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  • Eckes leads every lap en route to third Truck victory of 2024 at Nashville; cashes in on third Triple Truck Challenge bonus

    Eckes leads every lap en route to third Truck victory of 2024 at Nashville; cashes in on third Triple Truck Challenge bonus

    Christian Eckes capped off a perfect run that involved leading every lap en route to a resounding NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday, June 28.

    The 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion from Greenville, New York, led all 150-scheduled laps in an event where he started in third place, quickly assumed the lead from pole-sitter Stewart Friesen on the first lap, swept both stage periods and withstood a flurry of caution flags and restart periods from start to finish. Retaining the lead both on the track and on pit road, Eckes had enough muscle to power away from teammate Daniel Dye and the field during the final restart period with 32 laps remaining to win by two seconds and cash in with both his third Truck victory of the 2024 season and first $50,000 prize as part of the Triple Truck Challenge.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Friday, Stewart Friesen notched his first Truck pole position of the 2024 season and his first since 2019 after posting a pole-winning speed at 158.980 mph in 30.117 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Grant Enfinger, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 158.859 mph in 30.140 seconds.

    Before the event, Nick Sanchez dropped to the rear of the field in a backup truck after he wrecked his primary truck during Friday’s qualifying session. Timmy Hill also dropped to the rear of the field due to a transmission change. Ty Dillon, Matt Mills and Tanner Gray all started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    The start of the race lasted for three turns as a multi-truck wreck that involved Dean Thompson, Bret Holmes, Mason Massey, Mason Maggio, Timmy Hill and Akinori Ogata, all of whom started towards the rear of the field, wrecked in Turn 4. Prior to the early carnage, Eckes, who started in third place and behind Friesen on the inside lane, had muscled past both Enfinger and Friesen through the first two turns to assume the lead.

    The start of the next restart period on the seventh lap lasted only a lap as Holmes, who was trying to continue after being involved in the opening lap wreck, spun and wrecked his No. 32 Golden Eagle Chevrolet Silverado RST against the outside wall in Turn 2. At the time of Holmes’ incident, Eckes had managed to fend off Friesen from the inside lane to retain the lead.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 14, the field fanned out to multiple lanes as Eckes muscled ahead of Friesen to retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Behind, Riggs battled and overtook Friesen for the runner-up spot while Majeski, Honeycutt and Enfinger followed suit in the top six. Amid the early battles, Eckes led by half a second over Riggs by the Lap 20 mark.

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Eckes was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Riggs followed by Friesen, Kaden Honeycutt and Corey Heim while Ty Majeski, Daniel Dye, Grant Enfinger, Rajah Caruth and Clint Bowyer were scored in the top 10. Behind, Tyler Ankrum trailed in 11th place and ahead of Stefan Parsons, Chase Purdy, Tayor Gray and Ben Rhodes while Bayley Currey, Jake Garcia, Matt Crafton, Matt Mills and Jack Wood were mired in the top 20 ahead of Brenden Queen, Lawless Alan, Connor Jones, Ty Dillon and Dawson Cram.

    Ten laps later, Eckes extended his advantage to over Riggs while third-place Honeycutt was up to third and trailing by less than four seconds despite reporting the sight of smoke and the smell of gear oil within his No. 45 AutoVentive/Precision Chevrolet Silverado RST. Another lap, however, Honeycutt surrendered third place and nursed his truck to the garage due to his mechanical issue. Honeycutt’s early misfortune moved Heim, Friesen and Enfinger in the top five on the track while Eckes retained his advantage by more than a second.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Eckes captured his fourth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Riggs followed suit in second place ahead of Heim, Enfinger and Daniel Dye while Caruth, Friesen, Majeski, Bowyer and Tyler Ankrum were scored in the top 10. By then, 25 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while select drivers, including Tanner Gray and Nick Sanchez, were lapped by the field.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Eckes pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Eckes retained the lead after exiting pit road first while Heim, Riggs, Caruth, Enfinger, Dye, Taylor Gray, Ankrum, Chase Purdy and Ben Rhodes followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Matt Mills was penalized for equipment interference.

    The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Eckes and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, however, the caution quickly returned when Taylor Gray, who restarted in the top 10, was bumped by Rhodes as Gray got sideways before he shot back across the track and wrecked his No. 17 Caden Ingram Foundation Toyota Tundra TRD Pro against the Turn 1 outside wall as he was taken out of contention. The start of the following restart on Lap 59 also did not last a single turn as the field got jumbled up through the frontstretch, with Bowyer ramming into the rear of teammate Purdy, who was stacking up the field after he ran into the rear of Ankrum, while Lawless Alan, who was rammed in the rear by Dawson Sutton, rammed and sent the No. 46 Faction46 Chevrolet Silverado RST piloted by Dawson Cram for a spin through the frontstretch’s grass.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 65, the field fanned out as Eckes fended off Riggs and Heim to retain the lead. With the field still fanning out through the frontstretch during the following lap, Enfinger and Dye battled for fifth place in front of Rhodes while a flurry of competitors including Friesen, Ankrum, Majeski, Crafton, Jack Wood, Jake Garcia, Stefan Parsons and Bayley Currey battled for positions as high as eighth place. Amid the battles, Eckes stabilized his advantage to half a second over Heim by the Lap 70 mark.

    Just past the Lap 75 mark, Eckes stretched his advantage to a second over Heim while Caruth battled and overtook Dye for third place. Meanwhile, Riggs dropped to sixth place as he was running behind Enfinger while Rhodes, Friesen, Parsons and Crafton were mired in the top 10 ahead of Ankrum, Currey, Majeski, Wodd and Conner Jones. Meanwhile, Sanchez was racing back in 20th place ahead of Brenden Queen while Bowyer, who pitted for extensive repairs to his truck, was running in 24th place ahead of teammate Purdy.

    By Lap 85, Eckes continued to lead by a second over Heim while third-place Caruth trailed by three seconds. Dye and Enfinger continued to run in the top five ahead of Rhodes and Friesen while Riggs, who was continuing to lose ground of the leaders, was trying to fend off Parsons for eighth place. Shortly after, Parsons and Riggs both made contact entering the frontstretch while battling for eighth place, which allowed Crafton and Ankrum to overtake them for positions.

    Then on Lap 92, Riggs, who was fiercely battling Parsons for 13th place and had made repeated contact with Parsons as both dropped out of the top-10 mark on the track, rammed into the rear of Parsons’ No. 75 Popsells.com Chevrolet Silverado RST as Parsons was sent sideways and wrecked against the outside wall in Turn 4. The incident was enough for NASCAR to enforce a two-lap penalty on Riggs with the driver forced to serve the penalty in his pit stall for reckless driving.

    As a result of the Riggs and Parsons incident, the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 95 officially concluded under caution as Eckes proceeded to captured his fifth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season and sweep both stages at Nashville. Heim settled in second followed by Caruth, Dye and Enfinger while Rhodes, Friesen, Crafton, Ankrum and Majeski were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Eckes returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Eckes retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Caruth, Dye, Rhodes, Ankrum, Friesen, Crafton and Wood while Heim exited in ninth place due to losing seven spots as he struggled to launch his truck out of his pit box following his service.

    With 48 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Eckes and Caruth occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Eckes muscled ahead with the lead while Dye and Rhodes quickly overtook Caruth to move up to second and third, respectively. As Eckes continued to lead in front of Dye, Rhodes and Caruth for the following lap, Friesen, who endured a slow pit service earlier in the event that cost him spots, muscled his way back into the top five while Ankrum, Heim, Crafton, Tanner Gray and Connor Jones were battling within the top 10.

    Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Eckes was leading by more than half a second over teammate Dye while Caruth, Rhodes and Ankrum trailed in the top five. Behind, Heim carved his way up to sixth place while Friesen, Tanner Gray, Matt Mills and Crafton battled in the top 10 ahead of Garcia, Enfinger, Wood, Connor Jones and Bowyer.

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Jack Wood, who was running in 13th place, received a tap from Connor Jones that sent Wood’s No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet Silverado RST spinning down the apron in Turn 4 and just past the entrance of pit road, though Wood managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage. During the caution period, some including Friesen, who had a loose left-rear wheel, pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.

    As the event restarted under green with 32 laps remaining, Eckes fended off teammate Dye to retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch while Caruth was trying to fend off Rhodes and Ankrum for third place. With Heim charging his way back into the top, he then made a bold three-wide move to boost his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro all the way up to third place during the following lap. Soon after, Ankrum overtook Rhodes for fifth place and Tanner Gray carved his damaged No. 15 Dead On Tools Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to seventh place while Eckes retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Dye with less than 30 laps remaining.

    With 25 laps remaining, Eckes extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Dye while third-place Heim and fourth-place Caruth both trailed the lead by more than two seconds. Eckes would add another second to his advantage with 20 laps remaining, thus leaving Dye to trail teammate Eckes by two seconds as Caruth, who overtook Heim for third place earlier, was trying to close in on Dye’s No. 43 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet Silverado RST for the runner-up spot. By then, Heim, Ankrum and Rhodes remained in the top six while Enfinger and Garcia overtook Tanner Gray for seventh and eighth on the track.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Eckes stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Dye and by nearly three seconds over Caruth as Heim and Ankrum continued to round out the top five. Behind, Rhodes, Enfinger, Garcia, Matt Mills and Friesen were in the top 10 while Majeski, Connor Jones, Tanner Gray, Nick Sanchez and Brenden Queen trailed in the top 15. As Crafton, who had been drifting out of the top 10, pitted his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 under green and dropped out of the lead lap category, Eckes grew his advantage to three seconds over teammate Dye with 10 laps remaining.

    With five laps remaining, Eckes’ advantage barely decreased as he was still leading by less than three seconds over teammate Dye while third-place Caruth continued to trail Dye by four-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Heim and Ankrum trailed Eckes by three and four seconds, respectively, in the top five.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Eckes remained as the leader by two seconds over teammate Dye while Heim overtook Caruth’s No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST amid a fierce late-race battle for third place. With the latter three unable to gain any ground on Eckes, Eckes was able to navigate his No. 19 Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet Silverado RST around the Nashville circuit smoothly for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by two seconds over teammate Dye.

    With the victory, Eckes, who joins Corey Heim as the second competitor to achieve three or more victories through the first 13-scheduled events, became the first competitor to lead every lap en route to a Truck Series win since Timothy Peters made the last accomplishment at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2012. In addition, Eckes achieved his eighth career win in the Craftsman Truck Series, his first since winning at Martinsville Speedway in early April and his first at Nashville Superspeedway. The victory was the third of the season for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and the ninth of the year for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    As an added bonus, Eckes pocketed his first $50,000 bonus by winning the third and final Triple Truck Challenge event of the 2024 season, thus becoming the 15th competitor to achieve the bonus in the initiative’s sixth season of existence.

    “It was just a badass truck,” Eckes said on FS2. “Man, I can’t say enough about these [No. 19] guys. We felt like we should’ve won last time at Gateway and came up a little bit short, finished second and we were really motivated to get this truck better. [The truck]’s done its job for the day. What an Adaptive One Chevy. That was an ass-kicking today. I love it. I saw [Corey Heim] have four [race-winning stickers] on [his truck]. I got a little bit upset when I walked in, so now, we got another one to go catch.”

    Teammate Daniel Dye was also left smiling on pit road as he achieved his first top-five career result in the Truck Series by notching a runner-up result in his 36th series start. With the result, Dye trails the top-10 cutline to make the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs by 14 points with three regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

    “Man, the confidence is so important when you’re driving a race car and to finish second like this,” Dye said. “Obviously, Christian [Eckes] drove away, but I think there at the end, we were running similar speeds. Man, it feels really good. Our NAPA Nightvision Chevy was really fast. Just super excited that this happened…To finish runner-up feels good.”

    Corey Heim rallied from his late pit road issues to finish in third place for his ninth top-three result of the 2024 season, Rajah Caruth nabbed his first top-five result since winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March by finishing in fourth place and Tyler Ankrum recorded his fourth top-five result of the season by finishing in fifth place.

    Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes, Matt Mills, Ty Majeski and Jake Garcia finished in the top 10.

    Notably, Stewart Friesen came home in 11th place, Brenden Queen ended up in 19th place in his second Truck career start, Matt Crafton ended up in 23rd place while two laps down and Frankie Muniz settled in 31st place in his Truck debut while scored 20 laps down.

    In addition, Clint Bowyer nursed his damaged No. 7 Rush Truck Centers Chevrolet Silverado RST to a 17th-place result in his 15th Truck Series career start, first since 2016 and first with Spire Motorsports.    

    “I will be back!” Bowyer exclaimed while being interviewed by former team owner Michael Waltrip. “I promise you there’s no way in hell I’m ending on that note.”

    There were no lead changes for a single leader. The race featured seven cautions for 42 laps. In addition, 20 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 13th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes continues to lead the regular-season standings by 40 points over Corey Heim, 89 over Nick Sanchez, 92 over Ty Majeski and 163 over Rajah Caruth.

    Results.

    1. Christian Eckes, 150 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    2. Daniel Dye

    3. Corey Heim

    4. Rajah Caruth

    5. Tyler Ankrum

    6. Grant Enfinger

    7. Ben Rhodes

    8. Matt Mills

    9. Ty Majeski

    10. Jake Garcia

    11. Stewart Friesen

    12. Conner Jones

    13. Nick Sanchez

    14. Tanner Gray

    15. Ty Dillon

    16. Jack Wood

    17. Clint Bowyer

    18. Dawson Sutton

    19. Brenden Queen

    20. Dawson Cram

    21. Chase Purdy, one lap down

    22. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

    23. Matt Crafton, two laps down

    24. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    25. Layne Riggs, two laps down

    26. Stefan Parsons, two laps down

    27. Timmy Hill, three laps down

    28. Dean Thompson, four laps down

    29. Bayley Currey, four laps down

    30. Akinori Ogata, six laps down

    31. Frankie Muniz, 20 laps down

    32. Mason Massey – OUT, Brakes

    33. Kaden Honeycutt, 66 laps down

    34. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident

    35. Mason Maggio – OUT, Mechanical

    36. Bret Holmes – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, for the CRC Brakleen 175. The event is scheduled to occur on July 12 and air at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Corey Heim scores dominant Truck victory at North Wilkesboro

    Corey Heim scores dominant Truck victory at North Wilkesboro

    For the second time of the 2024 season, Corey Heim made it known to the NASCAR community that it is Heim Time after notching a dominant NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the rain-delayed Wright Brand 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, May 19. 

    The 21-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, led twice for a race-high 66 of 250-scheduled laps in an event. He started 12th but quickly marched his way to the front as he spent the first stage period running inside the top five. Heim was scored in third place when the event was postponed from Saturday night to Sunday morning due to an ongoing increase of precipitation that flooded the circuit.

    He spent the second stage period and a majority of the final stage period running towards the front until he muscled away from Jake Garcia to assume the lead during a late restart period with 65 laps remaining. After retaining the lead through another late-race restart period with 32 laps remaining, Heim pulled away from Grant Enfinger, rookie Layne Riggs and teammate/newcomer Brenden “Butterbean” Queen by as much as three seconds to score his third Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2024 season and his first at North Wilkesboro.

    The starting lineup for the event was determined through a metric system after the event’s on-track qualifying session scheduled to occur on Saturday morning was canceled due to precipitation. Through the metric, Christian Eckes, the current series’ regular-season leader in the standings, was awarded the pole position and he shared the front row with Nick Sanchez. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started on Saturday, May 18, Eckes muscled his No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead with the lead from the inside lane through the first two turns. As the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch, Eckes proceeded to lead the first lap while Ross Chastain overtook Sanchez to move into the runner-up spot. Tanner Gray would follow suit in his bid for third place along with Ty Dillon. As more battles within the field ensued, Eckes stretched his lead to more than a second by the fifth lap mark while Sammy Smith was penalized for a start violation, where he pulled his Spire Motorsports entry out of line. 

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Eckes continued to extend his early advantage as he was leading by more than two seconds over Chastain followed by Tanner Gray, Dillon and Grant Enfinger while Corey Heim, Sanchez, Ben Rhodes, Ty Majeski and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10 ahead of Jake Garcia, Daniel Dye, Chase Purdy, Lawless Alan and Bayley Currey. Behind, Tyler Ankrum, rookie Layne Riggs, Matt Mills, Brenden Queen and Rajah Caruth followed suit in the top 20 ahead of Stewart Friesen, Jack Wood, Mason Massey, Bret Holmes and Dean Thompson while Matt Crafton was mired in 27th.   

    Ten laps later, Eckes stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Chastain while Tanner Gray, Dillon and Heim trailed by within three seconds in the top five on the track. Behind, Enfinger was trying to fend off Sanchez and Rhodes in sixth place while Majeski and Taylor Gray trailed in the top 10. 

    Another 10 laps later, Eckes continued to lead by more than two seconds over Chastain while teammates Tanner Gray and Heim battled for third place, though both started to close in on Chastain for the runner-up spot, as Dillon trailed by three seconds in fifth place. Eckes’ would have his advantage slightly decrease to one-and-a-half seconds over Chastain by the Lap 40 mark while Heim closed in while running in third place. 

    Just past the Lap 50 mark, Eckes retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Chastain while third-place Heim kept pace with the leaders as he trailed by a second. Behind, Tanner Gray trailed in fourth place by two seconds while Majeski was up to fifth ahead of Rhodes, Dillon, Sanchez, Taylor Gray and Jake Garcia. Meanwhile, Enfinger had fallen to 16th as he trailed Daniel Dye, Ankrum, Purdy, Riggs and Brenden Queen on the track. 

    A few laps past the Lap 55 mark, the event’s first caution period flew due to precipitation being reported in the venue. During the caution period and with a flurry of pit strategies ensuing, a majority of the field led by Eckes pitted while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Riggs was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while Friesen and Bayley Currey were both penalized for speeding on pit road. 

    With three laps remaining in the first stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, Majeski muscled his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 ahead of teammate Rhodes and managed to transition from the outside to the inside lane through the first two turns as he retained the lead through the backstretch. As Majeski slowly started to pull away, Rajah Caruth battled Rhodes for the runner-up spot while Heim was trying to overtake both teammate Taylor Gray and Dillon for positions on the track. 

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 70, Majeski claimed his third Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Rhodes, racing with a damaged right-front fender after making contact with Bret Holmes earlier, settled in second while Caruth, Taylor Gray, Heim, Dillon, Eckes, Tanner Gray, Jack Wood and Ankrum were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, some including Rhodes, Taylor Gray, Dillon and Wood pitted while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Spencer Boyd lost a jack on the track after dragging it out of his pit stall and onto the track. 

    Then on Lap 81, the field, led by Majeski was directed to pit road and the event was placed in a red flag period due to a lightning hold with lightning being reported near the circuit. With more lightning holds occurring along with a rapid increase of precipitation over the next several hours, NASCAR elected to postpone the remainder of the event to Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET on FS1. At the time of the red flag period, Majeski was scored the leader ahead of Caruth, Heim, Eckes and Tanner Gray while Ankrum, Chastain, Connor Jones, Sanchez and Jake Garcia were scored in the top 10. 

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 86 on Sunday morning, Caruth muscled away from Majeski and the field from the outside lane to inherit the lead through the first two turns. As Caruth led the race, Ankrum challenged Majeski for the runner-up spot as Heim and Connor Jones joined the battle. Caruth would retain the lead past the Lap 90 mark while Majeski was trying to narrow the gap. 

    Two laps later, however, the caution returned after Caruth, who was being pressured by Majeski for the lead through the first two turns, slid sideways and barely clipped Majeski before he spun his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST from the middle to the bottom apron of Turn 2 without getting hit by incoming traffic. During the caution period, some including Ankrum, Garcia, Friesen, Caruth and Rhodes pitted while the rest led by Majeski and Heim remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Friesen was penalized for speeding on pit road. 

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 98, Majeski muscled away from Heim to retain the lead. Majeski, who would then fend off an early challenge from Heim for the lead, would proceed to lead at the Lap 100 mark while Heim, Eckes, Jones and Sanchez trailed in the top five. Majeski would stabilize his advantage to nearly half a second over Heim just past the Lap 110 mark as Eckes, Jones and Sanchez continued to trail in the top five.  

    Following another caution period on Lap 116 due to Lawless Alan spinning in Turn 2, multiple competitors led by Majeski pitted while some led by Ankrum, who pitted during the initial caution period, remained on the track. During the next restart on Lap 123, Ankrum fended off Garcia and Jack Wood to retain the lead while Sanchez was penalized for changing lanes too soon. As the field behind jostled for spots, Ankrum would lead the halfway mark of the event on Lap 125 while Garcia, Friesen, Wood and Riggs trailed in the top five. 

    Then on Lap 137, the caution flew after Bret Holmes spun and wrecked in Turn 2. Holmes’ incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 140 to conclude under caution as Ankrum captured his second Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Garcia followed suit in second along with Friesen, Wood, and Riggs while Rhodes, Eckes, Heim, Daniel Dye and Grant Enfinger were scored in the top 10. 

    During the stage break, some including Matt Crafton, Dillon, Mason Massey, Matt Mills and Timmy Hill pitted while the rest led by Ankrum remained on the track. 

    With 104 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Ankrum and Garcia occupied the front row. At the start, Garcia muscled his No. 13 Quanta Services Ford F-150 way past Ankrum’s No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado RST and moved into the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Riggs then overtook Ankrum for the runner-up spot as Garcia retained the lead during the following lap.  

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Garcia was leading by two-tenths of a second over Riggs followed by Ankrum, Rhodes and Heim while Friesen, Enfinger, Wood, Eckes and Dye trailed in the top 10. In addition, Dean Thompson occupied 11th place ahead of Sammy Smith, Caruth, Stefan Parsons and Tanner Gray while Taylor Gray, Brenden Queen, Dillon, Jones and Chastain followed suit in the top 20. 

    Ten laps later, Garcia continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Riggs while Ankrum, Heim and Rhodes trailed in the top five. Garcia would proceed to lead by three-tenths of a second over Riggs with 80 laps remaining as Ankrum, Heim and Rhodes continued to trail in the top five. Another six laps later, the caution flew after Jones wrecked his No. 66 Farm Paint/ThorSport Racing entry in Turn 4. During the caution period, some including Wood, Caruth, Dillon, Parsons, Tanner Gray and Jones pitted while the rest led by Garcia remained on the track. 

    With the event restarting under green with 66 laps remaining, Heim challenged Garcia for the lead and overtook him for the top spot during the following lap. With clean air to his advantage, Heim stretched his lead to more than a second over Garcia with 60 laps remaining while Riggs, Eckes and Brenden Queen trailed in the top five within three seconds. 

    With 50 laps remaining, Heim extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Garcia as Riggs, Eckes and Queen trailed in the top five. Ankrum, Enfinger, Sammy Smith, Rhodes and Dye would trail in the top 10 as Heim stretched his lead to another second to three over Garcia with 40 laps remaining. 

    A few laps later, the caution returned after Dean Thompson, who was running 12th, spun and barely avoided hitting the outside wall in Turn 2 as he was also dodged by Chastain. 

    Down to the final 32 laps of the event, the event restarted under green as Heim muscled his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro away from Garcia and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. Riggs would move into the runner-up spot over Garcia as both Enfinger and Eckes trailed in the top five ahead of Queen and Sammy Smith while Heim led by a second with 25 laps remaining.  

    With less than 15 laps remaining, Heim stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Riggs as Enfinger, Queen and Sammy Smith were scored in the top five ahead of Eckes, Sanchez, Ankrum, Dye and Garcia. Heim’s advantage grew to nearly three seconds over Riggs with 10 laps remaining while third-place Enfinger trailed by three seconds. 

    Down to the final five laps, Heim continued to lead by more than three seconds over a three-truck battle for the runner-up spot involving Riggs, Enfinger and Queen while fifth-place Sammy Smith, who rallied from his opening lap penalty on Saturday, trailed by less than four seconds. Amid lapped traffic, Enfinger would overtake Riggs’ No. 38 Infinity Communications Group Ford F-150 for the runner-up spot while Queen tried to follow suit over Riggs. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Enfinger’s No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST. Despite having a flurry of lapped traffic in front of him, Heim utilized his large advantage to cruise around the North Wilkesboro circuit smoothly for a final time as he cycled back to the frontstretch to claim his third checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season. 

    With the victory, Heim, who became the first three-time winner of this season, notched his seventh career win in the Craftsman Truck Series and his second in the previous three races after winning at Kansas Speedway earlier in May. Heim also joined an exclusive club of Truck Series competitors to win at North Wilkesboro Speedway, a list that includes Kyle Larson, Mark Martin and Mike Bliss as he delivered the third victory of the season for both TRICON Garage and Toyota.

    NORTH WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – MAY 19: Corey Heim, driver of the #11 Safelite Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Wright Brand 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 19, 2024 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images).

    “That was crazy,” Heim said on FS1. “A crazy weekend with the weather and what not, but I knew since practice we had the speed. [I] Can’t say enough about these TRICON Garage guys. What a truck, what a weekend. I knew we had potential from practice and we put it all together and executed great today.” 

    Both Enfinger and Riggs rallied from slow starts to this season by notching their first top-five runs in second and third, respectively. 

    “Overall, [today provided] the best execution of the season,” Enfinger said. “This is the third time, second in a row, we brought a really good, fast Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet. We haven’t been performing to our ability or our standards earlier on in the year. I feel like last week at Darlington was the turning point in our season and I’m standing by that. Very, very proud of this truck, proud of our pit crew all year long. Finally, we have a little bit of results to show for it.” 

    “We really needed this,” Riggs said. “We finally finished where we deserve to finish today. It was a great day for us and hopefully, we can just keep building this momentum.” 

    Meanwhile, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, a CARS Tour late model stock car standout from Chesapeake, Virginia, who notched four victories and settled in the runner-up spot in the 2023 standings, capitalized from being the fastest during Friday’s practice session by finishing in fourth place in his Truck Series debut while piloting the No. 1 Best Repair Company Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage. The solid top-five result also occurred after Queen rallied from an early pit road speeding penalty as he received a standing ovation from the North Wilkesboro crowd.  

    “Man, [this opportunity]’s what I’ve worked for my whole life and never knew if I’d get this opportunity,” Queen said. “I’m just blessed, man, and I just hope I can turn this into some more opportunities. I love racing my late model, but this is my dream to get to the next level. Those guys at the shop [TRICON Garage], they put the hours in and that’s why this truck’s fast. I’m the lucky guy that gets to hold the wheel…I’d love to be full-time [NASCAR racing] next year.” 

    Sammy Smith settled in fifth place while Eckes, Sanchez, Ankrum, Daniel Dye and Friesen finished in the top 10. Notably, Ty Majeski ended up 11th ahead of Jack Wood, Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth and Ross Chastain. In addition, Jake Garcia drifted back to 21st ahead of Ben Rhodes while Matt Crafton settled in 20th.

    There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 58 laps. In addition, 26 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the 10th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes leads the regular-season standings by four points over Corey Heim, 64 over Ty Majeski, 66 over Nick Sanchez and 98 over Taylor Gray. 

    Results:

    1. Corey Heim, 66 laps led 

    2. Grant Enfinger 

    3. Layne Riggs 

    4. Brenden Queen 

    5. Sammy Smith 

    6. Christian Eckes, 62 laps led 

    7. Nick Sanchez 

    8. Tyler Ankrum, 26 laps led, Stage 2 winner 

    9. Daniel Dye 

    10. Stewart Friesen 

    11. Ty Majeski, 50 laps led, Stage 1 winner 

    12. Jack Wood 

    13. Taylor Gray 

    14. Rajah Caruth, six laps led 

    15. Ross Chastain 

    16. Tanner Gray 

    17. Stefan Parsons 

    18. Matt Mills 

    19. Bayley Currey 

    20. Matt Crafton 

    21. Jake Garcia, 40 laps led 

    22. Ben Rhodes 

    23. Mason Massey 

    24. Chase Purdy 

    25. Ty Dillon 

    26. Timmy Hill 

    27. Dean Thompson, one lap down 

    28. Dawson Sutton, two laps down 

    29. Bret Holmes, three laps down 

    30. Lawless Alan, four laps down 

    31. Thad Moffitt, five laps down 

    32. Spencer Boyd, five laps down 

    33. Josh Reaume, five laps down 

    34. Clayton Green, five laps down 

    35. Connor Jones – OUT, Accident 

    36. Trey Hutchens – OUT, Transmission 

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, May 24, and air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1. 

  • Nick Sanchez scores first Truck career victory at Daytona amid dramatic overtime shootout

    Nick Sanchez scores first Truck career victory at Daytona amid dramatic overtime shootout

    From being involved in an early multi-truck wreck to escaping a final lap multi-truck wreck, Nick Sanchez capped off his roller-coaster evening mired with on-track chaos to claim his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career victory in the Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, February 16.

    The 22-year-old Sanchez from Miami, Florida, led three times for a race-high 26 of 101 over-scheduled laps in an event where he was involved in a multi-truck wreck on the fifth lap. Despite sustaining cosmetic damage to his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST, Sanchez managed to continue as he methodically remained within distance of the front-runners through the draft. Amid more carnages ensuing, he assumed the lead for the first time with nearly 40 laps remaining and managed to remain upfront amid four additional late-race restarts amid four on-track carnages.

    Then during an overtime shootout, Sanchez, who briefly lost the lead to Rajah Caruth, reassumed the top spot with drafting help from Taylor Gray before the final lap. During the final lap, Caruth ignited a multi-truck wreck entering the backstretch that sent a multitude of competitors piling into one another and Gray flipping in the air and on top of two competitors before rolling back on all four wheels. With Sanchez managing to drive away from the field prior to the incident, he was able to cruise back to the frontstretch under a cautious pace and claim his first checkered flag in his 24th series start.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Ty Majeski started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 178.767 mph in 50.345 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Johnny Sauter, who clocked in the second-best qualifying lap at 178.703 mph in 50.363 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Spencer Boyd, Ben Rhodes and Jason White dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season commenced, Majeski and Sauter battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch amid two tight-packed lanes. With the front-runners continuing to battle amid two tight-packed lanes through Turns 3 and 4 and through the frontstretch, Sauter managed to lead the first lap by a hair over Majeski while receiving drafting help from teammate Matt Mills.

    Through the next four laps and as the field started to fan out to three lanes amid the draft, Sauter and Majeski duked back and forth for the lead until Sauter managed to muscle his No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead of the pack with both lanes in his control. In the process, Majeski settled in second ahead of Corey LaJoie, Tyler Ankrum and Daniel Dye. Meanwhile, Mills, who sustained significant front nose damage to his No. 42 J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet Silverado RST by drafting Sauter hard in the early laps, was the lead competitor on the outside lane until he was shoved out of the draft amid a tight three-wide battle towards the front.

    Then just past the fifth lap mark, the event’s first caution flew after Crafton, who was boxed in between Tanner Gray and Christian Eckes amid a stacked two-pack lane within the top 15, received a bump from Eckes into Gray that got Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 loose and bumping into the side of rookie Layne Riggs, which then carried forth into Crafton clipping Tanner Gray, who clipped Stewart Friesen, who then clipped Nick Sanchez through the backstretch. The chain reaction incident ended up triggering a multi-truck wreck that also included Ty Dillon, Thad Moffitt, Rajah Caruth, Lawless Alan, Keith McGee, Enfinger, and Jake Garcia. Amid the incident, Sauter was scored the leader ahead of Majeski, LaJoie, Ankrum and Daniel Dye while Bayley Currey, Taylor Gray, Bret Holmes, Toni Breidinger and Dean Thompson were running in the top 10.

    During the caution period, some including Jason White, LaJoie, Grant Enfinger, Timmy Hill, Ben Rhodes, Crafton, Riggs, Mills and Tanner Gray pitted while the rest led by Sauter remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 12, Sauter and Majeski dueled for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. They remained dead even for the lead through the frontstretch as Sauter tried to edge ahead before Majeski fought back on the inside lane. Amid the tight battle for the lead, Sauter had teammate Currey and Taylor Gray drafting him while Majeski had drafting help from Ankrum as he then muscled ahead with the lead through Turns 3 and 4 during the following lap. Majeski would continue to have both drafting lanes to himself with the lead and with drafting help from Ankrum by the Lap 15 mark.

    Shortly after, the caution returned after Lawless Alan, who was involved in the event’s early multi-truck wreck, spun by himself below the apron entering Turns 1 and 2 after he blew a right-rear tire and damaged his front nose after his truck dug into the infield grass before he then spun back across the track and was dodged by oncoming traffic. During the caution period, some including Dye, Stefan Parsons, Cory Roper, Sanchez, Caruth, Codie Rohrbaugh and Boyd pitted while the rest led by Sauter remained on the track.

    With a single remaining in the first stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, Sauter and Majeski again dueled for the top spot through the first two turns until Sauter prevailed on the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Currey to assume the top spot for good through the backstretch. The field then fanned out through the backstretch as both Currey and Majeski tried to mount a late charge for the lead, but their momentum was not enough as Sauter managed to capture the first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Majeski and Currey duked for the runner-up spot while Ankrum, Taylor Gray, Holmes, Jack Wood, Eckes, Thompson and Heim were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by Sauter pitted while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track.

    The second stage period started on Lap 26 as Majeski and Ankrum occupied the front row. At the start, Majeski and Ankrum dueled for the lead until Ankrum muscled ahead with drafting help from teammate Eckes through Turns 1 and 2. With the field dispersed and the competitors trying to regather into a drafting file, Ankrum retained the lead over teammate Eckes and Rhodes while LaJoie, Crafton, Daniel Dye, Sanchez, Breidinger, Heim and Mills moved up the leaderboard as Majeski dropped out of the top 10.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Ankrum retained the lead ahead of a hard-charging Rhodes, who received drafting help from LaJoie on the outside lane to challenge Ankrum for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 while Eckes continued to draft teammate Ankrum on the inside lane. Amid the stacked two-packed field, Crafton and Sanchez battled for fifth while Heim, Dye, Majeski and Breidinger were running in the top 10 ahead of Enfinger, Mills, Caruth, Sauter, Roper and Holmes.

    A lap later and as both Ankrum and Rhodes continued to battle dead even for the lead, the caution flew due to debris in the form of a tire carcass from Stewart Friesen’s entry being spotted in Turn 3, with Friesen pitting for fresh tires. During the caution period, some including Sauter, Currey, Thompson, Tanner Gray, Breidinger, Mills and Holmes pitted while the rest led by Ankrum remained on the track.

    During the following restart on Lap 37, Ankrum received another strong push from teammate Eckes to muscle ahead with the lead on the inside lane. Crafton and Dye would follow suit while Rhodes fell back into a side-by-side battle with teammate Majeski for fifth place amid the draft and two stacked lanes. With Rhodes picking up LaJoie as a drafting partner through the frontstretch, Ankrum maintained the lead ahead of teammate Eckes, Crafton and Dye through the proceeding lap.

    The caution, however, would return on Lap 38 due to reports of mist around the superspeedway venue. With the field being directed to pit road and placed under a red flag period for more than seven minutes to await the track being dried, Ankrum was awarded the Stage 2 victory scheduled to conclude on Lap 40. Teammate Eckes settled in second while Crafton, Dye, Rhodes, Majeski, LaJoie, Enfinger, Sanchez and Heim were scored in the top 10.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace for the second stage break, nearly the entire field led by Ankrum pitted while the rest led by Bret Holmes and Sauter remained on the track. During the pit stops, Ankrum nearly collided with Spencer Boyd, who was trying to enter his pit stall. In addition, Jason White drove through multiple pit stalls while Majeski was penalized due to his pit crew jumping over his pit stall too soon.

    With 56 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Holmes and Sauter occupied the front row. At the start, Holmes marched ahead with the lead from Sauter, where the former moved in front of him to the inside lane before Tanner Gray gained a strong run amid the draft through the backstretch to claim the lead followed by Chase Purdy. Amid Gray’s early efforts, Holmes would maintain the lead amid the draft followed by Sauter for the next two laps before the caution returned as Keith McGee wrecked in Turn 4.

    During the caution period, select names that included Sanchez, LaJoie and Cory Roper pitted while the rest led by Holmes remained on the track.

    With the event restarting with 49 laps remaining, Sauter and Holmes engaged in another side-by-side battle for the lead and in front of two tight-packed lanes. Five laps later, however, the caution flew after Holmes slipped sideways while battling Sauter entering the frontstretch and spun towards the infield along with Currey, who spun off the front nose of Taylor Gray and made light contact with the inside wall towards the pit road entrance. This resulted in a majority of the field led by Sauter returning to pit road for service while the rest led by Enfinger pitted. Enfinger, however, would pit shortly after along with several other names during the caution period, thus handing the lead to Sanchez

    With the event restarting with 39 laps remaining, Sanchez received a strong push from Taylor Gray to muscle away with the lead. As the field fanned out to two and three tight-packed lanes amid the draft, Sanchez had both lanes to his control as he retained the lead followed by Taylor Gray. Three laps later, however, Ben Rhodes received a strong shove from Eckes to march forward into the lead, where he would lead the next five laps before he was challenged by Sauter for the top spot.

    Then with 30 laps remaining, Rhodes made an unscheduled pit stop under green due to a tire issue to his No. 99 Ranch Fuel Energy Drink Ford F-150 as a result of an earlier on-track contact with Ankrum, where Ankrum ran into the right side of Rhodes’ entry. Amid Rhodes’ issue, a three-way battle for the lead ensued between Chase Purdy, Sanchez and Eckes for the lead while LaJoie, Parsons, Taylor Gray, Ankrum and Jack Wood joined the battle amid two tight-packed lanes.

    Two laps later, Rhodes’ event went from bad to worse after he slipped sideways and spun in Turn 4 while also making contact with Tanner Gray and Breidinger due to another tire issue to his entry. The issue occurred as Rhodes was lapped by the leaders entering Turns 3 and 4. With the damage to his entry, the reigning two-time Truck Series champion concluded his event in his pit stall.

    During the proceeding restart with 23 laps remaining, Sanchez received a strong shove from Eckes to assume the lead from LaJoie as Taylor Gray followed suit in third place. Trouble, however, returned during the following lap when Eckes received a bump from LaJoie that sent his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST sideways and into the side of Parsons while he also got rear-ended by Sauter, whose hood popped up as both he and Eckes spun entering the frontstretch.

    The start of the next restart with 16 laps remaining featured Sanchez muscling away from the field on the inside lane with a strong push from Taylor Gray. They would be followed by Jack Wood while the rest of the field engaged to battling in two tight-packed lanes. The following lap, the caution returned after Dean Thompson ran into the rear of Mason Massey entering Turn 4 and slipped sideways while teammate Breidinger was also involved as she ran into the rear of Thompson, slipped up the track and spun her No. 1 Celsius Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

    During the following restart with nine laps remaining, Rajah Caruth received drafting help from teammate LaJoie to move into the lead entering the first two turns. Both Spire Motorsports competitors would muscle away from the field through the backstretch until Sanchez gained a massive draft to reassume the top spot with drafting help from Taylor Gray as they were followed by Wood, Ankrum and Purdy while Caruth and LaJoie briefly separated amid the draft.

    Two laps later and as Sanchez and Taylor Gray started to battle dead even for the lead in front of the pack, the caution flew after Ankrum slipped sideways off the front nose of Purdy, with both collecting Eckes before spinning through the backstretch’s grass. The incident was enough to send the event into overtime as Sanchez was scored the leader ahead of Caruth, Taylor Gray, Wood, LaJoie and Crafton.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Sanchez and Caruth battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns until Caruth assumed the lead from the outside lane as both he and LaJoie rocketed ahead from the outside lane. They then maintained the lead through the backstretch until Sanchez and Taylor Gray gained a run to the outside lane towards Turns 3 and 4, which was enough for Sanchez to reassume the lead entering the frontstretch.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Sanchez was leading ahead of Taylor Gray, Wood, Caruth and Heim as the field started to fan out to three lanes through the first two turns. Then entering the backstretch, a fiery multi-truck ignited after Caruth drove up the track and turned Wood into Taylor Gray, which sent Gray spinning and wrecking against the backstretch’s outside wall before he was T-boned by Daniel Dye and sent upside-down on top of Eckes and Tanner Gray before his No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro rolled back on all four wheels. With the caution flag flying to end the event as nearly the entire field wrecked in the backstretch, Sanchez, who drove away from the incident, was scored the leader and declared the winner for his first series’ career victory.

    With the victory, Sanchez, who claimed the 2023 Truck Series Rookie-of-the-Year title and just missed the Championship 4 cutline amid a winless season, became the 123rd competitor overall to achieve a victory in the Craftsman Truck Series and the seventh to do so at Daytona International Speedway. He also recorded the first victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series for Rev Racing and the 100th points-paying victory in NASCAR at Daytona for the Chevrolet nameplate, with the Chevrolet nameplate also racking up its fourth victory at Daytona.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[The win]’s Pretty surreal, especially with how the race started,” Sanchez said on FS1. “A big thanks to my team, sticking with me all last year. We were winless. It hurt. We should’ve won, but we redeemed ourselves in the first race possible. [It’s] Definitely gonna be a good year.”

    Amid the carnage, Corey Heim ended uo in second place followed by Rajah Caruth, who navigated his damaged No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST to a strong top-three result while Bret Holmes and Spencer Boyd ended up in the top five. Parsons, Crafton, Timmy Hill, Bryan Dauzat and Eckes finished in the top 10.

    Taylor Gray, who ended up 19th following his final-lap upside-down wreck, emerged uninjured, though he, LaJoie, Dye, Roper, Thompson and Rohrbaugh were unable to finish.

    There were 24 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured 12 cautions for 52 laps.

    Following the first event of the 2024 Truck Series season, Tyler Ankrum, who finished 11th at Daytona, leads the regular-season standings by a single point over Sanchez, four over Eckes, five over both Holmes and Crafton, seven over both Heim and Majeski and eight over Caruth.

    Results.

    1. Nick Sanchez, 26 laps led

    2. Corey Heim

    3. Rajah Caruth, one lap led

    4. Bret Holmes, 13 laps led

    5. Spencer Boyd

    6. Stefan Parsons

    7. Matt Crafton

    8. Timmy Hill

    9. Bryan Dauzat

    10. Christian Eckes, one lap led

    11. Tyler Ankrum, 16 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    12. Jason White

    13. Bayley Currey

    14. Stewart Friesen

    15. Ty Majeski, six laps led

    16. Tanner Gray, one lap led

    17. Grant Enfinger, two laps led

    18. Jack Wood

    19. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident

    20. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    21. Daniel Dye – OUT, Accident

    22. Cory Roper – OUT, Accident

    23. Codie Rohrbaugh – OUT, Accident

    24. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    25. Mason Massey, one lap down

    26. Matt Mills, two laps down

    27. Tony Breidinger, four laps down

    28. Chase Purdy – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    29. Johnny Sauter – OUT, Accident, 24 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    30. Ben Rhodes, – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    31. Keith McGee – OUT, Accident

    32. Lawless Alan – OUT, Overheating

    33. Layne Riggs – OUT, DVP

    34. Jake Garcia – OUT, Accident

    35. Ty Dillon – OUT, Accident

    36. Thad Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    With the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season underway, the next event on the schedule is the Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, February 24, and air at 2 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Moffitt triumphs in Truck Series return at Talladega amid overtime shootout

    Moffitt triumphs in Truck Series return at Talladega amid overtime shootout

    With his racing plans for next season undetermined, Brett Moffitt made the most of a one-race NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series return for Front Row Motorsports by winning the Love’s RV Stop 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, September 30, amid an overtime shootout.

    The 2018 Truck Series champion from Grimes, Iowa, led five times for 22 of 99 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started 31st before methodically drafting his way towards the front amid a total of 23 lead changes for 11 different leaders, eight caution periods and late on-track chaos that ensued and collected a host of competitors and Playoff contenders. Leading for the first time on Lap 63, Moffitt lost the lead at the start of overtime to Christian Eckes and Chandler Smith but was quick to cross underneath Eckes and shove Eckes out of the draft at the start of the final lap to muscle ahead from Smith with drafting help from Parker Kligerman through the backstretch. For the final two turns, Moffitt fended off late challenges from Kligerman, Smith and Ben Rhodes through the tri-oval to claim his first checkered flag in the Truck Series in three years and serve as the spoiler for winning the Truck Series Playoff event at Talladega as a non-title contender.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Chase Purdy notched his second Truck pole position of this season and of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 179.433 mph in 53.368 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Nick Sanchez, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 178.480 mph in 53.653 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Dean Thompson and Greg Van Alst dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks. Byan Dauzat also dropped to the rear of the field for missing driver introductions. Soon after, rookie Jake Garcia, who qualified third, took his truck to the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Purdy quickly transitioned from the outside to the inside lane in front of Sanchez entering the first turn while teammate Jack Wood was trying to keep pace on the outside lane. With the field quickly fanning out to three lanes through the backstretch, Purdy maintained the lead ahead of Sanchez and Ben Rhodes led a charge from the outside lane followed by teammate Matt Crafton while Wood was falling back after losing the draft. With rookie Rajah Caruth igniting another drafting lane towards the outside wall, Purdy proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Sanchez, Ty Majeski, Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim. By then, Wood was penalized for pulling out of line before the event’s start and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road.

    Through the second to fifth lap, Purdy maintained the lead from the inside lane ahead of Sanchez while Caruth was the lead competitor on the outside lane in sixth place. As Chandler Smith tried to form a third drafting lane, Purdy transitioned from the outside to the inside lane to maintain the lead amid the draft. Not long after, Caruth challenged Purdy for the lead on the outside lane, but Purdy rocketed ahead to maintain it on the inside lane. Then as Purdy tried to block Caruth, which he was too late to do so, he got stuck in the middle lane, allowing Sanchez to muscle ahead on the inside lane. With Sanchez leading Majeski, Hocevar, Caruth and Heim, Purdy fell back into the top 10 and towards the middle of the pack that fanned out to three lanes and continued to jostle for early positions.


    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and as the field continued to battle amid two tight-packed lanes, Sanchez maintained the lead ahead of Majeski, Hocevar, Parker Kligerman and Heim while Purdy, David Gilliland, Jake Drew, Bret Holmes and Dean Thompson were in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes and Zane Smith were running in the top 16 while Ben Rhodes was back in 24th.

    By Lap 15, Sanchez continued to lead ahead of Majeski, Hocevar, Kligerman and Purdy while Heim, David Gilliland, Thompson, Holmes and Enfinger were jostling and battling within the top 10 along with the rest of the field. Behind, Eckes was in 12th, Zane Smith was in 14th and Rhodes was in 20th.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Sanchez, who came into the event 22 points below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, fended off the stacked field to notch his third Truck stage victory of the 2023 season. Hocevar trailed in second while Heim, Majeski, Holmes, Colby Howard, Kligerman, Tanner Gray, Gilliland and Thompson were in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Zane Smith, Rhodes, Enfinger and Eckes were in the top 20 while 32 of 36 starters were scored on lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Sanchez pitted for the first time as mixed strategies ensued with some taking two tires while the rest opted for four fresh tires. Amid the pit stops, Playoff contender Zane Smith slid his truck sideways while trying to enter his pit stall as he ended up clipping his tire carrier, which sent the tire carrier and two tires the carrier was carrying flying, with the tires rolling out of the pit stall, as Smith ended up having his truck serviced backward in the pit stall.

    The second stage started on Lap 27 as Sanchez and Kligerman occupied the front row. At the start, Sanchez received a strong push from Majeski to muscle ahead of Kligerman and retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. With the field quickly fanning out to three stacked lanes, Sanchez continued to lead until Kligerman received drafting help from Gilliland to assume the top spot in his No. 75 Tide Chevrolet Silverado RST through the frontstretch and back to the start/finish line.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Kligerman was leading ahead of Hocevar followed by Gilliland, Sanchez and Holmes while Thompson, Majeski, Rhodes, Chandler Smith and Wood were in the top 10.  In the midst of the battles towards the front, Playoff contenders Enfinger, Eckes and Heim were running 16th to 18th. Meanwhile, Zane Smith, who sustained damage to the right-rear quarter panel of his truck amid his pit road incident, was mired a lap down in 35th after he had reported his No. 38 Love’s Ford F-150 was jumping out of gear.

    Five laps later, Hocevar, who assumed the lead three laps earlier, was leading ahead of Majeski followed by a hard-charging Kligerman, Rhodes and Sanchez while Holmes, Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray, Thompson and Heim were mired in the top 10 and amid the stacked pack. Behind, Eckes was in 14th and Enfinger was back in 27th while Zane Smith took his truck to the garage.

    Then with two laps remaining in the second stage period, the caution flew after Eckes made contact with Stewart Friesen, which resulted in Friesen clipping Tyler Ankrum before Friesen’s No. 52 GearWrench Toyota Tundra TRD Pro went dead straight towards the Turn 3 outside wall and wrecked hard as David Gilliland was also collected. As a result of the multi-truck incident, the second stage period that was scheduled to end on Lap 40, instead, concluded under caution as Kligerman claimed the stage victory. Sanchez settled in second followed by Playoff rivals Hocevar, Majeski and Rhodes while Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray, Holmes, Thompson and Heim were scored in the top 10. By then, Eckes and Enfinger were mired in the top 20, Rhodes was scored outside the top 20 and Zane Smith was in the garage amid his mechanical issues.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Kligerman returned to pit road as various pit strategies again occurred with Colby Howard opting for fuel only to his truck and select names including Tanner Gray, Purdy, Heim, Enfinger, Tyler Hill and Dean Thompson changing two tires while the rest opted for four fresh tires.

    With 48 laps remaining, the final stage started as brothers Tanner and Taylor Gray occupied the front row. At the start, Tanner Gray muscled his No. 15 Sport Clips Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead on the inside lane while the field quickly fanned out to three lanes through the first two turns and through the backstretch. As the field made its way back to the tri-oval to reach the halfway mark on Lap 47, Tanner Gray maintained the lead ahead of Howard, Heim, Sanchez and Tyler Hill while Thompson, Taylor Gray, Purdy, Holmes and Wood were in the top 10. In the process and amid the stacked racing, Eckes was in 12th, Rhodes was back in 15th followed by Enfinger in 17th, Majeski was strapped in 20th and Hocevar was back in 22nd.

    Four laps later, the caution returned after Taylor Gray got turned sideways off the front nose of Bayley Currey entering the backstretch, which resulted in Gray spinning and clipping Ankrum, who also clipped Crafton in the process, as Playoff contender Enfinger was also involved as he spun sideways and emerged with damage to his No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST. During the caution period, select names that included Lawless Alan, Currey, Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Cory Roper, Ryan Vargas, Hailie Deegan and Garrett Smithley pitted while the rest led by Tanner Gray remained on the track.

    During the proceeding restart with 38 laps remaining, Tanner Gray and Sanchez dueled for the lead ahead of the stacked pack through the first two turns and the backstretch. Gray and Sanchez would remain in a dead heat for the lead for the next two laps until the caution returned as Currey and Enfinger made the slightest of contact through the frontstretch that got Enfinger loose and turned Currey into the path of Tyler Hill as Currey ended up hitting the inside wall. With Enfinger initially being in the position of cycling back on the lead lap due to being the first competitor a lap down when the carnage ensued, he lost the benefit due to being involved in the incident.

    Amid the incident, the field led by Sanchez returned to pit road for service and mainly for fuel. Following the pit stops, Sanchez retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Purdy, Moffitt, Tanner Gray, Chandler Smith and Hocevar.

    With the event restarting under green with 33 laps remaining, Sanchez and Holmes battled for the lead entering the first two turns until Sanchez muscled ahead from the outside lane. Then as Sanchez moved to the inside lane and regained drafting momentum, Brett Moffitt muscled his way into the lead after receiving drafting help from Chandler Smtih as Hocevar followed suit. Soon after, Sanchez steered his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST to pit road and served a pass-through penalty for a restart violation as a result of hanging back on the restart. Amid the penalty, Moffitt retained the lead ahead of a long line of competitors with 30 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Moffitt continued to lead ahead of Purdy, Chandler Smith, Rhodes and Jake Drew while Crafton, Heim, Hocevar, Lawless Alan and Holmes were in the top 10. Behind, Eckes fell back to 11th, Majeski was back in 20th and both Sanchez and Enfinger were in 25th and 26th.

    Two laps later, the caution flew after the hood off of Jack Wood’s No. 51 TrueTimber Chevrolet Silverado RST came loose and disintegrated through the backstretch. The caution occurred after teammate Purdy had reassumed the lead with 27 laps remaining.

    During the ensuing restart with 19 laps remaining, trouble struck for Purdy, who started alongside Moffitt on the front row but stacked up the inside lane and dropped off the pace due to a power issue to his No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST. With Purdy dropping out of the racing groove, Moffitt assumed the lead until Crafton challenged on the outside lane with drafting help from Bret Holmes.

    Then with 16 laps remaining, the caution returned after Caruth and Ryan Vargas made contact through the frontstretch, which resulted in Vargas hitting the outside wall and Caruth spinning just past the start/finish line while Playoff contender Hocevar barely dodged the incident.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Moffitt rocketed ahead on the inside lane with drafting help from Rhodes, who moved to second through the backstretch before Eckes regained the momentum and assumed the lead through the backstretch with drafting help from Chandler Smith. As Eckes and Smith moved in front of Moffitt, Rhodes and the field entering the frontstretch, the caution quickly returned when Colby Howard and Purdy made contact as Purdy turned Howard before both veered towards the outside wall, with Purdy slapping the wall and damaging his pole-winning truck while Howard spun across the track, the tri-oval grass and down pit road as the field scattered to avoid the carnage. The incident and leaked fluid across the tri-oval would be enough to place the event in a red-flag period for more than five minutes as the on-track safety crew proceeded to clear the carnage.

    Once the red flag lifted and the race restarted under green with three laps remaining, Eckes and Moffitt dueled for the lead through the first two laps as Eckes had Chandler Smith drafting him while Moffitt had drafting help from Rhodes. Then as the field approached the tri-oval, the caution returned and the event was sent into overtime after Sanchez made contact with Crafton, who rammed into Bret Holmes and clipped Tanner Gray, with a multi-truck wreck ensuing that collected Caruth, Enfinger, Hocevar, Garrett Smithley, Majeski, Cory Roper and Van Alst, who impacted the outside wall head-on. Amid the carnage, Eckes retained the lead ahead of Moffitt while the event was sent into a second red flag period that spanned for more than five minutes.

    Once the red flag lifted and the event restarted in overtime, Moffitt and Eckes dueled for the lead exiting the frontstretch until Moffitt received a shove from Rhodes, Thompson and Kligerman to muscle ahead through the first two turns. With Moffitt briefly losing the draft through the frontstretch, Eckes and Chandler Smith responded back amid a two-truck draft as Smith drafted Eckes into the lead through the frontstretch.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Eckes was leading ahead of Chandler Smith as the rest of the field regained their momentum to catch the two leaders. With Eckes and Smith getting separated, this allowed Moffitt to jump to the outside lane and close in on Eckes for the lead through the first two turns. Eckes then moved his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST up to try to block Moffitt, but Moffitt crossed his No. 34 Fr8Auctions Ford F-150 underneath Eckes. This resulted in Eckes losing momentum and falling out of the draft while Moffitt and Smith dueled for the lead ahead of two stacked lanes through the backstretch. Moffitt then started to muscle back ahead with the lead followed by Kligerman as both managed to move in front of Smith and Rhodes through Turns 3 and 4. Then as Kligerman tried to make his move to Moffitt’s outside, Smith and Rhodes remained with Moffitt on the inside lane while Kligerman started to lose the draft entering the tri-oval. Smith and Rhodes then tried to fan out and gain a final lap run on Moffitt, but the momentum for both was not enough as Moffitt managed to retain the lead and win by 0.089 seconds over Rhodes.

    With the victory, Moffitt notched his 13th career win in the Craftsman Truck Series, his first both at Talladega and on a superspeedway venue, and his first since winning at Kansas Speedway in October 2020, which marked his latest full-time stint in the series. In addition to achieving his first Truck victory driving a Ford, Moffitt also recorded the eighth Truck career victory for Front Row Motorsports and the first for FRM’s No. 34 entry in the entry’s debut.

    With Moffitt being a former winner and champion in the Truck Series but competing this season on a full-time basis for AM Racing in the Xfinity Series, this season marks the eighth consecutive season where the Truck’s Talladega Playoff event was won by a non-Playoff contender, which extends the streak of non-Playoff competitors winning at Talladega and preventing the current seven Playoff contenders from winning and earning an automatic berth to this year’s Championship 4 field.

    “It’s pretty awesome,” Moffitt, whose racing plans for 2024 remain undetermined, said on the frontstretch on FS1. “I’ve notably struggled at superspeedways in the past and dreaded coming to them, but this was all “pressure off” situation that Front Row [Motorsports] gave me, Fr8Auctions to come here and just go out there and try to help a teammate. Obviously, that didn’t work out for that group, but to come here and have a shot at a win and to do it is pretty amazing. Reminds me of the good old days that I wanna get back to doing this on a regular basis, so we’ll see what happens.”

    Playoff contender Ben Rhodes was the highest-finishing Playoff contender on the track as he settled in the runner-up spot for a second consecutive year at Talladega while Dean Thompson tied his career-best result of third place. Chandler Smith, who was piloting Rackley W.A.R.’s No. 25 Chevrolet Silverado RST, came home in fourth place while Corey Heim, who is already guaranteed a spot for this year’s Championship 4 finale after winning at Bristol Motor Speedway, finished fifth.

    Rookie Daniel Dye, Nick Sanchez, Hailie Deegan, Kligerman and Lawless Alan completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Hocevar and Enfinger finished 11th and 13th while Eckes drifted all the way back to 19th. In addition, Majeski retired in 21st while Zane Smith capped off his long afternoon in 32nd.

    There were 23 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 41 laps. In addition, 19 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Brett Moffitt, 22 laps led

    2. Ben Rhodes

    3. Dean Thompson

    4. Chandler Smith

    5. Corey Heim

    6. Daniel Dye

    7. Nick Sanchez, 25 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Hailie Deegan

    9. Parker Kligerman, 10 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    10. Lawless Alan

    11. Carson Hocevar, five laps led

    12. Rajah Caruth

    13. Grant Enfinger

    14. Jack Wood

    15. Garrett Smithley

    16. Bret Holmes, three laps led

    17. Ryan Vargas

    18. Taylor Gray, one lap led

    19. Christian Eckes, eight laps led

    20. Jake Drew, one lap down

    21. Ty Majeski – OUT, Accident

    22. Cory Roper – OUT, Dvp

    23. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident

    24. Matt Crafton – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    25. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident, 12 laps led

    26. Greg Van Alst- OUT, Accident

    27. Jason M. White, 11 laps down

    28. Chase Purdy – OUT, Accident, 11 laps led

    29. Jake Garcia, 20 laps down

    30. Tyler Hill – OUT, Accident

    31. Bayley Currey – OUT, Accident

    32. Zane Smith, 44 laps down

    33. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Accident

    34. Stewart Friesen – OUT, Accident

    35. David Gilliland – OUT, Accident

    36. Bryan Dauzat – OUT, Handling

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Corey Heim – Advanced

    2. Carson Hocevar +23

    3. Christian Eckes +9

    4. Nick Sanchez +3

    5. Grant Enfinger -3

    6. Ben Rhodes -5

    7. Ty Majeski -19

    8. Zane Smith -36

    The Round of 8 in the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to conclude at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, on October 22, where the Championship 4 field will be determined. The event’s coverage is set to commence at noon ET on FS1.

  • DiBenedetto survives overtime finish for first Truck career victory at Talladega

    DiBenedetto survives overtime finish for first Truck career victory at Talladega

    A timely caution amid a major wreck during the finish of an overtime attempt generated a new winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series as Matt DiBenedetto was awarded his first career win in the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 1.

    The 31-year-old DiBenedetto from Grass Valley, California, placed himself in prime position of contending for the win as he was running in the top five during the final lap of the first and only overtime attempt that was caused when Carson Hocevar intentionally spun to draw a caution with four laps remaining. Approaching the frontstretch and the finish line, DiBenedetto went three-wide on Playoff contender Ben Rhodes and Bret Holmes as he launched his bid for the win.  Despite getting forced below the double yellow line by Rhodes as Rhodes wrecked along with a host of other competitors, DiBenedetto managed to cross the finish line sideways in the runner-up spot after being edged by Holmes. Following an extensive review of the finish, however, DiBenedetto was deemed the winner due to being out in front at the moment of caution prior to taking the checkered flag and completing the race, thus claiming his first NASCAR national touring series career victory.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Playoff contender John Hunter Nemechek claimed his seventh pole position of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 178.767 mph in 53.567 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate and Playoff contender Chandler Smith, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 177.732 mph in 53.879 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Nemechek jumped ahead with an early advantage as the field stacked up in two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Nemechek retained the lead ahead of teammate Chandler Smith while Zane Smith started to challenge on the outside lane. Despite Zane Smith gaining a run through the frontstretch, Nemechek moved up to block him as he went on to lead the first lap.

    A lap later, a side-by-side battle for the lead between Zane Smith and Nemechek occurred while the field behind started to fan out to three lanes.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by a hair over Zane Smith followed by Ty Majeski, Chandler Smith, Carson Hocevar, Colby Howard, Matt Crafton, Corey Heim, Jordan Anderson and Christian Eckes.

    By Lap 10 and with the field settling into two tight-packed lanes within the draft, Nemechek continued to lead ahead of Zane Smith, Hocevar and Crafton while Chandler Smith and Jordan Anderson battled for fifth. By then, half of the remaining eight Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 with Eckes in eighth. Behind, Ben Rhodes was in 12th, Stewart Friesen was in 17th, Grant Enfinger was back in 23rd and Ty Majeski settled in 27th.

    Then with two laps remaining in the first stage, the first caution of the event flew when the No. 3 Chevrolet Silverado RST piloted by Anderson, which was running in fifth place, went up in smoke and flames at full speed. With the truck up in flames, Anderson, who was trying to keep his truck below the apron with reduced speed, managed to avoid contact with the field as he then steered his flaming truck towards the inside wall in Turn 2 before escaping it. He would then be airlifted to a local hospital to be further evaluated with burns.

    The caution for Anderson was enough for the first stage to conclude on Lap 20 as Nemechek secured his seventh stage victory of the 2022 season. Zane Smith settled in second followed by Hocevar, Chandler Smith, Tanner Gray, Colby Howard, Rhodes, Heim, Tyler Ankrum and Eckes. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Friesen, Enfinger and Majeski were scored in the top 20.

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Nemechek pitted, most for fuel, as Chandler Smith exited first followed by teammate Nemechek, Friesen, Rhodes, Heim and Eckes.

    The second stage started on Lap 26 and at the start, Chandler Smith and Rhodes dueled for the lead in front of Nemechek as the field stacked up entering Turn 2. Then as Rhodes gained another strong run on the outside lane to overtake Chandler Smith for the lead, the caution returned when Colby Howard spun in the middle of the pack and towards the backstretch after cutting a left-rear tire.

    When the race restarted on Lap 31, a tight side-by-side battle for the lead ignited between Rhodes and Chandler Smith through the first two turns before Nemechek gave teammate Chandler Smith a small draft to lead through the backstretch. Rhodes, however, fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Eckes as the field battled in a tight side-by-side pack.

    During the following lap, the caution flew when Lawless Alan blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 3. With debris flying out of Alan’s wrecked truck, Bryan Dauzat and Hocevar also received damage. This caution provided mixed strategy amongst the field as some pitted while others remained on the track.

    With two laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Rhodes and Chandler Smith dueled for the lead in front of the pack and they remained dead even for the lead when they returned to the frontstretch and started the final lap of the second stage.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 40, Chandler Smith received a draft from teammate Nemechek to surge ahead of Rhodes and capture his sixth stage victory of the 2022 season. Teammate Nemechek settled in second while Friesen, Rhodes, Enfinger, Eckes, Ankrum, Heim, Zane Smith and Majeski were scored in the top 10. By then, all of the eight Playoff contenders cracked the top 10 and had scored at least one stage point.

    Following the second stage’s conclusion, Zane Smith nursed his No. 38 Love’s Travel Stop Ford F-150 into his pit stall after he cut a right-rear tire and damaged the right-rear fender of his truck. Once pit road became accessible for the field, some led by Nemechek pitted, mainly for fuel, while names like Chase Purdy, Bret Holmes, Johnny Sauter, Matt DiBenedtto, Hailie Deegan and Clay Greenfield remained on the track. Prior to the restart, names like Nemechek and Chandler Smith pitted again to top off on fuel and for damage repair.

    With 49 laps remaining, the final stage started as Chase Purdy and Bret Holmes occupied the front row. At the start, Holmes cleared the field and assumed the lead on the outside lane followed by Matt DiBenedetto as the field started to fan out to three lanes through the backstretch.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 47, Holmes was leading ahead of DiBenedetto, Purdy, Johnny Sauter and Derek Kraus while Jack Wood, Enfinger, Eckes, Blaine Perkins and Carson Hocevar were scored in the top 10. By then, Eckes was the lone Playoff contender running in the top 10 while the remaining seven were mired inside the top 30.

    With less than 40 laps remaining, Eckes made his way to the top of the field followed by Holmes, Hocevar, DiBenedetto and Sauter while Ryan Preece, Kraus, Purdy, Wood and Enfinger were in the top 10. With two of eight Playoff contenders running in the top 10, Rhodes and Majeski were in the top 20 while Friesen, Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Zane Smith were mired back from 25th to 28th, respectively.

    Then nearing the final 30 laps of the event and with most of the front-runners veering to pit road for service under green, the caution flew when Hailie Deegan, who entered pit road too fast, hit her tire carrier and caused a tire to roll out of her pit box and onto the infield grass, which prompted the tire carrier to bolt to the infield grass and retrieve the tire. Following the pit stops, additional names like Friesen, Sauter and Purdy were penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Down to the final 26 laps of the event, the race proceeded under green as Eckes and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Hocevar was drafted into the lead followed by Enfinger before Eckes fought back on the outside lane through the backstretch. Soon after, Eckes and Hocevar engaged in a tight side-by-side battle for the lead in front of the pack running tight through two drafting lanes.

    Five laps later, the caution returned when Colby Howard spun in front of Nemechek in Turn 4, though he managed to straighten his truck and not sustain any significant damage nor collect others.

    With 18 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Eckes received a push from teammate Rhodes on the outside lane to remain as the leader by a mere margin before Hocevar fought back on the inside lane with drafting help from Preece. 

    Three laps later, the caution flew when Playoff contender Grant Enfinger, who was starting to fall off the pace in Turn 3, was bumped by Austin Wayne Self as both slipped sideways and pounded the outside wall. In the process, Sauter and Tanner Gray were collected as all four sustained significant damage to their respective trucks.

    During the following restart with 10 laps remaining, Hocevar received drafting help from Preece to lead the inside lane while teammates Eckes and Rhodes fought back on the outside lane. As the field returned to the frontstretch, the front-runners were mired in a tight pack between two lanes as Eckes and Hocevar remained dead even for the lead.

    Then with five laps remaining of the event, Hocevar, who was battling Eckes for the lead, dropped his truck below the apron and was falling off the pace after cutting a tire. Then with the race remaining under green while the lead pack zipped by, Hocevar remained on the track below the apron and looped his truck around past the start/finish line. This prompted NASCAR to draw the caution as Eckes was ahead followed by teammate Rhodes, DiBenedetto, Bret Holmes and Preece. In addition, NASCAR issued a one-lap penalty to Hocevar for intentionally causing a caution as the field was sent into overtime.

    During the start of overtime, teammates Eckes and Rhodes battled for the lead through the first two turns. Then through the second turn and the backstretch, Rhodes received drafting help from Holmes to briefly pull away with the lead before the rest of the front-runners caught up to them through Turns 3 and 4. By then, Holmes navigated his way into the lead as DiBenedetto and Rhodes dueled for the lead.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Holmes was leading ahead of Rhodes, DiBenedetto, Eckes and Preece. Through the backstretch, Rhodes was drafted into the lead by Eckes before both ThorSport Racing teammates dueled for the lead in front of the pack. 

    Then entering Turn 4, Rhodes started to pull ahead of Eckes when Heim got bumped as he wrecked his No. 51 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the outside wall. With Heim coming back across the track and collecting more competitors, Holmes and DiBenedetto went three-wide on Rhodes approaching the start/finish line. While Holmes remained on the outside lane, DiBenedetto made contact with Rhodes as he was shoved below the double yellow line. The contact got Rhodes sideways as nearly the entire field wrecked while crossing the finish line. Back at the front, however, Holmes edged DiBenedetto by 0.002 seconds to score what appeared to have been his first NASCAR national touring series career victory.

    Following an extensive review of the final lap incident, the battle for the win and who was out in front at the moment of caution, NASCAR determined that the caution was displayed before Holmes crossed the finish line to complete the race and that DiBenedetto was out in front when the caution was displayed, thus being declared the official winner.

    With the victory, DiBenedetto, who has made 248 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, achieved his first career victory in his 338th career start across NASCAR’s top three national touring series and in his 21st career start in the Camping World Truck Series. The victory was also the first for Rackley-W.A.R. Racing, a team that debuted in 2021. 

    DiBenedetto’s victory marks the seventh consecutive season where the Truck Series Playoff event has been won by a non-Playoff contender with the streak spanning to the series’ Playoff inception in 2016. He also became the sixth different competitor to record a first Truck career victory at Talladega.

    “Oh man, it’s such a long time coming!” DiBenedetto said on FS1. “Praise God. I’m so thankful. [My fans] have bared with me through so much in me being a reckless human being sometimes just through life. This one’s life-changing. I’m out of breath. I think I was more nervous waiting and hearing what would happen. My spotter, Doug Campbell, is awesome. We worked together so good. I think in the Cup Series, we led on like the white flag twice here or something at Talladega. So, I owe a lot to him. At the end there, we were just really committed to staying on the bottom [lane] and pushing. This [truck], it pushed well, so I was just committed to staying there and pushing whoever was in front of me. I’m so thankful. So thankful! This is amazing. This team deserves it.” 

    Once the final finishing order was displayed, Rhodes was awarded the runner-up spot despite ending up with a wrecked truck while Holmes was shuffled back to a career-best third place.

    “It’s tough to lose something that close,” Holmes said. “We lost an ARCA race that close, I don’t know, probably lost it closer today. I want to win here so bad, I can’t stand it. I have so many people here from my hometown, friends, and family. Growing up and racing at the dirt track across the road, it just would mean the world for me to win here. It seems like the last couple years in ARCA we’ve been right there, the Truck races we’ve been right there. It’s just super tough, hate we couldn’t pull it off for everybody. Wish the race ended at the finish line because I feel like we would’ve had it…It’s tough to lose that one, for sure.”

    Preece ended up fourth while Eckes completed the top five. Deegan notched a career-best sixth place despite being involved in the final lap accident while Purdy, Colby Howard, Parker Kligerman and Tyler Ankrum completed the top 10 on the track.

    Notably, Playoff contenders Chandler Smith, Zane Smith, Friesen, Majeski, Nemechek and Enfinger finished 14th, 17th, 20th, 23rd, 24th and 29th, respectively.

    There were 25 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 36 laps.

    Results.

    1. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led

    2. Ben Rhodes, two laps led

    3. Bret Holmes, six laps led

    4. Ryan Preece

    5. Christian Eckes, 25 laps led

    6. Hailie Deegan

    7. Chase Purdy, six laps led

    8. Colby Howard

    9. Parker Kligerman

    10. Tyler Ankrum

    11. Kaden Honeycutt

    12. Clay Greenfield

    13. Derek Kraus, three laps led

    14. Chandler Smith, 17 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    15. Timmy Hill

    16. Parker Retzlaff

    17. Zane Smith, one lap led

    18. Kaz Grala

    19. Jack Wood

    20. Stewart Friesen

    21. Bayley Currey

    22. Matt Crafton, one lap led

    23. Ty Majeski, one lap led

    24. John Hunter Nemechek, 20 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    25. Johnny Sauter

    26. Corey Heim – OUT, Accident

    27. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident

    28. Carson Hocevar, one lap down, 12 laps led

    29. Grant Enfinger, one lap down

    30. Austin Wayne Self – OUT, Accident

    31. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident

    32. Jennifer Jo Cobb – OUT, Clutch

    33. Lawless Alan – OUT, Accident

    34. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    35. Bryan Dauzat – OUT, Dvp

    36. Jordan Anderson – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    2. Chandler Smith +30

    3. Zane Smith +18

    4. Ben Rhodes +3

    5. Christian Eckes -3

    6. Stewart Friesen -3

    7. John Hunter Nemechek -5

    8. Grant Enfinger -29

    With the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season nearing its conclusion, the Playoff’s Round of 8 will next continue at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 22, where the Championship Round field will be set. The event’s coverage is scheduled to commence at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Corey Heim takes ARCA victory at Kansas, Bret Holmes claims ARCA championship

    Corey Heim takes ARCA victory at Kansas, Bret Holmes claims ARCA championship

    The 2020 ARCA Menards Series season finally reached its conclusion with the season finale Friday night in the Heartland at Kansas Speedway.

    Only two drivers had a chance at the championship, Bret Holmes and Michael Self, and neither has ever won an ARCA title. While the battle was competitive on track, the 2020 championship eventually went to Holmes after five years of trying. With determination and a never give up attitude even when at times he wanted to give up racing entirely, Holmes finally prevailed.

    “It’s been a tough road, for sure,” said Holmes. “Everything we’ve done has just been phenomenal this season, every decision we’ve made. To come out and not even know we were going to run the full season, and to finish it off like this, is really special.”

    With an ARCA title on the line, there was also a race winner to be had in the 100 lap race as well. Three segments split up the 100 lapper, with the first segment ending on Lap 30, second on Lap 60 and the final on Lap 100. Ty Gibbs, who ultimately took home the Owner’s Championship qualified on the pole.

    Segment 1: Lap 1 – Lap 30

    The action was intense early for championship contender Michael Self. Self, in the No. 25 SinClair Lubricants Toyota, started to experience fuel pick up problems on Lap 21 of the race. The issue eventually put the Park City, Utah native a lap down through the rest of the segment, but he was the recipient of the free pass when Segment 1 ended.

    Also experiencing problems was the polesitter, Ty Gibbs. At Lap 28, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team pushed the Monster Energy Toyota behind the wall for multiple laps. It wasn’t until the end of the second segment that Gibbs would return to the racetrack, but multiple laps down.

    As the first segment wrapped up on Lap 30, Venturini Motorsports driver Corey Heim was in first, with Holmes, Derek Griffith, Hailie Deegan, Self, Drew Dollar, Dylan Lupton, Kris Wright, Scott Melton, and Eric Caudell completing the Top 10.

    Segment 2: Lap 33 – Lap 60

    The second segment was caution-free with Heim leading the field to the second break that occurred on Lap 60.

    Segment 3: Lap 64 – Lap 100

    With Heim pulling away from the field, the focus was on the two title contenders, Self and Holmes, who were battling in the top five. Self rebounded to a fifth-place running position after the fuel pickup problem earlier in the race.

    As the checkered flag flew on Lap 100, Corey Heim collected his first-ever checkered flag while Self, unfortunately, fell short for a second consecutive year. Holmes finally took home his first ARCA Menards Series championship in 81 starts since 2016. Self was runner-up in the points finishing 12 points behind Holmes.

    “Really surreal right now, man,” said Heim of his first ARCA Menards Series victory. “I’m kind of at a loss for words. Craftsman, Toyota, Venturini Motorsports, all the people who make it happen, couldn’t have done it without them. [Crew chief Kevin Reed Jr.] here, he did an awesome job just dialing me in. We were a little loose throughout the race, but I couldn’t have asked for much more on that last run, and here we are in victory lane. Couldn’t be happier.”

    Heim dominated the race by leading 82 of the scheduled 100 laps, en route to his first ARCA Menards Series victory in just 16 starts.

    There were two leaders among two different lead changes.

    Official Results following the Speediatrics 150 at Kansas Speedway.

    1. Corey Heim, led 82 laps
    2. Bret Holmes, led 18 laps
    3. Derek Griffith
    4. Dylan Lupton
    5. Michael Self
    6. Hailie Deegan
    7. Kris Wright
    8. Drew Dollar, 1 lap down
    9. Scott Melton, 3 laps down
    10. Eric Caudell, 4 laps down
    11. Tim Richmond, 6 laps down
    12. Mike Basham, 9 laps down
    13. Chandler Smith, 19 laps down
    14. Ty Gibbs, 40 laps down
    15. Brad Smith, OUT, Engine
    16. Owen Smith, OUT, Clutch
    17. Wayne Peterson, OUT, Brakes
    18. Alex Clubb, OUT, Vibration

    Up Next: After a hectic season and some major rescheduling, the 2020 ARCA Menards Series season is finally completed. Now, the focus will turn to the off-season and toward the 2021 season as well. Normally, an ARCA Open Test at Daytona takes place in January, but nothing has been officially announced as of this writing.

  • ARCA Menards Series Preview- Madison

    ARCA Menards Series Preview- Madison

    While the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is taking the weekend off, the ARCA Menards Series will take center stage Friday night at Madison International Speedway, the short track located in Oregon, Wisconsin.

    It will mark the halfway point in the ARCA Series for the 2019 season, which has seen a slew of winners and repeat winners. They include Harriosn Burton winning at Daytona, Michael Self winning two races at Pensacola and Salem, Todd Gilliland in Talladega, Christian Eckes in Nashville, the upcoming star Chandler Smith, Ty Majeski winning at Charlotte and Pocono. Self finally got back to victory lane last week at Michigan in a last-lap pass on Majeski in the last corner of the race when Majeski ran out of gas off Turn 4. It was his third win this season.

    With his win last week, Self finally saw the end of some frustrating finishes. He’s looking forward to carry his momentum from last week to Madison on Friday night. However, despite having 28 starts in over a five-year span in the ARCA Series, Madison will be new to Self as he will be making his track debut this weekend.

    “Madison is going to be totally new for me,” says Self. “I’ve never made a lap there, so I’m relying on the video I’ve watched and information from my teammates and people around the VMS shop to prepare and try and be ready to hit the ground running for practice on Friday. The track definitely looks unique and challenging, and hopefully I can pick it up and figure out by Friday night.”

    So far this season, Self has earned three wins, six top fives and top-10 finishes, along with three poles. He currently leads the ARCA Menards Series standings over Bret Holmes by 15 points.

    Self’s teammate, Hailie Deegan, will be returning to the ARCA Series this week. Deegan has been in the headlines a lot this week after a last-lap effort to win the K&N Pro Series West race at Colorado this past weekend, which took her teammate Derek Kraus out for the win.

    Madison will also be new to the rising star power of Deegan.

    “I’m excited to get back in the ARCA car this weekend with Venturini Motorsports at Madison,” said the native of Temecula, California. “I feel confident in my team and my abilities going into the weekend for my next short track start. But my goals are realistic. ARCA is a new series and there’s still a lot to learn. Our first race at Toledo ended early after getting wrecked so I’m going back with similar goals – log laps, learn as much as I can and shoot for top-five finishes.”

    It will be her first ARCA start since Pocono a couple of weeks ago, where Deegan finished seventh after starting fourth. Her previous start was at Toledo last month where she was taken out and left with a disappointing last-place finish.

    Also making his ARCA return, but already having an impressive season with three top fives and four top-10 finishes, is the grandson of Joe Gibbs, Ty Gibbs.

    Gibbs has been making a lot of noise on the track this year and looks to continue to do that at Madison where he has no starts.

    “I’m so ready to get to Madison,” said Gibbs. “I’ve been really excited for Madison since I left Toledo. It’s just a real short track that takes a lot of tires. You’ll definitely have to conserve too so you can have enough brakes to be around at the end, but I’m ready to move on to Madison and hopefully get our first win of the season.”

    Despite having early season success and not being able to compete at all the racetracks due to the age limit, Gibbs is looking to start clicking off wins this weekend.

    “We’ve got a lot of second-place finishes this season which is good in some ways and bad in some ways,” said Gibbs. “I want to win so bad but finishing second has proven that we have the equipment to run up front and compete for wins, we just need all the pieces to fall in to place and work perfectly to get to victory lane.”

    Gibbs has tons of short track experience racing the short tracks across the country in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour. So far this season in the ARCA Series, however, the grandson of Joe Gibbs has a pretty stellar record of finishing second in his first ARCA start at Pensacola, sixth at Salem and a pair of second place finishes at Nashville and Toledo, the last time Gibbs competed in an ARCA car.

    Even though the drivers mentioned above have no ARCA starts at the racetrack located in Wisconsin, Venturini Motorsports driver Christian Eckes has two starts there with a best finish of fifth coming two years ago in 2017. His other finish the year prior in 2016, resulted in a DNF due to a drive train issue and saw him finish 14th in his first track start.

    Speaking of challenges, the Middletown, New York driver has faced challenges this season after missing a race due to sickness earlier this season.

    “It’s been a rough couple of months but we’re looking to turn it around this weekend at Madison,” said the Toyota Racing Development driver. “It’s a track that I have loved in the past but haven’t been to in two years, so I’m really looking to get back there. The Venturini organization has shown a ton of success over the past decade at this place and I’m ready to keep it going. Our JBL Audio team has brought awesome race cars so far this year and we’re ready to go make it happen.”

    While other drivers will be making their first starts at Madison this weekends, one driver, Sam Mayer, is eager to get back on track in his home state. Mayer, who is apart of the GMS Racing development program, has been competing across several different racing series. In 2019, the Wisconsin native has finishes of 21st at Pensacola, second at Salem and a fifth at Toledo.

    Mayer is excited to be racing at his home track Friday night at Madison.

    “Getting the chance to race at home is really cool,” Mayer said. “Having all my family and friends come out to watch and support me is going to be really exciting and I hope we can pull out a win for all of them.”

    Sitting second in the ARCA point standings is Bret Holmes who drives the family-owned team No. 23. Holmes has amassed three top fives and seven top-10 finishes. He’ll look forward to carrying his season momentum through to Friday night.

    Madison is a tough track,” he said. “It’s almost like a banked Martinsville Speedway. The corners are really tight, you use a lot of brakes and the front tires wear quickly. I think that’s the difference maker there. You don’t want to get your front tires too hot. On long green-flag runs, that’s where you’ll beat everyone. I’m excited to get back on a short track after these few weeks at speedways. I think our intermediate track program is a little better than our short track, but we’re working on some things at the shop that we’re going to test out to see how they work. We’ve had solid top-five runs here lately, and we’re looking to continue that in Madison this week.”

    Currently, there are 18 drivers entered on the preliminary entry list for this week’s race. They include Joe Graf Jr., Tim Richmond, Eric Caudell, Dale Shearer, Brad Smith, Carson Hocevar, Travis Braden, Corey Heim, Chandler Smith, Dick Karth, Tommy Vigh Jr. and Dick Doheny, who will round out the remaining participants for the race this weekend.

    It will be an all-day show for the ARCA Menards Series drivers. The only practice session begins at 2:15 p.m. ET. The General Tire Pole qualifying is slated for 6 p.m. ET There will be two laps for every driver.

    The Shore Lunch 200 is scheduled to get underway shortly after 9 p.m. CT. The event will see 200 laps that will make up the 100-mile race distance. The race can be seen on MAVTV.