It may not have been a pretty finish, but Grant Enfinger got the job done, as he took the checkered flag first in Friday’s Love’s RV Stops 225 at Talladega Superspeedway. The Fairhope, Alabama native scored his second career win at his home track, with his first coming in 2016 while driving part time for GMS Racing.
For his current team, CR7 Motorsports, the victory is the first in the team’s seven year history, with their first race taking place in 2018 with team owner Codie Rohrbaugh.
Most importantly, the win guarantees Enfinger a spot in the Championship Four, and he will race for the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series title next month at Phoenix Raceway.
“We had a Champion Power Equipment Chevy that was fast enough to get it done today”, Enfinger said in his post-race interview. “Knew Taylor was coming with a run, Tim [Fedewa] told me to go up, then he told me to come down, and that’s just Talladega right there”.
Welcome to the Championship Four, @GrantEnfinger! pic.twitter.com/wvceKuDU4I
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) October 4, 2024
Enfinger’s win is the 11th in his Truck Series career, and it is the first win for the No. 9 in the Truck Series since William Byron won at Homestead in 2016 for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Enfinger also led 34 laps, the most of any driver.
Finishing runner-up to Enfinger was Taylor Gray in the No. 17 Toyota Tundra. Gray, a playoff driver like Enfinger, was involved in an accident during the race and fell a lap down from a separate tire issue, but overcame both incidents to score important points as he attempts to make the Final Four.
Daniel Dye finished third in his No. 43 Chevrolet. Dye ran towards the front for the majority of the event, and despite crashing coming to the finish, scored his first top five at a drafting track.
Las Vegas winner Rajah Caruth finished fourth. Caruth, like Gray and Enfinger, needed every point possible to try and advance into the Final Four.
Rounding out the top five was Lawless Alan in the No. 33 Ford. The 24 year-old scored his first career top five finish, and also earned the first top five finish for Reaume Brothers Racing since Mike Marlar finished fourth at Eldora in 2019.
Christian Eckes, Ryan Reed, Stefan Parsons, Bret Holmes, and Spencer Boyd. The seventh place finish for Reed is his first top 10 in any series since 2019, when he finished ninth in the Truck Series race at Las Vegas while driving for TRICON Garage, then known as DGR-Crosley.
RELATED: Love’s RV Stops 225 at Talladega results
Polesitter William Sawalich and Ben Rhodes led the field to the green. Rhodes, however, committed a start violation, causing him to have to serve a pass-through penalty. While exiting pit road, Rhodes committed a blend line violation, which caused NASCAR to issue a second pass-through penalty to the No. 99.
Matt Mills led the most laps in the short 20 lap first stage, and scored his first career stage victory. The stage win was also the first for the Niece Motorsports No. 42 entry since last season at Kansas with Carson Hocevar.
During the stage caution, Sawalich, making his first superspeedway start, experienced a battery issue that caused him to need a push back to pit road. Sawalich’s crew attempted to fix the issue on pit road but he eventually had to take his truck behind the wall. Bayley Currey, whose No. 41 underwent an engine change prior to the start of the race, went to the garage under the caution as well with additional mechanical issues.
Grant Enfinger and Nick Sanchez took the green to begin stage two. The No. 2 and No. 9 paced the field for the duration of the stage until the first accident of the race with three laps remaining in it. Matt Mills received contact towards the rear of the pack from his teammate Currey but he managed to save it. Further up in the field, however, Sanchez received a massive push from Connor Zilisch and Christian Eckes, causing the No. 2 to spin. Sanchez, Zilisch, Johnny Sauter, Chase Purdy, and Ben Rhodes all received damage from the incident.
Rhodes and Sauter were unable to continue as a result of their damage, leaving them with DNFs. For Rhodes, the DNF was his first since the season-opening race at Daytona.
What a save by Mills!
Sanchez is sideways in front of the field! pic.twitter.com/Ugo65bBtIz
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 4, 2024
The accident caused the stage to end under caution, giving Enfinger the stage victory. The stage win is the second in the last five races for CR7 Motorsports after having never won a stage prior to Enfinger’s stage win at Richmond.
Rajah Caruth and Daniel Dye led the field through the gears to begin stage three. With 30 laps remaining, green flag pit stops started, with the entire field coming down in waves. Caruth, one of the Round of 8 playoff drivers, was caught going too fast on entry and was issued a pass-through penalty.
The next caution occurred on lap 63 for a massive crash involving multiple playoff drivers. Stefan Parsons got into the left rear of Jake Garcia, sending the No. 13 down the track into Layne Riggs. Riggs’ No. 38 Ford got clipped in the right rear bumper, causing Riggs to turn up the track, collecting Tanner Gray and Matt Mills. Garcia also went back up the track, causing Connor Zilisch to get collected and spin into the wall. Playoff drivers Taylor Gray and Tyler Ankrum, as well as Dean Thompson, were also collected in the accident.
Riggs, Garcia, Tanner Gray, Thompson, Zilisch, and Mills suffered race-ending damage and were unable to continue in the race.
VIDEO: The Big One Strikes at Talladega in Stage Three of Truck Series Race
The race went back green with 17 laps remaining, led by Sanchez and Kaden Honeycutt, but it did not stay green for long. On lap 72, Sanchez spun from the lead after a tap from Christian Eckes, which collected Daniel Dye, Mason Maggio, Dawson Sutton, and Keith McGee, who had to buy out the FDNY Racing No. 28 entry to race.
McGee suffered considerably more damage than any other truck involved and was the only one that suffered a DNF as a result of the crash.
Here's what happened: https://t.co/ecdhDuzxVR pic.twitter.com/EwXxnGWS6l
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) October 4, 2024
The race resumed with nine laps to go, with Enfinger and Eckes at the front of the pack. The pack formed a single file line around the bottom of the track, while trucks towards the rear of the pack took until five laps remaining to form an outside line. The line started to gain momentum, but contact between Caruth and Corey Heim stopped the momentum the line had.
Coming to the final lap, Daniel Dye led another charge on the outside line, and the line advanced further with moves from Taylor Gray and Tyler Ankrum.
In the tri-oval coming to the checkered flag, Ankrum spun and collected numerous other trucks, and Enfinger was able to avoid the carnage and hold off the pack to score his first victory of the season. Eckes, Dye, Ryan Reed, Corey Heim, Stewart Friesen, Bret Holmes, and Ty Majeski were also involved. The initial contact was between Dye and Ankrum, while ahead of them, Reed also got into the back of Eckes, causing all four McAnally Hilgemann Racing entries to get swept up just before the start / finish line.
Grant Enfinger is a winner at @TALLADEGA! pic.twitter.com/XIwNqJzUgp
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 4, 2024
With Enfinger’s win, the No. 9 is locked into the Championship Four and does not have to worry about points racing for the next two events. Leaving Talladega, Majeski holds the fourth and final spot by five points over Caruth, with Gray, Sanchez, and Ankrum being the other three drivers below the cut line.
The next Craftsman Truck Series race is scheduled for Saturday, October 26, at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and will be broadcast by FS1.
