The 2024 Buckle Up South Carolina 200 was the 9th stock car race of the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the 5th iteration of the event. The majority of the race was held on Friday, May 10, 2024, and would end shortly after midnight on Saturday, May 11, due to constant rain showers that delayed the start. The race was held in Darlington, South Carolina at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent asphalt egg-shaped speedway. The race was originally scheduled to be contested over 147 laps, but was increased to 150 laps due to a NASCAR overtime finish. In a wild and action packed race, Ross Chastain, driving for Niece Motorsports, would steal the win after taking the lead on the final restart, and held off a fast charging field to earn his fifth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, and his first of the season. Corey Heim, who started second, was the most dominant driver of the race, winning both stages and leading a race-high 77 laps, but finished 28th after being involved in a late race incident. To fill out the podium, Nick Sanchez, driving for Rev Racing, and Ben Rhodes, driving for ThorSport Racing, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
Report Background
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.
Since 2015, the race has hosted NASCAR's Throwback weekend, which features cars sporting paint schemes that pay homage to past teams and drivers. (The lineage of this race includes races billed as the Southern 500 from 2005 to 2020.)
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
#DriverTeamMakeSponsor or throwback1Colby HowardTricon GarageToyotaCoastal Sports Cards02Mason MasseyYoung's MotorsportsChevroletRandco Industries2Nick SanchezRev RacingChevroletDrive for Diversity 20th Anniversary5Dean ThompsonTricon GarageToyotaThompson Pipe Group – Ryan Partridge's No. 48 truck paint scheme.7Kyle Busch (i)Spire MotorsportsChevroletBAMF Enterprises9Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevroletChampion Power Equipment11Corey HeimTricon GarageToyotaSafelite – Cale Yarborough's 1974 Southern 500 paint scheme.13Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFordQuanta Services15Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyotaDead On Tools – Gray's 2018 No. 15 NHRA paint scheme.17Taylor GrayTricon GarageToyotaShopTRICON.com – Mark Green's 2000 No. 63 Superflo paint scheme.18Tyler AnkrumMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevroletLiUNA! – Russ Wheeler's paint scheme from Days of Thunder.19Christian EckesMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevroletGates Hydraulics – Brownie King's 1950s-60s paint scheme.22Mason MaggioReaume Brothers RacingFordCrawford Garage Doors – Eugene Leicht Sr.'s late model paint scheme.25Ty DillonRackley WARChevroletRackley Roofing32Bret HolmesBret Holmes RacingChevroletGolden Eagle Syrup – Bobby Allison's 1969 No. 22 Dodge paint scheme.33Lawless AlanReaume Brothers RacingFordAutoParkIt.com – Ricky Schlick's No. 24 Legends car paint scheme.38Layne Riggs (R)Front Row MotorsportsFordInfinity Communications Group – Scott Riggs' 2000 No. 86 RC Cola paint scheme.41Bayley CurreyNiece MotorsportsChevroletAutoVentive / Precision – Chuck Efaw's 1980 dirt late model paint scheme.42Matt MillsNiece MotorsportsChevroletJ. F. Electric / Utilitra43Daniel DyeMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevroletPeak – Kyle Petty's 1989 No. 42 Peak paint scheme.45Ross Chastain (i)Niece MotorsportsChevroletBuckle Up South Carolina46Thad Moffitt (R)Faction46ChevroletPetty 75 Years of Racing – Bobby Hamilton's 1996 No. 43 STP paint scheme.52Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyotaHalmar International – Jimmie Johnson's 2010 No. 48 Lowe's Coke 600 paint scheme.56Timmy HillHill MotorsportsToyotaUNITS Storage66Conner Jones (R)ThorSport RacingFordTSport71Rajah CaruthSpire MotorsportsChevroletHendrickCars.com76Spencer BoydFreedom Racing EnterprisesChevroletFreedom Warranty – Buck Baker's 1949 paint scheme.77Chase PurdySpire MotorsportsChevroletBama Buggies88Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFordChi-Chi's / Menards91Jack WoodMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevroletRTIC Outdoors – Tim Flock's 1952 No. 91 paint scheme.98Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFordSoda Sense / Curb Records99Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFordCampers Inn RVOfficial entry list
Practice The first and only practice was held on Friday, May 10, at 3:05 PM EST, and would last for 20 minutes. Christian Eckes, driving for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.540, and a speed of .
Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed119Christian EckesMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet29.540166.473215Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota29.807164.98139Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet29.894164.501Full practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Friday, May 10, at 3:35 PM EST. Since Darlington Raceway is an intermediate speedway, the qualifying system used is a single-car, single-lap system with only one round. Drivers will be on track by themselves and will have one lap to post a qualifying time. Whoever sets the fastest time in that round will win the pole.
Nick Sanchez, driving for Rev Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 29.288, and a speed of .
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed12Nick SanchezRev RacingChevrolet29.288167.905211Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota29.436167.061317Taylor GrayTricon GarageToyota29.438167.04947Kyle Busch (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet29.488166.766515Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota29.507166.659645Ross Chastain (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet29.517166.602719Christian EckesMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet29.576166.270838Layne Riggs (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord29.616166.04599Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet29.650165.8551043Daniel DyeMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet29.656165.8211152Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota29.789165.0811299Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord29.891164.518135Dean ThompsonTricon GarageToyota29.912164.4021413Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord29.927164.3201525Ty DillonRackley WARChevrolet29.932164.2921698Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord29.978164.0401741Bayley CurreyNiece MotorsportsChevrolet30.011163.860181Colby HowardTricon GarageToyota30.042163.6911977Chase PurdySpire MotorsportsChevrolet30.068163.5492088Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFord30.126163.2342166Conner Jones (R)ThorSport RacingFord30.198162.8452233Lawless AlanReaume Brothers RacingFord30.232162.6622391Jack WoodMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet30.273162.4422418Tyler AnkrumMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet30.284162.3832542Matt MillsNiece MotorsportsChevrolet30.323162.1742671Rajah CaruthSpire MotorsportsChevrolet30.350162.0302756Timmy HillHill MotorsportsToyota30.564160.8952832Bret HolmesBret Holmes RacingChevrolet30.738159.9842902Mason MasseyYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet30.817159.5743076Spencer BoydFreedom Racing EnterprisesChevrolet31.453156.3483122Mason MaggioReaume Brothers RacingFord31.558155.827Qualified by owner's points3246Thad Moffitt (R)Faction46Chevrolet31.977153.786Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results Stage 1 Laps: 45 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts111Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota10219Christian EckesMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet9398Ty Majeski ThorSport RacingFord8417Taylor GrayTricon GarageToyota7438Layne Riggs (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord6545Ross Chastain (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet065Dean ThompsonTricon GarageToyota4799Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord3952Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota2109Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet1
Stage 2 Laps: 45 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts111Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota10271Rajah CaruthSpire MotorsportsChevrolet9319Christian EckesMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet8498Ty Majeski ThorSport RacingFord759Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet6688Matt CraftonTricon GarageToyota5738Layne Riggs (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord4845Ross Chastain (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet0917Taylor GrayTricon GarageToyota21013Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord1
Stage 3 Laps: 60 Pos.St#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts1645Ross Chastain (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet 1503Running0212Nick SanchezRev RacingChevrolet1500Running3531299Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord1500Running374719Christian EckesMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet15015Running5051698Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord15036Running4761977Chase PurdySpire MotorsportsChevrolet1500Running317181Colby HowardTricon GarageToyota1500Running308317Taylor GrayTricon GarageToyota15016Running3891525Ty DillonRackley WARChevrolet1500Running2810515Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota1500Running27112542Matt MillsNiece MotorsportsChevrolet1500Running26122233Lawless AlanReaume Brothers RacingFord1500Running25132756Timmy HillHill MotorsportsToyota1500Running24141152Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota1500Running25152902Mason MasseyYoung’s MotorsportsChevrolet1500Running221699Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet1503Running28172832Bret HolmesBret Holmes RacingChevrolet1500Running20183246Thad Moffitt (R)Faction46Chevrolet1500Running19193076Spencer BoydFreedom Racing EnterprisesChevrolet1500Running18201413Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord1500Running1821838Layne Riggs (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord1480Running26221741Bayley CurreyNiece MotorsportsChevrolet1480Running15231043Daniel DyeMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1480Running14242166Connor Jones (R)ThorSport RacingFord1450Running13252391Jack WoodMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1390Accident 12262418Tyler AnkrumMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1360Running11273122Mason MaggioReaume Brothers RacingFord1210Brakes1028211Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota10577Accident2929135Dean ThompsonTricon GarageToyota970Accident12302671Rajah CaruthSpire MotorsportsChevrolet970Accident16312088Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFord970Accident113247Kyle Busch (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet 60Accident0 Official race results
Standing after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Christian Eckes 387 1 2 Corey Heim 373 (-14) 3 Nick Sanchez 330 (–57) 4 Ty Majeski 326 (–61) 2 5 Taylor Gray 297 (–90) 6 Rajah Caruth 276 (–111) 2 5 Tyler Ankrum 275 (–112) 8 Matt Crafton 233 (–154) 9 Tanner Gray 228 (–159) 2 10 Ben Rhodes 225 (–162)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 348 2 Toyota 309 (-39) 3 Ford 284 (–64) Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References