Smith drives away on restart to win Trucks race at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Zane Smith drove away from pole-sitter John Hunter Nemechek and Ty Majeski on a restart with nine laps to go at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night for his third NASCAR Truck Series victory of the season.

The 22-year-old Smith, who moved from GMS Racing to Front Row Motorsports earlier this year, was slicing through lapped traffic with a comfortable cushion on the rest of the field when Dean Thompson crashed in the closing laps.

It didn't matter one bit.

Smith chose the inside lane and launched away from the pack on the restart to add to his season-opening win at Daytona and his victory at Circuit of the Americas. Majeski was second and Grant Enfinger third while Nemechek, the winner last weekend at Darlington, got a terrible jump on the final restart and wound up sixth.

“Just so cool. That was one of my easier ones I've ever had to win,” Smith said, “but that late-race restart scared me a little bit. Good thing I didn't have another one there because I'm stuck in fourth (gear), so sorry about no burnout.”

As for Nemechek?

“I spun tires. Didn't get a good push from behind. It's on me,” he said. “I spun the tires. That's pretty much it.”

Majeski's career-best Truck Series finish came a week after finishing fourth at Darlington.

“We were really close,” he said. “We kept easing on the adjustments all night, getting the balance better on every run. ... We've been really hitting it off this year. It's been a ton of fun.”