NASCAR trucks at Kansas Speedway: Here are some top drivers to watch in Saturday’s race

Zane Smith, the reigning NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series champion, is one of the drivers to beat in Saturday’s night’s Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway.

Smith, who won last year’s spring race, is second in the trucks standings and already has won at Daytona and Austin.

Two NASCAR Cup regulars are scheduled to start the trucks race: Kyle Busch will be in pursuit of the 100th series win for Kyle Busch Motorsports; and Ross Chastain, the current Cup series points leader, will try to duplicate his trucks win at Kansas in 2019, a result he says saved his career.

Here are five other drivers to watch in Saturday’s race:

Ty Majeski, No. 98 Ford

Majeski, 28, is atop the trucks series standings, 26 points ahead of defending champion Smith for ThorSport Racing. Majeski, of Seymour, Wisconsin, is still seeking his first win of the season but has five top-five finishes in seven starts, including a third at Austin and second at Bristol. He finished second to Smith in the May race at Kansas last year before winning his first two career races, at Bristol and Homestead.

Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Ford

Rhodes, the 2021 series champion, ranks third in the standings for ThorSport with a season-best third at Las Vegas and fifth at Atlanta, a track similar Kansas’ 1.5-mile tri-oval. Rhodes, 25, finished second at Indianapolis but slumped badly to 18th at Richmond. Rhodes, 26, owns six career trucks wins, but has yet to win in 10 starts at Kansas, where his best finish was second in 2019.

Matt Crafton, No. 88 Ford

Crafton, a teammate with Majeski and Rhodes at ThorSport Racing, is a three-time series champion (2013, ’14, ’19) with 15 career wins, including victories in Kansas in 2013, ‘15 and 2020. Crafton, 46, has made a record 528 starts in the trucks series, but hasn’t won since 2020 at Kansas. He finished ninth last spring and 15th in the fall race.

Christian Eckes, No. 19 Chevrolet

Eckes, the 2020 series champion, ranks fifth in the standings on the strength of a strong start — third at Daytona, sixth at Las Vegas and winning at Atlanta. Though Eckes 22, has not finished better than 15th in his last four starts, he has been strong at Kansas. He was second at Kansas in the 2020 spring race and fifth in 2022. He also won the 2019 ARCA race en route to the series championship.

Corey Heim, No. 11 Toyota

Heim, 20, is coming off a win at Martinsville, which propelled him to fourth in the standings for David Gilliland Racing. Heim, of Marietta, Ga., won twice in 16 starts for Kyle Busch Racing last season after moving up from the ARCA series, where he won nine races in 43 starts, including races at Kansas in 2020 and 2022.

Kansas Speedway schedule

SATURDAY

9:25 a.m. ARCA Series practice.

10:10 a.m. ARCA Series qualifying.

11:05 a.m. NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series practice.

11:35 a.m. Trucks series qualifying.

1 p.m. ARCA Menards Series Dawn 150 race.

4:05 p.m. NASCAR Cup Series practice.

4:50 p.m. NASCAR Cup qualifying.

7 p.m. NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Heart of America 200 race.

SUNDAY

1:30 p.m. NASCAR Cup driver introductions,

2 p.m. NASCAR Cup AdventHealth 400 race.