Majeski Breaks Through at Bristol

Bristol Night Race weekend never disappoints, and the Camping World Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday night was no exception. From battling back from adversity to seeing a first-time winner, Bristol had it all. 

Two playoff drivers started on their backfoot from the onset after John Hunter Nemechek had an incident in practice and Zane Smith’s team located an issue on his truck. They both would start from the rear. Zane Smith would fight back to finish third in his #38 Ford F-150 for Front Row Motorsports, while Nemechek would have to settle for twelfth in his #4 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports. 

This race was relatively tame by Bristol standards but was not a snoozefest. None of the playoff drivers had severe issues in the race, and the closest was early on in the race when Stewart Friesen nearly lost his truck while racing Grant Enfinger. Both Enfinger and Friesen are fighting to make it to the Championship Four at Phoenix Raceway in a few weeks. 

But when it came time for a late race result, the race leader, Ty Majeski powered on and took his first victory in his NASCAR career. A driver who seemed would never get to truly show his full potential finally broke through to lock himself into the Championship round. 

In true Wisconsin fashion, he celebrated with a Polish Victory Lap, made famous by the late Alan Kulwicki, and skipped out on the traditional victory burnout. This led to some (hopefully) playful views from the Bristol crowd. But that didn’t change the excitement Majeski felt to finally win in NASCAR. It was especially fitting he would get his maiden victory on a short track, due to his Super Late Model expertise. 

The playoff standings look like this: 

#66 Ty Majeski WIN

#18 Chandler Smith 3076 Points + 23

#38 Zane Smith 3073 Points + 20

#52 Stewart Friesen 3061 Points + 8

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#4 John H. Nemechek 3053 Points – 8

#98 Christian Eckes 3048 Points – 13

#23 Grant Enfinger 3046 Points – 15

#99 Ben Rhodes 3043 Points – 18

The next race in the Camping World Truck Series Playoffs will be October 1st at Talladega Superspeedway. Talladega is capable of dramatically shaking up the standings and resulting in a surprise winner. Ty Majeski can rest easy knowing he will be racing for the Championship in Phoenix, but the other seven drivers will be uneasy. One thing is for sure, you will not want to miss it.