After a chaotic finish a couple of weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway, CR7 Motorsports finally added itself to the list of teams that have amassed wins in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series since the series’ inception in 1995. On Saturday, at Homestead Grant Enfinger doubled their win total as he took the victory in the Baptist Health 200.
RELATED: Baptist Health 200 at Homestead results
The victory is the second in a row for Enfinger and the No. 9 team, who had already locked themselves into the Championship 4 with the Talladega triumph on October 4. Enfinger led 32 laps at Homestead, second only to Corey Heim (66), and was the winner of Stage 2.
“At the end of the day, just had the best truck out here. The Champion Power Equipment Chevy was really fast after about five laps yesterday and the same way today”, Enfinger exclaimed in his post-race interview. “Tim [Fedewa] did a good job of managing me with the tires and Jeff [Stankiewicz] did a good job managing me with the fuel”.
Talladega: ??
Miami: ??@AmandaBusick talks with Mr. Momentum, @GrantEnfinger. pic.twitter.com/MUoglnyULr— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) October 26, 2024
As many fuel tanks were running dry in the closing laps, Enfinger managed his fuel load perfectly after a strategic call to gain track position by Stankiewicz following Enfinger suffering a tire rub on a restart at Lap 68.
Finishing runner-up to Enfinger was Ty Majeski. Majeski qualified fifth in his No. 98 Ford and gained valuable points towards his effort to make the Championship Four. Majeski would finish a whopping 17.516 seconds behind Enfinger.
Connor Mosack finished third in his No. 7 Chevrolet. The finish marks the best career finish for Mosack in not just the Craftsman Truck Series, but in the top three NASCAR National Series.
Corey Heim rounded out fourth in the No. 11 Toyota Tundra. Heim was the polesitter for the race, won Stage 1, and led 38 laps, the most of any driver. Tyler Ankrum completed the top five, earning his first top five of the playoffs. Despite the finish, Ankrum still faces an uphill battle toward advancing to the final four at Phoenix.
Stewart Friesen, Daniel Dye, Rajah Caruth, Christian Eckes, and Taylor Gray comprised the remainder of the top ten. For Friesen, the finish is his fifth top-10 in eight career races at Homestead. Eckes’ finish is also his 19th consecutive top-10 finish and 20th on the season, with his only finish outside the top-10 coming at Atlanta in February.
TRICON Garage teammates Corey Heim and Taylor Gray led the field to green. By lap 10, new faces had arrived in the top five, with Kaden Honeycutt and Connor Mosack each ascending up the running order to contend with Heim, Gray, and Christian Eckes. A few laps later, Honeycutt made his way into second place, and by the end of the stage was the only truck within reaching distance of Heim.
During the stage, Frankie Muniz, who recently announced he would competing full-time in the Truck Series in 2025 with Reaume Brothers Racing, took his No. 22 RBR Ford to the garage with mechanical issues. Muniz lost 26 laps while his crew made repairs before heading back out onto the track.
Despite a late charge from Honeycutt, Heim was able to fend him off to score the stage victory.
During the stage caution, playoff driver Nick Sanchez was sent to the rear for the restart for speeding on pit road. Bayley Currey and Connor Zilisch also received penalties for too many crew members over the wall and equipment interference respectively.
Heim and Gray led the field to begin stage two, but Heim did not keep the lead for long, as both Gray and Christian Eckes made quick work of the No. 11 to vault to the front. Heim and Eckes eventually settled into a rhythm, periodically trading the lead, while Gray faded a bit behind the two.
Heim gradually built up a lead on Eckes, pulling out to a gap of over one second, while Championship Four driver Grant Enfinger maneuvered around Gray for third place.
Late in the stage, Enfinger passed Eckes for the runner-up spot, while Gray would lose fourth place to fellow playoff driver Ty Majeski. With three laps remaining in the stage, Enfinger passed Heim with ease and cruised to the stage two win.
Taylor Gray and Enfinger led the field through the gears to begin stage three, but Eckes made a three-wide move into turn one, causing him to rub doors with Enfinger. The contact resulted in Enfinger having to come down pit road so his crew members could pull the fender away from the tire.
A handful of laps later, Heim took the lead back from Eckes, while Majeski passed Gray for third.
Not long after, the first and only on-track incident occurred on lap 76. The No. 42 of Matt Mills received a heavy tap from the No. 66 of Conner Jones into turn three, causing Mills to overcorrect in an attempt to save the truck and slam into the outside wall. The contact caused a fire to break out inside the cockpit, with Mills needing some assistance from the AMR Safety Team to climb from his truck.
NASCAR race control elected to give Jones a two-lap penalty for reckless driving, as radio communication from Jones indicated the contact was intentional.
Video: Conner Jones Eliminates Matt Mills from Homestead Truck Race
Mills’ team Niece Motorsports announced after the race that he had been transported to a local hospital for observation. Jones also declined to comment after the event.
The restart was led by Heim and Eckes, the two best trucks of the race. The big winner of the restart, however, was Layne Riggs, who catapulted to the lead on fresher tires in an attempt to win his third race of the playoffs despite not being in championship contention. Nick Sanchez also jumped inside the top five, capping off a recovery from his earlier pit road penalty.
Later in the run, Enfinger worked his way back inside the top five, with the caution allowing him to make up the time lost from his green flag pit stop. With 22 laps remaining, Enfinger passed Riggs for the race lead, and the gap between the two drivers increased to almost three seconds with ten laps to go.
Over the next five laps, Riggs cut roughly one second out of Enfinger’s lead in an attempt to steal the win away, but the No. 38 ran out of fuel on the penultimate lap, handing the runner-up spot to Majeski. With Riggs being the only truck within 10 seconds of Enfinger, the No. 9 was able to cruise for the last lap and a half and take the victory. Nick Sanchez also ran out of gas on the final lap, costing the No. 2 valuable points towards his championship chase.
Leaving Homestead, Ty Majeski holds the fourth and final spot in the Championship Four by 22 points over Rajah Caruth. Taylor Gray is 24 points behind Majeski, Tyler Ankrum is 41 points back, and Nick Sanchez is 43 points below the cutline.
The next Craftsman Truck Series race is scheduled for Friday, November 1 at Martinsville Speedway, and will be broadcast by FS1. The race is the cutoff race for the Round of Eight, as the Championship Four will be decided at the conclusion of the event.
