Looking at the stats it might seem that Zane Smith was on an easy path to a win and the NASCAR Truck Series title Friday night at Phoenix Raceway.
Smith swept the stages and led the most laps on the night, 78.
Those stats, however, don’t exactly tell the whole story. Smith did dominate much of the race, but a late caution had him coming into the pits and restarting deep in the field while his three title rivals finally had a chance and restarted ahead of him.
Smith charged through the field as the laps wound down and with 4 to go, he was looking for the lead. Smith and fellow title contender Ty Majeski got together with Majeski seeing his title hopes end with a spin and a crash that set up an overtime finish.
On the restart Smith was able to muscle his way past 2021 series champion Ben Rhodes for the lead and then held off the hard-charging Chandler Smith to take his maiden NASCAR championship as Rhodes held on for second place.
“I wasn’t gonna let it go down like that,” Smith said. “I knew when I came out 11th that I’ve been in way uglier times before, and I was either wrecked or I was coming home with the championship trophy, and we got the big one.”
Majeski finished 20th.
“I thought the best opportunity there for us was to try to wiggle the 38 (Zane Smith) a little bit and try to get underneath him and try to set up the race between Ben (Rhodes) and I,” Majeski said. “I was just trying to be aggressive underneath him and lost it off of (turn) two. All you can ask for is the chance to win the championship with five to go and we had that tonight, and it just didn’t pan out.”
Behind Chandler Smith, John Hunter Nemechek and Stewart Friesen completed the top five. Grant Enfinger, Corey Heim, Tanner Gray, Kaden Honeycutt and Carson Hocevar rounded out the top 10.
Friday race was the last for the NASCAR Camping World Truck series. When the series resumes at Daytona next February it will be the rebranded NASCAR Craftsman Truck series.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race Results Lucas Oil 150
Phoenix Raceway
Avondale, Arizona
Friday, November 4, 2022
1. (1) Zane Smith (P), Ford, 154.
2. (6) Ben Rhodes (P), Toyota, 154.
3. (12) Chandler Smith (P), Toyota, 154.
4. (10) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 154.
5. (5) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 154.
6. (13) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 154.
7. (3) Corey Heim #, Toyota, 154.
8. (4) Tanner Gray, Ford, 154.
9. (15) Kaden Honeycutt, Toyota, 154.
10. (22) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 154.
11. (23) Derek Kraus, Chevrolet, 154.
12. (9) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 154.
13. (2) Layne Riggs, Toyota, 154.
14. (24) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 154.
15. (20) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 154.
16. (17) Jake Garcia, Chevrolet, 154.
17. (21) Taylor Gray, Ford, 154.
18. (32) Lawless Alan #, Chevrolet, 154.
19. (19) Chase Purdy, Toyota, 154.
20. (8) Ty Majeski (P), Toyota, 154.
21. (26) Dean Thompson #, Chevrolet, 154.
22. (11) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 153.
23. (31) Tyler Hill, Toyota, 152.
24. (30) Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 152.
25. (25) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, 152.
26. (28) Chris Hacker, Toyota, 152.
27. (29) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 152.
28. (27) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 152.
29. (16) Jack Wood #, Chevrolet, 151.
30. (7) Christian Eckes, Toyota, 151.
31. (14) Hailie Deegan, Ford, Accident, 133.
32. (18) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, Accident, 106.
33. (33) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, Too Slow, 63.
34. (34) Keith McGee, Chevrolet, DVP, 15.
35. (35) Armani Williams, Chevrolet, Accident, 6.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 89.003 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 43 Mins, 49 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.236 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 41 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Z. Smith (P) 1;L. Riggs 2-6;Z. Smith (P) 7-48;J. Nemechek 49;C. Heim # 50-54;J. Nemechek 55-86;Z. Smith (P) 87-93;J. Nemechek 94-97;C. Smith (P) 98-105;J. Nemechek 106-111;Z. Smith (P) 112-136;J. Nemechek 137;S. Friesen 138-143;B. Rhodes (P) 144-151;C. Smith (P) 152;Z. Smith (P) 153-154.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Zane Smith (P) 5 times for 77 laps; John Hunter Nemechek 5 times for 44 laps; Chandler Smith (P) 2 times for 9 laps; Ben Rhodes (P) 1 time for 8 laps; Stewart Friesen 1 time for 6 laps; Layne Riggs 1 time for 5 laps; Corey Heim # 1 time for 5 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 38,51,52,4,88,99,23,18,98,62
Stage #2 Top Ten: 38,4,18,51,66,88,23,52,17,99
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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