RICHMOND, Virginia – Ty Majeski took the lead with eight laps to go on the restart of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season finale at Richmond Raceway and held on to it to hoist his second consecutive racing trophy following his victory in the Clean Harbors 250.

Majeski’s No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford crossed the finish line a slim 0.936 seconds ahead of Christian Eckes to take the win, justifying a bitter loss at the three-quarter-mile Richmond track a year ago when he dominated the race only to lose the lead with four laps to go.

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This bitter defeat still bothered the 29-year-old Wisconsin native this weekend. And he almost lost this race too after he received a pit stop penalty because a tire came loose during his first pit stop during the first stage break.

“It feels good. We’ve had great ThorSport trucks here at Richmond the last two years, but we’ve found different ways to lose them (races) and tried to do that again tonight,” said Majeski, who now has five career Truck Series wins.

“We really need to clean this stuff up.”

Eckes, driver of the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet, officially clinched the regular season championship with his victory in the opening stage Saturday night – his season-best eighth stage win of the season, which was the best ever in the series.

“The confidence is definitely high,” said Eckes, who won three races in 2024. “I feel like we’re in a better position than last year, and I thought we were in a pretty good position last year too. I’m really proud of the team. We didn’t quite have what we needed today, but we’re proud of everyone and ready to go for the next seven races.”

For the first time in the modern playoff format, a driver fought his way into the championship ranks in the final cutoff race. 20-year-old Daniel Dye finished eighth in the No. 43 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet – good enough to secure a playoff spot by 12 points over Tricon Garage’s Tanner Gray, who finished 12th.

“The guys have just put in so much hard work and it’s really good to validate myself and the work I’ve put in to change what I’ve done so far,” Dye said. “It’s so cool to have our 43 in the playoffs.

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Tanner Gray stood next to his car, understandably frustrated about the night.

“We just weren’t good enough,” Tanner Gray said. “We didn’t have the speed, we didn’t have the balance and I didn’t play well enough, so I’m really frustrated.”

His younger brother Taylor Gray finished third on Saturday night, followed by veteran Grant Enfinger and rookie Layne Riggs. Third place was enough for Gray to secure a spot in the 10-driver playoff field in his first full-time season.

Fourth-placed Enfinger led the most laps – 98 of the 250 – and took the second stage win; his first stage win since last season.

Tyler Ankrum, defending series champion Ben Rhodes, Dye, Ty Dillon and series debutant Connor Hall rounded out the top 10.

The 10 playoff drivers include Tricon Garage’s Corey Heim, who has won five races and is three points ahead of Eckes at the start of the seven-race playoff series. Majeski enters the playoff series in third place, followed by Nick Sanchez and Rajah Caruth, who have also won races this season.

Enfinger is seeded sixth, followed by Ankrum, Taylor Gray, Rhodes and Dye.

The opening game of the playoffs, LiUNA! 175, will be held on Sunday, August 25, at the Milwaukee Mile (4 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).