September 9, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Nemechek wins at Kansas; Hocevar is bridesmaid once again

KANSAS CITY, Kan.--Carson Hocevar and the No. 42 Niece Motorsports team threw a Hail Mary to advance to the second round of the Camping World Truck Series Playoffs but John Hunter Nemechek would not be denied at Kansas Speedway.

Nemechek, who started on the pole, won the first two stages. He led a total of 88 laps and cycled to the point for a fifth time after passing Hocevar on the final circuit to win the Kansas Lottery 200.

“It’s huge,” said Nemechek, who also won at Kansas in the 2018 Xfinity Series race. “I just want to say thank you to our entire team here, just everyone. I can’t thank them enough for the truck that they gave me tonight. This Tundra TRD Pro was absolutely on rails. Qualified on the pole, led a ton of laps, won both stages and won the race.

“We came in here really good points wise and it flips over and was able to get some more Playoff points going into the next round. Puts us in a good spot and gives us some momentum moving into Bristol. I think this one is even sweeter. It’s been a really tough week for myself mentally, emotionally and things that you can’t control, but it feels good to come out here and cap it off with a win and show who I am.”

Hocevar’s crew chief Phil Gould elected to pit the No. 42 Toyota during the fourth caution on Lap 76. The team then decided to top off on Lap 80 and attempt to run the final 53 laps on a tank of gas. But after Hocevar took the white flag, his truck started to sputter. Nemechek drove by the No. 42 Camry and extended his lead to 1.815-seconds at the finish.

“Into (Turn) 3 coming to the white flag, I started to sputter, and I knew it was game-over,” Hocevar said. “The 19 (Derek Kraus) had an issue, and I lost three seconds there. Looking back, I wish I could have gotten those back.

“Phil Gould made a hell of a call. I didn’t see it. Fifty-six laps to go, there’s going to be a yellow, right? Cutoff race, and it’s the Truck Series of all things… How was I to know the 19 was going to have a flat right in front of me.”

After his third finish of second this season—twice to Nemechek—and falling out of the Playoffs, Hocevar was clearly dejected.

“We deserved to win that race, just on strategy,” Hocevar said. “We were nowhere near the best car. Seems like I always run second to him, but they were the class of the field all night. We got beat. We had the winning strategy. It just didn’t work out…

“I think I’ll be the bridesmaid at my own wedding.”

Ryan Preece, Zane Smith and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top-five finishers. Chandler Smith, Corey Heim, Ty Majeski, Colby Howard and Christian Eckes rounded out the top 10.

Nemechek, Zane Smith, Chandler Smith, Majeski, Enfinger, Stewart Friesen, Ben Rhodes and Eckes advanced to the next round. Three-time truck champion Matt Crafton, who has endured a revolving door of crew chiefs this season and finished 15th on Friday, failed to advance.

The race was slowed by four cautions—the first on Stage 1 on Lap 32. Kaden Honeycutt collided with Dean Thompson and Lawless Alan on the backstretch on Lap 56.

Bayley Currey ignited the next yellow flag when he spun on the frontstretch just after the race restarted on Lap 65.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Currey said after the No. 44 team checked on him. “Just pissed.”

The fourth and final caution occurred on Lap 74 when Brett Moffitt’s engine blew and ignited into flames. Hocevar, who could only lock into the Playoffs with a win, pitted for fuel while most of the leaders remained on the track.

Nemechek held serve for the next 28 laps until he pitted on Lap 102. Meanwhile, the No. 42 team told Hocevar he was good on fuel until the finish—but he wasn’t. Nemechek came back to win his second race of the year--with Hocevar right behind him.

“I got nervous there for a couple of laps actually with all the lapped traffic in front of me and I kept dirtying myself with the dirty air,” Nemechek said. “I had to play it smarter and I didn’t play it smart there for a couple of laps. I got myself a little bit behind, but had huge speed and got a huge run off turn four. I knew that the 42 (Hocevar) was saving fuel too and trying to block there.

“Just proud of all my guys, proud to get back to victory lane for the second time this year. We’re a little behind from last year. But I said I would rather win five races in the Playoffs and win a championship than win five races in the regular season and we’re going to try to do that.”

The trucks kick off the second round of their Playoffs Thursday night at Bristol.