ROCKINGHAM — From the Tennessee mountains to the Sandhills of North Carolina, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is heading back to the Rock for its next stop of the 2025 season.
For the first time since 2013, the trucks will rip the 1-mile oval this Friday at Rockingham Speedway in the Black's Tire 200.
Here’s a recap of the season so far and which drivers to be on the lookout for at the Rock.
Five wins this season have come from three series regulars.
Corey Heim has two so far, with Daniel Hemric getting his first win at Martinsville and Chandler Smith taking the checkered flag last Friday at Bristol.
The other two were Cup Series champs Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson — the latter being the 2013 Rockingham winner.
Disregarding the Kyle and Kyle show, let’s dive into Heim, Hemric and Smith.
Heim, hailing from Marietta, Georgia, has racked up enough points to hold the lead for the season with his two wins coming from Daytona and Las Vegas.
Heim has led 294 laps so far this year, pulling four top five and five top 10 finishes, with two poles to go along with his performance.
Heim drives for Tricon Garage in the No. 11 Toyota. Out of six races so far this year, Heim’s worst finish was 23rd at Atlanta. He placed third at Bristol.
Hemric, of Kannapolis, took a slide in the standings after Bristol, dropping from fourth to fifth after taking the pole. The 2021 Xfinity Series Champion boasts two top five and three top 10 finishes this season.
Driving for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, Hemric will be seen in the No. 19 Chevrolet at Rockingham.
With Toyota and Chevrolet already in the win column, Ford found its way to victory lane last week with Smith, which boosted him a spot in the standings to second place, just 18 points behind Heim.
Chandler Smith rolls down the Thunder Alley backstretch at Rockingham Speedway during a Jan. 28 test.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
Smith has three top fives, six top 10s, and has an average finish of 5.3.
Who else will be expected to be a factor in Friday’s showdown?
Sitting in third place without a win this season is Ty Majeski, driving the No. 98 Ford and Chevy driver Tyler Ankrum in the No. 18 is right behind him.
There are two veteran truck drivers who will be making their return to the Rock. Grant Enfinger drove in the 2012 race. His run was short lived as he was taken out of the race for a transmission failure and placed dead last.
Matt Crafton, however, has seen better luck at Rockingham. He placed third in 2012 and 6th in 2013. Crafton is also a three-time NASCAR Truck Series champion, having won in 2013, 2014 and 2019.
Matt Crafton, who ran the Craftsman Truck Series at the Rock in 2012 and 2013, makes one of several practice laps on Jan. 28.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
Currently Enfinger (No. 9 Chevy) sits seventh in the standings and Crafton (No. 88 Ford) is 15th.
Top 10 in Standings
And for those who enjoy the manufacturer battles, both 2012 and 2013 truck races at the Rock resulted in a victory for the bowtie brand. The highest Ford of the two was by Joey Logano in second (2013), and the highest Toyota finish was third in 2012 with Crafton.
Truck series drivers Rajah Caruth, Matt Mills, Bayley Currey, Andres Perez de Lara, Kaden Honeycutt and Connor Mosack will be signing autographs during ThunderFest in downtown Rockingham on April 17.
The Black's Tire 200 is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Friday, April 18 at Rockingham Speedway.
William R. Toler contributed to this story.
