AUSTIN, Texas – Zane Smith took advantage of an incident between Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch and Stewart Friesen and won Saturday’s NASCAR Truck Series race at Circuit of the Americas in double overtime.
Smith overtook the three drivers in Turn 11 – a tight, left-hand turn – when Friesen’s attempt to pass Busch’s on the inside for the lead was matched by Bowman’s own attempt from third place.
The three drivers made contact, forcing them all to go wide. As the “seas parted” for Smith, he snuck beneath them and took the lead. He led both laps of the second overtime attempt to score his second win of the year.
Smith won over John Hunter Nemechek and Busch.
“I didn’t really think it was going to be over (after he took the lead),” Smith said. “I looked back in my mirror and it seemed like they were all right there. So … I just tried my best to to hit my marks and not really mess it up.”
The victory came after Smith swept the first two stages of the race and despite Busch leading 31 of 46 laps.
“We scored some massive points today, that was huge,” Smith said.
Smith successfully defended Front Row Motorsports’ win with Todd Gilliland in the inaugural COTA win last year.
“What a statement from this team,” Smith told Fox Sports 1. “That’s so crazy to go back-to-back years at a road course like this. It’s been a wild effort they’ve put in this year,” Smith said. “That was a wild one.”
For Busch, it was his first Truck Series start on a road course. For Bowman, it was just his third Truck Series start ever.
Afterwards on pit road Bowman, who finished 25th, walked down pit road and briefly talked with Busch.
Busch – who initially described the incident with Bowman and Friesen to reporters as “just racing” – didn’t share what Bowman said to him.
“I looked at my mirror off (Turn) 10 and didn’t think they were close enough,” Busch said. “So if I didn’t think they were close enough, then they drove through me.”
Bowman tweeted afterwards, “Bummer way to end a solid day. 52 (Friesen) just turned left when I was inside of him and put us at an angle where neither one of us way going to make the corner.”
Alex Bowman came down to talk to Kyle Busch. Busch didn’t share what he said: “Go ask him.”#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/uiTtomP5DW
— Daniel McFadin (@danielmcfadin) March 26, 2022
The final overtime restart was created by multiple incidents on the first, but primarily for Kaz Grala going off track and getting stuck in a sand trap.
The first overtime attempt was setup with a caution with three laps to go in the scheduled distance for the stalled truck of Matt Jaskol and also a spin by Christian Eckes from contact with Carson Hocevar.
At the time, Busch had a two-second lead over Bowman.
First Stage
There was one incident on the first lap that didn’t result in a caution. Inbetween Turns 9 and 10, Austin Wayne Self went into a spin on his own and collected Taylor Gray. Gray continued but Self had to pit due to damage.
Sheldon Creed, who won the pole but had to start from the rear along with 14 other trucks for unapproved adjustments, went to the garage on Lap 3 for a likely transmission issue. He was the first truck out.
Meanwhile, Kyle Busch, making his first ever Truck Series start on a road course, took the lead from Bowman on Lap 2.
The first driver to fall victim to NASCAR’s new rule regarding cutting the esses – Turns 3 through 6 – was Hailie Deegan around Lap 6. She had to serve a pass through penalty.
Nemechek, one of the 14 trucks that had to start from the rear, moved into the top 10 by Lap 8.
Jack Wood began green flag pit stops with four laps left in the first stage. The leaders began to pit the next time by, as Kligerman briefly inherited the lead from Busch. After Kligerman pit, the lead belonged to Zane Smith who went on to win the stage.
The top 10 after one stage: Smith, Stewart Friesen, Ben Rhodes, Derek Kraus, Tyler Ankrum, Matt DiBenedetto, Timmy Hill, Christian Eckes, Busch and Kligerman.
Second Stage
Once the leaders at the end of the first stage pit, Busch assumed the lead for the restart on Lap 15.
The race was under green for half a lap when the the caution returned for Dean Thompson spinning off track and stalling.
Right before the caution, Kligerman briefly took the lead from Busch as they exited Turn 10. Busch regained the lead right as the yellow flag waved.
The race went back to green on Lap 18 (eight laps left in the stage).
On Lap 19, after making his way up to the top five, Matt Crafton spun off track from contact with Chase Purdy and got stuck in the gravel, bringing out another caution. Crafton was extracted from the gravel and was able to continue. In a message to his crew, Crafton indicated Purdy would see retaliation in his future.
He was a man of his word, sending Purdy for a spin before the first green flag lap was over.
The leaders elected to pit under the caution.
The restart saw Nemechek leading over Zane Smith. Busch restarted 11th.
Smith aggressively challenged Nemechek for the lead on the restart and booted Nemechek into a spin late in Turn 7 on the Lap 23 restart.
Nemechek’s woes continued. He pit for fresh tires, but was called for an uncontrolled tire.
Smith meanwhile raced on to complete his sweep of the first two stages.
The top 10 after 25 laps: Zane Smith, Ben Rhodes, Derek Kraus, Busch, Chandler Smith, Matt DiBenedetto, Friesen, Carson Hocevar, Timmy Hill and Kligerman.
Busch assumed the lead over Chandler Smith, Friesen, Hocevar and Kligerman for the restart with 13 laps to go.
Final Stage
The first lap under green wasn’t completed before the caution was back out. This time for Deegan, who came to a stop in Turn 8 due to damage from contact she made earlier in the lap trying to avoid the spun out trucks of Jack Wood and Kris Wright.
The incident ended Deegan’s day. She has three DNFs in the first four races of the season.
The race went back to green with 10 laps to go. A caution again quickly came out for the stalled truck of DiBenedetto, whose No. 25 Chevrolet broke a driveline.
Right before the caution, Zane Smith went for a spin from contact in Turn 1. That incident also collected Austin Wayne Self.
On the restart with seven laps to go, Busch led over Hocevar, Friesen and Kligerman.