After getting his first Cup Series victory at Talladega Superspeedway five days ago, Carson Hocevar continues his momentum with a win in the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway. He led 76 of 172 laps en route to his first Craftsman Truck Series win of the year, second at the track, and the sixth of his Truck Series career.
“We were really good on restarts,” Hocevar told FOX Sports. “These guys (Spire Motorsports) do a really good job,”
Kyle Busch finished second, making it a Spire Motorsports 1-2 finish. Busch rebounded after going a lap down early after hitting the wall off of turn 4.
Kaden Honeycutt was the highest finishing Truck Series regular with a third-place result in the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota.
Brandon Jones finished fourth, while polesitter Ben Rhodes rounded out the top five.
Layne Riggs and Daniel Hemric finished sixth and seventh, respectively, while Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, and Chandler Smith rounded out the top 10.
The biggest wreck of the night occurred on lap 165. After cutting a tire, Jake Garcia moved down the track, causing Justin Haley to take evasive action through the frontstretch grass, heavily damaging his truck. Meanwhile, Garcia was hit by Conner Jones, destroying both of their trucks.
“My spotter said ‘clear down’ twice,” Garcia told Frontstretch. “About made it to pit road and just got hit.”
Gio Ruggiero ran well for most of the race, finishing third in stages one and two. He led coming to the overtime restart, but he fell back to 14th after sliding up in turn 2 on the final lap.
Hocevar ran strong all night, finishing second in the first stage and winning the second stage. A slow pit stop under green during the final stage set him back multiple spots. Laps after leaving the pits, Hocevar was not as fast as earlier, and he reported a loose wheel. Nevertheless, with assistance from a few cautions and restarts, the No. 77 returned to the lead.
Busch, Honeycutt, and Ruggiero all challenged for the victory late, but in the end, Hocevar was able to score the win.
Following a strong run, Honeycutt takes the Truck Series points lead from Smith. Smith trails Honeycutt by 14 points after seven races.
Texas Truck Series Results
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series continues Friday, May 8 at 4:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 at Watkins Glen International for the Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at the Glen.
Darn good race. Wonder if the Cup cars will race like the trucks?