{"id":2105,"date":"2023-11-04T00:52:26","date_gmt":"2023-11-04T04:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/?p=2105"},"modified":"2023-11-04T01:22:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-04T05:22:18","slug":"2023-nascar-craftsman-truck-series-race-twenty-three-phoenix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/2023\/11\/2023-nascar-craftsman-truck-series-race-twenty-three-phoenix\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race Twenty-Three Phoenix"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trucks in race: 36
\nPole: Corey Heim (11) | TRICON Garage | crew chief: Scott Zipadelli
\nOutside pole: Ty Majeski (98) | ThorSport Racing | crew chief: Joe Shear Jr.
\nStages: 45-45-60
\n<\/p>\n

Caution lap 3 of 150 for a spin by Stewart Friesen (52).<\/p>\n

Ty Majeski (98) wins stage one.<\/p>\n

Caution on lap 55 of 150 for a wreck involving Chris Hacker (30) and Marco Andretti (7) who also has damage in the incident. Hacker waited for the trucks to come around again before getting into the safety vehicle. He shook his finger at someone. MRN’s Alex Hayden reports the truck may have lifted into the air. I imagine after the commercial break we may see a replay of the incident. They didn’t seem to have cameras on it live. Maybe not. We come back to a split-screen of four drivers driving and the ticker. Ah, after a while of that crap video then we get a distant shot of the incident and a slo-mo shot of the incident in progress. Marco Andretti is on a golf cart getting rolled away. I guess his damage was terminal.<\/p>\n

Hacker said in his MRN interview he saw Marco spinning and decided to hit the gas to try to avoid it, then he saw the 7 pointed toward him and it came down into him, clipping him in the rear and sending him (Hacker) into the outside wall. Hacker is hacked off at being out of the race early in stage two because “people couldn’t be patient”.<\/p>\n

Caution on lap 75 of 150 for a spin by Tyler Hill (). TV is in commercial break. MRN reports he may have cut down a rear tire.<\/p>\n

Corey Heim (11) wins stage two.<\/p>\n

Caution on lap 100 of 150 for a crash involving Conner Jones (66) and Jake Drew (61). Hailie Deegan (13) spun trying to avoid the crash. FS1 had an aerial shot – at night – from the blimp, so we couldn’t really see much of what was happening on track. The drivers seemed to be talking to each other and there was a camera on them, then suddenly we were back to the blimp shot. The television broadcast coverage of this event is pretty dreadful tonight.<\/p>\n

MRN is calling an exciting race.<\/p>\n

FS1 is showing bumpers, tailgates, track surface, track wall, and super high aerial shots.<\/p>\n

Caution on lap 117 of 150 for a crash involving Corey Heim (11) and Stewart Friesen with the help of Carson Hocevar (42). Carson is crying in the truck and banging his fists against the steering wheel. Hocevar got into the left rear of Heim spinning Heim (11) up into Stewart Friesen (52). Not sure why Hocevar is crying and throwing a tantrum considering he wrecked out the pole sitter. Heim led 47 laps. Maybe Hocevar is dreading what will happen when Heim gets to him after the event.<\/p>\n

Caution on lap 129 of 150 for a crash involving Stefan Parsons (25), Bayley Currey (41) and Daniel Dye (43).<\/p>\n

Red flag on lap 130 of 150.<\/p>\n

Trucks are rolling under caution. the red flag period was about 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

Stewart Friesen (42), according to MRN, is blocking Carson Hocevar (42) on pit road under caution. Friesen was collected when Hocevar crashed Corey Heim (11). MRN reports Friesen was very slow on pit road in front of Hocevar.<\/p>\n

Restarting on lap 135 of 150 with Zane Smith (38).<\/p>\n

Ben Rhodes (99) and Grant Enfinger (23) start side-by-side in third and fourth. They are the top two championship contenders.<\/p>\n

Caution on lap 146 of 150 for Corey Heim (11) putting Carson Hocevar (42) into the wall. Taylor Gray (17) was also collected. Grant Enfinger (23) had about a five truck lead and was stretching it out over Ben Rhodes (99) when the caution came out.<\/p>\n

They will restart in overtime.<\/p>\n

Corey Heim (11) is saying on the team radio something broke on the right rear of his truck and it shot the truck to the right and it just happened to occur at the moment Carson Hocevar (42) was on his right side.<\/p>\n

In my opinion NASCAR should call the event at that point since Corey Heim (11) clearly manipulated the finish of the race and the championship results.<\/p>\n

Restarting with Zane Smith (38) up front. Christian Eckes (19) lines up beside him followed by championship contenders Grant Enfinger (23) and Ben Rhodes (99). Chase Purdy (4) and Nick Sanchez (2) line up on row three.<\/p>\n

Ben Rhodes (99) forces his way to the lead as Grant Enfinger (23) gets out of the gas to avoid a four-wide crash.<\/p>\n

Caution comes out for a crash by Derek Kraus (77).<\/p>\n

Grant Enfinger (23) pits for tires and fuel.<\/p>\n

Carson Hocevar says he was just dumb. He was trying to hard. He said he deserves what happened – when Heim hit him – and a whole lot more. He said on the radio interview that he “just fucked up”. MRN apologized for the language.<\/p>\n

Enfinger had a tire going down so he felt he had to pit.<\/p>\n

Restarting in overtime again.<\/p>\n

Restarting with Zane Smith (38) and Ben Rhodes (99) on the front row. Chase Purdy () is in a Kyle Busch Motorsport’s final race.<\/p>\n

Zane Smith (3) spins out. MRN says he missed a shift. He did miss a shift. Ben Rhodes (99) just drove through Zane Smith (38) spinning him.<\/p>\n

The 51 of Jack Wood of Kyle Busch Motorsports is sitting smoking on the track.<\/p>\n

Corey Heim (11) gets the free pass in 23rd. Grant Enfinger (23) is starting in 19th.<\/p>\n

Restarting in the third overtime with Christian Eckes (19) and Chase Purdy (4) up front followed by Jake Garcia (35), Ty Majeski (98), Jesse Love (1), Ben Rhodes (99), Dean Thompson (5) and Matt Crafton (88). MRN’s Dave Moody says there’s a split in the sheet metal on the right front side of Ben Rhodes (99) truck.<\/p>\n

Caution for spins by Matt Crafton (88), Tyler Hill (56), Ty Majeski (98), and Sean Hingorani (75).<\/p>\n

Zane Smith (38) has a flat right front tire.<\/p>\n

Restarting again in overtime with Chase Purdy (4), Christian Eckes (19), Jake Garcia (35), Ben Rhodes (99), Jesse Love (1), Kaden Honeycutt (02), Dean Thompson (5), Tanner Gray (15), Nick Sanchez (2), and Ty Majeski (98). Enfinger (23) starts in fourteenth.<\/p>\n

MRN reports a number of drivers pitted on lap 122. Due to the high number of caution laps they believe they’re okay on fuel.<\/p>\n

A truck hits the wall and rides along the wall, but NASCAR chooses to ignore it. The white flag comes out.<\/p>\n

Christian Eckes (19) wins the race.<\/p>\n

Ben Rhodes (99) holds off Grant Enfinger (23), who had caught him, to win the championship.<\/p>\n

What a disappointing result for the championship.<\/p>\n

It was a ho-hum event until Heim took out Hocevar. From there it was a mess – more interesting to watch than the rest of the event, but disappointing. Enfinger (23) said Rhodes drove into him on the restart and tore up their truck. I agree with him that it’s a shame the championship race came down to that. This is also the last race for GMS Racing, Grant Enfinger’s team owner. The Gallagher Motor Sports team will cease operations at the end of this season.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately there was one championship quality driver in the final four and he did not win the event.<\/p>\n

The quality of champion in this series has steadily deteriorated. The drivers are under-talented, overly-aggressive, and liars who generally refuse to take responsibility for their actions. They may represent NASCAR, but not in a positive way. Ben Rhodes (99) does not deserve a single championship and he’s again wrecked his competition for a second championship.<\/p>\n

2023 Truck Series Champion:<\/strong><\/p>\n