HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was off to a serene start as the green flag waved at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but it came to a thrilling close for Ty Majeski as he scored the victory and his spot in the Championship Four.
Though he didn’t take the lead in the Baptist Health 200 until lap 102 of 134, Majeski came across the finish line 4.524 seconds ahead of Zane Smith.
“This is cool. I can’t ask for much more momentum going into Phoenix chasing a championship. That is our goal. We are plenty capable of doing it. We proved it two of the last three races, and we are going to go give it our best shot,” Majeski said.
Stewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Preece started on the pole, but relinquished the race lead to defending series champion Ben Rhodes by the end of the first lap. Drivers settled comfortably into their positions for a largely caution-free race, with little drama taking place during the first stage.
One notable playoff driver who experienced trouble early was John Hunter Nemechek. The driver of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota scraped the outside wall several times, forcing him to pit with a flat tire and putting him several laps down.
Meanwhile, Rhodes led the field through the next 30 laps, earning the stage one win before the caution flag waved. Following a round of pit stops, Smith slid into first with Grant Enfinger, Rhodes, Preece and Majeski following for the restart. Rhodes maneuvered his No. 99 ThorSport Racing entry back into the lead on lap 37, racing three-wide with Smith and Enfinger.
Five laps later, Smith and Majeski were running 1-2 while Rhodes held down third.
On lap 52, the only non-playoff driver in the top 10 was Colby Howard in ninth. Conversely, the only playoff driver outside the top 10 was Nemechek, who was three laps down in 36th.
A second caution concluded stage two on lap 60 as Smith claimed the stage win, doing exactly what he needed to do to clinch a spot in the Championship Four. The third stage went all-green as Rhodes, Enfinger, Eckes and Friesen battled to the wire for their chance to advance to the final round of the playoffs.
Enfinger, who arrived at the 1.5-mile track in a must-win situation, dealt with several issues that relegated him to pit road midway through the stage and ruined his playoff run. Following a final round of pit stops amidst the green flag, Majeski soared to the lead with 32 laps to go.
Smith and Preece lurked behind, but Majeski held on to the checkered flag.
Smith finished second and Friesen came in third, while Preece, Corey Heim and Rhodes rounded out the top six.
Majeski, Smith, Chandler Smith and Rhodes will advance to the Championship Four.