NASCAR
Can any Underdog Make a Deep Run in the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs?
Playoff time is fast approaching for the Craftsman Truck Series, with the opening race at Darlington Raceway less than two weeks away. For 10 drivers, their status has been elevated above the rest of the pack as championship contenders over the coming seven-race onslaught. The lion’s share of attention is deservedly on the drivers atop the Playoff grid. The bottom half, however, has teams equally hungry and capable of putting on a show. These five drivers account for only two wins this season. Alas, a mix of veteran experience and youthful exuberance have them all gunning for Championship 4 berths.
Tyler Ankrum – 2,010 points
2025 is already on pace to be a career year for Tyler Ankrum. The McAnally-Hilgemann Racing driver finally ended his long losing drought at Rockingham back in April. This erased a series-record 130-race winless streak. Since then, the No. 18 has been a top-10 constant at almost every stop on the schedule. Entering this year’s postseason tied for the fifth seed, Ankrum likes his chances at making some noise in the next seven races.
“The summer months have been weak for us considering how the first half of the regular season went for us being incredibly competitive at the beginning of the year,” Ankrum said. “Yeah, the last half wasn’t great. When it turned summer, we began to struggle, not just performance-wise, but we struggled on pit road, preparation, just losing a couple of things that we we had at the beginning of the year. But the last three races, we learned a bunch. Knowing exactly what we need to implement for the Playoffs and having this week off, getting ready for Darlington. We know exactly what we need to do. We know exactly what we need to do to get better and get us closer to getting to Phoenix. Yeah, and you know, even at a place like Watkins Glen. We ran top five there, but we didn’t really perform that well. Performance-wise, we were pretty much a top-15, top-10 truck. We weren’t that great, but we were able to put the put a good day together and find our way to the top-five. And that’s really what you’re going to need, especially at a place like New Hampshire or Darlington. If your first two races are solid, you can get out of those tracks with just solid days and good performances, Bristol’s a little bit easier on yourself. And then you can really just focus on maximizing Talladega and the Roval.”
“Honestly, our strength all year long has just been being resilient. Even races that we weren’t necessarily great, we were able to find our way to the top-five or top-three. I look back to a race like Rockingham. I pretty much ran outside the top-20 all day long. But we were able to outthink and outsmart the competition, get ourselves out front, and just be resilient and you know, take that chance to stay out on fuel and go win. And that was exactly the way what we needed to do. And a lot of instances on these truck weekends, that’s what you have to have. You just got to outsmart everybody else and sometimes take the long shot and get that win. It’s increasingly becoming more and more in today’s world that sometimes just staying out of your own way and staying out of everyone else’s way will really shape up to be a good day. And so I look at a lot of these races that we’ve had this year, even like looking back in the spring. Looking at Bristol, we were in top-three, top-five the first two stages, and then based off strategy and one mistake on a restart, we found ourselves outside the top-12. And it took the whole rest of the half of the race just to get back to fourth. That’s just how stiff the competition’s become, and that’s beating yourself. That’s beating yourself on the racetrack. And we could have seen that day look completely different. If we hadn’t done that, and we were able to stay inside the top-three or the top-five. And so when you look at Darlington, New Hampshire, Bristol. I honestly kind of take Roval and Talladega out of the equation because those are such insane wild cards. Even looking towards Martinsville, if you can just maximize your days. Have minimal mistakes, and be perfect on the things that you can control, you can find yourself having a serious shot for Phoenix.”
As mentioned above by Ankrum, his eight top-10s in the opening 10 races were followed by four-straight poor results. Three of Ankrum’s last four starts, however, have been back inside the top-10. This return to form was capped off with a fifth-place outing at Watkins Glen. Consistency this strong will soon overtake Ankrum’s previous career best season (2024). Should he merely survive the opening three-race stretch, the 18 may be on the precipice of making Phoenix.
Grant Enfinger – 2,007 points
Part of three of the last four Championship 4s, no other contender has as much experience as Grant Enfinger. CR7 Motorsports was one of the four finalists a season ago, on the strength of back-to-back Round of 8 wins. The 40-year-old veteran knows exactly what it takes to navigate his way through the postseason gauntlet. He firmly believes engine No. 9 can make another charge.
“When you get to that second round of the Playoffs especially, I feel like it’s all about executing and really making the best decisions you can in the moment,” Enfinger said. “I feel like there are certain times, especially in this first round of the Playoffs, where you can kind of bank on trying to point your way through there. You’re only competing with two other competitors. But in the second round of the Playoffs, obviously, it’s a little bit more difficult. Unless you’re coming in there with the points that that Corey Heim has or something like that, it’s hard to rely on pointing your way in. So I feel like knowing when to be aggressive and when not to be is something that has served me well in the past. And also we have a lot of experience on our team with Jeff Stankiewicz. Really all our core guys here this year are the same that we made the Championship 4 with last year. So yeah, we’ve got our work cut out for us. I feel like we have a lot to do with our trucks. But yeah, just from an execution standpoint and all of that, and our experience, I feel good about that.”
“The biggest challenge is honestly, something we experienced this past week at Richmond. But we’ve experienced it quite a few times this year. As far as just kind of not knowing the exact direction we need to go to make our Chevys better. I feel like we’ve had a handful of performances this year where we had speed. We had had trucks that we could contend with. But quite a few times we haven’t. And we haven’t really been able to put our finger on why that is. So yeah, our restraints are definitely our organization, our crew, the guys on pit road. We have a lot of stuff in our corner, but there’s been a number of instances this year that we unload with something we have a lot of confidence in. Then we get there and we’re off and kind of chasing it a little bit. So yeah, that’s our biggest challenge for sure.”
Enfinger’s 2025 results to date largely mirror his numbers from last year. These are highlighted by a pair of runner-ups from Las Vegas and Michigan. The No. 9 team seems to only get more and more elite the further into a season they go. As a result, this team is seemingly due for a win in the near future. In similar vein to 2024, this team’s breakthrough victory may come in perfect time to seal a Phoenix berth.
Rajah Caruth – 2,005 points
Making the Playoffs for a second-straight year is the racing pride of Washington, D.C.–Rajah Caruth. His position was secured by a breakout win at Nashville Superspeedway in June. That night capped off nine top-10s so far in 2025 for the No. 71. Batting exactly .500 in regular season top-10s, Caruth addressed some hardships his Spire Motorsports crew have overcome in their second year together.
“I think last year the goal really was to win and and enter the Playoffs and we achieved that,” Caruth said. “And I think anything else was kind of gravy. Not that we were settling in any way. But overall that was really the goal going into last year was to win. And now for this season it was to win, obviously, and make the Playoffs again, but make a deeper run specifically into the final four. I think for me we’ve had a lot more kind of ups and downs this season compared to last year. Last year I think we had one DNF and really good average finishing positions and running positions and really kind of a better overall regular season and Playoffs. I think for us this year, we haven’t had the best regular season. Obviously we got the win, but otherwise still kind of some ups and downs. I think we could just turn it around in the Playoffs. And I’m pretty confident that we can do so. I think this year, definitely more confidence entering into the Playoffs and higher expectations. I would expect to be in the final four this year for sure.”
“As a whole, I think we’ve been looking for more speed out of our Spire trucks. We’ve gotten wins, obviously one with our 71 bunch, and the Cup guys have one with both the 7 and the 07. But I think as a whole, we’ve been still obviously chasing the 11, the Front Row trucks, and here and there the Niece trucks and whatnot, and ThorSport, obviously. I think for me, I definitely have been looking for more consistency, especially on my end, from an execution standpoint. The last handful of races haven’t been clean from my aspect. I sped at Richmond and got some damage at IRP. But I think as a whole this year, we’ve had some really good strings of races and consistent runs. So I’ve seen the potential that we have, and there’s no question in my mind that we can repeat that and even do a better job of it going into this postseason with some really good tracks for me coming up.”
Caruth’s inconsistency has been his Achilles’ Heel for 2025. The six races since his Nashville win have only seen the Spire driver finish 10th twice. Entering the postseason as the eighth seed, Caruth is already on the cut line. Max stage points if not a wildcard winning call need to be team 71’s mission for the next three weeks. Bristol in particular has the chance to be a bellwether race for the 71. Caruth led nearly 100 laps at The Last Great Colosseum in April. Should he make the Round of 8, past Xfinity Series experience on the Charlotte Roval may pay dividends too. Caruth’s championship fight is far from a lost cause, but he has an uphill battle ahead to regain ground.
Kaden Honeycutt – 2,003 points
One of two men making their maiden Playoff appearance is short track ace Kaden Honeycutt. The Texan finds himself amidst a very unique circumstance. Honeycutt made the first 16 starts of 2025 with Niece Motorsports, before an abrupt exit saw him take over Halmar Friesen Racing’s No. 52 Toyota. Having one race under his belt with the 52 crew, Honeycutt turned heads in Richmond with a 10th-place night. Honeycutt addressed the difficulties that may lie ahead still adjusting to a new team during a championship fight.
“Yeah, I think definitely first time in the Playoffs would be different, for sure,” Honeycutt said. “Along with a couple other guys that are doing their first Playoffs as well. So I think that will all be challenging for sure.”
“I think I just don’t psych myself out anything. Don’t change anything on how in driving the truck or completely change my style, my racecraft, and all that. Obviously, the racecraft has to get better, but you do that after the race. But yeah, it’s really good to have the tools I’ve been provided to make this change. That has made it less challenging, to be honest. So just thanks to everyone that’s made that possible and made this an easy transition for me. Frankly, I feel like Richmond really showed that speed that we were able to transition quite early. There was no issues regarding that. So yeah, just looking forward to the rest of the year with these guys and using the tools that I’ve been provided for the last couple weeks to try to win some races and go to Phoenix.”
“I feel like we need to rack up as many Playoff points as possible because of how different the Round of 8 is to get to the Championship 4 with having the Roval, Talladega, and Martinsville. Three completely different and three chaotic races, I think. So if we can focus on winning stages and try to get Playoff points and try to advance and win the next couple of weeks, I think that would be helpful for sure. And so that way we can go into Talladega and the Roval and would have something to lean on if we have to. So yeah, definitely going to be crucial. I really think we can do good at Bristol and Darlington. Darlington’s my favorite mile-and-a-half, and Bristol’s my favorite short track. So looking forward to this round for sure. Hopefully we’ll be able to have a lot of points going into the last round.”
“Yeah, [Martinsville is] definitely going to be tough as it is all the time. You see past Martinsville races to get into the Championship 4. You’ve obviously seen what some people have done to do that. So yeah, I mean, whatever we have to do to win and whatever we have to do to move on and go fight for this championship at Phoenix with Halmar, Toyota, and TRD. Whatever we have to do to put these guys in position to do that, we’re going to do what we need to. So hopefully before Martinsville, we have points to lean on. If not, have that win in the bank and go to Phoenix. Martinsville is one of my favorites, too. I love it. Sometimes it is chaotic, mostly because of how many laps we do and in a short amount of time. So, yeah, it’s definitely chaotic in that aspect. But looking forward to going to Martinsville at the end of year, hopefully try to lock in, going to Phoenix from there. That’d be really cool to have that redemption in the spring.”
At 22 years old, Honeycutt is one of the youngest contenders in the Truck Playoff field. Age should not discount his short track mastery, however, being a winner and champion at the CARS Tour level. Three of the opening six Playoff rounds are at short tracks. The coming schedule likewise may just play into Honeycutt’s wheelhouse. Already starting below the cut line though, Honeycutt has to manage to outpoint his competition and make up the deficit. While Friesen remains sidelined with injury, expect Honeycutt to make noise with the 52 team chasing this title.
Jake Garcia – 2,002 points
The youngest man was also the last one into the 2025 Playoff field. Finishing seventh Friday night at Richmond Raceway was enough for Jake Garcia to make his maiden Playoff run. This exchange eliminated ThorSport Racing teammate Ben Rhodes from another championship fight. The 20-year-old is very much in uncharted waters regarding competing for a NASCAR title. Despite this, the depth of ThorSport Racing could lead the No. 13 far into this postseason.
“There’s certainly a championship pedigree at ThorSport,” Garcia said. “You know, we’ve got a really strong team, but I’m the only full time driver that hasn’t won a championship. So I think there’s some pressure that comes along with that, too, Entering the Playoffs to get get a championship. That way you’re not the odd man out anymore. But yeah, I think that I can rely on my teammates: Matt Crafton and Ben Rhodes and Ty [Majeski] as well for some advice entering this deal. Because they’ve been in this situation before, and I haven’t. So I’ll use a little bit of their help. And some of my guys have been on a championship team as well. So I think that’ll all play into our advantage in these Playoffs.”
Richmond was an eighth top-10 of the season for Garcia, already only one off of his career-best year (2023). Being the bottom seed for these Playoffs with a minimal two bonus points, Garcia’s already on offense from the start. Only being three points away from a top-eight spot though, the cut line battle should stay close. The opening round has ample opportunities for Garcia to outscore opponents ahead of him. Three very unique and chaotic tracks are ahead where anything can happen to any contender.
Only 10 mere points separate the entire bottom six drivers on the Playoff grid entering Darlington. Between there, Bristol, and New Hampshire, standings should remain as tight as ever. Most of the contenders should continue running up front. Should any of the favorites face adversity through unforced errors, these underdogs will swoop in to possibly steal a Round of 8 berth. Trucks will hit the ground running for their Playoff lives at Darlington Raceway on August 30. All 10 contenders will yearn to get one step closer to the 2025 title.
Written by Peter Stratta
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