By AMANDA VINCENT
Ryan Preece claimed his second-career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win at the same track he won his first by repeating as winner of the Rackley Roofing 200 on Friday night at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. He dominated the second half of the race, leading a race-high 74 laps.
“We got a second guitar,” Preece said, referring to the custom Gibson guitars awarded to race winners at Nashville. “I might have to start a band.”
With the win, Preece claimed the second $50,000 bonus of the 2022 edition of the Triple Truck Challenge.
“I like it; that sounds good,” Preece said. “I just want you guys to know that a lot of this is built in the shop. These guys work their tails off. I know what it takes to win races, and they give me phenomenal race trucks, so I’m just proud to be the one holding the steering wheel.”
The win also was the second-straight for David Gilliland Racing, adding to Todd Gilliland’s win the previous weekend at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway.
Preece was among a handful of drivers who stayed out during a rash of late-race cautions. Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar, though, made late-race pit stops and closed on the eventual race winner in the closing laps.
“I never like it to be that close,” Preece said.
Smith finished second after leading 70 laps, and Hocevar was third in his third race since suffering a broken tibia near his right ankle.
After starting on the front row and taking the lead from poke sitter Preece at the initial green flag, Smith dominated the first half of the 150-lap race and won stage one at lap 45.
Preece won the second stage that ended at lap 95. After running second to Smith through most of the first half of the race, Preece took the lead on a lap-74 restart that followed a caution for a John Hunter Nemechek spin on lap 69. Then, Smith took his turn running second to Preece and finished stage two in that position.
Ty Majeski also led four laps under caution at the beginning of stage two by getting off pit road first with a two-tire stop after stage one. But when the race restarted on lap 54, Smith retook the lead.
Like Smith after stage one, Preece lost the lead on pit road after his stage win by a driver who took two tires during the caution that followed the stage. Parker Kligerman used the two-tire strategy to take the lead, but when the race restarted on lap 103, Preece retook the lead.
Meanwhile, Smith lost several positions on pit road after stage two with a slow pit stop.
Majeski and Stewart Friesen rounded out the top-five of the race finishing order. Christian Eckes finished sixth, and Tyler Ankrum was seventh. Max Gutierrez finished eighth after starting in the back for his second-career Truck Series race. Nemechek finished ninth, and Matt Crafton was 10th.
