Pole-sitter Ty Majeski is braced for the unexpected in the Milwaukee Mile NASCAR truck race
WEST ALLIS – Not just the trucks are fast. The pace of a day like Saturday is too.
The drivers of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series had 20 minutes of practice Saturday at the Milwaukee Mile, a short break in which to make changes and then single-lap qualifying. Then the trucks were impounded ahead of the LiUNA! 175 on Sunday.
That gave Ty Majeski and his team almost enough time to figure out their own Ford and not nearly enough to size up the competition.
Lineup: 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series LiUNA! 175
More: Key Wisconsin auto racing events for the 2024 season
“The non-companion races, a little bit more difficult for us to get data quickly,” Majeski said, referring to the fact that the Xfinity and Cup Series aren’t racing at the Mile and don’t affect the schedule. “So yeah, I’ll have to go back and look at some of the lap times.
“I think we learned some with our truck in qualifying. Actually, typically you don’t learn too much from qualifying. But I think with our package, the way that it is, we made some pretty good adjustments to it that I think we can carry into tomorrow, which I’m pretty excited about.
“I was actually a little bit iffy about my truck in race trim. I think we can take some of those qualifying adjustments and apply them to race trim and give us a really good truck.”
Majeski, a Seymour native who has won at the track in super late models, lapped in 29.815 seconds (122.556 mph) in his No. 98 ThorSport Ford. He was also fastest in the practice session.
Tanner Gray was second in a Toyota by 0.021 of a second.
The second row is made up of the Chevrolet of Christian Eckes, a three-time winner, and the Toyota of Corey Heim, who has won a series-high five races. Defending race winner Grant Enfinger qualified 12th for the race that is set to start shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday.
Majeski takes a two-race winning streak into the first race of the Craftsman Truck Series playoffs with victories at Indianapolis Raceway Park and Richmond Raceway. He finished seventh last year after being penalized – and losing crew chief Joe Shear for most of the playoffs – for an illegal bleeder intended to keep a tire from expanding with heat.
“So far, we’re a lot better than last year. That’s for sure,” Majeski said. “Starting on the pole. So excited to get going this weekend. Obviously, home-state race for me, a lot of friends, family, former sponsors, current sponsors, will be in the stands, which I hear is a pretty good crowd, so expecting quite a few people tomorrow.”
The amount of passing in the race last season, in the truck series’ return after 13 years, caught drivers off guard, but they’re appreciative of the options they’ll have Sunday.
“Your truck’s gonna have to be pretty versatile,” Majeski said. “Obviously this track is pretty wide. We saw it last year, all the way from the yellow rumble strips all the way up two or three grooves even above the bottom of the sort of (older) white asphalt.
“You’re gonna have to have a truck that can go anywhere, maneuver anywhere. Guys will be searching around just as much as you are, trying to find grip. That’s what’s so cool about this place. It gives drivers options, and when we have options it typically creates really good racing.”
Dexter Bean of Westby makes the Milwaukee truck field
After failing to qualify last year, Westby native Dexter Bean earned a spot in the field for his first Craftsman Truck Series start since 2009.
Never a full-time competitor in NASCAR, the 37-year-old has made 35 starts across the three national series and only three previous in trucks. His most recent came this season in the Xfinity Series, when he finished 20th at Martinsville. Bean will start 32nd in the field of 36.
William Sawalich on pole for ARCA Sprecher 150
Double-duty driver William Sawalich will start the defense of his Sprecher 150 from the pole after leading ARCA Menards Series qualifying for the eighth time this season.
Sawalich edged rival Connor Zillisch for the top spot. The two have combined to win all 10 races in which either or both have competed, with Sawalich having six of those victories.
Although the ARCA car is more familiar to Sawalich, switching from one to the other isn’t a big deal, he said. He qualified sixth for the truck race.
“The biggest difference is power; just, you’re going faster (in the truck), so you just kind of slow it down more. And then it’s got a higher center of gravity so it’s just more roll in the corner. And honestly, it’s just kind of a weird feeling. And it’s got a lot more side force, I feel like so you can really lean on it when you need it. And then the Goodyear tire is a little bit different from the (ARCA) General tire. It wears a little bit more.”
The Sprecher 150 is scheduled to take the green flag shortly after noon Sunday.
Among the other double-duty drivers is semiretired third-generation IndyCar driver, Marco Andretti. He’ll line up 11th for ARCA and 24th for trucks.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ty Majeski wins Milwaukee Mile NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole
