s an astounding 30.3% win percentage.
However, my Power Rankings are based on the performance this seasons 21 full-time NCTS drivers so far, with equipment and speed before DNFs being considered. Additionally, I’ve included an outlook to the next two races after the three week break in the truck schedule, Texas Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International Raceway. Now, let’s get to ranking.
Rank 21 – Frankie Muniz
Somebody had to place last, and unfortunately with Spencer Boyd sitting out three road courses, it’s Frankie Muniz. Muniz is in his second season running for Team Reaume in the No. 33 Ford 150, and has consistently lacked speed. He was already multiple laps down when he wrecked at Bristol, and has only seven top-20 results in 31 career starts for Reaume’s team. It is no secret that Team Reaume are not putting the fastest trucks on track, and in those top-20’s includes an impressive 18th at Darlington Raceway back in March, but a consistent lack of speed and being behind Landen Lewis (who only has two starts) in points puts him last on this list.
Rank 20 – Mini Tyrell
Tyrell has been the weak-link of Ram, but that was to be expected given that he’s a true NASCAR rookie, with only an ARCA test at Daytona International Speedway before his truck series debut in the Kaulig Racing No. 14 Ram 1500. Given Ram’s early season struggles, which was to be expected from a new truck team partnering with a returning truck manufacturer, and his lack of NASCAR experience, Tyrell’s three top-20 results are very respectable. There’s not another short track until North Wilkesboro in late July, so these next few months could be a struggle for Tyrell.
Rank 19 – Kris Wright
Wright‘s aggressive driving style has seemingly built a negative reputation amongst his fanbase and competitors. In six starts this year, Wright only has one DNF and has three Top 10s in 6 races. While not setting the world on fire, Wright has been respectable this season in the McAnally-Hilgerman No. 81. Texas Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International both tend to be chaotic races, and Wright did get his start on road courses, so either of these races could provide his first truck series top-10 so long as he avoids the chaos like he has most of this season.
Rank 18 – Cole Butcher
Like rookie Mini Tyrell, Butcher is inexperienced in NASCAR, but unlike Tyrell he had two truck races last season to get acclimated and is driving for an established ThorSport in the No. 13 Ford F150. The next two races aren’t inspiring as Butcher has never seen a mile and a half, had multiple incidents at St. Petersburg, and momentum is not on his side as he severely underhelmed with a 28th place result his first time returning to a track at Bristol. Butcher has shown that he is a capable driver, with promising results in 2025 and a top-10 result at Rockingham Speedway.he will likely move up a few spots next time I rank the field, but Butcher sits at 18th for now.
Rank 17 – Dawson Sutton
Sutton had an abysmal start to the season, but has three top-20 results in the last three races and earned two top-15 finishes at Watkins Glen and Texas last season, with Texas resulting in a top-10. Rackley is not the team they were with Matt DiBenedetto behind the wheel, but Sutton is a strong young driver, is on an upswing, and is going to two strong tracks. He’s probably already out of Chase contention, but he is capable of reaching the Top 15 in points and might even steal a win in his No. 26 Rackley Roofing truck at a plate track or a strategy win ala his impressive top-5 run at Kansas two years ago.
Rank 16 – Tanner Gray
In equipment that won the series championship last season and won two of the last three races with Corey Heim, Tanner Gray has managed one top-15 result this season in his No. 15 Toyota Tundra TRD truck. A key moment this season for the 26-year-old happened at Rockingham when his lackluster performance put him a second lap down on the white flag as his teammates Corey Heim and Kaden Honeycutt were battling for the win. All in all, Gray has shown he has talent, but continues to underwhelm in championship caliber equipment.
Rank 15 – Grant Enfinger
Two years ago, Grant Enfinger took the CR7 Motorsports No. 9 team to the Championship 4, but you wouldn’t know it based on this season. Currently 20 points out of a Chase spot, his fifth and seventh place results at Rockingham and Darlington are his only top-20 finishes six races into the season. Enfinger’s back-to-back finishes outside the top-20 at Texas and mere two career top-10 finishes on road courses do not show that a turnaround is likely in the two weeks we return.
Rank 14 – Daniel Hemric
Like Dawson Sutton, Hemric has had an abysmal start to the season with back-to-back finishes outside the top-25 at the two plate tracks. He’s made some improvement since then with two top-10’s in a row at the St. Petersburg Street Course and Darlington Raceway. Additionally he scored a solid 12th place at Bristol. Hemric is a NASCAR veteran, he was a fulltime cup driver the year before for McAnally-Hilgerman signed him to drive the No. 19 truck and also won the NASCAR O’Riley Series championship in 2021. Hemric will likely still make the Chase and could turn it around any week.
Rank 13 – Andres Perez De Lara
De Lara has had a rough three race stretch – 32nd, 32nd, and 17th. But I have him this high for three reasons. First, these were not entirely his fault. Second, when he’s not wrecking he’s showing speed. And finally, these next two tracks line up great for the Niece Motorsports No. 44 team. He had a chance to win Watkins Glen last season, and Texas saw a Niece driver win their first race in 2023. If these next two weeks look like the last three, De Lara would likely plummet down the rankings, but I believe they will be much better than them.
Rank 12 – Brenden “Butterbean” Queen
The second of three Ram drivers piloting the Kaulig Racing’s No. 12, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen is off to a strong start considering Ram’s struggles and his lack of truck series experience. An impressive top-10 run at Bristol helped solidify his spot at 12th. Queen is a solid, albeit older, prospect and will likely move up the rankings as he and Ram continue to learn the truck series together.
Rank 11. Jake Garcia
Garcia is just a quiet, solid, young prospect. He has three top-10’s in the six races so far this season., At this rate, Garcia is on track to make the Chase as a lower seed like he did last season. Intermediates were a mixed bag (two top-10’s and two finishes below 20th) last season and road courses were rough, so this could be an underwhelming two race stretch, but he’ll get back on track. Is Garcia a superstar? No, but Garcia is a reliable young talent and it’s never a surprise to see his ThorSport No. 98 Ford F150 racing inside the top-10; besides maybe on the aforementioned road courses.
Rank 10. Tyler Ankrum
Tyler Ankrum’s St. Pete and Darlington races were rough, but take those out and he’s four for four in finishing inside the top-15 and two for four in finishing in the top-10. While Garcia is higher in points and has one more top-10, I rank Ankrum above him because he was consistently strong on the intermediates last season and got three top-10s in the three road course races in the same McAnally-Hilgerman No. 18 truck he drives this year.
Rank 9 – Ben Rhodes
If these rankings were based purely off speed, Ben Rhodes and his No. 99 ThorSport Ford F150 would be top-5. But they’re not, and Ben Rhodes has zero momentum right now. Bristol was a disappointment since he believed he could win and finished 11th. On top of that, he was a no show at Rockingham and out of the race on the second lap at Darlington. Intermediates were mixed last season, and he only got one top-25 finish in the three road courses last season but finished third at St. Pete. These two weeks could be the difference in multiple spots in points, or even if he makes the Chase or not.
Rank 8 – Stewart Friesen
Stewart Friesen finished in the top-5 two races ago in the Halmar Friesen No. 52 truck he owns. Last race at Bristol, his other truck went to victory lane with Cup Series regular Christopher Bell. For the first time in their history, Halmar Friesen won races in back-to-back seasons and we’re heading to a track Friesen himself won in 2022. Despite a rough three race stretch from EchoPark Speedway to Darlington, Friesen is currently in the last Chase spot and is likely to move up one or two spots.
Rank 7 – Justin Haley
The strongest of the Rams, former cup series driver Justin Haley sits seventh in our Power Rankings. He has taken his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Ram 1500 to finishes between 10th and 15th-place in every race except Daytona this season. This is while Ram is re-learning NASCAR and Kaulig is learning trucks in the first place. The next two weeks look strong for Haley. The first race back is Texas, where Haley went three for four in finishing inside the top-20 in midpack cup equipment. The week after is a track type (road courses) where Haley has consistently been strong at. Due to this, Haley will likely be more than seven points above the cutline after Watkins Glen.
Rank 6 – Ty Majeski
Majeski, now driving the No. 88 Ford F150, has had a topsy-turvy season. 28th, 2nd, 31st, 8th, and 23rd are his last five finishes. He’s just as likely to be a contender to win this season as he is to finish outside the top-20. Majeski is a sneakily good road racer, with four straight top-10 finishes including the runner up at St. Pete. Majeski is a great qualifier, with no start worse than 7th-place in races with qualifying, but hasn’t won a NCTS event since the 2024 Championship Race when he became a champion. He could easily be in the top-3 next Power Rankings, and could still realistically win the title. That said, Majeski sits in sixth for now.
Rank 5 – Gio Ruggiero
Who has the best average finish in trucks this year? It’s Gio Ruggiero (9.7) in his sophomore season in the No. 17 for Tricon Garage. Rockingham wasn’t great, but it’s his only oval finish outside of the top-10. Ruggiero missing the top-10 on a road course is a fluke, as he finished in 3rd place in all three last year. That, plus mixed with a top-10 on an intermediate last year while he was still new to truck racing. The one mark against Ruggiero is that he hasn’t really been a contender to win in his career, except for the one race he actually did win at Talladega.
Rank 4 – Christian Eckes
Eckes is back to his contending ways, this time in the No. 91 for McAnally-Hilgerman rather than the No. 19 he dominated the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series in. He is yet to finish worse than 13th-place on an oval (But DNF’d at EchoPark Speedway) and is historically a solid road racer with three top-5 finishes on them in the O’Riley Series for Kaulig last season. There is no reason to believe that Christian Eckes isn’t a championship contender, but he is a step behind the top three for now.
Rank 3 – Kaden Honeycutt
This article started with discussing Corey Heim’s reign of terror in the Tricon No. 11 truck, and third in our Power Rankings is their new driver in Kaden Honeycutt. Honeycutt grinded for this opportunity, and has made the most of it. He was in contention for the win at all three traditional ovals this year, but one thing or another went wrong in all three of them. Honeycutt will win this year, and certainly will be a contender for this championship, but until that win comes, and until he proves a top-5 result on a road course isn’t a fluke, he sits in third.
Rank 2 – Layne Riggs
If vice-champion was a title in NASCAR, Layne Riggs would have earned it in the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. Riggs was consistently the second best to Heim in 2025 in his Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford F 150. Like Majeski, Riggs too has been topsy-turvey in the last five races, but his high was higher with a win, and his low was slightly higher with a 27th-place result at EchoPark. Riggs is a highly aggressive, highly talented, but still mistake prone (See Bristol 2025 as an example for all three of these) young prospect. Riggs is strong everywhere, and has also earned the vice-champion title in our Power Rankings.
Rank 1 – Chandler Smith
Smith and Layne Riggs have been fairly even as teammates for Front Row, Smith in the No. 38, but he barely edges Riggs for the number one spot because he is the points leader and is a more experienced driver then Riggs. Smith has so much more experience than Riggs, and has proven over the years that he is a cup-caliber talent. As things run right now, the 2026 Craftsman Truck Series title is current points leader Chandler Smith’s to lose, so long as this version of a post-season hurts him less than the playoff format did in 2024 and 2025.
With Bristol behind them for now and a two week break ahead, the NCTS will look forward to taking the green flag once again on Friday, May 1 at Texas Motor Speedway. The race is set to begin at 8:00 p.m. ET on FS1.
Written by: Kevin Modeszto
