Competitive Truck Series tries to carry momentum into Atlanta

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series follows up its dramatic Daytona season-opener in the first half of Saturday‘s NASCAR double-header at Atlanta Motor Speedway with the Fr8 Racing 208 (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Championship favorite Corey Heim was declared the winner of the Daytona opener after Parker Kligerman‘s team was disqualified after post-race inspection. The turn of events earned Heim his first-ever visit to Daytona‘s Victory Lane and gives him a slim three-point advantage over 2024 series champion and Daytona third-place finisher Ty Majeski entering the Atlanta race.

RELATED: Atlanta schedule | Truck standings

The Daytona top 10 may be a good indicator of what to expect this season in terms of competitive highlights with perennial title-favorite Grant Enfinger (fourth) and a handful of talented full-timers joining the grid from Chandler Smith (sixth), who led a race best 34 laps, to former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Daniel Hemric (seventh) and highly touted rookie William Sawalich (ninth).

Frankie Muniz, the television and movie star, eager to cement a new career in full-time NASCAR competition, finished a career best 10th place at Daytona. Two-time series champion Ben Rhodes led 22 laps but finished 20th while young talents such as Rajah Caruth and Tyler Ankrum were collected in crashes.

Among the full-time drivers, there are three former Atlanta race winners entered this weekend, including Heim, who hoisted the trophy in 2022, Enfinger, who won in 2020, and Matt Crafton, the 2015 winner.

Kyle Busch is the seven-time and defending race winner and will be competing Saturday in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

Qualifying is set for 3 p.m. ET on Friday (FS1). The polesitter has won five times — the most of any position on the grid; the last time was in 2017 with driver Christopher Bell.