Kyle Larson overcame a late spin in stage three to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday night, March 21.
Larson began his tripleheader weekend with a miraculous drive to the front from the back of the field to win his fourth race in his 16th Truck start.
“Pretty unbelievable from my seat,” Larson told FOX post-race. “I wasn’t exactly sure if I could get back up there.
“I didn’t have the restart I wanted. I took a little too long to start picking them off and just got to ripping the wall on both ends.”
Larson passed Layne Riggs and Corey Heim in the final laps to claim the victory. Riggs came across second, with the dominant driver of the night, Heim, finishing third. Heim swept the opening stages before mechanical failures prevented him from back-to-back wins.
“With 15 to 20 to go everything seemed fine,” Heim said post-race. “The engine went hard cut on me and the dash would go black. I’d have to pull my right hand over and recycle the power to get any life back in the motor.
“Probably the best truck we’ve ever had, so it stings pretty bad.”
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing driver Tyler Ankrum came across the line in fourth, with teammate Daniel Hemric rounding out the top five in fifth.
Ross Chastain, Jake Garcia, Chandler Smith, Grant Enfinger and Kaden Honeycutt finished sixth through 10th, respectively.
The opening corners saw Gio Ruggiero’s night end early after backing into the outside wall. Ruggiero made slight contact with Chastain before he lost control underneath Enfinger. Ben Rhodes was also caught up in the opening-lap incident, hitting the left side of Ruggiero’s machine.
The race then resumed with Larson and Heim battling for the top spot. Larson opened up a one-second gap midway through stage one before his truck started to fade. Heim and Riggs quickly closed in, with Heim claiming the top spot with less than five to go in the stage. Heim then cruised to the stage victory in the final laps.
Heim opened the stage-two restart from the top spot with Larson alongside. Heim led the majority of the stage, pulling away in the closing laps in what was a sweep of the stages.
Majeski, who finished third in the second stage, received left-front damage on pit road after contact with Honeycutt. Majeski restarted the final stage well behind the field after team repairs.
As stage three began, Chastain, who restarted from seventh, quickly drove to the front, passing Heim to build a lead over a second. With under 50 to go, Heim chased down Chastain and reclaimed the lead.
The second caution for an incident came when Riggs closed into the fading Chastain. Larson, who was behind the two trucks, was able to get involved in the battle of Riggs and Chastain. Larson made his way alongside Riggs before losing control in turn 1.
The following restart saw Chastain once again drive past Heim to claim the lead. Like the previous restart, Chastain’s lead was short lived as Heim took control.
Heim pulled away before suffering an unexpected issue late in the race. Chastain and Riggs took the lead late as Heim struggled to get his truck back to pace.
Riggs gained the lead late after an intense battle with Chastain with a hard-charging Larson making his way through the field.
Larson closed the gap, heading to victory lane and scoring Spire Motorsports its second Truck win of the season.
Truck Homestead Results
The Truck Series heads to the first short track of its season at Martinsville Speedway on Friday (March 28) at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
