MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – APRIL 07: William Byron, driver of the #7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 at Martinsville Speedway on April 07, 2022 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — In a one-off for Spire Motorsports, William Byron led 94 laps, including the last 84, en route to a Camping World Truck Series victory in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 at Martinsville Speedway. It was Byron’s first win in the series since 2016 when he was last full time, and Spire’s first win at that level.
“It’s really cool,” Byron said. “A lot had changed in the Truck Series. A lot of new faces and more aggressive racing… It’s been a fun ride since I’ve been in the Truck Series and it was cool to come back.”
Rain washed out qualifying, meaning the field was set based on owner points. Byron started 32nd and had to work his way through the field. But, after the pit cycle at the end of Stage 2, Byron took his first lead of the day.
“I was fine for the first 10 laps, then we had that long caution and I started to panic,” Byron said. “I’m like ‘we’re way far back and if we were going to run this many cautions, how was I going to get to the front?’ It was a little nerve-racking.”
On a Lap 117 restart, Byron took the lead from Chandler Smith and surrendered it. He survived three more cautions and took the checkered flag after a 35-lap run to end the race.
“I was really worried about a restart,” Byron said. “As that long run progressed, it went longer than I thought… I was worried about not leaving the bottom open.”
Johnny Sauter, in a part-time schedule, finished second in the No. 13 truck for ThorSport Racing. Sauter made the field on a past champion’s provisional and recorded his best finish since Las Vegas in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic. He had Junior Joiner, Matt Crafton’s long-time crew chief, atop the pit box for the race.
“I told Joiner today, I said don’t listen to me when I give you feedback on the first run,” Sauter said. “I called for an adjustment, and I shouldn’t have. I thought we fired off tremendous and just got a little too tight there at the two-thirds mark of the corner.”
Results:
Stage 1: Zane Smith, Stewart Friesen, Ben Rhodes, John Hunter Nemechek, Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes, Derek Kraus, Tanner Gray, Chase Purdy, Tyler Ankrum
Stage 2: Ben Rhodes, Christian Eckes, Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Majeski, Matt DiBenedetto, Parker Kligerman, Grant Enfinger, Taylor Gray
Final: William Byron, Johnny Sauter, Kyle Busch, John Hunter Nemechek, Ben Rhodes, Chandler Smith, Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger, Zane Smith, Tyler Ankrum
Notables:
- Kyle Busch finished third in his third Truck race of the season. He also finished top five in the other two.
- Ben Rhodes recorded his fourth consecutive top-five finish. He leads Chandler Smith in points by four.
- With a seventh-place finish, Matt Crafton finished in the top 10 for the second time in 2022.
- Zane Smith finished ninth for his fourth top 10 of the season. A pit road penalty shuffled him out of contention at the end of Stage 2.
- Stewart Friesen finished 13th after spinning in a top-five battle with 68 to go.
- After three straight DNFs, Hailie Deegan finished 18th. She battled back after early contact with Sauter and the wall created a tire rub.
- Jack Wood recorded his fourth DNF in five races.
Next:
The series travels to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt, the first of two dirt races this season. The race is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Saturday on FS1. Afterward, the Truck Series is off for two weeks before eight consecutive weeks with a race.
