TALLADEGA, Ala. — The home crowd favorite, Grant Enfinger claimed the victory in Friday afternoon‘s Love‘s RV Stop 225 Playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway — the Alabama native‘s second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win at the big track and the most important, as the victory delivers an automatic entry into the season championship finale next month at Phoenix Raceway.
Enfinger‘s No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet led a race best 34 of the 85 laps, won Stage 2 and held the point on the final lap when a caution came out ending the race.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos
“We knew stuff was going to get dicey,‘‘ the 39-year old Enfinger said of having to hold the field off following a restart with nine laps remaining to claim his first victory of the season – first ever for the team – and 11th of Enfinger’s career.
“We didn‘t make all the perfect decisions today, but we had a Champion Power Equipment Chevy that was fast enough to get it done today, so even though we chose the outside [lane for a restart] once or twice and maybe we shouldn‘t have. … it‘s just Talladega right there and hopefully all the fans enjoyed it.
“There‘s nothing like winning at your home track. Got my family here and first win with my daughter and my son here. On top of that, we get to race for a championship in Phoenix.‘‘
It was a typically wild event on the sport‘s biggest track (2.66 miles) with the race once again decided in a final frantic push for the checkered flag — with Enfinger leading fellow Playoff driver, Tricon Garage‘s Taylor Gray across the finish line under caution.
Daniel Dye and Tyler Ankrum made contact while running fifth and sixth — causing a multicar accident spinning about 200 yards before the finish line, bringing out the yellow and checkered flag to officially end the event. The McAnally-Hilgemann Racing driver Dye slid across the line in third, Spire Motorsports‘ Rajah Caruth, also a Playoff driver, finished fourth. Reaume Brothers Racing‘s Lawless Alan scored a career best fifth-place finish.
McAnally-Hilgemann‘s Christian Eckes, the regular season champion, finished sixth, followed by Ryan Reed, Stefan Parsons, Bret Holmes and Spencer Boyd.
Playoff drivers, Tricon Garage‘s Corey Heim and ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski finished 11th and 12th. McAnally-Hilgemann‘s Tyler Ankrum was 14th.
“We had a fast truck and made a bad decision,” a frustrated Majeski said. “I hopped out of line and cost ourselves some Stage 2 points, so I don‘t know where that puts us in the points, but I guess it could have been worse if we finished 12th. We‘ll move on to Homestead.”
Rev Racing‘s Nick Sanchez, who led 10 laps, finished 22nd after an eventful day. He was involved in multiple incidents and ultimately called to pit road by NASCAR on that final restart with nine laps remaining for an equipment check.
Enfinger‘s win marks the first time in nine Talladega Playoff races that a Playoff driver won the race. He was not Playoff-eligible when he won at the track in 2016. This win lands him one of four positions in the championship race at Phoenix on Nov. 8 — the third time the popular Alabama driver has competed for the championship trophy.
“Obviously we can start focusing on Phoenix right away and that‘s a huge advantage I think,‘‘ Enfinger said. “The way I look at it, we don‘t have to worry about points for the next two races.‘ … very very proud of what this win means but realistically, we still have a lot to do to prepare for the championship.”
With two races remaining in this Round of 8 to decide which three drivers join Enfinger in the Championship race, Heim leads Eckes by a single point. Majeski is 25 points back but only five points ahead of Caruth.
Gray is 13 points behind Majeski, Sanchez 20 points back and Ankrum 23 points back. A win by any of these seven is the automatic ticket for a shot at the title.
The series has a three-week break before the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff Race at Homestead-Miami on Oct. 26 at South Florida‘s 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway (noon ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Carson Hocevar is the defending race winner.
NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed in the Craftsman Truck Series garage without issue, confirming Grant Enfinger‘s victory. The Nos. 9, 17 and 71 will return to the R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina for further inspection and engine dyno.
