The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returned to Rockingham Speedway after over a decade away. Jake Garcia got the pole for the Black’s Tire 200 to welcome the series back. Chandler Smith joined him on the front row. Ben Rhodes, Connor Mosack, and Layne Riggs rounded out the top five. The stage lengths were 45 laps for the first and second stages, with the final stage being 110 laps.
“Four Horse Pony Show at the Dog Race”
The front row both got good launches and drove side by side into turn one. Garcia got the better drive off of turn two and took the lead. However, Smith did not settle. He immediately went on the offensive. Mosack got loose in turn three and into Bayley Currey. Currey hit the wall. That brought out the first caution of the day.
Smith got the better jump at the restart. Garcia was able to stay within striking distance and took his lead back out of turn two. Ben Rhodes appeared to have a power steering issue as smoke began to pour from his truck. The field behind him appeared hesitant to pass him on the outside in case a tire blew. He continued to slip to the back of the field.
Garcia built his lead to over a second by lap 20. The field singled filed out behind the leader. He caught the back of the field and began to lap trucks. Smith used the lapped trucks to catch up to the tailgate of Garcia. They caught up to Tyler Ankrum in 22nd and put him a lap down. Layne Riggs joined the fray while the top two battled. Riggs passed Smith to move into second.
Riggs tried to pass Garcia but got squeezed to the bottom of the track. He got loose but was able to keep his foot in the throttle and stay aggressive. Riggs gathered it up and took another shot at the lead and was able to make it stick and complete the pass. Riggs was able to hold the lead and get the stage win! Garcia was able to hold off a charging Kaden Honeycutt for second and third. Smith finished the stage in fourth.
Battles up Front
Honeycutt and Grant Enfinger brought the field back to the green. Enfinger got the better jump and took the lead. Riggs did not let him get too far out front. He pulled Honeycutt, and they stayed on the back of Enfinger. Riggs got loose, but he was able to keep it going. Garcia caught up to the tailgate of Honeycutt.
The field singled out early. Riggs got to the inside of Enfinger. He got loose and pushed Enfinger up the track, which allowed Honeycutt to take the lead. Enfinger fell out of the top five after losing the lead. Garcia slipped into third. Ben Rhodes drove his truck to the garage for repairs.
Riggs used the lapped truck of Nathan Byrd to retake the lead. Honeycutt got trapped behind Byrd, and Riggs snatched the spot. Riggs would take his lead to the green-white-checkered flag and get his second stage win of the day! Honeycutt finished the stage in second with Garcia in third.
Red Flag(s)
Smith and Rajah Caruth restarted the race on the front row. They both had good restarts, but Caruth got loose underneath Smith in turns three and four. Smith used that bobble to take the lead. Mosack, Gio Ruggiero, and Luke Fenhaus made contact. They all kept it straight with Fenhaus getting pushed up the track. He lost several spots and got a tire rub.
The fourth caution came out when Ty Majeski got turned around and backed his truck into the wall. He was battling Enfinger for the tenth position. NASCAR decided to display the red flag to fix the turn one wall where Majeski hit.
Daniel Hemric joined Smith on the front row for the restart. They got equal restarts and ran side by side for almost two laps. Smith took the lead back on the outside with Corey Heim pushing him. The fifth caution came out when Caruth got loose off of turn four. Stewart Friesen and Matt Mills had nowhere to go. Mills ran into the back of Friesen and sent him into the wall and across the track, collecting Tanner Gray along the way. NASCAR brought out another red flag to allow for cleanup.
As the field pitted in the last two caution opportunities, Heim and Ruggerio did not and were short on gas from here on out.
Post Red Flag(s)
Corey Heim and Ruggiero brought the field back to green after the cleanup. Heim got the better restart and took the lead for the first time. He stretched his lead out to over two and a half seconds. He kept picking up his lap time to stretch his lead before he had to pit for fuel. Ruggiero seemed to keep a steady pace to save fuel.
Ankrum began saving fuel to stretch to the end. He was almost ten seconds back from the leader. Smith and Riggs, behind him, had seven more laps of fuel after pitting later.
Heim pitted for fuel with 30 to go in the race. Ruggiero pitted on the very next lap. That gave the lead to Ankrum. Smith, in second, matched the leader in lap times. Ankrum even stretched his lead a bit. He was about a tenth of a second faster. Cutting through traffic slowed the leader up a bit, but Ankrum kept steady. Smith caught up to the lapped traffic and struggled a bit more than Ankrum did.
Riggs, in third, pitted with five to go in the race. He was projected to have more fuel than Ankrum. Smith, in second, ran out of fuel with a lap and a half left. Ankrum ran out on the white flag lap and coasted to the checkered flag to take the win! Garcia, Hemric, Caruth, and Enfinger rounded out the top five.
Marvin’s Moment:
Tyler Ankrum came back from a lap down to paper covers “The Rock.”(Get it?) Bad joke.
After a winless streak of 130 races, Ankrum finally gets back to victory lane. The truck series has been hit or miss on the quality of races, but they kept it very clean at a narrow track. There is a lot of talent in the series, and I enjoy when the race unfolds to show it. The truck series will be off next week, and I will be at the next race in Texas. Tune in for the recap following the Kansas race on May 10th!
