# 2024 XPEL 225

The 2024 XPEL 225 was the 4th stock car race of the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the 4th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, March 23, 2024, at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, a 3.426 miles (5.514 km) permanent asphalt road course. The race was originally scheduled to be contested over 42 laps, but was increased to 46 laps due to a NASCAR overtime finish. In an action-packed race that featured numerous spins and penalties, Corey Heim, driving for Tricon Garage, was able to stretch out his fuel mileage with two laps to go, and held off the field to earn his sixth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, and his first of the season. Heim was the most dominant driver of the race, leading a race-high 31 laps and winning the second stage. To fill out the podium, Taylor Gray, driving for Tricon Garage, and Ty Majeski, driving for ThorSport Racing, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Connor Zilisch, who started on the pole, came back from an early race incident and went through several amounts of adversity, managing to earn a 4th place finish in his series debut.

## Report
### Background

Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a grade 1 FIA-specification motorsports facility located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas. It features a 3.426-mile (5.514 km) road racing circuit. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Prix, and the Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas, a round of the FIM Road Racing World Championship. It previously hosted the Supercars Championship, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and IndyCar Series.

#### Entry list

* (R) denotes rookie driver.
* (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
| # | Driver | Team | Make | Sponsor |
| 1 | Jack Hawksworth | Tricon Garage | Toyota | Mobil 1 |
| 02 | Mason Massey | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | Randco Industries |
| 2 | Nick Sanchez | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | Gainbridge |
| 04 | Marco Andretti | Roper Racing | Chevrolet | Group 1001 / Carquest |
| 5 | Dean Thompson | Tricon Garage | Toyota | Thompson Pipe Group |
| 7 | Connor Zilisch | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | Austin Hatcher Foundation |
| 9 | Grant Enfinger | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | Champion Power Equipment |
| 11 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | Safelite |
| 12 | Dale Quarterley | Young's Motorsports | Toyota | Van Dyk Recycling Solutions |
| 13 | Jake Garcia | ThorSport Racing | Ford | Quanta Services |
| 15 | Tanner Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | ShopTRICON.com |
| 17 | Taylor Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | JBL |
| 18 | Tyler Ankrum | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | LiUNA! |
| 19 | Christian Eckes | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | NAPA Auto Care |
| 20 | Vicente Salas | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | Miramar Financial Group |
| 22 | Carter Fartuch | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | Skip Barber Racing School |
| 25 | Ty Dillon | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | Rackley Roofing |
| 32 | Bret Holmes | Bret Holmes Racing | Chevrolet | Bret Holmes Racing |
| 33 | Lawless Alan | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | AutoChargIt.com |
| 38 | Layne Riggs (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | Love's Travel Stops |
| 41 | Bayley Currey | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | AutoVentive / Precision |
| 42 | Matt Mills | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | J. F. Electric / Utilitra |
| 43 | Daniel Dye | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | NAPA Nightvision |
| 45 | Ross Chastain (i) | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | TXAPA |
| 46 | Thad Moffitt (R) | Faction46 | Chevrolet | Induction Innovations |
| 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | Halmar International |
| 56 | Timmy Hill | Hill Motorsports | Toyota | Will's Automotive |
| 71 | Rajah Caruth | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com |
| 75 | Stefan Parsons | Henderson Motorsports | Chevrolet | Trophy Tractor / Springrates |
| 76 | Spencer Boyd | Freedom Racing Enterprises | Chevrolet | FR8 Factory |
| 77 | Chase Purdy | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | Bama Buggies |
| 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | Planters / Menards |
| 91 | Jack Wood | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | Klotz Synthetics / Cometic Gasket |
| 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | Road Ranger |
| 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | TSport Trucks |
| Official entry list |||||

## Practice

The first and only practice session was held on Friday, March 22, at 2:30 PM CST, and would last for 20 minutes. Corey Heim, driving for Tricon Garage, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 2:14.953, and a speed of 90.965 mph (146.394 km/h).
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 11 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 2:14.953 | 90.965 |
| 2 | 7 | Connor Zilisch | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2:15.352 | 90.697 |
| 3 | 45 | Ross Chastain (i) | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2:15.623 | 90.516 |
| Full practice results |||||||

## Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Friday, March 22, at 3:00 PM CST. Since Circuit of the Americas is a road course, the qualifying system is a two group system, with two rounds. Drivers will be separated into two groups, Group A and Group B. Each driver will have multiple laps to set a time. The fastest 5 drivers from each group will advance to the final round. The fastest driver to set a time in that round will win the pole.
Under a 2021 rule change, the timing line in road course qualifying is ''not'' the start-finish line. Instead, the timing line for qualifying will be set at the exit of Istanbul 8. In his first career start, Connor Zilisch, driving for Spire Motorsports, would win the pole after advancing from the preliminary round and setting the fastest time in Round 2, with a track record lap of 2:11.983, and a speed of 93.012 mph (149.688 km/h).
No drivers would fail to qualify.

### Qualifying results

| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time (R1) | Speed (R1) | Time (R2) | Speed (R2) |
| 1 | 7 | Connor Zilisch | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2:12.084 | 92.941 | 2:11.983 | 93.012 |
| 2 | 11 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 2:13.306 | 92.089 | 2:12.697 | 92.512 |
| 3 | 17 | Taylor Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 2:13.486 | 91.965 | 2:13.171 | 92.182 |
| 4 | 2 | Nick Sanchez | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 2:13.143 | 92.202 | 2:13.234 | 92.139 |
| 5 | 45 | Ross Chastain (i) | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2:13.533 | 91.932 | 2:13.738 | 91.791 |
| 6 | 1 | Jack Hawksworth | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 2:14.177 | 91.491 | 2:14.188 | 91.484 |
| 7 | 15 | Tanner Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 2:14.117 | 91.532 | 2:14.506 | 91.267 |
| 8 | 38 | Layne Riggs (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 2:14.518 | 91.259 | 2:14.611 | 91.196 |
| 9 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 2:14.134 | 91.520 | 2:15.010 | 90.927 |
| 10 | 19 | Christian Eckes | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 2:13.966 | 91.635 | 2:15.265 | 90.755 |
| Eliminated from Round 1 |||||||||
| 11 | 71 | Rajah Caruth | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2:14.144 | 91.514 | — | — |
| 12 | 18 | Tyler Ankrum | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 2:14.527 | 91.253 | — | — |
| 13 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 2:14.694 | 91.140 | — | — |
| 14 | 9 | Grant Enfinger | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2:14.774 | 91.086 | — | — |
| 15 | 41 | Bayley Currey | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2:14.849 | 91.035 | — | — |
| 16 | 77 | Chase Purdy | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2:15.075 | 90.883 | — | — |
| 17 | 5 | Dean Thompson | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 2:15.105 | 90.863 | — | — |
| 18 | 25 | Ty Dillon | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | 2:15.278 | 90.746 | — | — |
| 19 | 75 | Stefan Parsons | Henderson Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2:15.442 | 90.637 | — | — |
| 20 | 33 | Lawless Alan | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | 2:15.555 | 90.561 | — | — |
| 21 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 2:15.986 | 90.274 | — | — |
| 22 | 91 | Jack Wood | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 2:16.174 | 90.149 | — | — |
| 23 | 43 | Daniel Dye | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 2:16.269 | 90.087 | — | — |
| 24 | 42 | Matt Mills | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2:16.939 | 89.646 | — | — |
| 25 | 13 | Jake Garcia | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 2:17.101 | 89.540 | — | — |
| 26 | 32 | Bret Holmes | Bret Holmes Racing | Chevrolet | 2:17.695 | 89.154 | — | — |
| 27 | 56 | Timmy Hill | Hill Motorsports | Toyota | 2:18.468 | 88.656 | — | — |
| 28 | 04 | Marco Andretti | Roper Racing | Chevrolet | 2:18.588 | 88.579 | — | — |
| 29 | 22 | Carter Fartuch | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | 2:18.822 | 88.430 | — | — |
| 30 | 76 | Spencer Boyd | Freedom Racing Enterprises | Chevrolet | 2:19.112 | 88.245 | — | — |
| 31 | 20 | Vicente Salas | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2:19.448 | 88.033 | — | — |
| Qualified by owner's points |||||||||
| 32 | 02 | Mason Massey | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2:21.253 | 86.908 | — | — |
| 33 | 12 | Dale Quarterley | Young's Motorsports | Toyota | 2:25.994 | 84.086 | — | — |
| 34 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | — | — | — | — |
| 35 | 46 | Thad Moffitt (R) | Faction46 | Chevrolet | — | — | — | — |
| Official qualifying results |||||||||
| Official starting lineup |||||||||

## Race results

Stage 1 Laps: 12
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
| 1 | 2 | Nick Sanchez | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 15 | Tanner Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 18 | Tyler Ankrum | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 19 | Christian Eckes | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 77 | Chase Purdy | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 91 | Jack Wood | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 25 | Ty Dillon | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 2 Laps: 14
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
| 1 | 11 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 4 | 1 | Jack Hawksworth | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 8 |
| 3 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 17 | Taylor Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 7 | Connor Zilisch | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 71 | Rajah Caruth | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 18 | Tyler Ankrum | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 5 | Dean Thompson | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 1 |
Stage 3 Laps: 20
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
| 1 | 2 | 11 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 46 | 31 | Running | 50 |
| 2 | 3 | 17 | Taylor Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 46 | 0 | Running | 41 |
| 3 | 9 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 46 | 2 | Running | 52 |
| 4 | 1 | 7 | Connor Zilisch | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | 0 | Running | 38 |
| 5 | 5 | 45 | Ross Chastain (i) | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 6 | 6 | 1 | Jack Hawksworth | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 46 | 1 | Running | 39 |
| 7 | 34 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 46 | 0 | Running | 42 |
| 8 | 10 | 19 | Christian Eckes | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | 1 | Running | 35 |
| 9 | 17 | 5 | Dean Thompson | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 46 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 10 | 7 | 15 | Tanner Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 46 | 4 | Running | 35 |
| 11 | 18 | 25 | Ty Dillon | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | 46 | 0 | Running | 27 |
| 12 | 14 | 9 | Grant Enfinger | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | 0 | Running | 25 |
| 13 | 22 | 91 | Jack Wood | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 14 | 25 | 13 | Jake Garcia | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 46 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 11 | 71 | Rajah Caruth | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 16 | 15 | 41 | Bayley Currey | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 17 | 27 | 56 | Timmy Hill | Hill Motorsports | Toyota | 46 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 4 | 2 | Nick Sanchez | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | 4 | Running | 29 |
| 19 | 19 | 75 | Stefan Parsons | Henderson Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 13 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 46 | 2 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 29 | 22 | Carter Fartuch | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | 46 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 22 | 16 | 77 | Chase Purdy | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 23 | 21 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 46 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 24 | 24 | 42 | Matt Mills | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 12 | 18 | Tyler Ankrum | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | 0 | Running | 22 |
| 26 | 33 | 12 | Dale Quarterley | Young's Motorsports | Toyota | 45 | 0 | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 8 | 38 | Layne Riggs (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 43 | 1 | Running | 10 |
| 28 | 23 | 43 | Daniel Dye | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 42 | 0 | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 26 | 32 | Bret Holmes | Bret Holmes Racing | Chevrolet | 42 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 30 | 76 | Spencer Boyd | Freedom Racing Enterprises | Chevrolet | 42 | 0 | Running | 7 |
| 31 | 28 | 04 | Marco Andretti | Roper Racing | Chevrolet | 40 | 0 | Suspension | 6 |
| 32 | 35 | 46 | Thad Moffitt (R) | Faction46 | Chevrolet | 39 | 0 | Running | 5 |
| 33 | 20 | 33 | Lawless Alan | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | 34 | 0 | Rear Gear | 4 |
| 34 | 31 | 20 | Vicente Salas | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 33 | 0 | Transmission | 3 |
| 35 | 32 | 02 | Mason Massey | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 32 | 0 | Brakes | 2 |
| Official race results ||||||||||

## Standings after the race

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Corey Heim | 207 |
| 2 | 2 | Ty Majeski | 197 (-10) |
| 2 | 3 | Tyler Ankrum | 196 (–11) |
| 3 | 4 | Taylor Gray | 179 (–28) |
| 2 | 5 | Rajah Caruth | 178 (–29) |
| 1 | 6 | Christian Eckes | 177 (–30) |
| 1 | 7 | Nick Sanchez | 170 (–37) |
| | 8 | Matt Crafton | 148 (–59) |
| | 9 | Grant Enfinger | 139 (–68) |
| 2 | 10 | Tanner Gray | 121 (–86) |
| Official driver's standings ||||
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Chevrolet | 160 |
| 2 | Toyota | 133 (–27) |
| 3 | Ford | 127 (–33) |