Now more than ever there’s a pretty solid caste system in Nascar—Championship Contenders, Race Win Contenders, and Independents. Who fits in where? Who will be making the 2021 Playoffs? And will there be any races anywhere that Timmy Hill doesn’t compete in? That’s what this preview is for!
Check out the three categories of Truck Series competitors, and see where YOUR favorite driver has wound up! (note: if you have more than one favorite Truck Series driver, please consider getting some more fresh air.)
Drivers listed in order of their expected finishing order—part-time drivers not listed.
WILY VETERAN TIER—drivers with a few years or more under their belts
#98 Grant Enfinger (106 National Series Starts) Last year was a breakout year for Enfinger, posting four wins and making the final round of the playoffs. But at age 35, he only has 10-15 years—maybe 18 if he’s lucky—to win a championship.
#13 Johnny Sauter (581 National Series Starts) You read that right—over 500 starts in Cup, Xfinity, and Trucks for Sauter over the years. Feel old yet? Well if you don’t try this on for size—some day, we’re ALL gonna see Chase Elliott as a “wily veteran driver”.
#16 Austin Hill (107 National Series Starts) With six wins in the past two seasons who says you can’t compete as a single car/truck team? Ok, the past 25 years, but that’s all!
#45 Brett Moffitt (158 National Series Starts) Brett attempts both the Xfinity and Truck Series full-time schedules. And you can be sure that if there’s a scheduling conflict, Parker Kligerman will be there to substitute.
#88 Matt Crafton (484 National Series Starts) With 476 of those starts coming in the Truck Series, Matt Crafton in the 88 ThorSport truck’s been about as sure a thing as there’s been in Nascar. Well, besides that one year he ran for Kevin Harvick then inexplicably got replaced by Ron Hornaday Jr.
#52 Stewart Friesen (93 National Series Starts) Friesen hopes to rebound from a disappointing year in which he failed to win and skipped a Truck Series race for a local short-track event. Sure he won, but that's like skipping a Division 1 college football game to dominate a seven-on-seven flag football game.
#99 Ben Rhodes (129 National Series Starts) While he hasn’t lit the world on fire, he has family sponsorship so just get used to him being a Truck Series driver. Sorry Tyler Dippel, Todd Gilliland, Christian Eckes, and Josh Bilicki.
#38 Todd Gilliland (71 National Series Starts) Todd has officially crossed-over from Young Gun to Wily Veteran. I base that decision on...well, not much, but believe me, its a compliment.
#25 Timothy Peters (257 National Series Starts) An old Truck Series standby returns to full-time competition with a brand-new team, the awkwardly-named Rackley WAR. Kinda odd when your team already sounds like its been through a few mergers before its run a race.
#40 Ryan Truex (155 National Series Starts) Despite failing to post a win in 150+ starts, Truex gets a shot in one of the series’ most-improving teams. Nice to see the brother of a Cup Series champion get a fair shake once in a while, huh?
#3 Jordan Anderson (137 National Series Starts) Jordan continues to get more publicity than some Cup drivers despite running mid-pack for his own independent team. Just goes to show you that when you want to seem big as a giant when you’re 4’8’’, hire a PR agent.
#20 Spencer Boyd (91 National Series Starts) Boyd matched his car number for his points finish last year. Hey Spencer—#1 IS available, just sayin.
#22 Austin Wayne Self (107 National Series Starts) The Man With a Serial Killer Name left Niece Motorsports to return to his own family operation. Boy, that seems kinda regretful in retrospect.
#04 Cory Roper (27 National Series Starts) While Cory hasn't made that many starts in Nascar his age of 43 puts him squarely in the "veteran" group. Hopefully this year he can find enough funding to run a full schedule...and find the missing "E" for his first name.
YOUNG GUN TIER—drivers just starting out in Nascar.
#21 Zane Smith (34 National Series Starts) Smith had a solid first year in the Trucks, and is Spade Racing’s odds-on favorite to win the 2021 championship. By typing that, anyone who places that bet is legally bound to give me 10% of their winnings.
#2 Sheldon Creed (55 National Series Starts) A champion at age 23, Creed returns to the series’ top team where the only real competition is from his teammates. Kinda like being in sales.
#23 Chase Purdy (R) (9 National Series Starts) Purdy gets a plum full-season ride with GMS Racing for his rookie campaign. By the way that’s what the (R) means, not “Relegated”, “Restart-addled” or “Rodney Combs Fanclub Member”.
#17 Halie Deegan (R) (1 National Series Start) Deegan seems to be the total package—legit driving talent, a winning pedigree, and sponsor appeal. While that’s led to a Ford development deal AND a DGR Truck Series ride, its also led to hundreds of creepy old man fans. Yeesh.
#42 Carson Hocevar (9 National Series Starts) Carson’s overcome a lot on his way to a full-time Niece Motorsports ride. No, not coming up through Nascar in the middle of a pandemic—dealing with having a last name that spellcheck constantly autocorrects to “However”.
#18 Chandler Smith (R) (16 National Series Starts) Smith finished strong last year with five top-fives in his last six starts. A Rookie of the Year title could mean more exposure…even if that exposure is just answering the same damn media questions every weekend about his team owner Kyle Busch.
#26 Tyler Ankrum (45 National Series Starts) One year after a cinderella playoff berth Ankrum had a solid if not spectacular sophomore season. Time will tell if he pours it on 2021 to establish himself as a future talent, or if he winds up running for second-rate equipment with fake-sounding sponsors like “Meltdown Ice Cream”, “NRG Caffeine Injections”, or “Singer Sewing Machines”.
#19 Derek Kraus (28 National Series Starts) Kraus showed flashes of brilliance last year, but flashes don’t get you much in this world. Well, besides 40 hours community service.
#11 Spencer Davis (23 National Series Starts) Spencer Davis will be attempting to run his first-ever full-time Truck Series schedule with his own team. I'm guessing he's so glad he made it, so glad he made it...
#12 Tate Fogelman (26 National Series Starts) Fogelman returns for his sophomore effort while simultaneously going for his business degree in college. A word of advice, Tate--take one statistics course and then RUN!
#02 Kris Wright (R) (1 National Series Start) Wright, the latest young gun driver for Young's Motorsports, has a lot in common with Dale Jarrett. Well, by "a lot" I mean they're both decent amateur golfers.
#41 Dawson Cram (17 National Series Starts) This family run operation is planning on attempting the full season. So that should net them at least one cloying pre-race feature on FS1.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK TIER—John Hunter Nemechek
#4 John Hunter Nemechek (192 National Series Starts) Why did JHN leave a steady if not spectacular Front Row Motorsports ride to return to the Truck Series? We may never know, but he’s in a tier all his own now.