NASCAR
What to Expect in the 2022 Camping World Truck Series Playoffs
After 16 races, the 10 contenders have been decided for the 2022 Camping World Truck Series Playoffs. The 2022 regular season saw only five championship-eligible drivers find victory lane. This means that half of the Playoff drivers are still winless. Which of these 10 drivers are favored entering the seven race run to the championship, and who could upset? Let’s take a look at each Playoff driver, as the Round of 10 kicks off this weekend at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Zane Smith – 2,037 points
The regular season champion, Zane Smith has perhaps been the most consistent driver in any NASCAR series in 2022. Through 16 races, the Front Row 38 team has 13 top-10s, including a series-best three wins. Entering the Playoffs as the top seed, Smith heads to IRP as the rabbit being chased by the pack. Far from needing a win, expect the 38 to still be a favorite in every race.
“Yeah, those points are huge,” Smith said on the regular season title. “We had that circled at the very beginning of the year. Honestly, for most of it, it was such a tight battle between the six of us. We kept at it and just put together four solid races and I feel like that is what got us into this big points buffer. Fortunately, we had that (at Pocono) because we obviously needed it. I am happy to have that and move on with those extra points to better our odds in the Playoffs.”
“We started out our year as best as we possibly could at Daytona. From there on we have shown speed each and every weekend. I think (Pocono) was like our second worst finish all year. That is still pretty good. I am disappointed in our new truck that we brought here today. We had higher hopes for it than that and it just wasn’t quite there. But we know we have some rockets back at the shop, so we will bring those into the Playoffs.”
“It is great to be able to celebrate a championship with Front Row Motorsports. We can’t solely rely on those points to get us into the Championship 4 though. We must keep performing like we have all year; our team has one of the highest average finishes in the series right now. Consistency will get us to that big trophy at the end of this season.”
FRM and Zane Smith may very well be a team on a mission this year. Zane Smith has been the man to beat all season long in the Truck Series, with hardly any weak points. After being the championship runner-up the last two years, the California driver aims for the top step at Phoenix. With a whopping 37 bonus points, the 38 has the best chance of anyone at cruising through these first few Playoff rounds. Even with the points advantage, the 38 should still be a strong contender in every race ahead.
Chandler Smith – 2,025 pts
Winner of the most recent race at Pocono, Chandler Smith hopes to repeat his 2021 Playoff run. After entering last year’s postseason winless, Smith won twice, including the season finale at Phoenix. With another pair of wins through this year’s regular season, Chandler enters the Playoffs as the number two seed. With plenty of momentum off a dominant Pocono win, could the Kyle Busch Motorsports 18 go on a postseason tear?
“This is awesome,” Smith said on winning at Pocono. “I got Safelite a win earlier this year in Vegas and now I got ChargeMe a win. Now I have to get iBUYPOWER a win and I think they’re on the truck in Talladega. Really excited. We had a really fast ChargeMe Toyota Tundra today. Danny (Stockman, crew chief) did a phenomenal job. I knew we were going to be good today, I knew what we had coming here. Without practice, I did wish we would have had practice, but the Good Lord plays out in funny ways sometimes.”
“We didn’t have a lot of points going into the Playoffs, and today we got a Stage win and won the race. So I think we’ll be looking pretty sharp going into IRP.” As the second seed, Chandler Smith has 25 bonus points to his name. The 18 went on a great Playoff run last year, with four top-10s in seven races, featuring his first two wins. Smith was near-untouchable at Phoenix as well, taking both Stages and the race win by almost five seconds. Should the 18 make Phoenix again, he may just be favored over Zane Smith to take the title.
Ben Rhodes – 2,017 pts
Defending champion Ben Rhodes has had a very hot and very cold 2022 so far. After starting off the year with five top-fives in six races, the 99 has just one top-10 in the last five. Rhodes also only has one win, coming at Bristol Dirt in April. Rhodes’ 2021 championship came after his best season ever, the 99 may need some help to repeat that feat.
“Just have to be faster,” Rhodes admitted. “We were absolutely terrible (at Pocono), I don’t know why. I think we were on the splitter all day and lack of practice just compounded some of the other issues we were fighting. Overall, my Toyota Tundra team just needs to regroup and refocus and know that everything resets and there is no reason to keep having any issues here. We just need speed. Maybe we can borrow some from our teammates, they were pretty fast today.”
“For ThorSport Racing, all four trucks in the championship hunt is pretty special. Especially great with the competition in the Truck Series the last few years. The Truck Series is alive and well and strong. I don’t know about Pocono though, I think I would rather do the regular season championship at a short track or something, maybe Martinsville. That would be more my style.”
Despite a tough last few races, Ben Rhodes still enters the Playoff reset as the number three seed. As the highest scored of the four ThorSport trucks, Playoff experience could pay dividends for Rhodes. IRP will be a great chance for the 99 to reset, as they try to break back into victory lane. Rhodes is in a prime position to make another Championship 4 appearance. However, he needs to recapture his early season consistency if he is to win the title.
John Hunter Nemechek – 2,016 pts
The veteran at Kyle Busch Motorsports, 2022 has only seen one win so far for John Hunter Nemechek. His lone win came back in May at Darlington. The 4 team seemingly peaked too early in 2021, and hopes to peak at the right time this season. While seemingly not fastest on a weekly basis, the 4 has a top-10 in all but two of the last 13 races. Consistency of this caliber should get this second-generation racer back to Phoenix.
“I hope that we’re the one everyone’s chasing every week,” Nemechek said. “I told myself all year this year that I didn’t want to peak too early, and we haven’t, only winning one regular season race. Feel like we’re starting to come on strong at the right time. All three KBM trucks looked really fast today. We were all up front pretty much all day. One of the only teams that could pass a lot of trucks too, coming from the back to the front a few times after different strategies. Looking forward to starting the Playoffs next week. Looking forward to trying to go get our chance in the final four. I’d much rather win five races in the Playoffs than in the regular season, let’s go win the championship.”
The 4’s championship drive was dealt a major setback last year. An early issue at Phoenix kept Nemechek laps down for much of the night. With a great presence in the top-10 more often than not, JHN should be in position as one of the four Phoenix finalists again.
Stewart Friesen – 2,013 pts
Seeing victory lane for the first time since 2019, Stewart Friesen secured his Playoff position at Texas in May. Aside from that, the 52 has nine top-10s and an average finish of 9.8, putting him as the fifth seed. When Friesen last made a postseason appearance, he made it all the way to the Championship 4. Just how difficult will repeating that feat be for Halmar-Friesen Racing this time around?
“Just have to go out and try to win them, that’s all we can do,” Friesen said. “That’s what we tried to do today, but we had a pit road penalty. Just a bummer. Our Halmar Tundra TRD Pro was good, it wasn’t great. I feel like we could have ran top-five today pretty easily. After the penalty, we just got caught in the back and can’t really do much with dirty air. The race is pretty short, I feel like the ARCA race should be 60 laps and this race should be 80 with the way our day went. If we were leading, I would have been happy with 60.”
“Proud of our guys, another fast truck. We ran in the top-five for the first two stages. Then I saw the tire roll out in front of the truck and I saw our guy dove to get it and corralled it and almost fell over the wall and his toe touched the ground. I hoped nobody saw it, but apparently not.”
Friesen is another driver who’s recent consistency has been stout. Since winning Texas, the 52 has only been outside of the top-10 in two of seven races. Finishing the regular season at fourth in points and entering the Playoffs as the fifth seed, Friesen has some work to do to make a Phoenix run. If the top-10s can turn into top-fives for the 52, then he could see another Championship 4 appearance.
Christian Eckes – 2,007 pts
Making his second Playoff appearance, Christian Eckes has done everything short of winning in 2022. The ThorSport 98 team has 10 top-10s this year, including two runner-ups. With ThorSport having the most Playoff representation at four drivers, the chances are high for one of the Sandusky, Ohio based trucks to make the finale. How does Eckes feel about his chances in these Playoffs?
“I’m looking forward to it for sure,” Eckes said of the Playoffs. “Everyone at ThorSport Racing is working really hard. We struggled (at Pocono) still and we’ve always struggled here as a company, but me and Ty (Majeski) ran okay and we got Matt (Crafton) in the Playoffs and that was the biggest thing. All four trucks into the Playoffs is huge. Can’t thank everybody enough, Curb Records, Duke and Rhonda (Thorson, team owners), Toyota Racing and now we get to go race for a championship so just really looking forward to it.”
Out of the four horses from ThorSport, Christian Eckes has surprisingly had the most consistent season, despite no wins. Eckes’ average finish of 10.4 is fourth-best of Playoff drivers, with seven top-fives also tied for second-most. ThorSport has shown multiple times before that wins aren’t necessary to take the championship. Despite that, the 98 has been on victory lane’s doorstep all year. If Eckes can remain in the top-five throughout this postseason, wins should come to the 98.
Ty Majeski – 2,006 pts
Much like Eckes above, Ty Majeski is another ThorSport driver who’s done everything but win. Making his first Playoff appearance, Majeski hopes to upset by making a deep championship run. Still searching for that elusive first win, Majeski detailed his day at Pocono. He hopes this up-and-down race was indicative of the 66’s Playoff future.
“I’m ready,” Majeski bluntly said. “We just unloaded way too much on the ground and had to come in and put packers in it. Just balance was off. Just a good day. This is what I feel like is a Playoff caliber day. When you fight like that and you start off so bad and pit and get behind on track position, especially when you’re at Pocono. To come back and recover with a solid top-10, these need to be our bad days in the Playoffs. Hopefully we can clean some of this up and be better for IRP, Richmond and Kansas.”
With four fast ThorSport trucks in the Playoffs, they’re positioned well for a fourth championship. For Majeski though, making the title-deciding race may take wins or a next step up in consistency. While not impossible, this first-time Playoff driver and team may need outside help at making the finale. Starting off at a short track though, Majeski could win this coming weekend at IRP to assert himself in championship talks.
Carson Hocevar – 2,005 pts
Perhaps nobody in all of NASCAR has been closer to a win this year but still snakebitten than Carson Hocevar. The Niece Motorsports 42 could have, would have should have seemingly won multiple races already. Alas, Hocevar has been heartbreakingly close at every turn. Still nursing a broken tibia from Gateway, Hocevar hopes to find victory lane in these Playoffs.
“It’s tough to win these races,” Hocevar said. “Our (Pocono) setup was something that we haven’t typically done at these kinds of race tracks to get us ready for the Playoff run. We’re committed – all in or all out – and that’s how we’ve been all year. We’re right there, it seems like, with consistent top-five finishes. Our focus is to take it one race at a time and try not to lose anything, but rather take every advantage we can to gain points and set ourselves up for wins. The ability to consistently put together strong runs at different types of tracks lately is a testament to the efforts of Niece Motorsports, Worldwide Express, and Premier Security Solutions.”
Murphy’s law has to run out eventually right? If the speed and execution remain for Carson Hocevar, he should have multiple winning chances again across the Playoffs. Hocevar’s season and career so far is eerily reminiscent to Daniel Hemric last year in the Xfinity Series. We all know how that story ended, with Hemric’s first victory being the championship race in Phoenix. Can Hocevar have a similar fate in 2022? The 42 has the consistency to make Phoenix; they just needs to find out how to close out a full race.
Grant Enfinger – 2,002 pts
After not being eligible last year, Grant Enfinger returns to the Playoffs, this time as a GMS Racing driver. The Chevrolet powerhouse team has won two championships, and the 23 team hopes to make it a third. Already fighting from below the cut line though, Enfinger is aware that it’s an uphill battle ahead.
“First and foremost, I’ve got to say thank you to everyone that supports us – Champion Power Equipment, Maury Gallagher, Mike Beam, Ron Booth, everyone at GMS Fabrication,” Enfinger said. “They built a brand new truck for (Pocono), but we weren’t able to see what it could do. Everything that happened today was on us, we’re going to take it back and learn from it, and we’re not going to get down. The good thing about this regular season is that it’s over, and we made it to the [postseason]. We’ve learned a lot this year, and are getting transitioned again. Jeff Hensley did a great job on top of the box battling through some of this stuff that was self-inflicted. I’m frustrated now, but we’re not going to get down, we’re going to work hard and be ready for IRP.”
Despite a Championship 4 run just two years ago, Enfinger has seen inconsistency with GMS so far in 2022. The 23 only has seven top-10s, with only one coming since Charlotte in May. Being below the Round of 8 cutoff by three points, Enfinger needs to turn up the wick in the coming three races. Enfinger has to be looking ahead to Richmond, where he won in 2020, as a chance to break into victory lane again.
Matt Crafton – 2,001 pts
The last man in the 2022 Playoffs, three-time Truck Series champion Matt Crafton hopes to make it a fourth. Crafton’s 88 team is the lone truck to make the postseason every year since its inception. This streak gives the veteran plenty of experience on how to advance onward. Entering as the bottom seed though is foreign territory for this ThorSport group. Uncharacteristically for the 88, their regular season was marred by inconsistency.
“These guys did everything they were supposed to do,” Crafton said. “They work their tails off at TRD and at the simulator just trying to get things working on getting our setups better. We had a very good truck and we were good in the short run and we had a way better truck than where we finished. But you need to be aggressive on these restarts and I couldn’t put myself in any bad situations. You have to put yourself in bad situations on restarts though to be able to get spots, so I would have to wait for everything to settle down and then pass people instead of just being a wild man on restarts. So we just had to keep the 19 (Derek Kraus) in grasp right there and hopefully not get a new winner.”
“These guys worked really hard. It’s time to take the gloves off and do whatever it takes. I bring all my friends in the yellow firesuits and don’t care about the rest.”
With only eight top-10s and one top-five this year, Crafton has to be thinking must-gain points from the start. Two short tracks and an intermediate are ahead in the Round of 10, where Crafton must out-score his competition if he is to stay alive for a fourth title. This team in particular is the Truck Series’ posterchild for consistency in years past, winning the 2019 championship without any race victories. In 2022 though, it’s much tougher competition that stands between Crafton and a record-tying fourth crown.
The 2022 Truck Series Playoffs Round of 10 begins Friday night at Indianapolis Raceway Park (9:00 p.m. ET, FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90). This will mark the Trucker’s first trek to the 0.686-mile bullring in 11 years. The opening Playoff round continues at Richmond Raceway (8/13), then concludes at Kansas Speedway (9/9). The Round of 8 features stops at Bristol (9/15), Talladega (10/1), and at Homestead-Miami Speedway (10/22). Finally, the Truck Series champion will be decided at Phoenix Raceway (11/4). Plenty of racing remains between now and championship night, as any of these 10 drivers could stand tall on the big stage as 2022 Truck Series Champion. Be sure to not miss a lap of action between now and Phoenix.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Meg Oliphant/Getty Images for NASCAR
