It might just have been a one-off start for fun for Joey Logano in a truck on dirt, but he still pulled off the perfect race Saturday night at Bristol. With his Cup Series teammate Ryan Blaney in his ear as temporary spotter, Logano won all three stages, led 138 of the 150 laps, and crossed the finish line 1.241 seconds ahead of ThorsSport Racing teammate Ty Majeski.
It’s just his second win in the Truck Series too, something he said came out of last-minute calls to ThorSport Racing and Hang 10 Car Wash.
“My fun meter was pegged tonight,” said Logano. “I had a lot of fun out here racing at Bristol. The dirt’s a lot of fun. Hopefully, tomorrow is just as good with the other car.”
“I was getting some good info from Blaney,” he said of his first-time spotter, “on how they were running around the racetrack and things I could do to be better inside the truck. I was definitely able to kind of take it and put it all together and be able to make it all work. I just kind of moved around the track and found what was best for us and figure out how to drive the truck from there.”
He was especially able to capitalize on restarts, keeping the field behind him during 11 cautions after grabbing the lead early. As for experience for Sunday, while he said the truck doesn’t drive much like a Next Gen car, the goal is always to sweep the weekend.
“It’s kind of neat being able to win a Cup race, an Xfinity race, and now a Truck race all at the same track,” he admitted. “That’s kind of cool. I don’t think I’ve done that before.”
As for Majeski, who finished runner-up to his temporary teammate, second was pretty good considering the competition.
“He’s a two-time Cup champion for a reason,” Majeski said. “Just happy we got ThorSport in Victory Lane. ThorSport deserves to be in Victory Lane—just wish it was us. Just one spot short.”
Still, he said, “We’re hitting on all cylinders right now and we legitimately have fun going to the racetrack together. It’s a job to everybody, but we’re having fun doing this and the guys are going that extra little bit at the shop to make these race trucks the best that we can make them.”
In third was another Cup Series driver in William Byron, who was driving the 51 truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Matt Crafton and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top five.
Jake Garcia, Cup driver Chase Briscoe, Tanner Gray, Kaden Honeycutt and Matt DiBenedetto all scored a top ten.
Two drivers with a dirt background couldn’t quite make it up to the top of the field late. Dirt late model ace Jonathan Davenport, who will be driving for Kaulig Racing in the Cup Series event, finished 14th, one spot behind Hailie Deegan in 13th, who ran as high as third during the early stages of the race.
“I think we had a lot of speed,” Deegan said. “I think there were some things I did wrong during the race, honestly, and some things to learn from when we come back. I think I could have made a few different decisions than I did… I wish we could have done better. I think we had a truck better than we finished, so we’ll see. It’s on to the next one.”
The race had 11 cautions for 64 laps, as trucks rubbed fenders and cut tires, which led to repeated spins on the slick clay surface. Majeski leads the series standings by 34 points over defending champion Zane Smith, who was collected in a three-truck accident on Lap 95 and finished 21st.
The Truck Series returns on April 14th at Martinsville for the Long John Silver’s 200.
Photos: NASCAR at Bristol Motor Speedway, Saturday Apr. 8, 2023
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Results Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt
Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt
Bristol, Tennessee
Saturday, April 8, 2023
1. (4) Joey Logano(i), Ford, 150.
2. (2) Ty Majeski, Ford, 150.
3. (14) William Byron(i), Chevrolet, 150.
4. (8) Matt Crafton, Ford, 150.
5. (11) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 150.
6. (26) Jake Garcia #, Chevrolet, 150.
7. (10) Chase Briscoe(i), Ford, 150.
8. (34) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 150.
9. (3) Kaden Honeycutt, Ford, 150.
10. (24) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 150.
11. (15) Rajah Caruth #, Chevrolet, 150.
12. (29) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 150.
13. (6) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 150.
14. (25) Jonathan Davenport(i), Chevrolet, 150.
15. (12) Corey Heim, Toyota, 150.
16. (22) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 150.
17. (27) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 150.
18. (17) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 150.
19. (7) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 150.
20. (19) Bret Holmes #, Chevrolet, 150.
21. (1) Zane Smith, Ford, 150.
22. (32) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 150.
23. (5) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 150.
24. (30) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 150.
25. (28) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 148.
26. (31) Tanner Carrick, Toyota, 147.
27. (35) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 147.
28. (16) Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 147.
29. (33) Tyler Carpenter, Chevrolet, Accident, 117.
30. (13) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, Accident, 96.
31. (21) Parker Kligerman(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 85.
32. (36) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, Accident, 75.
33. (23) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, Accident, 25.
34. (9) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, Accident, 8.
35. (18) Mason Massey, Ford, Accident, 7.
36. (20) Stefan Parsons(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 7.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 39.301 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 54 Mins, 30 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.241 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 11 for 64 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Z. Smith 0;T. Majeski 1;J. Logano(i) 2-40;M. DiBenedetto 41-51;J. Logano(i) 52-150.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Joey Logano(i) 2 times for 138 laps; Matt DiBenedetto 1 time for 11 laps; Ty Majeski 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 66,98,51,04,88,13,23,38,52,75
Stage #2 Top Ten: 66,98,51,52,25,15,88,38,22,32
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