Kyle Larson Wins NASCAR Craftsman Truck Race at North Wilkesboro
John David Mercer - USA Today
NORTH WILKESBORO, NC – RIS – Kyle Larson, driving a Chevrolet truck prepared by Spire Motorsports and sponsored by Hendrick Cars, ran away from the field in overtime to win the NASCAR Craftsman truck series race at the newly revived North Wilkesboro Speedway. With Larson and Majeski on the front row at the restart, Larson ran away with the win and made history as the first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver to win at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 27 years following his overtime win in the Tyson 250 Saturday afternoon. Larson led 138 of 252 laps in a Spire Motorsports truck to score his third career series win Saturday.
Majeski finished runner-up behind the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, with Matt DiBenedetto, Carson Hocevar and Bubba Wallace rounding out the top five. Series points leader Zane Smith finished 32nd following a Lap 200 wreck.
Larson’s boss at Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon, won the last time NASCAR was here in September 1996.
Larson’s win didn’t come without a few battles through the 252-lap race around the historic 0.625-mile oval. Despite Larson having the fastest vehicle on the track — and deftly maneuvering it over the fresh asphalt on the inside apron, racing the track so well it seemed like he grew up on it — the driver of the No. 7 truck had to make a few big decisions down the stretch.
With 27 laps to go, when a caution came out and Larson elected to go down pit road and take four fresh tires. That put him behind a few trucks that didn’t go down pit road, hoping that their scuffed tires can last with the handful of laps remaining in the race. The tires may have made the difference.
Though the final two laps were uneventful, there was the usual bumping and banging.
Former truck champion Matt Crafton sounded off on the racing this afternoon.
“That thing was really, really good on that long run, but I knew all the kids would start running over each other and just wrecking each other," Crafton said. "They just don’t use their brains. They’ve never had to work on anything. They have no respect for anything and they just drive through everything. Like the kid in the 42 (Carson Hocevar). He never tried to pass me. He just drove in the back of me five laps in a row down in (Turns) 1 and 2. He’s a great little race car driver, but he can just be an idiot sometimes. One day I’ll return the favor. I’m like an old elephant that has a hell of a memory.”
The series races next on May 26 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Unofficial Results: Tyson 250 - North Wilkesboro Speedway, May 20, 2023
Fin, Str, Driver, Truck, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 8, Kyle Larson(i), No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 252, 8, 1, 2, 138, , 0, Running
2) 3, Ty Majeski, No. 98 Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford, 252, , , , , , 35, Running
3) 15, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, 252, , 6, , , , 39, Running
4) 2, Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 252, 5, 2, 1, 16, , 48, Running
5) 14, Bubba Wallace(i), No. 1 Pristine Auction Toyota, 252, , 9, 1, 13, , 0, Running
6) 1, Corey Heim, No. 11 Safelite Toyota, 252, 1, 4, 2, 75, 1, 48, Running
7) 18, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Denali Aire/Menards Ford, 252, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 24, Chase Purdy, No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet, 252, 9, , , , , 31, Running
9) 12, Ross Chastain(i), No. 41 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 252, , 8, , , , 0, Running
10) 7, Grant Enfinger, No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet, 252, , 7, , , , 31, Running
11) 4, William Byron(i), No. 51 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 252, 2, 5, 1, 10, , 0, Running
12) 32, Chris Hacker, No. 30 Morgan & Morgan Toyota, 252, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 33, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Ferris Commercial Mowers Toyota, 252, 6, , , , , 29, Running
14) 16, Daniel Dye #, No. 43 Champion Container Chevrolet, 252, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 6, Bret Holmes #, No. 32 Bret Holmes Racing Chevrolet, 252, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 9, Christopher Bell(i), No. 61 Toyota Tsusho Toyota, 252, 3, , , , , 0, Running
17) 11, Kaden Honeycutt, No. 20 Race Face Digital Cards Chevrolet, 252, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 31, Tanner Gray, No. 15 Black's Tire Toyota, 252, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 22, Lawless Alan, No. 45 AUTOChargit Chevrolet, 252, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 10, Hailie Deegan, No. 13 Ford Performance Ford, 252, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 27, Taylor Gray #, No. 17 Dead On Tools Toyota, 252, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 34, Kris Wright, No. 02 F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet, 252, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 21, Jake Garcia #, No. 35 Quanta Chevrolet, 252, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 5, Colby Howard, No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 252, 4, , , , , 20, Running
25) 13, Christian Eckes, No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet, 252, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 17, Tyler Ankrum, No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota, 250, 10, 10, , , , 13, Running
27) 35, Spencer Boyd, No. 12 Latitude Aero Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 28, Josh Williams(i), No. 22 Katz Coffee/Alloy Ford, 221, , , , , , 0, Water Pump
29) 30, Conner Jones, No. 66 TSport Ford, 219, , , , , , 8, Electrical
30) 20, Nick Sanchez #, No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 213, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 26, Timmy Hill, No. 56 Coble Enterprises Toyota, 211, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 36, Zane Smith, No. 38 Boot Barn Ford, 204, 7, 3, , , , 17, Accident
33) 19, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Kubota Ford, 202, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 23, Rajah Caruth #, No. 24 Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 25, Dean Thompson, No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, 182, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 29, Johnny Sauter, No. 04 CarQuest Ford, 153, , , , , , 1, Electrical
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie
Race Length: 252 Laps, 157.5 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 17 Mins, 25 Secs.
Average Speed: 68.769 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.974 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 11, 51, 61, 9, 42, 52, 38, 7, 4, 16
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 42, 38, 11, 51, 25, 23, 41, 1, 16
Comments: Kyle Larson has won the Tyson 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, his third career victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: No. 38 (mulitple inspection failures).
Failed to Qualify: (3) 75 Parker Kligerman(i), 33 Josh Reaume, 6 Norm Benning.
Cautions: 12 for 81 laps;
Laps: 25-31 (No. 04, 56 Incident Turn 4 [02]);
59-63 (No. 04, 13 Incident Turn 1 [02]);
66-69 (No. 13, 56 Incident Turn 2 [32]);
72-80 (Stage 1 Conclusion [13]);
135-139 (No. 5, 22 Incident Turn 2 [9]);
142-151 (Stage 2 Conclusion [04]);
158-162 (No. 02, 66, 22, 15 Incident Backstretch [43]);
185-191 (No. 5, 13, 02 Incident Turn 1 [None]);
195-199 (No. 19, 99 Incident Turn 1 [13]);
202-215 (No. 16, 24, 38, 99 Incident Backstretch [15]);
223-227 (No. 66 Stopped On Track [30]);
246-250 (No. 4, 19 Incident Turn 3 [02]).
Lead Changes: 6 among 5 drivers;
C. Heim 1-43;
C. Hocevar 44-59;
W. Byron(i) 60-69;
C. Heim 70-101;
K. Larson(i) 102-224;
B. Wallace(i) 225-237;
K. Larson(i) 238-252.
Unofficial Points: Tyson 250, North Wilkesboro Speedway
Pos Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1) Corey Heim 11 10 2 371 0 0 1 3 8
2) Ty Majeski 98 10 0 364 -7 7 0 1 1
3) Zane Smith 38 10 -2 355 -16 9 2 1 11
4) Grant Enfinger 23 10 2 330 -41 25 1 0 5
5) Christian Eckes 19 10 0 311 -60 19 2 4 14
6) Ben Rhodes 99 10 -2 305 -66 6 0 0 0
7) Matt Crafton 88 10 0 290 -81 15 0 1 1
8) Tanner Gray 15 10 0 273 -98 17 0 0 0
9) Stewart Friesen 52 10 1 256 -115 17 0 0 0
10) Matt DiBenedetto 25 10 1 252 -119 4 0 0 0
11) Carson Hocevar 42 10 1 250 -121 2 1 1 6
12) Nick Sanchez # 2 10 -3 240 -131 10 0 2 2
13) Chase Purdy 4 10 2 224 -147 16 0 0 0
14) Jake Garcia # 35 9 -1 211 -160 13 0 0 0
15) Tyler Ankrum 16 10 -1 209 -162 2 0 1 1
16) Hailie Deegan 13 10 0 202 -169 7 0 0 0
17) Rajah Caruth # 24 10 0 167 -204 35 0 0 0
18) Colby Howard 9 10 0 165 -206 2 0 0 0
19) Daniel Dye # 43 10 0 163 -208 2 0 0 0
20) Bret Holmes # 32 10 0 153 -218 10 0 0 0
21) Kris Wright 02 10 0 145 -226 8 0 0 0
22) Taylor Gray # 17 7 2 134 -237 11 0 0 0
23) Kaden Honeycutt 20 7 2 132 -239 2 0 0 0
24) Dean Thompson 5 10 -2 129 -242 3 0 0 0
25) Timmy Hill 56 8 -2 128 -243 1 0 0 0
26) Lawless Alan 45 8 0 119 -252 9 0 0 0
27) Spencer Boyd 12 9 0 85 -286 34 0 0 0
28) Mason Massey 6 0 63 -308 22 0 0 0
29) Josh Reaume 5 0 63 -308 0 0 0 0
30) Ryan Vargas 3 0 62 -309 1 0 0 0
31) Jack Wood 3 0 59 -312 3 0 0 0
32) Chris Hacker 30 2 16 37 -334 22 0 0 0
33) Bayley Currey 1 -1 33 -338 4 0 0 0
34) William Sawalich 1 -1 29 -342 4 0 0 0
35) Johnny Sauter 04 3 -1 28 -343 1 0 0 0
36) Conner Jones 66 2 2 27 -344 1 0 0 0
37) Jason White 1 -2 22 -349 5 0 0 0
38) Toni Breidinger 1 -2 22 -349 0 0 0 0
39) Akinori Ogata 1 -2 20 -351 2 0 0 0
40) Colin Garrett 1 -1 17 -354 3 0 0 0
41) Matt Mills 2 -1 17 -354 0 0 0 0
42) Jason M White 1 -1 16 -355 1 0 0 0
43) Max Gutierrez 1 -1 16 -355 0 0 0 0
44) Logan Bearden 1 -1 15 -356 1 0 0 0
45) Tyler Hill 1 -1 15 -356 0 0 0 0
46) Justin Carroll 1 -1 14 -357 1 0 0 0
47) Norm Benning 1 -1 13 -358 1 0 0 0
48) Memphis Villarreal 1 -1 13 -358 0 0 0 0
49) Mason Maggio 2 0 12 -359 1 0 0 0
50) Mason Filippi 1 0 11 -360 1 0 0 0
51) Tanner Carrick 1 0 11 -360 0 0 0 0
52) Layne Riggs 1 0 9 -362 2 0 0 0
53) Dale Quarterley 1 0 9 -362 0 0 0 0
54) Armani Williams 1 0 8 -363 1 0 0 0
55) Tyler Carpenter 1 0 8 -363 0 0 0 0
56) Jonathan Shafer 1 0 8 -363 0 0 0 0
57) Trey Hutchens 1 0 7 -364 1 0 0 0
58) Keith Mcgee 2 0 5 -366 2 0 0 0
59) Codie Rohrbaugh 1 0 4 -367 1 0 0 0
60) Clay Greenfield 1 0 3 -368 1 0 0 0
61) Chad Chastain 1 0 3 -368 0 0 0 0
62) Ed Jones 1 0 1 -370 2 0 0 0
63) Stephen Mallozzi 1 0 1 -370 0 0 0 0
64) Tim Viens 1 0 1 -370 0 0 0 0
65) Kyle Busch 4 0 0 -371 1 1 2 0
66) Joey Logano 1 0 0 -371 0 1 2 0
67) Kyle Larson(i) 7 1 0 0 -371 0 1 1 0
68) William Byron(i) 51 3 -1 0 -371 0 0 1 0
69) John Hunter Nemechek 2 -1 0 -371 0 0 0 0
70) Ross Chastain(i) 41 6 -1 0 -371 0 0 0 0
71) Bubba Wallace(i) 1 2 0 0 -371 0 0 0 0
72) Chase Briscoe 1 -2 0 -371 0 0 0 0
73) Kaz Grala 2 -1 0 -371 0 0 0 0
74) Chase Elliott 1 -1 0 -371 0 0 0 0
75) Travis Pastrana 1 -1 0 -371 0 0 0 0
76) Sammy Smith 1 -1 0 -371 0 0 0 0
77) Jonathan Davenport 1 -1 0 -371 0 0 0 0
78) Corey Lajoie 2 -1 0 -371 0 0 0 0
79) Christopher Bell(i) 61 1 0 0 -371 0 0 0 0
80) Derek Kraus 1 -2 0 -371 0 0 0 0
81) Brennan Poole 3 -2 0 -371 0 0 0 0
82) Josh Williams(i) 22 1 0 0 -371 0 0 0 0
83) Parker Kligerman 4 -3 0 -371 0 0 0 0
84) Brad Perez 1 -3 0 -371 0 0 0 0
85) Dawson Cram 1 -3 0 -371 0 0 0 0
86) Stefan Parsons 1 -3 0 -371 0 0 0 0
87) Samuel Lecomte 0 -3 0 -371 0 0 0 0
88) Bryan Dauzat 0 -3 0 -371 0 0 0 0
89) Alex Bowman 0 -3 0 -371 0 0 0 0
90) Todd Peck 0 -3 0 -371 0 0 0 0
91) Jessica Friesen 0 -3 0 -371 0 0 0 0
92) Jerry Bohlman 0 -3 0 -371 0 0 0 0
93) Andrew Gordon 0 -3 0 -371 0 0 0 0
94) Nick Leitz 1 2 -9 -380 9 0 0 0
-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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Ronald Fleshman and John Davison
Ron Fleshman and John Davison are Editors at ris-news.com