Hocevar Beats Spire Teammate Kyle Busch by 0.730 Seconds in Overtime to Win SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas — Kyle Busch had owned the Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway for years. On Friday night, his own teammate took it from him. Carson Hocevar survived two red flags, an overtime restart and a three-wide scramble on the white-flag lap to win the SpeedyCash.com 250, beating Spire Motorsports teammate Busch to the line by 0.730 seconds.

It was the sixth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win for Hocevar and his second at Texas, the track where he earned his first series victory in 2023. The No. 77 Chevrolet driver arrived in Fort Worth coming off a Cup Series win at Talladega the previous Sunday, according to the NASCAR Wire Service, and he did nothing to cool that run. The race, scheduled for 167 laps, stretched to 172 because of the overtime finish.

Rhodes Owns Stage 1, Hocevar Takes Over

Ben Rhodes set the early tone. The ThorSport Racing driver won the pole at 185.096 mph and led every lap of the 40-lap opening stage in his No. 99 Ford. Hocevar answered by winning Stage 2 and went on to lead a race-high 76 laps. Rhodes, who led 41, mounted a late challenge and came home fifth.

The night was rarely calm. Official results list eight cautions for 39 laps, 14 lead changes among nine drivers and two red flags. Layne Riggs had to pit late in Stage 1 to deal with a rear window issue, according to Texas Motor Speedway, and still rallied to finish sixth.

Busch Fights Back From a Lap Down

Busch had won his previous four Truck Series starts at Texas, but an early brush with the outside wall cost him a lap. He got it back as the beneficiary of the caution for Cole Butcher's crash in Turn 2 on Lap 51, then spent the rest of the night working forward. By the end he was in position to add to his record 68 series wins, per the NASCAR Wire Service, but could not run down his teammate.

"I was struggling with grip all night long," Busch said, according to the NASCAR Wire Service, crediting crew chief Brian Pattie and the team for the adjustments that brought the truck back to him. He said it felt really good once the final set of tires went on. "It would have been nice to be in Victory Lane, but it's good to have a teammate in there and have him get his shot."

Two Red Flags and a Wild Finish

The finish turned chaotic in the final 15 laps. Stewart Friesen lost control off Turn 4 with 11 laps to go, bringing out the first red flag, according to Texas Motor Speedway. Giovanni Ruggiero then worked past Hocevar for the lead on Lap 165 of the scheduled 167, per the NASCAR Wire Service, before a violent multi-truck crash on the frontstretch brought out the second red flag and sent the race to overtime.

Ruggiero led the field to green on the overtime restart. When the pack went three-wide on the white-flag lap, he lost momentum, and Hocevar charged into the lead and opened a gap of about 10 lengths, the wire service reported. Hocevar had worried about a possible loose wheel after the second stage break, but he kept pushing through the run of late restarts.

"We had to reverse the order, obviously the 1-2 with Kyle," Hocevar said, according to the NASCAR Wire Service. Earlier this season at EchoPark Speedway, Busch had beaten Hocevar by 0.114 seconds in another Spire one-two. Hocevar also took aim at his teammate's Texas record. "I watched him win a lot of Truck races when I was a kid so it's good to put an end to his Texas streak," he said, according to Texas Motor Speedway.

Busch took it in stride. "I got one, he got one, so now we're even there," he said.

Honeycutt Hurts After Another Near Miss

The most painful result belonged to Kaden Honeycutt. The Aledo, Texas, native in Tricon Garage's No. 11 Toyota took the lead on Lap 149 and looked like he had a real chance at his first Truck Series win in 66 starts. He could not hold it through the late restarts and finished third.

"As soon as I got the lead (on Lap 149), I didn't protect it right," Honeycutt said, according to the NASCAR Wire Service. "It's eating me alive, I can promise you that."

There was some consolation in the standings. Hocevar, Busch and fourth-place Brandon Jones were not eligible for series points, and Honeycutt left Texas atop the championship standings with 257 points, 14 ahead of Chandler Smith. Riggs sat third with 238.

What It Means

Daniel Hemric, Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski and Smith rounded out the top 10. The series moves on to Watkins Glen International on May 8.

For Hocevar, Friday was another sign of how strong his spring has become, in two different series in the same week. For Busch, it was the end of a Texas streak, handed over to his own teammate. And for Honeycutt, it was one more lesson he is clearly taking personally.

Photo Credit: Luis Revilla Mata/Undrafted