Even before the All-Star Race, it’s Kyle Larson who gets to be remembered as the first winner in NASCAR’s return to the legendary North Wilkesboro Speedway. And his participation in the Tyson 250 Craftsman Truck Series race wasn’t even supposed to happen.
He took on the No. 7 Spire Motorsports truck, a team allied with Hendrick Motorsports, after Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman was injured in a sprint car accident.
Larson’s third win in just fifteen career starts in the Truck Series came in overtime after a caution-filled race, and he ultimately beat ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski by .974 seconds. Though it was just his first truck series start this season, it didn’t take him long to get acclimated and he led 138 of the 252 laps.
“It was a really fun track there, especially in the truck where you can use the apron and such at both ends,” said Larson. “I had a good time. That was a lot of fun on the long runs.”
As for what the win means: “It’s extremely special,” he said. “They’ve done a great job of touching on the history this week.”
“I didn’t even think that I would set foot on this facility… I’ve driven by it a few times, but I never thought that I would race here. Getting the chance to race here was neat. All the legends, basically, have raced here: to be on the winner’s list is special, even if it’s in the Truck Series. It’s definitely up there for sure.”
Majeski benefited massively from track position, making up ten positions on pit road in the closing laps by taking two tires. The extra grip was still enough to make quick work of Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain, both of whom stayed out. Holding off the rest of the field earned him the runner-up spot.
“Yeah, we just missed it today,” Majeski said. “Sometimes when you’re in the back with nothing to lose, you make gutsy calls, jumping on two tires there, and we were just able to hold off guys who put four tires on. So, a subpar day for us turned into a good finish.”
“Larson was just better,” he added. “I wasn’t gonna drive into one and move him. We were lucky just to be in that spot.”
Matt DiBenedetto finished third, followed by Carson Hocevar. Both drivers managed to get by Bubba Wallace, who fell back to fifth after not taking tires in the closing laps.
“The history is cool,” Wallace said. “For me, racing on something different – a place that is worn out – and allows tire fall off. I thought that was really, really fun. We needed it to go green from start to finish, because we were really good on that long run in the second stage, I think. We went from fourteenth to fourth.”
“All-in-all, good day. I appreciate the opportunity with TRICON and everybody at Pristine Auction. Thanks for coming on board. It’s just frustrating. It would have been fun to battle more with Larson, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Corey Heim, who was up front early, finished sixth. He was followed by Matt Crafton, who ran lower than any other driver in the newly-paved apron. Chase Purdy, Ross Chastain, and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top ten.
The first Truck Series race at the .625-mile track since 1996 set its own new record: 12 cautions for 81 laps. Zane Smith, who was collected in multicar incident on Lap 201 after a speeding penalty put the frontrunner back in the field, shrugged it off.
“Just a product of what happens when you get put back there,” he said.
The Truck Series returns for the Toyota 200 at the World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis on June 3rd.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – Tyson 250
North Wilkesboro Speedway
North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Saturday, May 20, 2023
1. (8) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 252.
2. (3) Ty Majeski, Ford, 252.
3. (15) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 252.
4. (2) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 252.
5. (14) Bubba Wallace(i), Toyota, 252.
6. (1) Corey Heim, Toyota, 252.
7. (18) Matt Crafton, Ford, 252.
8. (24) Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 252.
9. (12) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 252.
10. (7) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 252.
11. (4) William Byron(i), Chevrolet, 252.
12. (32) Chris Hacker, Toyota, 252.
13. (33) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 252.
14. (16) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 252.
15. (6) Bret Holmes #, Chevrolet, 252.
16. (9) Christopher Bell(i), Toyota, 252.
17. (11) Kaden Honeycutt, Chevrolet, 252.
18. (31) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 252.
19. (22) Lawless Alan, Chevrolet, 252.
20. (10) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 252.
21. (27) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 252.
22. (34) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 252.
23. (21) Jake Garcia #, Chevrolet, 252.
24. (5) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 252.
25. (13) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 252.
26. (17) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 250.
27. (35) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 250.
28. (28) Josh Williams(i), Ford, Water Pump, 221.
29. (30) Conner Jones, Ford, Electrical, 219.
30. (20) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 213.
31. (26) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 211.
32. (36) Zane Smith, Ford, Accident, 204.
33. (19) Ben Rhodes, Ford, Accident, 202.
34. (23) Rajah Caruth #, Chevrolet, Accident, 200.
35. (25) Dean Thompson, Toyota, Accident, 182.
36. (29) Johnny Sauter, Ford, Electrical, 153.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 68.769 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 17 Mins, 25 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.974 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 12 for 81 laps.
Lead Changes: 6 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Heim 1-43;C. Hocevar 44-59;W. Byron(i) 60-69;C. Heim 70-101;K. Larson(i) 102-224;B. Wallace(i) 225-237;K. Larson(i) 238-252.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Larson(i) 2 times for 138 laps; Corey Heim 2 times for 75 laps; Carson Hocevar 1 time for 16 laps; Bubba Wallace(i) 1 time for 13 laps; William Byron(i) 1 time for 10 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,51,61,9,42,52,38,7,4,16
Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,42,38,11,51,25,23,41,1,16
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