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Following a highly controversial wreck fest to open the season in Daytona and a rather tame snoozefest of a showing down in Hotlanta, it’s time for the Craftsman truckers to go high rollin’ in Sin City at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With some heavy hitters from the Cup Series such as Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell coming down to play their hands, how did the regulars fare in this rather stacked matchup? Who had to hold ’em, who had to fold ’em? Here’s everything that happened in the Truck race in Vegas. Check it out!
You Need To Know:
The first caution for incident occurred on Lap 3 of the race with Bayley Currey losing control of his No. 41 Neice Motorsports Chevy and making contact with the inside SAFER barrier. What sparked the incident, as shown on replay, was a three-wide battle between Currey, the No. 77 of Chase Purdy, and the No. 88 of veteran Matt Crafton. It was a product of three trucks arguing for a limited amount of space in the corner. Air hit the No. 41 the wrong way and it sucked him around.
You can watch the incident from a different angle here:
Fortunately, Currey was able to continue, though he did end up going several laps down.
After the first two stages full of comers and goers, it would be Ty Majeski who would take both stage wins to start the race. In Stage 1, Majeski got to the front in a hurry, challenging the leading Spire duo of Caruth and Busch for the lead. While the latter would contest the lead for several laps in the first stage, the No. 7 of Busch started to fade in the closing laps of the opening stage relegating him back to the 8th position. This opened the door for Majeski to win the stage handily.
After a couple of great pit stops for the two leading Spire trucks, Kyle Busch and Rajah Caruth once again found themselves out front and battling for the lead in the opening laps of Stage 2. You can watch some of that battle here:
The Spire affair up front would be short-lived, however, as Majeski once again asserted his dominance, snatching the lead back. He never looked back from there as the stage went green the whole way. Majeski won his second stage of the evening. The only thing left to do was to complete the story and win the race.
The opening laps of the final stage in Vegas saw trouble for Dean Thompson in the No. 5 truck. He got loose coming out of Turn 4, causing him to slide up the track and get into the outside SAFER barrier. He was able to continue after a series of pit stops to repair the damage.
During the cycle of green flag pit stops, Kyle Busch was penalized for a safety violation when a tire got away from one of the tire changers, effectively ending his race. The penalty was a pass-through down pit road.
One of the leaders Nick Sanchez was also penalized, and docked for speeding. He had to do a pass-through penalty, rendering him a couple of laps down.
In a heart-breaking twist of fate, the dominant truck of the evening Ty Majeski in the ThorSport No. 98 was also caught speeding during green flag pitstops. He, too, had to do a pass-through under green down the agonizingly long pit road, costing him several laps.
Prior to Las Vegas, Rajah Caruth had led only 2 laps in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. But in the same week that his sponsor, HendrickCars.com announced that they were backing Caruth for the long haul in 2024, the young driver who got his start in iRacing went out and put his number 71 Chevy for Spire Motorsports on the pole.
After the green flag flew, Caruth stayed in contention through both of the opening stages, always lingering in or around the top 5. While it would appear that Ty Majeski had the dominant truck, the only one who could really keep pace with him was Caruth in the No. 71. After Majeski was penalized for speeding during green flag pit stops, Caruth found himself in prime position to win his very first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race…and that is exactly what he did!
Also Read:
CountryBoyJB had some harsh words for Jamie Little’s in-booth performance.
Matthew Kendrick wishes that the race would’ve been held at noon before the Xfinity race. Agree to disagree, man! I love Friday night Truck races!
Everything Motorsports seems to have lost to the House in Vegas. More bad luck for Majeski ruins the winnings of many fans.
Nas says that this win is the first of many. I bet you’re right, man. Caruth is a wheelman!
Pam Miller is happy with Caruth’s move to Spire. Yep, it seems that they’re improving with each start.
Art Vandelay says that Mr. H has another winning prospect on his hands. He, Gordon, and Dale Jr. have the eyes for talent, that’s for sure!
Caruth got his start in iRacing so this is certainly a special moment for everyone in the iRacing camp.
Is there any sound better than NASCAR Trucks zooming around the track on a Friday night? We don’t think so! With first-time winner, Rajah Caruth, taking it all in Vegas, what did you all think of the Craftsman Truck race in the Sin City? Were you surprised by the winner? How did your favorite driver fare? Be sure to let us know by commenting on all our social media platforms!
The weekend in Vegas is just getting started! Be sure to keep it right here at DailyDownforce.com for all the latest weekend storylines and fan discussions!
