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Australia

Zane Smith dominates in Kansas Truck win over Majeski

Zane Smith dominated Saturday night’s NASCAR Truck Series race at Kansas, taking his third win of the 2022 season.

Watch: Zane Smith after Kansas win: ‘One of my easier ones I’ve ever had to win’

Smith held off John Hunter Nemechek on a restart with eight of 134 laps remaining and then took the checkered flag 1.653 seconds ahead of Ty Majeski to win at Kansas Speedway.

Smith, 22, now has three wins this season – one each on a superspeedway, road course and now intermediate track. He led 108 laps in what was also the sixth victory of his career.

 

“It was just an unbelievable truck,” Smith said. “We struggled there in the first stage. I felt like I made mistakes last week with adjusting too much in the heat of the day and it wasn’t right in the night.

“This was our Vegas truck. I feel like this would have been an image of Vegas – what we did tonight – if I didn’t get damage early in the race there.

“That late-race restart scared me a little. It’s a good thing we didn’t have another one there because I was stuck in fourth (gear). So, sorry for the no burnout!”

Grant Enfinger ended up third, Chandler Smith fourth and Christian Eckes rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 were Nemechek, Matt DiBenedetto, Derek Kraus, Matt Crafton and Ben Rhodes.

Stage 3

Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, all lead-lap trucks pit with Rhodes first off pit road. Jack Wood had to start from the rear of the field for running over the choose box.

When the race resumed on Lap 68, Rhodes was followed by Zane Smith, Corey Heim, Majeski and Tyler Ankrum.

Zane Smith quickly powered back into the lead on the restart.

With 50 laps remaining, Zane Smith had opened up a 3.8-second lead over Heim as Nemechek ran third.

Kris Wright hit the wall in Turn 2 on Lap 91 to bring out a caution. The lead-lap trucks all pit with Heim the first off pit road. Carson Hocevar had to restart from the rear for having an uncontrolled tire during his stop.

When the race returned to green on Lap 96, Heim led the way, followed by Zane Smith, Rhodes, Nemechek and Eckes.

Zane Smith again grabbed the lead on the restart as Nemechek moved to second and Eckes to third.

Heim was forced to pit under green on Lap 108 after hitting the wall while running seventh and had a tire go down.

With 20 laps to go, Zane Smith’s lead over Nemechek had expanded to 4.1 seconds as Majeski ran third.

On Lap 122, Dean Thompson spun down the backstretch to bring out just the fourth caution of the race.

 

The lead-lap trucks remained on the track and when the race returned to green on Lap 127, Zane Smith was followed by Nemechek, Majeski, Chandler Smith and Kraus.

With six laps to go, Majeski moved into the second position as Enfinger took over third.

Stage 2

Zane Smith cruised to the Stage 2 win over Heim by more than 2 seconds.

Nemechek was third, Majeski fourth and Rhodes rounded out the top-five.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, the lead-lap trucks all pit with Heim the first off pit road. Before pit road opened, Chandler Smith was forced to pit when his truck appeared to run out of fuel.

On the restart on Lap 37, Heim led the way followed by Nemechek and Zane Smith.

Zane Smith got back around Heim on Lap 38 to reclaim the lead in the race.

With 15 laps to go in the stage, Zane Smith’s lead over Heim had built to 1.4 seconds as Nemechek ran third.

Stage 1

Heim passed Zane Smith with eight laps to go and held on for the Stage 1 win, the first of his career.

Majeski ended up taking second, Zane Smith third, Nemechek fourth and Kraus rounded out the top-five.

Nemechek started on the pole and led the first three laps until Zane Smith went to his inside and came away with the lead on Lap 4.

With 15 laps remaining in the stage, Zane Smith maintained about a 1-second lead over Heim as Majeski ran third.

Heim finally ran down Zane Smith and passed him for the lead on Lap 22.

DiBenedetto and Tate Fogleman (unapproved adjustments) and Stewart Friesen (driver change) had to start the race from the rear of the field.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Laps Led Retirement Points Bonus
1 38 Zane Smith Ford 134 1:34'25.511     108   58  
2 66 United States Ty Majeski Toyota 134 1:34'27.164 1.653 1.653 1   51  
3 23 United States Grant Enfinger Chevrolet 134 1:34'27.942 2.431 0.778     34  
4 18 Chandler Smith Toyota 134 1:34'29.856 4.345 1.914     40  
5 98 United States Christian Eckes Toyota 134 1:34'30.964 5.453 1.108     32  
6 4 United States John Hunter Nemechek Toyota 134 1:34'31.874 6.363 0.910 3   45  
7 25 United States Matt DiBenedetto Chevrolet 134 1:34'32.782 7.271 0.908     30  
8 19 United States Derek Kraus Chevrolet 134 1:34'33.261 7.750 0.479     37  
9 88 United States Matt Crafton Toyota 134 1:34'34.305 8.794 1.044     31  
10 99 United States Ben Rhodes Toyota 134 1:34'34.356 8.845 0.051 4   37  
11 91 Colby Howard Chevrolet 134 1:34'35.773 10.262 1.417     28  
12 17 United States Riley Herbst Ford 134 1:34'36.226 10.715 0.453        
13 61 United States Chase Purdy Toyota 134 1:34'36.525 11.014 0.299     24  
14 52 Bubba Wallace Toyota 134 1:34'37.060 11.549 0.535     24  
15 42 Carson Hocevar Chevrolet 134 1:34'37.437 11.926 0.377     28  
16 16 United States Tyler Ankrum Toyota 134 1:34'37.744 12.233 0.307     21  
17 1 United States Hailie Deegan Ford 134 1:34'40.275 14.764 2.531     20  
18 15 United States Tanner Gray Ford 134 1:34'40.597 15.086 0.322     25  
19 45 Alan Lawless Chevrolet 134 1:34'42.023 16.512 1.426     18  
20 30 Tate Fogleman Toyota 133 1:34'39.502 1 Lap 1 Lap     17  
21 5 Tyler Hill Toyota 133 1:34'39.750 1 Lap 0.248     16  
22 40 Dean Thompson Chevrolet 133 1:34'41.505 1 Lap 1.755     15  
23 22 United States Austin Wayne Self Chevrolet 133 1:34'41.884 1 Lap 0.379     14  
24 02 United States Jesse Little Chevrolet 132 1:34'38.078 2 Laps 1 Lap     13  
25 44 United States Kris Wright Chevrolet 132 1:34'39.552 2 Laps 1.474     12  
26 24 Jack Wood Chevrolet 131 1:34'42.878 3 Laps 1 Lap     11  
27 56 United States Timmy Hill Toyota 130 1:34'43.090 4 Laps 1 Lap     10  
28 46 Ryan Huff Ford 130 1:34'43.295 4 Laps 0.205     9  
29 14 United States Trey Hutchens Chevrolet 130 1:34'43.589 4 Laps 0.294     8  
30 33 United States Josh Reaume Toyota 129 1:34'50.947 5 Laps 1 Lap     7  
31 12 United States Spencer Boyd Chevrolet 127 1:34'48.103 7 Laps 2 Laps     6  
32 9 Blaine Perkins Chevrolet 126 1:34'53.967 8 Laps 1 Lap     5  
33 51 Corey Heim Toyota 124 1:34'54.308 10 Laps 2 Laps 18   23  
34 20 United States Matt Mills Chevrolet 91 1:20'43.710 43 Laps 33 Laps   Axle    
35 43 United States Jesse Iwuji Chevrolet 24 16'41.408 110 Laps 67 Laps   Too slow

 

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