TRUCKS: Stewart Friesen Snaps 72-Race Winless Streak at Michigan

Earlier this season, after an extended stretch of bad luck and a winless streak approaching three years, Stewart Friesen wasn’t even sure if it was worth it to continue racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

The co-owner of Halmar Friesen Racing kept himself and the No. 52 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro on the racetrack, and less than two months later, that perseverance has paid off with a victory at Michigan International Speedway.

For the Niagara-on-the-Falls, Ontario-native, Saturday’s victory in the DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 wasn’t a masterclass and came about very late in the going after several late-race cautions and three attempts at NASCAR Overtime.

The Halmar Friesen Racing driver was part of the faction of drivers that came down pit road for service with eight laps remaining in regulation. While at the time, that cost them track position, it eventually paid off, as the field continued to wreck.

During the third and final attempt at NASCAR Overtime, Friesen was able to find his way around Grant Enfinger in the No. 9 Chevrolet, taking over the race-lead and holding the top spot for the final two laps of the race.

"I don't even know what to say," Friesen said after climbing the fence in celebration. "Thanks to Chris, Halmar, Mohawk Northeast, TRD, and all of our great sponsors. All of these badass race fans. I know there's a lot of Canadians; there's a lot of Americans. Everybody is having a good time together, and that's what it's all about, baby! Yeah!"

After holding the lead late in Saturday’s event, Grant Enfinger fell one spot short of going to Victory Lane for the first time in 2025, getting passed by Friesen on the final restart. Despite his efforts to get back around, the No. 9 would come home second.

Despite only leading a single lap on the afternoon, the first one, polesitter Luke Fenhaus brought home a career-best third-place result at the two-mile speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Ben Rhodes came home in fourth place, and rounding out the top-five was Corey LaJoie, in his first of nine starts driving the No. 07 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports.

RACE RESULTS: DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 at Michigan

Throughout the afternoon, LaJoie methodically worked himself closer and closer to the front of the pack, before inheriting the lead as the field went into NASCAR Overtime. Running eighth at the time, the No. 07 emerged from a huge wreck at the front of the pack unscathed and suddenly found himself with a chance to win.

Matt Crafton brought home a sixth-place finish, while Jake Garcia, Chandler Smith, rookie Andres Perez de Lara, and Layne Riggs rounded out the top-10.

Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim were the two dominant trucks for much of the event, combining to lead 85 of 139 laps, but were relegated to finishes of 11th and 18th, respectively.

Hocevar ended up with a flat left-rear tire after contact with Ross Chastain late in the race and had to come to pit road for fresh tires. Then, during his drive through the pack, the driver of the No. 7 got held up on a restart, and on another launch, pulled out of line before the start-finish line.

Heim was involved in the Lap 122 accident that happened at the front of the pack and also involved his TRICON Garage teammates Tanner Gray and Gio Ruggiero, as well as Ross Chastain and many others.

The winner of the series’ most-recent event at Nashville, Rajah Caruth, ran into a boatload of issues on Saturday, first with an unscheduled pit stop on the second lap that placed him off the lead-lap, and after nearly making a full recovery, an accident with Matt Mills at Lap 78. Caruth finished 31st.

Leaving Michigan, Corey Heim holds a massive 133-point advantage over second place in point standings Chandler Smith. Daniel Hemric, Grant Enfinger, and Tyler Ankrum round out the top five.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will get to enjoy a weekend off before tackling Pocono Raceway on Friday, June 20 at 5:00 PM ET on FOX Sports 1, the NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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