The 2023 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 was the 11th stock car race of the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the first race of the Triple Truck Challenge, and the 20th iteration of the event.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 23 of the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | May 26, 2023 | ||
| Official name | 20th Annual North Carolina Education Lottery 200 | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km) | ||
| Distance | 134 laps, 201 mi (323 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 134 laps, 201 mi (323 km) | ||
| Average speed | 116.898 mph (188.129 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Tricon Garage | ||
| Time | 29.936 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | |
| Laps | 49 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | FS1 | ||
| Announcers | Adam Alexander, Phil Parsons, and Michael Waltrip | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
The race was held on Friday, May 26, 2023, in Concord, North Carolina at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent tri-oval shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 134 laps to complete. Ben Rhodes, driving for ThorSport Racing, took advantage of a pit road strategy and dominated the final portion of the race to earn his 7th career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win and his first of the season. He also earns the additional $50,000 for winning the first Triple Truck Challenge race. Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar dominated the majority of the race, leading 49 and 43 laps, respectively.[1]
To fill out the podium, Heim, driving for Tricon Garage, and Dean Thompson, also driving for Tricon Garage, finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
Background
editCharlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, 13-mile (21 km) outside Charlotte. The complex features a 1.500 mi (2.414 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, and the Bank of America Roval 400. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports with Greg Walter as track president.
The 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) complex also features a state-of-the-art 0.250 mi (0.402 km) drag racing strip, ZMAX Dragway. It is the only all-concrete, four-lane drag strip in the United States and hosts NHRA events. Alongside the drag strip is a state-of-the-art clay oval that hosts dirt racing including the World of Outlaws finals among other popular racing events.
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Practice
editThe first and only practice session was held on Friday, May 26, at 1:35 PM EST, and would last for 20 minutes.[2] Ty Majeski, driving for ThorSport Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.100, and an average speed of 179.402 mph (288.720 km/h).[3]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 30.100 | 179.402 |
| 2 | 17 | Taylor Gray (R) | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 30.254 | 178.489 |
| 3 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 30.302 | 178.206 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
editQualifying was held on Friday, May 26, at 2:05 PM EST.[2] Since Charlotte Motor Speedway is an intermediate racetrack, the qualifying system used is a single-car, one-lap system with only one round. In that round, whoever sets the fastest time will win the pole.[4] Tanner Gray, driving for Tricon Garage, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 29.936, and an average speed of 180.385 mph (290.302 km/h).[5]
Race results
editStage 1 Laps: 30
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 5 | Dean Thompson | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 24 | Rajah Caruth (R) | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 15 | Tanner Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 1 | David Gilliland | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 17 | Taylor Gray (R) | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 1 |
Stage 2 Laps: 30
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 11 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 5 | Dean Thompson | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 17 | Taylor Gray (R) | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 1 | David Gilliland | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 2 | Nick Sanchez (R) | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 19 | Christian Eckes | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 3 Laps: 74
| Fin[6] | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 134 | 37 | Running | 44 |
| 2 | 3 | 11 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 134 | 49 | Running | 54 |
| 3 | 7 | 5 | Dean Thompson | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 134 | 0 | Running | 50 |
| 4 | 12 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 134 | 43 | Running | 52 |
| 5 | 11 | 23 | Grant Enfinger | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Running | 32 |
| 6 | 6 | 19 | Christian Eckes | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Running | 32 |
| 7 | 2 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 134 | 0 | Running | 35 |
| 8 | 20 | 25 | Matt DiBenedetto | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Running | 29 |
| 9 | 34 | 2 | Nick Sanchez (R) | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 10 | 17 | 17 | Taylor Gray (R) | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 134 | 0 | Running | 33 |
| 11 | 4 | 24 | Rajah Caruth (R) | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Running | 33 |
| 12 | 24 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 134 | 0 | Running | 25 |
| 13 | 8 | 41 | Bayley Currey | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Running | 24 |
| 14 | 9 | 1 | David Gilliland | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 134 | 0 | Running | 28 |
| 15 | 15 | 35 | Jake Garcia (R) | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Running | 22 |
| 16 | 13 | 4 | Chase Purdy | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Chevrolet | 134 | 2 | Running | 21 |
| 17 | 16 | 45 | Lawless Alan | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 10 | 51 | Jack Wood | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 18 | 43 | Daniel Dye (R) | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 22 | 9 | Colby Howard | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 26 | 32 | Bret Holmes (R) | Bret Holmes Racing | Chevrolet | 134 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 22 | 5 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 134 | 0 | Running | 24 |
| 23 | 14 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 134 | 0 | Running | 27 |
| 24 | 29 | 56 | Tyler Hill | Hill Motorsports | Toyota | 134 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 31 | 22 | Mason Maggio | AM Racing | Ford | 134 | 0 | Running | 12 |
| 26 | 36 | 30 | Ryan Vargas | On Point Motorsports | Toyota | 134 | 0 | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 1 | 15 | Tanner Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 133 | 3 | Running | 14 |
| 28 | 35 | 16 | Tyler Ankrum | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 132 | 0 | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 27 | 33 | Josh Reaume | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | 131 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 28 | 20 | Matt Mills | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 131 | 0 | Running | 7 |
| 31 | 25 | 12 | Spencer Boyd | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 131 | 0 | Running | 6 |
| 32 | 23 | 02 | Kris Wright | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 130 | 0 | Running | 5 |
| 33 | 21 | 13 | Hailie Deegan | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 128 | 0 | Running | 4 |
| 34 | 32 | 90 | Justin Carroll | TC Motorsports | Toyota | 122 | 0 | Running | 3 |
| 35 | 30 | 46 | Armani Williams | G2G Racing | Toyota | 65 | 0 | Accident | 2 |
| 36 | 33 | 34 | Keith McGee | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | 20 | 0 | Fuel Pump | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Standings after the race
edit
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References
edit- ^ Harrison, Brad (May 26, 2023). "Ben Rhodes Surges to Charlotte Win". Frontstretch. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
- ^ a b "2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Charlotte Race Page". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
- ^ "Practice Results: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series NC Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte". TobyChristie.com. May 26, 2023. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
- ^ "2023 NASCAR Qualifying Procedures". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
- ^ Rutherford, Kevin (May 26, 2023). "Tanner Gray Wins Truck Charlotte Pole". Frontstretch. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
- ^ "2023 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 - Racing Reference". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved May 26, 2023.