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  • Heim clinches Championship 4 berth with late Truck victory at Bristol

    Heim clinches Championship 4 berth with late Truck victory at Bristol

    In an event dominated by Christian Eckes, Corey Heim captured the final spotlight and punched his ticket to this year’s Championship 4 round after emerging late to win the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday, September 14.

    The 21-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, led the final six of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he was one of eight Playoff competitors vying for both a victory and an early automatic spot to race for this year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship at Phoenix Raceway in early November. Taking the green flag in 11th place, Heim methodically carved his way to the front and managed to secure stage points during both stage break periods.

    Then after restarting alongside dominant pole-sitter and Playoff rival Christian Eckes at the start of the final stage period with 80 laps remaining, Heim spent the majority of the final 80-lap run to the finish trailing Eckes. He then capitalized on Eckes being marred in lapped traffic to overtake him for the lead with six laps remaining. From there, Heim managed to keep his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in front and claim the checkered flag over a hard-charging Eckes to win for the third time in 2023 and become the first Playoff competitor to be guaranteed a championship-contending spot for this year’s finale due to occur less than two months from now.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Thursday, Playoff contender Christian Eckes, who won last weekend’s event at Kansas Speedway, started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 127.064 mph in 15.101 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Carson Hocevar, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 126.813 mph in 15.131 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Bayley Currey, Playoff contender Nick Sanchez, Kaden Honeycutt, Stewart Friesen and Parker Kligerman dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Christian Eckes, who started on the outside lane, quickly transitioned to the inside lane in front of Carson Hocevar through the first two turns as Ty Majeski challenged Hocevar for the runner-up spot from the outside lane. With the field navigating its way around the Bristol circuit while jostling for early positions, Eckes proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    Through the second to fifth lap, a majority of the front-runners migrated to the inside lane and in a single-file line as Eckes retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Hocevar and Majeski while Chase Purdy, Tanner Gray and rookie Rajah Caruth were in the top six. Behind, Zane Smith overtook rookie Taylor Gray for seventh while Jack Wood was running in ninth ahead of William Sawalich, Corey Heim and Grant Enfinger as Ben Rhodes was mired in 14th in between Jake Drew and Hailie Deegan.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Eckes was leading by more than a second over Majeski followed by Hocevar, Purdy and Caruth while Tanner Gray, Zane Smith, Taylor Gray, Wood and Sawalich were running in the top 10. Behind, Heim was in 11th ahead of Enfinger, Jake Drew, Rhodes and Matt DiBenedetto while rookie Daniel Dye, Deegan, Matt Crafton, Dean Thompson and Tyler Ankrum occupied the top 20. Meanwhile, Nick Sanchez was mired in 31st while battling Greg Van Alst for position and trying to navigate his way to the front without losing a lap.

    Four laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Jack Wood, who was running ninth, spun and wrecked against the Turn 3 outside wall before his No. 51 Rowdy Manufacturing Chevrolet Silverado RST then spun back down to the track and was clipped by Dean Thompson’s No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota Tundra TRD Pro as both sustained significant damage to their vehicles and were eliminated from contention. During the caution period, some including Kligerman and Sanchez pitted while rest led by Eckes remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 24, Eckes rocketed ahead and retained the lead over Majeski and Hocevar as the field jostled for positions amid two lanes through the first two turns. With Eckes leading and slowly starting to cruise away from the field, Purdy was in fourth ahead of Caruth, Zane Smith, Taylor Gray and Heim while Tanner Gray, Enfinger and Rhodes were mired in the top 11. Amid the battles, Eckes was leading by more than a second over Hocevar and Majeski by the Lap 30 mark.

    At the Lap 40 mark, Eckes continued to lead by more than a second over Hocevar followed by Majeski, Purdy and Zane Smith while Caruth, Taylor Gray, Heim, Tanner Gray, Enfinger and Rhodes trailed in the top 11. Meanwhile, Nick Sanchez was still mired towards the rear of the field in 26th behind Daniel Dye.

    Ten laps later, Eckes, despite being mired within lapped traffic, continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Hocevar with third-place Majeski trailing by half a second as the latter two tried to keep pace and pressure Eckes for the top spot.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 55, Eckes captured his fifth Truck stage victory of the 2023 season. Hocevar settled in second followed by Majeski, Purdy and Zane Smith while Caruth, Taylor Gray, Heim, Tanner Gray and Rhodes were scored in the top 10. By then, Enfinger and Sanchez were the only two Playoff contenders to not score the first round of stage points as they were mired in 11th and 26th, respectively.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Eckes pitted for service while the rest led by Playoff contender Zane Smith and including Sanchez, newcomer Carson Kvapil and Bayley Currey remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 66 as Zane Smith and Kvapil occupied the front row. At the start, Zane Smith rocketed his No. 38 Speedco Ford F-150 away with the lead from the outside lane while Kvapil, who was piloting the No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports in his series’ debut, spun the tires and stacked up the inside lane. With Kvapil briefly losing pace, Sanchez navigated his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST into the runner-up spot followed by Eckes, the first competitor on four fresh tires, while Kvapil settled in fourth in front of Majeski. As the field behind jostled for positions, Zane Smith maintained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Sanchez by the Lap 70 mark. The caution, however, returned by Lap 74 when Greg Van Alst, who was running towards the rear of the field, spun in Turn 2.

    During the following restart on Lap 80, Zane Smith retained the lead after gaining another strong launch from the outside lane while Sanchez and Eckes battled dead even for the runner-up spot before Eckes prevailed during the proceeding lap. Behind, Majeski moved up to fourth ahead of Kvapil while Heim, Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Hocevar and Purdy were in the top 10 ahead of Rhodes. Amid the battles, Eckes started to challenge Zane Smith for the lead as he was trailing by a tenth of a second.

    By Lap 90, the top-eight Playoff contenders were running in the top 11 on the track as Zane Smith continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Eckes followed by Sanchez, Majeski and Heim while Kvapil, Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Hocevar, Purdy and Rhodes followed suit, with Kvapil, Gray and Purdy being the top non-Playoff contenders running towards the front.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Zane Smith retained the lead ahead of Eckes while Sanchez, Majeski and Heim remained in the top five. By then, Rhodes was overtaken by Caruth for 11th while Enfinger and Hocevar were in seventh and ninth. By then, Matt DiBenedetto and Matt Crafton, both of whom were coming off being eliminated from the Playoffs, were in 15th and 16th while Sawalich and Jake Garcia were in 13th and 14th, respectively. In addition, Kligerman, Stewart Friesen, Tyler Ankrum, Connor Jones and Deegan were battling within the top 20.

    Five laps later, Eckes overtook Zane Smith, who was mired behind the lapped competitor of Spencer Boyd, for the lead. Shortly after and with more lead lap and Playoff contenders trying to navigate around Boyd, Majeski, who was running fourth, fell off the pace after he made contact with Heim that got Majeski loose and with a flat right-front tire to the No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150. Despite plummeting in the leaderboard as the laps in the second stage dwindled, Majeski continued to run on the track and the event remained under green flag conditions.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 110, Eckes cruised to his sixth Truck stage victory of the 2023 season and second of the night. Zane Smith settled in second while Sanchez, Heim, Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Hocevar, Kvapil, Caruth and Rhodes were scored in the top 10. By then, Majeski was mired in 30th as he was lapped by Eckes, but he would receive the free pass during the stage break period due to being the first competitor mired a lap behind.

    During the stage break, some led by Zane Smith pitted for service while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Zane Smith was penalized and sent to the rear of the field for pitting outside of his pit box. Taylor Gray also dropped to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

    With 80 laps remaining, the final stage started as Eckes and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes took off with the lead from the outside lane and he quickly steered his truck from the outside to the inside lane in front of Heim’s No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro through the first two turns. Behind, Enfinger made contact with Taylor Gray to move into third place followed by Hocevar as Gray fell back to fifth in front of Caruth and Rhodes. As the field battled deep within two lanes around the circuit, Eckes stretched his advantage to half a second over Heim and more than a second over third-place Enfinger with 75 laps remaining.

    With 60 laps remaining, Eckes continued to lead by more than a second over Heim followed by Enfinger, Hocevar and Taylor Gray while Caruth, Purdy, Rhodes, DiBenedetto and Friesen were running in the top 10. By then, Sanchez, who scrubbed the outside wall at the start of the final stage and was trying to rally his way back to the front after pitting during the stage break, was back in 13th in between Jake Garcia and Crafton while Majeski and Zane Smith were mired in 25th and 27th, respectively.

    Ten laps later, Eckes retained the lead by more than a second over Heim while Enfinger, Hocevar and Taylor Gray remained in the top five. By then, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Rhodes, Sanchez, Majeski and Zane Smith were running eighth, 13th, 25th and 26th, respectively.

    Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Eckes was now leading by a tenth over Heim while Enfinger, Hocevar and Taylor Gray continued to trail from third to fifth, respectively. Meanwhile, Caruth retained sixth ahead of Purdy, Rhodes, DiBenedetto and Friesen while Sawalich, Garcia, Sanchez, Bayley Currey and Matt Crafton occupied the top 15. By then, Zane Smith, who was still mired within the middle of the pack amid his late pit road penalty, was lapped by Eckes.

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Eckes stabilized his advantage by two-tenths of a second over Heim while Enfinger, Hocevar and Taylor Gray remained in the five. By then, Majeski was back in 23rd, but in jeopardy of being lapped by Eckes, while Rhodes and Sanchez were still scored on the lead lap in eighth and 12th. Eckes would proceed to extend the advantage by half a second with less than 20 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Eckes stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Heim while Enfinger, Hocevar and Taylor followed suit in the top five. By then, Rhodes and Sanchez moved up to seventh and 10th while Majeski was mired in 20th. In addition, Zane Smith was back in 24th.

    Then with six laps remaining, Eckes hit a roadblock after getting mired behind lapped competitors, among which included Ty Majeski and Tanner Gray. This enabled Heim to make his move beneath Eckes for the lead through Turn 2. With both Eckes and Heim battling dead even through Turn 3, Heim managed to muscle ahead and assume the lead from the inside lane with five laps remaining. During the proceeding laps, Heim, who was approaching the lapped traffic that stalled Eckes’ momentum, retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Eckes, who kept Heim close within his sights and tried to regain the lost advantage.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim remained as the leader by two-tenths of a second over Eckes. Despite Eckes gaining a strong run to Heim’s outside through Turns 2 and 3 as Heim was still mired in lapped traffic, Heim managed to keep Eckes behind him through Turns 3 and 4 as he surged ahead and claimed the checkered flag to win by two-tenths of a second over Eckes.

    With the victory, Heim, who won the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular-season championship, scored his third Truck victory of the season, the fifth of his career, first at Bristol and first since winning at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July. Above all, Heim officially claimed one of four vacant spots to this year’s Championship 4 round as he and the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota team led by former championship-winning crew chief Scott Zipadelli will contend for the series championship at Phoenix Raceway in November.

    “Just huge thank you to TRICON Garage, Toyota Racing, Safelite,” Heim, who celebrated with his team and the fans on the frontstretch, said on FS1. “This is insane. I feel like I’ve given so many [wins] away this year and to win one at the end like that was so special. Unreal. We finally got one back. I was in the zone. I just thought about all the races we’ve given away or I’ve given away. I just focus forward and semi-pass up right where we needed to be. Gosh, it’s so awesome to know we’re in Phoenix and it’s awesome.”

    While Heim was left victorious, Eckes was left dejected on pit road after having a secured spot for himself for the finale evaporate in an event where he led a race-high 150 laps and swept both stages. The runner-up result, though, places Eckes in the runner-up spot in the current Playoff standings and 29 points above the top-four cutline with two upcoming Playoff events for him to rally and receive another opportunity to make the cutline by October.

    “I just think it’s a little ironic that [Tanner Gray] was three laps down and waited,” Eckes said. “Whatever. Good truck. I got really tight there at the end. It is what it is, but just huge thanks to Gates Hydraulics,…everybody involved. That one stings, for sure.”

    Like Eckes, the Bristol night featured strong runs for Enfinger and Hocevar, both of whom finished third and fourth in the final running order. As a result, Hocevar is situated in third place in the Playoff standings and 18 points above the cutline while Enfinger holds possession of the fourth and final spot above the cutline by 14 points.

    “I feel like, overall, we executed almost to the best of our ability,” Enfinger said. “I wished we could’ve contended for the win, but overall, I feel like we got all we could get out of our Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet. Lacking a little bit to contend for a win. We always want to fight for a win. We couldn’t do that [tonight], but I think overall, we executed well on pit road. We executed well. Not happy, but satisfied.”

    “We just needed to have a good smooth night tonight and get the points we could and not over-extend ourselves or make any mistakes,” Hocevar added. “We did just that. Our Worldwide Express Chevy was really fast. It was just about not making mistakes and going to run the top [lane]. I wished we could’ve widened out a little bit, but fourth [in the Playoff standings] and plus 20, 18 or whatever it is [above the cutline] is good going into Talladega and that was our goal. We’ll just keep clicking away.”

    Rookie Taylor Gray, coming off a career-best runner-up result at Kansas Speedway, notched his second top-five finish in recent weeks by finishing fifth and as the highest non-Playoff competitor in the field. Rajah Caruth, Rhodes, Purdy, Sanchez and DiBenedetto completed the top 10 on the track.

    For Sanchez, the ninth-place result marks his 10th top-10 finish of the season and a strong rally from starting at the rear of the field. The result, however, leaves him and his No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet team 22 points below the top-four cutline. Rhodes, Majeski and Zane Smith join Sanchez in being scored below the cutline following the first Round of 8 event.

    “It sucks because I did legitimately think we had pace to contend for a win,” Sanchez said. “Just didn’t work out tonight. It is what it is, but we’ll go to Talladega and try to minimize the damage and try to go win Homestead.”

    There were four lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 33 laps. In addition, 20 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Corey Heim, six laps led

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

    3. Grant Enfinger

    4. Carson Hocevar

    5. Taylor Gray

    6. Rajah Caruth

    7. Ben Rhodes

    8. Chase Purdy, one lap led

    9. Nick Sanchez

    10. Matt DiBenedetto

    11. Jake Garcia

    12. Carson Kvapil

    13. Bayley Currey

    14. Stewart Friesen

    15. Connor JOnes

    16. Matt Crafton

    17. Hailie Deegan

    18. Parker Kligerman

    19. Ty Majeski

    20. Jake Drew

    21. Daniel Dye, one lap down

    22. Colby Howard, one lap down

    23. Tyler Ankrum, one lap down

    24. Zane Smith, one lap down, 43 laps led

    25. Kaden Honeycutt, one lap down

    26. Timmy Hill, one lap down

    27. Bret Holmes, one lap down

    28. Lawless Alan, one lap down

    29. Tanner Gray, two laps down

    30. William Sawalich, three laps down

    31. Spencer Boyd, four laps down

    32. Stephen Mallozzi, eight laps down

    33. Memphis Villarreal, nine laps down

    34. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Brakes

    35. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    36. Jack Wood – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Corey Heim – Advanced

    2. Christian Eckes +29

    3. Carson Hocevar +18

    4. Grant Enfinger +14

    5. Zane Smith -14

    6. Ben Rhodes -19

    7. Nick Sanchez -22

    8. Ty Majeski -22

    The second Round of 8 event in the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to occur at Talladega Superspeedway on September 30, with the event’s air coverage slated to occur at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Eckes wins Playoff’s Round of 10 finale at Kansas in wild two-lap shootout

    Eckes wins Playoff’s Round of 10 finale at Kansas in wild two-lap shootout

    After spending a majority of the evening trailing the front-runners, Christian Eckes benefitted through a pair of late-race cautions and a two-lap shootout to overtake Playoff rivals Corey Heim and Zane Smith on the final lap to win the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway on Friday, September 8.

    The 22-year-old Eckes from Greenville, New York, led the final two of 134-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified eighth, notched stage points during the event’s two stage periods and kept pace with the leaders with a locked-up berth to the Round of 8 in the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs already sealed prior to the event.

    Then amid two late-race caution periods, starting with 17 laps remaining and a proceeding one with eight laps remaining that sent the event into a two-lap shootout, Eckes, who was running in the top five amid the late chaos, drew himself into a battle for the lead and win against Heim and Zane Smith prior to the final lap. Despite leading the final lap mark, Eckes briefly lost the lead to both Heim and Zane Smith. With the latter two dueling for the lead through the backstretch, Eckes seized an opportunity and crossed his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet beneath Heim and Zane Smith before bolting past both through the backstretch and nearly sliding up the track in Turn 3 before muscling away and claiming his third Truck Series victory of the 2023 season as the Playoff’s Round of 10 came to a thrilling conclusion.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Chase Purdy notched his first Truck career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 176.292 mph in 30.631 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff competitor and rookie Nick Sanchez, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 176.200 mph in 30.647 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Chase Janes, Spencer Davis Timy Hill and Lawless Alan dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective trucks. Playoff contender Matt Crafton and Colby Howard also dropped to the rear of the field as they started the main event in backup trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Purdy and Sanchez dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and entering the first turn until Sanchez muscled his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead of Purdy on the inside lane and into the lead entering the backstretch. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Sanchez rocketed away from the competition as he proceeded to lead the first lap. With Sanchez leading, Ben Rhodes challenged Purdy for the runner-up spot followed by Christian Eckes while Ty Majeski, who got loose and nearly clipped Purdy through the third turn, was back in fifth ahead of rookie Jake Garcia.

    Through the second lap, Sanchez stretched his advantage to half a second over a side-by-side duel between Rhodes and Purdy while Eckes retained fourth. Behind, Majeski got loose again in Turn 3 as he nearly clipped Garcia while battling for fifth place. The mishap dropped Majeski to seventh as Garcia and Jake Drew moved up to fifth and sixth.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Sanchez was leading by six-tenths of a second over Rhodes followed by Purdy, Garcia and Eckes while Jake Drew, Majeski, Jack Wood, Grant Enfinger and Zane Smith were in the top 10. Behind, Corey Heim was in 11th ahead of rookie Taylor Gray, Hailie Deegan, Matt DiBenedetto and Tanner Gray while Carson Hocevar, Stewart Friesen, rookie Rajah Caruth, Dean Thompson and Jesse Love occupied the top 20 on the track. Meanwhile, Matt Crafton was the lowest-running Playoff contender on the track as he was in 22nd.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Sanchez continued to lead by nine-tenths of a second over Rhodes while third-place Garcia trailed by more than a second. By then, Purdy fell back to fourth ahead of Eckes and Majeski while Drew, Heim, Zane Smith and Wood were mired in the top 10. Meanwhile, Enfinger, Hocevar, DiBenedetto and Crafton were the four Playoff competitors currently running outside the top 10 on the track.

    Three laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Bayley Currey, who was running 23rd, spun his No. 41 Unishippers Chevrolet Silverado RST entering Turn 2. During the first caution period, some including Enfinger, Ankrum, Colby Howard, Spencer Boyd, Justin Carroll, Lawless Alan, Mason Maggio, Deegan and Chase Janes pitted while the rest led by Sanchez remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 20, Sanchez, who spun the tires at the start, retained the lead as the field fanned out through the first turn. In the midst of Sanchez leading, Rhodes was being challenged by Purdy and Eckes for the runner-up spot as Heim and Zane Smith battled for fifth in front of Hocevar and Garcia, who slipped out of the top five.

    Five laps later, Sanchez retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Purdy followed by Rhodes, Heim and Eckes while Zane Smith settled in sixth in front of Hocevar. Shortly after, Enfinger, who restarted outside the top 20, had carved his way back into the top 10 on fresh tires as he was in eighth behind Zane Smith and Jake Drew while Hocevar fell back to ninth.

    Then on Lap 26, the second caution of the event flew when Kaden Honeycutt spun in between Turns 3 and 4 as his truck looped sideways from the top lane to the bottom lane with the leaders approaching and missing Honeycutt. Honeycutt’s incident was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 30 to officially conclude under caution.

    As a result, Sanchez, who came into the event three points above the top-eight cutline to advance to the Playoff’s Round of 8, captured his third Truck stage victory of the 2023 season. Purdy settled in second while Rhodes, Heim, Eckes, Zane Smith, Drew, Enfinger, Hocevar and Majeski were scored in the top 10. By then, DiBenedetto and Crafton were the two Playoff contenders who failed to collect a first round of stage points as they were scored in 11th and 13th on the track while Hocevar managed to clinch his way into the Round of 8 by points for the first time in his career.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Sanchez pitted while Enfinger, who pitted during the first caution period, remained on the track to inherit the lead.

    The second stage started on Lap 35 as Enfinger and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, Sanchez managed to rocket ahead of Enfinger to reassume the lead on the inside lane as the field fanned out through the first two turns and entering the backstretch. With Rhodes challenging and overtaking Enfinger for the runner-up spot, he then proceeded to challenge Sanchez for the lead during the proceeding lap. Despite leading Laps 37 and 38 by a hair over Sanchez amid a heated duel, Sanchez would manage to slide in front of Rhodes’ No. 99 Kubota Ford F-150 through Turns 3 and 4 as he retained the lead with a clear racetrack by Lap 39. By then, Purdy made an unscheduled pit stop under green due to reports of a loose wheel to his pole-winning No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    At the Lap 40 mark, Sanchez was leading by three-tenths of a second over a tight seven-truck battle for the lead that involved Hocevar, Rhodes, Eckes, Zane Smith, Enfinger and Heim, all of whom were separated by a second and were contending in the Playoffs, while DiBenedetto and Crafton trailed in the top nine. With nine of 10 Playoff contenders running first through ninth, Majeski, the 10th Playoff contender, was mired back in 20th while Taylor Gray was the highest-running non-playoff competitor running in 10th place on the track.

    By Lap 50, Hocevar, who overtook Sanchez for the lead two laps earlier, was leading in his No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST by nine-tenths of a second over Sanchez while Zane Smith, Heim and Rhodes were in the top five ahead of Eckes, Enfinger and DiBenedetto. By then, Crafton fell back to 12th while teammate Majeski was still mired in 19th in between Jack Wood and Jesse Love.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 60, Hocevar notched his third Truck stage victory of the 2023 season after muscling away from the field by more than two seconds. Sanchez trailed in second followed by Heim, Zane Smith and Enfinger while Eckes, Rhodes, Rajah Caruth, DiBenedetto and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. By then, the remaining Playoff competitors, Crafton and Majeski, were mired back in 12th and 17th, respectively.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hocevar returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Heim exited pit road first while Sanchez, Zane Smith, Hocevar and Eckes followed suit.

    With 66 laps remaining, the final stage started as Heim and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, Heim took off with the lead from the inside lane as Sanchez engaged in a three-wide battle with Hocevar and Zane Smith for the runner-up spot through Turn 1. Smith and Hocevar then went three-wide on Heim for the lead through the backstretch as nearly the entire front-runners also fanned out in three tight-packed lanes. With Hocevar receiving no drafting help through the backstretch, however, Heim, who had Sanchez drafting help, managed to rocket his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead of Smith through Turns 3 and 4 to clear the field and retain the lead during the following lap.

    Then with 63 laps remaining, Crafton’s Playoff hopes took a hit when he fell off the pace as a result of hitting the backstretch’s outside wall two laps earlier while battling in the top 12. Not long after, trouble struck for his teammate Rhodes, whom Crafton was battling for the final transfer spot to the Playoffs, as he was losing spots on the track amid reports of having a tire going down and making contact with the wall, but he continued to remain on the track as he plummeted to 26th while Crafton pitted his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 and dropped out of the lead lap category. Amid the issues for both ThorSport Racing Playoff contenders, Heim retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Hocevar and four-tenths of a second over Zane Smith with 60 laps remaining.

    Then with 52 laps remaining, Hocevar, who spent the last few laps engaged in a fierce battle with Heim for the lead, overtook him to reassume the top spot. With Hocevar retaining the lead over Heim and Eckes with less than 50 laps remaining, the night went from bad to worse for Crafton, who pitted for a second time under green for repairs to his truck amid his late incident with the wall as he lost more laps from the leaders. By then, DiBenedetto, who was running eighth, was within close distance of racing his way into the Round of 8 over Rhodes, who still retained the final transfer spot to the next round but was mired back in 27th on the track.

    As Rhodes, who went a lap down earlier, pitted for four fresh tires with 43 laps remaining, Hocevar found himself being intimidated for the lead by Heim, who trailed by two-tenths of a second, while third-place Zane Smith trailed by more than three seconds. By then, Eckes and Sanchez were in the top five while Taylor Gray, Enfinger, DiBenedetto, Majeski and Garcia were running in the top 10.

    With 39 laps remaining, Heim pitted under green from the runner-up spot. A bevy of names that included the leader Hocevar, Taylor Gray, Stewart Friesen, Jake Drew, rookie Daniel Dye, Rajah Caruth, Hailie Deegan and Majeski pitted during the proceeding laps while Zane Smith, Sanchez, Eckes and Enfinger would pit during the next lap as DiBenedetto, who drew himself back into contention to still transfer to the Round of 8 but is still needing to make a pit stop, assumed the lead. DiBenedetto would then pit with 35 laps remaining as Tanner Gray assumed the lead.

    Once the last wave of lead lap competitors pitted, among which included late leaders Tanner Gray, Jack Wood and Bret Holmes, Heim, who slid through his pit box during his green flag pit stop but managed to run ahead of Hocevar on the track, cycled back into the lead with 27 laps remaining. By then, Heim was leading by more than a second over Hocevar followed by Zane Smith, Eckes and Sanchez while Taylor Gray, DiBenedetto, Friesen, Caruth and Jake Drew were in the top 10. By then, Enfinger, who was penalized for speeding during his green flag pit stop, was back in 17th in front of Majeski while Rhodes and Crafton were mired in 26th and 35th, respectively.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Heim continued to lead by more than a second over Hocevar while Zane Smith, Sanchez and Eckes continued to run in the top five. By then, DiBenedetto, who was running seventh, was still scored eight points below the top-eight cutline behind Rhodes, who was still mired in 26th on the track while teammate Crafton was running 35th on the track and scored 12 points below the cutline.

    Three laps later, the caution flew due to an accident involving Mason Maggio in Turn 3. During the caution period, the front-runners led by Heim remained on the track. With the event reaching its final 10-lap mark with the caution flag still displayed, some running in the middle of the pack, including Enfinger, Majeski and Rhodes, pitted for service while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green with eight laps remaining, Heim received a strong push from Zane Smith’s No. 38 RTA Ford F-150 to boost ahead of Hocevar and retain the lead. Smith then made his move to Heim’s outside in a bid for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch while Hocevar tried to make it a three-way battle for the lead. Shortly after and amid the tight battle for the lead, the caution returned after Caruth and Tanner Gray wrecked across the frontstretch, with Caruth spinning across the frontstretch grass after getting turned by Gray while Gray spun back across the track and pounded the outside wall. At the moment of caution, Heim managed to retain the lead ahead of Zane Smith and Hocevar.

    Down to the final two laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Heim and Zane Smith dueled for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch. Then exiting the backstretch, Eckes gained a massive run on the leaders as he bolted his No. 19 PEAK/NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet Silverado RST to the outside of Smith entering Turn 3. Eckes, Zane Smith and Heim then went three wide entering the frontstretch, with Heim nearly getting loose, as they battled for the lead and potential win.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Eckes was out in front by a hair over both Zane Smith and Heim while Taylor Gray, DiBenedetto and Hocevar battled for fourth place behind. Through the first two turns, Heim and Zane Smith muscled ahead of Eckes to make it a tight two-truck battle for the lead between them entering the backstretch. Then through the backstretch, Eckes crossed over to the inside lane and managed to overtake both Zane Smith and Heim for the lead entering Turn 3 before he slid up the track and stalled Smith’s momentum, which caused Smith to get loose. With Smith losing his momentum, Eckes managed to keep his foot on the gas pedal and muscle away from the field to cross the checkered flag with the victory in dramatic fashion and by three-tenths of a second.

    With the victory, Eckes, who had secured a spot for the Round of 8 in the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs based on points prior to Friday night’s event at Kansas, scored his fourth career victory in the series, his third of the season and his first since winning at Darlington Raceway in May. Ironically, all three of Eckes’ Truck victories this season have occurred in two-lap shootouts, but tonight was the first where Eckes won under green flag conditions, as the New York native and his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet team proceeded toward their quest to win this year’s Truck Series championship.

    “That was wild,” Eckes said on FS1. “I didn’t know if I was gonna win it or not. We had like a sixth-place truck all day, but that caution coming out, I knew we’d have a shot at it. Here we are. We haven’t won in a really long time, so [I] wanted to kind of set the tone and went a hell of a way to the Round of 10. [Finishes of] Second, third and first. Can’t beat that. Proud of all of these guys. Man, it’s awesome to be back in Victory Lane, for sure.”

    Behind Eckes, Taylor Gray notched a career-best runner-up result in his 29th Truck career start followed by Matt DiBenedetto, who made a strong rally to finish third for his second top-five result of the season. The result, however, was not enough for DiBenedetto and the No. 25 Rackley W.A.R. team to advance to the Round of 8 as their Playoff run came to an end.

    “Honestly this team fought so hard, worked their tail off to give me a good-looking truck and a good-handling truck all night,” DiBenedetto, who will be departing Rackley W.A.R. at the conclusion of the 2023 season, said. “Man, we made the most of it, for sure. Just so thankful for these guys, Rackley Roofing…I hate we missed [advancing to the Round of 8], man. It stinks we had an issue at Milwaukee and it took us out of it. We could be in that next round, but this team, they deserve to hold their heads high, for sure.”

    Like DiBenedetto, Matt Crafton’s hopes for a fourth championship came to an end amid his late contact with the wall and series of unscheduled pit stops that resulted in him finishing in 33rd in the final running order and below the top-eight cutline. This season marks the second in a row where Crafton and his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford team have failed to transfer past the Round of 10.

    “It is what it is,” Crafton said. “The cards were dealt. It folded really crappy for us, but at the end of the day, we had some speed. When [the truck] jumped sideways off of [Turn] 2, it hadn’t done that all night. Just caught me off guard. I gotta thank [my crew]. They worked their butts off today just from practice, wrecking that truck in practice and then, wrecking during the race. It wasn’t meant to be. We’ll go on and do it again next year.”

    Amid the disappointment for DiBenedetto and Crafton, good fortune came for Ben Rhodes, who ended up 25th and managed to secure the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 by a mere margin. As a result, he and his No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford team will continue their quest for a second Truck Series title.

    “We were edgy all day long ever since we unloaded,” Rhodes said. “We kind of were predicting that it was gonna come to us in the race and it kind of went the opposite way. We ended up having a tire going down that caused me to hit the wall, it was just a mistake on myself. Mixed emotions tonight for this Kubota Ford F-150 team. The expectation is to make it to the next round, so just meeting the expectation isn’t necessarily a cause for celebration. We’re happy to advance, but at the same time, we’ve got to smoothen out some rough edges and make sure that bringing less mistakes and faster, more comfortable trucks.”

    Heim, who led 40 laps, finished fourth while Zane Smtih fell back to fifth. Hocevar, Friesen, Sanchez, Tyler Ankrum and Jake Drew completed the top 10 on the track.

    Corey Heim, Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger, Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith, Ty Majeski, Ben Rhodes and rookie Nick Sanchez have officially transferred to the Round of 8 and will continue their quests to win this year’s Truck Series championship while Matt DiBenedetto and Matt Crafton have been eliminated from the Playoffs.

    There were 18 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 34 laps. In addition, 13 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Christian Eckes, two laps led

    2. Taylor Gray

    3. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps led

    4. Corey Heim, 40 laps led

    5. Zane Smith, one lap led

    6. Carson Hocevar, 32 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    7. Stewart Friesen

    8. Nick Sanchez, 43 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Tyler Ankrum

    10. Jake Drew

    11. Jake Garcia

    12. Rajah Caruth

    13. Jesse Love

    14. Chase Purdy, one lap down

    15. Dean Thompson, one lap down

    16. Jack Wood, one lap down, two laps led

    17. Grant Enfinger, one lap down, four laps led

    18. Ty Majeski, one lap down

    19. Colby Howard, one lap down

    20. Bret Holmes, one lap down, two laps led

    21. Bayley Currey, two laps down

    22. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    23. Daniel Dye, two laps down

    24. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    25. Ben Rhodes, two laps down, two laps led

    26. Tanner Gray, three laps down, four laps led

    27. Kaden Honeycutt, three laps down

    28. Chase Janes, three laps down

    29. Justin Carroll, four laps down

    30. Hailie Deegan, four laps down

    31. Spencer Boyd, five laps down

    32. Greg Van Alst, five laps down

    33. Matt Crafton, nine laps down

    34. Jennifer Jo Cobb, nine laps down

    35. Mason Maggio – OUT, Accident

    36. Spencer Davis – OUT, Suspension

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Corey Heim – Advanced

    2. Christian Eckes – Advanced

    3. Grant Enfinger – Advanced

    4. Carson Hocevar – Advanced

    5. Zane Smith – Advanced

    6. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    7. Ben Rhodes – Advanced

    8. Nick Sanchez – Advanced

    9. Matt DiBenedetto – Eliminated

    10. Matt Crafton – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to commence next Thursday, September 14, at Bristol Motor Speedway. Coverage of the event is set to occur at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Enfinger dominates in Truck’s return at Milwaukee Mile, clinches Playoff’s Round of 8 spot

    Enfinger dominates in Truck’s return at Milwaukee Mile, clinches Playoff’s Round of 8 spot

    With his racing plans for next season undetermined amid the announcement of GMS Racing’s closure at this season’s conclusion, Grant Enfinger made a pivotal statement in a pair of quests to fight for this year’s championship and to keep his name on the grid by scoring a dominant victory in the Clean Harbors 175 at the Milwaukee Mile on Sunday, August 27.

    The 37-year-old Enfinger from Fairhope, Alabama, led three times for a race-high 95 of 175-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified on the pole position and dominated the event by sweeping both stage periods. Despite losing a handful of spots on pit road during both stage breaks and pitting for fresh tires along with the majority of the field that dropped him from the top five to 16th, Enfinger benefited through two late-race restarts and the fresh tires to muscle his way back to the front and withstand a battle against Playoff contender Carson Hocevar with 16 laps remaining to drive away and cruise to his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2023 season and advance to the Playoff’s Round of 8.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Sunday, Playoff competitor Grant Enfinger started on the pole position for the first time this season after posting a pole-winning lap at 122.848 mph in 29.744 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff competitor Nick Sanchez, who clocked in the second-best qualifying lap at 122.601 mph in 29.804 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Playoff contender Ty Majeski, who won the previous Truck event at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, dropped to the rear of the field and was assessed a pass-through penalty at the start of the event after NASCAR confiscated a right-rear tire in pre-race inspection, a penalty that resulted with crew chief Joe Shear Jr. being ejected from the event. In addition, Greg Van Alst, Josh Reaume and Playoff competitor Matt DiBenedetto dropped to the rear of the field for missing driver introductions along with Matt Mills, whose No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry faced unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Enfinger used the outside lane to retain the lead ahead of Sanchez through the first two turns and entering the backstretch. As the field behind jostled for early positions, Enfinger was able to fend off another charge from Sanchez, who was running on the inside lane, to lead the first lap as Taylor Gray trailed closely behind in third.

    Through the second lap, Sanchez tried to draw even against Enfinger’s No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST through the first two turns, but Enfinger was able to gain the advantage from the outside lane to retain the top spot through the backstretch. As Majeski served his pass-through penalty, Taylor Gray continued to trail closely behind the two leaders as Enfinger retained a narrow advantage over Sanchez.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Enfinger was leading by half a second over Sanchez followed by Taylor Gray, Christian Eckes and Carson Hocevar while Corey Heim, Chase Purdy, Ben Rhodes, William Sawalich and rookie Jake Garcia were in the top 10. By then, Tanner Gray was in 11th ahead of Tyler Ankrum, rookie Daniel Dye, rookie Rajah Caruth and Bayley Currey while Zane Smith, Derek Kraus, Matt Crafton, Hailie Deegan and Dean Thompson occupied the top 20. In addition, Majeski was in 36th, dead last, and trailing the lead pack by nearly 21 seconds.

    Then on the 10th lap, the first caution of the event flew when Josh Bilicki blew a tire and collided his No. 02 Insurance King Chevrolet Silverado RST against the outside wall in Turn 2 as he became the first retiree of the event.

    When the race restarted on Lap 17, Enfinger used the outside lane to his advantage as he fended off Sanchez to retain the lead through the backstretch while Taylor Gray mounted a challenge for the runner-up spot on Sanchez through Turns 3 and 4. As Enfinger proceeded to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second, Majeski continued to mount his charge back to the front as he moved his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 up to 26th while Hocevar, Heim and Eckes occupied the top six on the track.

    At the Lap 25 mark, Enfinger was leading by four-tenths of a second over Sanchez followed by Taylor Gray, Hocevar and Heim while Eckes, Purdy, Sawalich, Rhodes and Garcia battled within the top 10. By then, Playoff competitors Crafton and Zane Smith were in 14th and 15th, Majeski carved his way towards 16th and DiBenedetto was mired back in 26th behind newcomer Sean Hingorani, who was piloting Hattori Racing Enterprises’ No. 61 entry.

    Ten laps later, Enfinger extended his advantage over Sanchez while Taylor Gray, Hocevar and Heim remained in the top five. With Eckes, Purdy, Sawalich, Rhodes and Garcia remaining in the top 10, Kraus was in 11th ahead of Tanner Gray and Zane Smith while Majeski moved up to 14th ahead of Ankrum and Crafton.

    Another 10 laps later, Enfinger continued to extend his advantage as he was more than two seconds ahead of Sanchez while Taylor Gray, Hocevar and Heim retained the top on the track. Eckes, Sawalich, Purdy and Rhodes also retained positions sixth through ninth while Kraus moved up to 10th over Garcia. In addition, Majeski was in 12th, Zane Smith was back in 14th, Crafton fell back to 17th ahead of Matt Mills and DiBenedetto was mired a lap down in 29th.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 55, Enfinger notched his second Truck stage victory of the 2023 season. Sanchez settled in second as he trailed Enfinger by nearly two seconds while Taylor Gray, Heim, Eckes, Hocevar, Sawalich, Kraus, Purdy and Rhodes were scored in the top 10. By then, 24 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while Majeski was up to 11th. Majeski, however, joined teammate Crafton, Zane Smith and DiBenedetto as Playoff competitors to not score stage points during the first stage period.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Enfinger pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Heim exited first and assumed the lead for the first time in the event followed by Enfinger, who was boxed in behind Purdy during his pit service. Eckes, Hocevar, Matt Mills, Sawalich, Taylor Gray and Sanchez, who lost six spots on pit road, followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Majeski plummeted to 23rd after enduring a slow pit service from his pit crew.

    The second stage started on Lap 64 as Heim and Enfinger occupied the front row. As Heim and Enfinger dueled for the lead through the first two turns, the caution quickly returned after Greg Van Alst, who was running towards the rear of the field, locked up his tires due to an apparent mechanical issue and collided into Brad Perez as both competitors wrecked against the Turn 1 outside wall, with both having their events coming to an end.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 71, Heim and Enfinger again dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Heim was able to muscle ahead from the outside lane and clear the field through the backstretch. As Heim retained the lead, Enfinger fended off Eckes to remain in the runner-up spot while Sawalich, who won the ARCA Menards Series East event at Milwaukee earlier in the day, battled Eckes for third. With the field fanning out behind, Eckes fended off Sawalich for third place and Sanchez moved up to fifth in front of Hocevar, Taylor Gray and Purdy while Heim started to extend his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Enfinger nearing the Lap 75 mark.

    At the Lap 85 mark, Heim stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Enfinger, who had managed to close the gap from trailing half a second a lap earlier. Enfinger then drew himself into a duel against Heim through the frontstretch a lap later, but Heim maintained the advantage as he continued to run on the outside lane while third-place Eckes trailed by nearly three seconds. With Enfinger continuing to trail by within two-tenths of a second, Heim retained the lead just past the Lap 90 mark.

    Then on Lap 95, Enfinger was able to race his way around Heim’s No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to reassume the lead. Enfinger would proceed to extend his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Heim at the Lap 100 mark while Eckes, Sawalich and Hocevar were in the top five. Behind, Sanchez, Majeski, Crafton, Zane Smith and Tanner Gray occupied the top 10 while Taylor Gray, Rhodes, Purdy, Kraus and Ankrum followed suit in the top 15. With nine of 10 Playoff competitors running in the top 12 on the track, DiBenedetto was mired back in 27th and not on the lead lap category.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 110, Enfinger notched his third Truck stage victory of the 2023 season and second of the day after retaining the lead by more than two seconds over Heim, who settled in second. Eckes, Hocevar, Sawalich, Sanchez, Majeski, Crafton, Tanner Gray and Zane Smith were scored in the top 10. By then, 23 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Enfinger pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Eckes emerged as the new leader after exiting first followed by Hocevar and Sanchez while Enfinger fell back to fourth after losing three spots on pit road in front of Rhodes and Heim, who lost four spots on pit road.

    With 57 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Eckes and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes and Hocevar dueled for the lead until Hocevar rocketed ahead with the lead from the inside lane through the first two turns. As the field fanned out to three lanes through the backstretch, Hocevar retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Eckes while Sanchez retained third ahead of Enfinger, a hard-charging Rhodes and Tanner Gray as Crafton challenged teammate Majeski for seventh place. A few laps later, Majeski went wide in Turn 1, which allowed Crafton, Kraus, Heim and Sawalich to overtake him.

    Following another caution period with 52 laps remaining when Spencer Boyd spun entering Turn 2, the race restarted under green with 46 laps remaining. At the start, Hocevar and Eckes dueled for the lead for a second time through the first two turns until Hocevar managed to zip ahead in his No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST on the outside lane. As the field fanned out behind, Sanchez overtook Eckes through the frontstretch while Hocevar muscled ahead by three-tenths of a second. In addition, Enfinger retained fourth ahead of Kraus, Heim overtook Tanner Gray for sixth place and Crafton followed suit in seventh during the proceeding laps. By then, Majeski battled Sawalich for 10th while Rhodes was in ninth.

    Then with 41 laps remaining, Sawalich, who was having a stellar race in 10th place, got loose underneath Rhodes in a bid for ninth place, spun backward and crashed against the Turn 1 outside wall as he emerged with significant rear-end damage to his No. 1 Starkey/Soundgear Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. During the caution period, some led by Hocevar and including Kraus, Tanner Gray, Ankrum, Sean Hingorani, Rajah Caruth and Hailie Deegan remained on the track while the rest of the lead lap field pitted.

    During the proceeding restart with 35 laps remaining, where Hocevar and Kraus occupied the front row, Hocevar retained the lead after gaining a strong start from the outside lane while Tanner Gray dueled against Kraus for the runner-up spot. Shortly after, however, the caution quickly returned when Sanchez, who was trying to carve his way back to the front from the top 10, got boxed in behind Deegan and hit by Heim entering Turn 3 as he spun his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST backward and hit the outside wall, which spoiled his strong run towards the front.

    With the race restarting under green with 28 laps remaining, Hocevar muscled ahead of Tanner Gray from the outside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field fanned out to three and four lanes through the backstretch, Hocevar was leading by three-tenths of a second during the following lap while Kraus overtook Tanner Gray for the runner-up spot. In addition, Enfinger bolted his way into third as he used the outside lane to gain momentum and overtake both Tanner Gray and Eckes for spots. With Enfinger moving up the leaderboard, Crafton also boosted his way into the top five as he navigated his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 in fifth while Heim was mired in seventh in between Tanner Gray and Ankrum with 25 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Hocevar was leading by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Enfinger, who was running on fresher tires than Hocevar, while Kraus, Eckes and Crafton engaged in a fierce three-truck battle for third place, with Eckes and Crafton moving up to third and fourth while Kraus fell back to fifth. By then, Heim was in sixth while Majeski was mired in seventh and trailing by more than four seconds.

    Three laps later, Enfinger gained a run on Hocevar through Turns 3 and 4 as both dueled for the lead through the frontstretch. Enfinger then rocketed ahead entering Turns 1 and 2 before he went wide, which allowed Hocevar to pull a crossover move and try to challenge Enfinger again for the lead on the inside lane. Enfinger, though, managed to withstand a side-by-side duel and near bump from Hocevar exiting the backstretch and entering Turns 3 and 4 before muscling ahead with 16 laps remaining. Enfinger would retain the top spot during the proceeding laps, but not by a large margin as Hocevar kept Enfinger’s No. 23 Chevrolet within his sights while mounting repetitive challenges through the turns.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Enfinger was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Hocevar followed by Eckes, Crafton and Heim while Kraus, Majeski, Purdy, Garcia and Tanner Gray were in the top 10. By then, Zane Smith was in 11th, Rhodes was in 16th, Sanchez was mired back in 24th and DiBendetto was down in 27th while two laps behind.

    With five laps remaining, Enfinger managed to extend his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Hocevar while third-place Eckes trailed by more than a second while also starting to close in on Hocevar for the runner-up spot. By then, Heim moved up to fourth while Crafton fell back to fifth. In addition, Purdy and Majeski pulled a three-wide move on Kraus through the frontstretch to move up to sixth and seventh on the track.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Enfinger remained as the leader by more than a second and a half over Hocevar. With both Hocevar and Eckes unable to gain ground to mount a final lap charge, Enfinger was able to smoothly navigate his way around the Milwaukee circuit for a final time and cross the finish line to claim his third checkered flag of the 2023 Truck season after winning by more than a second and a half over Hocevar.

    With the victory, Grant Enfinger, who won the first Truck event at the Milwaukee Mile since the circuit’s return spanning back to 2009, achieved his 10th career victory in the Craftsman Truck Series, his third of the season and first since winning at Worldwide Technology Raceway in early June. The Alabama native also recorded the 45th Truck career victory for GMS Racing, a two-time Truck championship-winning organization that announced four days earlier that it would cease operations at the conclusion of the 2023 season.

    By virtue of winning the second Truck Playoff event of the 2023 season, Enfinger became the second competitor to clinch a spot for the Playoff’s Round of 8 alongside Ty Majeski as he continues his pursuit for his first Truck championship.

    “I don’t want to hear anybody asking if we’re going to lay down again,” Enfinger said on FS1. “[Crew chief] Jeff Hensley’s been focused the whole year. There’s been distractions going on all year long, so if anything, that’s clarity. None of these guys, including me, have a job next year, but I feel like we proved we deserve one. We had a heck of a Champion Power Equipment Chevy. I don’t know if we had a dominant truck, but we had a winning truck. [I] Got put behind the 8-ball there at the end, but it was fun racing. I hope the fans enjoyed it. This [win] is special for a lot of reasons.”

    “Did we execute perfectly today?” Enfinger added. “No, but we’ve had speed all year long. When we’ve hit it, when the guys hit it, we’ve done this twice now this year. We’ve got three wins, but we’ve had three trucks like this in my opinion. This is a brand-new truck. I can’t say thank you enough for GMS Fabrication, GMS Racing, not just this year and not just lately, but the whole year last year. They were just as much effort put into this stuff. I’m glad some of our fruits are showing.”

    Hocevar managed to fend off Eckes to finish in the runner-up for the first time and for his ninth top-five result of the season. With the result, Hocevar is 56 points above the top-eight cutline entering the upcoming Round of 10 finale at Kansas Speedway.

    “Our No. 42 Chevy was really fast,” Hocevar said. “I was finding lines. I was driving like a dirt car, sliding myself, running the top [lane]. I don’t know how good the fans loved it or how good the racing, but I had a lot of fun being able to move around when I didn’t think we were gonna be able to. Just kind of a bummer to run second. Luckily, we’ve been fortunate to win some races. Just close.”

    Playoff contenders Christian Eckes and Corey Heim finished third and fourth at the Milwaukee Mile, but both were able to secure spots for the Round of 8 based on points as they will proceed forward to the Playoff’s second round along with Enfinger and Majeski.

    Matt Crafton came home in fifth place for his second top-five result of the season and first since finishing fourth at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April. As a result, he is currently nine points above the top-eight cutline.

    Chase Purdy, Ty Majeski, Derek Kraus, rookie Jake Garcia and Bayley Currey completed the top 10 on the track. In addition, Playoff competitors Zane Smith, Ben Rhodes, rookie Nick Sanchez and Matt DiBenedetto finished 12th, 16th, 24th and 27th, respectively, as Rhodes and DiBenedetto are below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings.

    There were five lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 44 laps. In addition, 26 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Grant Enfinger, 95 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    2. Carson Hocevar, 40 laps led

    3. Christian Eckes, five laps led

    4. Corey Heim, 35 laps led

    5. Matt Crafton

    6. Chase Purdy

    7. Ty Majeski

    8. Derek Kraus

    9. Jake Garcia

    10. Bayley Currey

    11. Tanner Gray

    12. Zane Smith

    13. Taylor Gray

    14. Rajah Caruth

    15. Dean Thompson

    16. Ben Rhodes

    17. Colby Howard

    18. Connor Jones

    19. Bret Holmes

    20. Tyler Ankrum

    21. Lawless Alan

    22. Hailie Deegan

    23. Sean Hingorani

    24. Nick Sanchez

    25. Matt Mills

    26. William Sawalich

    27. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps down

    28. Daniel Dye, two laps down

    29. Tyler Hill, two laps down

    30. Stewart Friesen, three laps down

    31. Derek Lemke, three laps down

    32. Spencer Boyd, three laps down

    33. Josh Reaume, four laps down

    34. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Accident

    35. Brad Perez – OUT, Accident

    36. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings.

    1. Grant Enfinger – Advanced

    2. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    3. Corey Heim – Advanced

    4. Christian Eckes – Advanced

    5. Carson Hocevar +56

    6. Zane Smith +29

    7. Matt Crafton +9

    8. Nick Sanchez +3

    9. Ben Rhodes -3

    10. Matt DiBenedetto -20

    The Round of 10 in the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Playoffs is set to conclude at Kansas Speedway on September 8, which will determine the Playoff’s Round of 8 field. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Majeski wins Truck Playoff opener at IRP; snaps yearlong winless drought

    Majeski wins Truck Playoff opener at IRP; snaps yearlong winless drought

    After enduring a winless drought throughout the regular-season stretch, Ty Majeski commenced the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs with an emphatic statement after notching a dominant victory in the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday, August 11.

    The 28-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, led twice for a race-high 179 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row and quickly assumed the lead by the fourth lap. Proceeding to sweep both stage periods and fending off several restart challenges, including from ones by Playoff rivals Christian Eckes and Corey Heim, Majeski capitalized on a restart with 52 laps remaining to muscle his No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford entry away from the field and claim the Playoff opener victory by more than three seconds over Eckes.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, August 11, Playoff contender Christian Eckes secured his second Truck pole position of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 107.918 mph in 22.884 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Ty Majeski, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 107.739 mph in 22.922 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Playoff contender Zane Smith, Lawless Alan, Matt Mills and Logan Bearden dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective trucks. Tyler Ankrum also dropped to the rear of the field in a backup truck.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Eckes muscled ahead with an early advantage on the inside lane followed by Majeski and Corey Heim as the field fanned out through the first two turns. As the field continued to fan out and jostle early for positions, Eckes proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST while Majeski and Heim battled for the runner-up spot.

    Through the second lap and as the field continued to jostle early for positions, Eckes maintained the lead by a tenth of a second over Majeski with Heim following pursuit. By the third lap, however, Majeski drew himself even against Eckes in an early battle for the lead. He continued to duel with Eckes for the following lap until Majeski muscled ahead from the outside lane. Another lap later and at the fifth lap mark, Heim moved into the runner-up spot over Eckes as he began his pursuit on Majeski for the lead.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Majeski was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Heim followed by Eckes, Carson Hocevar and Grant Enfinger while rookie Jake Garcia, rookie Nick Sanchez, rookie Rajah Caruth, Matt Crafton and Layne Riggs were in the top 10. Behind, William Sawalich was in 11th ahead of Tanner Gray, Colby Howard, Ben Rhodes and Stewart Friesen while Jake Drew, Dean Thompson, rookie Daniel Dye, Chase Purdy and Connor Jones battled in the top 20. Meanwhile, Zane Smith was mired in 21st ahead of Matt DiBenedetto.

    Nearing the Lap 14 mark, the first caution of the event flew for a multi-truck wreck involving Greg Van Alst, Landen Lewis and Hailie Deegan in Turn 3.

    When the race restarted on Lap 21, Majeski received a push from Eckes on the inside lane to emerge ahead by a hair before Eckes and Heim took Majeski three-wide in Turn 1. With Majeski and Heim breaking away from the field entering the backstretch, Heim gained the advantage on the outside lane through Turns 3 and 4 as he assumed the lead in his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for the following lap, though Majeski kept pressuring him for the lead. Majeski and Heim would then battle dead even for the proceeding laps until Heim muscled ahead by Lap 23. As Heim fended off Majeski for the lead, Eckes retained third while Hocevar and Enfinger were in the top five.

    Nearing the Lap 30 mark, the battle for the lead intensified as Majeski made several attempts to draw even with Heim through the turns and the straightaways from the inside lane, though Heim managed to remain ahead while running on the outside lane. While both continued to battle nearly dead even for the lead, Eckes was under pressure by Hocevar for third place as Enfinger retained fifth ahead of Garcia, Riggs, Caruth, Sanchez and Tanner Gray.

    By Lap 40, Majeski, who pulled the slide job on Heim in Turn 1 to assume the lead a lap earlier, was leading by two-tenths of a second in his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 over Heim followed by Eckes, Hocevar and Enfinger while Garcia, Riggs, Sanchez, Caruth and Tanner Gray were in the top 10. Behind, Zane Smith was up to 11th ahead of Rhodes, Jake Drew, Sawalich and Crafton while Thompson, Purdy, DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray and Deegan were running in the top 20.

    Six laps later, contact was made on Lap 46 as Garcia, who was trying to overtake Enfinger for fifth, got loose, slid up the track and forced Enfinger to scrape the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2. Both, though, continued to run in the top 10 as Majeski extended his advantage to two seconds over Heim.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Majeski, who ran into the rear bumper of rookie Daniel Dye in Turn 1 to get him loose and lap him several laps earlier, claimed his fifth stage victory of the 2023 Truck season. Heim settled in second followed by Eckes while Riggs, Garcia, Hocevar, Enfinger, Caruth, Tanner Gray and Zane Smith were scored in the top 10. By then, 23 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while Rhodes, Sanchez, Crafton and DiBenedetto did not score any stage points from the first stage period.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Majeski pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Majeski retained the lead after exiting first followed by Heim, Hocevar, Enfinger and Tanner Gray while Eckes exited sixth after losing three spots on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 70 as Majeski and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Majeski rocketed ahead with the lead from the outside lane as the field fanned out entering Turn 1. Through the backstretch, Majeski retained the lead over Heim while Enfinger was in third ahead of Hocevar and Eckes amid the field still fanning out and jostling for positions.

    At the Lap 75 mark, Majeski was leading by more than a second over Heim while Enfinger, Hocevar and Eckes remained in the top five. Behind, Sawalich was in sixth followed by Rhodes, Tanner Gray, Zane Smith and Riggs while Jake Drew, Sanchez, Crafton, DiBenedetto and Caruth occupied the top 15 on the track.

    Ten laps later, Majeski extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Heim while third-place Enfinger trailed by more than three seconds. Meanwhile, Hocevar and Eckes remained in the top five while Playoff contenders Rhodes and Zane Smith were in eighth and ninth. By then, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Sanchez, Crafton and DiBenedetto were mired in 11th, 13th and 16th, respectively.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Majeski continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by more than three seconds over Heim while Enfinger, Eckes and Hocevar continued to run in the top five. Behind, Sawalich, Tanner Gray, Zane Smith, Rhodes and Riggs were in the top 10 as 23 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap. Notably, Sanchez and Crafton were in 11th and 12th, DiBenedetto was mired in 15th ahead of Garcia and Shane van Gisbergen, the debutant winner of the NASCAR Cup Series event at the Chicago Street Course who was making both his Truck and oval debut for Niece Motorsports, was in 22nd behind Jack Wood.

    Ten laps later, Majeski, who lapped van Gisbergen a few laps earlier, retained the lead by more than five seconds over Heim while third-place Enfinger trailed by more than six seconds. As Eckes and Hocevar remained in the top five, Zane Smith moved up to seventh over Tanner Gray while Sanchez cracked the top 10 ahead of Crafton.

    Another five laps later, the caution flew when Chris Hacker, a Noblesville, Indiana, native got loose and spun entering the backstretch as he barely managed to keep his No. 30 UBPN/Morgan & Morgan Toyota Tundra TRD Pro off the wall before continuing. Hacker’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 120 to finish under caution as Majeski captured his sixth Truck stage victory of the 2023 season and second of the night. Heim settled in second while Enfinger, Eckes, Hocevar, Sawalich, Zane Smith, Tanner Gray, Riggs and Sanchez were scored in the top 10. By then, 20 of 36 competitors were scored on the lead lap while Playoff contenders Crafton, DiBenedetto and Rhodes were scored outside the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Majeski returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Majeski retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Heim, Enfinger, Zane Smith, Sawalich, Eckes and Hocevar. Amid the pit stops, Heim was sent to the rear of the field for a safety violation after a crew member fell over his pit box while trying to retrieve a tire due to his pit stop. In addition, Enfinger made another pit stop to address missing lug nuts to his No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    With 73 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Majeski and Zane Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Majeski and Smith dueled for the lead until Majeski managed to rocket ahead from the outside lane through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field fanned out and jostled for late positions, Eckes moved up to second while Hocevar, Sawalich and Riggs battled behind Smith. Amid the racing, Tanner Gray, who was running in the top 10, was black-flagged by NASCAR for a restart violation as he changed lanes prior to reaching the start/finish line to restart the event.

    Shortly after and just as Tanner Gray was serving his penalty through pit road, the caution returned with 70 laps remaining when Dean Thompson got squeezed towards the outside wall through the backstretch. As Thompson’s truck was slowly sliding to a halt, he was then T-boned by Spencer Boyd as both competitors were left with heavy damage to their respective trucks.

    Following an extensive caution period, the event restarted with 60 laps remaining. At the start, Majeski muscled ahead of Eckes from the outside lane to retain the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns. With Majeski leading by nearly half a second during the proceeding laps, Eckes retained second while Zane Smith, Riggs and Hocevar were in the top five. The caution, however, returned with 59 laps remaining when Hailie Deegan spun off the front nose of Landen Lewis and rear-ended her No. 13 Ford Performance Ford F-150 into the outside wall in Turn 1 as her event came to a late end.

    During the proceeding restart with 52 laps remaining, Majeski and Eckes dueled for the lead through Turn 1 as Eckes tried to muscle ahead from the inside lane. Eckes, however, slid up the track entering the backstretch, which allowed Majeski to regain the advantage and reassume the lead as the field jostled for positions throughout the following lap. With Majeski leading with 50 laps remaining, Eckes retained second ahead of Hocevar while Riggs and Zane Smith battled for fourth in front of Sawalich. In the midst of the battles towards the front, ThorSport Racing’s Rhodes and Crafton battled for seventh.

    With 40 laps remaining, Majeski was leading by more than a second over Eckes followed by Hocevar, Riggs and Zane Smith while Sawalich, Caruth, Heim, Crafton and Sanchez were running and battling in the top 10. Behind, Rhodes was in 11th ahead of Enfinger, DiBenedetto, Garcia and Purdy while van Gisbergen, Jake Drew, Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray and Jack Wood were mired in the top 20.

    Ten laps later, Majeski continued to lead by more than two seconds over Eckes while Riggs, who moved up to third place, trailed by nearly four seconds ahead of Hocevar and Zane Smith. Behind, Sawalich and Caruth retained sixth and seventh while Heim was still scored in eighth ahead of Sanchez and Crafton.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Majeski stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over runner-up Eckes while third-place Riggs continued to trail by more than four seconds. By then, seven of 10 Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 while the remaining Playoff competitors that included DiBenedetto, Rhodes and Enfinger were mired in 11th through 13th, respectively.

    With less than 15 laps remaining, Majeski retained the lead by nearly three seconds over Eckes and more than four seconds over third-place Riggs. Majeski would continue to lead by more than two seconds over Eckes with 10 laps remaining as Hocevar and Zane Smith remained in the top five ahead of Sawalich.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Majeski was leading by more than three seconds over Eckes and more than four seconds over third-place Riggs as the laps continued to dwindle.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Eckes. With Eckes not gaining ground to mount a final lap charge for the win, Majeski, who also had a clear racetrack in front of him, managed to cycle his way around the circuit for a final time and return to the frontstretch victorious for the first time in 2023.

    With the victory, Majeski notched his third career victory in the Craftsman Truck Series, all occurring throughout the Playoffs, and his first since winning at Homestead-Miami Speedway in October 2022. He also became the 14th different competitor to win at Indianapolis Raceway Park as he recorded the third victory of the season for ThorSport Racing and the fifth for Ford.

    By winning the Playoff opener at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Majeski became the first competitor to transfer to the Round of 8 as he continues his pursuit for his first NASCAR Truck Series championship.

    “Man, that was awesome. How about that, Indy?! Yeah!” Majeski said on FS1. “So cool. [Owners] Duke and Rhonda Thorson put the support into this race. They wanted [Indianapolis Raceway Park] to come back and they’re a huge reason behind that. Just so proud of everybody. Obviously, a heartbreaking loss last week at Richmond, but we win and lose as a team. This is so cool. Proud of the effort, but this is just the start of our Playoff run.”

    Eckes, the pole-sitter who led three laps, settled in the runner-up spot for the second time this season and leaves Indianapolis Raceway Park with a 39-point advantage above the top-eight cutline to commence the Playoffs while Layne Riggs achieved a career-best third-place result in his sixth career start in the Truck Series and first with Spire Motorsports.

    “I thought our NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet was really good there,” Eckes said. “[Majeski]’d fire off a little bit better, then would be just a little bit better throughout. They’ve kind of been the classes of the field on these style of races from the last two years. We got a little bit of homework to do on this style stuff, but overall, just really proud of my guys for bringing what we had.”

    “[Tonight]’s huge,” Riggs said. “I feel like this proves that I deserve to be here every weekend. I love truck racing, I love NASCAR racing. I wanna do it more. It’s a rare occurrence when I can do this. It was a really good truck tonight. Thank you so much to everybody. I hope I can be at one soon.”

    Hocevar came home in fourth place while Zane Smith ended up fifth as both competitors leave Indiana above the cutline.

    William Sawalich, rookie Rajah Caruth, Heim, Crafton and DiBenedetto finished in the top 10. Notably, Playoff competitors Nick Sanchez, Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes finished 11th, 12th and 16th, respectively, while Shane van Gisbergen ended up 19th in his Truck Series debut.

    There were three lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 41 laps. In addition, 18 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Ty Majeski, 179 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Christian Eckes, three laps led

    3. Layne Riggs

    4. Carson Hocevar

    5. Zane Smith

    6. William Sawalich

    7. Rajah Caruth

    8. Corey Heim, 18 laps led

    9. Matt Crafton

    10. Matt DiBenedetto

    11. Nick Sanchez

    12. Grant Enfinger

    13. Jake Garcia

    14. Chase Purdy

    15. Tanner Gray

    16. Ben Rhodes

    17. Jake Drew

    18. Jack Wood

    19. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down

    20. Taylor Gray, one lap down

    21. Logan Bearden, one lap down

    22. Daniel Dye, one lap down

     23. Matt Mills, two laps down

    24. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    25. Bret Holmes, three laps down

    26. Tyler Hill, three laps down

    27. Connor Jones, four laps down

    28. Landen Lewis, four laps down

    29. Chris Hacker, five laps down

    30. Stewart Friesen, 17 laps down

    31. Hailie Deegan – OUT, Accident

    32. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    33. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Accident

    34. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Electrical

    35. Colby Howard – OUT, Suspension

    36. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings.

    1. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    2. Corey Heim +47

    3. Christian Eckes +39

    4. Carson Hocevar +35

    5. Zane Smith +29

    6. Grant Enfinger +24

    7. Ben Rhodes +4

    8. Nick Sanchez +2

    9. Matt Crafton -2

    10. Matt DiBenedetto -3

    With the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs underway, the second Round of 10 Playoff event is set to occur at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin, which will mark the series return to the venue since 2009. The event is scheduled to occur on August 27 at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Hocevar outduels Majeski to win the Truck Series regular-season finale at Richmond

    Hocevar outduels Majeski to win the Truck Series regular-season finale at Richmond

    From starting at the rear of the field to methodically carving his way to the front and executing a late pit strategy to his favor, Carson Hocevar made an emphatic statement about his quest for a NASCAR championship by winning the Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, July 29.

    The 20-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, led twice for 64 of 250-scheduled laps in an event where he was set to start in 17th place before a flat tire derailed his event early and he was forced to have the tire changed and start at the rear of the field. Amid a steady gain, while carving his way through the field, Hocevar cracked the top 20 prior to the first stage’s conclusion and would proceed to finish in the top five at the conclusion of the second stage.

    Then after dominant pole-sitter Ty Majeski was penalized for speeding on pit road during the second stage’s break period, Hocevar assumed the lead to start the final stage, where he would lead 60 laps. After pitting with select others under green with 40 laps remaining, Hocevar spent the remainder of the event tracking Majeski, who attempted to remain on the track and pilot his way to victory on the exact tires used since the start of the final stage. Hocevar, though, managed to catch and overtake Majeski for the lead with four laps remaining. From there, the Michigan native muscled away with the advantage and cruised to his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of this season and of his career with the regular-season stretch concluding and the 2023 Playoff field set.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, July 28, Ty Majeski claimed his second Truck pole position of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 119 mph in 22.689 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Corey Heim, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 118.728 mph in 22.741 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Justin Carroll dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his truck. Carson Hocevar would also drop to the rear of the field after he pitted to have a flat tire on his truck changed.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced amid a delay that spanned nearly an hour due to a lightning strike, Majeski rocketed ahead with the lead from the outside lane as the field fanned out through the first two turns and entering the backstretch. With the field continuing to jostle for early spots while fanning out to three lanes entering the frontstretch, Majeski proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of teammate Ben Rhodes, who navigated his No. 99 Campers Inn RV Ford F-150 around Heim for second place.

    During the second lap, Majeksi was out in front by three-tenths of a second over teammate Rhodes while Heim, Christian Eckes and Matt Crafton were in the top five. Behind, William Sawalich, who started third, was back in sixth ahead of a side-by-side battle involving rookie Jake Garcia and Matt DiBenedetto, both of whom were vying for spots for the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Majeski was leading by half a second over teammate Rhodes followed by Heim, Eckes and Crafton while Tanner Gray was in sixth ahead of William Sawalich, DiBenedetto, Jake Garcia and Chase Purdy. Behind, Matt Mills, making his first start in the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry, was in 11th ahead of Grant Enfinger, rookie Nick Sanchez, Bayley Currey and Zane Smith while Tanner Gray, rookie Rajah Caruth, rookie Daniel Dye, Stewart Friesen and Dean Thompson occupied the top 20.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Majeski continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Rhodes while Heim trailed by nearly two seconds. Behind, Eckes and Crafton remained in the top five while Tanner Gray, another competitor vying for a spot for the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs, retained sixth ahead of Sawalich, Garcia, DiBenedetto and Purdy.

    Fifteen laps later, Majeski extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over teammate Rhodes while Heim, Eckes and Crafton followed suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Hocevar was in 18th after overtaking rookie Daniel Dye and Friesen on the track.

    Another 10 laps later, Majeski continued to extend his advantage to nearly three seconds over teammate Rhodes while third-place Heim trailed by more than five seconds. With Eckes and Crafton retaining fourth and fifth on the track, Jake Garcia was in sixth while Sawalich, DiBenedetto, Purdy and Matt Mills were in the top 10. Behind, Enfinger was in 11th ahead of Tanner Gray, Sanchez, Taylor Gray and Zane Smith while Hocevar was up to 16th on the track.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Majeski, who lapped 23rd-place Friesen, a competitor who came into the event nine points below the top-10 cutline to make the Playoffs, a lap earlier, retained the lead by nearly four seconds over teammate Rhodes as third-place Heim trailed by nearly six seconds while Eckes and Crafton occupied the top five ahead of Garcia, Sawalich and DiBenedetto. Despite being marred into more lapped traffic while lapping 19th-place Zane Smith, Majeski continued to lead ahead of teammate Rhodes by Lap 60.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 70, Majeski captured his third Truck stage victory of the 2023 season, having led every scheduled lap thus far. Teammate Rhodes followed suit in second while Heim, Eckes, Crafton, Sawalich, Garcia, Purdy, Matt Mills and DiBenedetto were scored in the top 10. By then, 16 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while names that included Hailie Deegan, Dean Thompson, Zane Smith, Rajah Caruth, Daniel Dye and Friesen were pinned a lap down. In addition, Corey Heim, who ended up in third place during the first stage’s break period, clinched the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series Regular Season championship.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Majeski pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Majeski retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Heim, Rhodes, Eckes, Crafton and Sawalich.

    The second stage started on Lap 79 as Majeski and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Majeski rocketed ahead with a strong start on the outside lane and entering Turn 1 while Rhodes battled Heim for the runner-up spot through the backstretch. With Rhodes claiming the runner-up spot, teammate Crafton, who came into the event nine points above the Playoff cutline, made it a ThorSport Racing 1-2-3 on the track as he moved his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 to third place over Heim. Heim, however, fought back on Lap 81 as he reclaimed third place before challenging Rhodes for the runner-up spot. Amid the battles, Majeski ran away from the field as he was ahead by eight-tenths of a second.

    Soon after, Purdy, who was in sixth and trying to race his way into the Playoff cutline, was assessed a pass-through penalty through pit road for a restart violation as he did not remain in his lane prior to the start/finish line during the second stage’s start. Meanwhile, Majeski extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Heim while Rhodes, Crafton and Eckes followed suit at the Lap 90 mark.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Majeski was leading by more than four seconds over Heim followed by Rhodes, Crafton and Eckes while Garcia, Taylor Gray, Hocevar, Sawalich and Enfinger were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Tanner Gray was in 11th ahead of Sanchez, DiBenedetto, Ankrum and Matt Mills while Bayley Currey, the final competitor on the lead lap, was in 16th. Meanwhile, Zane Smith, the first competitor a lap down, was mired in 17th ahead of Thompson, Colby Howard and Hailie Deegan while Caruth, Connor Jones, Daniel Dye, Lawless Alan and Friesen were mired in the top 25. In addition, Purdy was in 32nd while two laps behind the leaders.

    Ten laps later, the caution flew when Dean Thompson, who was running 18th in front of Deegan, spun in Turn 2 as he would be overtaken by the lead lap field while trying to re-fire his truck.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 116, Heim gained a strong start on the inside lane as he muscled his No. 11 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the lead through Turn 1 and the backstretch. With Heim leading, teammate Rhodes proceeded to challenge Majeski for second while Eckes followed suit in fourth. On Lap 118, however, the caution quickly returned when Justin Carroll spun in Turn 4. At the moment of caution, Deegan had managed to emerge as the first competitor scored a lap down ahead of Friesen and thus, receive the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 124, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Heim fended off a three-wide attempt from Majeski to retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Then during the following lap, which marked the halfway mark of the event, Rhodes muscled his way to the lead through the frontstretch and from the outside lane over Heim. Majeski would follow suit during the next lap as he was locked in a tight side-by-side battle with Heim. As the three-truck battle for the lead involving Rhodes, Majeski and Heim continued to ensue, Majeski reassumed the lead on Lap 129 after overtaking teammate Rhodes through the first two turns. With Majeski out in front over teammate Rhodes and Heim, Eckes settled in fourth followed by Hocevar while Garcia, Crafton, Sawalich, Sanchez and Matt Mills were in the top 10.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 140, Majeski, who extended his advantage to more than four seconds over teammate Rhodes, claimed his second Truck stage victory of the night and fourth of the 2023 season. Teammate Rhodes settled in second while Heim fended off Eckes to claim third. Hocevar, Garcia, Crafton, Sawalich, Sanchez and Matt Mills were scored in the top 10. By then, 18 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while Connor Jones had managed to remain ahead of Friesen to be scored the first competitor a lap down and receive the free pass during the stage’s break period to cycle back on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Majeski returned to pit road for another round of service. Following the pit stops, Majeski initially retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of his teammate Rhodes, Hocevar, Heim, Eckes, Crafton and Garcia. Amid the pit stops, however, Majeski was penalized and sent to the rear of the field for speeding while entering pit road.

    With 101 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Rhodes and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Hocevar gained a strong start from the inside lane as he launched his No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead while Eckes and Heim took Rhodes three wide in a battle for the runner-up spot. With Rhodes and Eckes battling dead even for the spot entering Turns 3 and 4, Heim settled in fourth while Garcia, Crafton and Zane Smith followed suit as the event reached its final 100-lap mark.

    Five laps later, Hocevar was leading by six-tenths of a second over Rhodes while third-place Eckes trailed by more than a second. With Heim retaining fourth, Zane Smith moved up to fifth after overtaking Crafton and Garcia earlier while Majeski was mired back in 18th.

    Another 10 laps later, Hocevar continued to lead by more than a second over Rhodes followed by Eckes, Heim and Zane Smith while Crafton, Garcia, Matt Mills, Tanner Gray and Sawalich were in the top 10. Behind, Enfinger was in 11th ahead of Sanchez, DiBenedetto, Majeski and Tyler Ankrum while Deegan, Currey, Connor Jones, Taylor Gray and Daniel Dye were in the top 20. By then, Friesen was mired in 22nd, the final competitor scored on the lead lap.

    Then with 78 laps remaining, late troubles occurred for Josh Reaume, who smacked the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2 due to a flat right-front tire. As Reaume attempted to turn his truck left to enter pit road, he was nearly T-boned by an oncoming DiBenedetto, though Reaume managed to steer his damaged truck to his pit stall and the race remained under green flag conditions. By then, Hocevar retained the lead by more than a second over runner-up Rhodes and more than four seconds over third-place Heim.

    With less than 60 laps remaining, Hocevar extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Rhodes while Heim retained third place. By then, Zane Smith was in fourth while Majeski, who re-entered the top five three laps earlier after overtaking Eckes, was in fifth.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Hocevar continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by more than four seconds over a hard-charging Majeski, who overtook Heim and Rhodes during the five previous laps. In addition, Jake Garcia and Matt Mills both made a pit stop a few laps earlier under green.

    Two laps later, more green flag pit stops ensued as Zane Smith pitted his No. 38 Boot Barn Ford F-150. Then with 40 laps remaining, Hocevar surrendered the lead to pit under green as Majeski cycled his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 back into the lead. Heim would then pit from the runner-up spot along with Crafton and Sanchez with 36 laps remaining while Rhodes would pit during the following lap. Rhodes would eventually be penalized for a commitment line violation as seven of 36 starters led by Majeski were scored on the lead lap. Currey and Dye would also be penalized for a commitment line violation.

    With 25 laps remaining, Majeski was leading by more than 16 seconds over Eckes and more than 19 over Sawalich. Zane Smith, the first competitor who pitted, was in fourth followed by Garcia, who is placed in a “must-win” situation to make the Playoffs while Tanner Gray, DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray and Matt Mills were in the top 10. Behind, Heim was mired in 11th, Crafton was in 13th, Sanchez was in 15th behind Enfinger and Rhodes had fallen back to 16th.

    Five laps later, Hocevar, who overtook Zane Smith to be the first competitor running on the track on four fresh tires, was up to second place as he trailed race leader Majeski, who has decided to roll the dice and remain on the track while on worn tires, by more than 15 seconds. By then, Garcia was mired in fourth ahead of teammate Eckes and Sawalich.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Majeski, who started to lose ground on his advantage over Hocevar amid his worn tires, retained the lead by more than nine seconds over a hard-charging Hocevar. Majeski would continue to lead by more than five seconds over Hocevar with 10 laps remaining while third-place Zane Smith trailed by more than nine seconds as Garcia and Matt Mills followed pursuit in the top five.

    With five laps remaining, Majeski, who was trying to navigate his way through lapped traffic and lost more ground on his advantage, retained the lead by a second over Hocevar, who was also navigating through lapped traffic but had Majeski close within his sights.

    Then with four laps remaining, Hocevar gained massive ground on Majeski through the backstretch and overtook him through Turns 3 and 4 to reassume the lead through the frontstretch and with just three laps remaining.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hocevar remained as the leader by more than a second over Majeski. Having the four fresh tires to his advantage and with Majeski unable to mount a late rally on his worn tires, Hocevar was able to smoothly navigate his way around the circuit for a final time and streak across the finish line on four fresh tires to claim his third checkered flag of the 2023 season.

    With his third career victory in the series and third of the season, Hocevar became the first competitor to achieve three victories in this year’s Truck season as he also recorded the third victory of the season and the seventh overall for Niece Motorsports. The victory was also a monumental moment for Hocevar, who piloted a Worldwide Express-sponsored truck to the victory in a Worldwide Express-sponsored event as he is one of 10 competitors who will contend for the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series title throughout a seven-race Playoff stretch.

    “Man, I suck at this place and Niece Motorsports, ourselves, we’ve sucked terrible,” Hocevar said on FS1. “That [truck’s] splitter’s gone because we had a flat tire before we even went. We passed every single truck here. [Majeski] was class of the field, but I thought we were second, and when we won with (the) second best truck because I had the first best pit crew and first best crew chief [Phil Gould] on the [pit] box. I just love it. We’ve won two of our competitors’ title races and it sucks seeing our Worldwide Express trophy get handed to a Toyota [competitor]. We had to take it home and there’s gonna be a lot of happy faces. We’re gonna celebrate.”

    While Hocevar was left victorious in Victory Lane, Majeski, who had already secured his spot for the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs prior to tonight’s event at Richmond, was left disappointed on pit road after leading a race-high 168 laps and falling short of notching his first victory of the season.

    “[I was] Helpless,” Majeski said. “I just didn’t have enough there. Obviously, [I] made a mistake speeding on pit road. If I don’t speed on pit road, I feel like that strategy still wins. But regardless, we had a chance to win even with the penalty. I don’t know. It’s just disappointing. What an unbelievable race truck. That thing was so fast tonight. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a dominant vehicle that much better than the rest of the field. To not win with it, it is incredibly disappointing. Everyone’s working really hard at ThorSport [Racing] to get these trucks where they need to be for us for these Playoffs. This one’s gonna sting. Man, I’m so disappointed in myself, but we win and lose as a team. We can go make another run at the Playoffs.”

    Zane Smith came home in third place while rookie Jake Garcia and Matt Mills earned strong top-five results. Heim, the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series Regular Season champion, ended up sixth while Crafton, Sanchez, Enfinger and William Sawalich finished in the top 10.

    With their respective results of seventh, eighth and 17th, Matt Crafton, Nick Sanchez and Matt DiBenedetto secured the final three vacant spots in the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs, with Crafton claiming the final transfer spot by 39 points over Stewart Friesen, who concluded his long night in 27th place.

    “We live to fight another day,” Crafton said. “[We got to] Kick [the competition’s] teeth in.”

    “[We] Brought a dull knife to a gunfight tonight,” Friesen said. “It is what it is.”

    Corey Heim, Zane Smith, Carson Hocevar, Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski, Ben Rhodes, rookie Nick Sanchez, Matt DiBenedetto and Matt Crafton have made the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs and will embark on a seven-race Playoff stretch to contend for this year’s series title. Stewart Friesen, Tanner Gray, Chase Purdy, Tyler Ankrum, Hailie Deegan, Colby Howard, Dean Thompson, Lawless Alan and Spencer Boyd along with a bevy of rookies that included Jake Garcia, Taylor Gray, Daniel Dye, Rajah Caruth and Bret Holmes were among the remaining full-time competitors who did not make the Playoffs.

    There were nine lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 27 laps. While all 36 starters finished the event, seven finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Carson Hocevar, 64 laps led

    2. Ty Majeski, 168 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    3. Zane Smith

    4. Jake Garcia

    5. Matt Mills

    6. Corey Heim, nine laps led

    7. Matt Crafton

    8. Nick Sanchez, one lap down

    9. Grant Enfinger, one lap down

    10. William Sawalich, one lap down

    11. Christian Eckes, one lap down

    12. Ben Rhodes, one lap down

    13. Tyler Ankrum, one lap down

    14. Taylor Gray, one lap down

    15. Hailie Deegan, one lap down

    16. Tanner Gray, one lap down

    17. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    18. Bayley Currey, two laps down

    19. Rajah Caruth, two laps down

    20. Connor Jones, two laps down

    21. Daniel Dye, two laps down

    22. Chase Purdy, two laps down

    23. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    24. Colby Howard, three laps down

    25. Dean Thompson, three laps down

    26. Will Rodgers, three laps down

    27. Stewart Friesen, three laps down

    28. Lawless Alan, three laps down

    29. Bret Holmes, three laps down

    30. Ryan Vargas, four laps down

    31. Justin Carroll, five laps down

    32. Christian Rose, six laps down

    33. Derek Lemke, seven laps down

    34. Mason Massey, eight laps down

    35. Spencer Boyd, 10 laps down

    36. Josh Reaume, 11 laps down

    The 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs are set to start at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Indiana, on August 11, with the event’s coverage to occur at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Hocevar scores second Truck career triumph at Nashville

    Hocevar scores second Truck career triumph at Nashville

    In a season where he silenced his doubters and became a NASCAR race winner for the first time in his career, Carson Hocevar doubled down with another reason to celebrate after scoring a late victory in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday, June 23.

    The 20-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, led the final 40 of 150-scheduled laps in an event where he rolled off the starting grid in seventh place before keeping pace with the front-runners as the event proceeded under the lights. He assumed the lead for the first time during a restart with 40 laps remaining and Hocevar appeared to be heading toward a potential victory when a late two-truck incident with 10 laps remaining stalled his momentum momentarily. After being one of select competitors to remain on the track instead of pitting for fresh tires, Hocevar then managed to fend off a late charge from reigning series champion Zane Smith during a three-lap shootout to claim the second checkered flag of this season and of his youthful career.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, rookie Nick Sanchez notched his third career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 161.915 mph in 29.571 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Bayley Currey, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 161.844 mph in 29.584 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Toni Breidinger and Dean Thompson dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Sanchez and Currey briefly dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Sanchez rocketed ahead on the inside lane through the first turn. With Sanchez out in front through the backstretch, rookie Rajah Caruth, who qualified third, battled Currey for second. Corey Heim, the series points leader who returned from a one-race absence due to illness that caused him to miss the previous event at World Wide Technology Raceway in early June, joined the battle entering the third turn. Caruth would muscle ahead and acquire the runner-up spot as Sanchez proceeded to lead the first lap.

    Three laps later and amid a series of early on-track battles while Sanchez continued to lead ahead of Caruth, the first caution of the event. Hailie Deegan, who was battling Lawless Alan for a spot within the top 20, got loose underneath Alan in Turn 3 as both competitors slipped sideways up the groove, with Deegan barely clipping the No. 51 Rowdy Manufacturing Chevrolet Silverado RST piloted by Jack Wood. While Deegan backed her No. 13 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 into Turn 3’s outside wall, Alan, who was trying to save his sideways truck, ended up darting back towards the wall as he was hit by Wood before both competitors hit the wall and emerged with damaged trucks.

    When the race restarted under green on the ninth lap, Sanchez fended off Caruth entering the first turn to retain the lead while Zane Smith, who restarted within the top six, got loose entering the first turn, but managed to continue without losing ground of the leaders. Shortly after, however, the caution returned when Alan blew a right-side tire and smacked the outside wall in Turn 1, his second incident of the night, and became the first retiree of the event.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 16, Sanchez and Caruth battled for the lead until Sanchez managed to pull ahead of Caruth to retain the lead during the following lap. With Sanchez leading the field, Carson Hocevar, who started seventh, battled and overtook teammate Currey for third as Corey Heim, Zane Smith and rookie Taylor Gray battled for fifth.

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Sanchez was leading by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Caruth while third-place Hocevar trailed by more than a second. Behind, Zane Smith and Currey battled for fourth while Heim, Tyler Ankrum, Taylor Gray, Grant Enfinger and Tanner Gray were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Matt DiBenedetto was in 11th ahead of Stewart Friesen, Christian Eckes, Ben Rhodes and Chase Purdy while rookie Daniel Dye, rookie Jake Garcia, Matt Crafton, Ty Majeski and Colby Howard occupied the top 20.

    Five laps later, Sanchez continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Caruth, who continued to intimidate and challenge Sanchez for the lead through every turn and corner. Behind, Zane Smith muscled his Speedco Ford F-150 into third place over Hocevar and Currey while Heim trailed in sixth place.

    During the proceeding five laps, the battle for the lead continued to ignite between Sanchez and Caruth. With both competitors encountering lapped traffic, Caruth made several side-by-side challenges on Sanchez to acquire the lead, but Sanchez would manage to fend off Caruth’s attacks by the time both returned to the start/finish line.

    On Lap 36, Caruth managed to lead a lap for himself over Sanchez. A lap later, however, Caruth was quickly overtaken by Sanchez as Zane Smith followed suit. Zane Smith would then become the new race leader on Lap 39 after assuming the top spot over Sanchez while Caruth, who was off the pace, made an unscheduled pit stop to address a loss of fuel pressure to his No. 24 Born Driven Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Zane Smith, who stretched his advantage to more than two seconds after acquiring the lead on Lap 39, captured his second stage victory of the 2023 season. Sanchez settled in second as he trailed Smith by more than two seconds while Currey, Hocevar, Heim, Ankrum, Tanner Gray, Enfinger, DiBenedetto and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Zane Smith pitted. Following the pit stops, Heim managed to squeak ahead and exit first with the lead followed by Sanchez, Currey, Zane Smith, Ankrum and Taylor Gray.

    The second stage started on Lap 53 as Heim and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, Heim retained the lead followed by Currey, who overtook Sanchez for second after pushing Heim into the lead at the restart mark. Taylor Gray would then challenge Sanchez for third entering the backstretch before Sanchez retained the spot followed by Zane Smith. Gray would then get dropkicked to eighth as Rhodes, Hocevar and Ankrum overtook him for spots within the top seven. Soon after, Gray would be challenged by Matt DiBenedetto, Eckes and a steaming pack of competitors for eighth during the proceeding laps as Heim retained the lead over Currey and a hard-charging Zane Smith.

    By Lap 60, Heim’s No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was leading by two-tenths of a second over Currey’s No. 41 Unishippers Chevrolet Silverado RST while third-place Zane Smith trailed by more than a second. Sanchez, meanwhile, was in fourth ahead of Hocevar while Rhodes, Ankrum, DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray and Christian Eckes were in the top 10.

    Two laps later, Currey led a lap for himself amid a fierce battle with Heim. Both competitors would then duel for the lead before Heim reassumed the top spot during the proceeding lap. With both competitors continuing to battle for the lead by Lap 65, Heim fended off Currey’s repeated attacks to retain the lead as Zane Smith narrowed his deficit to six-tenths of a second as he started to join the battle for the lead.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 75, Heim was leading by two-tenths of a second over Currey followed by Zane Smith, Hocevar and Sanchez while Rhodes, Ankrum, DiBenedetto, Tanner Gray and Taylor Gray were in the top 10. Behind, Eckes was in 11th ahead of Enfinger, Stewart Friesen, Chase Purdy and Daniel Dye while newcomer Jake Drew, Jake Garcia, Dean Thompson, Matt Crafton and Colby Howard were running in the top 20. Meanwhile, Ty Majeski, who was slow on the track three laps earlier due to an electrical issue, had pulled his truck off the course without drawing a caution.

    Then on Lap 84, the fourth caution of the event flew when Stewart Friesen spun his No. 52 Ferris Commercial Mowers Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entering Turn 4. During the caution period, DiBenedetto remained on the track to assume the race lead in his No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet Silverado RST while the rest of the lead lap field led by Heim pitted. Following the pit stops, Heim exited pit road first followed by Zane Smith, Hocevar, Rhodes and Currey. Amid the pit stops, Crafton was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while Layne Riggs was also penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With five laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, DiBenedetto maintained the lead through the first two turns as Rhodes, Heim and Zane Smith battled behind while fanned out to three lanes. Through the backstretch, however, Heim made his move beneath DiBenedetto and reassumed the lead. Amid the on-track jostles for spots, DiBenedetto was left to battle Hocevar and Zane Smith to retain second amid competing on worn tires while Heim started to pull away with the lead.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage, the caution returned when Daniel Dye, who was running outside the top 10, got loose as his truck washed up the track through Turns 1 and 2. Dye then clipped Layne Riggs as his truck started to turn down towards the track’s banking as Riggs was sent spinning through the backstretch. Riggs was then T-boned by an oncoming Bret Holmes as both competitors came to a rest with wrecked trucks.

    The recent caution period for the multi-truck wreck was enough for the second stage scheduled to conclude on Lap 95 to finish under caution as Heim captured his fifth stage victory of the 2023 season. Hocevar trailed in second followed by DiBenedetto while Zane Smith, Rhodes, Ankrum, Currey, Tanner Gray, Jake Drew and Eckes were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, select names that included DiBenedetto pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track. Among those who pitted included Grant Enfinger, the series’ recent winner at World Wide Technology Raceway who pitted for repairs to his left front after making contact with Dean Thompson on pit road during the previous caution period.

    With 48 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Heim and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Heim rocketed away from Hocevar and the field to retain the lead, though Hocevar kept Heim close within his sights. Behind, Zane Smith and Ben Rhodes battled for third while Currey trailed in fifth ahead of Ankrum, Tanner Gray, Jake Drew, Eckes and Sanchez.

    Two laps later, the caution returned when Thompson, who was battling Eckes for ninth, got loose beneath Eckes and started to wash up the track as he barely clipped Eckes’ No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST before he spun and backed his No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the outside wall, thus damaging his rear deck lid, in Turn 3. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Heim remained on the track while select names that included Enfinger, Eckes, Friesen and Layne Riggs pitted.

    During the following restart with 40 laps remaining, Heim and Hocevar dueled dead even for the lead entering the first two turns until Hocevar rocketed his No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead. With Hocevar emerging as the new leader of the event, Heim fell back to second while Zane Smith and Currey battled for third in front of Ankrum and Rhodes.

    With 35 laps remaining, Hocevar was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Heim while Currey and Zane Smith, both of whom trailed the leader by more than a second, continued to battle for third as Ankrum was trying to fend off Rhodes and Sanchez for fifth. Hocevar would proceed to extend his advantage to more than a second over the new runner-up competitor Zane Smith with 30 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Hocevar stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Zane Smith while third-place Heim trailed by more than three seconds. Currey and Rhodes were running in the top five while Sanchez, Ankrum, Purdy, Drew and Tanner Gray were battling in the top 10.

    Then with 10 laps remaining, the caution flew when Friesen, who was running 22nd, got loose and slipped sideways entering Turn 4 as he clipped Enfinger before colliding into Eckes and sending both to spin across the frontstretch grass. At the moment of caution, Hocevar was leading by more than a second over Zane Smith while Heim, Currey and Sanchez were scored in the top five.

    During the caution period, names that included Hocevar, Zane Smith, Heim, Chase Purdy, Tanner Gray and Jake Garcia remained on the track while the rest led by Currey and Sanchez pitted amid a mixed strategy.

    Down to a three-lap shootout, as Hocevar and Zane Smith occupied the front row, Hocevar received a big push from Chase Purdy to rocket ahead with the lead at the restart zone. As the field fanned out entering the first turn, Hocevar retained the lead while Zane Smith and Heim pursued the leader. Hocevar would continue to lead throughout the circuit while the field behind jostled for late positions.

    With two laps remaining, Sanchez, racing on fresh tires in his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST, overtook Heim for third while Hocevar stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Smith.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hocevar remained as the leader by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Zane Smith. Smith then tried to gain ground on Hocevar entering Turn 1, but he went wide and lost his momentum as Hocevar muscled away on the inside lane. Then through the backstretch, Smith and Sanchez set their final lap moves on Hocevar, but neither prevailed approaching Turns 3 and 4. This allowed Hocevar to pull away and beat both within three-tenths of a second to grab his second checkered flag of this season and of his career.

    With the victory, Hocevar joined Zane Smith, Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger as the only competitors to achieve multiple Craftsman Truck Series victories this season while also recording the sixth career victory for Niece Motorsports. The Nashville victory occurred more than two months after the Michigan native claimed his first Truck triumph at Texas Motor Speedway amid a wild last-lap battle involving Nick Sanchez and Zane Smith.

    In addition, Hocevar, who is coming off four consecutive top-five results in recent weeks, claimed the third and final $50,000 bonus as part of this year’s Craftsman Triple Truck Challenge bonus.

    “I would say I enjoy [this ride] a lot right now,” Hocevar said on FS1. “I led [a race] to the [start/finish] line after the white [flag] and carried it around, so I could finally get that out of the rest. Hopefully, that puts together any doubters. [Team owner] Al Niece, I hope he lets me drive a truck for a long time because I wanna win a lot of races for him. In the meantime, hopefully, I can win a lot more races everywhere else, under the sun or any car I get in. [Crew chief] Phil Gould’s a magician with these things and just glad I’m finally being able to put a fraction together of what he deserves.”

    Meanwhile, Zane Smith, who is coming off four consecutive weeks of finishing 20th or worse, rallied by finishing in second place at Nashville for a second consecutive season while Nick Sanchez claimed his second top-three result of his career by finishing in third place.

    “Yeah, definitely frustrating,” Smith said. “I wanna win here really bad. I love this place. Just needed to be better on restarts. [I] Struggled really bad all night from first to second [gear], but third to fourth, that was really good. [The leaders] would just be too far ahead and then, that final restart, [Heim] had just jumped outside of us and just pulled us back even more. I was catching [Hocevar]. I feel like we were better than him, but he just had the track position and he had the clean air. We did not.”

    “At the end of the day, it was a good points night,” Sanchez added. “That’s what we needed, but I’d kind of be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed. Third’s good, but I think we had the fastest truck. Just got to get better on my end. Got to execute a little better. I lost a little bit on pit road, so that hurt us. [I] Felt like we were always fighting behind, but can’t say enough about this No. 2 Rev Racing, Gainbridge Chevrolet crew. Every week, fast truck, so just go to Mid-Ohio and try again.”

    Heim ended up in fourth place despite leading a race-high 57 laps, but he managed to retain the lead in the regular-season standings, while Bayley Currey notched his second top-five career result by finishing fifth.

    Chase Purdy, Matt DiBenedetto, Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes and rookie Jake Garcia completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Jake Drew, the reigning ARCA Menards Series West champion, finished 12th in his Truck Series debut while Toni Breidinger finished 17th in her third Truck career start. Enfinger ended up 13th while Friesen and Eckes settled in 18th and 23rd, respectively, following their late wreck.

    There were nine lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 43 laps. In addition, 18 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 13th event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Corey Heim leads the regular-season standings by 16 points over Zane Smith, 31 over Grant Enfinger, 44 over Ty Majeski and 47 over Ben Rhodes.

    With three regular-season events remaining on the schedule, Christian Eckes, Zane Smith, Carson Hocevar, Grant Enfinger, Corey Heim and Ben Rhodes are currently locked into the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. Ty Majeski, Matt DiBenedetto, Matt Crafton and Nick Sanchez are above the top-10 cutline based on points, with Sanchez occupying the final transfer spot by six points over both Stewart Friesen and Tanner Gray, 39 over Chase Purdy and 63 over Jake Garcia.

    Results.

    1. Carson Hocevar, 40 laps led

    2. Zane Smith, 11 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Nick Sanchez, 38 laps led

    4. Corey Heim, 57 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Bayley Currey, one lap led

    6. Chase Purdy

    7. Matt DiBenedetto, three laps led

    8. Tyler Ankrum

    9. Ben Rhodes

    10. Jake Garcia

    11. Tanner Gray

    12. Jake Drew

    13. Grant Enfinger

    14. Taylor Gray

    15. Matt Crafton

    16. Timmy Hill

    17. Toni Breidinger

    18. Stewart Friesen

    19. Nick Leitz, one lap down

    20. Mason Maggio, one lap down

    21. Cory Roper, two laps down

     22. Daniel Dye, two laps down

    23. Christian Eckes, two laps down

    24. Jonathan Shafer, three laps down

    25. Spencer Boyd, three laps down

    26. Chase Janes, three laps down

    27. Layne Riggs, three laps down

    28. Hailie Deegan, four laps down

    29. Colby Howard, six laps down

    30. Jack Wood, six laps down

    31. Ty Majeski, 17 laps down

    32. Rajah Caruth, 31 laps down, one lap led

    33. Dean Thompson – OUT, Dvp

    34. Bret Holmes – OUT, Accident

    35. Memphis Villarreal – OUT, Electrical

    36. Lawless Alan – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is the series’ second annual visit to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The event is scheduled to occur on July 8 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Christian Eckes wins Darlington Truck Series race in dramatic double-overtime finish

    Christian Eckes wins Darlington Truck Series race in dramatic double-overtime finish

    Christian Eckes led the most laps, 82 of 158, and held on through two overtimes Friday night to claim victory in the Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway. The win was even more rewarding after lackluster finishes in the previous five races this season of three 30th place and two 15th place results.

    “I don’t really feel that excited, because the truck was so good it drove itself,” Eckes said, adding, “It’s been a really, really rough couple of weeks.”

    “To come back and win shows the resilience of this team, and how we had to win it just shows the fight in this team. I was really determined. It’s really, really fun to be here, man, and when you have a truck like this, you’ve just got to finish it out.”

    “We needed a little bit longer runs, I think,” he said. “Our truck was strong on longer runs – we just had too many medium to short runs, and it was hard to get track position there to advance forward.

    Stewart Friesen finished second posting this third top-10 result of 2023. Tanner Gray, William Byron, and Carson Hocevar completed the top five at Darlington. Rajah Caruth finished sixth and was the highest-finishing rookie.

    Full-time Cup Series driver Bryon, was piloting the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry, and won Stage 2, but had to settle for a fourth-place finish.

    “Hopefully, we learned some stuff for the Cup race. We usually run really good here, so it’s just a matter of trying to put it all together and learn some nuances with the race track, so hopefully we did that.”

    Zane Smith currently leads the driver standings with 338 points, followed by Ty Majeski (-9), Corey Heim (-15), Ben Rhodes (-37) Christian Eckes (-39), Grant Enfinger (-39), Matt Crafton (-78), Tanner Gray (-84), Nick Sanchez (-105) and Stewart Friesen (-111).

    The first two stages of the race were caution-free, excluding state breaks, but the final stage had six cautions with two overtime attempts to finish under green flag conditions.

    Next weekend the Truck Series travels to North Wilkesboro Speedway. Television coverage will be provided by FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Results:

  • Carson Hocevar escapes final lap carnage for first Truck career victory at Texas

    Carson Hocevar escapes final lap carnage for first Truck career victory at Texas

    After finishing in the runner-up spot four times while having numerous opportunities to win slip out of his grasp in his previous 58 starts, Carson Hocevar’s day under the victorious sun arrived as he emerged as a first-time winner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career following a wild finish to the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 1.

    The 20-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, led only the final lap of 172 over-scheduled laps and had appeared to be heading for a top-five finish in an event mired with late caution periods and on-track chaos. During the final lap, however, Hocevar gained a run on a side-by-side battle between Zane Smith and rookie Nick Sanchez on the final lap through the frontstretch when Sanchez got loose after making contact with Smith. While trying to regain his momentum, Sanchez got bumped by Hocevar as he turned back across the track and clipped Smith while wrecking across the outside wall with Christian Eckes. Amid the carnage, Hocevar escaped with the lead and managed to retain it as the caution flew to conclude the event, in which Hocevar was deemed as the leader and awarded his first long-awaited victory in NASCAR.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, rookie Nick Sanchez claimed his second Truck career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 185.510 mph in 29.109 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Jack Wood, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 184.906 mph in 29.204 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Spencer Boyd and Matt DiBenedetto started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Sanchez pulled ahead with an early advantage followed by Ty Majeski while Wood slipped up the track as he lost a handful of spots and fell out of the top five. Then as the field made its way through the backstretch, the caution flew when Chad Chastain spun and backed his No. 41 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST into the outside wall as he sustained rear-end damage.

    During the following restart on the fifth lap, Sanchez retained the lead followed by a side-by-side battle between Eckes and Majeski through the first two turns. Entering the backstretch, however, Majeski wiggled and was quickly overtaken by teammate Ben Rhodes, Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim amid a three-wide battle while Eckes settled in second while trying to pursue Sanchez. With Majeski dropping back to seventh during the following lap, Jack Wood went up the track in Turn 1 and continued to lose more spots early in the event as he slipped out of the top 10. Amid the battles around the circuit, Sanchez retained the lead in front of Eckes and Rhodes.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Sanchez was leading by three-tenths of a second over Eckes followed by Rhodes, Hocevar, and Corey Heim while Majeski, Friesen, Tanner Gray, Grant Enfinger and rookie Jake Garcia were running in top 10. Behind, Chase Purdy was in 11th followed by Zane Smith, Tyler Ankrum, Dean Thompson and rookie Rajah Caruth while Bret Holmes, Wood, rookie Taylor Gray, Matt Crafton and Colby Howard occupied the top 20.

    Ten laps later, Sanchez extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Eckes followed by Rhodes, Hocevar and Heim. A lap later, the caution returned when Chad Chastain wrecked for the second time after spinning and backing his truck into the outside wall in the backstretch.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 25, Sanchez and Eckes dueled for the lead and remained dead even for a full lap as Eckes managed to lead the following lap. Sanchez, however, would prevail during the following lap and reassume the lead as the field behind jostled for spots.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 35, Sanchez was leading by more than a second over Eckes while Rhodes, Majeski and Rhodes were scored in the top five. By then, 29 of 34 starters were scored on the lead lap. During the competition caution, the teams were given three minutes to service their respective trucks with the competitors retaining their spots as they entered pit road and during the latest caution period, which kept Sanchez as the leader.

    With the event proceeding under green on Lap 35, Sanchez battled against Eckes on the inside lane before he was able to pull ahead and retain the lead exiting Turn 4 while the field behind jostled for spots around the circuit.

    Four laps later, Sanchez was leading by more than a second over Rhodes followed by Eckes, Zane Smith and Dean Thompson while Heim, Friesen, Purdy, Majeski and Enfinger were in the top 10. Sanchez would continue to lead by more than two seconds over Rhodes as the event reached its Lap 50 mark.

    Just past the Lap 60 mark, Sanchez retained the lead by a second over Rhodes while third-place Eckes trailed by more than a second. Zane Smith and Thompson remained in the top five while 25 of 34 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 77, Sanchez claimed his first Truck stage victory of the 2023 season. Rhodes settled in second while Eckes, Majeski, Zane Smith, Thompson, Heim, Purdy, Friesen and Enfinger were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the field led by Sanchez returned to pit road as the teams were given three minutes to service the truck while the competitors retained their respective spots as they entered pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 77 as Sanchez and Rhodes occupied the front row. At the start, Sanchez and Rhodes dueled dead even for the lead for a full lap as Rhodes prevailed during the following lap to lead by a nose. Sanchez, however, fought back during the following lap on the inside lane as he returned to the lead. Shortly after, the caution returned when Lawless Alan spun his No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST on the backstretch.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 82, Sanchez retained the lead while Eckes challenged Rhodes for second in front of Zane Smith and Thompson. As the event surpassed its halfway mark a few laps later, Sanchez started to extend his advantage to nearly a second while Eckes retained second over Rhodes. By then, Corey Heim launched his bid for a spot in the top five while more jostling within the field occurred.

    Nearing the Lap 90 mark, Ankrum scrubbed the wall while running within the top 15 while rookie Rajah Caruth made contact with the wall after contact with Hocevar, which prompted Caruth to pit under green for damage repairs.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Sanchez was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Eckes while Rhodes, Thompson, Zane Smith, Heim, Taylor Gray, Friesen, Tanner Gray and Purdy occupied the top 10. With Enfinger back in 11th, Matt Crafton was up in 12th followed by DiBenedetto, Colby Howard and Hocevar while Majeski had fallen back to 16th in front of Jake Garcia, Ankrum, Wood and Hailie Deegan.

    Ten laps later, Sanchez’s advantage decreased to eight-tenths of a second over Eckes while third-place Rhodes trailed by more than a second.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 122, Sanchez, who used the lapped traffic to his advantage to extend his advantage while Eckes struggled to overtake the lapped competitors, claimed his second Truck consecutive stage victory of the season and of the day. Eckes settled in second as he trailed a second behind while Rhodes, Thompson, Zane Smith, Tanner Gray, Heim, Purdy, Taylor Gray and Crafton were scored in the top 10.

    Following the final three-minute pit stop period, the final stage started on Lap 122 as Sanchez and Eckes shared the front row. At the start, Sanchez jumped ahead with another strong start on the inside lane followed by Zane Smith, who also gave Sanchez a push as he then tried to pursue Sanchez for the lead while Eckes fell back to third. A lap later, Rhodes navigated his way to third while Eckes was being challenged by Hocevar for fourth.

    Not long after, Taylor Gray, who was running in the top 10, made contact against the wall, but the event proceeded under green as Zane Smith started to intimidate Sanchez for the lead. Getting his deficit down to as little as a tenth of a second, Zane Smith, however, continued to settle behind Sanchez while more battles ensued behind.

    Then with less than 35 laps remaining, the battle for the lead intensified as Zane Smith, who kept Sanchez close within his sights, tried to overtake Sanchez in Turn 1 through a slide job. He, however, slid up the track in Turn 1 and could not make the move stick as Sanchez pulled the crossover move to reassume the lead through the backstretch. Rhodes then tried to follow suit in second, but he got loose entering Turn 4, which allowed Zane Smith to reassume second as he tried to reignite his charge on Sanchez for the lead.

    With 31 laps remaining, the caution flew when Jack Wood, who was running in the top 20, plowed his No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST through the frontstretch grass as he kicked up debris and grass on the frontstretch’s pavement.

    During the following restart with 25 laps remaining, Sanchez and Zane Smith dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Sanchez managed to use the inside lane to his advantage as he cleared Zane Smith and retained the lead. Behind, Eckes challenged Zane Smith for second, with the latter still prevailing as the field returned to the frontstretch amid a series of battles. Shortly after, the caution flew for a viscous multi-truck wreck on the frontstretch when Thompson, who was having a strong run towards the front, hit the outside wall entering the frontstretch as his damaged truck veered sideways towards the outside wall and came to a stop towards the middle of the frontstretch before he was T-Boned by Matt Mills as Trey Hutchins and Armani Williams also piled into the carnage. Amid the hard carnage, all competitors emerged uninjured, though Thompson was placed on a stretcher and into the ambulance for further evaluation. The wreck, however, was enough to place the event in a red flag period to give the on-track safety crew time to clear the carnage.

    Once the red flag was lifted amid a 15-minute hiatus and the race restarted with 17 laps remaining, Sanchez jumped ahead of Zane Smith despite spinning the tires to retain the lead as Hocevar challenged Zane Smith for second. Smith, however, pulled away and tried to challenge Sanchez for the lead while Friesen battled and overtook Hocevar for third. Shortly after, Friesen nearly got into the wall on the backstretch as he lost third to Hocevar, but he continued to run straight as the event proceeded under green. By then, Sanchez was still leading by a tenth of a second over Zane Smith.

    Following another late caution period with 11 laps remaining due to a multi-truck involving Taylor Gray, rookie Daniel Dye, Mason Massey and Ankrum on the backstretch, the event restarted under green with seven laps remaining. At the start, Sanchez and Zane Smith dueled for the lead through the backstretch until Sanchez managed to fend off Smith once again to retain the lead. The caution, however, shortly returned when Matt Crafton, Tanner Gray and Enfinger wrecked in Turn 4. The incident was enough to send the event into overtime and past its scheduled distance of 167 laps.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Sanchez and Zane Smith battled for the lead with neither peeking ahead. Amid the side-by-side battle towards the front, the caution flew and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt for a spin involving Lawless Alan, who rallied to run in the top 10, on the backstretch. At the moment of caution, Sanchez was still scored the leader followed by Zane Smith, Friesen, Eckes and Hocevar.

    During the start of the second overtime attempt, Sanchez and Zane Smith dueled for the lead with Friesen, Eckes and Hocevar following in pursuit. Sanchez and Smith would remain dead even for the lead while Hocevar and Eckes dueled behind for third, all while the field behind battled for spots within the top five and 10.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Sanchez and Zane Smith remained dead even for the lead. They then made contact as Sanchez slipped sideways. Despite regaining control of his truck, he was then hit by Hocevar as Sanchez spun back across the track and clipped Smith’s No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford F-150 before colliding into the outside wall while also collecting Eckes. Amid the carnage, Hocevar escaped with the lead through the first two turns as the caution flew to end the event under the yellow flag. With the lead within his grasp, Hocevar was deemed the leader at the moment of caution and declared the winner as he cycled back to the finish line to claim his first checkered flag in NASCAR competition and in his 59th series start.

    With the victory, Hocevar became the 122nd different competitor to achieve a victory in the Craftsman Truck Series, the first competitor to achieve a first series victory at Texas since Jeb Burton made the last accomplishment in 2013 and he became the first first-time winner in the series of the 2023 season. He also recorded the first victory of the season and the fifth overall for Niece Motorsports.

    “I didn’t think y’all were gonna talk to me [in Victory Lane], to be honest,” Hocevar, who became the fourth different winner of the 2023 season, said on FS1. “I figured I was gonna talk to y’all [on pit road]. I’m just excited. I didn’t mean to get into [Sanchez]. I just wanted to give him a push and they were sideways the second I hit him. He was gone. I apologize to them. I’ll take the fall for it. I wrecked a Chevy, but, Chevy’s in Victory Lane, I’ll go talk to him. He deserved to win, for sure, but all the times we were the fastest car and I don’t win and this team don’t win. They deserve to win more than anything. I finally can stop getting the same question asked so many times. We didn’t deserve to win today. We were just in the right spot at the right time…My whole crew deserves this win more than anything.”

    “I didn’t see anything,” Hocevar, who addressed his involvement of the final lap incident, added. “I was just like, ‘I’ll sit here’. [Sanchez and Smith] hit pretty good. I just tried to push [Sanchez] and he was sideways, so the second he crossed right back up, I mean, I was coming so much faster than him just to help push. He crossed left, crossed right and he’s sideways, so the second I touched him, he went around. I didn’t mean to tear up any race cars. I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting that to happen.”

    With Hocevar scored as the winner, Chase Purdy ended in a career-best second place followed by Friesen and Majeski while rookie Jake Garcia finished in the top five. Hailie Deegan came home in sixth to tie her career-best result in the NASCAR Truck circuit while Heim, Ryan Vargas, Jack Wood and Rhodes completed the top 10 on the track.

    Sanchez, who led a race-high 168 laps, ended up in 16th and with a destroyed race truck after being unable to limp back to the finish line while Zane Smith and Eckes managed to limp their trucks in 14th and 15th, respectively, below the lead lap finishing category.

    “It was, obviously, coming to the last lap,” Sanchez said. “Me and [Zane Smith] were playing aggressive side-drafting game and I feel like I went a little too aggressive on him, got loose, went through the grass, saved it and just got hooked by [Hocevar]. Don’t know what else to say on that after all day just kind of in my own little race and for that to happen, but it is what it is. It’s racing. Thanks to everyone on the No. 2 Gainbridge and Save Chevy team. The truck’s fast. I hate we tore a fast one up, but just got to build another one and come back strong.”

    “The end there, it was just overtime, overtime, overtime restarts,” Smith said. “I don’t know what’s really going on with [Sanchez], but he was just so, so sketchy, especially on the straightaways. He doors me [on the frontstretch], gets off me, drives [his truck] through the grass and then, I just get hooked. We were in great position to get our third win of the year there. We’ll rebound and go to Bristol Dirt and hopefully have a good weekend there.”

    There were seven lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured 12 cautions for 36 laps.

    Following the fifth event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Ty Majeski leads the regular-season standings by three points over Zane Smith, 12 over Ben Rhodes, 19 over Christian Eckes and 51 over Matt Crafton.

    Results.

    1. Carson Hocevar, one lap led

    2. Chase Purdy

    3. Stewart Friesen

    4. Ty Majeski

    5. Jake Garcia

    6. Hailie Deegan

    7. Corey Heim

    8. Ryan Vargas

    9. Jack Wood

    10. Ben Rhodes, one lap led

    11. Mason Massey

    12. Kris Wright

    13. Matt Crafton

    14. Zane Smith

    15. Christian Eckes, two laps led

    16. Nick Sanchez – OUT, Accident, 168 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    17. Grant Enfinger, one lap down

    18. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    19. Rajah Caruth, three laps down

    20. Colby Howard, three laps down

    21. Josh Reaume, four laps down

    22. Spencer Boyd, four laps down

    23. Bret Holmes, five laps down

    24. Taylor Gray, six laps down

    25. Daniel Dye, seven laps down

    26. Tyler Ankrum, eight laps down

    27. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident

    28. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    29. Armani Williams – OUT, Accident

    30. Trey Hutchins – OUT, Accident

    31. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    32. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Vibration

    33. Keith McGee – OUT, Vibration

    34. Chad Chastain – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is the third annual running of the Weather Guard Truck Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in Bristol, Tennessee. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 8, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Zane Smith capitalizes on pit strategy for second consecutive Truck victory at COTA

    Zane Smith capitalizes on pit strategy for second consecutive Truck victory at COTA

    Zane Smith executed a well-timed pit strategy followed by a late caution period to cycle to the lead and motor away in the final stage to win the third annual running of the XPEL 225 at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, March 25.

    The reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Smith from Huntington Beach, California, led two times for a race-high 16 of 42-scheduled laps as he spent the majority of the event running towards the front and jostling for the lead with a host of front-runners, among which included Kyle Busch.

    The key moment for Smith occurred at the conclusion of the second stage, which was won by Busch, when the Californian pitted under green for four fresh tires and fuel. Once the caution flew immediately afterward due to Parker Kligerman’s mechanical issue, a host of names led by Busch pitted and surrendered track position, which enabled Smith to cycle to the lead.

    Then during a 13-lap dash to the finish, Smith was able to retain the lead and capture the victory from Busch who was trying to cycle his way back to the front from starting 16th but ran out of time as he was unable to narrow the deficit.  

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Ross Chastain secured the pole position for the main event after posting a pole-winning lap at 91.877 mph in 133.613 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Kyle Busch, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 91.490 mph in 134.178 seconds.

    Prior to the event, names that included Daniel Dye, Kris Wright, Matt Crafton, Parker Kligerman, Matt DiBenedetto, Kaden Honeycutt, Taylor Gray, Bret Holmes, Colin Garrett, Chase Purdy and Spencer Boyd (driver change) dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Chastain jumped ahead with an early advantage approaching the uphill climb towards the first turn as the field fanned out. As the field approached a series of left and right-hand turns from Turns 2 to 9, Chastain remained ahead of Kyle Busch with Christian Eckes and Ty Majeski battling for third. With rookie Bret Holmes spinning behind in the field, the event remained under green flag conditions as the leaders approached Turns 10 and 11 before entering a long straightaway to Turn 12.

    Towards the rear of the field, however, early troubles ignited for open-wheel competitor Ed Jones, who fell off the pace in Turn 8 with a flat left-rear tire and a potential broken rear suspension to his No. 20 Little Caesars Chevrolet Silverado RST. As the event remained under green, Chastain navigated his way through the next round of left and right-hand turns from Turns 12 to 19 before entering the final turn in Turn 20 and returning to the frontstretch as he led the first lap in front of Kyle Busch, Eckes, Majeski and Zane Smith. Not long after, the first caution of the event flew when Ed Jones pulled his truck off the course in Turn 13 with a flat tire and retired. During the caution period, names like Kris Wright, Colin Garrett, Jake Garcia, Spencer Boyd, Holmes and Jones pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.

    When the event proceeded under green on the third lap in Austin, the field fanned out as wide as five lanes entering the first turn with Eckes igniting his charge for the lead, which he succeeded over Chastain and Kyle Busch. Following Turns 2 to 10, however, Chastain drew his No. 41 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST beneath Eckes’ No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST in Turn 11 as both engaged for the lead while Zane Smith, Kyle Busch and Hocevar battled for third. Then entering Turn 12, Chastain cleared Eckes to reassume the lead as the field behind continued to jostle for positions.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Chastain was leading by more than a second over Eckes followed by Zane Smith, Kyle Busch and Carson Hocevar while Majeski, Kaz Grala, rookie Nick Sanchez, Corey Heim and Tyler Ankrum were in the top 10. By then, Tanner Gray was in 11th ahead of Ben Rhodes, Grant Enfinger, Logan Bearden and Lawless Alan while Matt DiBenedetto, Matt Crafton, Hailie Deegan, Parker Kligerman and Stewart Friesen occupied the top 20. Meanwhile, rookie Rajah Caruth was assessed a pass-through penalty for cutting the course.

    Not long after, Deegan pitted under green as scheduled while running in the top 20 while driver Dale Quarterley was penalized for cutting the corner. Back at the front, Chastain continued to lead by more than a second over Eckes as Zane Smith, Kyle Busch and Hocevar were in the top five.

    Then on the seventh lap, the caution returned when Hocevar, who was running towards the top 10, got loose due to brake pressure issues and spun as he got his No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST stuck in the gravel trap in Turn 11. Hocevar’s incident occurred as Kris Wright also spun toward the midfield. During the caution period, a host of names led by Zane Smith, Busch and Chastain pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track. During the caution period, Logan Bearden was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    During the following restart on the 10th lap, the field fanned out entering the first turn as Eckes pulled ahead with the lead while Sanchez and Majeski battled for second. Entering the second turn, contact from Majeski got Sanchez loose as he lost a handful of spots while Eckes pulled away through the first round of left and right turns. Behind, trouble ignited for Crafton as he spun in Turn 4 and got his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 stuck in the gravel trap. With the event proceeding under green, Eckes retained the lead in front of Majeski while Grala moved up to third in front of teammate Heim, Tyler Ankrum and Ben Rhodes.

    At the conclusion of the first stage on Lap 12, Eckes, winner of last weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, captured his third stage victory of the 2023 Truck season with Majeski, Corey Heim, Grala, Kyle Busch, Chastain, Tyler Ankrum, Zane Smith, Rhodes and Matt DiBenedetto scored in the top 10. Compared to the first three events on the schedule, the caution flag did not display and the competitors proceeded under green as part of NASCAR’s new rules for this season, which highlighted that no caution periods would be mandated at the conclusion of stage breaks on road course venues that hold Cup Series events.

    As the event remained under green with the start of the second stage, a host of names that included Chastain, Kyle Busch and Zane Smith pitted under green. Eckes would pit under green during the following lap as Majeski assumed the lead. During the 14th lap, Kyle Busch, who managed to pass Chastain following the pit stops, overtook Majeski to assume the lead while Chastain followed through for second. Not long after, Colby Howard was penalized for cutting the course while Heim and DiBenedetto pitted under green.

    As the event surpassed the Lap 20 mark, names that included Sanchez, Eckes, Majeski, Rhodes and Grala pitted under green, with Eckes dealing with a potential mechanical issue to his truck and knocking himself out of contention for a second consecutive win. By then, Chastain was leading ahead of Kyle Busch. Chastain would then pit on Lap 22 in light of a fuel pressure issue for the Floridian while Busch cycled his No. 51 Zariz Transport Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 26 and the event surpassed its halfway mark, Kyle Busch captured the stage victory. Zane Smith, who pitted to cap off the second stage, was scored second followed by Lawless Alan, Stewart Friesen, Parker Kligerman, Hailie Deegan, Chastain, Kaden Honeycutt, Rhodes and Nick Sanchez. Not long after, the caution returned when Kligerman, who was off the pace through the frontstretch, came to a stop towards the frontstretch’s uphill venue with smoke billowing out of his No. 75 Food Country USA Chevrolet Silverado RST. By then, names like Chase Purdy, Majeski, Tanner Gray and Ankrum had also pitted along with Zane Smith. In the midst of the pit stops and prior to Kligerman’s issues, Hailie Deegan and Kaden Honeycutt made contact entering Turn 19, which resulted in both spinning off the track.

    During the caution period, some led by Kyle Busch, who opted to remain on the track during the second stage’s conclusion instead of pitting per crew chief Brian Pattie’s orders, pitted while the rest that included Zane Smith, Rhodes, Taylor Gray, Grala, Rajah Caruth, Majeski, Tanner Gray, Ankrum and Chase Purdy remained on the track.

    With 13 laps remaining, the event restarted under green as Zane Smith and Rhodes occupied the front row. At the start, Zane Smith maintained the lead in front of Rhodes as the field fanned out and scrambled for late positions. As the field continued to navigate through the series of turns, Logan Bearden spun in Turn 15, but the field remained under green while Kyle Busch commenced his charge to the front on fresh tires.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Zane Smith was leading by more than three seconds over Rhodes while third-place Kyle Busch, who continued to his charge to the front, was trailing by more than six seconds. Majeski and Grala were in the top five while Caruth, Taylor Gray, Ankrum, Tanner Gray and Heim occupied the top 10 with 29 of 36 starters scored on the lead lap.

    Four laps later, Kyle Busch overtook Rhodes for the runner-up spot. Busch, however, found himself trailing the leader Zane Smith by more than six seconds. As the laps continued to dwindle and the battles around the circuit continued, Busch could only get the gap between himself and Zane Smith down to four and five seconds, but he could not get closer to Smith’s No. 38 Speedco Ford F-150 as the Californian continued to lead.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Zane Smith remained as the leader by more than five seconds over Kyle Busch and by more than seven seconds over third-place Rhodes. With clean air in front of him and a clear advantage with no challenges lurking behind, Smith was able to navigate his way through the 20-turn circuit for a final time before cycling back to the frontstretch and claiming his second consecutive checkered flag in Austin.

    With the victory, Smith became the first repeat winner of this year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season and notched his ninth series career victory. Smith’s win also marked the third consecutive victory for Front Row Motorsports No. 38 entry, which remains the only team to win every Truck event at Circuit of the Americas.

    “Besides catching on fire in Victory Lane, that’s a first for me,” Smith, whose truck caught on fire while performing his burnout on the frontstretch, said on FS1. “Man, that’s a bummer right there, but man, just a shoutout to everyone at Team [Front Row Motorsports], [crew chief] Chris Lawson for that amazing strategy right there. That worked out for us good with that caution, advancing us in front of [Chastain]. Shoutout to my pit crew, man. They’ve been awesome all this year. It’s been so awesome having them and then, the strategy, putting Kyle [Busch] back there and us starting on the front row was just so perfect. The Speedco F-150 was fast there when it mattered. I just enjoy so much coming to all the road courses, especially here. It’s so cool [that Front Row Motorsports] is undefeated here. Just a true testament to this team. That was probably the most hectic Victory Lane celebration I’ve ever had.”

    Kyle Busch, who was seeking the 100th Truck career victory for his organization, settled in second place and five seconds behind Smith while Majeski, Ankrum and Chastain finished in the top five.

    “We were playing the long game and unfortunately, the long game didn’t work,” Busch said. “[Smith] got lucky today and beat us.”

    Heim, Sanchez, Tanner Gray and Grala finished sixth through ninth while Rhodes, who had a drive shaft issue and had fallen off the pace approaching the finish line, ended up in 10th.

    There were nine lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured three cautions for five laps. In total, 28 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the fourth event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Zane Smith leads the regular-season standings by two points over Ty Majeski, 18 over Ben Rhodes, 20 over Christian Eckes, 37 over Grant Enfinger and 38 over Matt Crafton.

    Results.

    1. Zane Smith, 16 laps led

    2. Kyle Busch, 12 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Ty Majeski, one lap led

    4. Tyler Ankrum

    5. Ross Chastain, 10 laps led

    6. Corey Heim

    7. Nick Sanchez

    8. Tanner Gray

    9. Kaz Grala

    10. Ben Rhodes

    11. Taylor Gray

    12. Grant Enfinger

    13. Rajah Caruth

    14. Stewart Friesen

    15. Kaden Honeycutt

    16. Hailie Deegan

    17. Lawless Alan

    18. Daniel Dye

    19. Jake Garcia

    20. Colin Garrett

    21. Kris Wright

    22. Logan Bearden

    23. Bret Holmes

    24. Colby Howard

    25. Timmy Hill

    26. Mason Filippi

    27. Chase Purdy

    28. Dale Quarterley

    29. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    30. Christian Eckes – OUT, Suspension, three laps led, Stage 1 winner

    31. Parker Kligerman – OUT, Electrical

    32. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Electrical

    33. Matt Crafton – OUT, Accident

    34. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Axle

    35. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    36. Ed Jones – OUT, Suspension

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is another Texas event as the series will travel north from Austin to Fort Worth to compete at Texas Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 1, at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Christian Eckes captures Craftsman Truck Series win in overtime finish at Atlanta

    Christian Eckes captures Craftsman Truck Series win in overtime finish at Atlanta

    Christian Eckes captured the checkered flag in an exciting overtime finish to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fr8 208 Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    It was the second career victory in the series and his first as a driver for Bill McAnally Racing, driving the No. 19 Chevrolet.  

    Eckes, who drove for ThorSport Racing in 2022, said, “It’s been a tough off-season. I’m driving harder than I ever have. I have a lot to prove. The people know who they are.

    “I’m really happy. Thanks to (crew chief) Charles (Denike), everybody on this team. They work so damn hard. This is what makes it all worth it. I’m pumped. It’s going to be a really good year. It’s what I came here and set out to do. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it’s been a little bit emotional.”

    Rev Racing driver, Nick Sanchez, the 2022 ARCA Menards Series champion, finished second, his first top-five in the Truck Series in only three starts. The runner-up finish came after recovering from contact with Corey Heim on Lap 84.  

    “Our truck was good,” Sanchez said. “It was a little beat up in the back, but the nose was clean, the fenders were intact and we were able to race up front. To know that I can finally finish a race is nice and to be that close. But it makes me want it that much more.”

    John H. Nemechek placed third and led a race-high 53 laps. Bayley Currey and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top five with Matt DiBenedetto, Chase Purdy, Timmy Hill, Matt Crafton and Jack Wood completing the top 10.

    There were seven lead changes among nine drivers and 11 cautions for 58 laps.

    Next weekend, the Craftsman Truck Series heads to Circuit of The Americas. You can tune in Saturday, March 25 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM.

    Results: