Hocevar makes tactics pay off at Richmond
He’s able to overcome dominant Majeski for Saturday night victory
RICHMOND — Carson Hocevar’s race started in the pits with a flat tire even before the green flag for Saturday night’s NASCAR Truck Series Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond Raceway, but ended with a celebration in Victory Lane.
The 20-year-old driver of the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet passed the night’s most dominant driver, Ty Majeski, with only three laps remaining, thanks to pit-road strategy and a fast Silverado. Hocevar claimed his third win of the season by 2.308 seconds over Majeski.
“We didn’t come here to run second,’’ Hocevar said. “I knew we had to do something different, and new tires prevailed.’’
Corey Heim secured the series’ regular-season championship with a third-place finish in the opening stage of the lightning-delayed race. The 21-year old driver of the No. 11 Toyota will start the seven-race playoff portion of the season with a 15-point bonus, thanks to a title run that included a pair of wins. He finished sixth Saturday — his series-best 13th top-10 finish in 16 races.
“It really means a lot,’’ Heim said, “with Tricon Garage and Toyota Racing coming such a long way from the beginning of the year. Tonight, it was a rough night at Richmond. It is kind of a unique racetrack. On the normal tracks, we’ve been really consistent.”
After earning his second pole position of the season, Majeski dominated much of the race, sweeping both stage wins for the first time in his career and leading a dominating 168 of the 250 laps in the No. 98 Ford.
His truck was so good Saturday that he even overcame a mid-race pit-stop speeding penalty to regain the lead late. Majeski stayed out while Hocevar pitted for tires with 40 laps remaining, and Majeski was ultimately unable to hold off the fresh tires in the closing laps.
“Just didn’t have enough there,’’ he said. “Obviously made a mistake there, speeding on pit road, but we had a chance to win even with the penalty. It’s just so disappointing. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a dominant vehicle that much faster than the field, and to not win with it is so hard.”
The playoff field – in points order – includes Heim, 2022 series champion Zane Smith, who finished third at Richmond, Hocevar, Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger, Majeski, 2021 series champion Ben Rhodes, rookie Nick Sanchez, Matt DiBenedetto and three-time series champion Matt Crafton.
Stewart Friesen came into the race ranked 11th, trailing Crafton by nine points, but Friesen’s No. 52 Chevrolet had a disappointing qualifying run – 23rd – and never mounted a challenge forward. He finished 27th.
“We brought a dull knife to a gunfight tonight,’’ Friesen said.
Hocevar led 64 laps on the evening, moving into the lead position while Majeski was recovering from his pit-road penalty.
“We passed every single truck here. The 98 (of Majeski) was the class of the field, but I thought we were second and won with the second-best truck because I have the first-best pit crew and first-best crew chief on the box,’’ Hocevar said. “
The series playoffs begin at 9 p.m. Aug. 11 with the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.