After a week off, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns to action with Friday‘s Love‘s RV Stop 225 (4 p.m. ET, FOX, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Talladega Superspeedway — the second of three playoff races in the Round of 8 that will decide which four drivers race for the 2025 championship.
The odds-on title favorite is Corey Heim, who is the first driver in series history to win 10 races in a single season and the only driver so far to have advanced to the Championship 4 via his victory two weeks ago at the Charlotte Roval. The driver of the No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota has won five of the last six races coming to Talladega.
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Only one of the current eight playoff drivers has won previously at Talladega — Alabama native Grant Enfinger, who won in 2016 and again in the last race in 2024. He could use that kind of showing this weekend, as he is among the four drivers below the cutline with only the Talladega race and the Oct. 24 race at Martinsville Speedway remaining to set the championship field.
Beyond Tricon Garage driver Heim, it‘s a very — very — tightly bunched standings. McAnally-Hilgemann teammates Tyler Ankrum and Daniel Hemric — both two points above the cutline — and Spire Motorsports‘ Rajah Caruth, who is just a single point to the good.
Front Row Motorsports’ Layne Riggs is one point back, followed by reigning series champ, ThorSport Racing‘s Ty Majeski (minus-2), CR7 Motorsports‘ Enfinger (minus-4) and Halmar Friesen Racing‘s Kaden Honeycutt (minus-4).
Four of the last six Talladega races have featured a first-time Craftsman Truck Series winner.
Kennametal Pole Qualifying is Friday at 12:30 p.m. ET (FS2). William Sawalich started from pole position last year. The last polesitter to win at Talladega was Timothy Peters in 2015.
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