Amidst an eight week stretch of races, the Camping World Truck Series kicks off a triple header weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway with the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.
Kyle Busch Motorsports owner Kyle Busch is driving the number 51 truck for his fourth of five races in the Truck Series this year. Busch has won eight races at Charlotte in the Truck Series and is hoping to increase his number of truck wins to 63.
Cup Series driver Watermelon Man Ross Chastain is also among the field of drivers for the Truck Series race.
Ryan Preece is going to be very busy this weekend; he is scheduled to run all three races that includes 600 miles on Sunday. If he completes every lap, Preece will have run 1,100 miles by the end of the weekend.
It’s Memorial Day Weekend and throughout the weekend drivers will be displaying patriotic paint schemes to honour the military.
After a 20 minute practice session, 35 drivers will qualify for the race under the lights later tonight.
Even before qualifying began, Hailie Deegan’s crew had to push the car to the garage for a leak. They are repairing the truck and she will have to start the race from the back of the field.
Mexican driver Max Gutierrez is the first driver on the track to make a qualifying run. The 19 year old is making his debut in the Truck Series. He posted a time of 31.98 seconds around the mile and a half track.
Kyle Busch is the first driver to break the 31 second mark with a time of 30,364 seconds.
Starting outside the top 10, it is the first time in three weeks that John Hunter Nemechek will not sit on the pole. It has been 15 years since a driver won four poles in a row.
With a qualifying time of 30.284 seconds, Ty Majeski puts his number 66 truck on the pole and will bring the field to the green flag; Zane Smith Starts alongside on the front row with Kyle Busch in third.
The starting lineup for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200:
Ty Majeski
Zane Smith
Kyle Busch
Carson Hocevar
Ross Chastain
Tanner Gray
Chandler Smith
Ryan Preece
Christian Eckes
Matt DiBenedetto
Grant Enfinger
Ben Rhodes
Stewart Friesen
Jesse Little
John Hunter Nemechek
Derek Kraus
Chase Purdy
Matt Crafton
Jack Wood
Colby Howard
Tate Fogleman
Kris Wright
Matt Mills
Dean Thompson
Tyler Ankrum
Austin Wayne Self
Spencer Boyd
Brennan Poole
Blaine Perkins
Timmy Hill
Max Gutierrez
Josh Reaume
Lawless Alan
Keith McGee
Hailie Deegan
Stages one and two of the race are 30 laps each with stage three lasting 74 laps for a total of 134 laps around the mile and a half track. Drivers can run 50 to 55 green flag laps on a single load of fuel.
Kurt Busch joins Vince Welch and Michael Waltrip in the FOX broadcast booth for tonight’s race.
Ty Majeski brings the field down for the green flag start of the race from the inside lane and jumps out in front for the lead. Drivers quickly get three wide across the track battling for position.
Kyle Busch gets out in front to take the lead from the outside lane.
Lap two, Kyle Busch and Zane Smith battle for the lead.
Lap three, Zane Smith takes the lead with Kyle Busch in second; Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Lap six, Zane Smith has a quarter of a second lead on Ty Majeski, Kyle Busch, Carson HOcevar, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Prior to the race, Kyle Busch said that his truck was not very good…maybe a tenth place truck.
Lap eight, Zane Smith battles for the lead with Ty Majeski Smith holds him off.
Lap 10 Zane Smith leads the race with Ty Majeski close behind; Kyle Busch, Carson Hocevar, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Kyle Busch reports that he is having some handling issues with his truck – it’s tight.
Lap 14, Zane Smith, Ty Majeski, Kyle Busch, Carson Hocevar, and Ross Chastain continue to be the top five.
Lap 19, Zane Smith has increased his lead to over half a second on Ty Majeski; Kyle Busch, Carson Hocevar, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Lap 20, Zane Smith and Ty Majeski are over three second in front of the remainder of the field. There are 33 trucks on the lead lap.
Chandler Smith reports that the truck feels like it is losing power.
Seven laps remain in stage one, Zane Smith leads the race with Ty Majeski just a third of a second behind; Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, and Carson Hocevar round out the top five.
Lap 25, Ryan Preece passes Kyle Busch for third.
Lap 26, Carson Hocevar passes Kyle Busch for fourth.
Lap 27, Ross Chastain passes Kyle Busch for fifth.
Lap 28, there are 29 trucks on the lead lap.
Lap 29, Ryan Preece has closed the gap on leader Zane Smith to under three seconds.
Zane Smith wins stage one for his fifth stage win of the season.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Zane Smith
Ty Majeski
Ryan Preece
Carson Hocevar
Ross Chastain
Kyle Busch
Christian Eckes
Matt DiBenedetto
Matt Crafton
Grant Enfinger
Hailie Deegan is the “lucky dog”.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Zane Smith winning the race off of pit road. Several of the drivers reported tight conditions in their trucks.
Stewart Friesen and Brennan Poole were caught speeding on pit road. Dean Thompson and Kyle Busch were charged with crew members coming over the wall too soon. Matt Crafton had an issue coming out of his pit stall and had to back up to get out.
Zane Smith brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 37 and holds on to the lead.
Lap 38, Zane Smith leads the race with Ty Majeski in second; Christian Eckes, Ryan Preece, and Matt DiBenedetto round out the top five.
Lap 41, Kyle Busch has moved up to 21st place after having to restart the race from the back of the field; while his drivers Chandler Smith and John Hunter Nemechek have entered the top 10.
Lap 43, Zane Smith has a narrow lead on Ty Majeski; Ryan Preece, Christian Eckes, and Carson Hocevar round out the top five.
Lap 45, Kyle Busch is moving through the field, he is now in 15th place with Zane Smith leading the race.
Lap 47, Zane Smith has dominated the race so far and continues to lead the race, Ty Majeski, Ryan Preece, Carson Hocevar, and Christian Eckes round out the top five.
Lap 51, Zane Smith has led 48 of the laps so far; Ty Majeski, Ryan Preece, Carson Hocevar, and Christian Eckes round out the top five.
The first caution flag for an on track incident comes out on lap 53 when Tate Fogleman gets turned around with a flat tire and is stopped on the track. Austin Wayne Self is the “lucky dog”.
Drivers come down pit road for service short of the end of the stage. Ryan Preece wins the race off of pit road with Zane Smith coming out in third.
Derek Kraus, Ben Rhodes, and Timmy Hill stayed out on the track.
Derek Kraus brings the field down for the green flag restart with just four laps remaining in stage two. Drivers get jammed up on the restart. Matt Mills gets into the wall and brings out the caution flag to end stage two under caution.
Ben Rhodes wins stage two.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Ben Rhodes
Christian Eckes
Ryan Preece
Carson Hocevar
Zane Smith
John Hunter Nemechek
Ross Chastain
Matt DiBenedetto
Ty Majeski
Derek Kraus
Blaine Perkins is the “lucky dog”.
Ben Rhodes, Derek Kraus, Timmy Hill, and Spencer Boyd are the only drivers who come down pit road for service.
Derek Kraus was caught speeding on pit road.
Christian Eckes brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 67 but it is Ryan Preece who takes the lead.
Lap 70, Ryan Preece leads the race with John Hunter Nemechek in second; Carson Hocevar, Christian Eckes, and Matt DiBenedetto round out the top fove.
Kyle Busch is back in the top 10 in eighth place.
Matt Mills is out of the race with Brennan Poole off the track.
With 64 laps to go, Ryan Preece has a quarter of a second lead on Carson Hocevar; John Hunter Nemechek, Christian Eckes, and Matt DiBenedetto round out the top five with Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch behind them.
Carson Hocevar passes Ryan Preece to take the lead with 63 laps remaining in the race.
Lap 74, Carson Hocevar has a half second lead on Ryan Preece, John Hunter Nemechek, Christian Eckes, and Matt DiBenedetto round out the top five.
Fifty-five laps remain in the race, Carson Hocevar has a lead of a second and a half on Ryan Preece; John Hunter Nemechek, Christian Eckes, and Matt DiBenedetto round out the top five.
Lap 82, Carson Hocevar has increased his lead to nearly two seconds on Ryan Preece; John Hunter Nemechek, Christian Eckes, and Matt DiBenedetto round out the top five. Drivers are getting three wide in a battle for position.
There are 27 trucks on the lead lap.
With 48 laps to go, Carson Hocevar has pulled out to a lead of over two and a half seconds on Ryan Preece.
Lap 89, Hailie Deegan brings her truck down pit road after getting into the wall. The track stays green.
Lap 92, Carson Hocevar continues to extend his lead and is now over four seconds in front of Ryan Preece; John Hunter Nemechek, Christian Eckes, and Ty Majeski round out the top five.
With 40 laps remaining in the race, Chandler Smith is the first driver to come down pit road to make his green flag pit stop.
There are only 21 trucks on the lead lap. Brennan Poole is out of the race.
Lap 97, Carson Hocevar now has a five second lead on Ryan Preece as more drivers make their green flag pit stop.
Driving it like he stole it, Carson Hocevar gives up a lead of over six seconds to make his green flag pit stop. Ty Majeski is the new leader.
Lap 101, leader Ty Majeski makes his green flag pit stop. Matt Crafton is the new leader as pit stops continue to cycle through.
Normally one of the fastest when it comes to making a pit stop, Kyle Busch has had an issue with all three of his pit stops tonight.
With 30 laps to go, Matt Crafton, Jesse Little and Timmy Hill are the only drivers who have not made a pit stop.
Jack Wood was caught speeding on pit road.
Matt Crafton makes his pit stop with 29 laps to go; Carson Hocevar retakes the lead and has a three second lead on Ryan Preece.
There are just 17 trucks – half the field – on the lead lap.
Lap 110, Carson Hocevar continues to increase his lead on Ryan Preece and is now four seconds out in front of Preece; Ross Chastain, John Hunter Nemechek, and Christian Eckes round out the top five.
Twenty to go, Carson Hocevar has a four and a half second lead on Ryan Preece; Ross Chastain, John Hunter Nemechek, and Christian Eckes round out the top five.
Matt DiBenedetto has a flat tire but makes his way to pit road and the track stays green.
There are just 15 trucks on the lead lap.
Fifteen to go, Carson Hocevar has picked up where he left off before the pit stop and continues to open the gap on Ryan Preece; Hocevar is now over five seconds out in front of Preece; Ross Chastain, John Hunter Nemechek, Christian Eckes, and Ty Majeski round out the top five.
Ten to go, Carson Hocevar has pulled out to a six second lead on Ryan Preece. This would be the first Truck Series win for the 19 year old driver.
Six to go, Carson Hocevar has a lead of over six seconds on Ryan Preece; John Hunter Nemechek is in third 10 seconds back; Ross Chastain and Christian Eckes round out the top five with 15 trucks on the lead lap.
The caution flag comes out with just four laps remaining in the race when Jesse Little and Tyler Ankrum make contact and sending Little into the wall. The race is going into overtime.
A few drivers come down pit road for fresher tires.
Carson Hocevar brings the field down for the overtime shootout from the inside lane and drivers get three wide on the restart. Carson Hocevar and Ryan Preece make contact. Hocevar gets turned around and brings out the caution flag. Hocevar has significant damage to his truck. Ryan Preece also has a lot of damage to his truck.
Carson Hocevar and Ryan Preece oth have to come down pit road for repairs.
Ross Chastain is the new leader and brings the field down for the second overtime shootout from the outside lane with Christian Eckes on the inside. Drivers quickly spread out across the track. Christian Eckes edges out for the lead but Ross Chastain comes up to battle for the position.
Christian Eckes takes the white flag. John Hunter Nemechek comes up on the outside to take the lead.
Ross Chastain takes the lead and wins the race. Get ready for the watermelon! This is Chastain’s fourth truck win.
Chastain said that Carson Hocevar dominated the race and he is so proud of Carson.
And the watermelon arrives…a Georgia watermelon! Chastain mashes the watermelon on the start/finish line standing on the ground and promptly picks up a piece to eat.
When asked about what happened, a very emotional Carson Hocevar made a dumb move; adding that he is going to eat watermelon in victory lane.
In his interview, Ryan Preece addressed the audience saying that for anyone wanting to race, don’t do it that way; adding race with respect.
The unofficial results of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200:
Ross Chastain
Grant Enfinger
John Hunter Nemechek
Christian Eckes
Zane Smith
Tanner Gray
Kyle Busch
Chandler Smith
Stewart Friesen
Ben Rhodes
Ryan Preece
Derek Kraus
Ty Majeski
Colby Howard
Chase Purdy
Carson Hocevar
Matt DiBenedetto
Matt Crafton
Kris Wright
Tyler Ankrum
Timmy Hill
Lawless Alan
Jack Wood
Spencer Boyd
Austin Wayne Self
Max Gutierrez
Hailie Deegan
Dean Thompson
Tate Fogleman
Blaine Perkins
Josh Reaume
Jesse Little
Keith McGee
Matt Mills
Brennan Poole