CONCORD, N.C. — The inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL on Friday (Oct. 3) provided more than a few surprises.
One of those surprises came lap 1, when all the leaders came together in turn 1 and crashed, opening the race up to others and causing playoff chaos.
The crash itself spawned another surprise: the emergence of Brent Crews as the leader of the race.
It’s no question that Crews has speed — but with TRICON Garage teammate Corey Heim seemingly out of contention due to the lap 1 crash, it seemed like it was anybody’s race to win, and boy, did Crews took full advantage.
Crews dominated the entire afternoon, leading 56 of the race’s 70 laps — he probably would have led them all if he and his No. 1 team hadn’t decided to flip the stages in favor of a better finish.
Even teammate Heim, seeking win No. 10 on the year, who somehow, some way, battled back to second after the lap 1 crash, appeared to be unable to run down Crews, even in the long run.
It seemed like the race was right there for the taking for the 17-year-old.
But then, the caution came out when, in a cruel twist of fate, Crews’ own teammate Toni Breidinger ran out of gas and stalled on the track. That would reset the field for an overtime restart, erasing Crews’ near two-second lead and giving Heim a shot at the win.
It didn’t help that Crews team brought him to pit road for fuel, but he was fortunate in that all but four trucks also came to pit road with him. While Heim cycled to the front by virtue of staying out, Crews restarted seventh.
Crews had a front row seat to the melee that ensued in turn 7, in which most of the frontrunners that stayed out came together, allowing Heim to scurry away and open up his lead.
Despite sneaking his way through to second, time ran out for Crews. As Heim made history with his 10th win of the season, Crews was forced to walk away from his dominant performance without his first career win.
”Racing is a cruel and an amazing sport,” Crews said after the race. “Just hate it for my team that we weren’t able to go to victory lane today. We had the winning [truck] for sure there. Just sucks to run second.”
Crews has had experience leading laps and winning races in the ARCA Menards Series as recently as this season — he has four national series wins, all of which serve as combination wins with both the East and West Series.
But Crews also knew that leading laps in a truck — especially being as dominant as he was at the ROVAL — was crucial to learning as he works his way up the NASCAR ladder.
”It’s different leading in trucks when you have Connor Zilisch and Corey Heim behind you,” Crews said. “Being able to race against those guys — you don’t get that opportunity all the time. So [I’m] grateful to be in that position and race against those two guys as well.”
Despite the heartbreak of missing out on his first career, Crews remains optimistic going forward. As a 17-year-old with a long career ahead of him and the support he has with Toyota and Toyota Gazoo Racing, Crews knows these kinds of emotions are just part of the sport.
”Grateful to be able to have these shots at it,” Crews said. “If we weren’t fast, then I wouldn’t be able to have these emotions. So I’m grateful to be able to have these highest of highs and lowest of lows.”
Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and serves as an at-track reporter. He has also assisted with short track content and social media, among other duties he takes/has taken on for the site. In 2025, he became an official member of the National Motorsports Press Association. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight coordinator in his free time.
You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.