Zane Smith literally burns it down in Truck win at COTA

Busch’s pit strategy got thrown out the window when Parker Kligerman’s stalled truck brought out a caution soon after Busch had claimed the Stage 2 win.

Several contenders, including Smith, got on pit road before pit road closed for the caution and was able to complete his stop. Busch had to wait until pit road opened under the caution to make his pit stop.

On the restart on Lap 30 of 42, Smith led the way while Buch lined up 17th. He made up seven spots in one lap and moved into second on Lap 36 but could not run down Smith.

Smith took his second consecutive victory at COTA by 5.451 seconds over Busch. The win is his second of the 2023 season and ninth of his career.

After a monstrous burnout on the frontstetch against the wall, the mud flaps behind the rear wheels caught fire and the rear of his truck was engulfed in flames before finally being extinguished by safety workers.

“Besides catching on fire in Victory Lane – that’s a first for me,” said Smith. “Man, that’s a bummer right there. Shoutout to my team for an amazing strategy that worked out with that caution.

“Putting Kyle back (in the field) and us starting on the front row was just perfect. This truck was fast when it mattered. I enjoy coming to all the road courses and especially here.

“That was probably the most hectic Victory Lane celebration I’ve ever had. I apologize for catching the truck on fire in Victory Lane.”

Ty Majeski finished third, Tyler Ankrum was fourth and Ross Chastain rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 was Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez, Tanner Gray, Kaz Grala and Ben Rhodes.

Stage 3

Following the caution for Kligerman stalling on the front stretch, several lead-lap trucks – including Busch – pit but Smith stayed out and inherited the lead.

On the restart on Lap 30, Smith was followed by Rhodes and Grala. Busch lined up 17th.

Chase Purdy spun around near Turn 15 on Lap 31 but was able to continue on without an issue.

With 10 laps remaining, Busch had worked his way up to third from the restart while Smith continued to lead the way.

On Lap 36, Busch got around Rhodes to move into second, 6.1 seconds behind the leader Smith.

With three laps to go, Smith maintained a 5.4-second lead over Busch as Rhodes ran third.

Christian Eckes, who led earlier in the race, was forced to take his No. 19 truck to the garage with one lap remaining.

Stage 2

As the field completed Lap 26, Busch was awarded the Stage 2 win.

Smith was second, Lawless Alan third, Stewart Friesen fourth and Kligerman rounded out the top-five. Kligerman, however, brought out a caution when he stalled on the frontstretch after completing the second stage.

As the second stage got under way, Eckes remained in the lead.

He elected to pit on Lap 13, which turned the lead over to Majeski.

On Lap 14, Busch went to the inside of Majeski and completed a pass to move into the lead.

Colby Howard was assessed a pass-through penalty on Lap 15 for short-cutting the esses part of the track. Tanner Gray was assessed the same penalty on Lap 17 for committing the same violation.

Eckes reported an issue with his fuel pressure on Lap 19 but his No. 19 truck was continuing to keep pace.

Chastain finally worked his way around Busch on Lap 20 in the esses to reclaim the lead as Smith ran third.

Majeski hit pit road under green on Lap 21 for the first time in the race.

On Lap 23, Busch managed to get around Chastain in the esses to return to the front. Smith ran third and Kligerman fourth.

Chastain hit pit road on Lap 24 for a green-flag pit stop to take on new tires and fuel.

Stage 1

As the field completed Lap 12, Eckes was in the lead and awarded the Stage 1 win.

Majeski was second, Heim third, Grala fourth and Busch rounded out the top-five.

Chastain started on the pole and held on to lead the first lap.

NASCAR displayed a caution on Lap 3 after Ed Jones’ No. 20 truck stalled on the track around the area of Turn 13.

On the restart on Lap 4, Chastain was followed by Busch and Eckes.

Eckes powered past Chastain off Turn 1 on the restart to move into the lead. Chastain was able to catch and retake the lead from Eckes to start Lap 5.

On Lap 5, Rajah Caruth was assessed a pass-through penalty for short-cutting the esses on the track.

Carson Hocevar spun, went off course near Turn 11 and got stuck in gravel pit on Lap 8 to bring out another caution.

Several trucks elected to pit under the caution with Chastain the first off pit road. Eckes remained on the track and inherited the lead. He led the way on the restart on Lap 11.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Laps Led
1	38	Zane Smith		Ford	42	1:51'35.679			16
2	51	Kyle Busch		Chevrolet	42	1:51'41.130	5.451	5.451	12
3	98	Ty Majeski		Ford	42	1:51'48.161	12.482	7.031	1
4	16	Tyler Ankrum		Toyota	42	1:51'56.153	20.474	7.992
5	41	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	42	1:51'56.793	21.114	0.640	10
6	11	Corey Heim		Toyota	42	1:51'57.525	21.846	0.732
7	2	Nicholas Sanchez		Chevrolet	42	1:51'57.746	22.067	0.221
8	15	Tanner Gray		Toyota	42	1:52'03.612	27.933	5.866
9	1	Kaz Grala		Toyota	42	1:52'04.034	28.355	0.422
10	99	Ben Rhodes		Ford	42	1:52'04.314	28.635	0.280
11	17	Taylor Gray		Toyota	42	1:52'04.895	29.216	0.581
12	23	Grant Enfinger		Chevrolet	42	1:52'08.119	32.440	3.224
13	24	Rajah Caruth		Chevrolet	42	1:52'12.472	36.793	4.353
14	52	Stewart Friesen		Toyota	42	1:52'13.355	37.676	0.883
15	04	Kaden Honeycutt		Ford	42	1:52'13.958	38.279	0.603
16	13	Hailie Deegan		Ford	42	1:52'15.858	40.179	1.900
17	45	Alan Lawless		Chevrolet	42	1:52'30.093	54.414	14.235
18	43	Daniel Dye		Chevrolet	42	1:52'36.984	1'01.305	6.891
19	35	Jake Garcia		Chevrolet	42	1:52'38.317	1'02.638	1.333
20	30	Colin Garrett		Toyota	42	1:52'41.923	1'06.244	3.606
21	02	Kris Wright		Chevrolet	42	1:52'48.549	1'12.870	6.626
22	22	Logan Bearden		Ford	42	1:52'50.050	1'14.371	1.501
23	32	Bret Holmes		Chevrolet	42	1:52'51.294	1'15.615	1.244
24	9	Colby Howard		Chevrolet	42	1:52'53.432	1'17.753	2.138
25	56	Timmy Hill		Toyota	42	1:53'04.728	1'29.049	11.296
26	34	Mason Filippi		Ford	42	1:53'07.781	1'32.102	3.053
27	4	Chase Purdy		Chevrolet	42	1:53'07.884	1'32.205	0.103
28	46	Dale Quarterley		Toyota	42	1:53'15.907	1'40.228	8.023
29	25	Matt DiBenedetto		Chevrolet	41	1:53'10.830	1 Lap	1 Lap
30	19	Christian Eckes		Chevrolet	31	1:45'41.763	11 Laps	10 Laps	3
31	75	Parker Kligerman		Chevrolet	26	1:09'02.707	16 Laps	5 Laps
32	12	Spencer Boyd		Chevrolet	12	37'51.006	30 Laps	14 Laps
33	88	Matt Crafton		Ford	11	35'19.321	31 Laps	1 Lap
34	42	Carson Hocevar		Chevrolet	8	28'59.751	34 Laps	3 Laps
35	5	Dean Thompson		Toyota	4	12'33.465	38 Laps	4 Laps
36	20	Ed Jones		Chevrolet	0	1.994	42 Laps	4 Laps