Carson Hocevar arrived at Texas with five days of positive momentum from Talladega, where he had won in the Cup Series the previous Sunday, and the SpeedyCash.com 250 on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. He started from 11th position, led 76 of the 172 laps, and in overtime scored his sixth Craftsman Truck Series victory by 0.730 seconds over his Spire Motorsports teammate, Kyle Busch.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

Giovanni Ruggiero took the lead on lap 165, with the scoreboard showing two laps to go in the scheduled distance. On lap 167 (which would have been the last), a five-truck crash on the front straight brought out the red flag and forced two extra laps. Ruggiero led the restart on lap 171, but on the final lap got caught in a three-wide battle. Hocevar found the gap, moved to the front, and crossed the line with a ten-truck-length margin over Busch. Ruggiero, who for several moments of the night looked like the most likely winner, finished 14th.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

For Busch, the night was more eventful than expected, starting with contact with the outside wall in the first 20 laps that put him a lap down and forced him to get it back under caution. On his final set of tires, he was the fastest truck on track, enough to finish second but not enough to extend his streak of consecutive wins at the Fort Worth oval to five. “We had a lot of action tonight. We didn't start well, we were very loose. The team made great adjustments,” he explained. For him, Hocevar winning made sense. “We each got one. We're even,” he summed up the dynamic with his Spire teammate.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

Kaden Honeycutt leaves Texas as the championship leader with a 14-point margin over Chandler Smith. He has 66 starts in the Craftsman Truck Series without a win, and tonight he held the lead on lap 149 but lost it two laps later. “I didn't do the right things to protect it,” he admitted after climbing out of his truck. “I need to learn how to win races. It's eating me up.” Smith finished tenth at Texas, which explains why the championship gap isn't larger. A season without any driver pulling away.

Kaden Honeycutt se va de Texas como líder del campeonato con 14 puntos sobre Chandler Smith. Lleva 66 salidas en la Craftsman Truck Series sin ganar una carrera, y esta noche tuvo la punta en la vuelta 149 y la perdió en dos. “No hice las cosas correctas para protegerla,” admitió al bajarse de su camioneta. “Tengo que aprender a ganar carreras. Me está consumiendo.” Smith terminó décimo en Texas, lo que explica que la diferencia en el campeonato no sea más amplia. Una temporada sin un piloto que se despegue.