After two red flags and an overtime restart, Carson Hocevar captured the checkered flag in Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
He passed Gio Ruggiero on the final restart, winning at Texas just days after his first Cup win at Talladega, continuing a dream week for the rising star. Kyle Busch finished second in a Spire 1-2 for the team.
"It’s unbelievable," said Hocevar. "This means a lot. I can’t leave but we got to go burn down a Chili’s somewhere. What a fun race. We had the reverse order, obviously – the 1-2 with Kyle. I watched him win a lot of Truck races, and it’s finally good to end his Texas streak.
On the difference, he added: “I mean the cocky answer would be what’s in the seat, for sure. But we were really good on restarts. These guys do a really good job. It’s been a struggle on the Truck side, but so thankful to get it done here … Thank you everybody for staying, I’m going to go burn it down a little bit more.
It's tradition now. 🌶️🏁
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 2, 2026
Carson Hocevar celebrates the NASCAR Truck Series win at Texas the same way he burnt it down after his Cup victory at Talladega. pic.twitter.com/BeMGRPFYLm
Behind the Spire duo, Kaden Honeycutt finished third, Brandon Jones fourth, Ben Rhodes fifth, Layne Riggs sixth, Daniel Hemric seventh, Christian Eckes eighth, Ty Majeski ninth, and Chandler Smith tenth.
Honeycutt leaves Texas with the championship lead, 14 points clear of C. Smith and 19 points clear of Riggs.
Stage 1
Rhodes held the lead early in the race, while Busch found the wall at the back-end of the top ten. He was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop and the winningest driver in Truck Series history fell off the lead lap.
The first caution was for Cory Roper, who spun at the exit of Turn 2 while making his first start in two years.
A handful of trucks chose to pit during the yellow, including Corey Lajoie, who had an extended stop due to issues with that Ram's right-front.
On the ensuing restart, one of LaJoie's fellow Ram drivers got hit with a pass-through penalty as Brenden Queen pulled out of line too early.
Hocevar had an impressive restart, charging up to second and harassing Rhodes for the race lead. However, Rhodes held on to win Stage 1 ahead of Hocevar, Ruggiero, Honeycutt, C. Smith, Friesen, Enfinger, Riggs, Majeski, and Chastain.
Stage 2
Five trucks stayed out during the stage break, while Majeski and Riggs led those who pitted. B. Jones and Tan. Gray shared the front row for the restart.
Hocevar was incredibly aggressive om the restart, passing several trucks with an outside three-wide move in Turn 1. He surged up to second, right behind Jones as Cole Butcher wrecked mid-pack. That yellow helped Busch back onto the lead lap via the free pass.
A chaotic restart followed with lots of three-wide action. Hocevar muscled his way into the lead with Rhodes settling into second and Chastain. Riggs then made his way around both Chastain and Riggs, later challenging Hocevar for the stage win.
Unfortunately, their battle was interrupted for a caution as Kris Wright hit the wall.
With just a handful of laps to go in the stage, most of the field came down pit road. Riggs spent a lot of time on pit road to make repairs to the rear window, as a brace failed and the window was no longer secure.
Sutton and Tyrrell were the only two drivers who stayed out. Chastain won the race off pit road, but lost a lot of spots on the restart as Hocevar went on to win Stage 1.
Hocevar was followed by Honeycutt, Ruggiero, Sutton, Ankrum, Tyrrell, Enfinger, Tan. Gray, C. Smith, and Perez.
Stage 3
During the stage break, Chastain came down pit lane to repair some damage to the right-front from the previous restart. Both he and Riggs, who had been running in the top five just a few minutes earlier, were now running outside the top 25.
Hocevar had to fend off Ankrum at the start of the final stage. There was then a three-wide battle for second, allowing Hocevar to slip away. Riggs made a wild charge through the field, getting all the way back up inside the top five.
With 46 laps to go, Honeycutt and Ruggiero pitted from second and third, and Hocevar followed suit one lap later. It was a disaster for Hocevar, who suffered a 24-second stop as the pit crew struggled with the right front.
As stops cycles through, it was Ruggiero who inherited the race lead, with Honeycutt a second back but Hocevar over five seconds behind.
Chastain pulled off an impressive save mid-pack after contact from Majeski, keeping the long green-flag run going. Riggs, who ran long, passed Hocevar soon after and began to quickly close in on the leading duo.
With 24 laps to go, Ankrum went spinning off the nose of Rhodes, thus completely changing the complexion of the race.
Hocevar quickly reclaimed the lead on the restart, and then had to fight hard against Honeycutt and Busch -- his teammate. These three trucks were putting on a show until Friesen crashed into the wall, causing a caution. Enfinger destroyed the front of his own truck in the grass, while trying to avoid a direct hit with Friesen.
It was suddenly Spire vs. Spire up front with Hocevar and Busch holding the front row for the restart that followed. But before that, there was a brief red flag for cleanup.
The race resumed with six laps to go, but it was Ruggiero to spoiled the Spire party, taking the lead. In the back, a violent three-truck crash broke out as Garcia tried to pull off the track after hitting the wall. He was clobbered by Conner Jones, and Justin Haley jumped up into the air after ripping through the infield grass.
This triggered the second red flag of the race as the event was pushed into overtime. Hocevar passed Ruggiero, who slid sideways and opened the door for Busch to slip by, ensuring a 1-2 finish for Spire.
This is Hocevar's sixth career NCTS victory, and his second at Texas.
NASCAR Truck results at Texas Motor Speedway
RACE
| Cla | Driver | # | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Interval | Pits | Points | Retirement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports |
77 | Chevrolet | 172 |
2:17'06.015 |
5 | |||||||
| 2 | K. Busch Spire Motorsports |
7 | Chevrolet | 172 |
+0.730 2:17'06.745 |
0.730 | 9 | ||||||
| 3 |
K. Honeycutt TRICON Garage
|
11 | Toyota | 172 |
+0.875 2:17'06.890 |
0.145 | 6 | 50 | |||||
| 4 | B. Jones TRICON Garage |
1 | Toyota | 172 |
+1.402 2:17'07.417 |
0.527 | 6 | ||||||
| 5 | B. Rhodes ThorSport Racing |
99 | Ford | 172 |
+1.566 2:17'07.581 |
0.164 | 6 | 42 | |||||
| 6 |
L. Riggs Front Row Motorsports
|
34 | Ford | 172 |
+1.701 2:17'07.716 |
0.135 | 10 | 34 | |||||
| 7 | D. Hemric McAnally Hilgemann Racing |
19 | Chevrolet | 172 |
+1.941 2:17'07.956 |
0.240 | 6 | 30 | |||||
| 8 | C. Eckes McAnally Hilgemann Racing |
91 | Chevrolet | 172 |
+2.150 2:17'08.165 |
0.209 | 10 | 29 | |||||
| 9 | T. Majeski ThorSport Racing |
88 | Ford | 172 |
+2.309 2:17'08.324 |
0.159 | 7 | 30 | |||||
| 10 |
C. Smith Front Row Motorsports
|
38 | Ford | 172 |
+2.339 2:17'08.354 |
0.030 | 7 | 35 | |||||
| 11 | P. Kligerman Kaulig Racing |
25 | RAM | 172 |
+2.466 2:17'08.481 |
0.127 | 8 | 26 | |||||
| 12 | R. Chastain Niece Motorsports |
45 | Chevrolet | 172 |
+2.544 2:17'08.559 |
0.078 | 9 | ||||||
| 13 |
B. Queen Kaulig Racing
|
12 | RAM | 172 |
+2.608 2:17'08.623 |
0.064 | 7 | 24 | |||||
| 14 |
G. Ruggiero TRICON Garage
|
17 | Toyota | 172 |
+2.674 2:17'08.689 |
0.066 | 6 | 39 | |||||
| 15 | T. Ankrum McAnally Hilgemann Racing |
18 | Chevrolet | 172 |
+2.887 2:17'08.902 |
0.213 | 8 | 28 | |||||
| 16 |
D. Sutton Rackley W.A.R.
|
26 | Chevrolet | 172 |
+3.437 2:17'09.452 |
0.550 | 7 | 28 | |||||
| 17 |
W. Sawalich TRICON Garage
|
5 | Toyota | 171 |
+1 Lap 2:17'09.213 |
1 Lap | 8 | ||||||
| 18 |
T. Breidinger Rackley W.A.R.
|
27 | Chevrolet | 171 |
+1 Lap 2:17'11.871 |
2.658 | 9 | 19 | |||||
| 19 | S. Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing |
52 | Toyota | 171 |
+1 Lap 2:17'12.707 |
0.836 | 9 | 23 | |||||
| 20 | S. Boyd Freedom Racing Enterprises |
76 | Chevrolet | 170 |
+2 Laps 2:17'10.207 |
1 Lap | 7 | 17 | |||||
| 21 |
M. Tyrrell Kaulig Racing
|
14 | RAM | 170 |
+2 Laps 2:17'11.055 |
0.848 | 8 | 21 | |||||
| 22 | J. Reaume Reaume Brothers Racing |
22 | Ford | 169 |
+3 Laps 2:17'14.310 |
1 Lap | 11 | 15 | |||||
| 23 |
F. Muniz Reaume Brothers Racing
|
33 | Ford | 168 |
+4 Laps 2:17'11.173 |
1 Lap | 10 | 14 | |||||
| 24 |
C. Costner Costner Motorsports
|
93 | Chevrolet | 168 |
+4 Laps 2:17'12.169 |
0.996 | 7 | 13 | |||||
| 25 | C. Lajoie Kaulig Racing |
10 | RAM | 165 |
+7 Laps 2:17'09.520 |
3 Laps | 11 | 12 | |||||
| 26 |
C. Green Reaume Brothers Racing
|
2 | Ford | 165 |
+7 Laps 2:17'09.622 |
0.102 | 9 | 11 | |||||
| 27 | J. Haley Kaulig Racing |
16 | RAM | 164 |
+8 Laps 2:06'22.530 |
1 Lap | 8 | 10 | Accident | ||||
| 28 | T. Gray TRICON Garage |
15 | Toyota | 164 |
+8 Laps 2:08'31.667 |
2'09.137 | 6 | 12 | Accident | ||||
| 29 |
J. Garcia ThorSport Racing
|
98 | Ford | 163 |
+9 Laps 2:05'44.669 |
1 Lap | 8 | 9 | Accident | ||||
| 30 |
A. Pérez de Lara Niece Motorsports
|
44 | Chevrolet | 163 |
+9 Laps 2:06'17.014 |
32.345 | 8 | 8 | Accident | ||||
| 31 | K. Wright McAnally Hilgemann Racing |
81 | Chevrolet | 163 |
+9 Laps 2:17'16.039 |
10'59.025 | 11 | 6 | |||||
| 32 | G. Enfinger CR7 Motorsports |
9 | Chevrolet | 156 |
+16 Laps 1:55'31.295 |
7 Laps | 6 | 13 | Accident | ||||
| 33 |
C. Jones Niece Motorsports
|
42 | Chevrolet | 155 |
+17 Laps 2:06'24.100 |
1 Lap | 9 | 4 | Accident | ||||
| 34 |
C. Roper Halmar Friesen Racing
|
62 | Toyota | 123 |
+49 Laps 1:43'14.730 |
32 Laps | 13 | 3 | Suspension | ||||
| 35 |
C. Butcher ThorSport Racing
|
13 | Ford | 51 |
+121 Laps 39'32.727 |
72 Laps | 4 | 2 | Accident | ||||
| View full results | |||||||||||||
