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Photo credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography
Racing

Garcia in, Rhodes out as Truck Series drivers set playoff field

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RICHMOND, Va. -- The Craftsman Truck Series playoff field is set after a Friday night race at Richmond Raceway, which featured a late battle between Ty Majeski and race-winner Corey Heim.

Ten drivers will battle for the championship, starting with the playoff-opener at Darlington Raceway on Aug. 30.

The list includes Heim, Layne Riggs, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger, Kaden Honeycutt, Majeski, Rajah Caruth, and Jake Garcia.

MORE: Truck Series results at Richmond

Eight of these drivers will advance to the second round after New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 20. Four will advance after Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 24.

Heim will enter the playoffs in the best possible position. He won the regular-season championship, which added 15 playoff points to his total. His seventh win added another five, so he is up to 65 playoff points. The next closest driver, Riggs, has 16.

The majority of the drivers had secure spots in the playoff field entering Friday night's race. Kaden Honeycutt then locked up his spot on points by finishing sixth in the opening stage. This left only one spot.

Garcia, Ben Rhodes, and Gio Ruggiero entered the evening in contention for this spot. Garcia held it at the start of the race, but he only had an 11-point lead over Rhodes and a 21-point lead over Ruggiero.

This spot remained in question for the majority of the race, especially as Rhodes and his team gambled with alternate pit strategies in the second and third stages.

The first bold move took place in the second stage. Rhodes stopped early for fresh tires while Garcia stayed out on the track.

This put the two-time champion at an advantage for several laps, but a caution disrupted his run and opened up an opportunity for other drivers to pit for fresh tires. Rhodes had to stay out near the end of the second stage, so he fell through the pack while Garcia gained ground. Garcia finished the stage second and gained more points at a pivotal time.

Rhodes had another opportunity to fight back during the final stage, but a caution for Matt Crafton and Majeski spinning fell right after he made his way down pit road. This disrupted his strategy once again.

But while the strategy plays did not pan out, Rhodes did not leave Richmond Raceway frustrated about the race. He knew that he was only in this position due to missed opportunities earlier in the regular season.

"You get in these positions from the whole season," Rhodes said on pit road after the race. "Obviously, our regular season didn't go the way we wanted. There's a few races that come to mind right away.

"Rockingham, power steering failure, like, right away. Homestead, we got caught up in a Turn 1, Lap 1 wreck from having to go to the back after a mechanical issue in qualifying. So, you know, there's stuff like that that we could clean up, and I think would have been a different story tonight."

While Rhodes had to opt for different tire strategies, Garcia just needed to deliver a clean race to secure a spot in the playoff field. He had the speed, and he had the points advantage early in the race. It was just a matter of avoiding disaster, which he did while locking up 11 stage points.

These extra points put Garcia in a position where he would have had to finish 18 spots behind Rhodes to miss out on his first playoff appearance.

"It was just a matter of managing our gap and just making sure there was no possible way we could crash," Garcia said after the race.

"I think we did a good job at that, and I tried to do my best to run a smart race after we had a little bit of a cushion and just get this thing in the playoffs."