It’s a busy weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida for motorsports fans. The Craftsman Trucks Series held their second race of the year at the city’s street course on Saturday while IndyCar makes its season debut there this morning.
Kaden Honeycutt was the leader in practice while the two Bens – Maier and Rhodes – ran closely behind. A face familiar to IndyCar fans in the area – James Hinchcliffe – came in fourth while Ty Majeski rounded out the top-five.
It was the 7 of Connor Mosack who ended up taking the pole after qualifying was canceled due to weather with Giovanni Ruggiero behind. Hinchcliffe and Rhodes switched spots from practice, and the 38 of Chandler Smith filled in the fifth spot.
The field made it through the first lap of this untried track without a scratch, but that didn’t last long. On lap 3, the caution came out after Justin Haley took a spin after making contact with Stewart Friesen. At the restart, it was leader Connor Mosack with Ben Rhodes by his side. Rhodes took the lead in turn 2.
Layne Riggs was moving early, advancing from 28th to 13th in just nine laps. Ten laps later, he was already up to seventh. While Rhodes was consistently challenged by Mosack for the lead, he held on to win stage one as fan-favorite Frankie Muniz earned the free pass.
Just two laps into stage two, another caution was flown as Adam Andretti, Christian Eckes, and Daniel Hemric got tied up in turn 8. By lap 37, the charging Layne Riggs was battling for the lead, earning it a lap later. He held on to win stage two as Connor Mosack earned the free pass.
Riggs held on to the lead at the restart and held on for the next eight laps until the caution came out for Derek White who was stalled in turn 7. Numerous drivers decided to pit at the caution, excluding the leaders. Just four laps later, White caused another caution when he stalled in turn 9.
There were numerous spins and bumps in the third stage, but all drivers were able to right themselves and keep the race green. It became a nail biter at the end as leader Layne Riggs got stuck behind slower traffic and even made contact with Stewart Friesen. There was just 1.2 second between Riggs, Rhodes in second, and Majeski in third.
Rhodes took a wide turn on the penultimate lap, allowing Majeski to pass him for second place. He was beginning to close in on Riggs when Majeski himself took a wide turn, allowing Riggs to win by 0.879 seconds. This marks his first win of the year, and his sixth in total. The Craftsman Truck Series will return on Friday, March 20th at Darlington Raceway.
Featured image from @ThorSportRacing on Twitter
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