The contest for the top spot at the line came down to a three-wide battle between three race trucks at Kansas Speedway on September 8th, 2023. The No. 38 NASCAR Ford F-150 of Zane Smith was right there in the mix, but watched the win slip through his fingers as a Chevy took control heading to the checkered flag.
Smith took it three-wide on the last lap along side the No. 19 Chevy Silverado RST of Christian Eckes and the No. 11 Toyota TRD Tundra of Corey Heim. Smith’s No. 38 F-150 swung high, and he lost ground on the other two leaders when the back end of the race truck stepped out. Forced to gather it back together, Smith settled for a fifth-place finish after losing so much momentum. However, he’s above the Playoff cutoff line, and will compete in the next round.
That said, despite his impressive performance, Smith said that he’s still working out plans beyond the 2023 racing season. “I feel like my time in the Truck Series is hopefully coming to an end soon and I can go to racing on Sundays [in the Cup Series] soon,” he said.
Matt Crafton, meanwhile, was eliminated from the Truck Series Playoffs after the race at Kansas, after having to switch to a backup No. 88 NASCAR Ford F-150 after a wreck in practice. He then wrecked again during the race after running over a piece of debris and losing a tire. Eckes in the No. 19 Silverado went on to win the race.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 19 | Christian Eckes (P) | PEAK/NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet | 134 | 2 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 2 | 16 | 17 | Taylor Gray # | JBL Toyota | 134 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 3 | 11 | 25 | Matt DiBenedetto (P) | Rackley Roofing/WAR Shocks Chevrolet | 134 | 2 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 4 | 15 | 11 | Corey Heim (P) | Safelite Toyota | 134 | 40 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 5 | 14 | 38 | Zane Smith (P) | RTA rtatel.com Ford | 134 | 1 | Ford F-150 |
| 6 | 17 | 42 | Carson Hocevar (P) | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 134 | 32 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 7 | 20 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar International Toyota | 134 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 8 | 2 | 2 | Nick Sanchez # (P) | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 134 | 43 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 9 | 21 | 16 | Tyler Ankrum | LiUNA! Toyota | 134 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 10 | 10 | 61 | Jake Drew | Cyclum Truck Stops Toyota | 134 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 11 | 5 | 35 | Jake Garcia # | Quanta Services Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 12 | 19 | 24 | Rajah Caruth # | Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 13 | 9 | 1 | Jesse Love | HomeSmiles Toyota | 134 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 14 | 1 | 4 | Chase Purdy | Bama Buggies Chevrolet | 133 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 15 | 13 | 5 | Dean Thompson | Thompson Pipe Group Toyota | 133 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 16 | 4 | 51 | Jack Wood (P) | High Fives Foundation Chevrolet | 133 | 2 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 17 | 12 | 23 | Grant Enfinger (P) | Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet | 133 | 4 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 18 | 3 | 98 | Ty Majeski (P) | Bommarito Auto Group/CurbRecords Ford | 133 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 19 | 32 | 9 | Colby Howard | Grant County Mulch Chevrolet | 133 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 20 | 24 | 32 | Bret Holmes # | Precision Garage Doors Chevrolet | 133 | 2 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 21 | 22 | 41 | Bayley Currey | Unishippers Chevrolet | 132 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 22 | 34 | 45 | Lawless Alan | Niece Products of Kansas Chevrolet | 132 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 23 | 23 | 43 | Daniel Dye # | Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet | 132 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 24 | 33 | 56 | Timmy Hill | UNITS Storage Toyota | 132 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 25 | 6 | 99 | Ben Rhodes (P) | Kubota Ford | 132 | 2 | Ford F-150 |
| 26 | 18 | 15 | Tanner Gray | Dead On Tools Toyota | 131 | 4 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 27 | 25 | 2 | Kaden Honeycutt | RANDCO Industries Chevrolet | 131 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 28 | 36 | 33 | Chase Janes | Butlerbuilt Ford | 131 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 29 | 29 | 90 | Justin Carroll | Carroll's Automotive/Duratrain Toyota | 130 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 30 | 7 | 13 | Hailie Deegan | Ford Performance Ford | 130 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 31 | 27 | 12 | Spencer Boyd | Workman/Campcowboy.org Chevrolet | 129 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 32 | 28 | 20 | Greg Van Alst | CB Fabricating Chevrolet | 129 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 33 | 31 | 88 | Matt Crafton (P) | Flex Seal/Menards Ford | 125 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 34 | 30 | 10 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 35 | 26 | 22 | Mason Maggio | Professional AG Services Ford | 117 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 36 | 35 | 4 | Spencer Davis | Carquest Ford | 1 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
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