Seven drivers are already locked in the 10-driver playoffs, five by wins (Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez, Rajah Caruth and Ty Majeski) – and two on points (Grant Enfinger and Tyler Ankrum).
Three spots remain to be decided from the results of the Richmond race and multiple drivers remain in the hunt.
Taylor Gray, Ben Rhodes and Tanner Gray currently hold the final three berths based on points – but a win by any of them, or anyone below them in points, could greatly shakeup the standings.
Daniel Dye sits just five points behind Tanner Gray in 11th. Stewart Friesen is 12th (16 points behind the cutoff) and three-time Truck champion Matt Crafton is 13th (43 points back).
The race for the win should be wide open as Enfinger (2020) is the only previous winner at the track entered. Crafton has the most starts (nine).
Eckes vs. Heim
Aside from the win itself, the battle for series’ regular season title holds its own special significance.
Eckes and Heim have gone toe-to-toe virtually all season, but Eckes currently holds a 50-point advantage on Heim, although Heim leads the series in wins (five). The winner of the regular season title picks up an additional 15 playoff points for the championship battle.
Eckes will clinch the title if he accumulates at least 11 points in the race.
“I feel pretty good about where we’re at as a team and the speed we have in our Chevrolets. We’ve needed a bit more here and there, but overall, we’ve been able to put ourselves up front pretty consistently,” Eckes said.
“I think we can continue that at Richmond, and it would be nice to lock up the regular season title. That was one of our goals to start the season. It’s just another step in the process of where we want to be and definitely looking forward to keeping this momentum going into the playoffs.”
Eckes would be eighth different driver to win the regular season title since its inception, joining Christopher Bell (2017), Johnny Sauter (2018), Enfinger (2019), Austin Hill (2020), John Hunter Nemechek (2021), Zane Smith (2022) and Heim (2023).
In addition to the playoff ramifications, two other noteworthy drivers are entered in Saturday night’s race.
Trans Am and ARCA star Connor Zilisch will run drive Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet in the race. Earlier this week, Zilisch was announced as the new full-time driver of JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series in 2025.
Connor Hall, the 2023 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion, will make his series debut in the race, driving the No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet. Hall, a native of Hampton, Va., leads the CARS Tour late model stock division standings.
