Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Playoff Media Day
Tuesday, August 20, 2024

The 10 drivers competing for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship participated in a media day event this afternoon, including Ford drivers Ty Majeski and defending champion Ben Rhodes. Here are transcripts of their media sessions.

BEN RHODES, No. 99 ThorSport Racing F-150 – WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN DO THIS AGAIN AS THE NINTH SEED WITH ONLY TWO PLAYOFF POINTS? “Just the fact that we’ve done it. I think that’s gonna tell us we can do it again, and I don’t mean that rude in any way, it’s just that we have the blueprint. We’ve done it twice and we’ve done it when our back has been against the wall. We’ve done it when we had to get in on tiebreakers, where we had to do crazy strategy and we’d get in on a point. We’ve been put through the crucible. We’ve gone through the ringer and somehow we’ve found a way to still make it to the next round. I can thoroughly say that the pressure doesn’t get to us at all. If we make any mistakes, it will be just from sheer incompetence. It won’t be from nervousness or feeling any sort of pressure. I can say at the racetrack now that I feel pretty locked in with all of my guys. I’ve been pretty hard on some people and hard on myself, but I’ve been like that for years. I just try to demand the best that we can out of everybody and, of course, of myself. We ask a lot as far as accountability goes and I think that’s all needed right now, especially with our current situation. I feel good about it, I really do. The first round here, with these three races, are races that our stats don’t show well at, but they don’t show well at the first two simply because we had a mistake last year at Milwaukee. We got involved in a wreck at Bristol and then Kansas I think that got a little bit away from our setup, so we’ll work on that one. All in all, it’s a good round for us. If we just do our part, I think we can make it in just fine.”

DO YOU THINK THE SPEED IS THERE AT THIS POINT? “Yeah, the speed can be there. We’ve got to unload a little closer, though. That’s kind of where we’re at with this Next Gen practice session. You have to unload off your transporter straight from the race shop perfect, and there’s no opportunity to really tune on the truck. There are a lot of times where I know what’s wrong, but I don’t have the tools available to me to fix it. When you’re at the racetrack, you’ve got packers, so you can adjust your bar load and the actual splitter gap. You can work on air pressures. You can work on spring rubbers, track bar, wedge – stuff like that. That’s all fine-tuning tools. It’s not really anything you can do to wholesale the truck or get it closer. You can’t change anything really, so it’s just something that we’ve got to do a little better job of unloading close and making sure that when we’re there the tools that are available to us actually help us rather than saying, ‘Well, there’s nothing in our toolbox we can do right now.’”

HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT YOUR SITUATION GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS. ANY STRESS? “I’ve been in a lot worse situations than Richmond, unfortunately, I guess, but, fortunately, struggles and suffering is what makes you a better person in life. By walking through those struggles and those challenges in past years, it’s made us pretty calm, or at least me pretty calm in the current situation. Right now, that’s my mindset and I just try to bring that about to everybody on my team. Everybody that has a hand in on this race track needs to be feeling the same way. They need to be calm, cool, collected and just ultimately focused on getting some points right now. Nothing has really changed since Richmond. I think the temptation to change comes after the checkered flag at Milwaukee. That’s where you have to see where you’re at and see what alterations need to happen.”

WHAT CHALLENGES DOES MARTINSVILLE POSE AS AN ELIMINATION RACE RIGHT BEFORE THE CHAMPIONSHIP 4? “This is the priority right now, this first round, but, honestly, my eyes are still focused on the next round. That’s always the round that matters most is that final round before getting to Phoenix, so I’m already looking at that, just kind of like you mentioned. Martinsville is going to be a challenge, but it’s one of my favorite racetracks. We’ve been going there for so long and I actually started racing there in late models once upon a time, so I love that place. It is true, there’s nowhere to hide if you’re really slow, but if you’re fast, you can kind of hide wherever you like actually. That’s just the name of the game anywhere we go. Speed breed success and speed affords different opportunities and Martinsville is really no different in that regard. The problem with Martinsville being a playoff race though is, as a playoff driver, you can find yourself in trouble from the non-playoff drivers that don’t cut you any slack. Pretty much every time they’re more desperate that time of year to give themselves some success to their program, and when that happens you can find yourself in their way and they don’t care that you have a red spoiler. They’re worried about themselves as they should.”

HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR SEASON TO DATE? “It hasn’t been a good season for us necessarily. From where my standards are and how we’ve been running, and the standards for the whole race team it’s been below what we want, but that’s OK. We have to be able to look at that and compartmentalize that and then apply whatever wisdom we know to garnering results and success. The minute we stop trying to look at it and being realistic that’s a problem, so realistically it hasn’t been the best season. Actually, in the past three years or so that we’ve made runs at championships, this has been the worst that we’ve entered into the playoffs and that comes from the bad regular season. I started out the first part of the season with Rich Lushes as my crew chief and now I have Doug Randolph, so there was a little bit of a swap up there, but as a whole, I’ve maintained my core group of guys and we’ve just been working on the same stuff. It hasn’t been the best, but I think we’ll be just fine. The biggest thing to realize right now going into the playoffs this first round is all about not making mistakes. Then after that you’ve got to have three absolutely perfect races for the next round.”

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN TALK TO DOUG ABOUT WHAT THIS PLAYOFF SCENARIO IS LIKE, OR YOU LET HIM STILL ADVISE YOU? “I think it goes both ways. I think that’s how a good, proper driver-crew chief relationship should work. He hasn’t been in the pressure cooker spotlight in a few years, but he has been around for a very long time. The best thing about Doug is he’s so calm, cool, collected under normal circumstances. That’s what we’ve worked under so far and the playoffs I’ve yet to see, but if he’s anything like his normal self, he should be just fine. Realistically, that’s what’s best for drivers are calm crew chiefs that can see an evaluate things clearly and make the best decision as it’s happening. And I think most of that comes from personal life, at least it does for me. If I’ve got a good personal life, good family life, good foundation, you can perform well under pressure and also a good race team. Our relationship with ThorSport Racing, Duke and Rhonda Thorson have been fantastic. They’ve been amazing to me and we just want to go win championships for them. They give us all the tools to do it and when you have support like that, it makes it easy to go out and not let the pressure get to you.”

IS THE FIRST ROUND JUST A CASE OF NOT LOSING IT AND THEN BECOME MORE AGGRESSIVE IN THE SECOND ROUND? “You’ve got to be aggressive right away, but it’s got to be moderate. We see it every year. Some of the guys that come into the playoffs that maybe don’t have the experience or they’re just up on the chip drivers, they usually can throw away their chances in the first round and since there are only two being cut, the biggest thing to do is just have steady races. Something is going to happen unfortunate to somebody in this first round. It may only happen to one driver, it could happen to two, but those are the ones that will have the disadvantage, so the biggest thing is to have consistent races, get your stage points, and that will get you to the next round. After that, you’ve got to be perfect.”

ARE YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHIES IN YOUR HOUSE? DO YOU LOOK AT THEM FOR MOTIVATION? “The trophies are there at the house, but I’m very much a ‘you’re only as good as your last race’ type of driver. We’ve got championships. That says it right here on the patch, but to me what happens in the past means nothing in the present or the future. The experience you take with you means a lot, but the accolades, to me, don’t really mean anything. I really very much function – the last race is what makes your career for you, so I approach everything that way. When I’m at home I really don’t have anything racing out in the house. My wife likes having that stuff around. She thinks it’s cool and that it’s something cool for our kids to talk about, but I really don’t like it in the house. I put all that stuff aside and when I go home I’m Ben the family guy, and then when I go to the race team I’m immersed in racing. I don’t really look back a whole lot, I guess.”

TY MAJESKI, No. 98 ThorSport Racing F-150 – HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT STARTING THE PLAYOFFS AT WHAT COULD BE CALLED YOUR HOME TRACK? “It’s always special to go back to your home track. It’s nice to have a Wisconsin race on the NASCAR schedule. I feel like it’s such a honey hole and a great demographic for NASCAR fans and race fans in general. Hopefully, we keep going back. I think it would be a huge missed opportunity if there isn’t NASCAR in Wisconsin some way, shape or form. But it’s very special to go and kick off the playoffs in Milwaukee, a track that’s special to me. I’ve gotten a chance to win there a couple of times, so it would be a huge deal to go there and run well for not only myself, but Joe Shear, Jr. That’s his NASCAR home track so to speak as well from southern Wisconsin. I’m excited to go back there and hopefully we can carry our momentum.”

NICK SANCHEZ SAID YOU ARE ONE OF THE TOP THREE DRIVERS HE HAS TO WORRY ABOUT. IS THAT HOW YOU VIEW YOURSELF GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS? “Yeah, I do. I think we’re one of those top three contenders, for sure, especially coming off of these two wins. I think we’re probably carrying the most momentum in the series right now. I feel like maybe our valleys have been a little bit lower than the 19 and the 11, but I feel like our peaks have been similar, so as long as we can just peak at the right time and keep this momentum going, there’s no reason why we can’t be a competitor when we hopefully get to Phoenix. I feel good about where we’re at. Our team is in a really good spot. We’re working really well together right now. Obviously, coming off of two wins is a huge deal. Our 98 team always seems to peak right about playoff time, so we’re ready for another good playoff run.”

HOW DO YOU LOOK BACK ON SOME OF THOSE CHALLENGING YEARS THAT ULTIMATELY LED TO THIS OPPORTUNITY? “I’m a big believer in everything happens for a reason. I feel like I learned a lot about not only myself, but how to navigate the NASCAR industry. There’s a lot of things that a lot of people don’t see from the outside looking in and how this business works behind the scenes. I think I just learned how to put myself in better situations and place myself and give myself a better path to success, not necessarily taking any opportunity that’s in front of me. I’m trying to look at that opportunity and understand where the team is at with whether it’s dollars or spending or different affiliations that they have with other teams. So, just looking at all of these opportunities as a whole and understanding where that team is at at that time is a big deal, and ensuring yourself success and a good opportunity. I think through those things, obviously, mentally it was not easy being a super successful late model driver and then coming into the NASCAR ranks and having what I call two failed opportunities, and then obviously landing on my feet at ThorSport was a huge deal for my career. I’m super thankful to have those failures because I felt like I learned a lot about myself as a person and as a driver to shape me up for success with ThorSport.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR REGULAR SEASON? “I think it’s been the timing of the racetracks and how the schedule lays out specifically for myself and the 98 team. Coming to Richmond and IRP are probably our two best tracks as far as myself and Joe Shear, my crew chief, obviously a really good short track crew chief. I feel like I excel on the short tracks, so it’s just been the timing of when those races are at in the schedule, and I feel like the playoff schedule really lays out well for us as a team. We’re obviously going to my home track in Milwaukee, and then to Bristol, which I’ve won at. Kansas I’ve run second at and Homestead and Martinsville I’ve won at Homestead and second at Martinsville. Obviously, Talladega is a little bit of a wildcard, so just the way the playoff tracks lay out is very, very good for our team. They’re all good tracks for us and I feel like we’re starting to peak at the right time here and put races together like we need to in order to advance through the rounds.”

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF RACING AT PHOENIX IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP RACE? “It’s situational. Obviously, there’s a lot on the line. We’ve had very good trucks at Phoenix the last two races and obviously the 2023 Phoenix race turned into a race that none of us should be proud of from a series perspective. It was filled with yellows and people putting each other in bad situations, so we qualified second there and won the first stage. We had the speed to really win that race, so the finish has probably been skewed with how we’ve run there the last couple years. I think we’re as confident as we’ve ever been going back to Phoenix. We see a lot of similarities from Milwaukee to Phoenix. Probably the most similar track we can find to Phoenix is Milwaukee, so we’re trying something outside of our comfort zone package-wise going to Milwaukee and hopefully hit on it for Phoenix.”

WHEN YOU RACED AS A KID IN THIS STATE WAS THERE A PART OF YOU THAT WANTED TO RACE AT THE MILWAUKEE MILE AND HOW HAVE YOU DONE THERE? “I’ve been to Milwaukee probably six or seven times. I have two wins there in a super late model and have my one Truck start, so I have some experience there. Obviously, it’s a race that really eluded me for a lot of years on the late model side. I think my first win there wasn’t until 2021 and I’ve been racing there since around 2014. I’ve raced there about once a year. There were a couple off years in there where the track shut down and we didn’t go there, but I have some experience there which helps. The rest of the series, having just gone back there last year, a lot of these guys either have no experience there or one race max, so I feel like it’s a home type track for me. I definitely probably have the most seat time there in the series and that’s always a help anytime you go to any of these racetracks.”

HOW GOOD IS IT TO SEE MILWAUKEE GETTING BACK INTO THE BIG TIME RACING GAME? “As I said before, Wisconsin is such a great area for racing in general, whether it’s dirt racing or late model racing. There are a ton of fans up there and a lot of traction in motorsports up in Wisconsin. I think it would be a huge missed opportunity if NASCAR didn’t go there in some way, shape or form, whether it be Road America, Milwaukee or some other track. There are just a ton of fans up there that love racing, that are true hardcore race fans and I’m thankful to experience them all the time. I’m thankful enough to race up in Wisconsin on the late model side a ton and I know what those fans offer up there. I think Milwaukee was a huge success last year, at least visually from the infield. The stands were packed, which we don’t see at a lot of these Truck races, so hopefully we keep finding a way to go back to Wisconsin.”

DOES IT CREATE ANY ADDITIONAL SENSE OF URGENCY THIS WEEKEND WHEN IT HASN’T BEEN ANNOUNCED IF THE SERIES WILL BE GOING BACK NEXT SEASON? “A little bit. Knowing that it might be the last race there we want to win. We want to go there and I’ve always wanted to win a NASCAR level race at my home track in Milwaukee, so there’s natural pressure obviously starting the playoffs and we do more to prepare for playoff races, just like any pro sport team. You start putting all of the effort that you have and all the resources that you have come playoff time. You always try to step up your game. It sort of is still business as usual. You show up to every racetrack to win, but try and cross your t’s and dot your i’s and put as much effort in as you can into all of these playoff races and not just Milwaukee. It would certainly be a special win if we were able to pull off three in a row and win at Milwaukee. It would probably be the most special win of my career.”

Toyota Racing – Taylor Gray
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Quotes

CHARLOTTE (August 20, 2024) – TRICON Garage driver Taylor Gray was made available to the media today as part of the NASCAR Truck Series Playoff Media Day.

TAYLOR GRAY, No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage

What type of advice have you got on how to handle the pressure of the Playoffs?

“Honestly, just taking it a race at a time. Luckily, I think this first round of the Playoffs for our company as a whole has a pretty good set of tracks coming up, so more so, looking at a bigger picture. Yeah, just taking it one race at a time – focusing, and not changing much to what we’ve done all year long. Just show up to the race track prepared, and kind of just have to go through the weekend and do the same thing we’ve been doing all year long – I don’t know if much will change.”

What do you feel like you have to do in the Playoffs that you haven’t done yet in the regular season?

“The big thing is we are going to have to go and win races, starting in Milwaukee hopefully. If you go back and look, I think it is fair to say that we should have three wins on the side of our truck this year – just kind of failed to execute some of these races out, so I think the big thing is executing these races, especially executing at the end of these races and picking up some of those wins.”

What has led to your upward performance this season?

“I think the big thing is working with Jeff Hensley (crew chief) that is on the box and working with him as mentor and also as a crew chief – just kind of picking his brain and gain the experience that he has had over the years with racing. I think that is one of the biggest factors with me, running a lot better than I have in the past, is just having Jeff to work with and picking his brain, and also it is experience. This is my second year – I guess technically first full-time year in trucks – just gaining the experience and being better.”

When you look ahead to the Playoffs are their tracks that you are looking forward too?

“I think Kansas, Milwaukee is one of them coming up, Homestead – I’m really excited for. Bristol, I think we have a good package for Bristol. I think there is quite a bit of race tracks coming up for us that are really good race tracks for us. Whenever we do make it to that final round, Phoenix is a really good race track for our company as a whole.”

Are there anything that your crew chief Jeff Hensley has explained to you about the pressure of the Playoffs?

“Not a whole lot, I think for a lot of guys – it will be okay for a little bit, it really comes down those cut races, whenever you are on the cut line or somebody is in a must win situation, that is where you will see some crazy moves happen and you just have to be aware of that and be aware of who you are around, and not get in there mess, but that is Truck racing every weekend. We shouldn’t have many issues with that.”

How has your pit crew helped your success this weekend?

“In terms of pit crew stuff, I don’t know the exact stats – but I think we are either first or second on pit road by a good bit. I want to say the last time I heard we were first on average on pit road, that is obviously exciting. Those guys work their butts off and are really good at what they do. At terms of pit road stuff, I’m not really worried about it – those guys seem to perform pretty well.”

Do you think a win in the Playoffs would help you reach your full potential?

“I think winning fixes a lot of things and when you win, you get on this roll and this routine, where it seems like nothing can really go wrong, and when you get on that roll – I’ve experienced that back when we raced ARCA, I think I won three or four in a row, and I’ve experienced that. I know what it feels like. You feel like you are Superman, so to start that right now in the Playoffs, that would be huge to get us going rounds and make the Final 4 – that would be huge. To answer your question, winning fixes everything.”

Did your Xfinity Series experience help you reach the Playoffs?

“I don’t know if it helped me reach the Playoffs. I feel like we were in a pretty good spot throughout the year from the padding we build ourselves at the beginning of the year. Obviously, we had a rough stretch of races there in the summer months, but then started getting back on track here of late, I don’t know if it necessarily helped me, I think it helped me gain experience and get overall seat time to make me better as a driver, but in terms of just making the Playoffs, I don’t know that it helped me there.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

NIECE MOTORSPORTS
NCTS RACE ADVANCE: MILWAUKEE MILE SPEEDWAY
Race: LiUNA! 175 (175 laps / 177.625 miles) | Race 17 of 23
Track: Milwaukee Mile Speedway
Location: West Allis, Wisconsin
Date & Time: Sunday, August 25th | 4:00 PM ET
Tune-In: FOX Sports 1 | Motor Racing Network (MRN) | Sirius XM Ch. 90

No. 41 AutoVentive / Precision Vehicle Logistics Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Bayley Currey | Crew Chief: Wally Rogers
Bayley Currey
@BayleyCurrey
@BayleyCurrey05

• Currey’s Milwaukee Stats: Bayley Currey has made one prior start at the Milwaukee Mile. Last year, he earned his fourth top-10 of the season when he finished a solid 10th place in the 175-lap race.
• Rogers’ Milwaukee Stats: Wally Rogers has made three NCTS starts as a crew chief at Milwaukee. In two of the three starts, his drivers finished in the top-10, including a personal best of fourth place with Ron Hornaday in 2005. In six Xfinity Series starts at the Mile, Rogers’ best result was 10th (delivered by Randy LaJoie in 2002).
• Niece Motorsports Milwaukee Stats: Niece drivers have made up for three combined starts at Milwaukee, all of which came in last year’s running of the event. Two of the three drivers, Carson Hocevar and Bayley Currey, secured top-10 finishes (second and 10th, respectively). Hocevar led the field for 40 laps in last year’s race.
• On the Truck: Currey’s No. 41 Chevrolet Silverado RST will race with support from AutoVentive and Precision Vehicle Logistics.
• Recapping Richmond: Bayley Currey’s promising run in Richmond was hindered by electrical issues. After starting 15th, the No. 41 team began to make ground in stage one. Currey would finish 17th in the stage, followed by a 19th-place run in stage two. When the issues were found, he was forced to wait two laps under caution as the crew rectified them. Currey settled for a 23rd-place result in the race.
• Points Rundown: Following Currey’s 23rd-place finish in Richmond, the driver from Driftwood, Texas dropped one spot in the points standings. Heading to Milwaukee, Currey is posted 19th, eight points behind Ty Dillon in 18th.
• Quoting Currey: Can you compare Milwaukee to any other tracks on the NCTS schedule or is it unique?

“It’s kind of similar to some of the tracks we’ve been racing. We’ve been on a short track stretch with IRP, Richmond, and Milwaukee, even leading into Bristol. I think the past two tracks we’ve ran at are similar. Neither of those tracks have a lot of banking, but Milwaukee is obviously the flattest. I think the way Milwaukee has aged has been interesting; you see a lot more multi-grooved racing there compared to back in the day, so I think that part is like IRP.”

• Quoting Rogers: Are you glad to see the Truck Series make a return to Milwaukee for another year?

“I really am happy to see us come back to Milwaukee. I like the older tracks – the ones that haven’t been on the circuit for a while that were taken off and brought back. I’ve had some success here over the years, and think some of the stuff we learned at IRP will really help us here, so I’m looking forward to it.”
About AutoVentive: AutoVentive is an industry-leading Software as a Service (SaaS) applications developer providing customized solutions to the automotive logistics industry. The company is part of Liberty Hill Equity Partners, LLC, a Cincinnati-based private equity firm.

About Precision Vehicle Logistics: Precision Vehicle Logistics is a customer-focused group of professionals committed to service excellence in finished vehicle logistics. Precision offers a unique combination of talented experience, industry-leading software and systems, and a network of partners and resources to deliver customized solutions to the world’s leading automakers.

No. 42 Utilitra / J.F. Electric Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Matt Mills | Crew Chief: Jon Leonard
Matt Mills Racing
@MattMillsRacing
@MattMillsRacing

• Mills’ Milwaukee Stats: Matt Mills has started one Truck Series race at Milwaukee which came in last year’s running of the event. While driving in his second race for Kyle Busch Motorsports, Mills lost a cylinder early that plagued his race finish. He finished 25th.
• Leonard’s Milwaukee Stats: Jon Leonard has one prior start at Milwauke from when he served as crew chief for Sean Hingorani with Hattori Racing Enterprises last year. Hingorani finished 23rd while working with Leonard in his series debut.
• On the Truck: Mills’ No. 42 Chevrolet Silverado RST will race with support from longtime partners Utilitra and J.F. Electric. Utilitra will be represented as Mills’ primary sponsor for the first time this season.
• Recapping Richmond: A bead failure on the right front tire of the No. 42 J.F. Electric Chevrolet forced Matt Mills out of the race early in Richmond. After qualifying 18th, Mills put in work to climb into the top-15 shortly before the conclusion of stage one. On lap 57, the tire blew and Mills made hard contact with the wall in turn four. He was credited with a 35th-place finish.
• Points Rundown: Mills’ unfortunate finish in Richmond subsequently drops him one position in the points standings. Entering Milwaukee, the driver of the No. 42 is scored 22nd, 13 points behind Timmy Hill in 21st. Bret Holmes, who is currently in 20th place, has 24 points up on Mills.
• Quoting Mills: With this being a key market for Utilitra, do you feel any added pressure to have a good result?

“Yeah, on one hand, it’s very cool to be close to a big market for our partners, but on the other hand, I know I’ll have a lot more eyeballs on me. Fortunately, I’ve been able to block that part out once I get in the truck an focus on the task at hand, and I think Milwaukee was a really good track for me last year. I didn’t get to showcase the speed we had because of the mechanical failure, but Niece seemed to be really fast. So, building off that knowledge that I got last year combined with the speed we’ve been building into our trucks, I feel like we can have a good run for the Utilitra & J.F. Electric team.”

• Quoting Leonard: Can you take some of what you learned in Gateway and Richmond and apply it in Milwaukee?

“I think for all of our short tracks, you take development of those packages and adapt them to each track. The loads are different, the track is different, and the driving style is different, but you take what you’re good at and combine those philosophies into one. Milwaukee is pretty flat, and that track is just a huge corner; kind of similar to turn 1-2 in Phoenix. I think with where we’re at in the sim, and how the Niece trucks ran last year, we can improve on how we have been running on the short tracks.”

About Utilitra: Utilitra is a woman-owned firm specializing in utility and technology solutions with a diverse team of specialized professionals. Utilitra is committed to solving their client’s unique challenges, whether one expert or a team of experts is needed. By adapting to the needs of their respective industries, Utilitra has built a range of services for their utility and technology partners.

About J.F. Electric: J.F. Electric is an electrical contractor that provides engineering expertise, backed by construction and installation know-how in a diverse range of service offerings, from utilities and commercial projects, to industrial and telecommunications customers. When having a long family history in an industry, a company not only builds on its knowledge and experience, it takes pride in cultivating a solid understanding of client needs, all the while nurturing strong relationships with its employees. Evolving through five generations of the Fowler family, J.F. Electric has matured into a well-managed and thoughtfully diversified electrical contractor which is poised to continue its growth and expansion into the future.

No. 44 Niece Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Matt Gould | Crew Chief: Tom Ackerman
Matt Gould
@ItsMattGould
@MatthewGould_

• NASCAR Truck Series Debut: Announced last week, Matt Gould will attempt to make his NCTS debut with Niece Motorsports’ No. 44 team at the Milwaukee Mile. Gould primarily competes in Late Model Stock Cars at Hickory Motor Speedway and Caraway Speedway, and has made three ARCA Menards Series starts. He is the son of Phil Gould, who is the crew chief for the No. 45 team. This will be the first race of Gould’s career that him and his father will not directly be working together on the same vehicle.
• Gould’s Milwaukee Stats: Matt Gould made his ARCA Menards Series debut at the Milwaukee Mile back in 2022. Despite limited experience in a heavy stock car, Gould put together a respectable run, having qualified 12th and finished 10th in his debut race.
• Ackerman’s Milwaukee Stats: Tom Ackerman has made two starts as a crew chief in Milwaukee, first in 2006 with Ted Musgrave and second the following year with Dennis Setzer. Setzer delivered Ackerman his best finish at this track while atop the pit box with a 19th-place run in 2007. Last year, in the series’ return to the Mile, Ackerman won as the competition director for GMS Racing with Grant Enfinger.
• On the Truck: Gould’s No. 44 Chevrolet Silverado RST will race with support from Niece Equipment. Located in Buda, Texas, Niece Equipment specializes in building water and fuel/lube trucks for commercial use on construction projects.
• Off to College: At the start of the week, Gould began taking his first classes as a freshman in college. Gould is studying mechanical engineering at Mitchell Community College in Mooresville, NC, and will be learning in tandem with his full-time role as a mechanic.
• Quoting Gould: What do you remember about your ARCA start here that you can use in the truck this week?

“I mainly remember that you had to run above the sealer that’s on the bottom of the corners. It was important for us to keep all four tires above that strip and run a higher lane. But, to do that, you also had to have room to drive under guys to pass them. That was the biggest part, but I also learned what it was like to move around with dirty air. I’ve been talking with Grant Enfinger a bunch, and he’s been helpful for me to get prepared for how the truck drives.”

• Quoting Ackerman: What is your biggest piece of advice for Matt in his Truck Series debut?

“I’d say our biggest goal is to go out there and do everything right. It’s a big week for Matt, but I don’t want him to get too caught in the moment and put too much pressure on himself. We all feel pretty confident that he can go out there and get the job done, so there’s no reason to overcomplicate things. As long as he does his best and we execute all day long, it should be a good day for us.”

About Niece Equipment: For over 30 years, Niece Equipment has provided clients with reliable products at competitive prices. Our reputation is built on service, integrity and dependability. Each of our water and fuel/lube trucks are engineered with quality and durability in mind. Our capability ranges from 2,000 gallon water trucks to 12,000 gallon water towers. The fuel/lube trucks we offer range from 600 to 4,000 gallons.

No. 45 Moore’s Venture Foods Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Kaden Honeycutt | Crew Chief: Phil Gould
Ross Chastain
@RossChastain
@RossChastain

• Honeycutt’s Milwaukee Stats: Kaden Honeycutt will make his first start at the Milwaukee Mile in Sunday’s LiUNA! 175.
• Gould’s Milwaukee Stats: Phil Gould has made two starts as a crew chief at the Milwaukee Mile – one in ARCA and one in the Truck Series. In 2022, while working with his son, Matt Gould, in his ARCA debut, Gould finished in 10th. Last year, while working with Carson Hocevar in the NCTS race, Gould’s team came home runner up.
• On the Truck: Honeycutt’s No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado RST will race with support from Venture Foods, a family-owned grocery store chain located in Oklahoma. 2024 marks the company’s 50th anniversary of the first store opening, and has been operated by the Moore family for three generations. Honeycutt will debut a new paint scheme which will give the truck a fresh look compared to last race.
• Recapping Richmond: Kaden Honeycutt secured the No. 45 team’s spot in the NCTS Owner’s Playoffs following the regular season finale at Richmond Raceway. Honeycutt qualified a strong eighth-place, and just missed out on stage points with an eleventh-place finish in stage one. He dropped to 22nd in stage two, and was eventually spun due to contact with another competitor, but rebounded for a top-15 finish in 14th.
• Owner Points Outlook: This week marks the opening round of the NCTS Playoffs, and after the points reset, the No. 45 team is seeded ninth overall. The next three races – Milwaukee, Bristol, and Kansas, will determine the teams who will move onto the Round of 8. Entering Milwaukee, Honeycutt and the No. 45 team are tied for the cutoff line with Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 team; 39 markers behind the leading No. 11 team from TRICON Garage.
• Quoting Honeycutt: You’ve never raced at Milwaukee before, so what has been the biggest help in preparing you for Sunday?

“Really, for me, it’s mainly about the sim time. We’re working on running the right lane in the corners to maximize our drive-off. It seemed like last year, Carson (Hocevar) struggled to have turn in the center to get drive off. So, that’s been our biggest focus in the sim the past couple of weeks. I’m pretty optimistic that we have that dialed in for this weekend.”

• Quoting Gould: Have you ever been in position to race ‘against’ your son, Matt before?

“Well, I guess if you consider racing go karts at Trackhouse Motorplex, that might be our only time competing against each other. That didn’t go well; I remember driving off into the carousel and someone hit me from behind at a high rate of speed, and I turned around and it was him. (Laughs) We’ve all seen the memes that say, ‘Show me a race car driver and I’ll show you a dad who believed in him first’, and I’m that dad. It’s going to be a super cool week for us.”

About Moore’s Venture Foods: Moore’s Venture Foods is a family-owned grocery store chain located in Oklahoma. The chain has brick-and-mortar stores in Alva, Fairfax, Shattuck, and Tonkawa, Oklahoma, and has been operated by the Moore family for three generations. To learn more, please visit www.MooresVentureFoods.com.

About Niece Motorsports:
Niece Motorsports is owned by United States Marine Corps Veteran Al Niece. In 2024, Niece Motorsports enters its ninth season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Niece also owns Niece Equipment, which has for over 40 years provided clients with reliable products at competitive prices. Niece Equipment’s reputation is built on service, integrity and dependability. The company provides water and fuel/lube trucks that are engineered with quality and durability in mind for the construction and mining industry. Follow the team on Facebook and Instagram @NieceMotorsports as well as X @NieceMotorsport.

Toyota Racing – Corey Heim
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Quotes

CHARLOTTE (August 20, 2024) – TRICON Garage driver Corey Heim was made available to the media today as part of the NASCAR Truck Series Playoff Media Day.

COREY HEIM, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage

Do you have more Xfinity races scheduled during the Playoffs?

“I believe we have three more. I don’t know if we’ve made that an official social media statement yet, so I don’t want to say which ones, but we do have a few more with Sam Hunt Racing.”

Do you find it easy to compartmentalize each?

“Yeah, there is certainly some races that have – the doubleheaders specifically – that have affected me and my performance in a positive way. I think any seat time for me, and my development has been necessary in the last couple of years and has always helped me learn certain race tracks that I may not have as much experience on, and maybe progress faster on than if I only ran the Truck race. Any time we can get the extra seat time is super important, and I feel like I go a race track I come back better, so if I can knock out two in the same weekend, that would be even better for me.”

How do you rank your competition going into the Playoffs?

“I think the 19 (Christian Eckes) has been really good, especially in the last few weeks. He has been putting up a lot of points – kind of reminds me of my season last year, where he may not have gotten the wins that he deserved throughout the year, but they have been lights out consistent and in contention every single week. I feel like we have been really good too. We have had our good days and we have had our great days, and our good days are kind of right around the top-five and our great days – we can lead a lot of laps and win the race, so I think for us – it is just about making all of our days, great days in the Playoffs. We only have two rounds, and it all goes by really quick. They have kind of checked that box as long as they keep it going. I think we maybe have a little bit of work to do to make sure every race is great. Back to your question – I feel like he has been the best other than us, and you mentioned the 98 (Ty Majeski) has been good recently, more on the short track side. If they can get their big track program a little bit better – they would be a contender as well, and really any of those guys teammates that are in the Playoffs as well. They have really similar equipment, so they will be a threat at any point.”

What is the one hurdle you have to get past to get to Phoenix?

“I don’t know. We are such a complete race team. As you mentioned, last year, we were just super consistent and had really good points days – didn’t make any awful mistakes. When you go into the Playoffs, especially with our situation, with all of the Playoff points that we have, as long as you don’t do anything crazy – of course there are some variables that are out of your control, like Talladega. You can get one bad push and your day is pretty much over. You just try not to worry about that. You just try to go out and execute as we should and as we know we are capable of. I think we will be just fine. We were able to do that last year, and I think that is the goal this year. Go off our normal routine and keep moving forward.”

How eager are you to get back to Phoenix this year after what happened last season?

“I feel like we probably deserved to win the championship last year, and we certainly had the speed. We executed and did everything right and didn’t win it. I know that we are capable of doing that this year, as long as we execute like we did last year, but I feel like we have a better race team. I’ve got a lot of confidence in my TRICON Garage, Toyota Racing group and got a lot of confidence in myself. I know that we are very well and capable of it. Certainly, eager and looking forward to having that opportunity again.”

Do you have to be focused as possible for each round or do the Playoff points you come in with help?

“At the end of the day, I feel like the Playoff points help but if you look at the breakdown, you can truly have one bad race and you are reset back at that cutline area. It is super important for us to go out and get stage points every week with Talladega being in that Round of 8. It throws in a lot of uncertainty and unknowns, so to be able to execute leading into Talladega, the races before that, and races following that as well will be super important, and also the Round of 10. It is not a slip-and-slide for us either. We have to go out and get some more Playoff points and try to win some races to give us a bigger cushion going into that last round because there is a lot of variables that could prevent you from getting to Phoenix. Kind of like I mentioned earlier, as long as we go out and do what we are capable of, we will be just fine, but you are always kind of anxious to go out and do it, and you never know what could happen. Just have to do what we can during the week to prepare and go out and execute.”

Do you think the championship could help elevate you into a different ride for next season?

“That is a good question, just trying to focus on this year’s 2024 campaign in the Truck Series for now. I certainly hope that this season so far has put me down for a good resume and put in a good word for people, but at the end of the day, I’m focused on the truck championship. It is a big time of year for us. That is where all my energy and focus is going for now, but certainly I hope that I have made a good name for myself with the wins this year, and that I can continue to do that for the rest of 2024.”

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