The 2019 Truck Series Championship is Still The Weirdest Ever

In 2019, the final 4 in the truck series were someone who hadn’t won all year, someone who started the season as a full-time driver in the Xfinity Series and was supposed to be a part-time driver in trucks, an owner driver who got his 1st career win in 2019, and the defending champion.

So, How Did They All Get There?

Ross Chastain started 2019 as a driver for JDM in Xfinity but was part-time in trucks with Niece. Chastain was then an underfunded driver who had his best opportunity with owner championship-winning CGR.

Taken out from under him by the team’s sponsor, DC Solar, which turned out to be a scam, so CGR’s Xfinity shut down. Chastain went back to his old team. Although he’s supposed to be part-time with Niece, Chastain wasn’t supposed to miss a single race till after Kansas.

An often-forgotten part of Chastain’s rise was taking any rides offered to him. Something that paid off in a highly unique way. When Chastain was with Niece, a team that hadn’t won a race since its 2016 debut.

Won at Kansas, not because of luck or an ultra chaotic race but on purely watermelon-fueled pace. This is where the playoffs complicate things. Because he was in Xfinity FT, he initially wasn’t eligible for the truck playoffs.

After Chastain Revoked His Truck Eligibility

And even after revoking his Xfinity eligibility for trucks, his Kansas win wouldn’t count, so he had to win again to clinch a spot, which he did at Iowa. Until he was DQ’d for having a low splitter.

This gave the win to hometown hero Moffitt. Who was the defending truck series champ, winning it with Hattori? But despite leading them to a title, he still moved to GMS the following season, where he didn’t even lead a lap in his 1st win with the team.

But then Chastain won the next race at Gateway, clenching a spot anyway. The next was at Eldora, the only dirt track on the schedule. Canadian dirt track legend Stewart Friesen wasn’t supposed to be here.

His career started as a one-off at this track 3 years ago. Invited by sponsor Halmar after spending 2010s racking up dirt racing achievements both in the northeast USA and nationally in DIRTcar and WoO.

After Friesen met Chris Larsen, they decided to start a team together. And 3 years after they began teaming up, they won their 1st-ever race together, clinching a spot in the 2019 playoffs.

Matt Crafton, however, unlike everyone else, didn’t win to get in. Instead, Crafton had his most consistent season since 2016, when he finished 3rd in points. Not only to make the 2019 playoffs but also to make the 2019 Final Four.

The 2019 Truck Series Finale

With only 4 title contenders left and one race in Miami, they were the favorites and underdogs. The underdogs were Crafton and Friesen. Crafton not only did not have a win in all of 2019, but a graphic showed mid-race. He finished ahead of his fellow Final Four drivers only twice all year.

While Friesen barely made it out of the 1st round and only made the final 4 with a clutch 2nd win of 2019 and his whole career in the race before. Favorites being Moffitt and Chastain. Moffitt won the first 2 races of the playoffs and had only finished outside the top 10 once in all the playoffs.

While Chastain hadn’t won in the playoffs yet, he, like Moffitt, only finished outside the top 10 once in all the 2019 playoffs. And he did have two runners-up, meaning he was knocking on the door of getting that win, and of course, 1 of these four would clinch the title by winning, since after all, the playoffs were all about winning.

Austin Hill’s Stint In Trucks

Expect no Austin Hill, the man who had replaced Moffitt at Hattori and was eliminated in the last round, to win. Behind him, a 2-time champion became a 3-time champion. Matt Crafton, despite not winning a race all year, would win the 2019 championship.

It was the 2nd time in the history of the top 3 series a champion had gone winless all year, joining Austin Dillon’s 2013 title in Nationwide. But this was a system that was supposed to be all about winning, yet Crafton broke it. Thanks a bunch for reading!