BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Ty Majeski scored his first career Truck Series win on Thursday night and the victory at Bristol Motor Speedway locked Majeski into the championship finale.
Majeski, in his 40th career start in the trucks, became the first driver to earn a spot in the championship-deciding final four. He had a clean jump on Zane Smith on a restart to with 12 laps remaining to cruise to the victory in a Toyota for ThorSport Racing.
The 28-year-old from Wisconsin ran only four Truck Series races last season as he desperately tried to continue his NASCAR career. It led to a full season ride with ThorSport for this year and now a shot at the series championship.
“I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this,” Majeski said. “We came guns blazing for this race, took our best truck. This is so cool. My career has been so up and down and there’s been a lot of people to help me get to this point.”
Bristol marked the opening race of the round of eight in the Truck Series playoffs.
Smith finished second after starting at the back of the field.
“A good salvage of the night,” Smith said.
Parker Kligerman finished third and was followed by Grant Enfinger, Matt Crafton and Derek Kraus.
The Truck Series races next on Oct. 1 at Talladega Superspeedway.
___
More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports