Chase Purdy Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. — It was indeed a special night for NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series driver Christian Eckes, who dominated Friday night’s Long John Silver’s 200 at Martinsville Speedway. Eschewing a trip to pit road between the first and second stages at the 0.526-mile short track, Eckes led the first 104 laps, swept the stages and worked his way back through the field from 19th after pitting at the Stage 2 break. Undeterred by the chaos that produced 11 cautions for 81 laps, Eckes tookRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – After stealing a victory last Saturday at Kansas Speedway, Christian Eckes got his pocket picked by Corey Heim on Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.  On Lap 195 of 200 of the UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics, Heim forced his way beneath Eckes’ No. 19 Chevrolet—with the lapped truck of Eckes’ TRICON Garage teammate, Tanner Gray, to the outside—took the lead and claimed the victory by .218 seconds over his disappointed rival.  With his third NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victoryRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service After Carson Hocevar crashed a two-driver party, pole winner Grant Enfinger rallied for victory in Sunday’s Clean Harbors 175 at the Milwaukee Mile and clinched a spot in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs. Enfinger, who led 95 of 175 laps, passed Hocevar for the top spot on Lap 159 and pulled away to win his third race of the season by 1.553 seconds. Hocevar was gambling on older tires and led the field to green for the finalRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LEBANON, Tenn. – Carson Hocevar took the lead with 40 laps remaining in Friday night’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway and held off every challenge necessary in the closing laps – including a frantic push from his competitors on a re-start with three laps remaining – to earn his second career victory. Hocevar held off reigning series champion, Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith and Friday’s polesitter Nick Sanchez by a slight .271-second margin in a tightly-contested final push towardRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MADISON, Ill. — Taking advantage of Ty Majeski’s and Zane Smith’s wreck at the front of the field, Grant Enfinger grabbed his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the season in Saturday’s Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway. During a two-lap overtime that took the race two laps past its scheduled distance of 160 laps, Enfinger held off Christian Eckes to claim his first win at WWT Raceway and the ninth of his career. Enfinger crossed the finish line .256 seconds aheadRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – Kyle Larson proved an admirable substitute on Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Subbing for injured Alex Bowman, who had been scheduled to race the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, Larson led 138 of 252 laps in winning the Tyson 250 in overtime. Larson is the first driver to win a NASCAR-sanctioned race at revitalized North Wilkesboro in 27 years. The victory was Larson’s third in 15 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts. At the end of the two-lap overtime, Larson beatRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Corey Heim prevailed at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway late Friday night to earn his first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory of the season after persevering through both rain and dry conditions, two red flag periods for weather and multiple charges by the highly-motivated veteran Kyle Busch. The 20-year old Georgia-native, Heim, led his first laps of the 2023 season at exactly the right time – holding the point for an impressive 82 of the 124 laps of the Long John Silver’s 200.Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Nick Sanchez led an absolutely dominant 168 of 172 laps in Saturday’s SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway, but the 21-year old rookie and reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Zane Smith collided at the front of the field after taking the white flag and Carson Hocevar instead drove through to take his first career victory in double overtime. The 20-year old Hocevar led only that last overtime lap in the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet to claim his first win by 1.628-seconds overRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Christian Eckes finished where he started Saturday’s Fr8 208 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway—with a lot of turmoil in between.  Eckes claimed his second victory in the series in overtime, choosing the bottom lane and front-row position for a restart on lap 136 of 137.   After leading the first 30-lap stage of the race wire-to-wire, however, Eckes sped on pit road and lost track position. He spent the rest of the event working his way backRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — Kyle Busch revels in changing circumstances.  Five days after winning at Auto Club Speedway in his second NASCAR Cup Series race in a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, Busch powered his own Kyle Busch Motorsports Chevy to victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.  Despite a couple of twitchy moments in traffic, Busch dominated Friday night’s Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, leading 84 of 134 laps and beating runner-up Zane Smith to the finish line by 4.981 seconds. Read More