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Tag: John Hunter Nemechek

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

    DiBenedetto survives overtime finish for first Truck career victory at Talladega

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

    1. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led

    2. Ben Rhodes, two laps led

    3. Bret Holmes, six laps led

    4. Ryan Preece

    5. Christian Eckes, 25 laps led

    6. Hailie Deegan

    7. Chase Purdy, six laps led

    8. Colby Howard

    9. Parker Kligerman

    10. Tyler Ankrum

    11. Kaden Honeycutt

    12. Clay Greenfield

    13. Derek Kraus, three laps led

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

    15. Timmy Hill

    16. Parker Retzlaff

    17. Zane Smith, one lap led

    18. Kaz Grala

    19. Jack Wood

    20. Stewart Friesen

    21. Bayley Currey

    22. Matt Crafton, one lap led

    23. Ty Majeski, one lap led

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

    25. Johnny Sauter

    26. Corey Heim – OUT, Accident

    27. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident

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

    29. Grant Enfinger, one lap down

    30. Austin Wayne Self – OUT, Accident

    31. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident

    32. Jennifer Jo Cobb – OUT, Clutch

    33. Lawless Alan – OUT, Accident

    34. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    35. Bryan Dauzat – OUT, Dvp

    36. Jordan Anderson – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    2. Chandler Smith +30

    3. Zane Smith +18

    4. Ben Rhodes +3

    5. Christian Eckes -3

    6. Stewart Friesen -3

    7. John Hunter Nemechek -5

    8. Grant Enfinger -29

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

  • Gragson ties all-time Xfinity wins streak after victory in Playoff opener at Texas

    Gragson ties all-time Xfinity wins streak after victory in Playoff opener at Texas

    Noah Gragson commenced the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs by making history with his record-tying fourth consecutive victory in recent weeks to claim the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 24.

    The 24-year-old Gragson from Las Vegas, Nevada, led three times for 85 of 200-scheduled laps and executed a pit stop under the green flag with less than 50 laps remaining to his advantage. He reassumed the top spot with 12 laps remaining and beat Austin Hill by more than a second to claim his seventh NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season.

    Above all, Gragson became the first Playoff contender to punch his ticket into the Round of 8 in the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff contender Brandon Jones secured his fourth pole position of the 2022 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 185.637 mph in 29.089 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Noah Gragson, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 185.363 mp in 29.132 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Playoff contender Ty Gibbs, as well as, Bayley Currey, David Starr, Akinori Ogata, Tommy Joe Martins, Stefan Parsons and JJ Yeley dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Garrett Smithley also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change.

    When the green flag waved and the race began, Brandon Jones surged ahead with a brief advantage over Gragson entering the first turn. Then, he slipped sideways below the apron in Turn 1 off the front nose of Daniel Hemric’s No. 11 DaaBIN Store Chevrolet Camaro. As Jones tried to straighten his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra below the apron, the field fanned out to avoid Jones and Gragson pulled away with the lead. He went on to lead the first lap by eight-tenths ahead of John Hunter Nemechek followed by Justin Allgaier, Hemric and Landon Cassill. Meanwhile, Jones, who managed to keep his car intact without drawing a caution, was all the way back in 20th behind Alex Labbe.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gragson was leading by a tenth of a second over Nemechek, who challenged Gragson for the lead before claiming it during the following lap. He was followed by Allgaier, Hemric and Cassill while Ryan Sieg, Brandon Brown, AJ Allmendinger, rookie Austin Hill and Josh Berry, rounding out the top 10. Playoff contender Sam Mayer was in 11th, Jeremy Clements was in 13th, Riley Herbst was scored in 15th ahead of Brandon Jones as Ty Gibbs was mired back in 24th behind Brennan Poole.

    Nine laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Jeffrey Earnhardt, who was battling Poole for a spot outside of the top 20, got into the side of Poole’s car entering the backstretch and his No. 26 YesWav/ForeverLawn Toyota Supra darted to the inside wall and wrecked hard, which ended Earnhardt’s event early. By then, Nemechek was still leading Gragson, Brandon Jones had recovered to 14th and Ty Gibbs was up in 18th behind Creed.

    During the first caution period, some like Creed, Alex Labbe, Matt Mills, David Starr, Joey Gase, Garrett Smithley and Joe Graf Jr. pitted while the rest, led by Nemechek, remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 24, Nemechek and Gragson dueled for the lead until Nemechek managed to clear Gragson for the top spot while the field jostled for positions. Behind the leaders, Sam Mayer, who got loose beneath Cassill entering Turn 1 and lost a handful of spots, hit the wall entering Turn 4 and fell to 16th. With the race proceeding under green, Gragson kept the runner-up spot ahead of Hemric, Allgaier and Allmendinger while Nemechek retained the lead.

    At the Lap 35 mark, Nemechek’s No. 18 Romco Equipment Toyota Supra was ahead by nearly six-tenths of a second over Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro while Hemric, Allgaier and Allmendinger remained in the top five. By then, Gibbs carved his No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Supra into 10th place while Berry, Weatherman, Hill and Nicholas Sanchez were in sixth through ninth, respectively.

    Two laps later, the caution returned when CJ McLaughlin spun in Turn 2, though he managed to keep his car intact without hitting the wall. During the caution period, some of the drivers, led by Nemechek who slid through his pit box, pitted, while the rest, led by Hemric and Allgaier remained on the track. Playoff contenders Gragson and Gibbs were among the front-runners who also pitted along with Nemechek.

    With three laps remaining in the first stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hemric retained the lead on the inside lane while teammate Allmendinger battled Allgaier for the runner-up spot. In Turn 3, however, Allmendinger got loose and fell back to fourth behind Allgaier and Hill. Behind, JR Motorsports’ Berry and Gragson battled for fifth while Hemric held on to the top spot.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Hemric claimed his third stage victory of the 2022 season. Allgaier settled in a close second place followed by Hill, Gragson, Allmendinger, Berry, Nemechek, Ryan Sieg, Gibbs and Kyle Weatherman. By then, Playoff contenders Brandon Jones, Clements, Herbst and Mayer were in 12th, 13th, 26th and 27th, respectively.

    Under the stage break, some of the drivers, led by Hemric, and including Allgaier, Hill, Gragson, Allmendinger, Berry, Ryan Sieg, Anthony Alfredo, Joey Gase, Matt Mills, Weatherman, Clements, Poole, Yeley, Mayer and Currey pitted while the rest, led by Nemechek, remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 51 as teammates Nemechek and Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek pulled ahead with the lead on the inside lane followed by Gibbs and Nicholas Sanchez while Brandon Jones was in fourth ahead of Cassill, Brown, Creed and Ryan Sieg.

    Two laps later, Gibbs, who started the event at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to his car, assumed the lead for the first time. Another two laps later, however, Nemechek reclaimed the top spot. Behind, Gragson, who was trying to navigate his way back toward the front, overtook Creed for seventh place while Hemric was mired back in 12th.

    By Lap 60, Nemechek was leading by half a second over teammate Gibbs while teammate Jones trailed by more than a second in third place. Cassill was in fourth followed by a hard-charging Gragson while Sanchez, Brown, Creed, Hemric and Hill, who reported a vibration to his No. 21 Bennett Chevrolet Camaro, were in the top 10. By then, Allmendinger was in 11th ahead of Berry and Allgaier, Herbst was back in 16th, Clements was in 20th, Mayer was in 22nd and Sieg was in 24th.

    Fifteen laps later and at the Lap 75 mark, Nemechek continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Gibbs while Gragson was up in third place and trailing the two Joe Gibbs Racing leaders by more than a second. Jones and Cassill remained in the top five while Hemric battled teammate Allmendinger for sixth ahead of Hill, Sanchez, Allgaier and Berry.

    Three laps later, the caution flew when veteran David Starr lost a right-front tire and pounded the outside wall in Turn 2 and slowly limped his car back to pit road. During the caution period, the No. 51 Straitline Chevrolet Camaro piloted by Playoff contender Jeremy Clements received a push from a wrecker after losing power as he fell out of the lead lap category. The issue was eventually enough for Clements’ crew to push the car to the garage area for further analysis. Once pit road opened for the field, some of the drivers, led by Nemechek, pitted, while the rest, led by teammates Hemric and Allmendinger, remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Berry was sent to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation along with Cassill, who sped on pit road.

    With five laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, teammates Hemric and Allmendinger dueled for the lead until Allmendinger managed to navigate his No. 16 Andy’s Frozen Custard Chevrolet Camaro into the lead. In Turn 3, Hemric was locked in a battle with Sieg for the runner-up spot while Sanchez, who briefly made a bid towards the front, got loose up the outside lane as he fell out of the top 10. Soon after, Akinori Ogata spun off of Turn 4, but the race remained under green.

    Back at the front, Allmendinger continued to lead while Hemric led a four-car battle for the runner-up spot, featuring Sieg, Gragson and Nemechek.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Allmendinger, the 2022 Xfinity Series regular-season champion, captured his third stage victory of the season. Gragson muscled his way into the runner-up spot while Nemechek, Hemric, Gibbs, Hill, Allgaier, Sieg, Brandon Jones and Mayer were scored in the top 10. By then, Herbst was in 12th and Berry was back in 22nd.

    Under the stage break, some of the drivers pitted, led by Allmendinger and Hemric, while the rest, led by Gragson, remained on the track.

    With 104 laps remaining, the final stage started. Gragson secured the lead on the inside lane as he slid in front of Nemechek and was followed by Gibbs, Hill and Allgaier while Brandon Jones challenged and overtook Creed for sixth place. With the battles around the circuit ensuing, Gragson stabilized a narrow advantage over the field with Nemechek slowly closing in.

    At the halfway mark with 100 laps remaining, the battle for the lead between Gragson and Nemechek ensued with the latter attempting to intimidate the former as Gibbs, Hill and Allgaier remained in the top five. By then, seven of 12 Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 on the track and all but one were running in the top 16.

    Four laps later, the caution returned when Akinori Ogata spun in Turn 2. With the field remaining on the track and the race proceeding under green with 91 laps remaining, Gragson rocketed with the lead followed by Nemechek and Hill while Gibbs and Allgaier battled for fourth. Not long after, the caution quickly returned for a multi-car wreck entering Turn 3. It began when Allmendinger got into Brown as Brown clipped Cassill and sent Cassill into the outside wall while Mayer barely escaped the carnage. Also involved in the carnage were Myatt Snider, Anthony Alfredo, Weatherman, Joey Gase, Sieg and Brown.

    When the race restarted under green with 81 laps remaining, Hill dipped his No. 21 Chevrolet below Gragson as both, along with Nemechek, went three wide for the lead. Then in Turn 2 and entering the backstretch, the caution flew when Nemechek got loose as he slipped sideways and clipped Allgaier, who was trying to make it a four-wide battle for the lead. Both collided against one another hard alongside the outside wall. The carnage did not stop there, however, as pole-sitter, Brandon Jones, collided into both with Poole, Joe Graf Jr., Weatherman, Josh Williams, Joey Gase and Sieg while Hemric smacked the inside wall. The wreck eliminated Jones, Nemechek, Allgaier and Hemric from further competition. Allmendinger, who dodged the wreck, moved back up to 14th as Gragson managed to keep the lead ahead of Hill, Berry, Gibbs and Herbst.

    With 74 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Gragson engaged in a tight battle with Hill for the lead before clearing him while Gibbs started to challenge Hill for the runner-up spot. Shortly after, however, the caution returned when Garrett Smithley got bumped and turned off the front nose of Weatherman through the backstretch while Stefan Parsons and Myatt Snider sustained damage after clipping Smithley.

    Six laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gragson retained the lead while Gibbs engaged in a tight side-by-side battle for the runner-up spot alongside Hill and Herbst battled Sanchez for fourth place.

    With less than 60 laps remaining, Gragson was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Gibbs followed by Hill and Herbst while Allmendinger carved his way back into the top five in fifth. Sanchez was in sixth followed by Berry, Creed, Ryan Sieg and Mayer, rounding out the top 10. By then, eight of 12 Playoff contenders were running in the top 15.

    A few laps later, Gibbs washed up the racetrack in Turn 3 and toward the outside wall as he lost momentum and was overtaken by Hill.

    With 50 laps remaining, Gragson extended and stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Hill, who had Gibbs closing in for another challenge for the runner-up spot. Behind, Allmendinger was in fourth followed by Berry and Herbst while Creed, Sanchez, Mayer and Sieg were in the top 10.

    Six laps later, Gragson surrendered the lead to pit under green followed by Gibbs. Once Hill pitted during the following lap, Allmendinger, who has yet to pit, assumed the lead followed by Berry, Herbst, Sanchez and Mayer. By then, Gragson, Hill and Gibbs were lapped by the field.

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Allmendinger continued to lead followed by Berry, Mayer, Currey and Jeb Burton, all of whom had yet to pit. By then, Sanchez, Creed, Herbst and others had already pitted under green while Gragson was still a lap down, but running in the top 10 on fresh tires and with enough fuel for the finish.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Allmendinger retained the lead as one of four competitors who have not yet made a pit stop while Gragson was up in fifth and still a lap down, but gaining ground. Four laps later, however, Allmendinger surrendered the lead to pit along with Berry while Jeb Burton assumed the lead followed by a hard-charging Gragson, who un-lapped himself and went to work on closing back in on Burton for the lead. 

    Then with 11 laps remaining, Gragson reassumed the lead as Jeb Burton pitted. By then, Hill made his way up to second followed by Gibbs, Allmendinger and Berry while Herbst was back in sixth.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Gragson extended his advantage to more than a second over Hill, with Hill losing ground to the leader, while third-place Gibbs trailed by more than three seconds. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gragson remained as the leader by more than a second over Hill. With Hill unable to close on the leader, Gragson was able to navigate his No. 9 Chevrolet back to the frontstretch and claim his unprecedented seventh checkered flag of the season and his fourth in a row in recent weeks.

    With his accomplishment, Gragson joined the late two-time Xfinity champion Sam Ard as the only competitors to win four consecutive Xfinity events. Gragson also secured his 12th career victory in the Xfinity circuit, his first at Texas and the 13th victory of the 2022 season for JR Motorsports. With an automatic ticket to the Round of 8, which will commence in October at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Gragson continues his pursuit to win the 2022 Xfinity title before moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2023 for Petty GMS Motorsports.

    “This No. 9 team, man, they’re on fire,” Gragson said on USA Network. “The pit crew’s done awesome. Our car was as fast as Xfinity internet all day. Just so thankful for the opportunity. Such a relief. We lost this race in 2020. Just executed a great race. [Crew chief] Luke Lambert and the rest of the boys, they did a great job. Last year, I was standing with Justin Haley and saw John Hunter [Nemechek] raising the Andy’s Frozen Custard trophy over his head. He said, ‘Man, I would’ve tried a little bit harder if I would’ve seen that trophy and knew what it was.’ That made me motivated. I was like, ‘Damn, I want that [trophy], too.’ We came back and the team did a great job. We’re on fire as a team right now.”

    Playoff rookie Austin Hill notched a strong runner-up result for his 11th top-five of the season while Ty Gibbs emerged as the lone Joe Gibbs Racing competitor to finish the event by ending up in third place. Hill leaves Texas in fourth place in the Playoff standings and 30 points above the top-eight cutline to transfer to the Round of 8 while Gibbs is currently in third place and with a 46-point advantage.

    “We were faster than [Gragson],” Hill said. “I don’t know if he was just kind of pacing there or not, but [I] just got too tight there at the end. I’m sure I could’ve done a better job coming to that green flag pit stop. The guys did an excellent job all day on pit road. Pit stops were fantastic. It’s nice to start the Playoffs like this and start it off right, but at the same time, we know that if we would’ve won the race, we wouldn’t have to worry about [Talladega] or the [Charlotte] Roval. A little frustrated, but at the same time, happy with the performance. We showed speed. We just needed that little bit more.”

    “Honestly, we were a little bit tight,” Gibbs said. “[We were] fighting that all day. We fired off one run really free and just kept it tight for the rest. [The crew] adjusted what I asked for, but I asked for a little bit too much and that’s what we went to. It’s my fault. Thank you to my team. We’ll keep moving on to Talladega, which is a yard sale.”

    Meanwhile, Allmendinger survived his late incident and made his late pit strategy work to perfection as he finished fourth while Herbst completed the top five. 

    “I wished we could’ve won that race,” Allmendinger, who is 47 points above the top-eight cutline, said. “I thought we had a shot, but the way it could’ve been and the way it actually ended up to have a really good points day, we’ll take it.”

    “This was our game plan,” Herbst, who is a single point below the cutline, added. “Just fall back on what we’ve been doing all year, consistency. We need to execute tremendously better if we want to advance. To come away out of Texas with a top five, it’s good and we’ll go battle with the Monster [Energy] guys at Talladega.”

    Berry, Creed, Mayer, Ryan Sieg and CJ McLaughlin completed the top 10 on the track, with eight of 12 Playoff contenders finishing in the top 10.

    There were 14 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 52 laps. Only eight of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Noah Gragson, 85 laps led

    2. Austin Hill, one lap led

    3. Ty Gibbs, three laps led

    4. AJ Allmendinger, 34 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Riley Herbst

    6. Josh Berry

    7. Sheldon Creed

    8. Sam Mayer

    9. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

    10. CJ McLaughlin, one lap down

    11. Nick Sanchez, one lap down

    12. Bayley Currey, one lap down

    13. Stefan Parsons, one lap down

    14. Tommy Joe Martins, one lap down

    15. Jeb Burton, one lap down, five laps led

    16. Matt Mills, two laps down

    17. Alex Labbe, three laps down

    18. Joe Graf Jr., three laps down

    19. Anthony Alfredo, three laps down

    20. Myatt Snider, four laps down

    21. Parker Retzlaff, 10 laps down

    22. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

    23. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Dvp

    24. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident

    25. Joey Gase – OUT, Dvp

    26. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    27. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

    28. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident, 60 laps led

    29. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

    30. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident, 12 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    31. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident

    32. Mason Massey – OUT, Accident

    33. Landon Cassill – OUT, Accident

    34. JJ Yeley – OUT, Water pump

    35. Akinori Ogata – OUT, Suspension

    36. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Ignition

    37. David Starr – OUT, Accident

    38. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Noah Gragson – Advanced

    2. AJ Allmendinger +47

    3. Ty Gibbs +46

    4. Austin Hill +30

    5. Josh Berry +24

    6. Justin Allgaier +20

    7. Sam Mayer +1

    8. Ryan Sieg +1

    9. Riley Herbst -1

    10. Daniel Hemric -8

    11. Brandon Jones -13

    12. Jeremy Clements -29

    With the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs underway, the battle for the series championship in the Round of 12 will continue next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, October 1, at 4 p.m. ET on the USA Network.

  • Ty Majeski clinches Championship 4 finale spot with first Truck career victory at Bristol

    Ty Majeski clinches Championship 4 finale spot with first Truck career victory at Bristol

    Ty Majeski became the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoff contender to secure a spot for the Championship 4 Round finale at Phoenix Raceway after scoring his first career victory in the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday, September 15.

    The 28-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, made his first appearance as the leader during a restart with 45 laps remaining after he overtook Playoff rival Zane Smith for the top spot. Despite enduring a final late-race restart with 12 laps remaining, he capitalized on the restart, holding off Smith to claim his first career victory within NASCAR’s top three national touring series. He also earned a one-way ticket to the finale, where he will contend for the 2022 Truck Series championship.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Thursday, Derek Kraus claimed his second pole position of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 125.264 in 15.276 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Chandler Smith, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 125.584 mph in 15.279 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Playoff contenders Zane Smith, Blaine Perkins, Chris Hacker and Josh Reaume dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks. In addition, Playoff contender John Hunter Nemechek started at the rear of the field in a backup truck after wrecking his primary truck during Thursday’s lone practice session.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Kraus launched ahead with an early advantage on the outside lane. With the field jostling early for positions, Kraus led the first lap ahead of Chandler Smith, Grant Enfinger and Stewart Friesen, who slipped in Turn 3 before slipping again in Turn 1 as he lost fourth to Ty Majeski before settling in front of rookie Corey Heim.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Kraus was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith followed by Enfinger, Majeski and Friesen while Heim, Christian Eckes, Matt DiBenedetto, Carson Hocevar and Bayley Currey were in the top 10. Tyler Ankrum was in 11th ahead of Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton, Rajah Caruth and rookie Dean Thompson while John Hunter Nemechek and Zane Smith were mired back in 27th and 28th.

    Ten laps later on Lap 20, Kraus continued to lead by exactly half a second over Chandler Smith while Enfinger, Majeski and Friesen settled in the top five. Meanwhile, Zane Smith and Nemechek remained mired in 27th and 28th, respectively, as Kraus started to navigate his way through lapped traffic.

    Eight laps later, Chandler Smith, winner of last year’s Truck event at Bristol, moved his No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the lead over Kraus’ No. 19 Incredible Bank Chevrolet Silverado RST in Turn 3. Behind, Enfinger was locked in a battle with Majeski and Friesen for third place while Heim, Eckes, DiBenedetto, Hocevar and Currey remained in the top 10. Two laps earlier, Spencer Boyd made contact with the outside wall in Turn 3, though the race remained under green.

    Another nine laps later, however, the first caution of the event flew when Josh Reaume, who was lapped but racing in front of a handful of Playoff contenders, got loose underneath Blaine Perkins in between Turns 1 and 2, slipped and backed his truck into the outside wall in Turn 2. As Reaume’s truck slid below the apron, he was hit by a sliding Rajah Caruth, who tried to avoid hitting Reaume, as both trucks sustained significant damage. 

    During the caution period, names like Zane Smith, Nemechek, Jesse Little, Dean Thompson, Tanner Gray, Lawless Alan, Taylor Gray, Kaden Honeycutt, Parker Kligerman, Tyler Ankrum, Timmy Hill and Connor Mosack pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track. Following gate pit stops, Zane Smith pitted his No. 38 Speedco Ford F-150 for a second time to have his adjustments from his previous pit stop re-adjusted.

    With eight laps remaining in the first stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Chandler Smith retained the lead after starting on the outside lane while Friesen overtook Kraus for the runner-up spot. Behind, DiBenedetto and Enfinger battled for fourth in front of Majeski, Heim, Eckes, Currey and Hocevar.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 55, Chandler Smith captured his fourth stage victory of the 2022 season. Friesen settled in second, trailing Smith by four-tenths of a second, while Kraus, DiBenedetto, Enfinger, Majeski, Eckes, Heim, Currey and Matt Crafton were scored in the top 10. By then, Ben Rhodes was in 11th, Nemechek was back in 21st and Zane Smith was all the way back in 28th.

    Under the stage break, names like Enfinger, DiBenedetto, Heim, Thompson, Hailie Deegan, Currey, rookie Jack Wood, Austin Wayne Self, Jake Garcia, Colby Howard, Timmy Hill, Leland Honeyman Jr. and Jesse Little pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith, who has yet to pit, remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Wood was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 65 as Chandler Smith and Friesen occupied the front row. At the start, Chandler Smith retained the lead with another strong start on the outside lane while Kraus reassumed the runner-up spot as Friesen, who spun the tires at the front, fell back to third in front of ThorSport Racing’s Rhodes, Majeski and Eckes.

    By Lap 75, Chandler Smith was leading by half a second over Kraus while Friesen, Majeski, Eckes, Rhodes, Chase Purdy, Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray and Nemechek were in the top 10. By then, Zane Smith was in 14th and Enfinger was in 17th.

    Ten laps later, the caution returned when Connor Mosack spun underneath Jesse Little in Turn 2. By then, DiBenedetto had pitted under green. During the caution period, names like Kraus, Deegan, Crafton, Enfinger, Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, Heim, Carson Hocevar, Austin Wayne Self and Bayley Currey pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hocevar was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 91, Chandler Smith rocketed with the lead while Friesen and Eckes battled for the runner-up spot in front of Rhodes and Taylor Gray. Shortly after, Friesen retained the runner-up spot ahead of Eckes as Rhodes and Taylor Gray also remained in the top five. Behind, Chase Purdy was up in sixth place while Tanner Gray, Nemechek, Zane Smith and Kaden Honeycutt were in the top 10.  

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Chandler Smith retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Friesen while Eckes, Rhodes and Gray remained in the top five. By then, six of the eight remaining Playoff contenders were scored in the top 10 while Majeski and Enfinger were scored inside the top 15.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 110, Chandler Smith captured his fifth stage victory of the 2022 season and swept both stages of the night at Bristol. Friesen settled in second while Eckes, Rhodes, Taylor Gray, Purdy, Tanner Gray, Nemechek, Kaden Honeycutt and Zane Smith were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Chandler Smith, who peeled off to pit road for the first time of the night as part of a one-stop strategy, pitted while the rest led by Zane Smith remained on the track.

    With 79 laps remaining, the final stage started as Zane Smith and Kligerman occupied the front row. At the start, Zane Smith and Kligerman briefly duked for the lead as Smith prevailed on the inside lane to retain the lead. Shortly after, Majeski moved his No. 66 Road Ranger Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the runner-up spot while Kligerman, who got shuffled and mired on the outside lane, was locked in a heated battle with Kraus for third place. Then a few laps later in Turn 4, Kraus and Kligerman made contact and slid up the track in Turn 1, which allowed Enfinger to overtake both for third place before Kligerman retained fourth ahead of Kraus, Hailie Deegan and Crafton.

    With less than 70 laps remaining, Zane Smith was out in front by three-tenths of a second over Majeski followed by Enfinger, Kligerman, Kraus, Deegan, Crafton, Heim, Ankrum and Hocevar. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith was mired back in 12th behind Dean Thompson and in front of Friesen and Eckes, Nemechek was back in 17th and Rhodes was scored back in 20th. By then, Taylor Gray and Colby Howard made contact with one another while battling in the top 20, but the race proceeded under green.

    Then with 50 laps remaining, the caution flew when Chris Hacker spun in between Turns 3 and 4 before coming to a rest below the apron after he got hit by the No. 98 CMR Construction & Roofing Toyota Tundra TRD Pro piloted by Playoff contender Eckes.

    During the following restart with 44 laps remaining, Majeski received a strong start on the outside lane as he assumed the lead for the first time over Zane Smith while Kligerman battled and overtook Enfinger for third place while the field behind jostled for late positions.

    With 35 laps remaining, Majeski was leading by more than a second over Zane Smith followed by Kligerman, Enfinger and Kraus while Crafton, Friesen, Chandler Smith, Tyler Ankrum and Deegan were in the top 10.

    Down to the final 22 laps of the event, the caution returned when Tanner Gray made contact with Dean Thompson in Turn 3 that sent Thompson’s No. 40 WorldWide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST slipping below the apron and into the outside wall as he sustained significant rear-end damage. By then, Majeski had stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Zane Smith while Kligerman, Enfinger, Kraus, Crafton, Friesen, Chandler Smith, Ankrum and Deegan remained in the top 10. Meanwhile, Eckes was in 11th, Nemechek was back in 14th and Rhodes was mired in 17th.

    During the following restart with 12 laps remaining, Majeski rocketed away with the lead on the outside lane while Zane Smith, who spun the tires on the inside lane, was left in a side-by-side battle with Kligerman for the runner-up spot. Smith, however, was able to clear Kligerman during the following lap as he reassumed second place while Enfinger moved up to fourth in front of Kraus and Friesen.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Majeski continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Zane Smith and eight-tenths of a second over third-place Kligerman while everyone else behind jostled again for late positions.

    With five laps remaining, Majeski stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over Zane Smith while Kligerman settled in third ahead of Enfinger and Crafton. By then, Chandler Smith, who dominated the first half of the event, was mired in ninth while Kraus, Friesen and Eckes were in sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski remained as the leader by more than a second over Zane Smith. With Smith unable to close back the deficit, Majeski was able to navigate his way around Bristol for a final circuit as he cycled back to the frontstretch and claim his first checkered flag in the series.

    With the victory, Majeski, who claimed his first Truck career win in his 40th series start, became the 120th different competitor to record a victory in the Truck Series as this marked the third consecutive season where the Truck Series Playoff event at Bristol featured a first-time winner. He also recorded the second victory of the season for ThorSport Racing and the 11th for Toyota as he joined Corey Heim as the only competitors to achieve their first Truck wins this season.

    By clinching a spot for the Championship Round finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, Majeski will contend for his first NASCAR national touring series championship in his first full-time season in the Truck circuit and without having to place his focus towards the upcoming Round of 8 events at Talladega Superspeedway and at Homestead-Miami Speedway in October. Prior to his first victory, he had achieved three poles, three stage victories, eight top-five results, 13 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 9.8 through the previous 19 scheduled events of 2022.

    “Man, this is unbelievable,” Majeski said on FS1. “I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this. [Owners] Duke, Rhonda Thorson, Allison [Thorson], thank you for this opportunity. Just so proud to be here. We came guns blazing for this race, took our best truck. [Crew chief] Joe [Shear Jr.] was aggressive on pit strategy. [It] Got us out front. We were able to get it done. This is so cool. My career’s been so up and down. There’s been a lot of people to help me get to this point. It’s so cool. I know my late model guys are watching back at the shop. They’re the big reason why I’m here. My parents, my fiancé. This is just so damn cool. Man, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

    Meanwhile, Zane Smith rallied from starting at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his truck to finish in the runner-up spot for his seventh top-two finish of the season. The result was enough for Smith to leave Bristol in third place in the Playoff standings and 21 points above the top-four cutline to the finale.

    “A good salvage of the night,” Smith said. “We worked on our Speedco Ford. The only chance we got, and I felt like went the right direction. I wished I could’ve done a few things different there. Obviously, take the top [lane]. [The] Top [lane] always launches better here. I was so bad if I was outside of the PJ1 [TrackBite] or wherever it is. I didn’t want to get freight-trained on the top. I tried matching [Majeski]. I did the first time and the second time, he just got me. He was just ultimately better than us, but [it was a] never give up kind of a night. That’s what it takes to get in the Final Four.”

    Parker Kligerman emerged as the highest non-Playoff contender of the night after finishing in third place for his fourth top-five result of the season while Enfinger and Crafton finished in the top five.

    “We qualified 28th legitimately on speed,” Kligerman said. “I think we just kind of stole a third-place finish, but I’m proud of everyone at Henderson Motorsports. We have now, I believe, at least I have finished in every position within the top five except for first at this racetrack. I wanna win here so bad, and I can see it. I can taste it. I feel like I can touch it, whether it’s dirt or concrete. We just can’t quite get there. Tonight, though, we got to be really proud because I think after practice and qualifying, I was legitimately worried that we were gonna be a lap down within 15 laps and be riding around this place. [Crew chief] Chris Carrier and everyone stuck it through. We found ourselves in the top five…We just didn’t have enough.”

    Pole-sitter Kraus, Friesen, Eckes, Chandler Smith and Corey Heim completed the top 10 on the track. Nemechek and Rhodes were the two Playoff contenders to finish outside of the top 10 in 12th and 18th, respectively. 

    There were three lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 49 laps.

    Results.

    1. Ty Majeski, 45 laps led

    2. Zane Smith, 39 laps led

    3. Parker Kligerman

    4. Grant Enfinger

    5. Matt Crafton

    6. Derek Kraus, 27 laps led

    7. Stewart Friesen

    8. Christian Eckes

    9. Chandler Smith, 89 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    10. Corey Heim

    11. Tyler Ankrum

    12. John Hunter Nemechek

    13. Kaden Honeycutt

    14. Hailie Deegan

    15. Bayley Currey

    16. Taylor Gray

    17. Tanner Gray

    18. Ben Rhodes 

    19. Carson Hocevar

    20. Austin Wayne Self

    21. Jack Wood

    22. Jake Garcia

    23. Lawless Alan

    24. Colby Howard

    25. Jesse Little

    26. Timmy Hill 

    27. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    28. Blaine Perkins, three laps down

    29. Leland Honeyman Jr., five laps down

    30. Chase Purdy, seven laps down

    31. Connor Mosack, eight laps down

    32. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    33. Chris Hacker – OUT, Suspension

    34. Rajah Caruth – OUT, Accident

    35. Josh Reaume – OUT, Accident

    36. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    2. Chandler Smith +24

    3. Zane Smith +21

    4. Stewart Frisen. +9

    5. John Hunter Nemechek -9

    6. Christian Eckes -13

    7. Grant Enfinger -15

    8. Ben Rhodes -18

    The second Round of 8 event of the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs will occur at Talladega Superspeedway on October 1 with the event’s coverage to commence at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • John Hunter Nemechek grabs wild last lap Truck Series victory at Kansas

    John Hunter Nemechek grabs wild last lap Truck Series victory at Kansas

    John Hunter Nemechek denied an opportunity for Carson Hocevar to win and race his way into the Round of 8 in the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs by executing a final lap pass to win the Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway on Friday, September 9.

    The 25-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led five times for a race-high 88 of 134-scheduled laps as he started the day sweeping the first two stages. After opting to surrender the lead and pit under green for four fresh tires and fuel with 32 laps remaining, Nemechek spent the next 31 laps bolting his way through lapped traffic and the field to catch Hocevar, who topped off on fuel on Lap 80 and was trying to stretch his fuel tank to the finish and with an opportunity to both win and advance in the Playoffs. Hocevar’s gamble, however, did not pay off on the final lap as he was overtaken by Nemechek, who proceeded to claim his second checkered flag of the 2022 Truck Series season and secure a spot for the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, John Hunter Nemechek claimed his sixth pole position of the 2022 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 175.444 mph in 30.779 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski, who clocked in the second-fastest lap at 175.182 mph in 30.825 seconds.

    Prior to the event, names like Brett Moffitt, Mason Maggio, Armani Williams and Brennan Poole 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, Nemechek received a push from teammates Corey Heim and Chandler Smith to assume an early advantage as he went on to lead the first lap. Meanwhile, Majeski retained the runner-up spot ahead of Heim, Christian Eckes and Chandler Smith as the field fanned out and jostled early for positions.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Nemechek was ahead by four-tenths of a second over Majeski and more than a second over Eckes while Heim fell back to fourth in front of teammate Chandler Smith’s No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Matt Crafton was in sixth while Ben Rhodes, Zane Smith, Ryan Preece and Matt DiBenedetto were in the top 10.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Majeski, who inherited the lead from Nemechek three laps earlier, was leading in his No. 66 Road Ranger Toyota Tundra TRD Pro by eight-tenths of a second over Nemechek while Eckes, Heim and Chandler Smith remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Stewart Friesen, Carson Hocevar and Grant Enfinger were in 13th, 15th and 16th, respectively.

    By Lap 20, Majeski continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Nemechek, who relaunched and eventually overtook Majeski for the lead, followed by Eckes and Heim while Zane Smith moved his No. 38 Hamsters USA Ford F-150 into the top five. Ryan Preece also moved his No. 17 Morton Buildings Ford F-150 up to sixth while Chandler Smith fell back to seventh in front of Derek Kraus, Crafton and Rhodes.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 30, Nemechek, who reclaimed the lead on Lap 21, captured his fifth stage victory of the 2022 season. Majeski settled in second while Eckes, Heim, Zane Smith, Preece, Kraus, Chandler Smith, Crafton and Tanner Gray were scored in the top 10. With their results at the conclusion of the first stage, Nemechek and Zane Smith clinched spots for the Round of 8 in the Playoffs, joining Chandler Smith and Grant Enfinger.

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Nemechek pitted and Nemechek exited with the lead followed by Eckes, Majeski, Heim, Preece and Gray.

    The second stage started on Lap 37 as Nemechek and Eckes occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek rocketed with another strong start on the inside lane to retain the lead followed by Majeski while Eckes and Preece battled for third place. Behind, Heim muscled his way into fifth after overtaking Rhodes and Zane Smith through Turns 3 and 4 as the field jostled for positions.

    At the Lap 45 mark, Nemechek was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Eckes while Zane Smith, Preece and Majeski were in the top five. Heim fell back to sixth followed by Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes, Crafton and Kraus while Carson Hocevar, Tanner Gray, Enfinger, Chandler Smith, Parker Kligerman, Bret Holmes, Matt DiBenedetto, Brett Moffitt, Colby Howard and Chase Purdy were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Friesen was mired back in 22nd in front of Hailie Deegan.

    Then with four laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when Bayley Currey spun the No. 44 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST below the apron on the frontstretch entering Turn 1. Currey’s incident was enough for the second stage scheduled to conclude on Lap 60 to conclude under caution as Nemechek captured his sixth stage victory of the season. Zane Smith settled in second followed by Preece, Eckes, Heim, Majeski, Ankrum, Kraus, Crafton and Hocevar were scored in the top 10. With his result in the second stage, Majeski secured a spot for the Playoff’s Round of 8.

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Nemechek returned to pit road and Nemechek retained the lead following another quick pit service from his pit crew followed by Preece, Heim, Zane Smith, Kraus and Enfinger. Following the pit stops, Friesen pitted for a second time for adjustments to his spoiler.

    With 70 laps remaining, the final stage started as Nemechek and Preece occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek retained the lead followed by teammate Heim and Preece as the field fanned out entering the first two turns and through the backstretch. Not long after, the caution returned when Kaden Honeycutt made contact with rookie Dean Thompson before spinning in the backstretch.

    During the following restart with 65 laps remaining, Nemechek received a push from teammate Heim to retain the lead while Preece, who restarted as the first competitor on the outside lane, was being overtaken by Heim and Zane Smith. While the field fanned out for positions amid Derek Kraus barely scrapping the outside wall in the frontstretch, Nemechek retained a steady advantage followed by Zane Smith, Heim, Preece and Enfinger while Christian Eckes, who was battling above the top-eight cutline to make the Round of 8 in his No. 98 CMR Construction & Roof Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was in sixth.

    Four laps later, the caution returned when the No. 22 AM Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST piloted by Brett Moffitt went up in smoke due to an engine loss entering the frontstretch. As Timmy Hill spun through the frontstretch grass after getting into the spilled oil, Moffitt’s truck erupted in flames as the driver quickly stopped below the apron in the frontstretch and retired. During the caution period, some like Hocevar, DiBenedetto, Colby Howard, Bailey Currey, Kaz Grala, Kaden Honeycutt and rookie Lawless Alan pitted while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hocevar pitted for a second time to top off on fuel.

    With 53 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Nemechek received another strong push from teammate Heim’s No. 51 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to retain the lead as Eckes launched a brief attack on Heim for the runner-up spot before the latter prevailed. With Heim in second, Eckes retained third ahead of Zane Smith, Preece and Enfinger.

    Thirteen laps later and with 40 laps remaining, Nemechek was out in front by more than a second over Zane Smith followed by Preece, Heim and Enfinger while Chandler Smith, Eckes, Majeski, Ankrum and Chase Purdy were in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Rhodes, Crafton, Hocevar and Friesen were in 12th, 14th, 16th and 17th, respectively.

    Then with 32 laps remaining, green flag pit stops ensued as the leader Nemechek pitted his No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro followed by teammate Chandler Smith, who won the previous Truck event at Richmond Raceway to secure his spot into the Round of 8. Zane Smith soon followed along with Majeski, Chase Purdy, Rhodes, Preece, Tyler Ankrum, Parker Kligerman, Friesen, Enfinger, Heim, Bret Holmes, Eckes and Crafton. During the pit stops, Purdy was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Back on the track and with 28 laps remaining, Hocevar, who last pitted on Lap 80 to top off on fuel and opted to stretch his fuel tank to the finish, was in the lead followed by teammate Currey while Colby Howard, DiBenedetto and Hailie Deegan were in the top five.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Hocevar continued to lead by more than six seconds over teammate Currey while Colby Howard and DiBenedetto retained third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Nemechek, the first competitor racing on four fresh tires and a full tank of gas, was in fifth, trailing Hocevar by 12 seconds but blazing his way through the leaderboard with a fast truck.

    Six laps later, Nemechek navigated his way into the runner-up spot after zipping by Currey. By then, he was scored eight seconds behind Hocevar’s No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    With 10 laps remaining, Hocevar, who continued to run strong in spite of a low gas tank, retained the lead by five seconds over Nemechek while Zane Smith, Currey and Preece were in the top five.

    With five laps remaining, Hocevar, who was carving his way through lapped traffic, was still out in front by nearly two seconds over Nemechek, who was also mired in the lapped traffic, among which included Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hocevar was leading by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Nemechek, who cleared the lapped traffic and was right on Hocevar’s bumper. Then entering Turn 1, Nemechek bolted his truck beneath Hocevar and reassumed the lead entering the backstretch. With Hocevar shaking his truck after running out of fuel and losing ground entering the backstretch, Nemechek was able to cruise away with an increasing advantage through the final two turns and cycle back to the frontstretch to capture his second checkered flag of the 2022 season.

    With the victory that took him another step closer to achieving his first NASCAR national touring series championship, Nemechek grabbed his second Camping World Truck Series victory of the season, his first since winning at Darlington Raceway in May and his 13th career win in his 143rd series start. He also recorded his second NASCAR national touring series victory at Kansas since winning the Xfinity Kansas event in 2018 and the eighth victory of the season for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

    “It’s huge,” Nemechek said on FS1. “I can’t thank [the crew] enough for the truck they gave me tonight. The Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was absolutely on rails. Qualified on the pole, led a ton of laps, won both stages and won the race. We came here really good points-wise. It played out in our favor to go get some more Playoff points going into the next round. [It] Puts us in a good spot. We have some momentum on our side going into Bristol [Motor Speedway]. I think this one is even sweeter. It’s been a really tough week for myself, mentally, emotionally, things you just can’t control. It feels good to come out here and cap it off with a win and show who I am…Just proud of all my guys, proud to get back to Victory Lane. Second [win] of the year. We’re behind from last year, but I said I would rather win five races in the Playoffs and go win a championship than win five in the regular season. We’re gonna try and do that.”

    While Nemechek was left smiling on the frontstretch, Hocevar, who ran out of fuel on the final lap while trying to execute his late strategy but managed to coast across the finish line in second place, was left heartbroken on pit road for two reasons: the first was falling one lap short of claiming his first elusive Truck career win and the second was being one of two competitors to be eliminated from the 2022 Truck Series Playoffs. The final standings showed Hocevar missing the cutline to the Round of 8 by three points over Christian Eckes, who finished 10th.

    “I don’t know how you’re supposed to handle these,” Hocevar, who led 28 laps compared to Nemechek’s 88, said. “As many times as I’ve come and close, I should be used to this. I’m gonna be my bridesmaid at my own wedding. I don’t know. I thought I saved too much [fuel]. I could have gone harder and built a gap, but into [Turn] 3 coming to take the white flag, I started sputtering. I knew it was game over. [Kraus] had an issue [earlier] and I lost three seconds there. Looking back, I wished I would’ve gotten those back, but [crew chief] Phil Gould made a hell of a call. Even I didn’t see it. Fifty-six [laps] to go. There’s gonna be a yellow [flag], right? Cutoff race. It’s the Truck Series of all things…Just got beat. [I] Had the winning strategy. Just, obviously, didn’t work out.”

    Meanwhile, Ryan Preece came home in third place while Zane Smith and Enfinger finished in the top five. Chandler Smith settled in sixth place while teammate, Heim, then, Majeski, Colby Howard and Eckes completed the top 10 on the track.

    Zane Smith, Chandler Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger and Christian Eckes have transferred to the Round of 8 in the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs. Carson Hocevar and Matt Crafton have been eliminated from Playoff and championship contention for this season.

    “It’s just part of it,” Crafton, who missed the cutline by 10 points, said. “We sucked all year. To even get to the Playoffs was a feat in itself. To be in going into this race, just by three [points], that says a lot. It’s only the second race I’ve worked with [crew chief] Shane [Wilson]. We made the mistake. I’ve never ran some of the setup stuff that we ran tonight and I had [Wilson] jump the fence. I just had him tighten [the truck] up or free it up a little bit too much on the second run, and then we ended up going to the back and tightening it too much.

    “Just him learning some of my lingo of what I’m saying and what he’s doing. Put in our notebook and keeping working on it because the truck had a lot of speed earlier today and in qualifying. It is what it is. We were terrible all year. To even get to where we were, I just can’t thank these guys enough for how hard they’ve worked and how hard they’ve been kicked because it’s the baddest we’ve been. We have four of five more [races] to go. We can go out and don’t worry about points anymore and go about worry about wins.”

    There were 11 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 25 laps.

    Results.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek, 88 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Carson Hocevar, 28 laps led

    3. Ryan Preece

    4. Zane Smith, two laps led

    5. Grant Enfinger, one lap led

    6. Chandler Smith

    7. Corey Heim

    8. Ty Majeski, 14 laps led

    9. Colby Howard

    10. Christian Eckes, one lap led

    11. Parker Kligerman

    12. Matt DiBenedetto

    13. Ben Rhodes

    14. Tyler Ankrum

    15. Matt Crafton, one lap down

    16. Tanner Gray, one lap down

    17. Bret Holmes, one lap down

    18. Kaz Grala, one lap down

    19. Timmy Hill, one lap down

    20. Stewart Friesen, one lap down

    21. Derek Kraus, one lap down

    22. Hailie Deegan, one lap down

    23. Dean Thompson, one lap down

    24. Kaden Honeycutt, one lap down

    25. Chase Purdy, two laps down

    26. Jack Wood, two laps down

    27. Bayley Currey, two laps down

    28. Jesse Little, two laps down

    29. Tyler Hill, four laps down

    30. Blaine Perkins, four laps down

    31. Lawless Alan, four laps down

    32. Mason Maggio, eight laps down

    33. Spencer Boyd, 10 laps down

    34. Brennan Poole, 11 laps down

    35. Armani Williams – OUT, Too slow

    36. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Engine

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Zane Smith – Advanced

    2. Chandler Smith – Advanced

    3. John Hunter Nemechek – Advanced

    4. Ben Rhodes – Advanced

    5. Stewart Friesen – Advanced

    6. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    7. Grant Enfinger – Advanced

    8. Christian Eckes – Advanced

    9. Carson Hocevar – Eliminated

    10. Matt Crafton – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs is set to commence next Thursday, September 15, at Bristol Motor Speedway. The event’s coverage is scheduled to occur at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Grant Enfinger wins 2022 Truck Series Playoff opener at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park

    Grant Enfinger wins 2022 Truck Series Playoff opener at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park

    A gusty call to pit for four fresh tires under caution with less than 10 laps remaining before bolting his way to the front through two late-race restarts netted Grant Enfinger a big victory in the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday, July 29.

    The 37-year-old Enfinger from Fairhope, Alabama, led four times for 13 of 207 over-scheduled laps and utilized four fresh tires to overtake Zane Smith during an overtime attempt to capture his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season and to become the first Playoff contender to transfer from the Round of 10 to 8.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Friday, Playoff contender John Hunter Nemechek started on pole position for the fifth time in 2022 after posting a pole-winning lap at 111.188 mph in 22.211 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Nemechek’s teammate and Playoff contender Chandler Smith, who won last weekend’s event at Pocono Raceway and won Friday’s ARCA Menards Series event earlier at IRP before he clocked in his best lap at 110.998 mph in 22.249 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Chris Hacker and Josh Reaume 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, Nemechek launched his No. 4 Yahoo! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to the lead while Chandler Smith and Christian Eckes battled for the runner-up spot before the former retained the spot in front of the field.

    As the field returned to the start/finish line to complete the first lap, Nemechek retained the top spot ahead of teammate Chandler Smith and Eckes while Grant Enfinger, Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim battled for spots within the top six.

    By the fifth lap, Enfinger moved his No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST up to third followed by Hocevar while Eckes fell back to fifth in front of Stewart Friesen and Heim. Meanwhile, Nemechek remained as the leader by three-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith’s No. 18 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

    Nearing the Lap 10 mark, the first caution of the event flew when Josh Reaume and Spencer Boyd wrecked in Turn 1, resulting in Reaume’s truck sustaining significant rear-end damage and Body’s truck bursting into flames. By then, Nemechek, who nearly lost the lead to teammate Chandler Smith, was back out in front followed by Enfinger, Hocevar and Friesen while Heim, Eckes, Ben Rhodes, Ty Majeski and Derek Kraus were in the top 10. In addition, Zane Smith, the 2022 Truck Series regular-season champion, was mired in 17th behind Austin Wayne Self while Matt Crafton was back in 22nd behind Chase Purdy.

    Following an extensive caution period, the event restarted under green on Lap 20. At the start, Nemechek retained the top spot while Carson Hocevar made a bold move on the inside lane in an attempt to take the lead before he settled in third behind Chandler Smith. Behind, Enfinger and Stewart Friesen battled for fourth in front of Corey Heim and the field that fanned out to multiple lanes. 

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Chandler Smith followed by Hocevar, Friesen and Enfinger while Heim, Ben Rhodes, Eckes, Kraus and Majeski were in the top 10. 

    Four laps later, the caution returned when Reaume, who was involved in the first caution with Spencer Boyd, spun in Turn 4. During the caution period, Matt Crafton pitted for adjustments to his No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra TRD Pro along with Jesse Little and Blake Lothian while the rest of the field led by Nemechek remained on the track.

    When the event proceeded under green on Lap 37, Nemechek retained the lead while Chandler Smith fended off Hocevar and Friesen to remain in second. As the field fanned out, Enfinger was in fifth followed by Heim, Rhodes, Majeski and Eckes while Zane Smith cracked the top 10.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Nemechek continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Chandler Smith as the top-10 spots were occupied by Playoff contenders. The only Playoff competitor who was not in the top 10 was Crafton, who was mired in 24th.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Nemechek captured his fourth stage victory of the season. Teammate Chandler Smith trailed in the runner-up spot while Hocevar, Friesen, Enfinger, Rhodes, Heim, Majeski, Zane Smith and Eckes were scored in the top 10. Crafton, meanwhile, was still mired in 24th.

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Nemechek pitted and teammate Chandler Smith emerged with the lead followed by Hocevar, Nemechek, Rhodes, Heim and Enfinger. Following the pit stops, Rhodes and Kris Wright were sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 70 as Chandler Smith and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Hocevar rocketed his No. 42 Premier Security Chevrolet Silverado RST to the lead on the inside lane in front of Chandler Smith as the field fanned out to multiple lanes around the circuit.

    Three laps later, the caution returned when Blake Lothian came to a stop in Turn 1 as his night came to an end.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 80, Hocevar managed to retain the lead while on the inside lane as Enfinger challenged Chandler Smith for the runner-up spot in front of Nemechek. Behind, Tyler Ankrum was in fifth ahead of Heim, Kraus, Friesen, Eckes and Zane Smith.

    By Lap 90, a heated side-by-side battle for the lead was occurring between Hocevar and Enfinger. While Enfinger gained a run and was strong through the turns, Hocevar managed to fend off Enfinger and retain the lead entering the straightaways. Meanwhile, third-place Nemechek trailed by less than a second while Chandler Smith and Ankrum were in the top five.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Hocevar was leading by a narrow margin over Enfinger while Nemechek, Chandler Smith, Ankrum, Friesen, Heim, Zane Smith, Majeski and Kraus were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Christian Eckes was in 11th, Rhodes was in 14th and Crafton was back in 17th behind Taylor Gray.

    Five laps later, Enfinger persevered through his tight, endless battle against Hocevar by taking the lead through the backstretch and entering Turn 3. Another two laps later, the caution returned when Nemechek, who was closing in on Hocevar and teammate Chandler Smith for the runner-up spot, spun in Turn 2 after making contact with the lapped truck of Kris Wright. Despite spinning and coming to a stop in the middle of the track and in a cloud of smoke in Turn 2, Nemechek was dodged by the oncoming competitors led by Ankrum as he managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage.

    During the caution period, most of the field led by Enfinger pitted while names that included Chandler Smith, Rhodes, Kaz Grala, Lawless Alan and Timmy Hill remained on the track as Smith reassumed the lead.

    With six laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Chandler Smith retained the lead on the inside lane ahead of Rhodes as the field fanned out entering the backstretch. Two laps later, however, Ty Majeski muscled his No. 66 Road Ranger Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to the lead on fresh tires followed by Enfinger, who quickly dispatched Chandler Smith on fresh tires. Another two laps later, Zane Smith and Chandler Smith made contact as Zane rubbed against Chandler’s No. 18 Toyota in Turn 1 with both making contact with the outside wall. Despite the contact, the race proceeded under green as Majeski remained as the leader. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 120 under caution after Dean Thompson spun in Turn 2, Majeski held off Enfinger to claim his second stage victory of the season. Enfinger settled in second followed by Rhodes, Hocevar, Zane Smith, Heim, Friesen, Chandler Smith, Ankrum and Colby Howard.

    Under the stage break, Chandler Smith, Zane Smith, Rhodes, Lawless Alan, Kaz Grala, Austin Wayne Self, Johnny Sauter, Hailie Deegan, Timmy Hill and Jake Garcia pitted while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track.

    With 72 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green. At the start, Majeski fended off Enfinger to remain as the leader while Hocevar was in third ahead of Friesen, Ankrum, Nemechek and Heim while the field fanned out.

    Following a debris caution reported in Turn 4 10 laps later, the race proceeded under green with 55 laps remaining. At the start, Majeski retained the lead by a narrow margin over Enfinger while Nemechek, Friesen and Ben Rhodes duked for fifth in front of Hocevar, Heim and Tyler Ankrum. Not long after, however, the caution returned when Lawless Alan, who was locked in a tight four-wide battle through the backstretch, got turned by Chase Purdy as he spun and made hard contact against the inside wall. In the midst of the carnage, Zane Smith sustained minimal damage to his No. 38 Boot Barn Ford F-150 after hitting Alan.

    During the caution period, names like Zane Smith, Taylor Gray, Austin Wayne Self and Dean Thompson pitted while the rest led by Ty Majeski remained on the track.

    With 42 laps remaining, the event restarted under green. At the start, Majeski and Enfinger dueled for the lead through Turn 1 as Nemechek also attempted to squeeze his way to the top spot. Despite the tight racing for the lead entering the backstretch, Majeski managed to clear Enfinger to remain as the leader while Nemechek settled back in third. Behind, Friesen was in fourth while Rhodes was in fifth in front of Hocevar.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Majeski was leading by more than one-and-a-half seconds over Enfinger followed by Nemechek, Friesen and Rhodes while Hocevar, Heim, Colby Howard, Ankrum and Matt DiBenedetto were in the top 10. By then, Zane Smith, Chandler Smith, Crafton and Eckes were in 14th, 15th, 17th and 21st, respectively.

    Ten laps later, Majeski, who was carving his way through lapped traffic, extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Enfinger while Nemechek, Rhodes and Friesen remained in the top five.

    Then with 12 laps remaining, Majeski, who was getting stalled by the lapped truck of Hailie Deegan and Blaine Perkins, was caught by Enfinger as Enfinger dueled and overtook Majeski for the lead a lap after as Nemechek started to close in while running in third place. 

    With 10 laps remaining, however, the caution flew when Colby Howard, who was having a strong run in eighth place, made contact with Hocevar entering Turn 4, which Hocevar repaid the favor by veering dead left and sending Howard’s No. 91 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST backward into the outside wall. The incident prompted Howard to express his displeasure towards Hocevar after he exited his damaged truck.

    During the caution period, the majority of the field led by Enfinger and Majeski pitted while names like Nemechek, Taylor Gray, Ankrum, Zane Smith, DiBenedetto, newcomer Layne Riggs, Johnny Sauter, Austin Wayne Self, Jesse Little and Chris Hacker remained on the track as Nemechek inherited the lead.

    Down to a two-lap shootout to the finish, the race restarted under green. At the start, Taylor Gray managed to pull ahead of Nemechek and the field to take the lead entering the backstretch. Then entering Turn 4, Gray was hit by Nemechek as he spun his No. 17 David Gilliland Racing Ford F-150 across the outside wall, which prompted NASCAR to display the caution and send the event into overtime. At the moment of caution, Nemechek managed to retain the top spot followed by Zane Smith while Ankrum was in third ahead of Enfinger, Layne Riggs and DiBenedetto. 

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Nemechek launched ahead on the outside lane entering the first two turns before he got forced into the outside wall by Zane Smith. With Nemechek falling below the leaderboard following his late scrape, Zane Smith assumed the top spot followed by a hard-charging Enfinger, who was on four fresh tires, as the field fanned out and jostled for late positions. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Enfinger was ahead by a nose over Zane Smith as Rhodes carved his way into third. Enfinger then managed to clear Zane Smith and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch to assume full authority. With no late challenges instigating behind and having four fresh tires to his advantage, Enfinger cycled his way back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by four-tenths of a second over Rhodes.

    With the victory, Enfinger, who competed between ThorSport Racing and CR7 Motorsports a year ago before reuniting with GMS Racing as a full-time competitor this season, claimed his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win since winning at Martinsville Speedway in October and his seventh career win in the series. He also became the 13th overall competitor to win a Truck event at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park as he recorded the first victory of the season for GMS Racing and the third for the Chevrolet nameplate. 

    By winning the first event of the 2022 Truck Series Playoffs at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Enfinger, who managed to secure a Playoff spot based on points a week ago at Pocono Raceway, also earned an automatic transfer spot to the Round of 8 as he continues his pursuit to win his first NASCAR national touring series championship.

    “We’re finally moving forward at all,” Enfinger said on FS1. “This is the first laps we’ve led since Atlanta or something. Terrible off-season. Not because of these [pit] guys behind me, but we’ve just been off a little bit as an organization. [I] Can’t say thank you enough to [GMS Racing president] Mike Beam, [owner] Maury Gallagher, Ron Booth, everybody at GMS Fabrication and everybody on this No. 23 team. We’ve been working so hard because we’ve been sucking. It hurts to say it, but we’ve had a terrible season to this point. We had a great No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet all day. [I] Felt like every time I got the lead, the caution come out. It put [crew chief Jeff] Hensley in a bad spot. I knew from experience, just trust his gut. It’s a pretty special night. Definitely very, very thankful.”

    During his victory celebration, Enfinger credited the late gusty pit call made by his veteran crew chief Jeff Hensley, who reunited with Enfinger at GMS Racing in late June. Both Enfinger and Hensley worked together at ThorSport Racing from 2017 to 2020.

    “Four years and we’ve ridden the roller coaster together,” Enfinger added. “We’ve been in the lows. We missed the Playoffs our first year together and we haven’t missed it since then. We’ve had some success together. He’s a racer. I’m a racer. Neither one of us are very smart, but we put it together tonight.”

    Rhodes came home in second place in front of Zane Smith while Friesen and Heim finished in the top five. Ankrum finished in sixth in front of newcomer Layne Riggs while Majeski, who was initially in a position to win his first NASCAR race, settled in eighth. Crafton rallied to finish ninth while Nemechek, who led a race-high 75 laps and ended up in the wall while leading, fell back to 10th place.

    Notably, Playoff contenders Christian Eckes, Chandler Smith and Carson Hocevar finished 16th, 18th and 21st, respectively.

    The Truck Series’ return to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park since 2011 featured 12 lead changes for six different leaders. The race also featured 10 cautions for 78 laps.

    Results.

    1. Grant Enfinger, 13 laps led

    2. Ben Rhodes

    3. Zane Smith

    4. Stewart Friesen

    5. Corey Heim

    6. Tyler Ankrum

    7. Layne Riggs

    8. Ty Majeski, 71 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    9. Matt Crafton 

    10. John Hunter Nemechek, 75 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    11. Matt DiBenedetto

    12. Johnny Sauter

    13. Hailie Deegan

    14. Derek Kraus

    15. Jesse Little

    16. Christian Eckes

    17. Timmy Hill

    18. Chandler Smith, 13 laps led

    19. Austin Wayne Self

    20. Kaz Grala

    21. Carson Hocevar, 34 laps led

    22. Taylor Gray, one lap led

    23. Tanner Gray

    24. Chris Hacker

    25. Jack Wood

    26. Blaine Perkins

    27. Chase Purdy, one lap down

    28. Jake Garcia, one lap down

    29. Dean Thompson, three laps down

    30. Chad Chastain, three laps down

    31. Kris Wright, three laps down

    32. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident

    33. Josh Reaume – OUT, Too slow

    34. Lawless Alan –  OUT, Accident

    35. Blake Lothian – OUT, Driveshaft

    36. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings

    1. Grant Enfinger – Advanced

    2. Zane Smith +50

    3. Ben Rhodes +36

    4. Stewart Friesen +28

    5. John Hunter Nemechek +24

    6. Chandler Smith +24

    7. Ty Majeski +19

    8. Carson Hocevar +7

    9. Matt Crafton -7

    10. Christian Eckes -7

    With the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs underway, the second Round of 10 events is scheduled to occur at Richmond Raceway on August 13. The event’s coverage is scheduled to occur at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Chandler Smith wins 2022 Truck Series regular-season finale at Pocono

    Chandler Smith wins 2022 Truck Series regular-season finale at Pocono

    After losing the lead to Ryan Preece with less than 20 laps remaining, Chandler Smith executed a restart with 14 laps remaining and a draft from teammate Corey Heim to his advantage as he reassumed the lead and fended off Preece to win the CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 23.

    The 20-year-old Smith from Talking Rock, Georgia, led three times for a race-high 49 of 60-scheduled laps as he capped off the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular season stretch with his second victory of the season and added momentum in his pursuit for his first NASCAR national touring series championship.

    With on-track qualifying that was set for Friday canceled due to rain, the starting lineup was determined through a qualifying metric from NASCAR’s rulebook. As a result, Zane Smith, the regular-season points leader, started on pole position while Chandler Smith joined Smith on the front row.

    Prior to the event, Josh Reaume dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his truck.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Zane Smith and Chandler Smith dueled for the top spot entering the first turn as Chandler Smith used the inside lane to rocket his No. 18 Charge Me Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to the lead. Through the Long Pond straightaway, Zane Smith settled in the runner-up spot behind Chandler Smith while Carson Hocevar was in third ahead of Stewart Friesen, Christian Eckes, Derek Kraus, John Hunter Nemechek and Ty Majeski. 

    Just as Zane Smith started to challenge Chandler Smith for the lead, the first caution flew when rookie Jack Wood got loose entering the second turn and spun his No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST, though he was dodged by the oncoming field.

    As the event restarted on the fourth lap, the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the first turn as Chandler Smith retained the lead ahead of Zane Smith’s No. 38 Fr8 Auctions Ford F-150 while Hocevar and Eckes battled for third ahead of Kraus, Friesen and Nemechek.

    Two laps later, the caution returned when Dean Thompson spun his No. 40 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST in Turn 1. During the caution period, some like Ty Majeski and Grant Enfinger, who was encountering radio issues to his No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RSt, pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track.

    With five laps remaining in the first stage, the event proceeded under green. At the start, Chandler Smith took off with the lead on the outside lane while Eckes rocketed his No. 98 Cub Records Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the runner-up spot. Behind, Hocevar fended off Nemechek for third place before Zane Smith and Friesen took Nemechek three-wide past the Tunnel Curve for spots in the top five. 

    As the on-track battles continued through the frontstretch and around the Tricky Triangle, the caution returned during the following lap when Todd Bodine, who was making his 800th NASCAR national touring series career start, got pinched in between Hailie Deegan and Blaine Perkins entering the first turn. The contact sent Bodine’s No. 62 Camping World Toyota Tundra TRD Pro around and into the outside wall as Jack Wood and Tyler Hill piled into Bodine’s Toyota. The wreck and damage were enough to conclude Bodine’s historic NASCAR career in the garage.

    The wreck involving Bodine was enough for the first stage scheduled for Lap 15 to conclude under caution as Chandler Smith captured his second stage victory of the season. Eckes settled in second followed by Hocevar, Friesen, Derek Kraus, Zane Smith, Nemechek, Tyler Ankrum, Matt Crafton and rookie Corey Heim. With his sixth-place result, Zane Smith clinched the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular season championship.

    Under the stage break, some led by Kraus and Zane Smith pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 18 as Chandler Smith and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Smith retained the lead on the outside lane followed by Eckes and Friesen while Hocevar was being overtaken by Heim, Ankrum, Crafton, Ryan Preece, Matt DiBenedetto and Nemechek, all of whom were running on the outside lane through the Pocono turns.

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Chandler Smith was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Eckes followed by Friesen, Heim and Ankrum while Preece, Crafton, DiBenedetto, Nemechek and Hocevar were in the top 10. Derek Kraus was back in 11th ahead of Tanner Gray, Majeski, Jesse Little and Grant Enfinger while Colby Howard, Austin Hill, Timmy Hill, Chase Purdy and Blaine Perkins were in the top 20. Meanwhile, names like Zane Smith, Ben Rhodes and Hailie Deegan were mired outside of the top 20.

    By Lap 25, Chandler Smith extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Eckes. Meanwhile, Heim moved his No. 51 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into third place while Friesen and Preece were scored in the top five. Crafton and Enfinger, both of whom occupied the final two spots to the Playoffs, were in seventh and 19th while Ankrum and Kraus, the first two competitors scored outside of the top-10 cutline, were in sixth and 11th.

    A few laps later, names like Heim, Friesen, Preece, Hocevar, Kraus, Austin Hill, DiBenedetto and Tanner Gray pitted under green. By Lap 28, Chandler Smith surrendered the lead to pit for four fresh tires and fuel while Eckes cycled to the lead. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 30, Eckes captured his first stage victory of the season. Ankrum settled in second following a side-by-side battle between Crafton and Nemechek. Majeski, Colby Howard, Chase Purdy, Zane Smith, Jesse Little and Enfinger were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by Eckes pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track.

    With 25 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Chandler Smith and Ryan Preece occupied the front row. At the start, Chandler Smith retained the lead on the outside lane followed by Preece, Heim, Hocevar, Hill and Kraus as the field fanned out through the Long Pond straightaway.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Chandler Smith was leading by four-tenths of a second over Preece while Heim, Hocevar and Austin Hill retained their spots in the top five. Kraus was in sixth ahead of Nemechek, DiBenedetto, Eckes and Ankrum while Crafton and Enfinger were in 13th and 17th.

    Shortly after, the battle for the lead ignited as Preece, who was dealing with a left-rear tire rub, dueled and overtook Chandler Smith for the top spot in Turn 1. Just as the battle between Preece and Smith continued, the caution returned with 18 laps remaining when Spencer Boyd spun from Turn 3 to the frontstretch as he also dropped debris on the frontstretch. During the caution period, Zane Smith pitted to fix a throttle issue along with Rhodes, who opted for fresh tires, while the rest led by Preece remained on the track.

    With 14 laps remaining, the event proceeded under green. At the start, Heim pushed teammate Chandler Smith back to the lead while Preece fell back to second. Meanwhile, Hocevar overtook Heim for third place as Nemechek joined the battle followed by Austin Hill, Kraus and Majeski.

    Two laps later, Kraus, who was running in seventh place, started to have smoke come out of the left-front fender of his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST as he reported a power steering failure to his truck. Despite the issue, he continued on the track and the event remained under green.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Chandler Smith continued to lead by half a second over Preece’s No. 17 RaceChoice.com Ford F-150 followed by Heim, Hocevar and Nemechek while Austin Hill, Eckes, Kraus, Majeski and Tanner Gray were in the top 10. By then, Crafton was in 13th, Zane Smith recovered to 15th ahead of Ankrum and Enfinger was back in 18th behind Colby Howard.

    With five laps remaining, the top-six competitors were separated by less than two seconds as Chandler Smith remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Preece and seven-tenths of a second over teammate Heim. Behind, Hocevar, Nemechek and Hill engaged in a three-truck battle for fourth place while Kraus, Tanner Gray, DiBenedetto, Zane Smith, Crafton, Ankrum and Enfinger were in ninth, 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th, respectively.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Chandler Smith was leading by two-tenths of a second over Preece. While Preece kept Smith close to his front windshield, he could not gain any late momentum through the Trick Triangle’s turns as Smith managed to cycle his way back to the frontstretch and claim his second checkered flag of the season by more than two-tenths of a second.

    With the victory, Smith recorded his fourth Camping World Truck Series career victory, his first at Pocono and his first win since winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. He also recorded the seventh Pocono victory for Kyle Busch Motorsports. By collecting his second checkered flag of the season along with two stage victories throughout the regular season stretch, Smith and his No. 18 KBM Toyota team led by former championship-winning crew chief Danny Stockman Jr. will commence the 2022 Playoffs in second place in the Playoff standings with 2,022 behind Zane Smith, who holds 2,037 with his regular-season title.

    Photo by Jeff Clemons for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “God’s good,” Smith said on FOX. “We’ve been going through a little bit of a struggle here recently, but just when we needed to shine, we started shining. I can’t thank [Kyle Busch Motorsports]. This Charge Me Toyota Tundra was fast today. It was really good. It was a little tight. [I] Had problems getting through the gears. Also, thank you to the No. 51 team. Just can’t thank the good Lord. This is awesome! [The victory is] Big because we didn’t have a lot of Playoff points going into the Playoffs and today, we got one stage win, won the race, so I think we’re gonna be looking pretty sharp going to [Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park].”

    Preece, who made his seventh Truck start of the season and won in his latest series start at Nashville Superspeedway in June, settled in the runner-up spot while Nemechek, Heim and Hocevar finished in the top five. Completing the top 10 were Austin Hill, Majeski, Eckes, Kraus and Tanner Gray. 

    With their finishes of 15th and 17th, Matt Crafton and Grant Enfinger secured the final two spots to the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs. Kraus, who finished ninth, was the first competitor to miss the top-10 cutline to the Playoffs by 17 points.

    “After a day like today, it’s a little bit frustrating,” Enfinger said. “First and foremost, got to say thank you to everybody that stuck behind us. Everybody at GMS Fabrication. They built a brand new truck for here. We never were able to see what it did, so everything that happened to us today was on us. We’re gonna take it back, we’re gonna learn from it. We’re not gonna get down. The good thing about this regular season is it’s over and we made it to the off-season. We’ve learned a lot throughout this year. We’re getting transitioned again. [Crew chief] Jeff Hensley did a great job on the [pit] box, battling through the stuff that was self-inflicted. I’m frustrated right now, but we’re not gonna get down. We’re gonna work hard and be ready for [Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park].”

    “We had a very, very good truck,” Crafton said. “It was really good on short run. We had a way better truck than where we finished, but you need to be aggressive on the starts and I couldn’t put myself in any bad situations. You have to put yourself in bad situations on restarts to be able to get the spots. I would have to wait for everything to settle down and then, pass people, earn it instead of being a wild man on restarts. We just had to keep [Kraus] in grasp right there and hopefully, we didn’t get a new winner. [The team] worked really hard.”

    “[There were] A couple races that we could’ve improved on where we were better,” Kraus said. “Overall, it’s what happened. I don’t know what happened when the power steering went away. Just parts failure. Just move on, hang our heads high and we’ll go on to the next 10 [Playoff] races.”

    Zane Smith, Ben Rhodes, John Hunter Nemechek, Chandler Smith, Stewart Friesen, Ty Majeski, Carson Hocevar, Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton have made the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs. All 10 competitors will embark on a seven-race postseason stretch and contend for this year’s Truck title.

    Derek Kraus, Tyler Ankrum, Matt DiBenedetto, Tanner Gray, Colby Howard, Timmy Hill, Chase Purdy, Lawless Alan, Hailie Deegan, Dean Thompson, Jack Wood, Spencer Boyd, Kris Wright, Blaine Perkins were among the remaining competitors whom did not make the Playoffs.

    There were five lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 20 laps.

    Results.

    1. Chandler Smith, 49 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Ryan Preece, six laps led

    3. John Hunter Nemechek

    4. Corey Heim

    5. Carson Hocevar

    6. Austin Hill

    7. Ty Majeski

    8. Christian Eckes, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

    9. Derek Kraus

    10. Tanner Gray

    11. Chase Purdy

    12. Matt DiBenedetto

    13. Zane Smith

    14. Stewart Friesen

    15. Matt Crafton

    16. Tyler Ankrum

    17. Grant Enfinger 

    18. Colby Howard

    19. Ben Rhodes

    20. Tate Folgeman

    21. Max Gutierrez

    22. Lawless Alan

    23. Kaz Grala

    24. Dean Thompson

    25. Kaden Honeycutt

    26. Jesse Little

    27. Kris Wright

    28. Timmy Hill

    29. Blaine Perkins

    30. Tyler Hill

    31. Armani Williams, one lap down

    32. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

    33. Hailie Deegan – OUT, Brakes

    34. Josh Reaume, five laps down

    35. Jack Wood – OUT, Accident

    36. Todd Bodine – OUT, Accident

    The 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs is set to commence next Friday, July 29, at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, which marks the series’ return to the venue since 2011. The event is scheduled to commence at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Kligerman fends off Zane Smith for wild Truck Series victory at Mid-Ohio

    Kligerman fends off Zane Smith for wild Truck Series victory at Mid-Ohio

    Parker Kligerman capitalized in a three-lap shootout and fended off several fierce challenges from Zane Smith to win the inaugural O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, July 9. The 31-year-old Kligerman from Stamford, Connecticut, led three times for a race-high 56 of 67 laps, including the final three, as he assumed the lead from Zane Smith at the start of a three-lap dash to the finish.

    Once he assumed the lead, Kligerman managed to fend off and remain in front of Smith through the 13-turn circuit three times before etching his name as the winner of the inaugural Truck event at Mid-Ohio and return to Victory Lane in the series for the first time in four seasons.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, which was also shortened due to rain, rookie Corey Heim started on the pole position after posting a time at 69.181 mph in 117.500 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Parker Kligerman, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 68.869 mph in 118.032 seconds.

    Prior to the event, names like Derek Kraus, Austin Wayne Self and Kris Wright dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made toothier respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Heim launched his No. 51 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro clear of the field entering the first turn followed by Kligerman and Carson Hocevar as the field fanned out and jostled for early positions. With the competitors navigating their way through the 13-turn circuit for the first time, Heim, who was engaged in an early battle with Kligerman for the lead, led the first lap as John Hunter Nemechek moved up to third place. Meanwhile, Hocevar and Matt DiBenedetto battled for fourth in front of Matt Crafton and Tyler Ankrum.

    Two laps later, Kligerman, who intimidated Heim for the lead since the start, made his move in Turn 4 to assume the lead while Heim kept Kligerman within his sights.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Kligerman was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Heim followed by Nemechek, DiBenedetto and Hocevar while Tyler Ankrum, Matt Crafton, Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger and Justin Marks were in the top 10. Behind, Dylan Lupton was in 11th ahead of Connor Mosack, Christian Eckes, Kaz Grala and Taylor Gray while Tanner Gray, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, Trey Burke III and rookie Jack Wood occupied the top 20. Ty Majeski was in 21st and Chandler Smith was in 23rd ahead of Hailie Deegan and Derek Kraus.

    Three laps later, the first caution flew when Mason Filippi stopped on the track. During the caution period, some like Dean Thompson and Taylor Gray pitted while the rest led by Kligerman remained on the track.

    When the event restarted on Lap 10, Kligerman and Heim battled for the lead as the former retained the top spot through the first two turns and entering Turns 3 and 4. Meanwhile, Nemechek retained third ahead of DiBenedetto, Ankrum, Hocevar and the field.

    By Lap 15, Kligerman extended his advantage over Heim followed by Nemechek, Zane Smith and Ankrum while Enfinger, Hocevar, Justin Marks, Crafton and Christian Eckes were in the top 10. Behind, Frisen was in 11th followed by Rhodes, who was reporting engine issues to his truck. Lupton, Grala and Tanner Tray occupied the top 15 while Connor Mosack, Majeski, Chandler Smith, Deegan and Chase Purdy were in the top 20. Meanwhile, DiBenedetto, who fell off the pace on Lap 13 when the power in his No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet Silverado RST shut off before re-firing entering Turn 2, was mired back in 28th.

    During the following lap, the caution returned when Trey Burke III, who earlier went off the course in Turn 2, came to a stop while trying to exit pit road. 

    With a single lap remaining in the first stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Kligerman retained the lead ahead of Heim, who was challenged by teammate Nemechek for the runner-up spot as Zane Smith joined the battle. In the midst of the three-truck battle, Zane Smith overtook both Kyle Busch Motorsports competitors to move into the runner-up spot as the field fanned out. Despite Smith’s late charge to the front, Kligerman managed to fend off Smith to remain the leader as he went on to claim the first stage victory on Lap 20. Zane Smith settled in second followed by Nemechek, Heim and Enfinger while Eckes, Ankrum, Hocevar, Marks and Friesen were scored in the top 10.

    Following a three-minute break period, where the teams were allowed to change tires, add fuel and make adjustments to their respective trucks while the field retained their sports, the second stage started under green on Lap 21. At the start, Kligerman and Zane Smith dueled for the lead from Turn 2 to Turn 4 until Kligerman managed to fend off Smith again as he remained with the lead. Behind, teammates Nemechek and Heim battled for third in front of Enfinger while Eckes made his way to sixth in front of Majeski.

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Kligerman remained as the leader by eight-tenths of a second over Zane Smith while Nemechek, Heim and Eckes were in the top five. Friesen was in sixth while Grant Enfinger, Hocevar, Ankrum and Grala were in the top 10. A lap earlier, Rhodes made an unscheduled pit stop as his pit crew went to work on the fuel cell amid his power issues to his No. 99 Tenda Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. The situation for Rhodes went from bad to worse when he was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    By Lap 30, Kligerman continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Zane Smith while Nemechek, Heim and Eckes remained in the top five.

    Nearing the Lap 35 mark, Nemechek, who had smoke coming out of his No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, pitted before he made the turn to the garage. By then, Rhodes, who was two laps behind the leaders amid his mechanical issue, went off the course, though he continued as the race remained under green.

    At the start of the final lap of the second stage, the battle for the lead between Kligerman and Zane Smith ignited as Smith, who had slowly been pressuring Kligerman for the lead, made his move for the top spot and dueled for the lead through the first two turns. When the leaders returned to the start/finish line, Smith, who managed to overtake and clear Kligerman for the lead through the Esses, claimed his seventh stage victory of the season after winning the second stage on Lap 40. Kligerman settled in second followed by Heim, Eckes and Hocevar while Enfinger, Friesen, Ankrum, Grala and Majeski. 

    Following another three-minute break period for pit stops and adjustments, the final stage commenced under green with 25 laps remaining. At the start, Zane Smith received a strong start to hold the lead before Kligerman launched his challenge for the lead exiting Turn 2. Then in Turn 4, Kligerman gained a strong run as he managed to reassume the lead.

    With 20 laps remaining, Kligerman was leading by three-tenths of a second over Zane Smith while Heim, Hocevar, Eckes, Enfinger, Friesen, Ankrum, Chandler Smith and Tanner Gray were in the top 10. In the midst of the on-track action, Dylan Lupton backed his No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST into the tire barriers in Turn 7. Two laps earlier, Justin Marks, who was running in 13th, spun by himself in Turn 10 as he dropped out of the top 20.

    Two laps later, the caution returned when Marks, who darted to the left while trying to avoid Lawless Alan, lost his brakes and slid his No. 41 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST backward into the gravel trap in Turn 4 as he pounded the tire barriers on his right side, thus ending his one-race return as a driver in the infield care center. By then, Tyler Ankrum, who was running in the top 10, dropped off the pace after sustaining damage and a right-rear tire.

    Down to the final 14 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Kligerman retained the lead in front of Zane Smith while Heim and Hoover battled for third place in front of the field. Shortly after, however, the caution returned for a multi-truck incident that started when Austin Wayne Self, who got loose while battling Chase Purdy and Colby Howard in a three-wide battle entering the first turn, spun and was hit by rookie Jack Wood’s No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST while Blaine Perkins and Timmy Hill sustained damage amid the carnage.

    With eight laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Zane Smith overtook Kligerman to reassume the lead exiting the first turn. At the same time, Hocevar briefly took over the runner-up spot over Kligerman before he went wide entering Turn 2 and fell back to fourth. In the midst of the on-track battles, Heim moved up to second followed by Kligerman and Hocevar. When the field returned to the start/finish line, Chase Purdy spun in Turn 12 following contact with DiBenedetto, but the race proceeded under green. 

    During the following lap, however, the caution flew when Heim fell off the pace due to a mechanical failure and came to a stop between Turns 6 and 7 as his hopes of winning a second Triple Truck Challenge bonus came to an end.

    Down to the final three laps of the event, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Zane Smith held a brief advantage before Kligerman made his move and reassumed the top spot exiting the fourth turn while Hocevar was up in third place. Behind, Crafton and Kris Wright spun, but the race proceeded under green. As the field returned to the start/finish line, Zane Smith launched another challenge on Kligerman for the lead, but he could not execute the move as Kligerman retained the top spot in his No. 75 Food Country USA/Tide Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Kligerman received another challenge from Zane Smith’s No. 38 Boot Barn Ford F-150 entering the first turn, though Kligerman retained the lead. Through Turns 3 to 12, Kligerman managed to hold a reasonable gap between himself and Smith. Then entering Turn 13, Smith launched his final attack by bumping and trying to move Kligerman up the track. The move, however, did not execute to the end as Kligerman managed to claim the checkered flag and cap off his dominant run with a narrow victory. 

    With the victory, Kligerman earned his third career win in the Camping World Truck Series and his first since winning at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2017, which also marked the final victory to date for Henderson Motorsports. He also claimed the third and final $50,000 bonus from the Triple Truck Challenge.

    “[The win]’s hard to put into words,” Kligerman said on FS1. “I was really emotional on the cooldown lap because this whole team, it’s like a team of second chances. Two years ago, I thought my driving days were done. This team gave me a call, wanted to get back racing and it’s just been a steady improvement throughout. [Owners] Charlie Henderson, Don Henderson, the whole Henderson family. All the employees at Food Country USA who give us this opportunity to come out here and do this. It’s unbelievable when you put a talented group of humans together, what they can achieve. We were doing this on an absolute fraction of what the trucks are up against. And to win on Mid-Ohio road course, finally! A road course win! I started in road courses, I came in NASCAR thinking that would be all easy. It’s taken me more than a decade to get a win, but finally, we’re here…This is a small team that could, but we’re not a small team that doesn’t win. We win. ”

    Zane Smith, who trailed Kligerman to the finish line by more than a tenth of a second, claimed his third runner-up result of the season while Hocevar, Friesen and Eckes finished in the top five. Chandler Smith, Kaz Grala, Derek Kraus, Colby Howard and Hailie Deegan completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were five lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 15 laps.

    Down to the final NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular-season event of the 2022 season, Zane Smith leads the regular-season standings by 58 points over both John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith, 69 over Stewart Friesen and 70 over Ben Rhodes as he closes in towards the regular-season championship. 

    Zane Smith, Ben Rhodes, John Hunter Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Stewart Friesen are locked into the 2022 Truck Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the season while Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes and Carson Hocevar have secured spots for the Playoffs based on points. Grant Enfinger remains above the top-10 cutline in ninth place by 47 points while Matt Crafton holds the 10th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs by 19 points. Derek Kraus trails the top-10 cutline by 19 points, Tyler Ankrum trails by 46, Matt DiBenedetto trails by 63, Tanner Gray trails by 72, Chase Purdy trails by 104 and Colby Howard trails by 139.

    Results.

    1. Parker Kligerman, 56 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Zane Smith, eight laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Carson Hocevar

    4. Stewart Friesen

    5. Christian Eckes

    6. Chandler Smith

    7. Kaz Grala

    8. Derek Kraus

    9. Colby Howard

    10. Hailie Deegan

    11. Grant Enfinger

    12. Ty Majeski

    13. Chase Purdy

    14. Austin Wayne Self

    15. Taylor Gray

    16. Spencer Boyd

    17. Timmy Hill

    18. Matt Crafton

    19. Matt DiBenedetto

    20. Tanner Gray

    21. Tyler Ankrum

    22. Stephen Mallozzi

    23. Ben Rhodes, one lap down

    24. Lawless Alan, one lap down

    25. Kris Wright – OUT, Accident

    26. Corey Heim – OUT, Transmission, three laps down

    27. Dean Thompson, seven laps down

    28. John Hunter Nemechek, 10 laps down

    29. Jack Wood – OUT, Accident

    30. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident

    31. Justin Marks – OUT, Accident

    32. Dylan Lupton – OUT, Accident

    33. Kenko Miura, 25 laps down

    34. Connor Mosack – OUT, Brakes

    35. Trey Burke III – OUT, Rear gear

    36. Mason Filippi – OUT, Engine

    The 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular-season stretch is set to conclude at Pocono Raceway on July 23, where the 10-truck Playoff field will be determined. The event’s coverage is scheduled to occur at noon ET on FOX.

  • Kyle Busch Motorsports to surpass 750 combined Truck Series starts at Mid-Ohio

    Kyle Busch Motorsports to surpass 750 combined Truck Series starts at Mid-Ohio

    With the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular season stretch reaching its conclusion, Kyle Busch Motorsports is set to surpass a milestone start in the team’s 13th season in Truck competition. When KBM drivers Corey Heim, John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith compete in this weekend’s inaugural event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, KBM will surpass a combined 750 career starts in the Truck Series.

    Kyle Busch Motorsports debuted in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2010 with trucks purchased from Roush Fenway Racing and assets acquired from Xpress Motorsports as the team headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina. By then, Busch had campaigned in seven part-time seasons in the series while accumulating 16 victories, all occurring with Billy Ballew Motorsports.

    For the 2010 season, Kyle Busch Motorsports planned on fielding three trucks: one that would be split between Busch and Brian Ickler, another that would be driven on a full-time basis by Taylor Malsam and a third that would be piloted by former champion Johnny Benson Jr. pending additional sponsorships. Prior to the start of the season, however, Miccosukee Resorts, one of Busch’s key Truck sponsors that initially followed him to KBM from Billy Ballew Motorsports, terminated its partnership with NASCAR and left Busch without a full-time sponsor throughout his part-time campaign. In addition, Benson’s role was limited to a part-time status as he shared the No. 18 Toyota Tundra entry with Busch, Ickler and Kasey Kahne while the second KBM entry, the No. 56 Toyota Tundra that was piloted by Malsam, was terminated following the first seven events. Despite the rocky start, it only took the first four events of the season for Kyle Busch to record the first victory for KBM at Nashville Superspeedway in April 2010. Busch went on to achieve victories at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Bristol Motor Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway in August, New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, Talladega Superspeedway in October and at Texas Motor Speedway in November, all occurring in the No. 18 entry. After winning the season-finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November following a four-lap shootout, Busch captured the 2010 Truck Series owners’ championship on the strength of eight victories in 16 starts throughout the 25-race schedule. In total, KBM achieved eight victories, six poles, 16 top-five results and 21 top-10 results in its first season in NASCAR competition.

    For the team’s second season in 2011, Busch fielded the No. 18 Toyota Tundra as the primary, “all-star” entry that was split between himself, Kasey Kahne, Brian Ickler, Josh Richards and Denny Hamlin. Busch also fielded the Nos. 15 and 51 entries that both campaigned in limited events and was shared between Kimi Räikkönen, German Quiroga and Richards. Throughout the 2011 Truck season, Busch notched six victories in 16 starts, Kahne won at Darlington Raceway in March and Hamlin notched his first Truck victory at Martinsville Speedway in October, all occurring in KBM’s No. 18 entry. Despite accumulating a total of eight victories, two poles, 16 top-five results and 18 top-10 results throughout the 25-race schedule, the No. 18 entry settled in second place in the final owners’ standings behind the No. 2 Kevin Harvick Inc. entry.

    Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR.

    The 2012 Truck season was a difficult season for Kyle Busch Motorsports despite the team fielding the No. 18 Toyota Tundra on a full-time basis for a third consecutive season while the No. 51 Toyota Tundra competed the final five scheduled events with Quiroga and Hamlin behind the wheel. At the start of the season, veteran Jason Leffler piloted the No. 18 Toyota as the team’s primary competitor, but was released in August after only recording six top-10 results through the first 10 events. For the remainder of the season, the No. 18 entry was split between Busch, Hamlin, Brian Scott, Kurt Busch, Drew Herring and David Mayhew. After going winless for the majority of the season, Hamlin recorded the first victory of 2012 for KBM when he piloted the No. 51 Toyota to a win at Martinsville in October. Two races later, Scott overtook rookie Kyle Larson during a two-lap shootout to wheel the No. 18 Toyota to a late victory at Phoenix Raceway in November. In the end, KBM capped off the season with Busch being edged by Cale Gale in a photo finish at Homestead as Busch concluded a Truck season winless for the first time since 2004.

    In 2013, Kyle Busch Motorsports fielded three full-time entries for the first time in the team’s history with the No. 51 Toyota Tundra entry becoming the team’s “all-star” entry that was piloted between Busch, Erik Jones, Chad Hackenbracht, Scott Bloomquist and Hamlin throughout the 22-race schedule. For the new season, the No. 18 Toyota Tundra entry was taken sole possession by full-time competitor Joey Coulter while KBM’s No. 54 Toyota Tundra entry debuted for newcomer Bubba Wallace. Through the first 20 events, the No. 51 entry visited Victory Lane four times, all with Busch. At Phoenix in November, Jones became the youngest winner in the series at age 17 years, five months and nine days after recording his first career victory in KBM’s No. 51 truck. During the following weekend at Homestead, Busch survived three late-race restarts to capture his fifth win of the 2013 season and clinch the owners’ title for his No. 51 entry in a tie-breaker against ThorSport Racing’s No. 88 entry piloted by the 2013 drivers’ champion Matt Crafton. Meanwhile, the No. 18 entry that was piloted by Coulter achieved a total of five top-10 results and a 15th-place result in the final drivers’ standings while the No. 54 entry managed to earn a trip to Victory Lane at Martinsville in October as Wallace became the first African-American competitor to win in the Truck Series. To go along with his first Truck career victory, Wallace capped off his first full-time campaign in the series with a pole, five top-five results, 12 top-10 results and an eighth-place result in the drivers’ standings.

    Photo by Kala Perkins for SpeedwayMedia.com.
    Photo by Gary Buchanan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    The 2014 season was a breakout year for Kyle Busch Motorsports, which featured Busch and Erik Jones splitting driving responsibilities of the No. 51 Toyota Tundra while Bubba Wallace returned as the driver of the No. 54 Toyota Tundra. In total, KBM won 14 of the 22 races to the schedule as Busch and Jones, both of whom earned a combined 10 victories, guided the No. 51 entry to the team’s third owners’ championship. Wallace piloted the No. 54 truck to four victories, two poles, nine top-five results and 14 top-10 results as he finished in third place in the final drivers’ standings. 

    A month following the conclusion of the 2014 season, Kyle Busch Motorsports unveiled its driver lineup for the 2015 season with Erik Jones headlining the lineup as he was promoted to a full-time Truck Series campaign in the No. 4 Toyota Tundra while newcomer Justin Boston replaced Bubba Wallace, who graduated to the Xfinity Series with Roush Fenway Racing, in the No. 54 Toyota Tundra. Meanwhile, KBM’s No. 51 Toyota Tundra team remained as an “all-star” entry that was split between Busch, Daniel Suarez, Matt Tifft and Christopher Bell. Early in the season, Suarez and Tifft served as the primary competitors of the No. 51 entry with Busch recovering from injuries sustained in a late multi-car wreck during the Xfinity season-opening event at Daytona in February. Boston, however, was released by KBM nine races into the new season due to a breech of contract involving the driver and his sponsor Zloop. With Boston out, the No. 54 entry was split between Tifft, Cody Coughlin, Gray Gaulding, Bell and Busch, who returned to full-time competition in May. Despite the early season drama for KBM, Bell captured his first career victory at Eldora Speedway in July following a two-lap shootout while Busch piloted the No. 51 truck to two victories at Pocono Raceway and at Michigan International Speedway between July and August. Meanwhile, Jones earned victories at Iowa Speedway in June, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in August and at Texas Motor Speedway in November. To go along with five poles, 11 top-five results and 20 top-10 results, Jones claimed the 2015 Truck Series championship following a sixth-place result at Homestead and by 15 points over Tyler Reddick and 22 over Matt Crafton. With Jones’ accomplishment, Kyle Busch Motorsports achieved its first drivers’ championship along with its fourth owners’ title in NASCAR.

    Photo by Don Dunn for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    The 2016 Truck Series season featured another new driver lineup for Kyle Busch Motorsports as Bell, coming off his first career victory at Eldora, replaced Erik Jones, who moved up to the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing, as the driver of the No. 4 Toyota Tundra while William Byron, the reigning ARCA Menards Series East champion who made his Truck debut with KBM at Phoenix in November during the previous season, piloted the No. 9 Toyota Tundra. The No. 51 Toyota Tundra entry was split between Daniel Suarez, Cody Coughlin, Jones and Gary Klutt throughout the season while the No. 18 KBM entry made a total of five starts between Busch, Coughlin and Harrison Burton. Throughout the season, Busch wheeled the No. 18 truck to victories at Martinsville in April and at Chicagoland Speedway in September while Suarez drove the No. 51 Toyota to his first Truck career victory at Phoenix in November. The No. 9 Toyota team piloted by Byron achieved great success throughout the season with the Charlotte native earning his first career victory at Kansas Speedway in May after dodging a final lap incident involving Johnny Sauter and Ben Rhodes. He went on to win at Texas and Iowa Speedway in June followed by Kentucky Speedway in July as KBM became the winningest team in the Truck Series with 51 victories. After Byron won at Pocono in July, he established a new record for achieving the most victories by a rookie Truck competitor with five. After qualifying for the inaugural 2016 Truck Playoffs, he won the first postseason event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September and utilized consistency to transfer all the way to the Playoff’s Round of 6. Byron’s title hopes, however, came to an end at Phoenix in November after his No. 9 entry suffered an engine failure with 10 laps remaining while he was leading, which prevented him from earning a ticket to the Championship Round at Homestead. Nonetheless, he went on to win the season-finale event at Homestead for his unprecedented seventh victory of the season as he wrapped up both the 2016 Rookie-of-the-Year title and the fifth career owners’ title for KBM. In comparison to Byron and the No. 9 team, Bell and the No. 4 team rallied from a rocky start to generate a consistent regular season run, including a victory at Gateway in June, to qualify for the Playoffs. Bell remained consistent throughout the Playoffs to make it all the way to the Championship Round at Homestead and contend for the drivers’ title. During the finale, however, Bell finished in eighth place on the track and in third place in the final drivers’ standings.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    For the 2017 season, Kyle Busch Motorsports retained Bell as driver of the No. 4 Toyota Tundra while welcoming Noah Gragson as a full-time competitor of KBM’s No. 18 Toyota Tundra. Busch remained as a part-time competitor of his No. 51 Toyota Tundra as he split the ride with rookies Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland and Myatt Snider while also debuting the No. 46 Toyota Tundra for a total of four events, with himself and Gilliland earning two events apiece. Busch earned a total of three victories throughout the 2017 Truck season: two in the No. 51 entry at Kansas and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and one in the No. 46 entry at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. In addition, the No. 51 team earned a total of nine top-10 results and settled in fourth place in the final owners’ standings. For the No. 18 entry, Gragson earned his first career victory at Martinsville in October following a late duel with former champions Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter. To go along with three poles, four top-five results and 13 top-10 results, Gragson finished in 10th place in the final drivers’ standings and in his first full-time Truck campaign. For Bell, who entered the season as a potential title favorite, he achieved five victories along with five poles, 15 top-five results and 21 top-10 results as he made his second consecutive appearance both in the Playoffs and in the Championship Round at Homestead. During the finale, Bell finished in the runner-up spot on the track and captured the 2017 Truck Series drivers’ championship over Sauter, Austin Cindric and Crafton. With his first championship in NASCAR, Bell recorded the second drivers’ championship and the sixth owners’ title overall for KBM.

    Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.

    During the following season, Busch retained Gragson in the No. 18 KBM Toyota Tundra while Todd Gilliland contended for the 2018 Truck Rookie-of-the-Year title in the No. 4 Toyota Tundra, thus replacing Bell as Bell became a full-time Xfinity competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing. Gilliland, however, missed four of the first six events due to age restrictions and spent the early portions of the season splitting the No. 4 Toyota with his father David, Busch and newcomer Spencer Davis while Davis, Busch, David Gilliland, Harrison Burton, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Logan Seavey and Christopher Bell took turns piloting the No. 51 Toyota Tundra. The No. 46 KBM Toyota Tundra also returned for a total of six events that was split between Brandon Jones, Herbst and newcomer Christian Eckes. Throughout the season, the No. 46 entry’s best on-track result was third at Charlotte in May made by Jones while the No. 4 entry achieved a season-best result of second place at Gateway in June with Todd Gilliland, who finished in 10th place in the final drivers’ standings. The No. 51 entry went to Victory Lane twice during the season with Busch at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March and at Pocono in July while Gragson wheeled the No. 18 entry to a dominant win at Kansas in May. Despite being absent at Pocono due to illness, where he was replaced by Erik Jones, Gragson utilized consistency to qualify for the 2018 Truck Playoffs and transfer all the way to the Championship Round at Homestead, where he settled in the runner-up spot in the final drivers’ standings.  

    The 2019 season featured Harrison Burton replacing Noah Gragson, who graduated to the Xfinity Series, as the driver of Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 18 Toyota Tundra while Todd Gilliland remained as a full-time driver of the No. 4 Toyota Tundra. Meanwhile, the No. 51 Toyota Tundra entry returned as the “all-star” entry that was split between Busch, Eckes, Brandon Jones, Greg Biffle, Chandler Smith, Alex Tagliani and Riley Herbst. The No. 46 Toyota Tundra entry returned for a total of seven events that was split between Herbst, Smith and Raphaël Lessard. In comparison to recent seasons, KBM endured a difficult 2019 season as both Burton and Gilliland did not make the Playoffs. While Burton finished in 12th place in the final drivers’ standings with no victories and 11 top-10 results, Gilliland managed to record his first Truck career victory at Martinsville in October along with 14 top-10 results before settling in 11th place in the final standings. With the No. 46 entry finishing no higher than fourth at Gateway in June made by Chandler Smith, the No. 51 entry won six of the 23-scheduled events: five with Busch and one with Biffle. To go along with a total of 15 top-five results and 17 top-10 results throughout the 23-race schedule, the No. 51 entry managed to capture the 2019 Truck owners’ title as KBM achieved its seventh owners’ championship in NASCAR.

    Photo by Brad Keppel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    For the following season, Kyle Busch Motorsports introduced new drivers to the Nos. 4 and 18 entries as Harrison Burton moved up to the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing while Todd Gilliland moved over to Front Row Motorsports. The No. 18 Toyota was taken over by Christian Eckes while Raphaël Lessard took over the No. 4 Toyota. The No. 51 Toyota also returned as Busch, Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith, Riley Herbst and Alex Tagliani took turns to drive the truck throughout the season. In his first full-time campaign in the series, Eckes qualified for the 2020 Truck Playoffs, but was eliminated from title contention following the Round of 10 as he ended up in eighth place in the final drivers’ standings with no victories and 11 top-10 results. Lessard, on the other hand, did not make the Playoffs, but he managed to capture his first career victory at Talladega in October along with a total of seven top-10 results before finishing in 12th place in the final standings. Meanwhile, the No. 51 entry went to Victory Lane four times: three with Busch and once with Brandon Jones, who captured his first elusive series win at Pocono in June. To go along with a total of 10 results in the top five, the No. 51 entry settled in sixth place in the final owners’ standings.

    This past season, Kyle Busch Motorsports welcomed John Hunter Nemechek as the driver of the No. 4 Toyota Tundra, where he replaced Lessard, while Chandler Smith replaced Christian Eckes as a full-time competitor of the No. 18 Toyota Tundra. The No. 51 Toyota Tundra remained as the “all-star” entry for a ninth consecutive season as the truck was piloted between Busch, Drew Dollar, Parker Chase, Martin Truex Jr., Corey Heim, Brian Brown, Derek Griffith and Dylan Lupton throughout the 22-race schedule. Three races into the new season, Nemechek recorded his first win with KBM at Las Vegas in March before the No. 51 entry visited Victory Lane during the following two events: the first with Busch at Atlanta and the second at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course with Truex, who claimed his first Truck career victory. Not long after, Nemechek fended off Busch to win at Richmond Raceway before Busch capitalized on a late restart to win at Kansas. Those five victories followed by three additional victories by Nemechek capped off a strong regular season stretch as Nemechek, who claimed the regular season championship, and Chandler Smith qualified for the 2021 Truck Playoffs. During the Playoffs, Smith claimed his first Truck career victory at Bristol in September to advance from the Round of 10 to 8 along with Nemechek. During the Round of 8, Smith’s title hopes evaporated while Nemechek was able to earn enough points through consistency to secure a spot in the Championship 4 finale at Phoenix Raceway. An early tire issued, however, derailed Nemechek’s title hopes as he ended up in third place in the final drivers’ standings while Smith won the finale and captured the 2021 Truck Rookie-of-the-Year title. Meanwhile, the No. 51 entry settled in 10th place in the owners’ standings.

    This season, Kyle Busch Motorsports retained John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith as drivers of the Nos. 4 and 18 entries, respectively. In addition, Corey Heim returned with an expanded part-time Truck schedule as he split the No. 51 entry with Kyle Busch and Buddy Kofoid. Through the first 14 scheduled events, all three KBM entries have visited Victory Lane at least once, with Smith winning at Las Vegas in March, Nemechek winning at Darlington in May, Busch winning at Sonoma Raceway in June and Heim recording his first two career victories in the series at Atlanta in March followed by Gateway in June. Heim is scheduled to take over the No. 51 entry for the remainder of the season as he contends for the 2022 Truck Rookie-of-the-Year title while Nemechek and Smith, both of whom are pursuing their first championship in NASCAR, are guaranteed spots for the 2022 Truck Playoffs.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.
    Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Through a combined 749 Truck starts, Kyle Busch Motorsports has achieved two drivers’ championships, a record seven owners’ championships, 95 victories, 63 poles, 276 top-five results, 439 top-10 results and 13,196 laps led with 51 different competitors making at least one start for the organization.

    Kyle Busch Motorsports is primed to surpass 750 career starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, July 9, with coverage to occur at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Todd Gilliland cruises to a Truck Series win at Knoxville

    Todd Gilliland cruises to a Truck Series win at Knoxville

    Todd Gilliland made the most of his final off-weekend period from the NASCAR Cup Series and his one-race return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series by winning the second annual Clean Harbors 150 at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday, June 18.

    The 22-year-old Gilliland from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, who competes as a full-time rookie in the NASCAR Cup Series, led 58 of 150-scheduled laps, including the final 11, as he muscled away from John Hunter Nemechek and the field during a four-lap shootout to claim his first NASCAR national touring series victory on dirt and his first series win in more than a season.

    The starting lineup for the main event was determined through a formula that evaluated the results and number of positions each competitor gained through four heat events that occurred two hours prior to the main event. When the dust settled and the four heat events concluded, Derek Kraus, who finished second behind John Hunter Nemechek in the first heat event but earned 15 qualifying points, claimed the pole position for a second consecutive season at Knoxville. Joining him on the front row was Carson Hocevar, who won the second heat event and earned a total of 14 qualifying points. Braden Mitchell and Norm Benning were the two competitors who did not qualify for the main event.

    Prior to the event, rookie Jack Wood and Spencer Boyd started at the rear of the field due to both missing driver’s introductions.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Hocevar battled with Kraus through the first two turns until he pulled ahead on the outside lane and went on to lead the first lap. Stewart Friesen challenged Kraus for the runner-up spot ahead of Ben Rhodes, Buddy Kofoid and John Hunter Nemechek as the field scrambled for early positions.

    Four laps into the event, the first caution flew when Christian Eckes made contact and turned Dean Thompson in Turn 1 as Thompson limped back to pit road with a flat left-rear tire.

    Another four laps later, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Hocevar retained the lead following a strong start on the outside lane while Rhodes muscled his way into the runner-up spot over Friesen.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Hocevar was leading by nearly four-tenths of a second over Rhodes followed by Friesen, Nemechek and Ty Majeski while Todd Gilliland, Chandler Smith, Kraus, Buddy Kofoid and Grant Enfinger were in the top 10.

    Ten laps later, Hocevar continued to lead by more than two seconds over both Rhodes and Stewart Friesen while John Hunter Nemechek and Gilliland were scored in the top five. Majeski slipped back to sixth ahead of Chandler Smith, Kraus, Enfinger and Kofoid while Tanner Gray, Brett Moffitt, Zane Smith, Matt DiBenedetto, Matt Crafton, Eckes, Hailie Deegan, Tyler Ankrum, Jessica Friesen and Kaz Grala were scored in the top 20.

    Another 10 laps later, Hocevar remained as the leader by more than a second over Friesen while Nemechek, Gilliland and Kraus were in the top five. Meanwhile, Rhodes had fallen back to seventh behind teammate Majeski while Chandler Smith, Enfinger and Moffitt were in the top 10. 

    Shortly after, the caution flew when Tanner Gray made contact with Kofoid’s No. 51 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro on the inside lane and spun as he was hit by a sliding Spencer Boyd in Turn 3. During the caution period, Rhodes pitted from seventh place to have the front nose of his No. 99 Tenda Toyota Tundra TRD Pro repaired along with having an overheating issue addressed.

    With one lap remaining in the first stage and as the field fanned out when the race restarted under green, Hocevar pulled ahead once again and went on to claim the first stage victory on Lap 40, which marked his second stage victory of the season. Todd Gilliland settled in second followed by Nemechek, Kraus, Ty Majeski, Enfinger, Chandler Smith, Moffitt, Matt DiBenedetto and Zane Smith. Meanwhile, Friesen, who was running in the top five, lost momentum entering Turn 3 after his No. 52 Halmar Toyota Tundra TRD Pro suffered a flat right-rear tire, though he remained on the lead lap.

    Following a three-minute break period to allow the pit crew members to service their respective trucks, the second stage started under green on Lap 41 as Hocevar and Gilliland occupied the front row. At the start, Hocevar retained the lead while Kraus moved his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST into the runner-up spot ahead of Gilliland while Enfinger and Moffitt were in the top five.

    Through the first 50 laps of the event, Hocevar was leading by nearly four-tenths of a second over Kraus followed by Gilliland, Moffitt and Enfinger while Nemechek, Majeski, Zane Smith, Matt Crafton and Hailie Deegan were in the top 10. Chandler Smith and Eckes battled for 11th ahead of Stewart Friesen and DiBenedetto while Kofoid was in 15th ahead of Colby Howard, Kaz Grala, Tyler Ankrum, Tyler Carpenter and Jessica Friesen.

    Seven laps later, the caution flew when Jessica Friesen flipped and got her No. 62 Halmar Toyota Tundra TRD Pro stuck on the inside burn curb in Turn 3. 

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 65, Gilliland pulled a bold slid job on Hocevar to assume the lead. During the following lap, however, disaster struck for Hocevar, whose No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST fell off the pace entering the fronstretch before he came to a stop towards the outside wall in Turn 1 and retired due to an engine failure as the caution returned. By then, his teammate Tyler Carpenter, a 30-year-old racer from Parkersburg, West Virginia, who earned a one-race ride with Niece Motorsports for Knoxville after winning the Gateway Dirt Nationals in December 2021, also retired due to a driveshaft issue.

    “[The truck] done blown up,” Hocevar said. “That’s it. I thought Sonoma [Raceway] was gonna be the hardest one to watch and now, this one’s gonna be harder to watch. I’ll probably just sit and think about it for a while…Just sucks. It is what it is. We can’t control. We can’t do anything. It’s fitting this would be our luck.”

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 72, Gilliland retained the lead followed by Kraus as Nemechek issued his challenge for the spot ahead of Moffitt and Zane Smith. As the race reached its halfway mark on Lap 75, Gilliland was leading by more than a second over Nemechek while Zane Smith, Kraus, Moffitt, Stewart Friesen, Enfinger, Grala, Eckes and Deegan were in the top 10.

    By Laps 85, Gilliland continued to lead by more than four seconds over Zane Smith while Nemechek, Moffitt and Stewart Friesen were battling in the top five.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Todd Gilliland captured his first stage victory in his first Truck start of the season. Zane Smith settled in second followed by Nemechek, Moffitt, Kraus, Enfinger, Grala, Stewart Friesen, Crafton and Tyler Ankrum.

    Following a second three-minute break period to allow the pit crew members to service their respective trucks, the final stage started under green with 59 laps remaining. At the start, Moffitt, who was one of four competitors who remained on the track without pitting, rocketed with the lead in his No. 22 Concrete SupplyDestiny Homes Chevrolet Silverado RST on the outside lane while Enfinger and Kofoid battled for the runner-up spot ahead of Zane Smith and Gilliland. Soon after, Moffitt was black-flagged by NASCAR for a restart violation after NASCAR deemed that he jumped the initial restart. With Moffit serving his penalty by driving through pit road under green, Enfinger assumed the lead with 54 laps remaining followed by Gilliland, Zane Smith, Kofoid and Kraus.

    With 50 laps remaining, Enfinger was leading by three-tenths of a second over Gilliland followed by Zane Smith, Nemechek and Kraus while Stewart Friesen, Kofoid, Eckes, Majeski and Crafton were in the top 10. Not long after, Gilliland reassumed the lead over Enfinger.

    Ten laps later, Gilliland was leading by nearly a second over Nemechek while Enfinger settled back in third ahead of Zane Smith and Stewart Friesen. Another three laps later, the caution flew due to Bryson Mitchell falling off the pace and becoming slow on the track.

    Down to the final 28 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Nemechek moved his No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to the front ahead of Gilliland and the field. Three laps later, however, the caution returned for an incident involving Moffitt and Tanner Gray, both of whom made contact with one another in Turn 4, where Moffitt nearly flipped before both collided again in Turn 1, and sustained damage to their respective machines. At the same time, Grala and Colby Howard slid and collided against one another with Moffitt retiring in the garage.

    With 18 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Nemechek retained the lead while Stewart Friesen and Gilliland battled for the runner-up spot, with the former pulling ahead. Behind, Zane Smith and Kraus were in the top five ahead of Enfinger and the field.

    A few laps later, Gilliland muscled his way back into the runner-up spot and Friesen was left battling with Kraus for third place while Nemechek continued to lead by a narrow margin.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Gilliland slid his No. 17 Frontline Enterprises Ford F-150 back into the lead while remaining in a tight battle with Nemechek for the lead while Kraus, Scored in the top 10 were Zane Smith and Friesen occupied the top five. Majeski, Enfinger, Kofoid, Crafton and Eckes.

    Then with eight laps remaining, the caution flew when rookie Jack Wood spun in Turn 1. The caution stacked up the field for a late shootout to the finish.

    With four laps remaining, the race proceeded under green and Gilliland managed to retain the lead while Nemechek and Zane Smith battled for the runner-up spot as the former retained the spot.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gilliland was ahead by more than a second over Nemechek as the field jostled for late positions. Having a clear racetrack in front of him, Gilliland was able to slip, slide and cycle his way back to the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag by nearly a second over Nemechek for his first NASCAR victory of the 2022 season.

    By winning the second annual Truck event at Knoxville, Gilliland claimed his third career victory in the Truck Series, his first while driving for David Gilliland Racing and his first since winning at Circuit of the Americas in May 2021. The victory was also the first for David Gilliland Racing since Ryan Preece won at Nashville Superspeedway a year ago.

    “Just so amazing, man,” Gilliland said on FS1. “The Cup Series is tough. Just racing every single week, I’ve had like a million people ask me, ‘Is this really what you wanna do on your off weekend?’ Absolutely, man. Nothing beats racing. I tell everyone I’m young. I wish I could do this every single weekend of the year. Just so happy for [crew chief] Seth Smith, my whole team, David Gilliland Racing, Ford, especially…Really, really cool. Just so thankful. I love the Truck Series. I ran here forever, it felt like, so to be able to come back and to get one, man, it’s so special.” 

    “I just had an amazing truck,” Gilliland added. “These [David Gilliland Racing] guys prepared me a really good one. We got fitted in the seat on Tuesday afternoon. Just an amazing truck. These guys work so hard. The No. 17 truck’s been really fast a lot this year, so finally to get it a win. I think they’re close to the owners’ Playoff deal, so hopefully, [the win] helped them a little bit and I’ll be anxiously watching the rest of the year now. I feel like a little part of me’s gonna stay on this truck.”

    Nemechek settled in the runner-up spot for the second time of the season and for his fifth top-five result while Zane Smith, Ty Majeski and Stewart Friesen finished in the top five. Kraus, Crafton, Enfinger, Tyler Ankrum and Ben Rhodes completed the top 10.

    There were six lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 45 laps.

    With three races remaining of the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular-season stretch, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by five points over Zane Smith, 10 over Ben Rhodes, 14 over Chandler Smith, 43 over Ty Majeski and 49 over Stewart Friesen. 

    Zane Smith, Ben Rhodes, John Hunter Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Stewart Friesen are tentatively locked into the 2022 Truck Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the season while Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Carson Hocevar, Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton are above the top-10 cutline based on points. Derek Kraus trails the top-10 cutline by 27 points, Matt DiBenedetto trails by 43, Tanner Gray trails by 50, Tyler Ankrum trails by 53 and Chase Purdy trails by 106.

    Results.

    1. Todd Gilliland, 58 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. John Hunter Nemechek, 17 laps led

    3. Zane Smith

    4. Ty Majeski

    5. Stewart Friesen

    6. Derek Kraus

    7. Matt Crafton

    8. Grant Enfinger, 10 laps led

    9. Tyler Ankrum

    10. Ben Rhodes 

    11. Buddy Kofoid

    12. Christian Eckes

    13. Chandler Smith

    14. Matt DiBenedetto

    15. Hailie Deegan

    16. Colby Howard

    17. Dylan Westbrook

    18. Lawless Alan

    19. Timmy Hill

    20. Chase Purdy

    21. Jack Wood, one lap down

    22. Tanner Gray, one lap down

    23. Dean Thompson, two laps down

    24. Joey Gase, two laps down

    25. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

    26. Kaz Grala, two laps down

    27. Brayton Laster, three laps down

    28. Kris Wright, five laps down

    29. Spencer Boyd, eight laps down

    30. Devon Rouse, 10 laps down

    31. Thad Moffitt, 11 laps down

    32. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    33. Bryson Mitchell – OUT, Throttle

    34. Jessica Friesen – OUT, Brakes

    35. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Engine, 65 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    36. Tyler Carpenter – OUT, Driveshaft

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is Nashville Superspeedway for the second of three Triple Truck Challenge events, which will occur on Friday, June 24, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Kyle Busch capitalizes in final Truck Series start with a victory at Sonoma

    Kyle Busch capitalizes in final Truck Series start with a victory at Sonoma

    Kyle Busch made the most of his final NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start of the season by winning the inaugural DoorDash 250 at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 11, following a two-lap shootout to the finish.

    The two-time Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, led four times for a race-high 45 of 75 laps and was able to pull away from teammate Chandler Smith at the start of a two-lap shootout to the finish and beating Zane Smith by more than a second to record his first Truck Series victory of the 2022 season at Sonoma, California.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Carson Hocevar, who was still recovering from his final lap accident at Gateway from a week ago, notched his first pole position after clocking in a fast lap at 91.135 mph in 78.609 seconds. During his pole-winning lap, however, Hocevar got loose and smacked the wall in Turn 10. The incident along with unapproved adjustments forced Hocevar to start the event at the rear of the field in a backup truck along with Stefan Parsons. With Hocevar dropping to the rear of the field, teammate Ross Chastain, who was making his 100th Truck Series career start, and Kyle Busch occupied the front row, with Chastain’s qualifying time occurring at 90.492 mph in 79.167 seconds while Busch’s was at 90.428 mph in 79.223 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Chastain rocketed with the lead follows by Kyle Busch as the field battled dead even through the first three turns and entering the return of the Chute corner through Turns 4 to 7. Through Turns 8 through 11 and when the field returned to the start/finish line, Chastain led the first lap while Ty Majeski challenged Busch for the runner-up spot ahead of Tyler Ankrum and Alex Bowman.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Chastain was leading by nearly three seconds over Kyle Busch followed by Majeski, Bowman and Ankrum while John Hunter Nemechek, Stewart Friesen, Parker Kligerman and Matt DiBenedetto were in the top 10. Austin Dillon was in 11th followed by Zane Smith, Hailie Deegan, Christian Eckes and Derek Kraus while Ben Rhodes, Chandler Smith, Kaz Grala, Lawless Alan and Timmy Hill occupied the top 20.

    On the following lap, Friesen spun after locking up his front tires and slipping sideways while battling Kligerman in the top 10 in Turn 7. The race, however, proceeded under green as Chastain continued to lead by two seconds over Kyle Busch. 

    At the Lap 10 mark, Chastain remained as the leader by less than two seconds over Kyle Busch while Majeski, Bowman and Ankrum remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Carson Hocevar, who started at the rear of the field while battling a broken right tibia, was up in 23rd place as he had Daniel Suarez on standby to relieve him.

    The following lap, Hocevar pitted and the driver swap occurred as Suarez hopped into the No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST. By then, Stefan Parsons took his truck to the garage after he was trailing smoke. The switch, however, cost the No. 42 team two laps while Chastain retained the lead by one-and-a-half seconds over Busch.

    Just past the Lap 15 mark, Chastain stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Kyle Busch followed by Majeski, Bowman and Ankrum while Nemechek, Enfinger, Kligerman, DiBenedetto and Zane Smith were in the top 10.

    Shortly after, Friesen pitted his No. 52 Halmar Toyota Tundra TRD Pro followed by the leader Chastain as Kyle Busch moved into the lead. Harrison Burton also pitted. Then with the field approaching the final two laps of the first stage, Kyle Busch pitted his No. 51 Yahoo! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro along with Bowman while Majeski moved into the lead. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 20, Majeski claimed his first stage victory of the season after fending off a last-lap challenge from Ankrum. Nemechek settled in third place followed by Enfinger, Kligerman, DiBenedetto, Derek Kraus, Zane Smith, Austin Dillon and Hailie Deegan. 

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Majeski pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track. During the pit stops, Harrison Burton reported being down a cylinder despite continuing. Following the pit stops, Deegan was penalized for an equipment going over the wall early along with Kris Wright and DiBenedetto, both of whom were penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Tanner Gray was also penalized for equipment being thrown from his pit box while Todd Bodine was penalized for speeding on pit road. Meanwhile, Suarez cycled his way to be only a lap behind the leaders.

    The second stage started on Lap 25 as Chastain and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Chastain cleared Busch and the field from the outside lane to retain the lead entering the first two turns. Then in Turn 7, Enfinger, who was in the top 10, locked up his front tires, ran over the curb and spun in the middle of the field. With the field scrambling to avoid hitting Enfinger, the race proceeded under green as Enfinger continued without sustaining any damage. 

    Back at the front, Kyle Busch moved into the lead after overtaking Chastain in Turn 11 while Bowman was in third place ahead of Ankrum and Friesen. During the following lap, the caution returned when Christian Eckes, who was the fastest during Friday’s practice session, made contact with Nemechek as he spun and hit the wall in Turn 8. The caution cycled Suarez to the lead lap.

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 30, Kyle Busch pulled ahead of Chastain and the field to lead through the first two turns and entering Turns 3 and 3A. Through the 11-turn circuit and back to the start/finish line, Busch remained the leader despite having Chastain close behind in his rearview mirror. Behind, Ankrum was in third ahead of Bowman and Majeski while Friesen and Ben Rhodes battled for sixth place. Kligerman was in eighth while Kraus and Nemechek were in the top 10.

    By Lap 35, Kyle Busch continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Chastain followed by Ankrum, Bowman and Majeski while Friesen, Rhodes, Chandler Smith and Kraus were in the top 10. Not long after, Kraus surrendered his spot in 10th place to pit as Zane Smith moved into the top 10. 

    Two laps later, Matt Crafton spun his No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in Turn 8 after getting hit by Todd Bodine, who locked up his front tires prior to entering the corner.

    Through Lap 40 and with the event surpassing its halfway mark, Kyle Busch stabilized his advantage to more than three seconds over Chastain, who had Ankrum pressuring him for the runner-up spot while Bowman and Majeski were scored in the top five.

    Two laps later, a handful of competitors led by Zane Smith pitted under green while Kyle Busch continued to lead. Another lap later, however, Busch surrendered the lead to pit followed by Ankrum, Bowman, Chastain, Majeski and Kligerman while Ben Rhodes moved into the lead.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 45, Rhodes claimed his eighth stage victory of the season. Chandler Smith settled in second followed by Chase Purdy, Kaz Grala, Austin Dillon, Suarez, Timmy Hill, Dean Thompson, Deegan and Bodine.

    Under the stage break, some led by Rhodes pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch remained on the track.

    With 26 laps remaining, the final stage started as Kyle Busch and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Kyle Busch fended off Chastain to lead through the first two turns while the field scrambled and jostled for positions entering Turns 3, 4 and 7. Back to the start/finish line, Busch was leading by a tenth of a second over Chastain while Majeski, Bowman, Friesen, Kligerman, Zane Smith, Nemechek, Tanner Gray and DiBenedetto were in the top 10.

    Five laps later, Bodine spun his No. 62 Camping World Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in front of Dean Thompsons entering Turn 3. The race, however, continued under green as Kyle Busch remained the leader by less than a second over Chastain.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Kyle Busch stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over Chastain while Majeski, Bowman and Kligerman were in the top five. Way behind the leaders, Crafton pitted as smoke was lightly billowing out of his No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, an issue that started through the esses and was enough to have his truck pushed behind the wall.

    With 15 laps remaining, Kyle Busch was leading by less than two seconds over Chastain. Behind, Bowman was in third place, trailing by more than three seconds, while Majeski and Kligerman were in the top five. Just then, the caution flew when DiBenedetto, who was making a move beneath Friesen for 10th place entering Turn 11, ran into the tire barrier and into Friesen with both spinning in the turn as a tire barrier was knocked on its side.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Kyle Busch pitted as Busch exited first followed by Chastain, Majeski, Bowman, Chandler Smith and Nemechek. Back on the track, however, Rhodes, who did not pit, remained on the track and assumed the lead along with Kraus and Chase Purdy, both of whom did not pit. Following the pit stops, Bowman was penalized for equipment interference.

    Down to the final 11 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Rhodes took off with the lead through the first two turns while Kyle Busch battled and overtook Kraus for the runner-up spot while on fresh tires. As the field jostled for positions, Rhodes locked up his front tires and Kraus got turned and spun in Turn 7 as Kyle Busch reassumed the lead. 

    Then during the following lap, the caution returned when Deegan blew a right-rear tire, slipped sideways and smacked the wall entering Turn 1, thus sustaining significant right-side and rear-end damage to her No. 1 Monster Energy Ford F-150.

    With seven laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Kyle Busch rocketed with the lead as teammate Chandler Smith moved his No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the runner-up spot through the first two turns. Through Turns 3 and 3A, Rhodes went off the course and reported a flat tire as the field continued to jostle for positions under green. 

    Two laps later, Kyle Busch was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Chandler Smith. Behind, Zane Smith overtook Majeski to move into third while Chastain was in fifth ahead of Kligerman and Suarez. Shortly after, the caution flew for a heavy wreck entering Turn 1 that started when Friesen got Josh Bilicki sideways as Bilicki clipped the inside wall before he smacked the outside wall hard along with Friesen. In the process, Bowman and Lawless Alan sustained damage to their respective trucks after getting into Bilicki. The incident was enough for the event to be drawn into a red flag period for nearly 13 minutes.

    When the red flag lifted and the race restarted for a two-lap shootout, Kyle Busch cleared the field and retained the lead while teammate Chandler Smith fended off Zane Smith to retain second place. Through Turn 7, Zane Smith move his No. 38 CMR Ford F-150 into the runner-up spot ahead of Chandler Smith while Busch continued to lead.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Kyle Busch was leading by more than a second over Zane Smith and more than two seconds over teammate Chandler Smith as the field jostled for positions. Behind, Dean Thompson spun, but the race remained under green flag conditions. With Zane Smith unable to mount a challenge for the final time through the 11-turn circuit, Kyle Busch navigated his way back to the finish line for his first checkered flag of the season.

    With the victory, Kyle Busch, who is a two-time Cup winner at Sonoma, notched his 62nd career win in the Camping World Truck Series and his first victory on a road course circuit in the Truck Series. The victory also extended Busch’s current winning streak in the Truck Series to 10 consecutive seasons with this season marking his 17th Truck season with at least one victory.

    “I appreciate Yahoo! and everybody that has made this partnership possible with Toyota and [Toyota Racing Development],” Busch said on FS1. “This Tundra TRD Pro was awesome today. I’m really proud to drive it. We had a struggle at Charlotte a couple weeks ago, but today was really good. Awesome adjustments by [crew chief] Mardy [Lindley] and all the guys here to get us in position to be able to win today. Yesterday was ugly. I wasn’t sure about it. I didn’t feel good about the truck, but they worked on it all night long and we made some brake changes. We made some chassis changes and these guys never stop. As hard as it might seem sometimes, I know the efforts there. Super effort here. Ready to go celebrate.” 

    Zane Smith settled in second place for his sixth top-five result of the season followed by Ty Majeski, who notched his fifth top-five result of the 2022 season. Chastain came home in fourth place while Chandler Smith fell back to fifth place.

    “[The day] didn’t start out too good,” Zane Smith said. “Took a huge swing at our MRC Ford Performance F-150. Luckily, it went the right way. It’s really hard to do in a racing situation, so props to my team, but I hate finishing second. Especially to [Kyle Busch]. I feel like just racing with [Chandler Smith], he got out too far out front and I think that last lap was the fastest lap of the race for me. I just wished I was a little closer so I had a shot at him.”

    Suarez earned a strong sixth-place effort while subbing for the injured Carson Hocevar while Kligerman, Nemechek, Ankrum and DiBenedetto finished in the top 10. Jack Wood was the highest-finishing rookie competitor in 16th place.

    “[Today] was busy, man,” Suarez said. “It was very busy. I was hoping to go one lap down, but when we went two laps down, I was like, ‘Man, it’s gonna be a long recovery’. I was hoping to recover quicker on that, but the truck had speed. I was hoping for long runs so I can be able to make some ground, but overall, the team did a very good job. Very thankful I was able to help. We were able to get some stage points in stage number 2 and then finish in the top six. That was a pretty decent day. I wished we could have won. The truck was capable of winning the race, but we just ran out of time.”

    There were 10 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 17 laps. A total of 26 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With four races remaining of the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular season stretch, Ben Rhodes leads the regular-season standings by five points over Chandler Smith, 12 over Zane Smith, 14 over John Hunter Nemechek. 45 over Ty Majeski and 47 over Stewart Friesen.

    Zane Smith, Ben Rhodes, John Hunter Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Stewart Friesen are tentatively locked into the 2022 Truck Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the season while Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Carson Hocevar, Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton are above the top-10 cutline based on points. Tanner Gray trails the top-10 cutline by 33 points, Matt DiBenedetto trails by 36, Derek Kraus trails by 39, Tyler Ankrum trails by 50 and Chase Purdy trails by 91.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Busch, 45 laps led

    2. Zane Smith

    3. Ty Majeski, four laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Ross Chastain, 19 laps led

    5. Chandler Smith

    6. Carson Hocevar (*subbed by Daniel Suarez)

    7. Parker Kligerman

    8. John Hunter Nemechek

    9. Tyler Ankrum

    10. Matt DiBenedetto

    11. Grant Enfinger, one lap led

    12. Harrison Burton

    13. Tanner Gray

    14. Kaz Grala

    15. Chase Purdy

    16. Jack Wood

    17. Austin Dillon

    18. Ben Rhodes, six laps led, Stage 2 winner

    19. Colby Howard

    20. Todd Bodine

    21. Blaine Perkins

    22. Brad Perez

    23. Spencer Boyd

    24. Dean Thompson

    25. Lawless Alan

    26. Kris Wright

    27. Derek Kraus, one lap down

    28. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    29. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    30. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    31. Stewart Friesen – OUT, Accident

    32. Hailie Deegan – OUT, Accident

    33.  Jade Buford – OUT, Transmission

    34. Matt Crafton – OUT, Transmission

    35. Christian Eckes – OUT, Accident

    36. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Oil cooler

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway for the second annual running of the Clean Harbor 150. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, June 18, at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.