• Thursday, May 2nd, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series back in action at Kansas Speedway

After a two-week break, drivers in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series return to competition in Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Series leader Christian Eckes will go for his third victory of the season at a 1.5-mile track that has rewarded him with considerable success. Eckes is the most recent winner at Kansas, having taken the checkered flag in last September’s Playoff race.

In addition, the driver of the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet has posted four top fives and six top 10s in eight starts at the track. He has six top 10s to his credit in seven starts this season, including five straight results of eighth or better entering Saturday’s race.

“Our mile-and-a-half stuff has definitely shown a little bit of an improvement,” Eckes said after finishing fourth at Texas on April 12 and seizing the points lead. “We still have a little bit of a ways to go, but we’ll see how it goes.”

No one else in the field can match Matt Crafton’s experience at Kansas Speedway. The driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford has competed in all 27 Truck Series events at the track, dating to the inaugural race in 2001.

With three victories each, Crafton and Kyle Busch share the track record for most Truck Series wins. Busch, who is not racing at Kansas on Saturday, already has two Truck Series victories in four starts this season.

On the other hand, Crafton, a three-time series champion, hasn’t won in the series since he took the checkered flag at Kansas in 2020—a drought that reached 88 races at Texas.

Notes: Grant Enfinger is the defending winner of the Heart of America 200… Australian driver Cam Waters will make his second Truck Series start on Saturday. He finished 30th last month at Martinsville in his debut with ThorSport Racing.

• Heart Of America 200
• Pole Winner: Chase Purdy
• Age: 24
• Team : No 77 - Bama Buggies Chevrolet
• Owner: Jeff Dickerson
• Crew Chief: Jason Trinchere
• Chase Purdy won the Pole Award for the Heart Of America 200 with a lap of 30728 seconds, 175735 mph
• This is his third pole in 83 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races
• This is his first pole and second top-10 start in 2024
• This is his second pole in eight races at Kansas Speedway
• Ty Majeski (second) posted his seventh top-10 start of 2024 and his sixth in seven races at Kansas Speedway
• Ty Dillon (third) posted his third top-10 start at Kansas Speedway It is his first in eight races this season
• Layne Riggs (25th) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Drivers Entered: 33
• Laps Scheduled: 150
• Laps Actual: 134 - Race Shortened
• Margin of Victory: 01.088 Seconds
• Time of Race: 1 Hours 30 Minutes 52 Seconds
• Average Speed: 132.722
• Cautions: 3 for 16 laps
• Lead Changes: 13
• Green Flag Passes: 1,716 (14.5 passes per green flag lap)

• Heart Of America 200
• Race Winner: Corey Heim
• Age: 21
• Team : No 11 - Safelite Toyota
• Owner: Johnny Gray
• Crew Chief: Scott Zipadelli
• Corey Heim won the Heart Of America 200, his seventh victory in 49 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races
• This is his second victory and eighth top-10 finish in 2024
• This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in five races at Kansas Speedway
• Zane Smith (second) posted his eighth top-10 finish in nine races at Kansas Speedway It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2024
• Christian Eckes (third) posted his seventh top-10 finish in nine races at Kansas Speedway
• Layne Riggs (18th) was the highest finishing rookie
• Corey Heim leads the point standings by 7 points over Christian Eckes