Enfinger Pulls Off First Win in Talladega Truck Race

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TALLADEGA, AL - RIS – In the race that decided the lineup for the Round of 6 in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase, Alabama native Grant Enfinger stole the thunder from the playoff drivers in Saturday's Fred's 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway.

With a strong push from GMS Racing teammate and Chase driver Ben Kennedy after a restart on Lap 93 of 94, Enfinger surged to the front and stayed there in the face of a last-lap challenger from another teammate, Spencer Gallagher, who came home second, .108 seconds behind the winner.

The victory was Enfinger's first in 13 career starts in the series.

The race reduced the NCWTS Chase field from eight drivers to six. Third-place finisher Timothy Peters was the highest finisher among those who advanced, followed by Kennedy in fifth place, as GMS drivers claimed four of the top seven positions

The other drivers  moving on to the Round of 6 were sixth-place finisher Christopher Bell, GMS driver Johnny Sauter (seventh on Saturday), 10th-place finisher William Byron (who already had clinched a spot with a victory in the opening Chase race at New Hampshire) and Matt Crafton (who came home 22nd after his blown engine caused the seventh and final caution on Lap 89).

"I got behind Grant Enfinger and tried to push him as much as I could," said Kennedy, who shoved his teammate's No. 24 Chevrolet to the front in the outside lane. "I knew the outside line had a little bit of something. I pushed him as much as I could, and once he got out to the lead, that truck was so fast out there.”

As usual, “the big one” changed the outcome of the race.  The melee was triggered in the 59th of 94 laps, when Ben Rhodes' ThorSport Racing No. 41 Toyota was shuffled out of line after a push from Timothy Peters heading into the 2.66-mile track's first turn. After bouncing off the outside retaining wall, Rhodes' truck veered back into traffic, touching the No. 86 of Brandon Brown and congesting the high banks.

Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Status Tms Laps
1 2 24 Grant Enfinger # Plugfones Chevrolet 94 37 5 131.7 Running 5 45
2 3 23 Spencer Gallagher Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 94 32 1 92.2 Running 1 1
3 6 17 Timothy Peters (C) Red Horse Racing Toyota 94 31 1 121.6 Running 2 14
4 24 98 Rico Abreu # Safelite Auto Glass/Curb Records Toyota 94 29 82.2 Running
5 4 33 Ben Kennedy (C) Jacob Chevrolet 94 29 1 107.4 Running 1 8
6 14 4 Christopher Bell # (C) SiriusXM Toyota 94 27 88.9 Running
7 5 21 Johnny Sauter (C) Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet 94 26 92.7 Running
8 22 81 Ryan Truex ADVICS Toyota 94 25 84.0 Running
9 12 11 Matt Tifft # Brain Gear/Surface Sunscreen Toyota 94 25 1 87.9 Running 2 3
10 8 9 William Byron # (C) Liberty University Toyota 94 23 87.3 Running
11 17 19 Daniel Hemric (C) DrawTite Ford 94 22 85.1 Running
12 27 02 Dylan Lupton(i) Randco/Young's Building Systems Chevrolet 94 0 54.3 Running
13 31 50 Travis Kvapil Bad Boy Mowers Chevrolet 94 20 44.7 Running
14 23 22 Austin Wayne Self # Trump Pence 2016 Toyota 94 20 1 63.6 Running 1 1
15 26 66 Ross Chastain(i) Chevrolet 94 0 54.9 Running
16 29 44 Tommy Joe Martins BootDaddy.com/Diamond Gusset Jeans Chevrolet 94 18 1 62.0 Running 1 4
17 21 36 Bobby Gerhart(i) Lucas Oil Chevrolet 94 0 47.1 Running
18 28 49 Reed Sorenson(i) Zyalix Chevrolet 94 0 41.3 Running
19 20 13 Cameron Hayley Ride TV/Cabinets by Hayley Toyota 93 14 62.6 Accident
20 15 2 Austin Cindric PIRTEK Ford 92 13 59.3 Running
21 32 07 Cody Ware(i) Lilly Trucking Chevrolet 90 0 33.8 Running
22 13 88 Matt Crafton (C) Shasta/Menards Toyota 88 11 42.9 Engine
23 18 78 Chris Fontaine Glenden Enterprises Toyota 64 10 57.3 Accident
24 25 41 Ben Rhodes # XPO Logistics Toyota 59 9 77.0 Accident
25 19 86 Brandon Brown Brandonbilt Motorsports Chevrolet 59 8 62.2 Accident
26 16 29 Tyler Reddick Cooper Standard Ford 59 8 1 83.1 Accident 1 16
27 10 5 Korbin Forrister All Secure Toyota 59 6 45.3 Accident
28 9 05 John Wes Townley Synovus/Jive/EVERFI Chevrolet 59 5 66.5 Accident
29 1 00 Cole Custer # OneMain Chevrolet 58 5 1 83.8 Accident 1 2
30 30 71 Brandon Hightower(i) Advanced Fleet Services Chevrolet 51 0 28.4 Accident
31 7 51 Cody Coughlin # JEGS Toyota 34 2 53.5 Driveshaft
32 11 8 John H Nemechek (C) Fire Alarm Services Inc Chevrolet 13 1 31.5 Engin