STEWART FRIESEN SNAPS A 72-RACE WINLESS STREAK AT MICHIGAN – STEWART FRIESEN RACING PHOTO
NASCAR Wire Services – Stewart Friesen hoisted his first trophy of the season in Saturday afternoon’s triple overtime DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 at Michigan International Speedway — a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race that didn’t want to end, ultimately featuring 14 extra laps.
The victory snapped a 72-race winless streak for the Canadian driver Friesen, who had not been among the race’s front-runners all day but was where he needed to be when it counted, collecting his first trophy since 2022 at Texas Motor Speedway. His No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota beat Grant Enfinger’s Chevrolet by 0.111 seconds.
With most drivers opting for the outside row for lane choice on the final restart, Friesen moved up and took the inside position on the front row alongside Enfinger. The two of them dueled it out over the next two overtime laps to settle the trophy. Neither had a win this season coming into the race.
“I don’t know what to say, thank you to Chris, Halmar and all these sponsors and all these race fans, I know there’s a lot of Canadians and a lot of Americans,” Friesen said as the crowd began a huge roar of approval for the 41-year-old Ontario native as he celebrated his fourth career win.
ThorSport Racing’s Luke Fenhaus, who won his first career pole position earlier Saturday, finished third, followed by his teammate, two-time series champion Ben Rhodes.
Corey LaJoie returned to the NCTS this week, driving for Spire Motorsports. LaJoie raised a lot of eyebrows this weekend with his analogy on his return to the series Lajoie said, “It’s been a lot of emotions going back to Spire. It’s like when you work building a house for five years, and then your wife becomes a TikTok star and says she’s not happy anymore, she kicks you out. Then she calls you back a year later, and you have to go live in the guest room, and she’s there with a new boyfriend. That’s how this thing goes.”
No stranger to odd comments, Lajoie was asked earlier in the year if he’d like to return to the Truck Series, he ruffled a lot of feathers in the garage when he said, “Do you want to go hold up a trophy on a Friday when there’s 12 people in the grandstands? No.
Regardless of the many head-scratching quotes by LaJoie, he wound up with a P5 finish in his return to the series.
The opening two stages of the event went caution-free except for the stage breaks, but the final stage was slowed by seven caution flags. The overtime periods put a dramatic spin on the win. A big wreck on a restart with five laps remaining eliminated several of the day’s strongest competitors — Ross Chastain, who was leading at the time, and Marietta, Georgia native and championship leader Corey Heim, who swept both stages and led 29 laps running top five most of the day.
It all created a seemingly dream scenario for another of the race’s best — NASCAR Cup Series regular and Michigan native Carson Hocevar, who was trying to win his first national series race at his home track. He survived much of the late-race melee only to get a penalty after the second overtime green flag for pulling out of line too early on the restart. He led a race-high 56 laps but ultimately finished 11th.
Matt Crafton, Monroe, Georgia’s Jake Garcia, Talking Rock, Georgia’s Chandler Smith, rookie Andres Perez De Lara and Layne Riggs rounded out the top 10 in the first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the track since 2020. Actor Frankie Muniz finished 14th — his best finish since a 10th place in the Daytona season opener.
Despite his 18th-place finish, Heim stretched his championship lead to a 133-point advantage over Talking Rock, Georgia’s Chandler Smith.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series takes a week off while the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series race in Mexico City next weekend. The trucks resume competition on June 20 in the Miller Tech Battery 200 at Pocono Raceway (5 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Heim is the defending race winner.
Note: Post-race tech inspection was completed in the Craftsman Truck Series garage without issue, confirming Friesen as the winner.