FORT WORTH, Tex. - It was a hard-earned, deeply-appreciated victory for Stewart Friesen in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway – the first win for the popular Canadian driver since November 2019.
His 60 laps out front in the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota more than doubled his year-long total laps led and were enough to land his first win in the last 53 races and to secure his place in the 2022 Playoffs.
Friesen lined up alongside Christian Eckes for a final overtime re-start and after a close side-by-side battle through the opening two turns, Friesen pulled ahead to clear Eckes exiting onto the backstretch. He was able to hold off Eckes to take a close 0.122-second win on the famed 1.5-mile Texas high banks.
“I made all the mistakes I needed to make in the first two segments,” said Friesen, who had only one other top-five finish this season, a third place at Las Vegas in March. “We had an awesome truck.”
“You have no idea the work that has gone into this race team over the past three years to build this up,” he continued. “It’s an awesome group. And we’re in the Playoffs.”
As his result indicates, the runner-up Eckes had a strong night, leading a season-high 40 laps – second only to Friesen’s work.
“Just didn’t have lane position,” Eckes said. “It is what it is.”
“It’s been a rough kind of stretch here for a little bit,” he said. “I’m glad to show we can actually be here and win races. We’re more hungry than ever.”
Ryan Preece, who won both Stage 1 and Stage 2, finished third – making quite a remarkable comeback considering his truck suffered damage earlier in the race and had to pit for repairs. The hard work gives Preece four top-10 finishes in as many Truck starts this year and the third-place work is his best of the season.
Carson Hocevar finished fourth with Ty Majeski rounding out the top five in a race that had 34 green flag passes for the lead and 18 lead changes among seven drivers.
John Hunter Nemechek, who won the pole position but had to start at the rear after a penalty for an unapproved adjustment, finished sixth – twice having to drive up through the field. Although he didn’t match his qualifying work with a victory Friday night, his sixth-place showing was good enough to take the Camping World Truck Series driver standings lead for the first time this season. Nemechek is the fourth different Truck Series points leader this season.
Ben Rhodes, who had led the points for a four-race stretch, finished 27th after he was involved in an accident bringing out the final caution period forcing the overtime.
Corey Heim, Talking Rock, Georgia’s Chandler Smith, Matt Crafton and former NASCAR Cup Series driver Matt DiBenedetto rounded out the top 10 – the second consecutive and fourth top 10 finish of the season for DiBenedetto.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Texas Motor Speedway – Fort Worth, TX
SpeedyCash.com 220 – May 20, 2022
1. (3) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 149.
2. (4) Christian Eckes, Toyota, 149.
3. (5) Ryan Preece, Ford, 149.
4. (20) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 149.
5. (10) Ty Majeski, Toyota, 149.
6. (1) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 149.
7. (2) Corey Heim #, Toyota, 149.
8. (7) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 149.
9. (21) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 149.
10. (34) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 149.
11. (11) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 149.
12. (14) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 149.
13. (24) Todd Bodine, Toyota, 149.
14. (27) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 149.
15. (31) Bret Holmes, Chevrolet, 149.
16. (17) Jack Wood #, Chevrolet, 149.
17. (6) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 149.
18. (23) Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 149.
19. (22) Jesse Little, Chevrolet, 149.
20. (32) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 149.
21. (19) Chase Purdy, Toyota, 149.
22. (29) Tate Fogleman, Toyota, 149.
23. (26) Brennan Poole(i), Toyota, 149.
24. (12) Tanner Gray, Ford, 149.
25. (30) Tyler Hill, Toyota, 149.
26. (25) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, 149.
27. (8) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, 148.
28. (28) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 147.
29. (13) Dean Thompson #, Chevrolet, 146.
30. (35) Lawless Alan #, Chevrolet, 145.
31. (36) Chris Hacker, Chevrolet, 143.
32. (15) Zane Smith, Ford, 143.
33. (18) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, Overheating, 139.
34. (33) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 139.
35. (16) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, Accident, 106.
36. (9) Derek Kraus, Chevrolet, Accident, 88.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 116.575 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 55 Mins, 2 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.122 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 36 laps.
Lead Changes: 18 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Heim # 1;S. Friesen 2-13;R. Preece 14-15;S. Friesen 16-19;R. Preece 20-37;S. Friesen 38-65;R. Preece 66-72;S. Friesen 73;J. Nemechek 74-87;S. Friesen 88-92;C. Eckes 93-98;S. Friesen 99-107;C. Purdy 108-110;C. Hocevar 111-113;C. Eckes 114-132;C. Hocevar 133;C. Eckes 134-148;S. Friesen 149.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Stewart Friesen 7 times for 60 laps; Christian Eckes 3 times for 40 laps; Ryan Preece 3 times for 27 laps; John Hunter Nemechek 1 time for 14 laps; Carson Hocevar 2 times for 4 laps; Chase Purdy 1 time for 3 laps; Corey Heim # 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 17,52,38,98,18,4,66,99,19,51
Stage #2 Top Ten: 17,52,4,99,98,19,51,66,41,16
Playoff Standings: 1. Zane Smith – 311 (3 Wins); 2. John Hunter Nemechek – 343 (1 Win); 3. Ben Rhodes – 339 (1 Win); 4. Chandler Smith – 325 (1 Win); 5. Stewart Friesen – 322 (1 Win); 6. Ty Majeski – 310; 7. Christian Eckes – 298; 8. Carson Hocevar – 284; 9. Grant Enfinger – 262; 10. Matt Crafton – 260.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
