Zane Smith celebrates in victory lane after winning Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Zane Smith scored an overtime victory over defending series champion Ben Rhodes in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
A 19-car incident as the field approached the white flag signaling one lap to go instead sent the race into overtime. A nearly 16-minute red flag was needed to clean up all the debris from the frontstretch melee, which happened only a few feet before the start/finish line and littered much of the track’s tri-oval.
Had Smith – the leader at the time – crossed the line before the wreck began, the race would have ended. Instead, the remaining trucks that were still running continued.
So Smith had to do it all over again. He lined up alongside Christian Eckes for the final two-lap run to the checkered. A sturdy nudge from behind from Parker Kligerman sent Smith’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford to the front and he was able to pull away – taking the white flag before caution flew on the final lap. He led only three laps on the night – including the important last two.
“It’s something else, man,” Smith said. “This place is its own, I’ll tell you that. Literally my heart hurt during that red flag. I thought we had it.
“Just hats off to this whole group. They’ve really put the work in and it’s so damn cool to see when it pays off. Man, this is going to be a really fun year and I’m going to try and make it a record year for myself.”
Eckes finished third, with Tanner Gray fourth, and Kligerman in fifth.
Carson Hocevar, Jesse Little, polesitter Ty Majeski, Danny Bohn and Matt DiBenedetto, a former NASCAR Cup Series driver making his first career Truck series start, rounded out the top 10.
Kligerman, who was the last driver to qualify for the race on speed, started 31st and rallied into the top five ultimately giving that winning push to Smith, who now has four victories and was championship runner-up last year.
“This is just huge to get this momentum,” said Kligerman, a part-time series competitor who also does national racing broadcast work for NBC.
He was particular proud of Friday’s effort considering his truck team has only one fulltime employee.
“It’s just such an honor” Kligerman said. “I’m so grateful to have the chance to just show up here, let alone go out there and compete and reel off a top five. We’re just firing on all cylinders.”
John Hunter Nemechek dominated the early-going, leading 50 of 106 laps and winning both early race segments. He was caught up in the massive incident while running in the top-five and ultimately settled for a 24th-place showing.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
NextEra Energy 250 – February 18, 2022
1. (20) Zane Smith, Ford, 106.
2. (27) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, 106.
3. (14) Christian Eckes, Toyota, 106.
4. (24) Tanner Gray, Ford, 106.
5. (31) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 106.
6. (9) Jesse Little, Chevrolet, 106.
7. (1) Ty Majeski, Toyota, 106.
8. (28) Danny Bohn, Chevrolet, 106.
9. (22) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 106.
10. (23) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 106.
11. (15) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 106.
12. (8) Riley Herbst(i), Ford, 106.
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14. (35) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 106.
15. (13) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 106.
16. (5) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 106.
17. (26) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 106.
18. (34) Thad Moffitt, Chevrolet, 106.
19. (12) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 106.
20. (33) Jason White, Toyota, Accident, 105.
21. (3) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 105.
22. (32) Tate Fogleman, Toyota, 105.
23. (25) Bryan Dauzat, Chevrolet, 105.
24. (2) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 104.
25. (10) Lawless Alan #, Chevrolet, Accident, 103.
26. (30) Derek Kraus, Chevrolet, Accident, 101.
27. (29) Matt Crafton, Toyota, Accident, 100.
28. (4) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, Accident, 99.
29. (7) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 99.
30. (18) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, Accident, 99.
31. (19) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, Accident, 99.
32. (6) Corey Heim #, Toyota, Accident, 91.
33. (11) Jack Wood #, Chevrolet, Accident, 63.
34. (36) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, Electrical, 60.
35. (21) Bret Holmes, Chevrolet, Clutch, 44.
36. (17) Dean Thompson #, Chevrolet, Brakes, 36.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 129.146 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 3 Mins, 7 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution.
Caution Flags: 7 for 27 laps.
Lead Changes: 18 among 10 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T. Majeski 1-18;J. Nemechek 19-29;S. Friesen 30-31;T. Majeski 32-34;D. Kraus 35;T. Ankrum 36-37;J. Nemechek 38-43;A. Hill(i) 44;C. Howard 45-51;J. Nemechek 52-64;Z. Smith 65;J. Nemechek 66-67;C. Howard 68;T. Ankrum 69-70;C. Howard 71;J. Nemechek 72-89;B. Rhodes 90-95;C. Eckes 96-104;Z. Smith 105-106.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) John Hunter Nemechek 5 times for 50 laps; Ty Majeski 2 times for 21 laps; Colby Howard 3 times for 9 laps; Christian Eckes 1 time for 9 laps; Ben Rhodes 1 time for 6 laps; Tyler Ankrum 2 times for 4 laps; Zane Smith 2 times for 3 laps; Stewart Friesen 1 time for 2 laps; Derek Kraus 1 time for 1 lap; Austin Hill(i) 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 4,18,52,51,38,23,66,15,32,16
Stage #2 Top Ten: 4,99,18,98,88,22,16,19,7,66
Playoff Standings: 1. Zane Smith – 46 (1 Win); 2. Ben Rhodes – 44; 3. Christian Eckes – 41; 4. Tanner Gray – 36; 5. Ty Majeski – 35; 6. Chandler Smith – 33; 7. John Hunter Nemechek – 33; 8. Parker Kligerman – 32; 9. Jesse Little – 31; 10. Danny Bohn – 29.
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