Stewart Friesen beat Christian Eckes in overtime to win Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
The two-lap shootout started out as a drag race, with Friesen and Eckes side-by-side for the entire first lap. Friesen then shot to the lead going into Turn 1.
He then took the checkered flag by one car length over Eckes.
It’s Friesen’s third career win and his first since the fall 2019 race at Phoenix Raceway. The veteran dirt racer led 60 laps, more than he led in 2021 (20 laps) and 2020 (31 laps) combined.
“I made all the mistakes I needed to make in the first two segments,” Friesen told Fox Sports 1. “We had an awesome truck … Finally we got something to celebrate. … You have no idea the work that’s gone into this race team over the past three years to build this up.”
Friesen credited having Ryan Preece behind him on the final restart for helping put him in position to win.
“I got Preece, I got a real racer here in my back pocket,” Friesen said. “He shoved the heck out of me. I’m terrible on restarts. … Didn’t spin the tires, got a jump and then threw a slider in (Turns) 1 and 2 and it stuck.”
Click here for race results.
The top five was completed by Preece, Carson Hocevar and Ty Majeski.
For Eckes, he earned his best finish of the year and his fourth top five. He led 40 of the race’s 149 laps.
"We're more hungry than ever."- @christianeckes after a second-place finish at Texas.@NASCAR_Trucks | https://t.co/H87ylVFsiD pic.twitter.com/Wt3wyZhC31
— Josh Sims (@JoshRSims) May 21, 2022
Ross Chastain, who finished 12th, experienced body cramps and was taken to the infield medical center.
Feeling like a million bucks pic.twitter.com/kw9O6JekXi
— Ross Chastain (@RossChastain) May 21, 2022
The final sprint to the finish was created by a caution with six laps to go when Tanner Gray bounced off the wall exiting Turn 2 and tagged Ben Rhodes, who was sent into a spin. At the time, Eckes led over Friesen. They had spent the previous eight laps fighting for the lead after a restart.
John Hunter Nemechek won the pole for the race, but started from the rear due to an unapproved adjustment.
That resulted in Friesen starting on the front row and leading the first segment of the race.
The race’s first caution waved on Lap 9 for a spin by Chris Hacker.
Friesen kept the lead over Preece on the Lap 15 restart. Five laps later, Preece took the lead with a pass on the outside going into Turn 3.
Nemechek, working his way through the field, was in eighth by Lap 24. Zane Smith, who started 14th, was in third with two laps to go in the stage, which was won by Preece.
The top 10 after 25 laps: Preece, Friesen, Zane Smith, Eckes, Chandler Smith, Nemechek, Majeski, Ben Rhodes, Derek Kraus and Corey Heim
Friesen was first off pit road, followed by Preece and Eckes. Zane Smith was penalized for equipment interference, while Chandler Smith had to pit a second time to tighten lug nuts.
Friesen retained the lead on the restart. By Lap 49, Nemechek had made his way to third.
With 10 laps to go in the stage, Preece retook the lead when Friesen got held up by lapped traffic. Friesen hit the apron while trying to get by Lawless Alan, which allowed Preece to get by.
Preece won the stage, which went caution free.
Zane and Chandler Smith finished the stage in 12th and 13th respectively.
During the break, Nemechek completed his charge from the rear by being the first truck off pit road.
Heim got into trouble after his stop. As he exited his pit box, he got pinched by Zane Smith and another truck, causing him to spin. He made another visit to pit road to check for damage.
The race resumed with 70 laps to go. On the first lap under green, Preece threw a late block on Eckes on the backstretch. That caused Eckes to get into Preece’s rear bumper, damaging it.
With 62 laps to go, Majeski got loose in Turn 1 and moved up the track, causing him to make contact with Kraus, who fishtailed and hit the wall.
Under the caution, Preece pit for repairs while Nemechek pit from the lead for gas.
Eckes took the lead from Friesen on the restart with 56 laps to go, Friesen reclaimed the lead with 48 laps to go.
The fifth caution of the night came with 42 laps to go when Kris Wright cut a tire and hit the outside wall.
Under caution, Carson Hocevar was the first off pit road. Chase Purdy was the only lead-lap driver to stay out of the pits.
The race resumed with 36 laps to go as Hocevar quickly took the lead over Chastain. Within a few laps, Eckes was the leader.
With about 22 laps to go, Zane Smith cut down a tire after making contact with Chandler Smith. He finished six laps down in 32nd.
Two laps later, Ankrum suffered left-front damage from contact with Grant Enfinger and then went into a spin, bringing out the caution.
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