LEBANON, Tenn. -- In the place known for being the birthplace of the blues, Carson Hocevar was singing a different tune on Friday night.
His ballad was one of victory after leading the final 40 laps of the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway, snagging his second career win, one of the most coveted trophies in NASCAR--an original Nashville winner’s guitar and the $50,000 NCTS Triple Truck Challenge bonus.
After the final restart that was brought out by a late race caution that involved Stewart Friesen and Christian Eckes, Hocevar held off the reigning NCTS champion Zane Smith, and finished with a narrow margin of .271 seconds over the polesitter, rookie Nick Sanchez who made a late race charge to finish third. Points leader Cory Heim and Bailey Currey rounded out the top-5 at the end of the night.
“I was honestly kind of bummed out when the caution came out just ‘cause I knew that restarts were not my strong suit tonight” said Smith.
Before the final three laps, Smith had an opportunity to run down the race leader.
“We were about two tenths quicker is what it sounds like and it seemed like two laps before the caution came out I felt like I cut my distance in half of what I had to him so, I kind of wish it had went green so I could just try to play around and build the run a little bit more other than having one lap to do so”.
When asked what could have gotten Smith to the checkered flag, his answer was simple.
“Clean air.”
Hovevar, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports anticipated the final caution in the closing laps saying “I was a little bit worried the yellow is going to come, probably going to come.”
Consistent with what could have helped Smith in the end, Hocevar said “I just knew that clean air was going to be important.”