Chandler Smith earned his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season, taking the trophy in the regular season finale at Pocono Raceway Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Zane Smith collected his first regular season championship.
It marked the seventh race win for a Kyle Busch Motorsports team in the last eight Pocono races with Chandler Smith leading a commanding 49 of the 60 laps. Talking Rock, Georgia native had to hold off a final lap charge from Ryan Preece by a close .262-seconds to hoist his fourth career trophy.
“We’ve been going through a little bit of a struggle here recently, but just when we needed to shine and we started shining,” Chandler Smith said of the victory – his first since a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.
Zane Smith finished a distant 13th after dealing with throttle issues early in the race. But with the regular season title in hand, the series-best three-race winner will start the Playoffs with that all-important 15 bonus Playoff points. He’s hoping to become the first regular season champion to win the season title since 2017.
“Man, today was a major struggle,” Zane Smith said. “Started out from the green flag to pretty much the end of Stage 2 our throttle was sticking and everything we were doing wasn’t fixing it. So, little worried at times because I knew I just had to have a couple points.
“Long day, once we did get it right still fought a really, really tight truck, but there’s no giving up,”he added. “Glad we’re on to the Playoffs and ready to get this postseason started.”
The other end of the Playoff drama, veteran Matt Crafton was able to hold onto his 10th and final Playoff transfer position – finishing 15th in the race, but with a 17-point edge on Derek Kraus, who finished ninth. Crafton, a three-time series champion, has now qualified for the series Playoffs every season since its inception into the series in 2016.
“These guys did everything they were supposed to and worked their rear ends off with TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and worked on the simulator, working on getting our set-ups better and we were really good on the short runs, we had a way better truck than where we finished,” Crafton said.
“Take your gloves off and do whatever it takes,” he said of the racing for his fourth title now.
John Hunter Nemechek was third, followed by Marietta, Georgia’s Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar.
Winston, Georgia’s Austin Hill, Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Kraus and Tanner Gray rounded out the top 10.
Former two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Todd Bodine finished 36th in his 800th and final NASCAR national series start. He was collected in an accident on lap 13.
“I’ve been so blessed to be able to do what I love for 800 times,” said Bodine, who now works as a race broadcaster for FOX Sports. “Pretty blessed life to have.”
As for the early ending, “That’s racing,” Bodine said managing a smile. “I’ve been here before. I’ve been wrecked before. That’s part of the game.”
After adjusting the standings according to Playoff positions the 10 drivers to advance to the upcoming seven-race Camping World Truck Series Playoffs include – in points order – Zane Smith, Chandler Smith, defending series champion Ben Rhodes, Nemechek, Friesen, Eckes, Majeski, Hocevar, Grant Enfinger and Crafton.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, PAennsylvania
CRC Brakleen 150 – July 23, 2022
1. (2) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 60.
2. (22) Ryan Preece, Ford, 60.
3. (12) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 60.
4. (17) Corey Heim #, Toyota, 60.
5. (3) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 60.
6. (31) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 60.
7. (6) Ty Majeski, Toyota, 60.
8. (5) Christian Eckes, Toyota, 60.
9. (7) Derek Kraus, Chevrolet, 60.
10. (18) Tanner Gray, Ford, 60.
11. (15) Chase Purdy, Toyota, 60.
12. (16) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 60.
13. (1) Zane Smith, Ford, 60.
14. (4) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 60.
15. (13) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 60.
16. (14) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 60.
17. (8) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 60.
18. (10) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 60.
19. (11) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, 60.
20. (36) Tate Fogleman, Chevrolet, 60.
21. (27) Max Gutierrez, Chevrolet, 60.
22. (23) Lawless Alan #, Chevrolet, 60.
23. (9) Kaz Grala, Chevrolet, 60.
24. (26) Dean Thompson #, Chevrolet, 60.
25. (33) Kaden Honeycutt, Toyota, 60.
26. (32) Jesse Little, Chevrolet, 60.
27. (24) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 60.
28. (20) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 60.
29. (28) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, 60.
30. (35) Tyler Hill, Toyota, 60.
31. (29) Armani Williams, Chevrolet, 59.
32. (21) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 59.
33. (19) Hailie Deegan, Ford, Brakes, 57.
34. (30) Josh Reaume, Toyota, 55.
35. (25) Jack Wood #, Chevrolet, Accident, 18.
36. (34) Todd Bodine, Toyota, Accident, 12.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 111.593 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 20 Mins, 39 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.262 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 20 laps.
Lead Changes: 5 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Z. Smith 0;C. Smith 1-27;C. Eckes 28-32;C. Smith 33-40;R. Preece 41-46;C. Smith 47-60.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Chandler Smith 3 times for 49 laps; Ryan Preece 1 time for 6 laps; Christian Eckes 1 time for 5 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 18,98,42,52,19,38,4,16,88,51
Stage #2 Top Ten: 98,16,88,4,66,91,61,38,20,23
Playoff Standings: 1. Zane Smith – 2037 (3 Wins); 2. Chandler Smith – 2022 (2 Wins); 3. Ben Rhodes – 2017 (1 Win); 4. John Hunter Nemechek – 2016 (1 Win); 5. Stewart Friesen – 2013 (1 Win); 6. Christian Eckes – 2007; 7. Ty Majeski – 2006; 8. Carson Hocevar – 2005; 9. Grant Enfinger – 2002; 10. Matt Crafton – 2001.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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