In another week of triple header racing, the Craftsman Truck Series kicks off a weekend of road course racing in central New York at Watkins Glen International with the Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at the Glen.
Road course racing also brings a challenge on pit road with the drivers pitting opposite direction than normal on ovals.
Thirty-eight teams brought trucks to Watkins Glen for 36 starting spots. Among the lineup this week is AJ Allmendinger in the number 25 Ram Guest Truck, all three of the Trackhouse Racing drivers – Ross Chastain, Shane van Gisbergen, and Connor Zilisch – and Carson Hocevar. The Melon Man is driving the Melon truck this weekend!
Toni Breidinger and Natalie Decker are joined by new driver Dystany Spurlock who is hoping to make her debut in the Craftsman Truck Series.
In an attempt to keep the drivers more on the course, NASCAR has placed a number of tire packs in turn one and in the Carousel.
On a chilly 42 degree overcast Friday morning, the drivers get a full 50 minute practice session before making a qualifying run. Rain and sleet moved through the area earlier in the morning.
Halfway through practice, Shane van Gisbergen announced to his crew that the track is ready for slicks; the drivers started practice on the wet weather tires with a wet track.
Layne Riggs is reporting a shifting issue in his truck.
NASCAR is requiring all drivers to have their red rear visibility lights turned on.
With the current weather conditions, NASCAR has announced that qualifying will be a single 30 minute all track on track group qualifying session to set the field with two trucks going home.
Young gun teen drivers Connor Zilisch and Brent Crews just ran the exact same time of 71. 91 seconds.
Layne Riggs’ crew chief reports that the truck is stuck in gear with a transmission issue.
At the end of practice, Brent Crews topped the leaderboard with a lap time of 71.681 seconds.
NASCAR has told the crews to put slick tires on all of the trucks.
During qualifying Connor Mosack set a new track record with a time of 71,736 seconds.
Layne Riggs crew made a transmission change with a NASCAR official looking on and has been given permission to make a qualifying run.
Ross Chastain is stalled on the track; bringing out the caution flag. Ross Chastain’s truck had an electrical issue.
With a time of 70.222 seconds, 18 year old Brent Crews puts his number one truck on the pole with Ty Majeski starting alongside on the front row.
The starting lineup for the Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at the Glen:
Brent Crews
Ty Majeski
Daniel Hemric
Connor Mosack
Connor Zilisch
Gio Ruggiero
Kaden Honeycutt
Shane van Gisbergen
Ben Rhodes
Carson Hocevar
Chandler Smith
Grant Enfinger
Layne Riggs
Tanner Gray
Christian Eckes
AJ Allmendinger
Jake Garcia
Tyler Ankrum
Stewart Friesen
Tyler Reif
Adam Andretti
Andres Perez
Corey LaJoie
Cole Butcher
Justin Haley
Kris Wright
Dawson Sutton
Timmy Hill
Brenden Queen
Mini Tyrrell
Natan Nicholson
Wesley Slimp
Ross Chastain
Jackson Lee
Stephen Mallozzi
Natalie Decker
Toni Briedinger and Dystany Spurlock failed to make the race.
Stages one and two of the race are 20 laps each with stage three lasting 32 laps for a total of 72 laps around the 2.4 mile track. The drivers can run 30 to 32 laps on a single load of fuel.
Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon joins Jamie Little and Michael Waltrip in the FOX broadcast booth for the race.
NASCAR legend Ron Fellows gave the command to start engines.
In pre-race laps, Connor Zilisch reported that the truck had some fuel pickup issues, but they have been fixed.
Starting in 13th after the crew had to make a transmission change, Layne Riggs reported that the truck is better than they qualified and he expects to be in the top five by the end of stage one.
During practice and qualifying the temperature was in the low 40’s; at race start the temps have risen to the mid 50’s.
After winning his first Truck Series pole, Brent Crews brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Ty Majeski starting alongside on the front row. Crews gets out in front for the lead with Ty Majeski in second; Daniel Hemric, Connor Mosack, and Connor Zilisch round out the top five.
Lap two, Brent Crews has pulled out to a lead of over a second on Ty Majeski.
Lap three, in one lap, Carson Hocevar moved from 10th place to seventh. Brent Crews has pulled out to a lead of nearly two seconds on Ty Majeski.
Lap five, Brent Crews continues to extend his lead and is now two and a half seconds out in front of ty Majeski; Connor Zilisch, Daniel Hemric, and Kaden Honeycutt round out the top five.
Lap eight, Brent Crews now has a lead of over three and a half seconds on Ty Majeski; Connor Zilisch, Daniel Hemric, and Kaden Honeycutt round out the top five.
Ben Rhodes reports that he has only second gear and takes his truck to the garage.
Lap 10, Brent Crews continues to increase his lead to over four seconds.
NASCAR has posted Natalie Decker for not making minimum speed. She must increase speed or will be out of the race. Decker is currently one lap down.
Connor Mosack is reporting “something majorly wrong” with his truck.
Lap eleven, Brent Crews has a five second lead on Ty Majeski. Kaden Honeycutt has passed Daniel Hemric for fourth.
Ross Chastain is now in the top 20 in 18th.
Lap 13 with a lead of over five seconds, Brent Crews is “driving it like he stole it” and running away from the field.
Natalie Decker has been charged with passing through too many pit stall on pit road and will have to serve a pass through penalty.
With five laps remaining in stage one, Brent Crews now has a lead of over six seconds!
The top five are Brent Crews, Ty Majeski, Connor Zilisch, Kaden Honeycutt, and Daniel Hemric.
Lap 16, Grant Enfinger makes a pit stop as some of the drivers are short pitting the end of the stage.
Natalie Decker is on pit road reporting no power.
Christian Eckes gets into the tire barriers on turn one.
Lap 18, leader Brent Crews comes down pit road for service. Daniel Hemric is the new leader.
Brent Crews returns to the track in 10th place.
Daniel Hemric wins stage one.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Daniel Hemric
Ty Majeski
Layne Riggs
AJ Allmendinger
Tyler Ankrum
Ross Chastain
Andres Perez
Tanner Gray
Corey LaJoie
Brent Crews
Drivers who have not made a pit stop come down pit road for service.
Dawson Sutton was charged with having too many crew members over the wall and Timmy Hill was charged with a safety violation. Both drivers will restart the race from the back of the longest line.
Ty Majeski is on pit road with the hood up. Reports are “something broke”.
Brent Crews retakes the lead and will lead the field to the green flag start of stage two with Conor Zilisch alongside on lap 24. Drivers get three and four wide going into turn one. Connor Zilisch takes the lead after contact with Brent Crews.
The top five are Connor Zilisch, Kaden Honeycutt, Carson Hocevar, Brent Crews, and Chandler Smith.
Layne Riggs didn’t quite make it to the top five; but he is in the top 10 in 10th place on lap 47.
Lap 47, Connor Zilisch has a one second lead on Kaden Honeycutt; Carson Hocevar, Brent Crews, and Chandler Smith round out the top five.
Shane van Gisbergen is reporting that the fuel pressure light keeps blinking; adding that the truck doesn’t have the speed.
Lap 32, Connor Zilisch has a lead of over two and a half seconds on Kaden Honeycutt; Brent Crews, Carson Hocevar, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Kris Wright gets off the track after contact with Mini Tyrrell. He worked his way through the sand and onto the grass before making it back to the track. Mini Tyrrell has a flat tire and has to go down pit road.
Just seven laps remain in stage two, Connor Zilisch has a lead of over three seconds on Kaden Honeycutt; Brent Crews, Ross Chastain, and Carson Hocevar round out the top five.
With three laps remaining in stage two, Brent Crews begins the parade of drivers short pitting the end of the stage.
Connor Zilisch wins stage two.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Connor Zilisch
Carson Hocevar
Chandler Smith
Layne Riggs
Andres Perez
Shane van Gisbergen
Grant Enfinger
Tyler Ankrum
Tyler Reif
Connor Mosack
Drivers who did not short pit the end of the stage come down pit road for service.
Wesley Slimp made a run through the grass and tore the splitter off of his truck. Drivers who did stop are coming down pit road to top off the fuel cell.
There’s a tire rolling down pit road; the drivers manage to avoid the rolling tire. The tire rolled all the way down into turn one. The tire belonged to Nathan Nicholson’s truck.
Ross Chastain brings his Melon truck down for the green flag start of stage three with Daniel Hemric alongside on lap 45. Melon Man to the lead!
Drivers are three wide into the Carousel and starting to get aggressive with each other.
Lap 46, the top five are Ross Chastain, Daniel Hemric, Brent Crews, Connor Zilisch, and AJ Allmendinger.
With 25 laps remaining in the race, Ross Chastain holds on to the lead with Brent Crews in second; Connor Zilisch, Daniel Hemric, and Gio Ruggiero round out the top five.
Lap 49, Brent Crews has caught leader Ross Chastain with Connor Zilisch coming on fast.
Lap 51, Brent Crews and Connor Zilisch battle for second, making contact and Zilisch taking second place; Ross Chastain has a lead of over half a second.
Twenty to go, Ross Chastain has a half second lead on Connor Zilisch; Brent Crews, Daniel Hemric, and Gio Ruggiero round out the top five.
Lap 56, Connor Zilisch is just a third of a second behind Ros Chastain and looking to retake the lead.
Just 15 laps to go with Ross Chastain leading the race.
Grant Enfinger is stopped on the course and brings out the first caution flag of the day for an on track incident. He reports some sort of issue in the truck; possibly the transmission.
With 14 laps remaining in the race, Ross Chastain is hoping he has enough melon juice to keep his Melon truck running since he is staying out on the track. Many of the drivers come down pit road for service and top off the fuel cell.
Stephen Mallozzi was charged with speeding on pit road and Dawson Sutton was charged with having too many crew members over the wall.
With just eleven laps remaining in the race, Ross Chastain brings the field down for the green flag restart with Connor Zilisch alongside. Melon Man in the lead but Carson Hocevar gets into the railing hard on the left hand (drivers) side and brings out the caution flag. He takes his car to pit road for service.
NASCAR has charged leader Ross Chastain with a restart violation and he will now have to restart the race from the back of the longest line. Chastain comes down pit road for fuel.
Carson Hocevar is out of the race.
Connor Zilisch is the new leader and will bring the field down for the green flag restart with Gio Ruggiero alongside on lap 65. Drivers are three wide going into turn one with Gio Ruggiero in the lead. There’s a bit wreck to bring out the caution flag. Layne Riggs, Andres Perez, Corey LaJoie, Tyler Reif, Jacke Garcia, and Kris Wright were among the drivers involved.
Gio Ruggiero brings the field down for the green flag restart with just four laps remaining in the race with Connor Zilisch alongside. Ruggiero takes the lead but Connor Zilisch edges out to take the lead in the turns.
Brent Crews and Kaden Honeycutt battle for third.
Timmy Hill has some damage to bring out the caution flag and send the race into overtime. Melon Man is in the fence after some on track contact from Ty Majeski.
Gio Ruggiero is the second driver to be charged with a restart violation and will have to restart the race from the back of the longest line. He was hit from behind before crossing the line.
Connor Zilisch brings the field down for the green flag overtime shootout to end the race with Kaden Honeycutt alongside. AJ Allmendinger makes it a three way battle for the lead going into turn one. Kaden Honeycutt takes the lead with Connor Zilisch in second; Shane van Gisbergen, Daniel Hemric, and AJ Allmendinger round out the top five. This is the first race that RAM will have a top 10 finish.
Kaden Honeycutt takes the white flag.
Kaden Honeycutt has a lead of over half a second with two corners to go on the final lap.
Kaden Honeycutt wins the race for his first win in the eleven truck. Honeycutt also won the ARCA Series race. He said that he can’t believe that he won a road course race.
Honeycutt posted on social media that he would shotgun a beer with the fans if her won.
The unofficial results:
Kaden Honeycutt
Connor Zilisch
Shane van Gisbergen
Daniel Hemric
Chandler Smith
AJ Allmendinger
Brent Crews
Mini Tyrrell
Brenden Queen
Connor Mosack
Jake Garcia
Corey LaJoie
Andres Pereaz
Tyler Reif
Gio Ruggiero
Christian Eckes
Tyler Ankrum
Stewart Friesen
Dawson Sutton
Nathan Nicholson
Layne Riggs
Stephen Mallozzi
Justin Haley
Ty Majeski
Adam Andretti
Jackson Lee
Timmy Hill
Ross Chastain
Kris Wright
Tanner Gray
Carson Hocevar
Ben Rhodes
Grant Enfinger
Wesley Slimp
Cole Butcher
Natalie Decker