NASCAR
Majeski Masters Truck Series Playoff Opener at IRP
BROWNSBURG, Ind. – From heartbreak two weeks ago to victory lane, Ty Majeski left it all on the track at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The No. 98 Ford led a whopping 179 of 200 laps, sweeping all three Stages. The max-points effort locks the Thorsport driver into the Round of 8. Coming into the Playoffs winless this season, Majeski may be a championship favorite after the utter domination shown over the past two races.
Much like Richmond two weeks ago, nobody could touch the No. 98 Ford once he got out front. Majeski took command on lap four and would only relinquish it briefly in Stage 1. The Thorsport Racing truck was the class of the field once again, but this time made no errors on his march to victory lane.
“Man that was awesome, how about that Indy?” Majeski said. “Man just so cool. Duke and Rhonda Thorson put the support into this race. They wanted IRP to come back and they were a huge reason behind that. Thanks to them, they’re all here tonight, we have a lot of folks here from Road Ranger, TSport, and Menards. It takes a lot of partners to make these race teams float, just so proud of everybody.”
“Obviously a heartbreaking loss at Richmond, but at the end of the day we win and lose as a team. That was the message on our eight hour drive back from Richmond through the night. Just so proud of everybody at Road Ranger, Ford, Joe (Shear, crew chief) and these guys. I love doing this with Joe, we’re just a couple of short track guys having fun on the NASCAR stage. This is so cool, proud of the effort, but this is just the start of our Playoff run.”
Only two others led laps at any point in the TSport 200. Polesitter Christian Eckes led the opening three laps and came home runner-up over three seconds back of Majeski. Corey Heim also paced the field, but a late pit stop penalty set the 11 back.
Behind Majeski and Eckes, part-time short track ace Layne Riggs was a very impressive third. The rest of the IRP top-10 were: Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith, William Sawalich, Rajah Caruth, Corey Heim, Matt Crafton and Matt DiBenedetto.
In his NASCAR debut on an oval, Shane Van Gisbergen finished 19th in the No. 41 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet. He was on the lead lap until Majeski got by the 41 late.
Thanks to the dominant win, Majeski locks himself into the next Playoff round. Two races remain in the opening Round of 10, with the rest of the standings below.
Following an off week, the Truck Series returns to action in a rare Sunday race date. The Truckers welcome back The Milwaukee Mile for Playoff race number two. The historic venue has sat mostly dormant for several years, void of much racing action. The Clean Harbors 175 will go green Sunday, August 27th at 4:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. After leading 347 of 450 possible laps across the last two races, Ty Majeski returns to his home track chasing another win.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Johnathan Bachman/Getty Images
