5 Drivers Who Should Replace Ty Majeski in the ThorSport No.98

Majeski is taking over the No. 88 after truck legend and former champion Matt Crafton announced his retirement after 23 years of service to the truck series. It raises the question of whether ThorSport will sell its charter to alleviate its current struggles or if it will replace Majeski, and if so, with whom?

Luke Fenhaus

Starting with the most obvious but also the least exciting. There’s no denying his talent, as evidenced by his wins at the Slinger Nationals at 17 and a title in the CARS Pro Late Model Tour. But it hasn’t translated to truck yet. In 13 races, he has only 3 top tens with ThorSport, which, even with their recent struggles, is not impressive. He could make that leap full-time in a truck, maybe, but I like him better as an Xfinity driver. Xfinity cars are much closer to the late models he’s so great at driving so that he could make a similar jump to the one Dean Thompson has made this year in Xfinity.

Kaz Grala

This is where things get interesting! The Polish-American started his career as a promising prodigy. His career has stalled since then, with him now only doing a handful of Xfinity starts this year. But Grala has consistently demonstrated talent in everything, and if he can secure funding, he doubts he deserves a top ride in one of the top 3 series.

He’s won in trucks before, including at Daytona at 18 years old, and has also secured top tens in trucks as recently as 2023. Plus, his career path as a promising young driver stalling out of nowhere is similar to that of other ThorSport drivers, such as Sauter and Majeski, both of whom are Truck Series champions and have won races with the team.

 Trevor Catalano

If ThorSport wants to follow in Crafton’s footsteps directly, then taking in a promising young dude from modifieds is the way to go, and if you want to go that direction, there’s no one better than Trevor Catalano. Following in the footsteps of his older brothers Tommy, Timmy, and Tyler, plus his mother, Amy. Trevor is by far the most promising driver to come out of the lower-budget racing family.

Earning his first win in the series at only 18 years old after holding off defending champion Silk. Winning a series with a roster filled with the most veterans out of any of NASCAR’s lower series is super impressive. What goes against his chances of moving up the ranks is the uncertainty surrounding him. While he’s had other remarkable results, he’s never been able to string together a consistent season of those results.

If that’s him or his equipment, there’s no way of knowing right now unless he moves to ThorSport. Not to mention that other veteran champions of the series, like Ryan Preece, Justin Bonsignore, and Patrick Emerling, have moved up the ranks, but only Preece has had any success, with the others having struggled. If there’s interest, he’s best as a plan B and should get a part-time ride in Thorsport’s 66 truck.

Corey Lajoie

Lajoie feels like the perfect throwback to the truck series’ golden age. A cocky and grizzled veteran who’s done his time in backmarker equipment, showing flashes of talent, who’s now hungry to prove he can win at a level of NASCAR. His aggressive style and outspoken personality are very similar to those of the aforementioned ex-ThorSport man, Johnny Sauter.

Plus, he’s shown this year he can hang in trucks, getting back-to-back 5th place finishes in his two starts with Spire so far. If Lajoie was truly hangry when he started his “I don’t want to drive in front of 12 fans on a Saturday” rant. And with Spire maybe not being in trucks next year, there’s no better spot to prove his worth than Thorsport.

 Derek Kraus

When it comes to underrated drivers in NASCAR today, Kraus may very well be at the top of the list. The 2017 Racing-Reference.info Rising Star of the Year and back-to-back ARCA West champions, much like Todd Gilliland and Jesse Love. The truck series juggernaut that is MHR today was built on the back of Kraus dragging that mid-pack truck with less sponsorship and manufacturer support than it has today to near wins and near playoff appearances. He showed talent in Xfinity, earning 3 top tens and a stage win in 8 starts with a Kaulig team that was starting to decline.

He also earned 13 top tens in 23 races in a mid-pack truck team at 18 years old. His four poles show his raw pace, and if you watched the truck series at this time, surely in the back of your mind is a beautiful and aggressive move he made because he made lots of those. The Wisconsin prodigy deserves a second chance. Given ThorSport’s excellent track record with similar drivers, there’s no reason why, if he can find sponsorship, they should go with anyone else. Thanks a bunch for reading!