The championship-eligible drivers in Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series finale may have set a record for chaos in the playoff era, but Ben Rhodes survived the melee to win his second career title in a wild finish.
Corey Heim appeared to be the class of the field and the fastest driver among the Championship 4, but during his charge toward the front in the final stage, an incident with Hocevar derailed his title plans.
Heim passed Hocevar cleanly to enter provisional championship position, but Hocevar wrecked Heim shortly after, sending him spinning into Stewart Friesen.
COREY HEIM GOES AROUND AFTER A BUMP FROM CARSON HOCEVAR. 👀 #Championship4 https://t.co/pH6caLPYLX pic.twitter.com/7D6kI92H1j
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) November 4, 2023
Diving low towards the wall, Hocevar washed up the track and into Heim, who was running a middle lane with Friesen to his outside. Though Heim did not suffer major damage, he lost ground on pit road and started well behind his title competitors.
Hocevar appeared to be extremely frustrated with himself after the contact, and the in-car camera showed him shaking his head and pounding the steering wheel afterward. Hocevar developed a reputation early in his career as a somewhat reckless driver who was willing to wreck his competitors, and he has not fully regained the respect of his competitors – just last weekend at Martinsville in the Cup Series, Hocevar appeared to create contact with Ty Gibbs. Tyler Reddick, for one, was not happy with what he saw on Friday night.
This dumbass will never learn.
— Tyler Reddick (@TylerReddick) November 4, 2023
"(Hocevar) ain't getting out of here tonight, I promise you that."
Corey Heim
— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) November 4, 2023
The race for the title became a duel between Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes, as it became clear that with the damage, Heim’s car didn’t have the pace to compete with the leading cars. Hocevar, who pitted for fresh tires, began climbing up the field – but when he reached Heim with four laps to go and tried to pass on the inside, Heim rode him into the outside wall to exact some level of revenge. By deliberately bringing out a caution, Heim also took the championship out of Enfinger’s grasp, who had a comfortable lead over Rhodes.
CARSON HOCEVAR IS DONE FOR THE NIGHT. Corey Heim sent him into the wall. https://t.co/Vb4xP3JH8w pic.twitter.com/Gap4jU4SNp
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) November 4, 2023
On the ensuing restart, Rhodes split Christian Eckes and Zane Smith to try and gain the lead, but Enfinger made contact with Eckes and lost several positions. A spinning car brought out a caution just before the white flag, and Enfinger’s team chose to put under the yellow flag, giving Rhodes a commanding position in the race for the title.
In another twist, Rhodes nearly didn’t survive the overtime restart. Zane Smith appeared to miss a shift entering Turn 1, and Rhodes slammed into the back of his truck, sending Smith spinning. Rhodes suffered major front-end damage, but was able to restart sixth, with Enfinger mired back in 18th.
… 🤯 …
Damage for Ben Rhodes after he got into Zane Smith on the overtime restart. pic.twitter.com/4J7cqYHgEN
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) November 4, 2023
There was another wreck immediately on the next overtime restart, taking out Rhodes’ teammate Matt Crafton. Rhodes gained positions through the incident to start fourth. Enfinger moved up to 13th and Heim climbed to 19th.
In the end, Enfinger needed one more lap to complete a remarkable run to the title. He surged to within a car-length of Rhodes on the final lap, but the No. 99 was able to hold Enfinger off and finished fifth to win the Truck Series title, as Christian Eckes won the race.
Here’s what NASCAR fans had to say:
BEN RHODES IS YOUR 2023 NASCAR TRUCK SERIES CHAMPION!
Christian Eckes wins the race at Phoenix!
What a race. What a season. pic.twitter.com/vTua7UpskA
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) November 4, 2023
What a pitiful lack of sportsmanship.
— Chris Buescher (@Chris_Buescher) November 4, 2023
This is what happens when there’s no rules, no officiating. You get a product like this. “The show” has taken over US Motorsports and why it’s hard to take seriously.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) November 4, 2023
— Ryan Preece (@RyanPreece_) November 4, 2023
Even the flag man is done with this race #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/Qo4lTC8TT6
— Diego Alvarado (@DiegoxAlv) November 4, 2023
Carson Hocevar was obviously frustrated after his incident with Corey Heim in Phoenix. He says he did not intend to crash Heim and believes the payback was fair. pic.twitter.com/8Bz2bJoOCe
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) November 4, 2023
Only thing this race was missing was the 99 blowing a right front tire in the last corner and pulling a hail melon.
— Chase Briscoe (@ChaseBriscoe_14) November 4, 2023
Hurt for ya @GrantEnfinger, but way to put on a show
— Chris Buescher (@Chris_Buescher) November 4, 2023
We need this race to end so Jerry Springer can deliver his final thought
— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) November 4, 2023
Just throwing this out there before the race tomorrow we hire an exorcist to come to the track
— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) November 4, 2023
