Majeski Relaxed Heading Into NASCAR Truck Championship Defense

While Corey Heim seemed a bit on edge, understandably so, in his availability during the NASCAR Championship 4 Media Day on Thursday at Phoenix Raceway, Ty Majeski, the defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, appeared quite relaxed. Again, understandably so.

Majeski, a short-track ace, may not have a win this season heading into this weekend's race at Phoenix Raceway, but he knows that he and his No. 98 ThorSport Racing team are fully capable of pulling off a championship-sealing win as they did a season ago.

While Heim has had an amazing season, from a historical perspective, Majeski knows that doesn't matter this weekend with the scoreboard being reset for the Championship Race.

"Yeah, I think the rest of the three should [feel under the radar]," Majeski said. "Corey's won 11 races, and that's -- he's had probably the best season in the series history. That's great, but the fact of the matter is, we're all coming into this weekend, and none of that matters anymore. We're all coming in, and we all might as well have zero wins. We each have the same amount of chance of winning the championship, and it's up to us to go take it from him."

Part of the reason Majeski feels so much confidence coming into the weekend is his own short-track racing abilities, which he honed as he cut his racing teeth in the Wisconsin short track scene. But another reason for the calm, confident demeanor is the relationship Majeski has with his crew chief, Joe Shear, Jr., who, like Majeski, has a lengthy track record on this style of track.

"I mean, we speak the same language. He worked on the same cars that I'm racing now on the late model side, and we talk about all that type of stuff and how we can correlate different things from different race tracks that we've grown up at, and it has made us very potent on these flat short tracks," Majeski noted.

While Majeski hopes to pull off an upset of Heim, he doesn't feel like the race will devolve into a crash-fest, like what happened in the 2023 edition of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race.

"I think it's been actually very good this year," Majeski explained. "We haven't had many races that I can think of that really turned into big messes, and that's good, obviously. We've seen the Truck Series, at times, do that in the past. I feel like this group is honestly really respectful for the most part."

Majeski continued, "I don't expect this race to be any different."

Majeski is set to duel with Heim, Tyler Ankrum, and Kaden Honeycutt for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship this weekend.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race is set for Friday, October 31, and will be televised on FS1 with coverage set to kick off at 7:30 PM ET. The NASCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the live radio broadcast of the event.