Carson Hocevar celebrates in victory lane after winning Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway. Photo: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
Carson Hocevar took the lead with 40 laps remaining in Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway.
From there, he held off every challenge necessary in the closing laps – including a frantic push from his competitors on a restart with three laps remaining – to earn his second career victory.
Hocevar edged out reigning series champion Zane Smith and Nick Sanchez by a slight .271-second margin in a tightly-contested final push toward the finish line among the trio.
The win makes him the fourth multi-race winner of the season, and gives him an impressive fifth consecutive top 5 finish.
Ironically, Hocevar’s first career win came after Smith and Sanchez wrecked at the front of the field on the final lap of double overtime at Texas Motor Speedway. This time, the only drama was the Michigan native’s impressive pace out front in the closing laps.
“I’m so excited I can finally put that other to rest,” Hocevar said of the circumstances of his first win, adding, “And hopefully I can win a lot more races for them (Neice Motorsports).”
Hocevar’s effort earned him not only the one-of-a-kind Nashville winner’s guitar but also an extra $50,000 as part of the Craftsman Truck Series’ Triple Truck Challenge program. He joins Ben Rhodes and Grant Enfinger as the three recipients of the three-race bonus money this season.
Marietta, Georgia’s Corey Heim and Bayley Currey rounded out the top 5 on Friday. Heim led the most laps – 57 of the 150 on the night – and won Stage 2. He also leads the championship by 16 points over Smith.
Although he missed out on his first trophy, it was still an impressive night for Sanchez, who earned his third pole position of the season.
In the opening laps, Sanchez and Rajah Caruth set the pace out front. The former ARCA competitors and NASCAR Drive for Diversity graduates raced nose-to-tail and door-to-door throughout the opening stage. Sanchez led the opening 35 laps, and after multiple spirited duels between the two, Caruth finally got around Sanchez on lap 36 to lead his first career lap in NCTS competition. But his night went south a lap later when mechanical gremlins forced him to relinquish the lead. He returned to the race many laps down and ultimately settled for a 32nd place finish.
The opening stage concluded in similar drama when Smith got by Sanchez in the closing laps to claim his second stage win of the season.
“At the end of the day, it was a good points night, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed,” Sanchez said.
Chase Purdy, Matt DiBenedetto, Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes, and Monroe, Georgia’s Jake Garcia rounded out the top 10.
It was a tough day for veteran Stewart Friesen, who was involved in two incidents that brought out caution periods. He dropped from ninth to 11th in the standings with only three regular season races remaining to set the 10-driver Playoff field.
Sanchez’s effort at Nashville combined with Friesen’s tough-luck night moved the Miami rookie into that all-important 10th place position with a six-point advantage on Friesen.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Nashville Superspeedway – Nashville, TN
Rackley Roofing 200 – June 23, 2023
1. (7) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 150.
2. (8) Zane Smith, Ford, 150.
3. (1) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 150.
4. (4) Corey Heim, Toyota, 150.
5. (2) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 150.
6. (12) Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 150.
7. (15) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 150.
8. (17) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 150.
9. (16) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 150.
10. (21) Jake Garcia #, Chevrolet, 150.
11. (5) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 150.
12. (24) Jake Drew, Ford, 150.
13. (6) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 150.
14. (10) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 150.
15. (23) Matt Crafton, Ford, 150.
16. (22) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 150.
17. (28) Toni Breidinger, Toyota, 150.
18. (18) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 150.
19. (29) Nick Leitz, Chevrolet, 149.
20. (32) Mason Maggio, Ford, 149.
21. (34) Cory Roper, Ford, 148.
22. (9) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 148.
23. (14) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 148.
24. (27) Jonathan Shafer, Toyota, 147.
25. (33) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 147.
26. (35) Chase Janes, Ford, 147.
27. (31) Layne Riggs, Chevrolet, 147.
28. (20) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 146.
29. (25) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 144.
30. (13) Jack Wood, Chevrolet, 144.
31. (11) Ty Majeski, Ford, 133.
32. (3) Rajah Caruth #, Chevrolet, 119.
33. (36) Dean Thompson, Toyota, DVP, 104.
34. (26) Bret Holmes #, Chevrolet, Accident, 92.
35. (30) Memphis Villarreal, Toyota, Electrical, 26.
36. (19) Lawless Alan, Chevrolet, Accident, 7.
Average Speed: 102.075 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 57 Mins, 16 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.271 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 43 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: N. Sanchez # 1-35;R. Caruth # 36;N. Sanchez # 37-38;Z. Smith 39-49;C. Heim 50-61;B. Currey 62;C. Heim 63-87;M. DiBenedetto 88-90;C. Heim 91-110;C. Hocevar 111-150.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Corey Heim 3 times for 57 laps; Carson Hocevar 1 time for 40 laps; Nick Sanchez # 2 times for 37 laps; Zane Smith 1 time for 11 laps; Matt DiBenedetto 1 time for 3 laps; Bayley Currey 1 time for 1 lap; Rajah Caruth # 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 38,2,41,42,11,16,15,23,25,17
Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,42,25,38,99,16,41,15,66,19
Playoff Standings: 1. Zane Smith – 458 (2 Wins); 2. Grant Enfinger – 443 (2 Wins); 3. Christian Eckes – 404 (2 Wins); 4. Carson Hocevar – 393 (2 Wins); 5. Corey Heim – 474 (1 Win); 6. Ben Rhodes – 427 (1 Win); 7. Ty Majeski – 430; 8. Matt DiBenedetto – 358; 9. Matt Crafton – 354; 10. Nick Sanchez – 350.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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