Fans witnessed an exciting race for the Truck Series at Charlotte last Friday. Here are five takeaways from the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.
1. Ben Rhodes gets Win 1 in 2023 and a $50k bonus
Ben Rhodes‘ last win occurred at the 2022 Bristol Dirt race on April 16th, 2022. He finished second in the championship standings that year. This year, before Charlotte, he had only finished inside the top 20, excluding North Wilkesboro where he was caught in a wreck.
Rhodes had a poor qualifying effort, starting 19th. On Lap 89, Rhodes took command of the race. The No. 99 Truck was constantly dueling with the five fastest trucks in the race. An accident on the backstretch reracked the field, with Rhodes in the lead. Rhodes controlled the last 24 laps of the race, while second on back jockeyed for position.
With Rhodes’ victory, he captured the first win of the Triple Truck Challenge, winning a bonus of $50,000 dollars. The next race of the Trip is at Gateway and ends at Nashville Superspeedway. If Rhodes can win the next two races, he will win a bonus of $500,000 dollars.
.@benrhodes wins the #NCEL200 at @CLTMotorSpdwy and collects the extra $50k for The Triple Truck Challenge!
#TheTrip | #FordPerformance | #NASCAR75 pic.twitter.com/UZcd8jgORt
— ThorSport Racing (@ThorSportRacing) May 27, 2023
2. TRICON Garage earns second and third
With David Gilliland, Dean Thompson, Corey Heim, Tanner, and Taylor Gray at the helm of the fastest Toyota Tundras in the field, it is to be expected that they will have strong runs and great finishes. Charlotte was their strongest run as a team. The No. 15 scored the pole with two other trucks starting in the Top 10. The No. 11 driven by Corey Heim was the fastest truck out of TRICON Garage, leading 49 laps, winning Stage 1 and finishing second in Stage 2, finishing P2 at the checkered flag.
Dean Thompson had his career best finish at Charlotte. The No. 5 Truck started seventh and finished third all night. Stage 1, third, Stage 2, third. Checkered flag drops, and Thompson, hot on the heels of his teammate Heim, finished third.
they saw us. pic.twitter.com/3uPT1W4oSm
— TRICON (@TRICONGarage) May 27, 2023
3. Hocevar’s great night at Charlotte
Carson Hocevar had another impressive race. He qualified outside the Top ten, in 12th. Corey Heim took the lead on Lap 4, where he and Hocevar would battle for the majority of the race. When Heim took the Stage 1 victory, Hocevar was right on his bumper. Hocevar grabbed the Stage 2 victory, with Heim trailing him. The No. 42 Chevrolet lead 43 laps, earning a fourth place finish.
4. Tanner Gray earns pole, leads first laps in Truck Series
Five years ago, Tanner Gray was tackling the straight-lined tracks in the NHRA Pro-Stock Series. He won eight races and became the youngest ever NHRA champion at the age of 19. He made the switch to stock cars at the end of the 2018 season, moving to David Gilliland Racing (now TRICON Garage).
Moving from Pro-Stock to Stock Cars was a big jump, but Gray has slowly increased his speed in the Truck Series. In Charlotte, he showed the NASCAR world he truly can handle the left turns. He took the pole position, clocking a speed of 180.385 MPH, and lead the first laps of his career. His pole speed did not translate into race-finishing speed, as Gray finished 27th. Look out for Gray though, as he is currently ninth in the championship standings, and might be able to make a playoff run if he adds to his three top-five finishes.
POLE POSITION‼️@TannerGray5 will lead the field to green for the first time in his career. 👏 pic.twitter.com/wPltbRV3f4
— TRICON (@TRICONGarage) May 26, 2023
5. Zane Smith’s rough night
Friday night was a tough race for defending champion Zane Smith. He qualified 14th, and since the race at Kansas, he has not broken the top 15 in qualifying. He managed to make his way into the Top 10 to score stage points, fifth in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. In Stage 3, his race fell apart. On the Lap 90 restart, the field was coming off of Turn 4, and Smith got loose. He slid through the front stretch grass and hit the No. 13 of Hailie Deegan. He would finish the night in 23rd, but he is still third in points.
