Folks, Homestead Miami Speedway, is always a thriller. That last lap pass by Tyler Reddick on Ryan Blaney to win the 2024 Cup race is still fresh in our memories. And now we are back at the Homestead weekend. First up was the Truck Series race. And it doesn’t matter which series…Miami never disappoints! Also, a lot of unexpected things happened. Corey Heim was set to win, but with 4 to go, his Truck shut down. And Kyle Larson took the checkered flag after a splendid run from behind the pack. Also, the defending Truck Series champion, Ty Majeski, was eyeing a top 5 finish but was left out of the top 10, thanks to some pit road congestion.
And you have got to feel it for Majeski. Four races into the season, he’s got the speed but isn’t getting the finishes. And getting a top finish in Homestead was crucial for Majeski to stay the points leader. However, a P11 end to his run has put him 8 points below the new leader, Heim. And obviously, Majeski was furious after what unfolded on track. Let’s just say the words he used to describe the guys involved in the incident were far from decent.
Ty Majeski blames the #34 team!
So, here’s how things went down at the ‘Baptist Health 200.’ Majeski was exiting the pit road…but suddenly the #45 car of Kaden Honeycutt dived in front of him. This caused Majeski to make contact, leaving a dent in his left front. Now, this happened because Kaden was forced to switch lanes as the #34 car of Layne Riggs suddenly jumped in from of him. And the chain reaction ruined Majeski’s day. His crew chief, Joe Shear Jr., immediately called him back, “The nose is pretty screwed up. We have to come in and fix it guys.”
The #98 driver had to come back into pit lane and you can sense his frustration from his radio rant coming back in, “F—— idiots, man. This s—-,” he said. His guys hammered out the left front and Majeski joined back the race. But folks, Homestead Miami is a short race, there wasn’t enough time for him to climb back to the top. So it’s natural that Majeski was bummed out.
In the post-race interview, he called out #34’s crew chief (Dylan Cappello), “Yeah it looked like the #34 you know didn’t know…we were out there we were too wide and (expletive) yeah crew chief. I don’t whoever calls it…didn’t call it. I’m not really sure but yeah ruined our night. You know had a solid top three or four truck. I felt like at parts of the run we the best truck probably not great on the long run but uh yeah probably was going to be a good effort for us today. And yeah I mean thankfully we got that yellow kind of reset the field and got back up to 11th so um I just burned it up too hard getting there.”
And it feels sad as Ty Majeski had a top 5 truck. He qualified 10th, but before stage one ended, he climbed to P4. He had a good pit stop and started the second stage on P3. And at one point in the second stage, he was even battling Corey Heim for the lead. But eventually, Kyle Larson took P2 and Majeski ended stage two in P3. And then came the pit stop that ruined it all for Majeski. Eventually, He started from 29th and P11 was the best he could do! And his wasn’t the only disappointing story from the race.
Look at how things ended for Corey Heim. He was set to become the Christopher Bell of the Truck Series. Or even Kaden Honeycutt!
Corey Heim joins the drivers who were left frustrated in Homestead
First up is obviously Heim. He started from the pole, won both stages and almost won the race. But only if his car hadn’t given up on him on the final laps, it could have been his third win of the season…that too just out of four races. And post the race he was left disappointed with a P3. He said, “I feel like we were lights out, the best truck tonight, think we should’ve won the race by six, seven seconds at the end there. I feel like at the beginning of the runs, I knew what we were capable of and let those guys get away, burn their stuff up, and then, fly past them. Felt I ran a really good race, saving tires, and would mow them down on the long runs there. This No. 11 Tundra TRD Pro was really, really good. This just stinks pretty bad.”
Still, Heim is the points leader, so it wasn’t so bad for him. But you have got to feel it for Kaden Honeycutt. He started the race in 13th…climbed up to P9 in the first stage. And was going consistent, he even managed a P5 finish in stage 2. In fact, his was easily a top 5 car too, like Majeski. But a pit error ended his day in P10 as well. And no, this is not the same incident that involved Majeski. That one left Honeycutt damage-free. In the final stage…Honeycutt was running P6. But during a pit stop, he screwed up his pit entry. Rather than going around the #19 crew, he cut in at a sharp angle, nicking the tire changer. This resulted in a penalty. And like Majeski, he too had to climb back up from behind the pack.
And to Honeycutt’s misfortune, this was the second time a good run came to a bad end. It happened in Vegas. He was running P4 in the final stages but ended the race in P12. Naturally, he was disappointed at Homestead too. “When I found out we had that penalty, I was so disappointed because we had worked so hard to get to the front, and had to climb back out of a mistake I made. But, our truck was so fast there, and we were able to come back and get a good finish out of it. We had a great points night tonight through the stages and with a top-10. We know we have the speed to contend for wins, and we’re going to give it our all next week in Martinsville.”
Anyway, let’s hope all these drivers get redemption in the next one. Folks, who do you think will win the Martinsville race? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
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