(Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — For the third time in eight races, Zane Smith is a winner in the 2022 Camping World Truck Series. Leading 108 of 134 laps, Smith pulled away from Ty Majeski and others on a late restart to win the Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway.
“Just a really good truck,” Smith said postrace. “I really enjoy coming to [Kansas]. I’ve been searching for a mile and a half win for a while now it feels like, and I’ve had a lot of them taken from me.
“I felt good it practice and everything seemed good, but you really don’t know,” Smith said. “I feel like our mile and a half stuff is really good and I feel I’ve gotten way, way better on mile and a halves.”
Smith qualified his No. 38 truck for Front Row Motorsports in fourth position and took his first lead of the night just four laps in. On Lap 18, Corey Heim passed him for the lead to win the stage, while Smith slipped back to third.
On Lap 38, shortly after the Stage 2 restart, Smith took the lead back. He led the rest of the stage for a Stage 2 victory, but surrendered the lead to Ben Rhodes on the pit cycle. He quickly regained the lead after the restart up until Lap 93, when he once again pit during a caution.
On Lap 123, Smith had a sizeable lead and seemed to have the race under control. But, a Dean Thompson spin brought out the caution and led to a restart with eight laps to go. John Hunter Nemechek, who restarted in second place, spun his tires, allowing Smith to jump ahead. Majeski took second, but couldn’t come close to running Smith down in the final laps.
“Anything in NASCAR is hard to close out,” Smith said. “Truck races are just crazy. I’ve been on both sides of it. They’re just never over until it’s over. Even coming to two [laps] to go, I’m like ‘there’s going to be a caution’. So, at that time, I was just preparing mentally for what I should do in that situation.”
Smith recorded his sixth career Truck victory and is the only driver in the series with multiple wins on the season.
“I feel like communication is a whole lot better,” Smith said. “The biggest difference in racing that I haven’t really had yet is the off-track communication. I never realized how valuable that really is.”
Notables:
- Majeski’s second-place finish is the best of his career
- Grant Enfinger finished third for the second consecutive race
- Chandler Smith secured his fourth top five in eight races
- John Hunter Nemechek finished sixth after winning the pole
- Matt DiBenedetto recorded his third top 10 of the season
- Derek Kraus finished eighth, his best finish of the season
- 2022 series champion Ben Rhodes finished 10th
- Riley Herbst finished 12th in a one-off for David Gilliland Racing
- Stewart Friesen finished 14th after missing practice and qualifying due to flight delays
- Corey Heim finished 33rd after motor issues and hitting the wall in the final stage
Results:
STAGE 1: Corey Heim, Ty Majeski, Zane Smith, Chandler Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Derek Kraus, Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton, Tanner Gray, Carson Hocevar
STAGE 2: Zane Smith, Corey Heim, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Majeski, Ben Rhodes, Carson Hocevar, Tanner Gray, Derek Kraus, Colby Howard, Stewart Friesen
FINAL: Zane Smith, Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger, Chandler Smith, Christian Eckes, John Hunter Nemechek, Matt DiBenedetto, Derek Kraus, Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes
Next:
The Camping World Truck Series returns to action Friday, May 20 at Texas Motor Speedway for the SpeedyCash.com 220. The race is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
