Ty Majeski Paces Phoenix Practice; Corey Heim Better in Key Area

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Final practice is in the books for Friday night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. At the end of the 50-minute session, it was Championship 4 contender Ty Majeski atop the scoring pylon as he turned the fastest single lap.

Majeski, the defending series champion, who came off calm, cool, and collected during Thursday's Championship 4 Media Day, backed that up with a 26.913-second lap time, which led the way in the session by 0.010 seconds over Layne Riggs, who is attempting to secure the Owner's Championship for Front Row Motorsports this weekend.

Brent Crews, Rajah Caruth, and Gio Ruggiero rounded out the top-five-fastest in single-lap speed.

As far as the other three Championship 4 contenders, Tyler Ankrum was seventh-fastest, Kaden Honeycutt was 12th, and Corey Heim, the overwhelming championship favorite, was only 15th fastest in single-lap speed.

While Heim, who has amassed an all-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series record 11 wins this season, was the slowest of the four championship contenders in single-lap speed, the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was the fastest of the four championship contenders (fourth overall) in five-lap consecutive averages, and he was the fastest driver overall to complete 10 consecutive laps in the session.

Heim's five-lap consecutive average was 27.60 seconds, while Honeycutt (27.76) was the second-fastest Championship 4 contender in five-lap averages. Ankrum (27.89) ranked third among the Championship 4 contenders, and Majeski, who led the session in single-lap speed, was the slowest championship contender in five-lap averages with an average of 28.14 seconds.

A lot can transpire between Thursday evening's practice session and Friday night's NASCAR Truck Series Championship Race, but, for now, Majeski looks to have the advantage going into Friday's qualifying session, while Heim, who many expect to take home the championship, should have the edge in long-run race speed.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race is set for Friday, October 31, and will be televised on FS1 with coverage set to kick off at 7:30 PM ET. The NASCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the live radio broadcast of the event.