Majeski wins Bristol Trucks playoff race for first career win

Majeski, 28, easily cleared for the lead on a restart with 12 of 200 laps remaining and held off Zane Smith by 1.152 seconds to win Thursday night’s race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

It’s Majeski’s first win in 40 series starts and first in NASCAR national series competition (he’s also made 15 starts in the Xfinity Series).

With the victory, Majeski locks himself into the Truck Series championship race at Phoenix regardless of how he finishes in the next two races.

“I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this,” Majeski said. “Just so proud to be here. We came guns blazing for this race. Took our best truck. This is so cool.

“My career’s been so up-and-down. There’s been a lot of people that have helped get me to this point. This is just damn cool. Man, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

Parker Kligerman finished third, Grant Enfinger fourth and Matt Crafton rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 were Derek Kraus, Stewart Friesen, Christian Eckes, Chandler Smith and Corey Heim.

Stage 3

Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, several trucks decided to pit – including Chandler Smith – and Zane Smith stayed out and inherited the lead.

On the restart on Lap 122, Zane Smith was followed by Kligerman and Kraus. Chandler Smith lined up 15th.

With 65 laps remaining, Zane Smith was working hard to fend off a challenge for the lead by Majeski. Enfinger ran third.

Chris Hacker spun off Turn 3 following contact with Eckes on Lap 111 to bring out the fourth caution of the race.

A handful of trucks pit but Zane Smith remained on the track and in the lead when the race resumed on Lap 157.

Majeski quickly powered to the lead on the restart.

Tanner Gray got into Dean Thompson in Turn 3 and sent him into the wall on Lap 179. That brought out the sixth caution of the race.

Majeski continued to lead the way on the restart on Lap 189.

Stage 2

Chandler Smith again held off a late charge from Friesen to win Stage 2 and complete the sweep of stage victories.

Eckes was third, Ben Rhodes fourth and Taylor Gray rounded out the top-five.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, several lead-lap trucks pit but Chandler Smith stayed out and remained in the lead.

On the restart on Lap 66, Chandler Smith was followed by Friesen, Kraus and Majeski.

Connor Mosack spun off Turn 2 on Lap 85 to bring out another caution. Matt DiBenedetto had just hit pit road under green prior to the incident.

Several lead-lap trucks decided to pit and Carson Hocevar was penalized for speeding on pit road. Again, Chandler Smith elected to remain on the track and led the way on the restart on Lap 92.

With 10 laps remaining in the stage, Chandler Smith held a small lead over Friesen as Eckes had moved into third.

Stage 1

Chandler Smith held off a tough challenge from Friesen to claim the Stage 1 win, his fourth of the 2022 season.

Kraus was third, DiBenedetto fourth and Enfinger rounded out the top-five.

Kraus started on the pole and jumped out to a more than 1-second lead after 10 laps.

On Lap 26, Chandler Smith made his way around Kraus to take the lead for the first time in the race.

Josh Reaume spun off Turn 2 on Lap 37 to bring out a caution and then Rajah Caruth’s No. 7 slammed into Reaume after the fact. Reaume was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Several lead-lap trucks pit – including Zane Smith and Nemechek – but Chandler Smith remained on the track and in the lead when the race resumed on Lap 48.

John Hunter Nemechek (backup truck) and Zane Smith (unapproved adjustments) both had to start the race from the rear of the field.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Laps Led
1	66	Ty Majeski	Toyota	200	1:25'36.934			45
2	38	Zane Smith	Ford	200	1:25'38.086	1.152	1.152	39
3	75	Parker Kligerman	Toyota	200	1:25'39.383	2.449	1.297
4	23	Grant Enfinger	Chevrolet	200	1:25'39.751	2.817	0.368
5	88	Matt Crafton	Toyota	200	1:25'40.118	3.184	0.367
6	19	Derek Kraus	Chevrolet	200	1:25'40.709	3.775	0.591	27
7	52	Stewart Friesen	Toyota	200	1:25'40.978	4.044	0.269
8	98	Christian Eckes	Toyota	200	1:25'41.419	4.485	0.441
9	18	Chandler Smith	Toyota	200	1:25'41.660	4.726	0.241	89
10	51	Corey Heim	Toyota	200	1:25'42.017	5.083	0.357
11	16	Tyler Ankrum	Toyota	200	1:25'42.707	5.773	0.690
12	4	John Hunter Nemechek	Toyota	200	1:25'43.555	6.621	0.848
13	30	Kaden Honeycutt	Toyota	200	1:25'44.271	7.337	0.716
14	1	Hailie Deegan	Ford	200	1:25'45.766	8.832	1.495
15	44	Bayley Currey	Chevrolet	200	1:25'45.918	8.984	0.152
16	17	Taylor Gray	Ford	200	1:25'46.037	9.103	0.119
17	15	Tanner Gray	Ford	200	1:25'46.236	9.302	0.199
18	99	Ben Rhodes	Toyota	200	1:25'46.486	9.552	0.250
19	42	Carson Hocevar	Chevrolet	200	1:25'46.856	9.922	0.370
20	22	Austin Wayne Self	Chevrolet	200	1:25'47.467	10.533	0.611
21	24	Jack Wood	Chevrolet	200	1:25'48.053	11.119	0.586
22	35	Jake Garcia	Chevrolet	200	1:25'48.190	11.256	0.137
23	45	Alan Lawless	Chevrolet	200	1:25'48.653	11.719	0.463
24	91	Colby Howard	Chevrolet	200	1:25'49.302	12.368	0.649
25	02	Jesse Little	Chevrolet	200	1:25'51.064	14.130	1.762
26	56	Timmy Hill	Toyota	200	1:25'51.948	15.014	0.884
27	25	Matt DiBenedetto	Chevrolet	199	1:25'50.173	1 Lap	1 Lap
28	9	Blaine Perkins	Chevrolet	197	1:25'51.411	3 Laps	2 Laps
29	20	Leland Honeyman	Chevrolet	195	1:25'53.115	5 Laps	2 Laps
30	61	Chase Purdy	Toyota	193	1:24'43.499	7 Laps	2 Laps
31	32	Connor Mosack	Chevrolet	192	1:25'52.101	8 Laps	1 Lap
32	40	Dean Thompson	Chevrolet	178	1:14'42.815	22 Laps	14 Laps
33	33	Chris Hacker	Toyota	165	1:11'21.900	35 Laps	13 Laps
34	7	Rajah Caruth	Chevrolet	44	18'55.311	156 Laps	121 Laps
35	43	Josh Reaume	Chevrolet	34	9'41.099	166 Laps	10 Laps
36	12	Spencer Boyd	Chevrolet	25	8'06.638	175 Laps	9 Laps