The 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship 4 is decided. In this the 29th season of the Trucks, these 4 drivers will battle to become the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion. 3 of them aim to become the 20th different champion in series history, while one has the chance to match Todd Bodine and be a 2-time champion and become the 5th driver to win multiple championships in this series. Let's meet them, shall we?

Corey Heim

Corey Heim is in his first full-time Truck season, and oh boy, this has got to be a preview of what is to come. He has done everything right this year, been fast, won races, executed on a high level, minimized the bad days, made very few mistakes, and even fought through adversity. Keep in mind that he missed the race at Gateway due to illness and still was able to win the regular season championship and all those extra playoff points. He has finished worse than 15th only once, and he is the youngest driver to ever get 15 top 10s in a row out of all the races he has started. That just shows on a bad day that that #11 Tundra for Tricon Garage is always going to be a threat. Plus, it was announced that Heim will return to this organization in 2024. Can he go into 2024 as a champion?

Carson Hocevar

One thing the Truck Series doesn't get enough credit for, in my opinion, is seeing the next superstar get made here. While the Xfinity Series is more known to make names the Trucks do that as well. Carson Hocevar has come into his own this year. He has won 4 of the last 18 races after being winless for the first 54. For so long, it was "When is he going to win?" Now he has the most wins out of anyone in 2023. Carson has improved in all the right ways; this is similar to Noah Gragson last year. where we knew he was talented but needed to mature. Carson made some silly moves, deliberately spun himself out several times to cause a caution, and lost his composure easily. But after winning at Texas was a minor start to who Hocevar is today. At Martinsville, he tried to right rear hook Taylor Gray, and he ended up wrecking himself. After a lot of tough conversations internally at Niece Motorsports and even one of his heroes, Dale Jr., something clicked. Since the Kansas spring race where he was wrecked out from nothing of his doing his worst finish since then was 12th. Plus, he also ran a handful of Xfinity races and scored 2 top 10s. All this before he became a super sub at the NASCAR Cup Series. 1st, it started at Spire Motorsports, where one of their regular drivers was called to substitute for someone else. Hocevar ran in the top almost the whole race until his brakes failed. Then, when Noah Gragson got suspended by NASCAR and ultimately asked for a resignation at Legacy Motor Club, Carson has driven that car more often than not. Overachieving got the attention of everyone. So much that Spire Motorsports signed him up to go Cup racing in 2024. In my opinion, something the Truck Series does not get enough credit for is being a stepping stone for the future of NASCAR. While a lot of people now think people wreck each other every race, drivers like Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, and Christopher Bell have used this Series to go up and eventually race Cup cars. Can Carson use what he has learned to get a title?

Grant Enfinger

It's funny how things work out. Grant Enfinger got his 1st Truck win at GMS Racing, now he might get his 1st Truck championship with GMS in their final race. GMS is shutting down at the end of 2023, the organization is one of the greatest in Series history. GMS is tied at 3rd all-time in wins with ThorSport only behind Kyle Busch Motorsports and Roush Racing. GMS has also won 2 championships with Johnny Sauter and Sheldon Creed respectively in 2016 and 2020. If Grant can get it done, then for the last couple of years will be worthwhile. Enfinger was a long-time driver at ThorSport but ultimately was reduced to a part-time schedule with that team and had to scramble to run the full year in 2021. In 2022, GMS welcomed him with open arms. No organization has ever won 3 championships with 3 different drivers. Can this organization go out on top with a driver that, at least to the public, does not have a job confirmed for 2024?

Ben Rhodes

The driver of the 99 F-150 for ThorSport has seen a lot in 2023. Early on, he looked like one of the favorites for this year's crown despite a crew chief change in the off-season. Rich Lushes Ben Rhodes won the 2021 Truck Series championship with was part of a crew chief swap in ThorSport. This is seen every now and then when the organization is trying to improve all the teams at once and perhaps give a fresh way to think between crew chief and driver. Sometimes, it doesn't always work out. Literally after Rhodes won at Charlotte, he had another crew chief change in hopes of helping teammate Matt Crafton make the playoffs. While it was successful, Rhodes hit a string of rough finishes where when the round of 8 began, Rich Lushes returned to the top of the box for Rhodes. They have since finished 7th at Bristol and have been 2nd at Talladega and Homestead. Sometimes, we learn that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Now, with the dream team back together, can they become 2-time champions?

Championship pick: Corey Heim

They have just been too good everywhere. Ever since he won at Martinsville against Kyle Busch, he had led laps laps in EVERY SINGLE race besides Talladega. The least laps he has led in a race this year was 6, the moment has not been too big for Heim and is driving at an amazing level. An illness could have taken a little momentum out of his sails, it did the exact opposite. Their consistency quickly turned to domination. There have been 20 different Truck Series champions, I think that it's Heim time for him to become the 21st.