Chandler Smith now has back-to-back wins at North Wilkesboro, but Saturday's victory was pure dominance. He won by 8.479 seconds over Front Row Motorsports teammate Layne Riggs -- the biggest margin if victory in any short track race in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history.
"Just all the glory goes to God," said Smith. "FaithFest, 250 (name of race), how fitting? God's good in the mountains, but man, he's good in the valleys too. We've been to the valleys the past few weekends. We've had good speed, but not good finishes. So I just want to give all the glory and praise to the one that comes from the source of this. If it wasn't for God, I wouldn't have this great group of men and women behind me at Front Row Motorsports ... Everybody from the top down that supported this program. I'm slapped, it was hot."
The driver who finished third was none other than Shane van Gisbergen, matching his career-best oval finish in any division of NASCAR. Christian Eckes finished fourth and Landen Lewis fifth.
Gio Ruggiero, Chase Elliott, Stewart Friesen, Corey Heim, and Ty Majeski filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Stages 1 and 2
Almost immediately, it was three-wide for the lead with Hocevar ultimately prevailing.
The first caution was for Donovan Strauss, spinning in his Truck debut. As the stage progressed, Riggs passed Hocevar for the lead as they battled lapped traffic.
Riggs went on to win Stage 1, followed by Hocevar, C. Smith, Bell, Elliott, Heim, Honeycutt, Eckes, Ruggerio, and Enfinger.
Garcia, who pitted earlier in Stage 1, stayed out during the stage break and held the lead for a bit before being passed by Hocevar. During the stage break, Bell also got sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.
The next caution was for a spin by Luke Baldwin.
Five trucks stayed out, led by Majeski and Perez. Hocevar restarted right behind those who stayed out, but lost several spots in a chaotic restart. He made contact with Riggs, and later cut a tire, losing two laps under green.
Enfinger also smacked the wall after contact in the middle of the pack.
Majeski went on to win Stage 2, followed by C. Smith, Rhodes, Eckes, Friesen, Hemric, Perez, Ruggerio, Heim, and Elliott.
Stage 3
As those who stayed out for stage points came down pit road, it was some new faces at the front.
Smith dominated the, pulling away by several seconds over Ruggiero. Riggs eventually got to second, but was over five seconds behind Smith.
While Riggs vanished up the road, the spectacle was all around Van Gisbergen as he came from outside the top ten, steadily marching forward on the long run with impressive pace in just his fourth-ever Truck race.
There was an incident near the end involving Nicholson, but it wasn't enough to trigger a caution, with Smith taking the win. Only ten trucks were left on the lead lap the end of the race.
Several drivers needed assistance after the race due to the extreme heat on Saturday, with Frankie Muniz even climbing into an ambulance.
Riggs now leads Honeycutt by 59 points in the regular season standings, while Friesen and Ankrum are tied for the final spot inside the Chase after North Wilkesboro.
