ThorSport has 4 Truck Series champions racing at Daytona

ThorSport Racing's packed 2025 season begins Friday night in Daytona with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season opener. It's the first of 25 Truck Series races this season — up from 23 last year. ThorSport general manager David Pepper is a proponent of more truck races. "Myself and a couple of other team managers went to NASCAR and lobbied to add some races just because that 25 mark is a nice, sweet spot," Pepper said. "It gives us weekends off, we don't have to add any infrastructure and, quite honestly, it adds revenue streams where we go racing. We can attract sponsors and go to some new markets." ThorSport's Ty Majeski will hit the track for the Fresh from Florida 250 on Friday (7:30 p.m., FS1) as the defending series champion. Sandusky-based ThorSport has won six of the last 11 Truck Series titles. Majeski won three races last year — including the finale at Phoenix in November — and wants more this year. "That balloon has popped. We've proven we can win races and championships," Majeski said. "For us it's about trying to assert dominance. Instead of winning two or three races, we want to be in that five or six range and be a yearly contender at Phoenix. That's our goal." Majeski will be one of five ThorSport drivers in Friday's race at famed Daytona International Speedway. Three of the other ThorSport drivers racing at Daytona have won championships, too: Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter, who will drive the No. 66 truck. Jake Garcia rounds out ThorSport's lineup. Pepper said his race teams try not to make races bigger than they are and relied on a "been there, done that" approach to win another title with Majeski leading the way. "We get to the last race, there's really no pressure on us. We're gonna come back year after year," Pepper said. "Ty's our driver, we've got a multi-year deal with him. If we win, it's great. If we didn't, it's not the end of the world. "We had a tremendous year, we just retool and try again next year. There was less pressure on us to try to win it because we didn't make the moment bigger than what it was. It's just racing; you're just going in a circle." The Truck Series' second race is scheduled for Feb. 22 in Atlanta. The busiest stretch for the trucks will be May, with five races that month. "It's going to be a little daunting — it's 13 races in 16 weeks," Pepper said. "It's going to separate the contenders from the pretenders really quickly. After you take that first weekend off, the third weekend, you're basically going every weekend till the middle of the summer. It's going to separate these teams on who is ready to win and who can withstand the grind." The Truck Series will race at some new venues and will be at nearby Michigan International Speedway on June 7. "Probably one of the best schedules we've had; I think it sets up well for us," Pepper said. "I'm glad we've added some races. Lime Rock (in Connecticut), we've never been to with the trucks. We're going back to some great venues: Rockingham, New Hampshire, Michigan. That's basically a home race for us." The Truck Series is starting its 31st season and has a dozen full-time teams plus others that will race limited schedules. Pepper said ThorSport is committed to racing five trucks weekly, and didn't rule out adding more for certain races. "I think the Truck Series is very healthy," he said. "Last year if you finished in the top 10 in a race you were doing something. You could have a small mistakes and be 20th. It was stacked. "Nobody is cutting back any teams. We're gonna take our 66 to all the races. I think it'll honestly be harder. The purses hopefully are going up, the attendance is going up, we're going to new markets. All signs point that times are good."