After being in serious contention for the victory in both events at Darlington Raceway last season, John Hunter Nemechek finally gets his redemption notching his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of 2022.
Nemechek, who put down an incredible lap time in qualifying to win his fourth career pole, held off Carson Hocevar and Grant Enfinger in NASCAR Overtime to capture his 12th career victory in the series.
The 24-year-old led a race-high 69 circuits around Darlington Raceway, in an event dominated by strategy, due to the intense amounts of tire wear from the track’s aging surface.
Ross Chastain was the only other driver to lead more than 10 laps in Friday’s event, yet neither the NASCAR Cup Series driver nor the race’s winner captured the victory in the race’s first two stages.
Both Parker Kligerman and Carson Hocevar secured their first career stage victories in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, each holding the lead for nine laps apiece. Zane Smith, Todd Bodine, Christian Eckes, Colby Howard, and Grant Enfinger also led laps in Friday’s 147-lap event.
Hocevar, still searching for his maiden victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, finished in second place, the third runner-up result of his 38-race career for Niece Motorsports.
Grant Enfinger earned a season-best result of third place, while Ty Majeski finished in fourth, despite a fairly obvious choose-v violation that should have sent the ThorSport Racing driver to the rear of the field. Matt Crafton rounded out the top five.
Parker Kligerman, Ryan Preece, Zane Smith, Tyler Ankrum, and Todd Bodine rounded out the top-10.
Friday’s event at Darlington marked the beginning of an eight-week stretch of consecutive races for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, which will venture into its second week at Kansas Speedway.
Ben Rhodes currently holds a 28-point advantage in the regular-season point standings over John Hunter Nemechek, with Chandler Smith, Zane Smith and Stewart Friesen rounding out the top-five.
