NASCAR
Last-Lap Texas Throwdown Ends with Carson Hocevar’s First NASCAR Win
FT. WORTH, Texas – A rare standalone Truck Series race at Texas ended with fireworks. While Nick Sanchez dominated the day from the pole, the 2 was turned on the last lap. Emerging ahead of the carnage and junked trucks was the No. 42 of Carson Hocevar. One young driver’s chances at a first win gave way to another. In his 59th career start, Michigan’s Carson Hocevar is finally a Craftsman Truck Series winner.
The day appeared to be going almost perfect for team No. 2 and Nick Sanchez. Starting on pole, the Rev Racing 2 led a race-high 168 of 172 laps, sweeping both Stages. A late series of cautions kept the field close to the 2 though, including a scary accident with 22 laps left. After Dean Thompson drifted wide in turn four, the 5 went sliding across the frontstretch, into the paths of many other trucks. Despite being loaded on a stretcher and eventually taken to a local hospital, Thompson did say later on that he was okay after the massive hit.
Dean Thompson is still being evaluated in the infield care center at Texas Motor Speedway. pic.twitter.com/dEOMCbIolC
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 1, 2023
Once cleanup was complete and racing resumed, Sanchez continued his dominance out front narrowly over Zane Smith. At the white flag the 2 and 38 were door-to-door aggressively side-drafting. Sanchez bounced off of the 38, went across into the grass, and slid back up into Smith’s path. Also collected in this melee was Christian Eckes, giving the top spot to fourth-place Carson Hocevar. Even with only one lap led in overtime, Hocevar takes home the big victory.
A wild finish at @TXMotorSpeedway! @CarsonHocevar wins! pic.twitter.com/9LObQvPpzW
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) April 1, 2023
“I didn’t mean to get into him, I just meant to give him a push and he got sideways the second I hit him,” Hocevar said of the finish. “I apologize to them, I’ll take the fall for it, I wrecked a Chevy and I’ll go talk to him about it – he deserved to win for sure.”
“But all the times we were the fastest car and I don’t win, and this team deserves to win more than anything, I can stop getting the same question asked all the time now. We didn’t deserve to win today but we were in the right spot at the right time.”
As the third championship-eligible winner five races into 2023, Hocevar is a lock for his third-straight appearance in the Truck Series Playoffs. Only time will tell if Texas proves to be the first of manny wins for the Niece Motorsports 42.
Behind Hocevar, the Texas top-10 truckers were: Chase Purdy, Stewart Friesen, Ty Majeski, Jake Garcia, Hailie Deegan, Corey Heim, Ryan Vargas, Jack Wood, and Ben Rhodes. Several of these drivers set or matched their career-best finish.
Up next for the Craftsman Truck Series is Bristol Dirt. The Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt will go green Saturday at 8:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Last year’s Bristol Dirt race was one of Hocevar’s close losses, so the 42 may have a chance at back-to-back wins.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images for NASCAR
