The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is almost halfway through the regular season. In fact, when the checkered flag falls after the next race at Kansas Speedway on Saturday (May 4), the regular season will be 50% complete.
Despite that, the playoff field is still wide open, as there’s still a potential for more than 10 winners. Meanwhile, the battles for both the regular season championship and the 10th-place cutoff are tight.
But Christian Eckes has already solidified himself as a favorite for the 2024 championship.
Eckes currently is the only full-time driver to have multiple wins in 2024, both coming on the short tracks of Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. At Bristol, he had to fend off Kyle Busch for the win, while Martinsville was more dominant for the No. 19.
As it stands, Eckes has only a two-point lead in the regular season standings over Corey Heim, who was far and away the favorite for the 2023 championship the whole season.
Coincidentally, it was Eckes who posed the biggest threat to Heim for the title last season.
Eckes began the 2023 playoffs by winning the pole at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and finishing second, several spots ahead of Heim (eighth). Eckes again beat Heim in the next race at The Milwaukee Mile, finishing third with Heim coming in right behind him in fourth.
Then at Kansas, Eckes took Heim and Zane Smith three-wide on the final lap to steal a win, positioning himself real nice to begin the Round of 8.
Then the following race at Bristol changed everything.
Eckes was far and away the dominant truck, leading 150 of the 200 laps from the pole, while sweeping the stages. However, he was held up by Tanner Gray just enough to let Heim slip by for the 11th-hour win. With the win, Heim locked up a spot in the Championship 4 while Eckes had to continue to earn a spot in the next two weeks.
But a Championship 4 spot never materialized for Eckes, as a 19th and a 20th in the final two Round of 8 races resulted in Eckes’ elimination from the playoffs. While fifth place in the championship isn’t a poor result by any means, the Bristol race cost Eckes more than he could have possibly known.
Not just a spot in the Championship 4, but also the championship itself.
Eckes was the winner of the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, which would have given him the title had he won Bristol and advanced to the…
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