By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor
BRISTOL, Tenn – While he was unable to chase down his teammate, and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano, Ty Majeski had fun during ThorSport Racing’s strong run in Saturday night’s race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track.
Majeski’s No. 98 Soda Sense Ford F-150 ran inside the top-five throughout the Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt. On repeated restarts the Seymour, WI native struggled to keep heat in his tires. Majeski kept Cup Series driver William Byron at bay but couldn’t reel in Logano.
During the few long runs of the dirt track, the tables appeared to turn for Logano. However, before Majeski could take advantage of the changing fortunes, the caution waved. The theme repeated several times during the 150-lap race. Majeski ultimately finished the race in second.
“Really cool to have all our trucks really run well all day today,” Majeski said. “I thought maybe at times I could maybe match him. In the long runs we were starting to flip a little bit and every time that was happening, we’d get a yellow. I don’t know if we could have done anything with him, but maybe I could have just made him nervous.”
Three of the five ThorSport Racing trucks finished inside the top-five. Behind Logano and Majeski’s one-two finish, Matt Crafton finished fourth. Hailie Deegan ran inside the top-10 before contact with the wall dropped her to outside the top-20. She climbed back up to 13th by the time the checkered waved. Ben Rhodes was inside the top-10 until a late-race wreck dropped him to 19th.
In Stage 1 all five of the ThorSport Racing Fords, along with the Ford Performance drivers of Zane Smith and Kaden Honeycutt were inside the top-10. The Fords, including Majeski’s Joe Shear, Jr.-led effort dominated the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series dirt race.
The family atmosphere that Majeski’s team had extended out of the truck. Post-race he joked with a crew member between interviews. The success that he and his ThorSport Racing team have had comes from the fun that they have at the track.
“We have fun doing this together and I think that a lot of it gets lost in the NASCAR world,” Majeski admitted. “Everyone takes it so seriously and it’s a job. We legitimately have fun going to the racetrack together. We have a great, tightly knit team and we work well together.
“When you go to the racetrack and you’re excited to go and you’re having fun all those guys in the shop go that extra little bit for you to make these trucks as good as they can. We’re just clicking right now, Joe and I get along well. We talk every day whether I’m at the shop or not, we’re putting good race trucks out there.”
The runner-up finish was Majeski’s fourth top-five and fifth top-10 finish in six races this season. It also keeps him on top of the points standings, 34 ahead of Smith.
Next for the ThorSport Racing team is Martinsville Speedway. The 28-year-old has one start at ‘The Paperclip,’ finishing 11th.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville is scheduled for Friday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1. The race will also be broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.