A tale of two similar drivers at opposite ends of their career unfolded Friday night in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Carson Hocevar's youth and exuberance getting the win over Kyle Busch's experience and treachery at Texas Motor Speedway.
FORT WORTH, Texas -- A tale of two similar drivers at opposite ends of their careers unfolded Friday night in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Carson Hocevar's youth and exuberance getting the win over Kyle Busch's experience and treachery.
Carson Hocevar bested Spire Motorsports teammate Kyle Busch in overtime of Friday's SpeedyCash.com 250. Hocevar and Busch restarted second and sixth, respectively, and made quick work of the series regulars to go 1-2 for Spire.
"I was having so much fun out there," Hocevar said. "Sunday is tough and where we're judged, make our money, and this is for fun where we enjoy ourselves and reminds us why we do this. Under caution, I was waving to fans and laughing."
Not everything was fun, however. When Hocevar pitted on lap 122, his pit crew had an issue with the right-front tire that caused him to stay on pit road for 24 seconds. He dropped from first to third and then fourth when Layne Riggs passed him.
A caution on lap 145, with Ben Rhodes spinning Tyler Ankrum in turn one, brought Hocevar back into the picture. Like he had done all night, he nailed the restart and struck when the iron was heated up from a battle up front to take the lead.
The series regulars didn't roll over. Gio Ruggiero fought back and took the lead heading into overtime. However, Ruggiero picked the outside lane for overtime, which opened the door for Hocevar to get the run he had gotten all night to take the lead -- this time to win while Ruggiero finished 14th.
Hocevar led five times for 76 of the 172 laps run Friday night. After the race, all eyes were on him to see if he would ride the 'Dente like he did at Talladega.
"I was thinking there's not a shot I'm gonna do this," Hocevar said. "Then, I won and I'm doing burnouts so I thought, let's see, I'll get on the door. It's so fresh so I feel like I would've disappointed people if I hadn't done it. I feel like that was a good Truck orientation.
"I'll do it until I catch the beer."
Busch proved Friday night he isn't washed up yet and has the fiery, Rowdy spirit left in him. After a losing lap early on with a flat right-front tire, he grabbed the free pass on lap 52 and drove to second at the finish
TOP 10 FINISHERS: Carson Hocevar, Kyle Busch, Kaden Honeycutt, Brandon Jones, Ben Rhodes, Layne Riggs, Daniel Hemric, Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, Chandler Smith.
Fresh off of his Talladega win in the NASCAR Cup Series, Hurricane Hocevar proved why he's earned the nickname as he took the field by storm in the early stages, using some bold moves to get from the back half of the top-10 to second in the first stage.
However, he couldn't beat Ben Rhodes, who won the pole, led the first 41 laps and claimed the first stage after a lap 32 caution for Cory Roper crashing on the backstretch.
STAGE ONE: Ben Rhodes, Carson Hocevar, Gio Ruggiero, Kaden Honeycutt, Chandler Smith, Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger, Layne Riggs, Ty Majeski, Ross Chastain.
After pit strategies shuffled the running order, Hocevar found his way back to the front on lap 59, leading 17 more laps until a late-stage caution came out for Kris Wright crashing.
Mini Tyrrell took the lead briefly, leading Dawson Sutton who also earned stage points after staying out while others 'flipped' the stage.
STAGE TWO: Carson Hocevar, Kaden Honeycutt, Gio Ruggiero, Dawson Sutton, Tyler Ankrum, Mini Tyrrell, Grant Enfinger, Tanner Gray, Chandler Smith, Andres Perez.
Hocevar held the lead until the bad pit stop and lost it to Gio Ruggiero and Kaden Honeycutt until the Rhodes-Ankrum caution fell and brought everyone back to him.
Two cautions and subsequent red flags fell, each for incidents on the frontstretch, involving Stewart Friesen and Grant Enfinger on lap 157 and then involving Justin Haley, Jake Garcia and Conner Jones on lap 166, played into Hocevar's hands in the end to get the win.
Honeycutt finished third but is the points leader by 14 points over Chandler Smith, 19 over Layne Riggs, 31 over Gio Ruggiero, 34 over Ben Rhodes, 37 over Christian Eckes, 45 over Ty Majeski, 92 over Tyler Ankrum, 94 over Stewart Friesen and 102 over Jake Garcia, who holds the last spot in the Chase right now.
Garcia leads Justin Haley by one point for the Chase spot, Daniel Hemric by nine, Brenden Queen by 11, Tanner Gray by 20, Grant Enfinger by 23, Andres Perez by 32, Dawson Sutton by 38, Cole Butcher by 49 and Mini Tyrrell by 56.
NEXT: Watkins Glen International, 4:30 p.m. ET, May 8, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.