On the final lap, John Hunter Nemechek overtook Carson Hocevar to win the Camping World Truck Series playoff race held at Kansas Speedway on Friday night.
Had Hocevar prevailed, he would have proceeded to the second round of the playoffs. Instead, despite finishing second, he fell short of moving on by three points. Hocevar came in second in a race for the third time in 2018.
MORE: Kansas Truck race points
Truck points are reset following Kansas.
Hocevar tried to win by maximizing his fuel. There were no cautions used throughout the remaining 53 laps. Through pit stops during the green flag, Hocevar took the lead. Before Nemechek passed him on the final lap, he had led for 28 consecutive circuits.
Hocevar and three-time series champion Matt Crafton were eliminated. Crafton came in 15th place.
Starting on the pole, Nemechek led a race-high 88 laps, took the lead twice, finished first overall, and earned his second victory.
Winner of Stage One: John Hunter Nemechek
Winner of Stage Two: John Hunter Nemechek
WHO DID WELL: Ryan Preece, who had a constrained schedule, came in third. He has five top-five finishes this year, including a victory at eight starts this year In the previous ten races, Zane Smith has finished tenth or better nine times.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Carson Hocevar finished in the second position, which is terrific, but it wasn't good enough for him. He lost out on the playoffs after using a fuel-saving strategy to take the lead, but he was overtaken by John Hunter Nemechek on the final lap and ran out of gasoline. The 15th-place finisher Matt Crafton was disqualified from the championship race.
UP NEXT: The Truck playoffs' second round gets Thursday underway in Bristol (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1)
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