If there is a chance for Ty Majeski and Chad Bryant to work together, they’re going to take it.
Practically everyone who has worked with Bryant considers him a best friend and Majeski is no exception. They talk on the phone practically every other day and Majeski credits the long-time crew chief and car owner for keeping him relevant at his lowest point.
All of this to say with Bryant having an opening for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, and Majeski having a Truck Series off-week, of course they were going to chase a Ridgeway Grandfather Clock together.
But again, focus on the backstory, as Majeski ended up driving for Bryant when the Roush 60 Xfinity car program he shared with Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe shut down. He won some ARCA races for CBR.
When Majeski didn’t click with a rebuilding Niece Motorsports, Bryant and Majeski won one of the Late Model Stock crown jewels together in the South Carolina 400.
“Well, Chad and I talk weekly if not a few times a week depending on what’s going on,” Majeski told Short Track Scene on Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “He is obviously a close friend of mine who gave me a big big break in my career when Roush shut their program down and it was late in the game and hard to find stuff.
“He gave me six ARCA races in 2019 and we won three of them so just really happy to have any opportunity to go race with him. We were actually going to run Hickory last month but it just didn’t work out but we wanted to run Martinsville and it was a good opportunity to get laps there before the playoff race too.”
Bryant feels just as strongly about Majeski.
“Ty is probably my closest friend in racing,” Bryant said by phone. “We talk daily sometimes. We talk a lot about him and Toby (Nuttleman in Super Late Models) and Trucks. We conversate about everything in great detail. Ty is really special. When he was at his lowest point, I was able to be there for him, and he’s there for me, always pick up the phone. He’s just a definition really good friend.
“So anytime I can run Ty, I want to. This year, we’ve been running DK (Darren Krantz Jr.) all year and the schedule just opened up to let us run both if we wanted to. With our program this year, Martinsville is the one big race we could for sure run and we want to put our best feet forward to win it.”
To his point, Krantz and Bryant have raced weekly, primarily at South Boston Speedway.
Majeski has made three starts with Bryant in a Late Model Stock, his only appearances in the Perimeter Rail car, and he won back-to-back South Carolina 400s at Florence. They entered the Martinsville 300 two years ago but suffered an engine failure.
In fact, all three of their races together has featured some kind of engine failure they needed to overcome.
“The last time, we had a race winning effort, first lap, second on the board, thought we were going top of the board,” Bryant said. “We ran the Ford 347 and it was kind of an experimental package. We were trying to run something extreme.
“But really, it was just human error, a mistake. Fortunately, Dean and Ryan Wilson loaned us an engine. It wasn’t as good but we still made the show on time and raced well in our heat race. I think we would have had a shot if it wasn’t for a flat right front.
“We just parked it at that point because it wasn’t going to be our night. If you look at Florence, we ran a 604 Crate and they aren’t the most reliable and had some misfortune. We’re running the (Harrington) Enforcer package for Martinsville so everything should run really smoothly.”
Majeski has only had Bryant in his ear has crew chief once, remarkably, during their tenure and that was the first race at Florence. Bryant will serve as crew chief for Majeski next weekend.
“Really happy about that,” Majeski said.
And for Majeski, a two-time Snowball Derby winner and two-time South Carolina 400 winner with numerous Super Late Model wins, this is ultimately about that Grandfather Clock.
“It’s a bucket list race for me,” Majeski said. “That clock is a bucket list trophy and Martinsville is a premier short track. I take a lot of pride in being able to run those races, and to win them, and it’s definitely one I would like to get.”
