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Jim Utter

Chandler Smith dominates in Richmond Truck playoff win

Smith dominated from nearly start to finish, leading 176 of the 250 laps, including the final 175 and spent most of the time holding off his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate John Hunter Nemechek.

Smith beat Nemechek by 2.790 seconds to claim the victory, his third of the 2022 season.

With the win, Smith automatically advances to the next round of the playoffs regardless of how he finishes in the series’ next race at Kansas Speedway.

“Dude, God is so good. I’m a daddy now. My wife had such an amazing labor and delivery with an amazing beautiful baby boy at home. Honey, this is for you. Junior, this is for you as well,” Smith said.

“The blessings just keep stacking up. I have an incredible group behind me at KBM. I’m taking this in. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve it but I’m going to soak it in.”

Pole-winner Ty Majeski finished third, Grant Enfinger was fourth and Corey Heim rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 were Taylor Gray, Matt Crafton, Christian Eckes, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar.

Stage 3

Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, the lead-lap trucks all pit with Smith first off pit road. Friesen was penalized for speeding on pit road and had to restart from the rear of the field.

On the restart on Lap 151, Smith continued to lead the way followed by Nemechek and Enfinger.

With 60 laps remaining in the race, Smith maintained a 1.5-second lead over Nemechek but all trucks still needed to pit for fuel to make it to the finish.

With 40 to go, Nemechek had closed considerably on Smith thanks to lapped traffic while Majeski had moved back into third.

On Lap 215, Hocevar got into Nick Leitz and both wrecked into the outside wall to bring out a caution.

All the lead-lap trucks pit with Smith again the first off pit road. On the restart on Lap 223, Smith was followed by Nemechek and Majeski.

Stage 2

After dominating from the start, Smith easily held off Nemechek to claim the Stage 2 win.

Enfinger was third, Majeski fourth and Taylor Gray rounded out the top-five.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, all the lead-lap trucks elected to pit with Smith the first off pit road. Majeski hit his team’s jackman on his pit stop but he was not injured.

On the restart on Lap 82, Smith was followed by Nemechek and Majeski.

With 40 laps remaining in the stage, Smith maintained a 1.5-second lead over Nemechek while Majeski remained in third.

With 10 laps to go, Smith had expanded his lead over Nemechek to almost 3 seconds as Enfinger moved into third. Majeski ran fourth and Taylor Gray moved into fifth.

Stage 1

Majeski easily held off Nemechek and cruised to the Stage 1 win, his third stage victory of the 2022 season.

Smith was third, Stewart Friesen fourth and Enfinger rounded out the top-five.

Majeski started on the pole but Chandler Smith edged ahead to lead Lap 1. Majeski powered back around him to grab the lead on Lap 2.

With 30 laps remaining in the stage, Majeski had built a nearly 4-second lead over Smith as Nemechek ran third.

After 60 of 70 laps, Majeski’s lead over Smith had expanded to more than five seconds as Nemechek began running down Smith for the second position.

On Lap 65, Nemechek finally worked his way around Smith to move into second, 5.4 seconds behind Majeski.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Laps Led Retirement Points Bonus
1 18 Chandler Smith Toyota 250 1:56'56.215     176      
2 4 United States John Hunter Nemechek Toyota 250 1:56'59.005 2.790 2.790 1      
3 66 United States Ty Majeski Toyota 250 1:57'00.087 3.872 1.082 73      
4 23 United States Grant Enfinger Chevrolet 250 1:57'03.316 7.101 3.229        
5 51 Corey Heim Toyota 250 1:57'03.718 7.503 0.402        
6 17 Taylor Gray Ford 250 1:57'04.085 7.870 0.367        
7 88 United States Matt Crafton Toyota 250 1:57'05.181 8.966 1.096        
8 98 United States Christian Eckes Toyota 250 1:57'08.601 12.386 3.420        
9 38 Zane Smith Ford 250 1:57'08.887 12.672 0.286        
10 42 Carson Hocevar Chevrolet 250 1:57'09.069 12.854 0.182        
11 52 United States Stewart Friesen Toyota 250 1:57'10.026 13.811 0.957        
12 19 United States Derek Kraus Chevrolet 250 1:57'10.688 14.473 0.662        
13 16 United States Tyler Ankrum Toyota 250 1:57'11.499 15.284 0.811        
14 61 United States Chase Purdy Toyota 250 1:57'21.326 25.111 9.827        
15 32 Bret Holmes Chevrolet 249 1:57'17.737 1 Lap 1 Lap        
16 15 United States Tanner Gray Ford 248 1:57'11.934 2 Laps 1 Lap        
17 25 United States Matt DiBenedetto Chevrolet 248 1:57'13.662 2 Laps 1.728        
18 99 United States Ben Rhodes Toyota 248 1:57'14.858 2 Laps 1.196        
19 62 Layne Riggs Toyota 248 1:57'19.711 2 Laps 4.853        
20 35 Jake Garcia Chevrolet 248 1:57'21.541 2 Laps 1.830        
21 30 Kaden Honeycutt Toyota 247 1:57'12.223 3 Laps 1 Lap        
22 02 United States Kaz Grala Chevrolet 247 1:57'16.750 3 Laps 4.527        
23 24 Jack Wood Chevrolet 247 1:57'17.133 3 Laps 0.383        
24 45 Alan Lawless Chevrolet 247 1:57'18.408 3 Laps 1.275        
25 7 Rajah Caruth Chevrolet 247 1:57'19.213 3 Laps 0.805        
26 1 United States Hailie Deegan Ford 247 1:57'20.065 3 Laps 0.852        
27 22 United States Austin Wayne Self Chevrolet 247 1:57'20.972 3 Laps 0.907        
28 91 Colby Howard Chevrolet 246 1:56'57.314 4 Laps 1 Lap        
29 20 United States Joey Gase Chevrolet 246 1:57'02.369 4 Laps 5.055        
30 44 United States Chad Chastain Chevrolet 246 1:57'07.670 4 Laps 5.301        
31 56 United States Timmy Hill Toyota 245 1:57'05.665 5 Laps 1 Lap        
32 12 United States Spencer Boyd Chevrolet 244 1:56'57.886 6 Laps 1 Lap        
33 43 Mason Maggio Chevrolet 242 1:57'14.973 8 Laps 2 Laps        
34 9 Blaine Perkins Chevrolet 224 1:57'15.866 26 Laps 18 Laps        
35 40 Dean Thompson Chevrolet 223 1:57'10.768 27 Laps 1 Lap        
36 33 Nick Leitz Toyota 209 1:38'16.601 41 Laps 14 Laps
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