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Pit Stops : Phoenix Raceway

Craftsman150

Phoenix Raceway , Phoenix, AZ

Friday, November 3rd, 2023 Race 23 of 23 2023 Season
Phoenix Raceway logo
  • 19
  • 9
  • 10

  • Phoenix Raceway
  • NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship
  • Pole Winner: Corey Heim
  • Age: 21
  • Team : No. 11 - Safelite Toyota
  • Owner: TRICON Garage
  • Crew Chief: Scott Zipadelli
  • Corey Heim won the Cometic Gasket Pole Award for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship race with a lap of 26.344 seconds, 136.654 mph.
  • This is his sixth pole in 41 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races.
  • This is his fourth pole and 15th top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his first pole in two races at Phoenix Raceway.
  • Ty Majeski (second) posted his 19th top-10 start of 2023 and his third in three races at Phoenix Raceway.
  • Nick Sanchez (third) posted his first top-10 start at Phoenix Raceway. It is his 16th in 23 races this season.
  • Nick Sanchez (third) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Friday, November 3rd, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Eckes wins thrilling CRAFTSMAN Truck race at Phoenix, Rhodes banks second career championship

Cautions, re-starts, retribution, extra laps and high-action marked Friday night’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. And that was just the final 50 laps.

In the end, ThorSport Racing’s Ben Rhodes claimed his second series championship in the last three years with a hard-earned fifth-place finish in the No. 99 Ford while McAnally Hilgemann Racing’s Christian Eckes raced to his fourth win of the season by a slight .421-seconds over rookie teammate Jake Garcia in four dramatic overtime periods.

That’s the conclusion to an evening that featured 12 caution periods, 29 laps of overtime competition and plenty of high-stakes racing – especially among the four championship contenders that earned a chance to settle the season title.

Perhaps indicative of the night, Rhodes’ finish and ultimate trophy haul wasn’t secure until the checkered flag with championship runner-up Grant Enfinger giving it his all in the No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet coming off Turn 4 in an all-out pursuit to the very end.

Both Rhodes and Enfinger had survived close calls in the overtime laps. Rhodes collided with Zane Smith racing for the lead – hitting Smith’s truck when it appeared Smith missed a shift out front in the second overtime restart. Enfinger had close calls in two of the four extra-lap periods and still was able to pull off that final push forward; ultimately finishing one position behind Rhodes in the standings.

The Regular Season Champion and race polesitter Corey Heim finished 18th after contact from fellow Championship 4 driver Carson Hocevar with 30 laps of regulation remaining in the scheduled 150-lap race.

“I can’t even believe it," the 26-year-old Kentucky native Rhodes said of his dramatic title win. “It’s just so awesome, man. To go 25 laps into overtime, do you know what that feels like? It’s crazy. I didn’t think we were going to make it. I thought we were going to pop a tire, that anything that could have gone wrong was going to go wrong.

“Grant [Enfinger] almost got me. But hats off to him, he ran a great race. I wouldn’t’ want to race against anybody else for the championship. He raced me clean and I respect the heck out of him for it."

“I saw him," Rhodes said of Enfinger’s final push forward in the last corner. “He went for everything, but he ran me clean and I thank him for that. That’s what these championships are all about."

Enfinger, whose GMS Racing team is closing shop at the end of the season, was especially gutted to come so very close to his first championship.

“I don’t know," Enfinger said of doing anything differently on that last lap.

“Obviously we got loose there at the end," he continued. “Maybe if he didn’t have such a good run down the backstretch, we’d be able to make that pass. It’s a shame the championship came down to a race like that with 15 green-white-checkers or whatever it was. I feel like we did everything we could to win this and just got used up."

The other two championship contenders, Heim and Hocevar had a more contentious situation on-track. Heim, whose 47 laps out front in the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota were second most laps led on the night, was actually leading the championship-eligible drivers when Hocevar hit him going into Turn 2 with 30 laps remaining. The contact sent Heim’s Toyota into Stewart Friesen’s Toyota which hit the wall and brought out a caution. Hocevar continued on and Heim had to pit for repairs and went down a lap.

Heim viewed the hit as intentional and later in the race, collided with Hocevar bringing out another caution period. Heim insisted his car just wasn’t steering properly at the time, while Hocevar said he had fully expected the payback. It was enough to sideline Hocevar’s No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet which was credited with a 29th-place finish from the garage.

“My only goal was to try slow him down," Hocevar said. “I didn’t want to do that at all. With my track record, I can’t sit here and say I didn’t mean to. I just messed up. I was trying really hard to slow him up and just messed it up.

“I feel bad I robbed him of that and feel sorry for that," an apologetic Hocevar added of Heim’s championship chances. “I just messed up."

The 21-year-old Heim had a streak of 15 consecutive top-10 finishes coming into the race and was considered the favorite by many. He had three wins on the season in only his first fulltime year of competition.

“It was a great year, a phenomenal year for us and our worst finish in like six months," a disappointed Heim said. “Really put together a good race and really hoped the guys would race clean, I have a lot of respect for everybody in the field. But clearly, I don’t anymore. It is what it is, it’s part of racing.

As for the later contact with Hocevar, Heim said it was purely coincidental, “It wasn’t retaliation. I had no side force, he put it on my door and I wrecked [into him]."

“I’ve been racing Carson for a long time, racing since I was eight or nine years-old," Heim said later. “That’s kind of just what he does. He’ll wreck you and apologize and do it again the next week. So that’s not going to be the last time he does it and certainly the first time he’d done it. I’ve known him for a long time. … it is what it is. I completely expected it."

As for his victory, the 22-year-old Eckes tried to reconcile the championship race win with having just been eliminated from Playoff contention. He had a win (at Kansas) and a pair of runner-up finishes (Indianapolis Raceway Park and Bristol, Tenn.) during the Playoff stretch but was eliminated after finished of 19th and 20th in the two races leading into the championship finale.

“Those two races that killed the whole Playoffs pretty much and that’s just kind of the nature of it," Eckes said. “I didn’t do my job last week and really the week before either.

“That gets us out and that puts us in this situation, but it’s motivating for next year and it was motivating for this race too.

“This one kind of stings, I know it’s a win, but the stupid mistakes the last two weeks of a near perfect Playoffs cost us a championship," Eckes added.

“It’s kind of hard to be happy right now, but overall, just super proud of everybody for the year that we’ve had and just ready for 2024.

Chase Purdy, Jesse Love and Rhodes rounded out the top five. Enfinger, Dean Thompson, Kaden Honeycutt, Tanner Gray and Nick Sanchez completed the top 10. It was a career best finish for the runner-up Garcia as well as Love and Honeycutt.

  • Drivers Entered: 38 (2 drivers will not make the race)
  • Laps Scheduled: 150
  • Laps Actual: 179 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
  • Margin of Victory: 0.421 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 27 Minutes 32 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 72.797
  • Cautions: 12 for 77 laps
  • Lead Changes: 10
  • Green Flag Passes: 1,757 (17.2 passes per green flag lap)

  • Phoenix Raceway
  • NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship
  • Race Winner: Christian Eckes
  • Age: 22
  • Team : No. 19 - NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet
  • Owner: McAnally Hilgemann
  • Crew Chief: Charles Denike
  • Christian Eckes won the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship, his fifth victory in 91 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races.
  • This is his fourth victory and 13th top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in five races at Phoenix Raceway.
  • Jake Garcia (second) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Phoenix Raceway. It is his ninth top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Chase Purdy (third) posted his first top-10 finish in four races at Phoenix Raceway.
  • Jake Garcia (second) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Ben Rhodes has won the 2023 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship.
  • Nick Sanchez wins the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.
  • Chevrolet has won the 2023 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Manufacturer's Championship.
  • CHAMPIONSHIP FAST FACTS
  • Driver Champion: Ben Rhodes
  • Team: No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford
  • Ben Rhodes has won his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship becoming the fifth driver in series history to win multiple titles; joining NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. (2009, '07, '98, ‘96), Jack Sprague (2001, '99, '97), Todd Bodine (2010, '06) and his ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton (2013, 2014, 2019).
  • Rhodes is one of 20 different drivers to win the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championship all-time.
  • Rhodes finished fifth the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck season finale at Phoenix Raceway to win the title.
  • Rhodes finished the 2023 season with 23 starts, one win, seven top fives and 14 top 10s.
  • During the Playoffs this season, Rhodes has posted three top fives and four top 10s in seven starts.
  • Rhodes, from Louisville, Kentucky, is the first and only NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion from the state of Kentucky.
  • Owner Champion: Duke and Rhonda Thorson, ThorSport Racing
  • This is ThorSport Racing's fifth all-time NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series driver championship (Matt Crafton, 2013, 2014, 2019; Ben Rhodes, 2021, 2023) – the most driver titles by an organization in the series all-time.
  • This is ThorSport Racing's second NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series owner championship (2021, 2023).
  • ThorSport Racing is one of 16 different organizations to win NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series owner championship.
  • ThorSport Racing has posted 28 wins in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series among seven different drivers – Terry Cook, Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter, Ben Rhodes, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano and Ty Majeski.
  • Owners Duke and Rhonda Thorson fielded their first truck in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series with driver Terry Cook at the Milwaukee Mile Speedway on July 6, 1996.
  • Crew Chief Champion: Rich Lushes
  • This is Rich Lushes' second career NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championship (2012, 2023) – both with driver Ben Rhodes.
  • Lushes is one of 23 different crew chiefs to win a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championship, and the sixth different crew chief to win multiple titles; joining Carl Joiner (2013, 2014, 2019), Dennis Connor (1997, 1999, 2001), Mike Hillman Jr. (2006, 2010), Rick Ren (2007, 2009) and Ryan ‘Rudy' Fugle (2015, 2017).
  • Lushes has three career NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victories – all with driver Ben Rhodes.
Truck Series pit stops at Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tennessee - September 17, 2020 : Truck Series pit stops at Bristol Motor Speedway
Jared C TiltonGetty Images

Pit Stop Summary Report

Aggregate of each driver's pit stops during the race.

 
DRIVER
START
FINISH
STATUS
# STOPS
DRIVER / PIT CREW
FASTEST
SLOWEST
AVG TIME
RANK
DRIVER
AVG TIME
RANK
PIT CREW
AVG TIME
RANK

Jesse Love
10
4
Running
3
46.866
55.491
52.280
1
37.221
6
15.059
4
Dean Thompson
15
7
Running
3
47.879
54.697
52.387
2
37.328
7
15.059
3
Nicholas Sanchez
3
10
Running
2
52.178
52.847
52.513
3
36.959
3
15.553
6
Ty Majeski
2
14
Running
3
48.694
55.869
52.716
4
37.475
11
15.241
5
Ben Rhodes
6
5
Running
2
52.730
52.786
52.758
5
36.853
1
15.905
7
Zane Smith
4
25
Accident
3
52.568
54.540
53.590
6
37.083
4
16.507
11
Daniel Dye
22
32
Accident
2
49.121
58.530
53.825
7
39.086
24
14.740
1
Christian Eckes
8
1
Running
3
52.419
55.787
54.043
8
37.689
16
16.354
8
Taylor Gray
12
23
Running
3
53.732
54.695
54.218
9
37.812
19
16.406
9
Derek Kraus
16
28
Accident
2
53.842
55.169
54.505
10
38.049
21
16.456
10
Grant Enfinger
17
6
Running
2
53.833
55.521
54.677
11
37.397
8
17.280
13
Jack Wood
7
27
Accident
3
52.736
57.266
54.760
12
36.862
2
17.898
15
Rajah Caruth
9
12
Running
3
54.403
55.976
55.192
13
37.530
13
17.662
14
Matt Crafton
28
11
Running
3
53.828
57.727
55.289
14
37.195
5
18.094
16
Tanner Gray
25
9
Running
4
54.312
59.197
56.045
15
37.421
10
18.625
17
Stewart Friesen
20
24
Running
3
55.147
59.115
56.556
16
37.518
12
19.038
19
Sean Hingorani
21
26
Accident
2
55.683
57.434
56.559
17
37.405
9
19.154
22
Chase Purdy
5
3
Running
3
54.857
58.118
56.665
18
37.635
14
19.030
18
Jake Garcia
14
2
Running
3
56.653
57.219
56.846
19
37.693
17
19.153
21
Tyler Ankrum
19
22
Running
1
56.937
56.937
56.937
20
37.666
15
19.271
24

Pit Stop Detailed Report

Each 2- and 4-wheel pit stop during the race.

DRIVER
LEADER LAP
DRIVER LAP
DRIVER TIME
CREW TIME
TOTAL
TYPE

Grant Enfinger
121
121
37.402
16.431
53.833
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Grant Enfinger
94
94
37.391
18.130
55.521
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Matt Crafton
121
121
37.062
16.766
53.828
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Matt Crafton
78
78
37.216
17.096
54.312
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Matt Crafton
48
48
37.307
20.420
57.727
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Bayley Currey
78
78
37.594
17.617
55.211
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Bayley Currey
121
121
37.853
20.838
58.691
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Zane Smith
94
94
36.877
15.691
52.568
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Zane Smith
48
48
37.252
16.409
53.661
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Zane Smith
121
121
37.120
17.420
54.540
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Stewart Friesen
78
78
37.038
18.109
55.147
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Stewart Friesen
48
48
37.188
18.218
55.406
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Stewart Friesen
6
6
38.328
20.787
59.115
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Ben Rhodes
94
94
36.946
15.784
52.730
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Ben Rhodes
121
121
36.761
16.025
52.786
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Tyler Ankrum
94
94
37.666
19.271
56.937
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Christian Eckes
121
121
37.357
15.062
52.419
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Christian Eckes
78
78
37.641
16.283
53.924
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Christian Eckes
48
48
38.070
17.717
55.787
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Chase Purdy
121
121
37.454
17.403
54.857
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE