Christian Eckes Secures Kansas Lottery 200 Win

Christian Eckes clinches the win at Kansas Speedway (Photo: Cole Penning | The Podium Finish)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Christian Eckes roared to the lead in a two-lap shootout, overtaking Corey Heim and Zane Smith to win Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoff race and Kansas Speedway.

Chase Purdy started on the pole for the first time in his career for the Kansas Lottery 200 after qualifying on with a time of 30.631 seconds. Nick Sanchez started second, his seventh front-row start of the 2023 season.

Nick Sanchez quickly scraped past Chase Purdy on Lap 1 of the 134-lap race. Ben Rhodes also swiftly made up more track position from his sixth-place starting position, battling his way to second by Lap 2.

On Lap 14, Bayley Currey brought out the caution after he spun in the backstretch. Grant Enfinger pitted from 10th place during the caution after reporting a vibration in his truck. After restarting with 10 laps to go in Stage 1, Nick Sanchez maintained his track position and stayed in front of Ben Rhodes and Chase Purdy, who ran second and third respectively.

On Lap 27, Kaden Honeycutt brought out the second caution of the day when both of his rear tires went flat, causing him to spin in Turn 4. Nick Sanchez clinched the stage win under the caution.

Nick Sanchez held off Ben Rhodes and Carson Hocevar in the opening laps of Stage 2 to continue dominating the race. Less than 20 laps into the second stage, that domination ended as Carson Hocevar passed Rhodes and created a respectable distance between himself and Sanchez in the No. 2 truck. Hocevar held onto the lead for the rest of Stage 2 and led for a total of 12 laps, securing valuable stage points as well as a playoff point. The stage win was Hocevar’s fourth of 2023.

Before the green flag dropped for Stage 3, Nick Sanchez began having radio issues and communication with his team got cut off. During the stage break, Heim took the lead from Hocevar as the lead-lap cars came down pit road, working his way to the front row for the first time during the race.

After a four-wide restart, Heim maintained the lead followed by Christian Eckes, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar. On Lap 70, Matt Crafton made hard contact with the wall in Turn 2 and dropped 10 spots to 22nd, but a caution did not come out.

On Lap 77, Hocevar took the lead back from Heim. The two young drivers battled for the lead throughout the next several laps, Heim maintaining his position even after brushing the wall in Turn 4 on Lap 85. Heim took back over the lead on Lap 27 on Lap 107 after pitting under green a lap earlier than Hocevar. The fourth caution of the race was brought out by Mason Maggio on Lap 118.

One lap after the restart, another caution was brought out by Rajah Caruth after he went sliding through the grass in the front stretch. That set up for a wild ending on a two-lap shootout. Eckes restarted second on the top row and went three-wide with Heim and Smith, taking the lead on the last lap to secure his third victory of the season. Taylor Gray ended up finishing second.

“Right place right time, that’s usually how these truck restarts go,” Eckes explained after the race. “They’re always really tough and you have to be in the right spot and we got a good position twice to take the lead, and the last one stuck. I’m super proud of everybody, we’ve been working really hard for this.”

Ben Rhodes took the final spot in the Round of 8 on points. He hit the wall in Stage 3, disturbing a top 10 run and instead placing him 25th. Matt DiBenedetto, who ended up third, failed to transfer, as did Matt Crafton.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Nick Sanchez
2. Chase Purdy
3. Ben Rhodes
4. Corey Heim
5. Christian Eckes
6. Zane Smith
7. Jake Drew
8. Grant Enfinger
9. Carson Hocevar
10. Ty Majeski

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Carson Hocevar
2. Nick Sanchez
3. Corey Heim
4. Zane Smith
5. Grant Enfinger
6. Christian Eckes
7. Ben Rhodes
8. Rajah Caruth
9. Matt DiBenedetto
10. Taylor Gray

Kansas Lottery 200 Results

Truck Series Playoff Standings (After Reset