The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series visited Kansas Speedway on Saturday night in the Heart of America 200. Jake Garcia started the race on the pole with Corey Heim starting in second.
In Stage 1, Dawson Sutton suffered a flat tire on the fourth lap and spun at the entrance of pit road for the race’s first caution of the day. Corey Heim led the opening 24 laps before Luke Baldwin’s truck suffered a flat right front tire and slammed into the wall in between Turns 1 and 2 for the second caution of the race. There was a one-lap shootout in the final lap of Stage 1, which was won by Corey Heim.
Corey Heim was still the leader as the green flag waved to start Stage 2. While Heim was leading, Carson Hocevar was blowing by the field restarting from fifth place and reached second place. He was reeling in Heim and challenged him for the lead on lap 43. Heim kept the lead after Hocevar bobbled, and Heim extended his lead by 1.615 seconds.
On lap 51, Cody Dennison’s truck suffered a flat left rear tire and spun at Turn 1 to bring out another caution. During pit stops, Corey Heim’s crew had issues putting on the left rear tire and was sitting in pit road for 22 seconds. Grant Enfinger was the new leader with Carson Hocevar in second to restart the race on lap 56.
Carson Hocevar passed Grant Enfinger on lap 58 for the lead. Enfinger would lose second place to Layne Riggs as Hocevar went on to win the second stage.
Carson Hocevar was still the leader with Layne Riggs in second place when the race restarted on lap 68 to start the final stage. On the same lap, Grant Enfinger took second away from Riggs, and Riggs found himself fighting William Byron for third place.
Riggs held on to third place and later caught Grant Enfinger to battle for second place. The two would fight for second, while Carson Hocevar pulled away on lap 92. On lap 97, Frankie Muniz spins off at Turn 4 to bring out the sixth caution of the night.
Carson Hocevar stayed out while the others went to pit road to keep the lead. He and William Byron were on the front row when the race restarted on lap 103. Byron challenged Hocevar for the lead but was unsuccessful.
On lap 110, Bayley Currey and Connor Mosack were involved in separate crashes that brought out the seventh and final caution of the night. The race restarted on lap 115, Carson Hocevar and William Byron were fighting for the lead before Hocevar cleared Byron to take first place.
Hocevar led the final 35 laps to win his first Craftsman Truck Series race since Homestead of 2023 by 0.262 seconds over Layne Riggs. The rest of the top five finishers were William Byron third, Corey Heim fourth, and Gio Ruggiero fifth. There were seven cautions for 33 yards and eight lead changes among five drivers. Hocevar led the most laps in the race (75).
Update: Layne Riggs was disqualified from the post-race inspection due to a truck bed cover. Instead of finishing in second place, he now finishes in 31st place.
The Craftsman Truck Series heads to North Wilkesboro Speedway next Saturday at 1:30 pm on FS1. Purchase NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series tickets today at StubHub.
