Chase Briscoe Surprise Winner at Eldora

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ROSSBURG, OH – RIS – Chase Briscoe “begged” Ford officials for a ride in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Eldora Dirt Derby race at Eldora Speedway Wednesday.  Briscoe made it pay off by winning the race.  The deal only came together at the last minute, getting a ride with the powerful ThorSport racing team. Briscoe’s teammate Grant Enfinger finished second in another ThorSport Ford F-150.

The race had an extended green flag segment during the final stage, during which USAC National Midget racer Logan Seavey pulled away from the field. Two multi-car accidents in the closing laps involving Todd Gilliland, Myatt Snider, Dalton Sargeant and several others allowed Briscoe to climb through the field and set up the green-white-checkered finish.

Stewart Friesen finished third with Matt Crafton and Brett Moffitt rounding out the top five.

Briscoe is the sixth different winner in six editions of this race. Last year’s winner Crafton was the only previous winner in the field.

The race down to an overtime finish with Briscoe, on newer tires, taking advantage of a Lap 145 restart to pass leader and Toyota Racing Development protégé Logan Seavey, but the event’s final caution within three laps of the finish set the tone for one of the most exciting finishes in NASCAR overtime history.

For Briscoe, a Ford Performance development driver, it was his second straight win after earning his first career victory last November in the Truck Series season finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway with Brad Keselowski Racing.

"I know (Enfinger) is running for a championship and he's our teammate,” said Briscoe. “I wasn’t going to wear him out. I wasn't going to just wreck him for the win. We rubbed, and I definitely let it float on the way to the wall and I'm sorry for that, it's not how I race.

"I'm so thankful that Ford allowed me to do this race. I was begging them about three weeks ago to let me do it and it came together at the last minute. It's awesome to be in Victory Lane."

Spending much of his childhood in the grandstands of Eldora watching his grandfather compete, Briscoe became emotional talking about the significance of winning in his second Eldora Truck Series start.

"It just means so much to win Eldora,” Briscoe said. “I was growing up as a dirt guy. My grandpa won here, and this is our Daytona for dirt guys. This win is for all the dirt guys out there who don't get a shot. Tonight proves a dirt guy can do it at this level."

After the race, Enfinger said if the roles were reversed, he would have raced Briscoe the same way.

“I feel like we had a position on him, we were pretty good right there,” said Enfinger. "He used me up and I was going for it, he didn’t do anything dirty, it was just the last lap for a really, really big race.

"I really wish we could have gotten a win. I'm glad Duke and Ronda Thorson got a win, I really wish it could have been this No. 98 team. Man, that close. It’s a shame. A heartbreaker here, but I’m really proud of the effort here."

Stewart Friesen recovered from a Lap 28 spin to finish third while defending Eldora winner Matt Crafton took fourth and three-time NCWTS winner this season Brett Moffitt rounded out the top five. NoahGragson, earning his spot into the field through the last-chance-qualifier, finished sixth, John Hunter Nemechek claimed seventh, and Seavey, who led 53 laps in his debut, slipped to eighth on older tires.

“I'm not sure there was much I could've done there,” said Seavey. “Right at the beginning of that second stage, you could kind of feel the track was getting a little abrasive and maybe taking a little rubber off the tires. My truck gained a lot of grip there in the second stage and I just slowed down because I knew everybody was going to take tires and I had already taken mine.

"I assumed I had to try to take as much as I could, but at the end of the day, you know we had 50 more laps and I think just overheating the tires and got kind of eaten up there those last couple restarts.

“Overall, (the) experience was as good as I think it could’ve gone without those last couple cautions there at the end."

Unofficial Race Results for the 6Th Annual Eldora Dirt Derby 150 - Wednesday, July 18, 2018 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, OH - .5 Mile Dirt

Fin, Str, Driver, Truck, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 3, Chase Briscoe(i), No. 27 Ford Ford, 153, 3, 1, 3, 54, , 0, Running
2) 9, Grant Enfinger, No. 98 Protect The Harvest Ford, 153, 7, 2, 1, 1, , 48, Running
3) 5, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 We Build America Chevrolet, 153, , 10, 1, 1, , 35, Running
4) 4, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Menards/Ideal Door Ford, 153, 8, 7, , , , 40, Running
5) 12, Brett Moffitt, No. 16 iRacing Toyota, 153, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 27, Noah Gragson, No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota, 153, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 26, John Hunter Nemechek(i), No. 8 Business Machines Company, Inc. Chevrolet, 153, 6, , , , , 0, Running
8) 7, Logan Seavey, No. 51 Mobil 1 Toyota, 153, 2, 3, 1, 53, , 46, Running
9) 19, Justin Haley, No. 24 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 14, Nick Hoffman, No. 83  Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 22, Ty Dillon(i), No. 12 K&L Ready Mix Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 0, Running
12) 17, Max McLaughlin, No. 38 Niece Equipment Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 13, Tyler Dippel, No. 17 Hue Jackson Foundation/Caruso Logistics Toyota, 153, 5, , , , , 30, Running
14) 8, Chris Windom, No. 54 Baldwin Brothers/CROSLEY BRANDS Toyota, 153, 4, 5, , , , 36, Running
15) 6, Sheldon Creed, No. 99 United Rentals Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 29, Johnny Sauter, No. 21 Allegiant Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 25, Jeffrey Abbey, No. 34 Don Wilde Racecraft Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 11, Austin Self, No. 22 GO TEXAN Chevrolet, 153, 10, 4, , , , 27, Running
19) 28, Tanner Thorson, No. 20 Ohio Logistics Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 15, Myatt Snider #, No. 13 Drug Mart/Louisiana Hot Sauce Ford, 153, , 8, , , , 20, Running
21) 21, Austin Hill, No. 02 United Rentals Chevrolet, 153, , 9, , , , 18, Running
22) 2, Todd Gilliland #, No. 4 JBL.SiriusXM Toyota, 153, , 6, , , , 20, Running
23) 31, Wendell Chavous, No. 49 SobrietyNation.org Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 20, JR Heffner, No. 15 A. Colarusso/Upstate Utilities Chevrolet, 152, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 30, Justin Fontaine #, No. 45 ProMATIC Automation/Superior Essex Chevrolet, 152, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 16, Justin Shipley, No. 80 Roger's Ford, 151, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 32, Dalton Sargeant #, No. 25 Performance Plus Motor Oil Chevrolet, 151, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 24, Cody Coughlin, No. 2 Coughlin Chevrolet Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 1, Ben Rhodes, No. 41 The Carolina Nut Co. Ford, 150, 1, , 2, 44, 1, 18, Running
30) 10, Ryan Newman(i), No. 3 Ryan Newman VR Experience/MotoShield Pro Chevrolet, 149, 9, , , , , 0, Running
31) 23, Kyle Strickler, No. 63 G-Style Transportation/Cedar Peaks Chevrolet, 145, , , , , , 6, Accident
32) 18, Norm Benning, No. 6 Zomongo/H&H Transport Chevrolet, 144, , , , , , 5, Accident
 (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Total Race Length - 153 Laps - 76.5 Miles Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 39 Mins, 30 Secs. - Average Speed: 46.131 MPH - Margin of Victory: 0.038 Seconds
Race Comments: Chase Briscoe won the Eldora Dirt Derby, his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory.
Prior to the start of the race, the following trucks dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: No. 49 (unapproved adjustments).  
Failed to Qualify: (7) 33, 10, 74, 97, 0, 50, 03.
Caution Flags: 9 for 41 laps: Laps:
11-14 (No. 21 Spin Turn 2 [None]);
22-26 (No. 45 Spin Turn 3 [21]);
29-33 (No. 2, 52 Spin Turn 3 [None]);
41-41 (Stage 1 Conclusion [2]);
55-60 (No. 88, 17 Incident Turn 2 [41]);
91-91 (Stage 2 Conclusion [45]);
131-136 (No. 17, 22 Incident Turn 2 [34]);
138-145 (No. 4, 13, 12 Incident Turn 4 [63]);
147-151 (No. 25, 15, 6, 63 Incident Backstretch [49]).
Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers: B. Rhodes 1-26; S. Friesen 27; B. Rhodes 28-45; C. Briscoe(i) 46-91; L. Seavey 92-144; C. Briscoe(i) 145-151; G. Enfinger 152; C. Briscoe(i) 153; 
Duralast GT Brakes ?Brake in the Race Award? - Stage 1:  Ben Rhodes, No. 41 Stage 1
Duralast GT Brakes ?Brake in the Race Award? - Stage 2:  Chase Briscoe, No. 27 Stage 2
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race:  Roush Yates, No. 27
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  Chase Briscoe, No. 27
Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Myatt Snider, No. 13