(Photo: Jordan Anders | The Podium Finish)
After winning two of the final five Camping World Truck Series races in 2021, Chandler Smith has picked up right where he left off. Leading 32 laps, Smith fended off Zane Smith and Kyle Busch on a late restart to win the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
With three laps to go, Chandler Smith restarted third and pushed Busch, his boss, into Turn 1 in the inside lane. Zane Smith took the lead in the middle of the corner past Chandler Smith with Busch behind in third. On the final lap, Chandler Smith crossed over Zane Smith exiting Turn 2 and passed him on the backstretch, winning by several car lengths.
Smith won his third career Truck race, which is also his third win in the last seven races.
“The Good Lord, man, he performs miracles all day. He gives me the talent the opportunity to drive this truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports,” Chandler Smith told FOX postrace. “I’m just beyond thankful for this whole opportunity.
“I’m just another guy trying to race cars for a living. I’ll do whatever the Good Lord lets me do.”
Zane Smith crossed the line second but was disqualified by NASCAR after a lugnut issue in postrace inspection. It would have been his second consecutive top-two finish after winning at Daytona two weeks ago. Busch finished third in the first of his five Truck Series events in 2022.
“The 18 was definitely the best truck tonight, so they did a good job being able to execute there,” Busch said. “Our JBL Tundra was just not quite as good as theirs. They were able to change lanes in the turns and do a lot of cool stuff — I couldn’t do that.”
Notable Cautions:
Lap 28: Five trucks collected damage in Turn 1 after a crash with three laps remaining in Stage 1. Colby Howard, Chase Purdy and Hailie Deegan all suffered extensive damage. Deegan and Howard did not finish the race, while Purdy finished 14th. Matt Crafton and Zane Smith each had minor damage but continued.
Lap 105: Ty Majeski turned teammate and defending series champion Ben Rhodes into the outside wall on the frontstretch. Rhodes suffered major damage and did not finish the race. He placed 31st.
Lap 125: While leading, Christian Eckes and Kyle Busch made contact on the backstretch, sending Eckes into the inside wall and back across the track in Turn 3.
Lap 134: John Hunter Nemechek blew and tire and collected Jordan Anderson on the final lap. Nemechek restarted in the third row with three laps to go but dropped back after difficulties getting up to speed. Nemechek and Anderson finished 25th and 26th, respectively. Spencer Boyd also crashed on the final lap and finished 27th. He suffered a dislocated right shoulder and was transported to a local medical facility for further treatment.
Results:
Stage 1: Ben Rhodes, Chandler Smith, Tanner Gray, Jack Wood, Carson Hocevar, Matt Crafton, Kyle Busch, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Majeski, Ryan Preece
Stage 2: Ben Rhodes, Kyle Busch, Ty Majeski, John Hunter Nemechek, Tanner Gray, Chandler Smith, Matt Crafton, Christian Eckes, Stewart Friesen, Derek Kraus
Final: Chandler Smith, Kyle Busch, Stewart Friesen, Ryan Preece, Tanner Gray, Matt DiBenedetto, Matt Crafton, Bret Holmes, Austin Wayne Self, Ty Majeski
Notes:
- Todd Bodine made his first Truck Series start since 2013. He finished 21st for Halmar Friesen Racing after two spins.
- Austin Wayne Self finished top 10 at Las Vegas for the second consecutive time.
- Stewart Friesen has finished top 10 in each of his last five races at Las Vegas.
- Zane Smith earns just one point after his disqualification.
Next:
The Truck Series returns on Saturday, Mar. 19 at the newly reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET.
