Last Lap Pass Hands Chandler Smith Redemption at Daytona

By: Derek Pierce

DAYTONA BEACH, FL. - After failing to qualify for the Daytona 500, Chandler Smith took advantage of contact between the leaders to make a pass at the finish line and win the Fresh From Florida 250. With the race win and winning stage two, Smith will be the points leader and looking to carry this momentum into next week.

How It Happened

• Spire teammates Carson Hocevar and Michael McDowell took early control of the race, dominating the first stage despite a Cleetus McFarland spin and a last minute charge by Tanner Gray resulting in Hocevar winning the stage in a photo finish.

• Differing strategies caused Hocevar to lose the lead to start stage two, but he quickly recovered to regain control of the race before briefly losing power in the truck and falling to the back of the pack, resulting in Chandler Smith taking the lead.

• Smith held the lead through a Jake Garcia overcorrection that took out Tony Stewart and involved Stewart Friesen to win the second stage.

• On the restart to kick off the final stage, Ty Majeski battled cup drivers John Hunter Nemechek and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to maintain the lead until Hocevar returned to the front and made the pass for the lead.

• While leading, Hocevar blew a left rear tire and fell back in the pack before spinning while Nemechek retook the lead.

• The flat tire issues continued for multiple drivers after the race restarted including Grant Enfinger, Layne Riggs, and Hocevar yet again, of which Hocevar was the only one to spin and bringing out another caution with 20 laps to go.

• As the laps began to close, intensity ramped up behind leader McDowell until a spin by Taylor Gray collected Dawson Sutton and Spencer Boyd to cause a yellow to come out with only five laps remaining and sending the race into overtime.

• Heading to the white flag, McDowell spun from the lead leaving Nemechek, Kayden Honeycutt, and Giovanni Rugiero to battle for the lead. As everyone pushed and nearly spun out, the leaders had completely lost their momentum as they looked to capture the checkered flag, allowing Smith to sneak past all of them for the win.

Notables

• This race saw the lead changes ever recorded in a Craftsman Truck Series race (32) while posting the fewest DNF's ever for a Truck race at Daytona (4).

• Spire has continued to shown they can build competitive trucks at the 7 and 77, piloted by McDowell and Hocevar respectively, were two of the fastest trucks in the field.

• Cup Series regulars prove they are still the best of the best as they had control for the majority of the race and rarely faltered for anything but a mechanical issue.

• RAM appeared to be somewhat competitive with Justin Haley leading some laps and Brenden Queen mixing it up in the top 10 for a short time. It may not be too long before this program starts looking for victory lane.

• For the first time in nearly a decade, a win has no implications on the post season, instead Smith will be looking to build his points lead for the best possible position in The Chase.

Looking Ahead

The Craftsman Truck Series will be continuing its highly competitive season next Saturday, 2/21, at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta, GA as Smith looks to go back-to-back on drafting tracks.