Ben Rhodes claims NASCAR Truck title in controversial finale

It was a troublesome race for the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway as title contenders Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar wrecked one another and Grant Enfinger and Rhodes each suffered injury in separate incidents.

Zane Smith went into the primary of 4 overtimes because the chief however was finally caught up in one of many three restart wrecks.

On the ultimate restart, Eckes received round chief Chase Purdy and managed to carry off Jake Garcia to earn his fourth victory of the 2023 season and fifth of his profession.

Rhodes held on towards a late cost from Enfinger to hold on to fifth, ok to assert his second sequence title in three years.

“I can’t even consider it. That is so superior, man,” Rhodes mentioned. “To go 25-plus laps into time beyond regulation, are you aware what that appears like? I didn’t suppose we had been going to make it. I assumed we had been going to pop a tire and every thing that would have gone incorrect would go incorrect.

“Grant virtually received me. Hats off to him. He ran a terrific race. I wouldn’t wish to race anyone else for the championship. He raced me clear, and I respect the hell out of him for it.”

Purdy ended up third, Jesse Love was fourth and Rhodes fifth.

Finishing the top-10 had been Enfinger, Dean Thompson, Kaden Honeycutt, Tanner Grey and Nick Sanchez.

Stage 1

Ty Majeski led each lap however held off a late cost from Heim by 0.238 seconds to take the Stage 1 win. Smith was third, Rhodes fourth and Sanchez rounded out the highest 5.

Stage 2

Heim edged Smith by 0.465 seconds to assert the Stage 2 win. Majeski was third, Eckes fourth and Kraus rounded out the highest 5.

Early within the stage, Marco Andretti received into Chris Hacker on the backstretch, which despatched Hacker’s truck up the monitor and a tough hit into the Flip 3 wall. Each vans had been knocked out of the race.

Stage 3

Following the break between Phases 2 and three, a lot of the lead-lap vans with Smith the primary off pit highway. Eckes stayed on the monitor and inherited the lead with 51 laps remaining.

Connor Jones slammed into Jake Drew coming into Flip 3 which positioned the race below warning and arrange a restart with 41 laps to go and Eckes nonetheless within the lead.

With 30 laps to go, whereas racing for place, Hocevar hit Heim – who was main the championship contenders on the time – and he received into Stewart Friesen, sending him round.

Severa lead-lap vans pit together with Heim, and Sanchez led the sector to inexperienced when the race resumed with 25 laps to go.

Shortly after Smith grabbed the lead a multi-truck wreck positioned the race below warning and it was red-flagged for practically 12 minutes to wash the monitor of particles. Smith led Eckes and Rhodes on the restart with 15 laps to go.

With three laps remaining in regulation, Heim – apparently in retaliation for an earlier incident – slid up in entrance of Hocevar and ran him into the wall, which did intensive injury to each vans and picked up Taylor Grey as effectively.

The wreck despatched the race right into a two-lap time beyond regulation with Smith out entrance adopted by Eckes and the 2 remaining championship contenders – Enfinger and Rhodes.

Kraus wrecked within the time beyond regulation and Enfinger acquired some injury within the incident which left Smith main Rhodes heading into the second two-lap time beyond regulation.

Smith missed a shift on the restart and received into Rhodes which triggered one other multi-truck incident. That despatched the race into a 3rd time beyond regulation with Eckes within the lead and Rhodes broken and in sixth.

One other wreck on the restart allowed Purdy to maneuver into the lead for the primary time and despatched the race right into a fourth time beyond regulation.