TRUCKS: Jackson Macenko’s series debut slowed by mid-race mechanical woes
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
Jackson Macenko picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s TSport 200 Presented by Warn Industries at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park when his #2 Levrack Ford fell out with rear gear failure after 74 of 200 laps.
The finish came in Macenko’s series debut. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 10th for the #2, the 18th from the rear gear, and the 148th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 46th for the #2, the 57th for rear gear trouble, and the 1,098th for Ford.
According to his website, Macenko has been racing since he was eight, when he competed in dirt go-karts at Lawrenceburg Motorcycle Speedway. He’s since focused on open-wheel racing, where he’s earned Rookie of the Year honors in both the USSA Kenyon Midget Series in 2019 and the 500 Sprint Car Tour in 2023. He earned his first 500 Sprint Car victory in his 27th start this past June, when he won the 40-lap Tom Bigelow Showdown at Winchester Speedway.
The next day, it was announced that the 22-year-old would be making his NASCAR debut in Friday’s Truck Series race, where he’d pilot the #2 for Team Reaume, followed by a USAC Silver Crown race at Iowa on August 8th. Macenko’s black-and-teal Ford carried team sponsor Levrack as the primary, plus several of Macenko’s own backers, including J.T.M. Food Group, American Scaffolding, Inc., and The Wm. Lang & Sons Iron Works Company.
Macenko was one of 38 drivers entered to attempt the starting field of 36, and one of four set to make their first-ever start in any of NASCAR’s three national series. The others were ARCA driver Gavan Boschele who ran double-duty in TRICON Garage’s #1 American Land Partners Toyota, late model racer Cassten Everidge in the #93 Helios / Nexcore Chevrolet for Costner Motorsports, and Reaume teammate Monty Tipton, who took the place of an entered Derek Lemke in Reaume’s #22 Bare Bones / Triple Crown Capital Stables Ford. All four qualified for the race, sending home Jonathan Shafer in Carl Long’s new #69 RAM and Justi S. Carroll in the #90 Carroll’s Automotive Toyota.
In practice, Macenko ranked 33rd of the 38 entrants with a best lap of 24.308 seconds (101.596mph). His was the seventh truck to take time in qualifying – a session where the DNQs of Shafer and Carroll were first and second on track – and he earned the 31st starting spot, the last one locked-in on speed, with a lap of 23.657 seconds (104.392mph).
Securing the 36th and final starting spot was Spencer Boyd, back behind the wheel of his own #76 Desnuda Organic Tequila Chevrolet for the first time in a month. When the green flag dropped, Boyd got a jump in the high lane and crossed the line 3.797 seconds behind the leader, ranking him ahead of Everidge’s #93 (3.948) and Frankie Muniz’ #33 Black Cat Fireworks Ford (4.151), both trailing in the low lane. However, Monty Tipton’s #22 wasn’t shown on NASCAR.com’s leaderboard during the early laps, causing the running order to skip over his starting spot in 34th. Regardless, Muniz only held last place until the end of Lap 1, when he cleared Everidge who now showed 5.534 seconds back of the lead.
Over the next several laps, Everidge remained between one and three-tenths of a second behind Muniz as both gradually lost ground to race leader Layne Riggs. By Lap 5, Everidge was 9.498 seconds back of the lead, then on Lap 6 pulled alongside Muniz at the stripe the pair separated by just 0.021 second at the line. (12.171 to 12.150). On Lap 7, Everidge dropped Muniz to last, and by Lap 8 had opened up a one-tenth advantage of his own. But on Lap 13, Muniz ran two-tenths faster than Everidge, closing right up to his back bumper, but couldn’t get by. By Lap 20, Muniz was the first driver to be lapped, followed by Everidge, who dropped to last again on Lap 24. On Lap 25, Macenko was running in 30th and was the last truck on the lead lap.
After the race, it was revealed that Kris Wright had significant damage to the left-rear corner of his #81 F.N.B. Corporation / iHeart Radio Chevrolet. Without driver or official radio available remotely, this damage may have occurred on Lap 39, when Wright plummeted to 35th. Macenko also had a close call of his own in Turn 3 when he broke loose racing under the #14 Ram-sponsored RAM of Mini Tyrrell. On Lap 48, Everidge fell a second lap down to Riggs, and the two made contact as Riggs cleared him off Turn 4. Wright in 35th lost his second lap by Lap 53, when there were now just 19 drivers on the lead lap. By Lap 61, when the caution fell to end Stage 1, Everidge was still in last place, two laps down, with all 36 trucks still running.
Still under caution on Lap 68, Everidge lost a third lap to the leaders, putting him a lap behind 35th-place Wright. Two laps later, 2nd-place running Christian Eckes came in for an extended stop due to a reported battery issue on his #91 Cloyes, Rotomaster Chevrolet. The team didn’t change batteries and sent him back out for the Lap 72 restart, but by then his team reported a miss in the engine and a possible fluid leak. Eckes returned to pit road under green and started losing laps as the crew examined the left-rear hub, looked under the hood, and under the rear bumper. This caused Ekes to drop to last on Lap 74.
Two laps later on Lap 76, Macenko dropped off the pace in Turns 3 and 4, the NRN radio crew reporting he’d made contact with the wall. The green flag stayed out as he limped around the track, then on Lap 78 pulled behind the wall though an opening on the backstretch. This soon dropped Macenko to 35th, where he was scored four laps ahead of Eckes. On Lap 81, Eckes’ crew chief climbed down from his pit box, and his crew pushed the #91 behind the wall through the opening just before Turn 1. His crew reported both a bad battery and an oil leak which had somehow occurred simultaneously, forcing the crew to try and track down the leak in the gathering darkness.
On Lap 106, Eckes’ crew completed repairs and sent the #91 back on the track, 33 laps down in last place. By Lap 108, he’d caught and passed Macenko, who was still behind the wall, dropping the #2 to last place. Soon after, Stage 2 ended on Lap 121 with just 13 drivers on the lead lap. On Lap 130 and again on Lap 133, Eckes’ crew bolted on fresh tires in an attempt to earn the one-point “fastest lap” bonus. But due to a recent rule change, Eckes’ trip to the garage rendered them ineligible for the bonus.
Then on Lap 137, Daniel Hemric’s #19 Delphi Chevrolet tangled with Cole Butcher’s #13 Atlantic Tilt Load Ford as he tried to attempt a pass in Turn 3. Hemric’s truck spun and slid up into a nearby Landen Lewis, slamming Lewis into the wall and destroying both sides of his #45 J.F. Electric / Utilitra Chevrolet. It wasn’t until 31 laps to go that FS1’s leaderboard declared Hemric and Lewis out of the race along with Macenko. Eckes climbed past the two wrecked trucks to 33rd by the checkered flag, even after losing another three laps himself. Everidge took 32nd, seven laps down to the leaders on pace.
First-timer Boschele among the impressive performers at IRP
While both Macenko and Everidge struggled in their Truck Series debuts, 34th-place starter Monty Tipton climbed as high as 20th in the middle stages of the race before he settled back in the 30th spot. Even more impressive was Gavan Boschele, who after finishing 4th in the ARCA Menards Series race earlier that afternoon took an impressive 8th in his debut race, coming home on the lead lap.
The night also saw Connor Mosack earn a career-best runner-up finish in the #7 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Chevrolet, though a distant 1.148 seconds behind a dominant Riggs, who led all but two laps on the night. Taking the 10th spot was Mike Christopher, Jr., who earned his own career-best finish in just his third career start in the #62 Mohawk Northeast Toyota. Also impressive in his third series start was Parker Eatmon, who after battling into the 10th spot at the end of Stage 1 earned a career-best 12th in Al Niece’s #42 Operator Standard Chevrolet.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #2-Jackson Macenko / 74 laps / rear gear
35) #45-Landen Lewis / 135 laps / crash
34) #19-Daniel Hemric / 135 laps / crash
33) #91-Christian Eckes / 164 laps / running
32) #93-Cassten Everidge / 193 laps / running
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #2 in a Truck Series race at IRP.
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Niece Motorsports, Team Reaume (4)
2nd) ThorSport Racing (2)
3rd) Front Row Motorsports, Halmar Friesen Racing, Kaulig RAM Racing, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Rackley-W.A.R. (1)
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (8)
2nd) Chevrolet (6)
3rd) RAM, Toyota (1)
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
