By: Ashley McCubbin

Throughout the off-season, NEWS FROM THE PITS kept track of everything going on silly season wise via their Tracking the Changes series, which consisted of three-parts for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. But were the moves that occurred the right moves? Let’s grade them based on how the year has gone to date.

Recall that DGR (David Gilliland Racing) – Crosley changed the name on their front door to TRICON Garage, as a sign of their alliance with Toyota Racing Development. Essentially, they are now where the young up-and-coming stars are sent by the manufacture with Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) under the Chevrolet banner.

It is a good change. The name really should not mean much end of the day, but the alliance with Toyota is the bigger story here. That has paid off, as evident by Corey Heim leading the points with two wins and 12 top-10’s in 14 races, with an average finish of 7.1.

William Sawalich

Dean Thompson has not done as well as his teammate, as evident by sitting back 21st in the standings with three top-10’s, including a season-best third at Charlotte Motor Speedway. However, for the driver of the No. 5 Toyota Tundra, this is a good change. After all, he failed to score a top-10 last season with Niece Motorsports en route to placing 23rd in the year-end points. However, the lack of performance in comparison to his teammate has to beg whether David Gilliland would agree with this assessment and may be looking for a new driver in 2024.

Seeing Late Model standout William Sawalich get his feet wet in the Truck Series with TRICON Garage was a good change, as evident by his ninth-place finish in his debut at Martinsville Speedway.

Chase Purdy caught headlines when he joined the aforementioned KBM for the 2023 campaign from Hattori Racing Enterprises. It is a good change if you’re looking at the Mississippi’s statistics alone, as he is doing better than he did last year with seven top-10’s compared to just two. However, this is not a good change if you’re looking at it from Kyle Busch’s perspective. As the lone full-time driver for the organization, he is not inside the top-10 in points currently. They are used to fighting for championships each year, having done so several times and been successful with Christopher Bell to name one. This cannot be a step down the totem pole they are taking lightly, especially when Busch proved the equipment could win this year twice.

Ford thought they had all the pieces together for Hailie Deegan in partnering her up with multi-time championship organization ThorSport Racing with Rich Lushes as crew chief after winning a title with Ben Rhodes. So far, this is not a good change as nobody involved is having the success they expected. Although she has a slightly better average finish than last season, she admitted going into the season that it was a make or break season for her. Is a single top-10 and ranked 19th in points comparable to the team’s history and Rhodes currently fourth in points? So it is certainly below her own expectations, all while Duke and Rhonda Thorson see one of their trucks struggle.

#19: Christian Eckes

It probably would have been more beneficial to keep Christian Eckes in the fold, but he landed his feet at McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. For him, this is a good change as he in the midst of his first multi-win season in the series, picking up victories at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway. He also currently sits sixth in the standings, whereas he placed eighth in the final rundown last season.

Nick Sanchez became the first competitor drive for Rev Racing in the Truck Series, and there’s nobody denying this is a good change. It’s always great to see new teams enter the sport that have proven success, as with REV in the ARCA Menards Series. The Floridian is also proving he was fit for the job, putting himself in a position to win multiple races this season, currently ranked ninth in points with four poles and seven top-10’s.

On the flip side, it was not a good change for GMS Racing to place Rajah Caruth behind the wheel of the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado. While his teammate Grant Enfinger ranks third in points with two wins, the DC native has only posted a single top-10 finish in 2023. The man he replaced Jack Wood, is having a better season of his own with KBM in scoring two top-10’s in seven starts. Now this was a good change.

Caruth’s teammate Daniel Dye has yet to post a top-10 finish, making many wonder whether he made the right decision jumping in from ARCA or whether GMS has some of their own issues to work out with a pair struggling. Either way, it was not a good change. 

Kaden Honeycutt made the most of his opportunity with Roper Racing, showing his ability behind the wheel with a pair of top-10 finishes in eight races. It’s disappointing they could not find the funding to keep moving forward, but it is a good change if you consider the stock set for possibilities down the road.