With three laps to go in the Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, Carson Hocevar tore past Ty Majeski to steal the lead and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory on Saturday night.
Hocevar, who started from the rear and gained 34 positions throughout the night, collected his third win of the season.
Meanwhile, Majeski was forced to settle for second after winning both stages earlier in the night and leading 168 laps in his No. 98 ThorSport Racing entry.
“I had a dominant truck, obviously. You have trucks like this and it hurts not to win with them,” Majeski said. “Hindsight is always 20/20, obviously maybe should have pitted, but without that speeding penalty, we win it staying out, too. I’m disappointed. We’ve got to clean up the mistakes and be better, but the good news is we have fast trucks heading into the playoffs.”
The closing battle for Richmond glory started on lap 144, during the final stage, when Majeski was penalized for entering the pits too fast and had to restart 21st. By lap 187, the No. 98 Ford had cracked the top five, while Hocevar continued to control the race from out front.
Majeski found an opening for the lead on lap 209, after Hocevar stopped in the pits under the green flag.
For several laps, Majeski expertly paced the field out on the .75-mile track, but Hocevar was catching up quick in his No. 42 Niece Motorsports steed. On lap 246, Hocevar made the race-winning move and dove to the inside of Majeski in turn three.
The No. 42 emerged victorious, leading the final three circuits around the track to claim the checkered flag by 2.308 seconds over Majeski. Hocevar led a total of 64 laps in the 250-lap race.
Front Row Motorsport’s Zane Smith and McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Jake Garcia finished third and fourth, respectively. Matt Mills finished fifth in his debut race with Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Heim Crowned Regular Season Champion, Playoff Grid Set
A regular season champion was also crowned on Saturday night at Richmond.
With his sixth-place finish, TRICON Garage’s Corey Heim clinched the regular season championship in his first full season in the Truck Series.
“With TRICON Garage and Toyota Racing, we’ve come such a long way from the beginning of the year. I really felt like we had a lot of progress to make in the first four or five weeks and we’ve really been improving ever since,” Heim said. “Tonight, it was a rough night at Richmond. It is kind of a unique race track. On the normal tracks, we’ve been really consistent.
“Still a good finish for us, but definitely want to do better leading into the playoffs.”
The remaining playoff stage has also been set.
Hocevar, Smith, Majeski, Ben Rhodes, Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes, Matt DiBenedetto, Nick Sanchez and Matt Crafton made it into the Round of 10. Three of them — Smith, Rhodes and Crafton — are former Truck Series champions.