Nick Sanchez dominated the race from pole, winning both stages and leading 168 of 171 laps.
At the white flag, he was battling door-to-door with reigning Truck Series champion Zane Smith. He got sideways, just as Hocevar came upon them with a massive run. Sanchez's truck got hooked to the right and slammed the outside wall, collecting both Smith and Christian Eckes.
"Coming to the last lap, me and the 38 were playing an aggressive side-drafting game," explained Sanchez after he was released from the infield care center. "Went a little too aggressive on him, got loose, went through the grass, saved it, and just got hooked by the 42 (Hocevar), so I don’t know what else to say on that … Hate that we tore a fast one up, but we’ll build another one and come back stronger."
Smith placed blame on Sanchez, saying of the incident: "I don't really know what's going on with the 2 (Sanchez), but he was just so sketchy, especially on the straightaways. He doors me right there, gets off me, drives it through the grass, and then I just get hooked ... he was a dart without feathers on the straightaway."
A chaotic finish to the @NASCAR_Trucks race at @TXMotorSpeedway as the leaders crash and @CarsonHocevar wins for the first time in his career! 💥😱 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/wrCAApXWKc
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) April 1, 2023
The race-ending caution meant that Hocevar would win for the first time in his 59th career start. He had four runner-up finishes and several other close calls before this victory. Naturally, he was elated.
"I’m just excited," said Hocevar. "I didn’t mean to get into the 2 (Sanchez). I just went to give him a push and they were sideways. The second I hit him, he was gone. I apologize to them. I’ll take the fall for it, wrecking a Chevy, but thankfully a Chevy is in Victory Lane.
"But of all the times we are the fastest car and I don’t win and this team didn’t win, and they deserve to win more than anything. Now I can stop getting the same question asked so many times. We didn’t deserve to win today, but we were in the right spot at the right time.
Unofficially, Chase Purdy was scored in second-place, followed by Stewart Friesen, Ty Majeski, Jake Garcia, Hailie Deegan, Corey Heim, Ryan Vargas, Jack Wood, and Ben Rhodes.
Stage 1
Sanchez led the field to the green flag from pole, but the caution flew almost immediately as Chad Chastain spun exiting Turn 2. He sustained rear-end damage after backing the truck into the outside wall.
Chastain spun a second time soon after, in the same spot as earlier. He became the first driver to fall out of the race.
On the ensuing restart, Christian Eckes briefly challenged for the lead before settling into second.
Tanner Gray got into Hocevar and both drivers slid up the track. As the field checked up, Tyler Ankrum made contact with another truck and started experiencing a tire rub.
A Lap 35 competition caution put the field back behind the pace car. There are no live pit stops for the standalone Truck race, so the order remained the same after pit stops.
Sanchez dominated the opening stage, taking the green/white checkered flag ahead of Rhodes, Eckes, Majeski, Z. Smith, Dean Thompson, Corey Heim, Purdy, Friesen, and Grant Enfinger.
Stage 2
Rhodes tried his best to hold onto Sanchez’s outside at the start of the second stage, but eventually conceded the position. The caution then flew for a single-truck spin by Lawless Alan.
Eckes moved ahead of Rhodes for second on the following restart, but Sanchez remained firmly in control.
Behind them, Hocevar pushed up into Raj Caruth, who pancaked the outside wall. He was forced to pit under green due to the damage.
Matt Crafton passed Stewart Friesen for the final stage point just before the end of Stage 2.
Sanchez again won the stage, ahead of Rhodes, Eckes, Majeski, Z. Smith, Thompson, Heim, Purdy, and Crafton.
Stage 3
Smith shot up into second on the restart to commence the final stage, just behind Sanchez.
Thompson slid up into the marbles and lost several spots as multiple battles raged throughout the field. Tay. Gray then got into the wall, but continued.
Smith made a run at Sanchez, sliding up in front of him. Sanchez cut back under him and retook the lead. However, the battle was then interrupted by another yellow.
Jack Wood had dragged grass and dirt onto the frontstretch after an infield excursion, bringing out the seventh caution of the race.
The following restart ended in a violent multi-truck crash on the frontstretch. The red-flagged was promptly displayed with 22 laps to go.
Thompson had spun exiting Turn 4 and suffered multiple impacts from Trey Hutchens and Matt Mills. Armani Williams was also involved. Mills got on the ground to catch his breath after emerging from his destroyed truck. Thompson was placed on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance.
He was later transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
Tyler Ankrum also sustained damage in the incident.
The race resumed with 17 laps to go. Smith hounded Sanchez for the lead, only for another caution to fly as Taylor Gray hit the wall and spun. He collected Daniel Dye on his way across the track. Ben Rhodes also made an unscheduled pit stop after hitting the outside wall.
The green flag flew, only to be followed by yet another caution. Crafton, Enfinger, Tan. Gray, and Colby Howard were all involved. They were not done wrecking in this high-attrition race either.
The first overtime restart didn’t last long as the eleventh caution flew for a spin by Alan.
In double overtime, Sanchez and Smith went head-to-head for the race win. The wreck that ended both their days and Eckes lef the drivers finishing 14th (Smith), 15th (Eckes), and 16th (Sanchez).
The caution flag was immediately displayed and after a brief review, Hocevar was declared the race winner. He only led the final lap.
| Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Laps Led | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Chevrolet | 172 | 2:04'02.915 | 1 | |||
| 2 | 4 |  Chase Purdy |
Chevrolet | 172 | 2:04'04.543 | 1.628 | 1.628 | ||
| 3 | 52 | Stewart Friesen |
Toyota | 172 | 2:04'05.487 | 2.572 | 0.944 | ||
| 4 | 98 | Ty Majeski |
Ford | 172 | 2:04'05.760 | 2.845 | 0.273 | ||
| 5 | 35 | Jake Garcia | Chevrolet | 172 | 2:04'06.027 | 3.112 | 0.267 | ||
| 6 | 13 | Hailie Deegan |
Ford | 172 | 2:04'06.028 | 3.113 | 0.001 | ||
| 7 | 11 | Corey Heim | Toyota | 172 | 2:04'06.502 | 3.587 | 0.474 | ||
| 8 | 30 | Ryan Vargas |
Toyota | 172 | 2:04'06.502 | 3.587 | 0.000 | ||
| 9 | 51 | Jack Wood | Chevrolet | 172 | 2:04'06.664 | 3.749 | 0.162 | ||
| 10 | 99 | Ben Rhodes |
Ford | 172 | 2:04'06.665 | 3.750 | 0.001 | 1 | |
| 11 | 33 | Mason Massey | Ford | 172 | 2:04'09.924 | 7.009 | 3.259 | ||
| 12 | 02 | Kris Wright |
Chevrolet | 172 | 2:04'09.925 | 7.010 | 0.001 | ||
| 13 | 88 | Matt Crafton |
Ford | 172 | 2:04'11.444 | 8.529 | 1.519 | ||
| 14 | 38 | Zane Smith | Ford | 172 | 2:04'13.694 | 10.779 | 2.250 | ||
| 15 | 19 | Christian Eckes |
Chevrolet | 172 | 2:04'33.303 | 30.388 | 19.609 | 2 | |
| 16 | 2 | Nicholas Sanchez | Chevrolet | 171 | 2:03'19.123 | 1 Lap | 1 Lap | 168 | |
| 17 | 23 | Grant Enfinger |
Chevrolet | 171 | 2:04'19.791 | 1 Lap | 1'00.668 | ||
| 18 | 45 | Alan Lawless | Chevrolet | 170 | 2:04'33.302 | 2 Laps | 1 Lap | ||
| 19 | 24 | Rajah Caruth | Chevrolet | 169 | 2:04'09.014 | 3 Laps | 1 Lap | ||
| 20 | 9 | Colby Howard | Chevrolet | 169 | 2:04'13.695 | 3 Laps | 4.681 | ||
| 21 | 22 | Josh Reaume |
Ford | 168 | 2:04'13.383 | 4 Laps | 1 Lap | ||
| 22 | 12 | Spencer Boyd |
Chevrolet | 168 | 2:04'22.247 | 4 Laps | 8.864 | ||
| 23 | 32 | Bret Holmes | Chevrolet | 167 | 2:04'13.384 | 5 Laps | 1 Lap | ||
| 24 | 17 | Taylor Gray | Toyota | 166 | 2:01'53.933 | 6 Laps | 1 Lap | ||
| 25 | 43 | Daniel Dye | Chevrolet | 165 | 2:04'26.935 | 7 Laps | 1 Lap | ||
| 26 | 16 | Tyler Ankrum |
Toyota | 164 | 2:04'12.275 | 8 Laps | 1 Lap | ||
| 27 | 15 | Tanner Gray |
Toyota | 161 | 1:50'12.252 | 11 Laps | 3 Laps | ||
| 28 | 5 | Dean Thompson | Toyota | 143 | 1:29'08.324 | 29 Laps | 18 Laps | ||
| 29 | 46 | Armani Williams |
Toyota | 140 | 1:29'49.087 | 32 Laps | 3 Laps | ||
| 30 | 14 | Trey Hutchens | Chevrolet | 137 | 1:29'12.689 | 35 Laps | 3 Laps | ||
| 31 | 20 | Matt Mills |
Chevrolet | 134 | 1:29'11.868 | 38 Laps | 3 Laps | ||
| 32 | 25 | Matt DiBenedetto |
Chevrolet | 122 | 1:13'10.130 | 50 Laps | 12 Laps | ||
| 33 | 34 | Keith McGee | Ford | 39 | 27'36.885 | 133 Laps | 83 Laps | ||
| 34 | 41 | Chad Chastain | Chevrolet | 17 | 14'41.048 | 155 Laps | 22 Laps |
