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  • Kyle Busch outduels Heim for final lap victory at Pocono; delivers 100th Truck victory for Kyle Busch Motorsports

    Kyle Busch outduels Heim for final lap victory at Pocono; delivers 100th Truck victory for Kyle Busch Motorsports

    After spending the majority of the late stages being schooled by a former Kyle Busch Motorsports competitor Corey Heim, the bossman Kyle Busch had an extra trick saved up his sleeves to execute a final lap pass on Heim and record a monumental NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 22.

    The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, led twice for seven of 60 scheduled laps in an event marred with late chaos and battles amongst series regulars battling for the final handful of spots to make the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs. All that was on the mindset for Kyle Busch, though, was recording the 100th Truck Series victory for his organization, Kyle Busch Motorsports.

    To accomplish the feat, Busch had to navigate his way around Heim for the lead. Heim, however, did not relinquish the lead to Busch without a fight as he retained the spot since Lap 33 and through a series of on-track battles. Then amid a five-lap dash to the finish and after appearing to settle in second behind Heim, Busch seized upon an opportunity on the final lap to gain a run on Heim and execute a final lap pass on him with two corners remaining to rocket away and record the elusive 100th victory for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, July 21, rookie Nick Sanchez notched his fourth Truck Series pole position of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning speed at 168.966 mph in 53.265 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Jake Garcia, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 168.306 mph in 53.474 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Ben Rhodes, Josh Reaume, Dean Thompson, Ty Majeski and Christian Eckes dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced amid a stacked start that caused some competitors running towards the rear of the field to fan out and sustain damage to their trucks, Sanchez received a push from Carson Hocevar on the outside lane to rocket ahead with the lead entering Turn 1. As Hocevar tried to make a move beneath Sanchez, the latter rocketed ahead through the first turn and entering Long Pond Straight while Hocevar moved in front of Garcia to retain second as Grant Enfinger joined the battle. As the field battled amid two lanes through the Tunnel Curve and entering Turn 3, Sanchez managed to retain the lead when he returned to the frontstretch and lead the first lap while Garcia and Hocevar battled for second.

    Through the second lap, Zane Smith made a three-wide move on Garcia and Hocevar through the frontstretch to move his No. 38 Birch Gold Group Ford F-150 into the runner-up spot. Soon after, Matt DiBenedetto and Enfinger rocketed past Hocevar along with Austin Hill through Long Pond Straight as Chase Purdy and Corey Heim trailed closely behind in eighth and ninth. By then, however, Sanchez stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Zane Smith.

    On the third lap, the first caution of the event flew when Tanner Gray, who was running 15th, snapped sideways underneath teammate Kaz Grala and was barely clipped by Tyler Ankrum in the front end before he spun below the track and collided head-on into the inside wall in Turn 1. With the damage to his No. 15 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro deemed terminal and leaking fluid, the wreck also took a significant hit towards Gray’s efforts to make the 2023 Truck Playoffs as he initially came into the event 24 points below the top-10 cutline.

    During the caution period, select names that included Tyler Ankrum, Deegan, Lawless Alan, Cory Roper, Stephen Mallozzi, Josh Reaume and Kaden Honeycutt pitted while the rest led by Sanchez remained on the track. Among those who pitted included Crafton, who pitted for repairs to his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 following the contact at the start of the race.

    As the race restarted under green on the eighth lap, Zane Smith rocketed into the lead while running on the inside lane after receiving a push from DiBenedetto, who overtook Sanchez for the runner-up spot in the process. Through Turn 1 and across Long Pond Straight, Smith started to place a gap between himself and DiBenedetto as he retained the lead while the field behind jostled for positions.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Zane Smith was leading by nine-tenths of a second over DiBenedetto followed by Sanchez, Austin Hill and Garcia while Enfinger, Kyle Busch, Taylor Gray, Stewart Friesen and Hocevar were in the top 10. Behind, Corey Heim was in 11th ahead of a battle between Purdy, Christopher Bell, rookie Rajah Caruth and Christian Eckes while Dean Thompson, Parker Kligerman, Ross Chastain, Kaz Grala and Ben Rhodes were scored in the top 20.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 15, Zane Smith claimed his third stage victory of the 2023 Truck season. Sanchez settled in second after navigating his way around DiBenedetto the lap prior, with DiBenedetto settled in third as Kyle Busch, Austin Hill, Garcia, Heim, Enfinger, Friesen and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, select names that included Rhodes, Chastain, Grala, Kaden Honeycutt, DiBenedetto, Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Colby Howard, Grala, Stefan Parsons, Ankrum, Hocevar, Kligerman and Austin Hill pitted while the rest led by Zane Smith remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 20 as Zane Smith and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Busch received a strong push from Heim on the inside lane to rocket ahead of Smith with the lead exiting the frontstretch. Heim then ducked his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro beneath Busch’s No. 51 Zariz Transport Chevrolet Silverado RST in a bid to take the lead entering Turn 1. Though Heim succeeded through Turn 1 and entering Long Pond Straight, Busch responded back through the Long Pond Straight by rocketing past Heim to assume the lead as Friesen tried to overtake Heim for second, with the latter retaining the spot. As the field behind continued to fan out and jostle for spots, Busch started to stretch his advantage as he was leading by more than six-tenths of a second when he returned to the frontstretch.

    By Lap 22, Busch was leading by more than eight-tenths of a second over Heim followed by Friesen, Zane Smith and Garcia while Eckes, Sanchez, Bell, Purdy and Hocevar were in the top 10.

    Three laps later, Kyle Busch continued to lead by nine-tenths of a second over Heim while Friesen, Zane Smith and Eckes remained in the top five. As Garcia, Sanchez, Bell, Purdy and Hocevar remained in the top 10, Ty Majeski was in 11th followed by Taylor Gray, Dean Thompson, DiBenedetto and Kligerman while Enfinger, Rhodes, Ankrum, Chastain and Austin Hill occupied the top 20 with Crafton running in 21st ahead of Caruth, Grala, Colby Howard and Stefan Parsons trailing behind.

    Then on Lap 27, a bevy of names that included race leader Kyle Busch, Heim, Eckes, Garcia, Hocevar, Purdy, Taylor Gray, Majeski, Thompson, Kligerman, Grala, Chastain, Bell and Austin Hill pitted under green. Amid the pit stops, Zane Smith reassumed the lead while Friesen, who missed the opportunity to pit with the front-runners, and Sanchez were in second and third.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 30, Zane Smith collected his second stage victory of the season and the fourth of this year’s Truck season. Friesen settled in second while Sanchez, DiBenedetto, Enfinger, Rhodes, Ankrum, Rajah Caruth, Colby Howard and Crafton were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of lead lap competitors led by Zane Smith and including Rhodes, Friesen, Sanchez, DiBenedetto, Enfinger, Ankrum, rookie Daniel Dye, Stefan Parsons, Tyler Hill, Lawless Alan, Caruth, Cory Roper, Spencer Boyd, Crafton, Kaden Honeycutt, Bret Holmes and Hailie Deegan pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.

    With 25 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Heim and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Heim and Busch dueled for the lead exiting the frontstretch until Heim managed to rocket ahead from the outside lane and with a push from teammate Taylor Gray to lead Busch and the field through the first turn. As the field fanned out through the Long Pond Straight, Heim was out in front of the pack with Busch trailing by two-tenths of a second.

    The following lap, the battle for the lead intensified as Busch tried to gain a run beneath Heim entering Turn 1. Heim, however, was quick to rocket ahead and move back in front of Busch entering Long Pond Straight to retain the lead. As Taylor Gray tried to close in on the two leaders amid the draft in his No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, Busch tried to gain another run beneath Heim entering the first turn during the following lap, but history repeated itself as Heim rocketed ahead from the outside lane and with the lead within his grasp. Behind, Chastain briefly lost his momentum after making contact with Eckes that caused him to slip out of the top 10 through Turn 1.

    With less than 20 laps remaining, Heim was leading by more than two-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch, who closed in and started to intimidate Heim for the top spot once again, while third-place Taylor Gray trailed by more than a second. As both continued to battle fiercely for the lead amid the draft, Heim continued to retain the top spot by a narrow margin over Busch, who could not execute his runs to overtake his former Kyle Busch Motorsports driver.

    Then with 15 laps remaining, the caution flew for a two-truck incident involving the front row starters after Sanchez, the pole-sitter, slid underneath Garcia in Turn 1 and sent Garcia into the outside wall and with significant damage to the No. 35 Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet Silverado RST, thus terminating Garcia’s race, while Sanchez spun sideways below the track and amid a cloud of smoke as he emerged with right-side damage to his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST. At the time of the caution period, Heim was still leading by three-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch.

    During the caution period, some that included Crafton, Deegan, Colby Howard, Ankrum, Lawless Alan, Tyler Hill, Roper, Reaume, Spencer Boyd, Chastain and Honeycutt pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.

    Down to the final nine laps of the event, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Heim received another shove from teammate Taylor Gray on the outside lane to rocket ahead and retain the lead entering the first turn with Kyle Busch following pursuit through the first turn as Bell and Majeski were in the top five. As the field fanned out through the first turn and entering Long Pond Straight, the caution quickly returned when Hocevar slid up the track and made contact with Grala while battling for seventh. The contact caused Grala to slide sideways as he clipped and sent Kligerman’s No. 75 Tide Chevrolet Silverado RST scraping into the outside wall through Long Pond Straight while Friesen collided into Grala before he was T-boned by Austin Hill’s No. 7 ARCO Chevrolet Silverado RST as more competitors that included Stefan Parsons, Chastain, Lawless Alan and Zane Smith, whose truck erupted in flames, were all collected.

    The incident proved costly for Friesen, who was unable to continue with a damaged No. 52 Halmar Toyota Tundra TRD Pro and was scored above the Playoff cutline prior to the incident, while Crafton, who pitted during the previous caution period and was below the cutline, was able to methodically navigate his way through the incident without any damage. The incident was also enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period.

    When the red flag lifted amid a 13-minute delay period, the race restarted under green with five laps remaining as Heim and Kyle Busch retained the front row. At the start, Heim, who received another push from teammate Taylor Gray on the outside lane, retained the lead over Kyle Busch, who was receiving a shove from Christopher Bell, entering Turn 1. As the field returned to the frontstretch with four laps remaining, Heim was leading by three-tenths of a second over Busch while Taylor Gray, Bell and Enfinger followed pursuit in the top five.

    With three laps remaining, Heim continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch, who nearly executed a move and pass on Heim for the lead before relenting and settling in second. By then, however, Taylor Gray started to close in on the two leaders as he was trailing by only six-tenths of a second. Heim would retain the lead by four-tenths of a second over runner-up Busch and seven-tenths of a second over third-place Taylor Gray with two laps remaining.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch and seven-tenths of a second over Taylor Gray. Then after trailing Heim through the first turn, Busch executed a final lap charge and got to Heim’s rear bumper through the Long Pond Straight. He then made his move beneath Heim through the Tunnel Turn and rocketed away with the lead without making contact with Heim. With Busch pulling away and Heim unable to return the favor, Busch was able to cycle his way back to the frontstretch and record both his second Truck victory of the 2023 season and the 100th victory for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

    With the victory, Busch, who was making his fifth and final Truck Series start of the 2023 season and whose latest series victory occurred at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, notched his series-leading 64th Craftsman Truck Series career victory as a driver, his second of the season piloting a Chevrolet Silverado RST and with veteran crew chief Brian Pattie and his third in the series at Pocono.

    Overall, Kyle Busch Motorsports, which first won at Nashville Superspeedway in 2010 with Busch and is the winningest team in the Craftsman Truck Series, has now accumulated 100 Truck victories between 18 different competitors, with Busch achieving 48 for his organization. The Pocono victory also marked KBM’s eighth overall victory in nine seasons at the Tricky Triangle.

    Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Yeah, I mean [the win]’s pretty cool,” Busch said on FS1. “We’ve been around for a long time. Not as long as others [teams], obviously. They’ve withstood a little bit longer, but it’s been fun. A great ride. This Silverado today was really, really fast. [I was] Just mired in traffic. Couldn’t find a way to make a clean move, so had to make little bit of a dicey one there at the end getting into [Turn] 2. Heim ran a great race. We needed this 100th win to get it over with.”

    “It’s a monumental day,” Busch added. “It’s a century mark of being able to win 100 Truck races. We’re, granted, a small team and just one that performs in the Truck Series. We ventured away once upon a time and didn’t quite work, but we found a home in the Trucks. It’s cool to always score a victory and another nice one here at Pocono.”

    Heim, coming off a victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course two weeks ago, was left disappointed on pit road after falling one lap shy of notching his third victory of the season at the Tricky Triangle. Despite the disappointment, Heim, who extended his lead in the regular-season standings to 42 points over Zane Smith, commended the battle and final overtake from Busch, whom Heim competed for, won two Truck races and claimed the Rookie-of-the-Year title a year ago.

    “Just unreal,” Heim said. “I felt like I did everything right. It seemed like we had about five laps in the truck before it started tightening up really bad on me. [I] Didn’t really get the run I wanted out of [Turn] 1 and I knew [Busch]’s straightaway speed was really good. I was a little upset initially, but realistically, I would’ve done the exact same thing. A heat of the moment deal there, but looking back on it, I’ve just got a lot of respect for Kyle. I’ve raced for him for two years. He was really good to me, and he raced me with respect today. Hard racer. He didn’t wreck us to win, and I would’ve probably done the same thing. Just really sucks. I really thought we had it there, especially with seeming that he couldn’t really form up a run good enough to pass me and he sends it in on the last lap. All the blame goes on me for not doing what I should’ve done.”

    Rookie Taylor Gray notched a career-best third-place result after crossing the finish line nine-tenths of a behind Kyle Busch while Christopher Bell and Enfinger finished in the top five.

    Ty Majeski, Eckes, Dean Thompson, Ben Rhodes and DiBenedetto completed the top 10. Notably, Hocevar ended up 11th in front of Ankrum, Crafton came home 14th behind Hailie Deegan, Caruth ended up 16th in front of teammate Daniel Dye and Sanchez ended up 19th behind Chase Purdy.

    There were five lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 20 laps. In addition, 29 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With one regular-season event remaining on the schedule, Corey Heim continues to lead the regular-season standings by 42 points over Zane Smith and 59 over Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes and Ty Majeski.

    Currently, Corey Heim, Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes, Christian Eckes and Carson Hocevar are guaranteed spots for the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. In addition, Ty Majeski, who finished sixth at Pocono, has clinched a Playoff spot despite being winless through 15 regular-season events. That leaves Matt DiBenedetto, rookie Nick Sanchez and Matt Crafton holding sole possessions of the final three transfer spots to make the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs entering next weekend’s regular-season finale at Richmond Raceway that will set the 10-truck Playoff field. Crafton holds the 10th and final transfer spot by nine points over Stewart Friesen, 47 over Tanner Gray, 54 over Chase Purdy, 71 over Tyler Ankrum and 94 over rookie Jake Garcia.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Busch, seven laps led

    2. Corey Heim, 27 laps led

    3. Taylor Gray

    4. Christopher Bell

    5. Grant Enfinger

    6. Ty Majeski

    7. Christian Eckes

    8. Dean Thompson

    9. Ben Rhodes

    10. Matt DiBenedetto

    11. Carson Hocevar

    12. Tyler Ankrum

    13. Hailie Deegan

    14. Matt Crafton

    15. Colby Howard

    16. Rajah Caruth

    17. Daniel Dye

    18. Chase Purdy

    19. Nick Sanchez, seven laps led

    20. Kaden Honeycutt

    21. Tyler Hill

    22. Parker Kligerman

    23. Cory Roper

    24. Stephen Mallozzi

    25. Spencer Boyd

    26. Josh Reaume

    27. Lawless Alan

    28. Stefan Parsons

    29. Bret Holmes

    30. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident

    31. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

    32. Stewart Friesen – OUT, Accident

    33. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident

    34. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident, 19 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    35. Jake Garcia – OUT, Accident

    36. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident

    The 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular-season stretch is set to conclude next Saturday, July 29, at Richmond Raceway, where the 2023 Truck Series Playoff field will be determined. The event’s coverage is set to commence at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Dominant trucks hand Enfinger Gateway victory in late wreck

    Dominant trucks hand Enfinger Gateway victory in late wreck

    MADISON, Ill. — It was Zane Smith’s race to lose.

    He stayed out to take the lead in the final 30 laps of the Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway. Even with four new tires, Grant Enfinger wasn’t eating into his lead. Smith’s car was just too strong on medium to long runs.

    But then Lawless Alan threw a monkey wrench into the runaway operation with a spin with 10 laps to go.

    Now it’s anyone’s race.

    With six to go, Ty Majeski powers off Turn 2 and pulls inside of Smith.

    Even down the backstretch.

    Even entering Turn 3.

    Disaster.

    “Low air pressures and we had the splitter bent, got into Turn 3 obviously trying to get ahead of the No. 38, hit the splitter, had to check up, and went up the racetrack,” Majeski said. “Obviously when you go up the racetrack, his side took the air from mine, and I went around and wrecked us both.”

    As a result, Enfinger passed underneath the wreck to retake the lead and drove onto victory.

    “I don’t know if we were just on the limit right there on the end, but I think Ty just did what I did last year to Zane,” Enfinger said.

    Smith spoke to Majeski after the race, both to see if someone got into him and just what his plan was.

    “I saw an interview earlier where at this track he has more experience here than any others,” he said. “He still races like it’s his first time here. We see time and time again that the guy on the bottom has to be a little conservative, and that’s why the leaders always choose the top.”

    Ultimately, it doesn’t hurt either Smith or Majeski, points-wise. Majeski leaves Gateway second, one point behind Corey Heim (who missed Saturday’s race with an illness). Meanwhile, Smith remains fourth, with two wins to book his ticket to the playoffs.

    It doesn’t ease the heartbreaking loss for Smith, however.

    “I mean, I kind of did it to myself staying in this series,” he said. “It is pretty unbelievable how scary some of these guys are. We’ve just had, now, four bad weeks – some self-inflicted, but our day obviously snowballed once we get around some of these guys. It’s just frustrating.”

  • Ben Rhodes lands first Truck victory of 2023 at Charlotte

    Ben Rhodes lands first Truck victory of 2023 at Charlotte

    From rolling off the starting grid in 19th place to claiming the checkered flag in first place, Ben Rhodes emerged victorious for the first time in the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season after winning the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, May 26.

    The 2021 Truck Series champion from Louisville, Kentucky, led two times for 37 of 134 scheduled laps as he managed to reassume the lead from Carson Hocevar during a late restart with 24 laps remaining. From there, he managed to pull away from the field and beat runner-up Corey Heim by more than two seconds to win for the first time in the 2023 season and at Charlotte.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Tanner Gray claimed his first career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 180.385 in 29.936 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 180.180 mph in 29.970 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Tyler Ankrum dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change made to his Hattori Racing Enterprises entry. Rookie Nick Sanchez also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his Rev Racing entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Tanner Gray received a push from teammate Corey Heim on the inside lane to muscle ahead of Majeski with the lead entering Turns 1 and 2. As the field fanned out to three lanes through the backstretch and entering the frontstretch, Gray managed to fend off Majeski and Heim as he led the first lap.

    During the second lap and amid a series of early on-track battles, Tanner Gray retained the lead by half a second over a side-by-side battle between Majeski and Heim while rookie Rajah Caruth closed in while running in fourth. Shortly after, Armani Williams had early on-track issues after he made contact with the wall and limped his damaged truck to pit road, but the race remained under green.

    Then on the fourth lap, Heim gained a strong run beneath teammate Tanner Gray entering the frontstretch as he assumed the lead in his No. 11 Rootly Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Entering Turn 1, Majeski attempted to overtake Gray, but he got loose beneath Gray as his truck slipped sideways, but he managed to straighten his truck entering the backstretch as Gray and Caruth overtook him for top-five spots. In the midst of the battle, Heim stretched his advantage to eight-tenths of a second.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Heim was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Caruth and more than a second over third-place Dean Thompson while Majeski and Tanner Gray trailed in the top five. Behind, David Gilliland was in sixth ahead of Carson Hocevar, Christian Eckes, Zane Smith and Stewart Friesen while Grant Enfinger, Bayley Currey, Taylor Gray, Lawless Alan and Chase Purdy rounded out the top 15. Meanwhile, Jack Wood was in 16th ahead of Ben Rhodes, Colby Howard, Matt DiBenedetto and Matt Crafton while rookie Nick Sanchez was up to 21st ahead of Hailie Deegan and rookie Jake Garcia.

    Ten laps later, Heim continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Caruth as Dean Thompson retained third while trailing by seven-tenths of a second. Behind, Majeski also retained fourth while Hocevar carved his way up to fifth. With Zane Smith moving up to sixth, Tanner Gray fell back to seventh ahead of David Gilliland while Taylor Gray cracked the top 10.

    Another four laps later, Hocevar carved his way up to second place as he trailed Heim by more than a second while Caruth, Thompson and Majeski dropped a spot, but remained in the top five.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 30, Heim claimed his fourth Truck stage victory of the season after fending off Hocevar by a tenth of a second. Hocevar settled in second followed by Thompson, Caruth and Zane Smith while Majeski, Tanner Gray, Friesen, David Gilliland and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. By then, 29 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Heim pitted and after the pit stops, Heim retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of Hocevar, Zane Smith, Tanner Gray, Thompson and Gilliland. Following the pit stops, Majeski pitted for a second time for repairs to his quarter panel. Caruth also made another pit stop due to a jack issue from his initial stop.

    The second stage started on Lap 36 as Heim and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Heim and Hocevar dueled for the lead through the first two turns amid a tight pack of competitors. Just as Hocevar tried to peek ahead on the outside lane, Heim managed to muscle ahead on the inside lane through Turns 3 and 4 as he retained the lead while teammates Tanner Gray and Thompson battled for third. Behind, Friesen was in fifth while David Gilliland carved his way to sixth ahead of Taylor Gray, Zane Smith, Eckes, Bayley Currey, Colby Howard and Matt DiBenedetto.

    Just past the Lap 40 mark, Heim was holding a steady advantage over Hocevar followed by Thompson, Tanner Gray and Friesen while Zane Smith, Taylor Gray, Gilliland, Rhodes and Eckes were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Colby Howard was in 11th ahead of DiBenedetto, Crafton, Sanchez, and Currey while Purdy, Deegan, Enfinger, Garcia and Caruth were running within the top 20.

    Five laps later, Hocevar emerged as the third different leader of the event as he overtook Heim for the lead while third-place Thompson trailed by more than two seconds. By then, Caruth and Majeski were mired back in 18th and 20th, respectively, as Friesen and Zane Smith rounded out the top five.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Hocevar extended his advantage to more than two seconds over runner-up Heim while third-place Thompson trailed by more than four seconds. Behind, Friesen and Zane Smith remained in the top five while Taylor Gray retained sixth ahead of Ben Rhodes.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 60, Hocevar claimed his second stage victory of the 2023 Truck season. Heim settled in second ahead of Thompson, Zane Smith and Friesen while Taylor Gray, Rhodes, Gilliland, Sanchez and Eckes were scored in the top 10. By then, 30 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hocevar returned to pit road. Following the pit stops, Heim managed to edge Hocevar to reassume the lead followed by Taylor Gray, Thompson, Zane Smith and Sanchez. Following the pit stops, Tanner Gray pitted for a second time with the hood up on his truck.

    With 66 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Heim and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Heim and Hocevar dueled for the lead until Heim launched ahead with the lead on the inside lane through the first two turns. Heim would retain the lead through the frontstretch as Hocevar overtook Taylor Gray for second while the rest of the field fanned out and jostled for positions.

    With 60 laps remaining, Heim continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Hocevar. A lap later, however, Hocevar reassumed the lead over Heim as Thompson, Rhodes and Friesen were scored in the top five.

    Then with 54 laps remaining, the caution flew when Armani Williams slipped sideways and spun entering Turn 4 as his truck dipped below the apron and onto pit road, where he collided against the pit road wall and damaged his truck. Despite the incident, Williams emerged uninjured as his incident also did not involve any crew members.

    Following an extensive cleanup period and while still under a caution, Hocevar led a parade of competitors to pit road with 48 laps remaining. Amid mixed strategy, Chase Purdy exited first after only opting for fuel as he was followed by Rhodes, Hocevar, Deegan, Taylor Gray and Thompson.

    During the following restart with 45 laps remaining, Purdy struggled to launch on the inside lane while Rhodes received a strong push from Hocevar’s No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST to assume the lead on the outside lane. The field then fanned out to three lanes entering Turn 1 as Hocevar quickly challenged Rhodes for the lead. Entering the frontstretch, however, the caution returned when Zane Smith got loose underneath Taylor Gray while battling for third, spun across the track and clipped the side of Hailie Deegan’s No. 13 Ford F-150 before spinning across the frontstretch grass.

    With the race restarting with 38 laps remaining, Rhodes managed to launch with a strong start and retain the lead ahead of Hocevar while transitioning from the outside to the inside lane entering Turn 1. After being placed in a three-wide battle between Hocevar and Christian Eckes through the backstretch, Rhodes maintained the top spot as he gained a strong start on the outside lane and muscled away from the field. Behind, Hocevar and Eckes battled for second in front of Majeski and Taylor Gray.

    With 33 laps remaining, Hocevar managed to reassume the lead from Rhodes as Eckes fell back to third ahead of Heim and Thompson. Two laps later, however, the caution returned as Tyler Ankrum and Kris Wright wrecked in the backstretch.

    As the race restarted under green with 24 laps remaining, Rhodes gained a strong push from Eckes on the inside lane to pull ahead of Hocevar and reassume the lead entering the first turn. With the rest of the field jostling for positions, Rhodes retained the lead by a tenth of a second with 20 laps remaining.

    With 15 laps remaining, Rhodes was leading by three-tenths of a second over Heim followed by Hocevar, Thompson and Eckes while Enfinger, Majeski, Taylor Gray, DiBenedetto and Gilliland were scored in the top 10. Behind, Caruth was in 11th ahead of Currey, Crafton, Sanchez, and Garcia while Daniel Dye, Purdy, Tanner Gray, Jack Wood and Friesen were running in the top 20.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Rhodes continued to lead in his No. 99 Campers Inn RV Ford F-150 by eight-tenths of a second over Heim and more than a second over Thompson while Hocevar and Enfinger were in the top five. Rhodes would retain the lead by a second over a three-truck battle between a tight three-truck battle between Heim, Thompson and Hocevar with five laps remaining.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Rhodes remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Heim with Hocevar, Thompson and Enfinger scored in the top five. With Heim unable to narrow the deficit for a final lap and with Rhodes having a clear view in front of him, the Kentucky native was able to cycle his way back to the frontstretch for his first elusive checkered flag of the 2023 campaign.

    With the victory, Rhodes became the ninth different winner of the 2023 Truck season and the sixth series regular to place himself in contention to make the 2023 Truck Playoffs. In addition to scoring his seventh series career victory and the second of the season for ThorSport Racing, Rhodes notched the first Truck victory at Charlotte for himself and the Ford nameplate as he claimed the first $50,000 bonus for winning the first Triple Truck Challenge event.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I didn’t think we were that good in practice,” Rhodes said on FS1. “I didn’t qualify the best, and here, [the truck] came to life at night. Oh, man, I had so much fun. This is so much fun. Charlotte is a track that we come to. ThorSport Racing, we’re based in Sandusky, Ohio. We come to the North Carolina guys’ house and we like to win.”

    “I’ll take the championship right now,” Rhodes added. “The whole season is so hard to put together. It’s unbelievably hard and it’s only gotten more difficult over the years. I started running this series in 2016 and I’ll tell you, I keep getting better every year and so does the competition. The harder I try, the harder it is to win a race, so a championship, being locked [into the Playoffs], I’ll take that. The last three races have been so unbelievably hard on my team. We’ve been wrecked in the last three and haven’t had any good showings because of it. I’ll take the points. Thank you.”

    Heim, who led four times for a race-high 49 laps, settled in second place for the second time this season but managed to extend his lead in the regular-season standings with five regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

    “Me and [Hocevar] and [Thompson] were probably the best trucks,” Heim said. “[Rhodes] just came along really strong, and once we got to second on the restart, where [Hocevar] got put in the middle there, I really thought we had a shot at it. It just proves that clean air is king here, but I feel like if I did a better job of getting by as soon as possible rather than waiting on a run, we might have had a better opportunity.”

    Dean Thompson, Heim’s teammate at TRICON Garage who qualified seventh, had a career night as he claimed third-place results in both stages before settling a career-best third-place in the final running order for his first top-five result in the series.

    “This season, so far, has been so up and down,” Thompson said. “We’ve had such good runs. We had [good runs at] Texas, Kansas, and it just ends up wrecking. To have this turned around like this is just massive. Not just for me, but for my team too. This plays a lot in my confidence so we can carry it to Gateway.”

    Hocevar, who led five times for 43 laps, came home in fourth place followed by Grant Enfinger while Eckes, Majeski, DiBenedetto, Sanchez and Taylor Gray finished in the top 10.

    There were 12 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 32 laps. In total, 26 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 11th event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Corey Heim continues to lead the regular-season standings by 26 points over Ty Majeski, 43 over Zane Smith, 63 over Grant Enfinger and 76 over Ben Rhodes.

    Results.

    1. Ben Rhodes, 37 laps led

    2. Corey Heim, 49 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Dean Thompson

    4. Carson Hocevar, 43 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Grant Enfinger

    6. Christian Eckes

    7. Ty Majeski

    8. Matt DiBenedetto

    9. Nick Sanchez

    10. Taylor Gray

    11. Rajah Caruth

    12. Matt Crafton

    13. Bayley Currey

    14. David Gilliland

    15. Jake Garcia

    16. Chase Purdy, two laps led

    17. Lawless Alan

    18. Jack Wood

    19. Daniel Dye

    20. Colby Howard

    21. Bret Holmes

    22. Stewart Friesen

    23. Zane Smith

    24. Tyler Hill

    25. Mason Maggio

    26. Ryan Vargas

    27. Tanner Gray, one lap down, three laps led

    28. Tyler Ankrum, two laps down

    29. Josh Reaume, three laps down

    30. Matt Mills, three laps down

    31. Spencer Boyd, three laps down

    32. Kris Wright, four laps down

    33. Hailie Deegan six laps down

    34. Justin Carroll, 12 laps down

    35. Armani Williams – OUT, Accident

    36. Keith McGee – OUT, Fuel pump

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is the series’ annual visit to Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, which will serve as the second site of this year’s Triple Truck Challenge program. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 3, at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Larson dominates for third Truck career victory at North Wilkesboro

    Larson dominates for third Truck career victory at North Wilkesboro

    In his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start in two years, Kyle Larson made the most of the opportunity by scoring a dominant victory in the third-ever running of the Tyson 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, on Saturday, May 20.

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led two times for a race-high 138 of 252 over-scheduled laps, including the final 15, and prevailed in an overtime shootout amid a series of late carnages to win in the series return to North Wilkesboro while piloting the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Corey Heim won his second consecutive pole position in recent weeks after posting a pole-winning lap at 112.096 mph in 20.072 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Carson Hocevar, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 111.629 mph in 20.156 seconds and was the fastest during Friday’s lone practice session.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Heim launched ahead with the lead on the outside lane before he quickly transitioned to the inside lane entering Turn 1. With the field behind running two lanes deep, Heim was able to cycle back to the frontstretch and lead the first lap ahead of Hocevar as William Byron, Ty Majeski and Bret Holmes were scored in the top five.

    During the second lap, Heim retained the lead over Hocevar and Byron while Kyle Larson, who was piloting the No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports, had fallen back to 12th as he was struggling for grip on the outside lane. Shortly after, Colby Howard, who started in the top five and was running sixth in the early stages, lost spots to Grant Enfinger and Christopher Bell before settling in front of Kaden Honeycutt in eighth place. Amid the early battles through the first five laps, Heim continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Hocevar while third-place Byron trailed by more than a second.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Heim was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Hocevar followed by Byron, Majeski and Bret Holmes while Grant Enfinger, Bell, Howard, Kaden Honeycutt and Christian Eckes were in the top 10. Behind, Matt DiBenedetto was in 11th ahead of Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Hailie Deegan and Tyler Ankrum while Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes, Bubba Wallace, rookie Jake Garcia and rookie Rajah Caruth occupied the top 20, with rookie Nick Sanchez running in 21st. Meanwhile, Zane Smith, who did not post a qualifying lap due to his truck failing pre-race inspection three times, was up in 24th.

    On Lap 23, the first caution of the event flew when Timmy Hill turned across the front nose of Johnny Sauter, which sent Hill spinning into Turn 4 as he was dodged by oncoming traffic. By then, Heim, who started to approach lapped traffic, among which included Stewart Friesen, had retained the lead by half a second over Hocevar as Majeski moved up to third. Byron fell back to fourth in front of Bell, who carved his No. 61 Toyota Tsusho Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the top five over Holmes while Enfinger, Howard, DiBenedetto and Larson were in the top 10.

    During the first caution period, names that included Byron, Bell, Colby Howard, Christian Eckes, Tyler Ankrum, Jake Garcia, Lawless Alan, Sauter, Chase Purdy, rookie Daniel Dye, Chris Hacker and Friesen pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Sauter was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    When the race restarted on Lap 31, Heim retained the lead followed by Hocevar while Enfinger battled Majeski and DiBenedetto for third place. Majeski and DiBenedetto would overtake Enfinger as the Alabama native fell back to fifth while stuck on the outside lane before settling in front of Holmes and Larson as the field fanned out, bumped and jostled for positions.

    Then on Lap 43, Hocevar seized an opportunity entering Turn 2 as he overtook Heim and assumed the lead for the first time. Hocevar then started to extend his advantage to more than a second over Heim while Larson worked his way up to third as he trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Majeski and DiBenedetto were in the top five while Bell and Byron, both of whom pitted during the first caution period for fresh tires, moved up to sixth and seventh.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Hocevar extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Heim followed by Larson, Majeski and Byron while Bell, Eckes, DiBenedetto, Chastain and Honeycutt were running in the top 10. A few laps later, however, Byron and Bell moved up to third and fourth on fresh tires with Larson moving up to second while Heim fell back to fifth.

    During the event’s caution period on Lap 57, where Hailie Deegan spun in Turn 1 amid contact with Johnny Sauter, Hocevar surrendered the lead to pit as he led a bevy of competitors to pit road while the rest led by Byron and Friesen remained on the track.

    With seven laps remaining in the first stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Byron retained the lead over Howard and Friesen as the field fanned out again for on-track positions. A lap later, however, the caution quickly returned when Timmy Hill, who was running towards the rear of the field, got loose entering Turn 1 and clipped Deegan before spinning and coming to a stop sideways between Turns 1 and 2 with damage to his truck. During the caution period, a few drivers, including Jake Garcia, Honeycutt and Hill pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    When the race restarted with a single lap remaining in the first stage, Heim, who restarted alongside Byron on the outside lane on the front row, capitalized on fresh tires to overtake Byron’s No. 51 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST through Turns 2 and 3. The momentum was enough for Heim to cycle his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro back to Turn 4 and capture the first stage victory and his third of the 2023 season on Lap 70. Byron settled in second followed by Bell, Howard and Hocevar while Friesen, Zane Smith, Larson, Chase Purdy and Ankrum were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, names that included Byron, Howard, Friesen, Purdy, Chris Hacker, Sauter, Kris Wright and Holmes pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 80 as Heim and Bell occupied the front row. At the start, Heim rocketed with the race leader on the inside lane while Hocevar battled Bell for second in front of Larson, Zane Smith and DiBenedetto. With the field battling amid two tight-packed lanes during the proceeding laps, a three-wide action and contact occurred between Chris Hacker, Connor Jones and Kris Wright, with all three battling for spots in the top 30. Amid the tight racing, Heim retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Hocevar.

    By Lap 90, Heim was leading by three-tenths of a second over Hocevar while third-place Bell trailed by a second. Larson and Zane Smith occupied the top five ahead of DiBenedetto and Majeski while Ross Chastain, Ankrum and Ben Rhodes were in the top 10. Behind, Bubba Wallace was in 11th ahead of Enfinger, Nick Sanchez, Eckes and Byron.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Heim continued to lead by more than a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Larson, who overtook Bell and Hocevar less than 10 laps earlier, while Zane Smith retained fifth. Meanwhile, Byron was mired in 12th behind Wallace, Eckes was in 15th ahead of Matt Crafton and Friesen was back in 18th.

    A lap later, however, Larson battled and overtook Heim to assume the lead for the first time as the leaders approached lapped traffic. Hocevar would overtake Heim for second a few laps later while Bell trailed in fourth place by more than a second.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 125, Larson extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Hocevar while third-place Zane Smith trailed by four seconds. Heim and DiBenedetto were in the top five followed by Heim, Wallace, Chastain, Enfinger and Byron while Majeski, Bell, Crafton, Friesen, Rhodes, Purdy, rookie Taylor Gray, Honeycutt, Howard and Garcia occupied the top 20.

    Eight laps later, the caution flew when Dean Thompson, who got bumped by Rajah Caruth entering Turn 1, spun in Turn 2 amid contact with Josh Williams. During the caution period, the field led by Larson peeled off the track to pit for fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Larson exited first followed by Zane Smith, Hocevar, DiBenedetto, Heim and Chastain.

    When the race restarted with a single lap remaining in the second stage, Larson peeked ahead with the lead alongside Hocevar and amid two tight-packed lanes through Turns 1 and 2. Despite being locked alongside Hocevar through Turn 2, Larson was able to muscle ahead and clear the field through Turns 3 and 4 as he claimed the second stage victory scheduled for Lap 140. Hocevar settled in second followed by Zane Smith, Heim and Byron while DiBenedetto, Enfinger, Chastain, Wallace and Ankrum were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a few names that included Majeski and Holmes pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    With 99 laps remaining, the final stage started as Larson muscled ahead with the lead ahead of Zane Smith and Hocevar. As Larson retained a steady advantage over Hocevar, Heim moved back up to third while Zane Smith fell back to fourth while battling Enfinger and Byron. As the on-track battles ensued, the caution returned with 95 laps remaining when Josh Williams, who was battling Kris Wright, Spencer Boyd, Connor Jones and Tanner Gray, was bumped by both Wright and Jones as Williams was turned off the front nose of Gray through the backstretch. Williams then clipped the barriers towards the pit road entrance before spinning across the track towards the inside wall.

    With the race restarting with 88 laps remaining, Larson muscled ahead with the lead over the field as Hocevar made his way around Grant Enfinger for second.

    With 75 laps remaining, Larson was leading by more than a second over Hocevar and more than three seconds over third-place Heim while Zane Smith and Bell were in the top five. Enfinger was back in sixth ahead of Byron, DiBenedetto, Wallace and Crafton while Ankrum, Friesen, Taylor Gray, Chastain and Purdy were mired in the top 15.

    Then with 67 laps remaining, the caution flew when Deegan bumped and sent Dean Thompson for a spin in Turn 1 as Thompson backed his No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the outside wall and sustained significant rear-end damage. In the ensuing chaos, Deegan slapped the outside wall while trying to regain her momentum while Kris Wright hit both the wall and Thompson’s damaged truck while trying to lock up his front tires. During the caution period, the field led by Larson pitted and Larson retained the lead after exiting first followed by Heim, Hocevar, Byron, Zane Smith and Enfinger. During the pit stops, Zane Smith was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

    With the race restarting with 59 laps remaining, Larson retained the lead on the inside lane as Heim made his way to second over Hocevar. Two laps later, the caution returned when Eckes bumped and sent Ben Rhodes for a spin in Turn 1, though Rhodes managed to keep his No. 99 Kubota Ford F-150 off the outside wall.

    During the proceeding restart with 51 laps remaining, Larson retained the lead ahead of Heim while Byron was locked in a battle with Hocevar and DiBenedetto for third. The caution, however, returned a lap later when Ankrum, who was locked in a tight three-wide battle against Eckes and Purdy within the top 15, got shoved and squeezed into the outside wall through Turn 2 as he slapped the wall. Ankrum’s incident ignited a chain reaction as Rajah Caruth ran into him along with Rhodes and Zane Smith, with all four competitors wrecking while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the carnage. During the caution period, Chastain and Deegan pitted while the rest of the field led by Larson remained on the track.

    With the race restarting with 35 laps remaining, Larson rocketed with the lead followed by Heim while Hocevar battled and overtook DiBenedetto for third. As the laps proceeded and with late battles ensuing around the circuit, Byron made his way up to fourth over DiBenedetto while Larson extended his advantage to a second over Heim.

    With 28 laps remaining, the caution returned when Connor Jones came to a stop on the track, a move that resulted in NASCAR holding Jones for two laps in the pits as a penalty. During the caution period, Wallace, Chastain and Deegan remained on the track while the rest led by Larson pitted. Amid the caution period, Colby Howard was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    During the following restart with 23 laps remaining, Wallace retained the lead while Majeski, the first competitor with fresh tires, carved his way up to second as the field fanned out and jostled for late positions. Wallace would continue to lead on old tires over Majeski as the event reached its final 20-lap mark.

    Then with 15 laps remaining, the battle for the lead intensified as Larson, who carved his way back up to second, intimidated Wallace for the top spot. After bumping and remaining in a tight side-by-side match against Wallace during the proceeding laps, Larson managed to reassume the lead for good with 12 laps remaining as Majeski challenged Wallace for second.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Larson was leading by a second over Majeski as Wallace trailed by more than a second. Four laps later, the caution flew when Eckes spun in Turn 3 after making contact with Chase Purdy. Eckes’ spin was enough to send the event into overtime.

    When the field restarted for the first overtime attempt, Larson rocketed with the lead on the inside lane while Wallace spun the tires on outside lane, which jumbled the field and allowed Majeski to move to second followed by DiBenedetto. As the field fanned out through the first two turns, Larson started to pull away from Majeski and his rivals.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by more than six-tenths of a second over Majeski. With the clean air to his advantage, Larson was able to cruise away from the field and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim the checkered flag and win by nine-tenths of a second over Majeski.

    With the victory, Larson notched his third career victory in the Craftsman Truck Series and his first since winning at Eldora Speedway in July 2016. He joined Mike Bliss and Mark Martin as the only competitors to win a Truck event at North Wilkesboro Speedway and he recorded the second Truck career victory for Spire Motorsports.

    The victory occurred nine days after Larson was announced to drive the No. 7 entry for Spire Motorsports in place of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman, who remains injured with a fractured vertebra stemming from a sprint car accident in late April.

    “[That was] A really fun track there, especially in the truck,” Larson said on FOX. “You can use the apron and such, and both ends there. [I] Had a good time. That was a lot of fun on the long runs there, lapping trucks. Huge thank you to [crew chief Kevin] Bono [Manion], everybody on this team.

    I wasn’t supposed to run [this event]. Unfortunately, Alex [Bowman] got hurt and allowed me the opportunity to run this. Thanks to everybody at Spire Motorsports for allowing me to race their truck, HendrickCars.com, [Cup owner] Rick Hendrick for also letting me run.”

    Majeski finished in second place for the second time this season followed by Matt DiBenedetto while Hocevar and Bubba Wallace finished in the top five. Heim, the pole-sitter, ended up in sixth place while Crafton, Chase Purdy, Ross Chastain and Enfinger finished in the top 10.

    There were six lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured 12 cautions for 85 laps. In total, 25 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 10th event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Corey Heim leads the regular-season standings by seven points over Ty Majeski, 16 over Zane Smith, 41 over Grant Enfinger and 60 over Christian Eckes.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 138 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Ty Majeski

    3. Matt DiBenedetto

    4. Carson Hocevar, 16 laps led

    5. Bubba Wallace, 13 laps led

    6. Corey Heim, 75 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    7. Matt Crafton

    8. Chase Purdy

    9. Ross Chastain

    10. Grant Enfinger

    11. William Byron, 10 laps led

    12. Chris Hacker

    13. Stewart Friesen

    14. Daniel Dye

    15. Bret Holmes

    16. Christopher Bell

    17. Kaden Honeycutt

    18. Tanner Gray

    19. Lawless Alan

    20. Hailie Deegan

    21. Taylor Gray

    22. Kris Wright

    23. Jake Garcia

    24. Colby Howard

    25. Christian Eckes

    26. Tyler Ankrum, two laps down

    27.  Spencer Boyd, two laps down

    28. Josh Williams – OUT, Water pump

    29. Connor Jones – OUT, Electrical

    30. Nick Sanchez, 39 laps down

    31. Timmy Hill, 41 laps down

    32. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident,

    33. Ben Rhodes – OUT, Accident

    34. Rajah Caruth – OUT, Accident

    35. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    36.  Johnny Sauter – OUT, Electrical

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is another North Carolina event as the series will travel southeast from North Wilkesboro to Concord to compete at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, May 26, at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Logano masters Bristol Dirt Course for second Truck career victory

    Logano masters Bristol Dirt Course for second Truck career victory

    Total dominance was the single phrase to summarize Joey Logano’s one-race return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as he proceeded to win the third annual running of the Weather Guard Truck Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course on Saturday, April 8.

    The reigning two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led two times for a race-high 138 of 150-scheduled laps, including the final 99, and swept both stages en route to a wild victory at Thunder Valley amid 11 caution periods and a series of carnages from start to finish. Amid the carnages, Logano was not to be denied as he executed every restart to his advantage, including the final one with nine laps remaining, to claim his first checkered flag of the weekend and second overall in the Truck circuit.

    The starting lineup for the main event was determined through four 15-lap qualifying races on Saturday, April 8, as the competitors accumulated points for their finishing results and passes to improve their original starting spots during their respective heat events.

    With that, Zane Smith, who accumulated a total of 17 points, nine for finishing second behind Stewart Friesen in the second qualifying event and eight for improving from starting 10th, claimed the pole position for the main event. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski, who notched 16 points including nine for finishing second behind Joey Logano in the third qualifying event and seven for improving from his starting position of ninth.

    With 41 competitors vying for 36 spots, the five drivers who did not qualify for the event were Lawless Alan, Josh Reaume, Jessica Friesen, Jerry Bohlman and Andrew Gordon.

    Prior to the event, Ben Rhodes, Kris Wright, rookie Daniel Dye, rookie Taylor Gray, Jonathan Davenport, Colby Howard, Tanner Carrick, Spencer Boyd and Corey Heim dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments that were made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Zane Smith rocketed to the lead on the outside lane as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes while slipping and sliding on the dirt. Through the first two turns, however, Majeski made his move beneath Smith and managed to clear the field and lead the first lap. Then during the second lap, Joey Logano moved his No. 66 Hang 10 Car Wash Ford F-150 into the lead after overtaking teammate Majeski into Turn 3. As Logano pulled away to maintain a steady advantage over the field, Hailie Deegan started to challenge teammate Majeski for second while Zane Smith and Kaden Honeycutt trailed in the top five.

    On the seventh lap, the first caution of the event flew for a multi-truck wreck in Turn 4 that started when Mason Massey slid up the high line entering Turn 4 and spun as Ben Rhodes also spun his No. 99 Campers Inn RV Ford F-150 to avoid hitting Massey. In the process, Massey was then rammed into by Taylor Gray and Stefan Parsons as both tried to avoid Massey while Tyler Carpenter clipped Gray’s damaged No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro as he sustained damage to his No. 41 Niece Motorsports entry. By then, Logano was the leader over teammates Majeski and Deegan while Zane Smith and Kaden Honeycutt were in the top five. Behind, Christian Eckes was in sixth while Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger and rookie Rajah Caruth were in the top 10.

    During the following restart on Lap 19, Logano retained the lead following a strong start while Majeski and Zane Smith battled for second. Honeycutt would then battle Smith for third as Deegan remained in the top five despite being challenged by teammate Matt Crafton.

    By Lap 25 and with the field jostling for positions, the caution returned when Tyler Ankrum, who pitted to address a flat tire during the pace laps prior to the event’s start, spun his No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro below the track entering Turn 4 and was piled into by Spencer Boyd, Kris Wright and Timmy Hill, igniting a second multi-truck pileup, while Carpenter spun behind the carnage.

    With the event restarting on Lap 33, Logano maintained the lead over teammate Majeski while Honeycutt made his way past Crafton for third. Behind, William Byron muscled his No. 51 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST into the top five while Zane Smith fell back to sixth in front of Deegan, Grant Enfinger, Eckes and Chase Briscoe. As Byron continued to methodically work his way to the front amid a series of on-track battles, Logano was able to pull away and maintain a comfortable advantage over teammate Majeski while Honeycutt was in third as the laps within the first stage continued to dwindle.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 40, Logano claimed the stage victory after beating Byron and teammate Majeski while Honeycutt, Crafton, Deegan, Enfinger, Zane Smith, Stewart Friesen and Parker Kligerman were scored in the top 10. By then, Carson Hocevar, who was battling within the top 20, had smoke coming out of his No. 42 Niece Motorsports entry due to a power steering issue as the field fanned out to conclude the first stage.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Logano pitted while Matt DiBenedetto, Bret Holmes and Tanner Gray remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 40 as DiBenedetto and Tanner Gray occupied the front row. At the start, DiBenedetto maintained the lead by a steady margin over Tanner Gray and Bret Holmes while Logano was trying to carve his way back to the lead from fourth. Three laps later, the caution returned when Christian Eckes spun his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST in Turn 1 after cutting a left-tire tire caused by contact with Rhodes between Turns 3 and 4. By then, DiBenedetto remained as the leader over Holmes while Logano, who put the bumper to move Tanner Gray out his path, was up in third followed by Majeski and Gray.

    With the field restarting under green on Lap 51, DiBenedetto and Logano engaged in a side-by-side battle for the lead for a full lap as Logano managed to pull ahead to lead the following lap. Logano would then lead the proceeding lap on Lap 53 as he started to pull ahead of DiBenedetto and the field.

    Just past the Lap 60 mark, Logano was the leader over teammate Majeski and followed by DiBenedetto, Tanner Gray and Byron while Stewart Friesen, Holmes, Zane Smith, Crafton and Honeycutt were in the top 10. By then, 28 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap. Shortly after, the caution flew when Tyler Carpenter spun in Turn 4.

    While the field restarted on Lap 67, where Logano maintained the lead, the caution returned five laps later for a hard wreck involving Kris Wright on the frontstretch.

    As the field restarted on Lap 79, with the event surpassing its halfway mark, Logano rocketed with the lead over Byron and teammate Majeski while Friesen battled Gray and Crafton for fourth as DiBenedetto eventually joined the battle. As Gray, Friesen and Crafton battled closely for fourth, Logano maintained the lead while teammate Majeski and Byron battled for second. With the laps in the second stage dwindling, Parker Kligerman made contact with the wall, but the event remained under green flag conditions as Logano pulled away by more than a second over a fierce battle for the runner-up spot between Majeski and Byron.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Logano captured his second consecutive Truck stage victory of the season and of the event. Behind, Majeski fended off Byron to settle in second while Friesen, DiBenedetto, Tanner Gray, Crafton, Zane Smith, Briscoe and Bret Holmes were scored in the top 10. By then, 26 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, 14 competitors led by Logano remained on the track while the rest pitted. By then, reports of drizzle and rainy conditions were noted around the circuit while the field remained on the track in preparation for the final stage.

    With 60 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as teammates Logano and Majeski occupied the front row. At the start, Logano continued to use the outside lane to his advantage as he retained the lead over Majeski and Byron while Friesen and Crafton battled for fourth. With Crafton fending off Friesen for fourth, he then started to challenge Byron for third while Logano pulled away and increased his advantage to more than a second.

    Following another caution period with 55 laps remaining amid a multi-truck wreck that involved Chase Purdy, Eckes, Zane Smith and Bret Holmes in Turn 3, the event restarted with 48 laps remaining, where Logano took off from Byron and Majeski to retain the lead through the first two turns. With Byron struggling at the start, Majeski assumed full authority on second while Crafton and Friesen battled behind Byron. With Logano extending his advantage beyond half a second during the proceeding laps, Enfinger emerged in the top five in fifth after overtaking Friesen while Ben Rhodes tried to close in for sixth. Byron, meanwhile, remained in third behind Majeski.

    Then with 41 laps remaining, Purdy’s night took another eventful turn as he spun his No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST in Turn 2 and drew a second consecutive caution period involving himself. With the event proceeding under green with 35 laps remaining, Logano rocketed with another strong start to retain the lead. Behind, Majeski carved his way into second while Enfinger challenged Byron for third. In addition, Crafton tried to close in and challenge Enfinger for fourth, which he would succeed past the final 35-lap mark while Friesen and Rhodes trailed behind in sixth and seventh.

    With 30 laps remaining, Logano was leading by more than a second over Majeski and a second and a half over Byron amid a series of on-track late battles ensuing behind. Shortly after, the caution flew for Carpenter and Timmy Hill crashing in Turn 3.

    During the next restart with 21 laps remaining, Logano managed to fend off a brief challenge by Majeski to retain the lead as Byron and Crafton pursued and challenged Majeski for second. A lap later, the caution returned when Rhodes, who was running sixth, got loose and spun below the track entering the frontstretch. He was then piled into by Friesen, Heim and Hocevar as the caution returned while the field scattered to avoid the chaos.

    With the field restarting with nine laps remaining, Logano engaged in another brief battle with teammate Majeski until he managed to pull ahead and retain the lead over the field as the competitors behind jostled for second. With Majeski settling in second, Byron was in third while Enfinger and Crafton battled for fourth. This allowed rookie Jake Garcia to close in for sixth followed by Briscoe, Honeycutt and Rajah Caruth.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Logano was leading by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Majeski followed by Byron, Crafton and Enfinger while Garcia, Briscoe, Honeycutt, Caruth and Tanner Gray battled within the top 10.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano remained as the leader by more than a second over teammate Majeski and over third-place Byron. With a clear racetrack in front of him, Logano was able to slip and slide his way around the circuit for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim his first checkered flag of the season in the series.

    With the victory, Logano achieved his second career victory in the Craftsman Truck Series in his ninth series start, his first since winning at Martinsville Speedway in March 2015 and his second Bristol Dirt victory after winning the inaugural Cup Series’ Bristol Dirt feature in 2021. He also recorded the third victory of the season for the Ford nameplate and the first of the season for ThorSport Racing.

    “The [ThorSport Racing] guys gave me an amazing race truck,” Logano, who will start 12th in Sunday’s Cup event, said on FS1. “It was a great F-150. [Sponsor] Hang 10 Car Wash came on for a last-minute thing, [saying] ‘Hey, let’s give this a shot’. [They] Called up ThorSport. They had an extra truck with some extra people, and put it together. Obviously, they gave me a really fast truck here today that qualified good in the heat race and able to drive to the lead pretty early in the race and then, just pretty much be able to control it. I’m not sure I learned anything for tomorrow because I didn’t get to race the whole bunch, but it was fun leading all the laps. I had a great spotter with [teammate Ryan] Blaney. He was up there spotting for me…My fun meter was pegged tonight. I had a lot of fun out here racing at Bristol. The dirt’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot of fun in there as a driver, moving around and seeing the lanes move a lot. Hopefully, tomorrow is just as good with the other car.”

    Teammate Ty Majeski finished second for his third consecutive top-five result in recent weeks while William Byron, who was making his first of three Truck starts this season for Kyle Busch Motorsports, finished third.

    Crafton and Enfinger finished fourth and fifth while rookie Jake Garcia, Chase Briscoe, Tanner Gray, Kaden Honeycutt and Matt DiBenedetto finished in the top 10.

    There were four lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 64 laps. In total, 24 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the sixth event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Ty Majeski leads the regular-season standings by 34 points over Zane Smith and 47 over Ben Rhodes.

    Results.

    1. Joey Logano, 138 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Ty Majeski, one lap led

    3. William Byron

    4. Matt Crafton

    5. Grant Enfinger

    6. Jake Garcia

    7. Chase Briscoe

    8. Tanner Gray

    9. Kaden Honeycutt

    10. Matt DiBenedetto, 11 laps led

    11. Rajah Caruth

    12. Dean Thompson

    13. Hailie Deegan

    14. Jonathan Davenport

    15. Corey Heim

    16. Spencer Boyd

    17. Carson Hocevar

    18. Nick Sanchez

    19. Ben Rhodes

    20. Bret Holmes

    21. Zane Smith

    22. Daniel Dye

    23. Stewart Friesen

    24. Norm Benning

    25. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    26. Tanner Carrick, three laps down

    27. Colby Howard, three laps down

    28. Chase Purdy, three laps down

    29. Tyler Carpenter – OUT, Accident

    30. Christian Eckes – OUT, Accident

    31. Parker Kligerman – OUT, Accident

    32. Kris Wright – OUT, Accident

    33. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Accident

    34. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident

    35. Mason Massey – OUT, Accident

    36. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is the series’ lone visit of the season to Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

    1. Zane Smith, 16 laps led

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

    3. Ty Majeski, one lap led

    4. Tyler Ankrum

    5. Ross Chastain, 10 laps led

    6. Corey Heim

    7. Nick Sanchez

    8. Tanner Gray

    9. Kaz Grala

    10. Ben Rhodes

    11. Taylor Gray

    12. Grant Enfinger

    13. Rajah Caruth

    14. Stewart Friesen

    15. Kaden Honeycutt

    16. Hailie Deegan

    17. Lawless Alan

    18. Daniel Dye

    19. Jake Garcia

    20. Colin Garrett

    21. Kris Wright

    22. Logan Bearden

    23. Bret Holmes

    24. Colby Howard

    25. Timmy Hill

    26. Mason Filippi

    27. Chase Purdy

    28. Dale Quarterley

    29. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

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

    31. Parker Kligerman – OUT, Electrical

    32. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Electrical

    33. Matt Crafton – OUT, Accident

    34. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Axle

    35. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    36. Ed Jones – OUT, Suspension

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

  • Zane Smith emerges victorious in rain-shortened Truck Series opener at Daytona

    Zane Smith emerges victorious in rain-shortened Truck Series opener at Daytona

    The reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Zane Smith commenced the new season of competition on a high and bizarre note by winning the rain-shortened NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Feb. 17.

    The 23-year-old Smith from Huntington Beach, California, led three times for 17 of 79-shortened laps, including the final 15, where he assumed the lead on Lap 65 following a three-wide move against Corey LaJoie and Tyler Ankrum. He then retained the top spot for a few additional laps before the event was red-flagged for over an hour due to persistent rain that halted the event in the early stages. More than an hour after NASCAR attempted to dry the superspeedway venue and send the competitors back under racing conditions, Smith was declared the official winner of the event that was shortened 21 laps shy of its 100-lap scheduled distance.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, newcomer Nick Sanchez claimed his first career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.899 mph in 49.478 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 180.785 mph in 49.783 seconds.

    Prior to the event, names that included Clay Greenfield, Chase Purdy, Corey LaJoie, Josh Reaume and Canada’s Jason M. White dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks. Newcomer Daniel Dye also dropped to the rear of the field due to a transmission change along with Chris Hacker, who fell back due to an engine change.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Majeski and Sanchez dueled for the lead early followed by Jack Wood and Christian Eckes entering the first turn. With the truck competitors remaining dead even through two tight-packed lanes through the backstretch, Majeski gained the early advantage as he was drafted into the lead followed by Eckes. With the clean air and control of both lanes, Majeski proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Sanchez and Eckes.

    During the following lap, Majeski retained the lead through the first two laps until Eckes was drafted into the lead following a strong push from Matt Crafton on the outside lane, which dropped Majeski back to third place. Not long after, the first caution of the event flew due to sprinkles reported around the superspeedway venue. Under the first caution period, some names like Derek Kraus, Chase Purdy, Daniel Dye and Tyler Ankrum pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.

    Once the track was cleared from precipitation, the race restarted under green on the sixth lap. A few seconds later, however, the caution quickly returned due to reports of more rain around the superspeedway venue. At the moment of caution, Eckes retained the lead ahead of Crafton, Matt DiBenedetto, Majeski and Sanchez. During the caution period, names like Parker Kligerman, Corey LaJoie, Kris Wright, Colby Howard, Tanner Gray and Travis Pastrana pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 10, Eckes and Crafton dueled for the lead entering Turn 1 until Eckes peeked ahead with drafting help from DiBenedetto. Crafton, however, fought back on the outside lane through the backstretch before Eckes pulled ahead on the inside lane with another push from DiBenedetto as he retained the lead through the frontstretch.

    Two laps later, Crafton received a huge push from teammate Majeski on the outside lane entering Turns 3 and 4 to assume full command of the lead in his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 entering the frontstretch. Though he led the Lap 13 mark, Eckes fought back on the inside lane as he and Crafton continued to engage in repeated swaps for the lead from the outside to inside lanes. By Lap 15, Eckes managed to pull his No. 19 NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet Silverado RST away from the side-by-side action on the inside lane followed by DiBenedetto while Crafton remained as the lead truck on the outside lane. Crafton, however, fought back by Lap 18 as he received another push from Majeski to pull away on the backstretch.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage, Majeski made his move to the outside of Crafton as he assumed the lead followed by Eckes and DiBenedetto. As Majeski moved back to the inside lane, Eckes charged on the outside lane as he drew himself alongside Majeski through the backstretch. Then in Turns 3 and 4, Majeski got loose towards the apron but managed to keep his truck straight. This, however, allowed Eckes to pull away as he claimed the first stage victory on Lap 20. Crafton settled in second while DiBenedetto, Hailie Deegan, Sanchez, Majeski, Carson Hocevar, Tanner Gray, Jack Wood and Grant Enfinger were scored in the top 10 on the track.

    Under the stage break, some, led by Eckes, pitted while others, led by Ankrum and including Stewart Friesen, Colby Howard, Kligerman, Purdy and Pastrana remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Kris Wright was penalized for speeding on pit road. Corey Heim was also penalized for having a crew member jump over the pit wall too soon.

    The second stage started on Lap 25 as Ankrum and Friesen occupied the front row. At the start, Ankrum pulled away with the lead on the inside lane through Turns 1 and 2 until Friesen gained momentum on the outside lane as he was drafted by Kligerman into the lead. As the field battled through two tight-packed lanes through the frontstretch, Ankrum drew his No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro back even against Friesen’s No. 52 Aim Autism/Halmar Toyota Tundra TRD Pro as they dueled for the lead. Not long after, the field fanned out to three lanes as Eckes tried to march his way back to the front.

    Then on Lap 28, the caution flew as a multi-truck wreck erupted just past the start/finish line and on the frontstretch when Clay Greenfield got loose, slipped sideways and ignited carnage that included Dean Thompson, Deegan, Tanner Gray, DiBenedetto, Bret Holmes, Josh Reaume and Daniel Dye. Soon after, the event entered a red flag period and the competitors parked their trucks on the backstretch due to rain returning on the venue and as the safety workers went to work to clear the wreckage. Eventually, the competitors were ordered by NASCAR to cycle their trucks back to pit road as the event remained under a red flag period due to rain.

    Following a red flag period spanning approximately 12 minutes, the competitors returned to the track at a cautious pace. Once the circuit was cleared, the race restarted under green on Lap 35 as Ankrum and Howard occupied the front row. At the start, Howard briefly peaked ahead until Ankrum retained the lead as he had the draft to his advantage on the inside lane. Howard, however, prevailed during the following lap as he cleared the field with the lead while Friesen and Ankrum dueled for second.

    During the following lap, Ankrum responded right back by assuming the lead through the backstretch. As Ankrum nearly got turned off the front nose of Howard entering the frontstretch, Friesen made a bold three-wide pass on both Howard and Ankrum to take the lead as the field behind also fanned out to three tight-packed lanes.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage, Friesen, who lost the lead to Ankrum through the first two turns, got turned into the outside wall on the backstretch after making contact with Ben Rhodes as Codie Rohrbaugh, Howard, Kligerman and Holmes also wrecked. The incident was enough to conclude the second stage scheduled on Lap 40 under caution as Ankrum claimed the second stage victory. Purdy settled in second followed by Crafton, Sanchez and Eckes while Enfinger, Rhodes, Enfinger, Jack Wood and Hocevar were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the majority of the field led by Ankrum pitted while the rest led by Corey LaJoie remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Majeski was penalized for a second time due to a rear crew member jumping over the pit wall too soon. In addition, Jason A. White, a Richmond, Virginia, native driving for TRICON Garage, was also penalized for removing equipment out of his pit box.

    Amid another brief on-track delay due to precipitation as the competitors remained on the track, the final stage commenced under the green flag with 53 laps remaining as LaJoie and Zane Smith occupied the front row. At the start, LaJoie and Smith briefly dueled for the lead until Smith pulled ahead with the lead followed by DiBenedetto and Ankrum. Exiting the backstretch, however, Ankrum received a draft from Eckes to storm back into the lead as he immediately moved in front of Zane Smith. Eckes, however, remained on the outside lane as he assumed the lead for two turns until LaJoie made a move beneath Eckes to reassume the lead.

    With 50 laps remaining, LaJoie was leading ahead of Ankrum as both competitors engaged in repeated side-by-side battles for the top spot. Heim was in third followed by Zane Smith and DiBenedetto while Eckes, Crafton, Chase Elliott, Enfinger and rookie Rajah Caruth were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Majeski was in 11th followed by Rhodes, Hocevar, Tanner Gray and Jack Wood while Dye, Purdy, Travis Pastrana, Sammy Smith, and Timmy Hill occupied the top 20 amid a tight battle within the front pack.

    Then with 43 laps remaining, the caution flew when rookie Rajah Caruth, who was running towards the top 10, made contact with both Zane Smith and Heim entering Turns 3 and 4, which got his No. 24 Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet Silverado RST sideways as he spun before he was hit by DiBenedetto and teammate Daniel Dye. Amid the carnage, a majority of competitors running towards the middle of the pack took evasive action to avoid the carnage, including Tanner Gray and Elliott as both dodged the wreck, Majeski also avoided the incident by a hair despite making contact against Dye and having to slam the brakes.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire field except for LaJoie, Timmy Hill, Carson Hocevar and Josh Reaume pitted, though LaJoie’s move in remaining on the track was not as planned due to a miscommunication between himself and his pit crew on when pit road was open for service. Prior to the restart and with the majority of the competitors remaining uncertain on completing the remainder of the race’s scheduled distance on fuel, names like Timmy Hill, Carson Hocevar, Christian Eckes, Travis Pastrana, Chase Purdy, Chris Hacker, Jack Wood, Nick Sanchez, Sammy Smith, Kris Wright, Grant Enfinger, Derek Kraus and Jason A White pitted again to top off on fuel.

    With 36 laps remaining, the event restarted under green. At the start, LaJoie jumped ahead with the lead on the inside lane through the first two turns. He then tried to fend off Ankrum on the outside lane, but Ankrum and Zane Smith placed LaJoie in the middle of a three-wide battle entering Turns 3 and 4 as Zane Smith assumed the lead in his No. 38 Love’s Ford F-150 while LaJoie drifted all the way to the back of the lead pack after losing the draft.

    Three laps later, the caution returned due to reports of rain returning to the racing surface. By then, Zane Smith was the leader followed by Tanner Gray, Howard, Eckes and Enfinger while Majeski, Ankrum, Heim, Crafton and Elliott. Another six laps later amid an extensive caution period, the field led by Zane Smith returned to pit road and the race was placed on its second red flag hiatus due to the precipitation.

    An hour later, the red flag lifted and the competitors returned to the track under a cautious pace in spite of the weather remaining misty and the rain transitioning from either raining or not raining. Soon after, the field returned to pit road and under another red flag period with 21 laps remaining. Soon after, NASCAR declared the event official due to the persistent rain and Zane Smith was declared the winner of the event on pit road.

    For Smith, the Daytona victory was his second in a row after winning last year’s season opener, which made him the first competitor to win back-to-back Truck events at Daytona since Todd Bodine made the last accomplishment between 2008 and 2009. It also marked his eighth career victory in the Craftsman Truck Series and his second in a row after winning both the 2022 finale and series championship at Phoenix as he became the first competitor to be guaranteed a spot for the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs. Smith’s Daytona victory also marked the sixth Truck career win for Front Row Motorsports and the eighth time where the Ford nameplate won at Daytona.

    ““I know there’s about a million ways to get [a win] at Daytona, but we’re proving that,” Smith, who is set to make his Daytona 500 debut on Sunday, said on FS1. “Obviously, [I] wanted to go back racing there somewhat, to duke it out with good friends of mine. Hey, we’ll take a win at Daytona any day we can get. [I] Just give a huge shoutout to everyone at Front Row Motorsports. This whole group, man, I’ve said it over and over again, they work their guts out and it proves it. [We’re] Locked in the Playoffs. It’s like a repeat of last year. Just loving life right now.”

    With Zane Smith winning the event, Tanner Gray settled in a career-best second place while Eckes, Colby Howard and Enfinger concluded in the top five. Majeski, Ankrum, Heim, Crafton and Elliott finished in the top 10.

    Notably, Ben Rhodes finished 11th in front of Hocevar, Pastrana settled in 13th in front of newcomer Sammy Smith, Purdy ended up 17th, LaJoie fell back to 23rd and Sanchez finished 26th in his series debut in front of Jack Wood and Friesen.

    There were 20 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 41 laps.

    Following the first event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes leads the regular-season standings by five points over Matt Crafton, nine over Ty Majeski, 10 over both Zane Smith and Tyler Ankrum, 12 over Tanner Gray and 14 over Grant Enfinger.

    Results.

    1. Zane Smith, 17 laps led

    2. Tanner Gray

    3. Christian Eckes, 19 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Colby Howard, two laps led

    5. Grant Enfinger

    6. Ty Majeski, two laps led

    7. Tyler Ankrum, 15 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    8. Corey Heim

    9. Matt Crafton, two laps led

    10. Chase Elliott

    11. Ben Rhodes

    12. Carson Hocevar

    13. Travis Pastrana

    14. Sammy Smith

    15. Jason A. White

    16. Timmy Hill

    17. Chase Purdy, one lap led

    18. Derek Kraus

    19. Josh Reaume

    20. Matt DiBenedetto

    21. Jason M. White

    22. Kris Wright

    23. Corey LaJoie, 19 laps led

    24. Mason Massey

    25. Chris Hacker

    26. Nick Sanchez

    27. Jack Wood

    28. Stewart Friesen, five laps down, two laps led

    29. Rajah Caruth – OUT, Accident

    30. Daniel Dye – OUT, Accident

    31. Bret Holmes – OUT, Brakes

    32. Parker Kligerman – OUT, DVP

    33. Codie Rohrbaugh – OUT, Accident

    34. Clay Greenfield – OUT, Accident

    35. Hailie Deegan – OUT, Accident

    36. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    With the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season underway, the series will travel west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the second event of the season. The event is scheduled to occur on March 3 at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Zane Smith earns first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship at Phoenix

    Zane Smith earns first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship at Phoenix

    After finishing in the runner-up spot in the final standings during the previous two seasons, the third time was the lucky charm for Zane Smith as he prevailed in a late battle against his title rivals to win the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship along with the season-finale Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, November 4.

    In total, the 23-year-old Smith from Huntington Beach, California, led five times for a race-high 77 of 154 over-scheduled laps during the finale from pole position. Despite losing a combined five spots on pit road during the conclusion of both stages, which he won both, he remained within striking distance of the title fight and against his title rivals throughout the final stage. From executing a bold three-wide pass for the lead during a restart with 39 laps remaining to pitting for four fresh tires and restarting towards the top 10 with 10 laps remaining, Smith carved his way back to the runner-up spot and received another opportunity to reassume the lead after title rival Ty Majeski spun with four laps remaining, an incident that nearly collected Smith. Then during an overtime attempt, Smith prevailed in a late battle against Rhodes and Chandler Smith, including a final lap “bump-and-run” attempt from Rhodes, to assume the lead for good and proceed to win both the finale and claim his first elusive NASCAR national touring series championship.  

    The 2022 Truck Series championship comes in Smith’s third full-time season in the series and his first with Front Row Motorsports, where he commenced the season by winning at Daytona International Speedway in February and notching two additional victories throughout the regular-season stretch before clinching the 2022 Truck Series regular-season title, entering the Playoffs with momentum and utilizing consistency to transfer all the way to the Championship 4 round.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Zane Smith, a Championship 4 finalist, claimed the final pole position of the 2022 season and the first of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 138.032 mph in 26.081 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Layne Riggs, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 137.825 mph in 26.120 seconds. Zane Smith’s other three championship rivals that included Ben Rhodes, Ty Majeski and Chandler Smith qualified sixth, eighth and 12th, respectively.

    Prior to the event, Derek Kraus dropped to the rear of the field in a backup truck along with rookie Dean Thompson, who dropped back due to an engine change to his truck.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Zane Smith fended off an early charge from rookie Corey Heim to retain the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch as he went on to lead the first lap. During the following lap, however, Layne Riggs mounted a charge through Turns 1 and 2 as he overtook Smith for the lead. Despite being challenged by Smith, Riggs retained the top spot as the field behind jostled for positions.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Riggs was leading by two-tenths of a second over Zane followed by Heim, Stewart Friesen and Ben Rhodes while Ty Majeski, Matt Crafton, John Hunter Nemechek, Tanner Gray and Christian Eckes were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith, the fourth and final title contender, was in 12th while trying to march his way to the front.

    Two laps later, the first caution flew when Keith McGee and Armani Williams, both of whom were battling at the rear of the field, wrecked in Turn 3. The two-truck wreck occurred a lap early after Zane Smith had reassumed the lead over Riggs.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 13, Zane Smith rocketed with a strong start to retain the lead as the field fanned out through the dogleg and entering Turn 2. Meanwhile, Heim moved up to second followed by Riggs, who soon after lost third place to teammate Friesen, while Rhodes retained fifth.

    By Lap 20, Zane Smith’s No. 38 Michael Roberts Construction Ford F-150 was leading by more than a second over Heim’s No. 51 Crescent Tools Toyota Tundra TRD Pro followed by Friesen, Riggs and Rhodes while Grant Enfinger, Nemechek, Crafton, Eckes and Chandler Smith occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Majeski, who was running within the top 10, was back in 11th ahead of brothers Tanner and Taylor Gray while Rajah Caruth and Matt DiBenedetto were running in the top 15.

    Five laps later, Zane Smith stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Heim while Friesen, Riggs and Rhodes remained in the top five. By then, Nemchek moved up to sixth following a fierce battle against Enfinger, who fell back to seventh and was being pressured by Matt Crafton for more. Chandler Smith and Majeski were back in ninth and 11th, respectively.

    Another 10 laps later, Zane Smith extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Heim followed by Friesen and a side-by-side battle for fourth place between Riggs and Nemechek. While Zane Smith remained as the top-running title contender with the race lead, his title rivals that included Rhodes, Chandler Smith and Majeski were back in seventh, ninth and 10th, respectively.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Zane Smith struck first early in his championship bid by capturing his ninth stage victory of the 2022 season. Heim settled in second followed by Friesen, Nemechek and Crafton while Rhodes, Enfinger, Chandler Smith, Eckes and Riggs were scored in the top 10. By then, Majeski was scored in 11th after getting edged by Riggs at the start/finish line.

    Under the stage break, the field led by Zane Smith pitted for fresh tires, fuel and adjustments. Following the pit stops, Heim exited first followed by teammate Nemechek, Zane Smith, teammate Chandler Smith, Enfinger, Majeski and Crafton. Following the pit stops, trouble struck for Eckes, who initially exited ninth but limped back to his pit stall with the left-front tire on his No. 98 CMR Toyota Tundra TRD Pro locked up and igniting sparks around the circuit.

    The second stage started on Lap 53 as teammates Heim and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start and as the field fanned out through the dogleg, Heim retained the lead ahead of teammates Nemechek and Chandler Smith followed by Zane Smith. During the following lap, however, Nemechek assumed the lead in his No. 4 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Tundra TRD Pro followed by Heim, Chandler Smith and Zane Smith as the field behind continued to jostle for positions. By then, Carson Hocevar was assessed a pass-through penalty for a restart violation.

    By Lap 60, Nemechek was leading by a second over title contender Zane Smith followed by Chandler Smith, Heim and Majeski while Friesen, Enfinger, Crafton, Taylor Gray and Rhodes were in the top 10.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 75, Nemechek retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over Zane Smith followed by Chandler Smith, Heim and Friesen while Majeski, Crafton, Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Rhodes were scored in the top 10 ahead of Caruth, Tyler Ankrum, Riggs, DiBenedetto, Tanner Gray and Eckes. By then, 22 of 35 competitors were scored on the lead lap.

    Nearly five laps later, the battle for the lead ignited between Nemechek and Zane Smith as Smith tried to overtake Nemechek through the backstretch. Nemechek, however, retained the top spot through Turns 3 and 4 and continued to lead ahead of a hard-charging Smith.

    Then with four laps remaining in the second stage and following his late battle against Nemechek, Zane Smith emerged out in front with the lead despite Nemechek fighting back through every turn and straightaway. Despite being drawn against Nemechek during the following three laps, Zane Smith was able to fend off Nemechek as he went on to capture his series-leading 10th stage victory of the 2022 season and second of the night on Lap 90 as he struck yet again in his bid to claim his first NASCAR championship. Nemechek settled in second while Chandler Smith, Heim, Majeski, Crafton, Enfinger, Friesen, Taylor Gray and Rhodes were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the field led by Zane Smith returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited with the top spot followed by Chandler Smith, Heim, Zane Smith, Majeski and Rhodes. In the midst of the pit stops, DiBenedetto was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 52 laps remaining, the final stage started as teammates Nemechek and Chandler Smith occupied the front row. At the start and as the field fanned out through the dogleg again, Chandler Smith retained the lead ahead of teammate Nemechek, Zane Smith and Heim. Then the caution quickly returned when Eckes spun and backed his truck against the Turn 1 outside wall after getting hit by Tyler Ankrum entering the turn and in the midst of the field fanning out to multiple lanes.

    When the race restarted with 45 laps remaining, Chandler Smith briefly retained the lead ahead of the field through the dogleg and the first two turns until teammate Nemechek challenged and overtook Smith on the outside lane for the top spot. The caution, however, quickly returned once again due to a multi-truck wreck in Turn 1 that involved Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth, Riggs and Kraus.

    During the following restart with 39 laps remaining, Zane Smith, who restarted on the inside lane behind Nemechek, used the dogleg to his advantage as he launched a three-wide challenge and drew himself in a bid for the lead alongside Chandler Smith. He then managed to overtake and clear Chandler Smith for the lead exiting the backstretch and entering Turn 3 while Nemechek settled in third. 

    With 30 laps remaining, Zane Smith was leading both the race and the championship by seven-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith’s No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra TRD Pro while Nemechek, Enfinger and Majeski and Rhodes were in the top six ahead of Heim, Crafton, Kaden Honeycutt and Ankrum.

    Ten laps later, Zane Smith continued to lead by nine-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith while Nemechek, Enfinger and Majeski remained in the top five on the track. Meanwhile, the fourth and final Playoff competitor, Rhodes, was back in seventh behind Heim.

    Then another four laps later, the caution flew when Hailie Deegan cut a left-tire tire and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 3 as her final race with David Gilliland Racing came to a late end. During the caution period, Friesen and Hocevar remained on the track while the rest led by Zane Smith pitted. Following the pit stops, Rhodes exited pit road first after opting for a two-tire pit strategy followed by DiBenedetto, Honeycutt and the Gray brothers, all of whom opted for just two fresh tires. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith was the first competitor to exit pit road with four fresh tires in sixth place followed by Majeski, Nemechek and Zane Smith.

    With the race restarting with 10 laps remaining, the field fanned out as Friesen retained the lead ahead of Rhodes and Hocevar. As both Zane and Chandler Smith were trying to carve their way back towards the front, teammates Rhodes and Majeski battled for second and for the title, with the former trying to overtake Friesen for the race lead. 

    With seven laps remaining, Rhodes overtook Friesen for the lead on two fresh tires entering the backstretch as he commenced his late charge to defend his series title. By then, however, Zane Smith carved his way back into the runner-up spot while both Majeski and Chandler Smith were were trying to overtake Friesen to maintain their title hopes.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, the final four title contenders were first through fourth on the track, with Rhodes leading ahead of Zane Smith, Majeksi and Chandler Smith. 

    Then during the following lap, Majeski’s championship hopes evaporated after the Wisconsin native made contact with Zane Smith entering the backstretch while battling for the runner-up spot, which caused Majeski’s No. 66 Road Ranger Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to get loose as he spun and made light contact against the inside wall. Majeski’s incident was also enough to send the event into overtime as the event exceeded past its scheduled distance.

    During the first overtime attempt, Zane Smith, who opted to restart behind Rhodes on the inside lane, used the dogleg to his advantage as he managed to overtake both Chandler Smith and Rhodes through the first two turns to reassume the lead. Chandler Smith then crossed over to Zane’s Ford on the inside lane as he tried to stall Zane’s run while drawing even with Zane through the backstretch. Chandler, however, slightly slid up the track through Turn 3, which allowed Zane Smith to pull ahead while Rhodes rejoined the battle for the lead and the championship.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Zane Smith was out in front by a mere margin over Chandler Smith and Rhodes. Through the first two turns, Zane Smith pulled ahead followed by a hard-charging Rhodes while Chandler Smith fell back to third. With Rhodes setting up a final attempt on Zane Smith for the victory and the title, he then got to Zane’s rear bumper in an attempt to bump and move him up the track to overtake him. The bump, however, was not enough to stall Smith’s momentum as the Californian managed to remain ahead of Rhodes and beat him to the finish line by two-tenths of a second to win the finale and clinch his first series championship.

    With his accomplishment, Zane Smith, who ended up as the championship runner-up during the previous two seasons while competing for GMS Racing, became the 20th different competitor to win the Truck Series championship along with becoming the first Ford competitor to win a Truck title since Matt Crafton made the last accomplishment in 2019. He also recorded the first NASCAR drivers’ and owners’ championships to Front Row Motorsports in the team’s third season in the series with crew chief Chris Lawson also achieving his first NASCAR Truck title. With the champion Zane Smith winning the finale, this marks the third time since the series’ Playoff elimination-style format was incepted in 2016 where the championship-winning competitor won the finale.

    “Oh my god,” Smith, who will be remaining in the Truck Series with Front Row Motorsports for 2023, said on FS1. “Third time’s a charm. I wanted this [championship] more than anyone in the world. I don’t care what anyone says. Thank you, all you race fans. My whole team, man. I was crying that whole lap. My fiancé, McCall, stuck to me with all the brutal times. I’ve wanted this championship for so long. I’ve wanted this moment all my whole life. Thank you, everyone. That’s all I got. I wasn’t gonna let it go down like that. I was either wrecked or I was winning this [championship]. There was no other option. Last year and the year before, we showed so much speed and should’ve won a lot more races than we did, but [team owner] Bob Jenkins is the only reason why I’m here right now. Without him, none of this would be possible. When I came [to Front Row Motorsports], all I cared about was the guys that were on this team and I had seen their work ethics. I’d seen the effort they put in and I know they wanted it as bad as I do. I didn’t care what the trucks looked like. All I knew was their work ethic was there and we could make a championship out of this team.”

    While Smith celebrated a championship on the championship stage, Rhodes was left disappointed with his runner-up result both in the event and in the final standings as he came one position shy of defending his series crown.

    “Two tires versus four. That was the name of the game,” Rhodes said. “We didn’t have the pace all night that we needed to be up there and compete, so it was a great heads-up call by my crew chief. Ultimately, we just didn’t need that last caution. I think we could’ve held [the field] off for the final few laps. I was giving [Zane Smith] all the dirty air he could handle. I think we were gonna be fine until that caution just got us. I did what I could on the restart to try to get a jump, but with two tires versus four, I just didn’t have the grip I needed. I tried to hold him off the best I could. [I] Threw a move on him at the very end and just didn’t have enough grip to make it stick. All in all, I am proud of my Kubota Toyota Tundra team, ThorSport Racing. We didn’t have the pace, but we got up there. That’s what matters at the end. We just got to go back, do our homework. Second is not fun. I’m gonna mope my way all the way back to Kentucky…I’d like to not be coming to clutch all the time.”

    With Zane Smith and Rhodes finishing first and second both on the track and in the final standings, Chandler Smith ended up in third place while Majeski, who settled in 20th place during the finale, ended up in fourth place in the final standings. Despite ending up in third place in his final event with Kyle Busch Motorsports, Chandler Smith remained optimistic approaching next season as he will be moving up to the Xfinity Series to drive for Kaulig Racing.

    “It just wasn’t meant to be,” Smith said. “We were mistake free. The pit crew was on top of it. [We] Gained positions every time on pit road. Had a shot at the end. I’m at peace with that because at the end of the day, it’s all part of the bigger plan. It was fun racing with [Zane Smith]. I appreciate the opportunity [from] Safelite,[Kyle Busch Motorsports], Toyota Racing Development’s given me for the past six-plus years. It sucks that it’s ending, but onwards to bigger and better things over at Kaulig Racing. Really looking forward to starting next year already.”

    Like Smith, Ty Majeski, who clinched his spot for the Championship 4 on the strength of Playoff victories at Bristol Motor Speedway and at Talladega Superspeedway, remained positive over his attempted run for the title as he looks ahead to next season.

    “I was being aggressive there,” Majeski said. “We wanted to bring a championship home for Duke and Rhonda [Thorson] and everybody at ThorSport [Racing]. I thought the best opportunity there for us was to try to wiggle [Smith] a little bit and try to get underneath him and try to set up the race between Ben [Rhodes] and I. I was just trying to be aggressive underneath him and lost it off of [Turn] 2. All you can ask for is the chance to win the championship with five to go and we had that tonight, and it just didn’t pan out. I’m proud of our season and proud of what we accomplished as a 66 bunch. [Crew chief] Joe [Shear Jr.] and the team have been great to work with. It just stings to be that close and see it in front of you and just come up a little bit short. We will come back next year and come back stronger.”

    John Hunter Nemechek finished fourth in the finale and fifth in the final standings in his second and final campaign with Kyle Busch Motorsports while Friesen wrapped up the season in fifth place on the track and in sixth place in the standings. Enfinger, Heim, Tanner Gray, Kaden Honeycutt and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10 on the track.

    With his seventh-place result, Heim clinched the 2022 Truck Series Rookie-of-the-Year title. With 12 victories to this season, Toyota was awarded their 13th manufacturer’s title in the Truck circuit.

    The 2022 NASCAR Truck Series season marks the 14th and final season under title sponsorship from Camping World as Craftsman Tools will be filling in the role and returning as a title sponsor for the series since 2008.

    There were 15 lead changes for seven different leaders. The finale featured five cautions for 42 laps.

    Results.

    1. Zane Smith, 77 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Ben Rhodes, eight laps led

    3. Chandler Smith, nine laps led

    4. John Hunter Nemechek, 44 laps led

    5. Stewart Friesen, six laps led

    6. Grant Enfinger

    7. Corey Heim, five laps led

    8. Tanner Gray

    9. Kaden Honeycutt

    10. Carson Hocevar 

    11. Derek Kraus

    12. Matt Crafton

    13. Layne Riggs, five laps led

    14. Tyler Ankrum

    15. Colby Howard

    16. Jake Garcia

    17. Taylor Gray

    18. Lawlesss Alan

    19. Chase Purdy

    20. Ty Majeski 

    21. Dean Thompson

    22. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    23. Tyler Hill, two laps down

    24. Austin Wayne Self, two laps down

    25. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

    26. Chris Hacker, two laps down

    27. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    28. Johnny Sauter, two laps down

    29. Jack Wood, three laps down

    30. Christian Eckes, three laps down

    31. Hailie Deegan – OUT, Accident

    32. Rajah Caruth – OUT, Accident

    33. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Too slow

    34. Keith McGee – OUT, Dvp

    35. Armami Williams – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Championship finalists

    Final standings

    1. Zane Smith 

    2. Ben Rhodes

    3. Chandler Smith

    4. Ty Majeski

    5. John Hunter Nemechek

    6. Stewart Friesen

    7. Grant Enfinger

    8. Christian Eckess

    9. Matt Crafton

    10. Carson Hocevar

    The NASCAR Truck Series competitors and teams enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2023, to commence a new season of racing.

     

  • Ty Majeski wins Homestead for second Truck Series victory

    Ty Majeski wins Homestead for second Truck Series victory

    A month after locking himself into the Championship 4 round with his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, Ty Majeski doubled down with additional momentum after claiming a late dominant victory in the Baptist Health Cancer Care 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, October 22.

    The 28-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, led two times for a race-high 67 of 134-scheduled laps, including the final 33, and beat runner-up Zane Smith by more than four seconds to claim the second Truck Series victory of his career at Miami. By winning two of three Round of 8 events during the Playoffs and automatically transferring to the Championship 4 round, Majeski will square off against Zane Smith, Chandler Smith and reigning series champion Ben Rhodes for this year’s Truck Series championship that will be determined at Phoenix Raceway in early November.

    With on-track qualifying that was scheduled for Friday being canceled due to rain, the starting lineup was determined through a metric system from NASCAR’s rulebook. As a result, Ryan Preece was initially awarded the pole position for the main event. Preece, however, dropped to the rear of the field along with Lawless Alan and Nick Leitz due to unapproved adjustments. With that, Playoff competitor Ben Rhodes led the field to the start alongside Matt DiBenedetto.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Rhodes launched ahead of DiBenedetto, who spun the tires at the start, before Chandler Smith drew himself alongside Rhodes in his early bid for the lead through the first two turns. Following an early side-by-side battle with Chandler Smith, Rhodes pulled ahead through Turns 3 and 4 as he led the first lap while the field behind fanned out and jostled early for positions.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Rhodes was leading ahead of Chandler Smith, Christian Eckes, Zane Smith and Stewart Friesen while Tyler Ankrum, Matt DiBenedetto, John Hunter Nemechek, Parker Kligerman and Matt Crafton were running in the top 10. By then, Ty Majeski was in 12th, Corey Heim was back in 16th and Grant Enfinger was vying for 17th.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Rhodes’ No. 99 Kubota Toyota Tundra TRD Pro continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith’s No. 18 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro followed by Zane Smith, Friesen and Eckes. By then, all 36 starters were on the lead lap. In addition, the remaining eight Playoff contenders were running in the top 11.

    A few laps later, Nemechek, who made contact with the outside wall in Turn 3 on the third lap, got into the wall again in the third turn before hitting the wall hard in Turn 1 after losing a tire. The incident prompted Nemechek, who came into the event five laps behind the top-four cutline to make the championship finale, to make an unscheduled pit stop under green and fall out of the lead lap category. Nemechek would eventually make multiple trips to pit road for repairs to his No. 4 Gearwrench Toyota Tundra TRD Pro as his title hopes took an early serious hit.

    By Lap 20, Rhodes remained as the leader by more than a second over Chandler Smith followed by Zane Smith, Friesen and Majeski while Eckes was back in sixth. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 30, Rhodes, who came into Miami three points above the top-four cutline, captured his ninth stage victory of the 2022 season. Zane Smith settled in second followed by Friesen, Majeski, Enfinger, Eckes, Chandler Smith, Crafton, Parker Kligerman and Preece.

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Rhodes pitted and Zane Smith emerged with the lead over the field. Following the pit stops, Parker Kligerman was penalized for speeding on pit road along with Matt Crafton, whose pit crew jumped over the pit stall too soon. In addition, Blaine Perkins was penalized due to crew member interference.

    The second stage started on Lap 36 as Zane Smith and Enfinger occupied the front row. At the start, Rhodes used the outside lane to his advantage as he rocketed past Zane Smith and Enfinger with a three-wide move to reassume the lead through the backstretch. Enfinger, however, fought back during the following lap as he drew his No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST alongside Rhodes while Zane Smith tried to close back in on the two leaders. Behind, Preece and Majeski battled for fourth while Heim occupied sixth place.

    By the Lap 40 mark, a side-by-side battle for the lead commenced between Rhodes and Zane Smith, with Rhodes using the outside lane to his advantage while Smith tried to use the inside lane to pull ahead of Rhodes. During the following lap, Smith managed to pull his No. 38 Speed Ford F-150 in front of Rhodes entering Turn 4 and fend off a crossover move by Rhodes to claim the outside lane and the lead. Not long after, Preece battled and overtook Rhodes for second followed by Majeski while Enfinger remained in fifth.

    Ten laps later on Lap 50, Zane Smith was leading by more than a second over Majeski followed by Preece, Rhodes and Eckes while Enfinger, Friesen, Heim, Chandler Smith and Colby Howard occupied the top 10. With seven of eight Playoff competitors running in the top 10 on the track, Nemechek was the lone Playoff competitor running in the back of the pack as he was mired in 36th, dead last, while scored two laps down.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 60, Zane Smith, who came into Miami 18 points above the top-four cutline, captured his eighth stage victory of the 2022 season. Majeski trailed in second place by more than a second while Preece, Friesen, Rhodes, Eckes, Enfinger, Howard, Heim and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10. By then, Nemechek was pinned three laps behind in 36th place.

    Under the stage break, the leader led by Zane Smith pitted and Preece exited with the lead followed by Majeski, Eckes, Zane Smith and Heim. During the pit stops, Rhodes suffered a slow pit stop as he exited pit road in 15th place. Following the pit stops, Kaden Honeycutt was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    With 68 laps remaining, the final stage started as Preece and Majeski occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out engines the first turn, Majeski muscled ahead with the lead on the inside lane followed by Preece and Zane Smith while Eckes and Enfinger battled for fourth in front of Heim and the field.

    Eight laps later and with 60 laps remaining, Majeski was leading by a tenth of a second over Zane Smith followed by a heated four-truck battle for third place between Eckes, Heim, Enfinger and Preece. Friesen, meanwhile, was in seventh while Derek Kraus, Chandler Smith and Rhodes were scored in the top 10. By then, Nemechek was still pinned multiple laps down in 36th place, dead last.

    Then with 55 laps remaining, Enfinger’s championship hopes took a serious hit after he made an unscheduled pit stop under green to address a flat right-front tire due to making contact with the outside wall. After pitting for four fresh tires, Enfinger, who came into Miami in a “must-win” situation, lost a lap to the leaders.

    Back on the track with 50 laps remaining, Majeski retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over Zane Smith followed by Heim, Eckes and Friesen while Preece, Chandler Smith, Crafton, Rhodes and Kraus occupied the top 10. With Enfinger mired in 31st, Nemechek was back in 36th, dead last, as both Playoff competitors were in jeopardy of not transferring to the finale.

    With 40 laps remaining, pit stops under green commenced as Preece pitted followed by Bret Holmes. Rhodes also pitted along with Kligerman, Chase Purdy, Hailie Deegan, Friesen and a wave of competitors.

    With 32 laps remaining and with the cycle of green flag pit stops complete, Majeski reassumed the lead followed by a hard-charging Zane Smith while Preece was in third. By then, Friesen was back in fourth as he was contending for a transfer spot to the finale against Rhodes, who was in eighth and held sole possession of the fourth and final transfer spot to the finale by a single point.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Majeski continued to lead by more than a second over Zane Smith and more than 10 seconds over third-place Preece. Meanwhile, Friesen was in fourth in front of Heim and Eckes while Rhodes was trying to fend off Chandler Smith for seventh place and for a spot in the finale. By then, Enfinger rallied to 11th while Nemechek was mired in 32nd palace, four laps down.

    Six laps later, Friesen overtook Preece for third place and drew himself into a tie for the fourth and final transfer spot to the finale over Rhodes, who remained in seventh but owned the tie-breaker for recording the best finish during the Round of 8 at Talladega Superspeedway with a second-place result.

    With 10 laps remaining, Majeski retained the lead by nearly three seconds over Zane Smith. Behind, Friesen remained in third place, trailing the leaders by more than 14 seconds, while Rhodes was locked in a battle with teammate Crafton for seventh place, a spot Rhodes needs to retain to transfer to the finale. Eckes, meanwhile, was running in sixth, but eight points below the top-four cutline.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Majeski stabilized his advantage to more than four seconds over Zane Smith while Rhodes, who briefly lost seventh place to Crafton, retained his spot on the track in front of his ThorSport Racing teammate and with a spot to the finale on the line. A few laps later, Rhodes managed to track and overtake teammate Eckes for sixth place, which placed Rhodes in a one-point advantage over Friesen, who remained in third place, in the standings.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Zane Smith. With no challenges lurking behind or in front of him, Majeski was able to navigate his way around Homestead for a final time as he cycled back to the finish line and claimed his second checkered flag in the series.

    The victory, which was enough for Toyota to secure the manufacturer’s title for the 13th time overall, gave Majeski and his No. 66 ThorSport Racing Toyota Tundra TRD Pro team additional momentum approaching the championship finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, where the Wisconsin native will contend for his first Truck Series title.

    “Man, this is awesome,” Majeski said on FS1. “This place is so hard to read and practice. Nobody has any grip, right? I didn’t know really what we had, but man, this No. 66 Road Ranger Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was bad to the bone today. Man, just thank you to Joe Shear, my crew chief. We’ve been working great this year together. Just so thankful that we’re able to make the most of this thing. We’re gonna go chase a championship [in] two weeks. [There’s gonna be] A lot of sim time, a lot of simulator just like the rest of the year. We’ve been working really hard on Phoenix ever since we won Bristol. We’re bringing that truck back. I feel really good about what we have so far. Keep fine-tuning [the truck]. If it’s anywhere near this [Homestead truck] today, we’ll be pretty good.”

    Zane Smith settled in second place for the fifth time this season, which was more than for him to transfer to the Championship 4 finale for a third consecutive season as he will contend for his first Truck Series championship.

    “Another really good [Front Row Motorsports] Ford,” Zane Smith said. “Man, I really wanted to get that [win]. Just hats off to my whole team. They’ve put in a lot of hours the past couple of weeks. [I] Just really wanted this one for them, but we get to go fight for another championship, which is really cool. One more left. That’s all that matters. I pretty much figured out every way to lose one, so third time’s a charm, hopefully. We’ve been fast all year. Regardless of what happens at Phoenix, it’s just an outstanding year.”

    Friesen came home in third place, trailing the leaders by more than 13 seconds, but missed the top-four cutline by a single point over Rhodes, who finished sixth in front of teammates Eckes and Crafton. As a result, Rhodes will join teammate Majeski, Zane Smith and 10th-place finisher Chandler Smith as the four competitors to transfer to the Championship 4 finale and contend for the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. 

    “Every spot matters,” Rhodes said. “We got in by one point from what I understand. I’m just really, really happy [that] we had a good showing for this Kubota Toyota Tundra. Man, I wished [the race] was easier. It seemed harder than it should have. Just glad that we can defend the title. It’s been an up-and-down season. We aren’t the best on mile-and-a-halfs, but we made leaps and bounds here. We were able to get the first stage win, be fifth in the second [stage] and when we had that bad pit stop and went back to 15th, I was sweating bullets. I knew I had a lot of work to do. I just didn’t know it was gonna be that tough. We just got to be consistent. We’re working on that. So far, so good. I’m thrilled with the last two races, Now, we’ve turned everything around and made it back in.”

    “We, overall, just missed it today,” Chandler Smith said. “With that being said, we are all focused on going to run for a championship. I’m really happy with that. Being here with my Satellite [Kyle Busch Motorsports] group. This is awesome to be able to have the opportunity to go and run for a championship. I may never be able to do this in my career again, so really, really, thankful for the opportunity. Just super blessed right now. I’m feeling humbled.”

    Friesen, meanwhile, joins seventh-place finisher Eckes, 14th-place finisher Enfinger and 35th-place finisher Nemechek as the four competitors who have been eliminated from Playoff contention.

    “I didn’t have a teammate to lay over and give me an extra point like they were doing in the back,” Friesen said. “I’m so proud of our race team. That’s the best truck we’ve ever had here. Just a beautiful race car today. It was so fun to drive. We nailed it. We just lost a couple of spots in the pits and the front two could fire off a little bit better and get gone. That was it. I was praying for a caution. It didn’t happen, but I’m proud of our race team. I’m excited to move forward and keep building our race team. That’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna keep building over the winter.”

    “[I] Just made a mistake on my end,” Nemechek said. “I got dirtied up behind [Friesen] early on in stage in and hit the fence and just trying to make up time and was pushing the issue probably a little too hard. Ultimately pushed it a little too hard, hit the fence again and had the right front go flat. Came in, pitted and ended up not clearing tires good enough and had another tire go down and had to pit again. Then had to play pit strategy and after that, it was just damage control. It’s on me. It’s just frustrating for myself for sure to not advance to the final four, but still have a couple races left to go out and try to win.”

    In addition to the driver’s championship battle, the final four title contenders (Majeski, Chandler Smith, Zane Smith and Rhodes) will contend for this year’s owners’ championship.

    There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured two cautions for 10 laps. All 36 starters finished the race while 10 finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Ty Majeski, 67 laps led

    2. Zane Smith, 26 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Stewart Friesen

    4. Ryan Preece, two laps led

    5. Corey Heim

    6. Ben Rhodes, 37 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    7. Christian Eckes

    8. Matt Crafton

    9. Parker Kligerman

    10. Chandler Smith

    11. Tyler Ankrum, one lap down

    12. Carson Hocevar, one lap down

    13. Colby Howard, one lap down

    14. Grant Enfinger, one lap down

    15. Derek Kraus, one lap down

    16. Chase Purdy, one lap down

    17. Hailie Deegan, one lap down

    18. Kaz Grala, one lap down

    19. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    20. Timmy Hill, one lap down, two laps led

    21. Max Gutierrez, one lap down

    22. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

    23. Dean Thompson, two laps down

    24. Brennan Poole, two laps down

    25. Tanner Gray, two laps down

    26. Stefan Parsons, two laps down

    27. Kaden Honeycutt, two laps down

    28. Nick Leitz, three laps down

    29. Tyler Hill, three laps down

    30. Chad Chastain, three laps down

    31. Jack Wood, four laps down

    32. Mason Maggio, five laps down

    33. Bret Holmes, five laps down

    34. Lawless Alan, five laps down

    35. John Hunter Nemechek, six laps down

    36. Spencer Boyd, 10 laps down

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings.

    1. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    2. Zane Smith – Advanced

    3. Chandler Smith – Advanced

    4. Ben Rhodes – Advanced

    5. Stewart Friesen – Eliminated

    6. Christian Eckes – Eliminated

    7. Grant Enfinger – Eliminated

    8. John Hunter Nemechek – Eliminated

    The 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season is set to conclude at Phoenix Raceway on November 4, where a champion will be crowned. The finale is scheduled to occur at 10 p.m. ET on FS1.

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

    DiBenedetto survives overtime finish for first Truck career victory at Talladega

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

    1. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led

    2. Ben Rhodes, two laps led

    3. Bret Holmes, six laps led

    4. Ryan Preece

    5. Christian Eckes, 25 laps led

    6. Hailie Deegan

    7. Chase Purdy, six laps led

    8. Colby Howard

    9. Parker Kligerman

    10. Tyler Ankrum

    11. Kaden Honeycutt

    12. Clay Greenfield

    13. Derek Kraus, three laps led

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

    15. Timmy Hill

    16. Parker Retzlaff

    17. Zane Smith, one lap led

    18. Kaz Grala

    19. Jack Wood

    20. Stewart Friesen

    21. Bayley Currey

    22. Matt Crafton, one lap led

    23. Ty Majeski, one lap led

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

    25. Johnny Sauter

    26. Corey Heim – OUT, Accident

    27. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident

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

    29. Grant Enfinger, one lap down

    30. Austin Wayne Self – OUT, Accident

    31. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident

    32. Jennifer Jo Cobb – OUT, Clutch

    33. Lawless Alan – OUT, Accident

    34. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    35. Bryan Dauzat – OUT, Dvp

    36. Jordan Anderson – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    2. Chandler Smith +30

    3. Zane Smith +18

    4. Ben Rhodes +3

    5. Christian Eckes -3

    6. Stewart Friesen -3

    7. John Hunter Nemechek -5

    8. Grant Enfinger -29

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