Seven drivers have already qualified for the ten-driver playoffs, five by wins (Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez, Rajah Caruth and Ty Majeski) – and two by points (Grant Enfinger and Tyler Ankrum).
Three spots remain to be decided from the results of the Richmond race, and several drivers are still in the race.
Taylor Gray, Ben Rhodes and Tanner Gray currently occupy the bottom three places in terms of points – but a win by one of them or a player who is below them in terms of points could shake up the rankings considerably.
Daniel Dye is just five points behind Tanner Gray in 11th place. Stewart Friesen is 12th (16 points behind the cut-off) and three-time Truck champion Matt Crafton is 13th (43 points back).
The race for the win should be wide open, as Enfinger (2020) is the only previous winner at the track. Crafton has the most starts (nine).
Eckes vs. Home
Aside from the victory itself, the battle for the series’ regular season title has a very special meaning.
Eckes and Heim have been neck and neck for virtually the entire season, but Eckes currently holds a 50-point lead over Heim, although Heim leads the series in wins (five). The winner of the regular-season title will receive an additional 15 playoff points toward the championship battle.
Eckes will win the title if he scores at least 11 points in the race.
“I’m pretty happy with where we are as a team and the speed of our Chevrolets. We could have done a little better here and there, but overall we were able to stay at the top pretty consistently,” said Eckes.
“I think we can continue that in Richmond and it would be nice to win the regular season title. That was one of our goals at the beginning of the season. It’s just another step towards where we want to be and we’re definitely looking forward to taking that momentum into the playoffs.”
Christian Eckes, McAnally Hilgemann Racing, Adaptive One brake calipers Chevrolet Silverado
Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images
Eckes would be the eighth different driver to win the regular season title since its inception, joining Christopher Bell (2017), Johnny Sauter (2018), Enfinger (2019), Austin Hill (2020), John Hunter Nemechek (2021), Zane Smith (2022) and Heim (2023).
In addition to the playoff implications, two other notable drivers are registered for Saturday night’s race.
Trans Am and ARCA star Connor Zilisch will drive Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet in the race. Earlier this week, Zilisch was announced as the new full-time driver of JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series in 2025.
Connor Hall, the 2023 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion, will make his series debut at this race, driving the No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet. Hall, a native of Hampton, Virginia, leads the CARS Tour Late Model Stock division standings.
