UPDATED: Nemechek Takes Darlington Trucks, Crafton DQ'ed

John Hunter Nemechek

(DARLINGTON, SC - MAY 6, 2022 - RIS) John Hunter Nemechek took his first victory of 2022 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series over Carson Hocevar in a NASCAR overtime finish. Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski and Matt Crafton filled out the top five finishers in a race slowed by ten cautions, featuring  16 lead changes among nine trucks.

The first laps of the truck race already had racers three-wide and nearly sideways, as John Hunter Nemechek drove out to a lead of nearly a half second in only the first five laps. Caution one flew when Josh Reaume and Akinori Ogata got together before ten laps were run in the two trucks owned by Reaume.

Zane Smitth took the lead from Nemechek with Grant Enfinger challenging for second, while Carson Hocevar and Ty Majeski battled for fourth until Lawless Alan spun after a missed pass attempt to cause the second yellow flag of the race.

Zane Smith pitted during this caution with the crew making major chassis adjustments.

Nemechek retook the lead with the caution, pulling ahead of Corey Heim and Timmy Hill before Chandler Smith moved around into fourth as Hill dropped back. The best battle on the track is between Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes.

Parker Kligerman took his career's first stage winner points over Ross Chastain and Carson Hocevar on the strength of four fresh tires at the most recent caution.

Stage two began with Ross Chastain and Carson Hocevar leading, with Chastain edging ahead and Kligerman grabbing second place. Todd Bodine ran out of room and spun on the back straight when Chase Purdy and Tanner Gray got near the wall off the second turn, Gray tapped the wall and lost enough momentum to involve Bodine.

Tate Fogleman's solo spin on the front straight with less than 20 laps to run in the second stage set up strategy calls for tires or no tires, with many front runners taking on four tires as Brennan Poole pulled into the garage out of last place on the track.

Pit strategy calls sent Todd Bodine into the lead on older tires, heading to the restart with twelve laps left in the stage. Ross Chastain leaped into the lead from the inside row, with Hocevar and Kligerman second and third, with the new tire group easily dominating the final laps in Stage Two.

Carson Hocevar won his first career stage with Nemechek taking the lead and battling with Chastain for the lead while a multi-truck crash on the fourth turn brought out the caution again with Chase Purdy, Hailie Deegan, Tanner Gray and Austin Wayne Self all getting damage from the incident. The incident started when Purdy's left rear tire got rubbed by Tanner Gray's truck and then going down on the next lap, spinning Purdy in front of a pack.

Corey Heim had a solo incident, then Tate Fogleman and Blaine Perkins brought out another caution, leading to a restart with 14 laps left to run.

Ty Majeski missed the choose mark and should have had to drop to the back of the line, with Nemechek driving to the lead ahead of Eckes and Hocevar, with Hocevar leading a parade of trucks moving past Eckes as damage from earlier incidents slowed the No. 98 truck.

Ben Rhodes' cut left rear tire and spin caused a late caution and an overtime restart. Nemechek and Hocevar headed the field with Hocevar choosing the inside row next to Nemechek. 

Chastain  failed to restart smoothly, scattering the field without a caution and Nemechek moved ahead of Hocevar, winning the race by over a half second gap in only two laps. 

Unofficial Results: 3rd Annual Dead on Tools 200, May 6, 2022 - Darlington Raceway
Fin, Str, Driver, Trk, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status

1) 1, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota, 149, 6, 4, 69, 5, 5, 51, Running
2) 6, Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Premier Security Solutions Chevrolet, 149, 3, 2, 9, 1, 1, 53, Running
3) 3, Grant Enfinger, No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet, 149, 4, 1, 1, , 4, 48, Running
4) 2, Ty Majeski, No. 66 FarmPaint.com Toyota, 149, , , , , , 33, Running
5) 9, Parker Kligerman, No. 75 Food Country USA Toyota, 149, 1, 1, 9, 1, 3, 49, Running
6) 13, Ryan Preece, No. 17 United Rentals Ford, 149, , , , , 8, 33, Running
7) 4, Zane Smith, No. 38 Fr8Auctions.com Ford, 149, , 1, 9, , , 29, Running
8) 12, Tyler Ankrum, No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota, 149, , , , , , 28, Running
9) 18, Todd Bodine, No. 62 Camping World Toyota, 149, , 1, 3, , , 27, Running
10) 8, Matt Dibenedetto, No. 25 Rackley Roofing/WAR Shocks Chevrolet, 149, , , , , , 26, Running
11) 23, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota, 149, 10, , , , , 26, Running
12) 19, Colby Howard, No. 91 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet, 149, , 1, 1, , , 24, Running
13) 16, Jesse Little, No. 02 Shriner's Children's Chevrolet, 149, , , , , , 23, Running
14) 33, Dean Thompson #, No. 40 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 149, , , , , , 22, Running
15) 24, Timmy Hill, No. 56 UNITS Storage Toyota, 149, , , , , , 21, Running
16) 11, Christian Eckes, No. 98 TSPORT/Curb Records Toyota, 149, , 2, 2, , 6, 25, Running
17) 20, Jack Wood #, No. 24 North Industrial Machine Chevrolet, 149, , , , , , 19, Running
18) 14, Derek Kraus, No. 19 NAPA AutoCare Center Chevrolet, 149, , , , , , 18, Running
19) 26, Lawless Alan #, No. 45 AUTOParkIt.com Chevrolet, 149, , , , , , 17, Running
20) 28, Chandler Smith, No. 18 Safelite Toyota, 149, 5, , , , 10, 23, Running
21) 29, Danny Bohn, No. 20 TicksSuck.org Chevrolet, 149, , , , , , 15, Running
22) 5, Corey Heim #, No. 51 JBL Toyota, 149, , , , , , 14, Running
23) 32, Spencer Boyd, No. 12 Rimtyme Chevrolet, 149, , , , , , 13, Running
24) 15, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Tenda Toyota, 148, 8, , , , 9, 17, Running
25) 10, Ross Chastain(i), No. 41 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 148, 2, 4, 46, , 2, 0, Running
26) 31, Austin Wayne Self, No. 22 AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 10, Running
27) 36, Josh Reaume, No. 33 Hardy Boys Consulting Toyota, 147, , , , , , 9, Running
28) 25, Hailie Deegan, No. 1 Wastequip Ford, 137, , , , , , 8, Accident
29) 27, Brennan Poole(i), No. 46 G2G Staff Toyota, 125, , , , , , 0, Running
30) 30, Blaine Perkins #, No. 9 Raceline Chevrolet, 124, , , , , , 6, Accident
31) 34, Tate Fogleman, No. 30 Rangeline Group Toyota, 123, , , , , , 5, Accident
32) 21, Kris Wright, No. 44 VFW Chevrolet, 105, , , , , , 4, Accident
33) 17, Tanner Gray, No. 15 Dead On Tools Ford, 98, 7, , , , , 7, Accident
34) 22, Chase Purdy, No. 61 BAMA Buggies Toyota, 97, , , , , , 2, Accident
35) 35, Akinori Ogata, No. 43 Precision Kyowa Toyota, 54, , , , , , 1, Engine
36) 7, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Jack Links/Menards Toyota, 149, 9, , , , 7, 38, Running
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 149 Laps, 203.534 Miles
Time: 2 Hrs, 13 Mins, 17 Secs.
Average Speed: 91.625 MPH
Margin of Victory: .552 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 75, 41, 42, 23, 18, 4, 15, 99, 88, 52
Stage 2 Top 10: 42, 41, 75, 23, 4, 98, 88, 17, 99, 18

Comments: John Hunter Nemechek won the 3rd running of the Dead On Tools 200 at Darlington Raceway, his 12th victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Series.

Prior to the start, the following truck dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 30 (unapproved adjustments).

Cautions: 10 for 54 laps;

Laps: 8-12 (No. 43, 33 Incident Turn 2 [None]);
21-24 (No. 45 Spin Turn 4 [33]);
47-54 (Stage 1 Conclusion [12]);
59-62 (No. 62 Spin Backstretch [02]);
75-78 (No. 30 Spin Turn 4 [45]);
92-96 (Stage 2 Conclusion [12]);
99-105 (No. 1, 15, 61, 22 Incident Turn 3 [None]);
118-121 (No. 51 Spin Turn 1 [25]);
126-133 (No. 9, 30 Incident Frontstretch [25]);
143-147 (No. 99 Spin Turn 2 [51]).

Lead Changes: 16 among 9 drivers;
J. Nemechek 1-12;
Z. Smith 13-21;
J. Nemechek 22-39;
P. Kligerman 40-48;
R. Chastain(i) 49-53;
C. Hocevar 54;
R. Chastain(i) 55-75;
T. Bodine 76-78;
R. Chastain(i) 79-85;
C. Hocevar 86-93;
R. Chastain(i) 94-106;
J. Nemechek 107-118;
C. Howard 119;
C. Eckes 120;
G. Enfinger 121;
C. Eckes 122;
J. Nemechek 123-149.

Cometic Gasket Pole Award: John H. Nemechek, No. 4 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Dean Thompson, No. 40