(Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
SONOMA, Calif. — For the first time since 1998, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series made a stop in Wine Country to visit Sonoma Raceway. Leading 45 of the 75 laps, Kyle Busch dominated the second half of the race, winning the DoorDash 250 in his final Truck start of the season. Without the victory, Busch would have snapped a 10-season streak of at least one Truck Series victory.
“It feels good to get that win. Trucks haven’t been here in a long, long time,” Busch said. “I wanted to do it just with the history and the nostalgia of the Truck Series and it being born from California.”
Busch admittedly struggled in practice and qualifying earlier in the weekend, but started Saturday’s race from the second position after polesitter Carson Hocevar dropped to the rear. Ross Chastain, who started the race in front of Busch, led the first 19 laps before pitting prior to the end of Stage 1. Chastain handed Ty Majeski the stage win as Busch also pitted.
Shortly after the Stage 2 restart, Busch passed Chastain for the lead. He held the lead until Lap 43 when he pitted before the end of the stage to preserve track position. Ben Rhodes stayed out to win the stage and pad his regular-season points lead.
Busch retook the lead at the beginning of Stage 3 and held it until Lap 62, when he pitted during a caution. Rhodes restarted with the lead on the ensuing restart but Busch quickly passed him and drove away. With four laps to go, Stewart Friesen and Josh Bilicki crashed in Turn 1, bringing out a red flag and setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Busch jumped ahead on the restart and held off Zane Smith for the win.
(Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
“It was good to come out and knock the rust off a little bit with the road racing and stuff,” Busch said. “I didn’t want to run sim this week, so I thought the road course would knock that off.
“We were in position a few times this year. We had a couple really, really fast race trucks. Vegas comes to mind, COTA (Circuit of the Americas) comes to mind, so we didn’t miss by very much, just circumstances, but proud to get one today. Everything kind of went our way, and we had a fast truck.”
Zane Smith started the race in 13th but quietly worked his way through the field for a second-place finish. He’s just 12 points behind Rhodes in the regular-season points standings.
“I just hate finishing second, especially to him,” Smith said. “That last lap was the fastest lap of the race for me, I just wish I was a little bit closer so I would have had a shot at him.”
Notables
- Ty Majeski finished third and recorded his seventh top 10 of the season.
- Ross Chastain finished fourth in his final Truck race of the season.
- Carson Hocevar was credited with a sixth-place finish. But, due to his ankle injury, Daniel Suarez replaced him after 11 laps.
- Parker Kligerman recorded his fourth top 10 in six races with his seventh-place finish.
- Matt DiBenedetto finished 10th and recorded his sixth top 10 of the season.
- Harrison Burton, Cup driver for Wood Brothers Racing, finished 12th in his first race at Sonoma.
- Austin Dillon, Cup driver for Richard Childress Racing, finished 17th.
- Todd Bodine, in his fourth of six races on his farewell tour, finished 20th.
- Blaine Perkins finished a season-best 21st.
- Alex Bowman, Cup driver for Hendrick Motorsports, finished 29th after a late pit road penalty and damage.
- Stewart Friesen crashed and finished 31st after qualifying 10th.
- Hailie Deegan crashed and finished 32nd after qualifying ninth.
Results
Stage 1: Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, John Hunter Nemechek, Grant Enfinger, Parker Kligerman, Matt DiBenedetto, Derek Kraus, Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Hailie Deegan
Stage 2: Ben Rhodes, Chandler Smith, Chase Purdy, Kaz Grala, Carson Hocevar*, Austin Dillon, Timmy Hill, Dean Thompson, Hailie Deegan, Todd Bodine
Final: Kyle Busch, Zane Smith, Ty Majeski, Ross Chastain, Chandler Smith, Carson Hocevar*, Parker Kligerman, John Hunter Nemechek, Tyler Ankrum, Matt DiBenedetto
*denotes Daniel Suarez drove in place of Hocevar while Hocevar scored points.
Next
The Camping World Truck Series returns to action next Saturday at Knoxville Raceway for the second dirt race of the season. The race is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET on FS1.
