The 2023 Craftsman 150 was the 23rd and final stock car race of the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the Championship 4 race, and the 29th iteration of the event. The first stages of the race were held on Friday, November 3, 2023, and the final stages were held on Saturday, November 4. The race was held in Avondale, Arizona at Phoenix Raceway, a 1 mile (1.6 km) permanent tri-oval shaped racetrack. The race was originally scheduled to be contested over 150 laps, but was extended to 179 laps, due to numerous NASCAR overtime restarts. In one of the wildest and wreck-filled Truck Series races in history, Christian Eckes, driving for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, would survive four overtime restart attempts, and held off the field to earn his fifth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, and his fourth of the season.[1] Championship driver Corey Heim would dominate the early stages of the race, leading 47 laps until getting spun by Carson Hocevar with 30 laps to go.[2] To fill out the podium, Jake Garcia, driving for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, and Chase Purdy, driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
The race would be heavily criticized by the fans and drivers, specifically the final 50 laps. Fans had noted that drivers had no respect on the track, which contributed to the amount of wrecks and overtime restarts in the final laps. They would also criticize the way NASCAR had handled the event, as the race would end up finishing around 1 AM EST, one of the latest that a NASCAR race has finished. With a race time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, and 32 seconds, it is also one of the longest Truck Series races in history.[4]Corey Heim would be deducted 25 points (drivers only) and fined $12,500 for the title deciding collision against Carson Hocevar during the race.[5]
The raceway was originally constructed with a 2.5 mi (4.0 km) road course that ran both inside and outside of the main tri-oval. In 1991 the track was reconfigured with the current 1.51 mi (2.43 km) interior layout. PIR has an estimated grandstand seating capacity of around 67,000. Lights were installed around the track in 2004 following the addition of a second annual NASCAR race weekend.
Phoenix Raceway is home to two annual NASCAR race weekends, one of 13 facilities on the NASCAR schedule to host more than one race weekend a year. The track is both the first and last stop in the western United States, as well as the fourth and the last track on the schedule.
The first and only practice session was held on Thursday, November 2, at 5:00 PM MST, and would last for 50 minutes.[6]Nick Sanchez, driving for Rev Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 26.678, and an average speed of 134.943 mph (217.170 km/h).[7]
Qualifying was held on Friday, November 3, at 3:05 PM MST.[6] Since Phoenix Raceway is a mile oval, the qualifying system used is a single-car, one-lap system with only one round. In that round, whoever sets the fastest time will win the pole.[8]Corey Heim, driving for Tricon Garage, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 26.344, and an average speed of 136.654 mph (219.923 km/h).[9]
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