Carson Hocevar survived a final-lap challenge and on-track contact with Layne Riggs to win the Heart of Health Care 250 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, May 10.
The 2024 Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year recipient from Portage, Michigan, led three times for a race-high 75 of 134 scheduled laps. He started the event in fourth place and raced up front for most of the event. Hocevar settled in fourth place at the conclusion of the first stage period. He led for the first time on Lap 54, outdueling Layne Riggs and Grant Enfinger, capturing the second stage victory.
He restarted in the lead at the start of the final stage period with 67 laps remaining. Hocevar, who retained the lead prior to pitting under green with 39 laps remaining, would cycle back into the lead during a late caution with 38 laps remaining and resulted with some, including teammate William Byron pitting. After retaining the top spot through two late-race restarts, including the final one with 20 laps remaining, Hocevar then managed to fend off a final-lap charge from Riggs, which included contact and a scrape to the backstretch’s wall, to muscle to his first Craftsman Truck Series victory in nearly two years.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Jake Garcia notched his second Truck pole position of the 2025 season and of his career with a pole-winning lap at 175.655 mph in 30.742 seconds. Joining Garcia on the front row is Corey Heim, winner of last weekend’s event at Texas Motor Speedway who posted his best qualifying lap at 175.080 mph in 30.843 seconds.
Prior to the event, William Byron and Nathan Byrd dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
Green Flag
When the green flag waved and the race started, pole-sitter Jake Garcia, who started on the inside lane, dipped his No. 13 Quanta Services Ford F-150 entry below the apron after he struggled to launch at the start. This caused his teammate Ty Majeski to run into the rear of him. Amid the contact, Garcia dueled with Corey Heim through the frontstretch for the lead as the field fanned out amid the brief stack-up from the front.
Then through the first two turns, Majeski and Carson Hocevar made contact, which caused Majeski to lose his momentum. In the process, Tyler Ankrum, who ran into the rear of Dawson Sutton, scrapped the outside wall. As a result, Majeski lost a bevy of spots. With the field jumbled up, Heim continued to duel with Garcia through the backstretch before using the outside lane to rocket ahead and lead the first lap. As Heim led, Majeski, who was falling off the pace after the opening lap contact, made an unscheduled pit stop under green with a flat right-front tire while Dawson Sutton, who was racing in the top 10, had a left-rear tire rub.
Then on the third lap, Sutton, who was falling off the pace, spun his No. 26 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet Silverado RST entry towards the entrance of pit road after he had damage to his left rear and was trying to limp his truck back to his pit stall. Not long after, Sutton was issued a two-lap penalty for intentionally causing the caution. Despite receiving the free pass, Majeski would be issued a one-lap penalty for having his entry fueled twice under caution.
During the event’s first caution period, some including Hocevar, Ankrum, Frankie Muniz and Matt Mills pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.
The start of the following restart on the eighth lap featured Heim retaining the lead from Chandler Smith and the field that had fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns. With Caruth dropping to sixth place despite starting on the front row, Heim led the following lap. He would lead at the Lap 10 mark while Smith, Kaden Honeycutt, Grant Enfinger and Tanner Gray followed suit.
Just past the Lap 15 mark, Heim stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Smith. Honeycutt, Enfinger and Caruth were racing in the top five. Behind, Layne Riggs was in sixth place ahead of Tanner Gray, Bayley Currey, rookie Giovanni Ruggiero and Garcia while Daniel Hemric, William Byron, Stewart Friesen, Hocevar and Ben Rhodes pursued in the top 15.
Two laps later, the caution flew when Luke Baldwin blew a right-front tire and made hard contact against the first two turns. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Heim pitted while the rest that included Ankrum, Nathan Byrd, Cody Dennison, Spencer Boyd and Frankie Muniz pitted. Those who remained on the track led by Ankrum would then pit over the following laps, which allowed Heim to cycle back into the lead.
With two laps remaining in the first stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch. Heim managed to retain the lead through the first two turns. The field continued to fan out to multiple lanes through the backstretch as Caruth, Enfinger, Smith, Hocevar and Honeycutt all pursued Heim prior to the final lap of the first stage period.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Heim captured his sixth Truck stage victory of the 2025 season. Caruth settled in second ahead of Enfinger, Hocevar and Smith while Riggs, Hemric, Honeycutt, Gray and Currey were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Stage 2
The second stage period started on Lap 36 as Heim and Caruth occupied the front row. At the start, Hocevar made a move on teammate Caruth’s right side and the field quickly fanned out to four lanes entering the first two turns. As Heim used the inside lane to muscle away with the lead, Caruth dropped out of the top-five category and Hocevar also did not gain any spots forward while Smith, Riggs and Enfinger all moved up the leaderboard. Hocevar would carve his No. 7 Delaware Life Chevrolet Silverado RST entry up to the runner-up spot and the trio of Smith, Enfinger and Riggs remained in the top five while Heim led to the Lap 40 mark.
Then on Lap 42, Hocevar, who spent the previous four laps reeling in on Heim, attempted to make a move beneath Heim for the lead in Turns 3 and 4. Hocevar got loose underneath Heim, which allowed the latter to rocket back ahead and retain the lead. With Hocevar keeping Heim within his sights, Heim continued to lead by the Lap 45 mark.
Within the Lap 50 mark, the caution flew due to Cody Dennison spinning in Turn 1 after he had a flat left-rear tire to his No. 2 TIMCAST Ford F-150 entry. During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field pitted. Jack Wood, Muniz, Boyd and Morgen Baird remained on the track. The latter three would eventually pit and allow Hocevar to cycle into the lead. Amid the pit stops, Heim endured a slow pit service due to an issue with changing the left rear tire.
The event restarted with five laps remaining in the second stage period. Hocevar dueled with Enfinger for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Caruth got sideways through Turns 3 and 4, Enfinger cleared Hocevar for the lead during the following lap. Hocevar then reassumed the lead from Enfinger through the first two turns with three laps remaining. By then, Riggs reeled in the two leaders as Enfinger tried to re-challenge Hocevar for the lead.
As the second stage period concluded on Lap 60, Hocevar fended off the field, winning his first Truck stage of the year. Riggs followed suit in second ahead of Enfinger, Byron and Hemric while Gray, Ankrum, Rhodes, Honeycutt and Caruth were scored in the top 10.
Final Stage
With 67 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Hocevar and Riggs occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns. Hemric, who restarted in the top five, got loose, but managed to keep his truck straight. As the field scrambled behind, Hocevar retained the lead from Enfinger for the following lap while Riggs and Byron battled for third place.
Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Hocevar stretched his lead to seven-tenths of a second over Enfinger while Riggs, Byron and Honeycutt pursued in the top five. Hocevar proceeded to extend his lead to more than a second over the following five laps. Byron, Ankrum, Hemric, Brandon Jones and Smith trailed in the top 10 along with Garcia, Caruth, Rhodes, Connor Mosack and Gray.
With 45 laps remaining, Hocevar, who nearly lost the lead to Enfinger amid Enfinger’s massive ground a lap earlier, retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Enfinger. Behind, Riggs, Heim and Honeycutt were racing in the top five before Riggs engaged in a side-by-side battle with Enfinger with 43 laps remaining. Riggs would prevail in his battle with Enfinger a lap later and he would pursue Hocevar while the latter led by six-tenths of a second.
Then with nearly 40 laps remaining, a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced. Smith pitted his No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford F-150 entry. Riggs, Enfinger, Caruth and Heim also made pit stops within the final 40-lap mark along with Honeycutt, Hemric and Jones. Hocevar surrendered the lead to pit with 39 laps remaining.
The caution returned with 38 laps remaining when Muniz spun his No. 33 Levrack Ford F-150 through the frontstretch grass. By then, Byron, who has yet to pit, was leading ahead of Friesen, Gray, Ruggiero and Majeski while notables that included Enfinger and Heim were scored a lap down. During the caution period, some led by Byron pitted while Hocevar cycled back into the lead. In addition, Enfinger and Heim would be among two of 11 competitors to take the wave around and cycle back on the lead lap.
The start of the next restart with 32 laps remaining featured teammates Hocevar and Byron on the front row. Hocevar retained the lead while Friesen challenged Byron for the runner-up spot. As the field fanned out, Rhodes and Ruggiero were up in the top five as Hocevar led the following lap. Meanwhile, teammates Heim and Toni Breidinger were issued pass-through penalties for changing lanes during the previous restart.
The caution then returned with 25 laps remaining due to Mosack and Currey spinning in the backstretch. During the caution period, select names that included Majeski pitted while the rest led by Hocevar remained on the track.
Down to the final 20 laps, teammates Hocevar and Byron dueled for the lead through the first two turns. Byron used the momentum and a push from Ruggiero to challenge Hocevar for the top spot. Gray then gained a massive draft through the backstretch and was about to veer to the left to go underneath both Hocevar and Byron for the lead. Hocevar, however, was swift to move in front of Gray. The move allowed Hocevar to slide up the track in front of Byron entering the frontstretch to lead the following lap.
With less than 15 laps remaining, Hocevar maintained the lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Byron. Gray, Riggs and Ruggiero were in the top five. Meanwhile, Heim, who was trying to recover from his late restart penalty, was up to ninth place behind Friesen, Sutton and Rhodes. Heim moved up to seventh place with 10 laps remaining but trailed the lead by five seconds. Hocevar continued to lead by nine-tenths over Byron.
With five laps remaining, Hocevar extended his lead to more than a second over a hard-charging Riggs, who overtook Byron for the runner-up spot two laps earlier. By then, Heim carved up to fourth place, but he trailed the lead by seven seconds. Ruggiero and Friesen occupied the top six spots ahead of Jones, Garcia, Rhodes and Sutton.
Over the next three laps, Gray’s late strong run in racing at the front evaporated due to a power issue. But he was able to steer off the track without drawing a caution. Meanwhile, Riggs cut his deficit to four-tenths of a second behind Hocevar.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hocevar remained in the lead by 0.081 seconds. Riggs got to Hocevar’s rear bumper but was blocked by Hocevar through the frontstretch. He then tried to seize an opportunity to get beneath Hocevar’s left-rear quarter panel. Riggs then started to drift up the track and they made contact. Despite both getting sideways and brushing the outside wall entering the backstretch, they kept racing straight as Hocevar maintained the lead.
Riggs tried to mount another final-lap charge to Hocevar through Turns 3 and 4 but it was not enough. Hocevar crossed the finish line by two-tenths of a second over Riggs, claiming his first checkered flag of the 2025 season.
Victory
The victory was Hocevar’s fifth career win in the Craftsman Truck Series division. It was also his first since he won at Homestead-Miami Speedway in October 2023. The victory was the eighth overall in the series for Spire Motorsports and the second of the year for Spire’s No. 7 Chevrolet entry led by veteran crew chief Brian Pattie.
Hocevar’s dramatic victory at Kansas occurred in his second of four-scheduled Truck Series starts to the 2025 season. He will return to pilot Spire’s No. 7 entry at Michigan International Speedway and at Pocono Raceway, respectively, in June.
“I just thought I’d make it entertaining. Were you [fans] all entertained?” Hocevar said on the frontstretch on FS1. “[Riggs] was super, super good. This [No. 7] truck was really, really good on the short runs. I didn’t think he would get to us for how far back he was. He was super good. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a finish like that where it was just all out there, so credit to [Riggs]. I know he’s going for everything there. I’m shocked. I thought [I] threw it away. It doesn’t look that bad [on the replay], but I figured I killed it right here [on the backstretch].”
Riggs, who has yet to record his first Truck victory of the 2025 season, settled in the runner-up spot for a second time this year. Despite the disappointment of falling short of a victory, Riggs was still pleased with his late battle against Hocevar for a Truck victory.
“Man, I gave it my all,” Riggs said. “[I] Had to come from 16th all the way under that green flag run to get all the way back to [Hocevar]. Last lap, I got to him. [I] Got into him a little bit. We both hit the wall. He won the race. I think he was mad at me. I think he flipped me off all the way down the frontstretch coming to the checkered, but happy to be mad when you win the race, right? It’s all good. It’s great to race with the Cup guys. I think that just proves that I’m gonna be there one day.”
Following the post-race inspection process, however, Riggs was disqualified due to his truck violating Rule 14.4.9.A.3 from the NASCAR Rule Book, which states that the bed cover material must be strong enough to prevent the cover from deflecting or sagging and must be sealed around the perimeter of all bed panels while the vehicle is in compeition. As a result, Riggs was demoted to the tail end of the final running order in 31st place.
Due to Riggs’ disqualification, William Byron, who was selected to drive the No. 07 Chevrolet entry for the injured Connor Zilisch at the beginning of this week, was promoted to a runner-up result. Corey Heim, who made a late, bold charge back to the front following his late on-track penalty, was promoted to a third-place result while teammate Giovanni Ruggerio and Stewart Friesen ended up in the top five.
Brandon Jones, Jake Garcia, Kaden Honeycutt, Grant Enfinger and Daniel Hemric completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Ty Majeski settled in 14th place behind Daniel Hemric, Ben Rhodes and Matt Mills while Tyler Ankrum ended up in 16th place. Chandler Smith dropped to 17th place, rookie Dawson Sutton rallied from his two-lap penalty to finish in 15th place and Rajah Caruth ended up in 21st place.
There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 33 laps. In addition, 21 of 31 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the ninth event of the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series season, Corey Heim leads the regular-season standings by 64 points over Chandler Smith, 85 over Daniel Hemric, 100 over Tyler Ankrum and 117 over Grant Enfinger.
Results:
1. Carson Hocevar, 75 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. William Byron, four laps led
3. Corey Heim, 52 laps led, Stage 1 winner
4. Giovanni Ruggerio
5. Stewart Friesen
6. Brandon Jones
7. Jake Garcia
8. Kaden Honeycutt
9. Grant Enfinger, two laps led
10. Daniel Hemric
11. Ben Rhodes
12. Matt Mills
13. Matt Crafton
14. Ty Majeski
15. Dawson Sutton
16. Tyler Ankrum
17. Chandler Smith
18. Connor Mosack
19. Andres Perez de Lara
20. Toni Breidinger
21. Rajah Caruth, one lap down
22. Cody Dennison, one lap down
23. Spencer Boyd, two laps down
24. Jack Wood, two laps down
25. Morgen Baird, three laps down
26. Bayley Currey, four laps down
27. Tanner Gray – OUT, Electrical
28. Frankie Muniz – OUT, Handling, one lap led
29. Nathan Byrd – OUT, Overheating
30. Luke Baldwin – OUT, Accident
31. Layne Riggs – Disqualified
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, for the Window World 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, May 17, and air at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
