The opening race for the penultimate round of the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs at Bristol wasn’t overly kind to The Blue Oval on Thursday, September 14th, 2023. In fact, two of its most prominent NASCAR Ford F-150 teams are in danger of being eliminated, meaning they may not be able to make a run at the championship in Phoenix this year.
Zane Smith, driver of the No. 38 NASCAR Ford F-150, led 43 laps during the event, as he stayed out on a pit cycle, putting him ahead of the rest of the field. However, when he visited Pit Road during Stage 2, he was penalized as the No. 38 F-150 was not within the bounds of his pit box. Ultimately, he finished 24th, as he was never able to recovery from the penalty.
“They said I was pitted outside my box by just a little bit,” Smith said. “I had to start at tail-end and yeah. I mean just definitely a rough, rough night but I mean, you saw it. Wherever you were gonna restart is where you were gonna run. My truck was terrible in the second stage but I had clean air, so just can’t pass. Just sucks.”
Meanwhile, Ty Majeski, driver of the No. 98 NASCAR Ford F-150, wrecked from fourth place on Lap 106. He attempted to navigate around a lapped truck, making contact with the No. 11 Toyota TRD Tundra of Corey Heim in the process. Majeski’s tire went down, forcing him to make an unscheduled pit stop and lose the lead lap, finishing 19th. Heim, meanwhile, went on to win.
“Yeah, I mean, the situation could have been a lot worse,” Majeski said. “Obviously not ideal. I don’t think we’re quite in the must-win [situation] yet, but it’s close.”
Both Smith and Majeski are now scored below the Playoffs cutoff line with two races left until the championship race.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | 11 | Corey Heim (P) | Safelite Toyota | 200 | 6 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 2 | 1 | 19 | Christian Eckes (P) | Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet | 200 | 150 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 3 | 13 | 23 | Grant Enfinger (P) | Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 4 | 2 | 42 | Carson Hocevar (P) | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 5 | 8 | 17 | Taylor Gray # | Dead On Tools Toyota | 200 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 6 | 5 | 24 | Rajah Caruth # | Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 7 | 18 | 99 | Ben Rhodes (P) | Kubota Ford | 200 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 8 | 3 | 4 | Chase Purdy | Bama Buggies Chevrolet | 200 | 1 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 9 | 35 | 2 | Nick Sanchez # (P) | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 10 | 12 | 25 | Matt DiBenedetto | Rackley Roofing/WAR Shocks Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 11 | 30 | 35 | Jake Garcia # | Quanta Services Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 12 | 27 | 7 | Carson Kvapil(i) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 13 | 36 | 41 | Bayley Currey | Unishippers Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 14 | 24 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar International Toyota | 200 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 15 | 20 | 66 | Conner Jones | Americas Quarter Horse Congress/TSPORT Ford | 200 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 16 | 21 | 88 | Matt Crafton | Black Label Bacon/Menards Ford | 200 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 17 | 19 | 13 | Hailie Deegan | America's Navy Ford | 200 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 18 | 28 | 75 | Parker Kligerman(i) | Jack Kite Company Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 19 | 4 | 98 | Ty Majeski (P) | Road Ranger Ford | 200 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 20 | 15 | 61 | Jake Drew | Cyclum Truck Stops Toyota | 200 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 21 | 16 | 43 | Daniel Dye # | Champion Container Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 22 | 23 | 9 | Colby Howard | Grant County Mulch Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 23 | 25 | 16 | Tyler Ankrum | LiUNA! Toyota | 199 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 24 | 10 | 38 | Zane Smith (P) | Speedco/Delo Ford | 199 | 43 | Ford F-150 |
| 25 | 17 | 02 | Kaden Honeycutt | RANDCO Industries Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 26 | 26 | 56 | Timmy Hill | Southern Freight Services Toyota | 199 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 27 | 29 | 32 | Bret Holmes # | David's Electric Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 28 | 22 | 45 | Lawless Alan | AUTOChargit Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 29 | 6 | 15 | Tanner Gray | ShopTRICON.com Toyota | 198 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 30 | 9 | 1 | William Sawalich | Starkey/Soundgear Toyota | 197 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 31 | 31 | 12 | Spencer Boyd | Twang Chevrolet | 196 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 32 | 34 | 22 | Stephen Mallozzi | Outback Steakhouse Ford | 192 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 33 | 33 | 33 | Memphis Villarreal | Laredo Trailer Supply Ford | 191 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 34 | 32 | 20 | Greg Van Alst | CB Fabricating Chevrolet | 140 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 35 | 14 | 5 | Dean Thompson | Thompson Pipe Group Toyota | 14 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
Subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford racing news, NASCAR news, Ford F-150 news and 24/7 Ford news coverage.
No Comments yet