Grant Enfinger Masters Kansas Truck Race

Sean Gardner - Getty Images

KANSAS CITY, KS - RIS - Grant Enfinger secured his first victory of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, pulling away in a late green-flag stretch Saturday at Kansas Speedway.  Enfinger led a race-high 65 of the 134 laps in the Heart of America 200. He drove the No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet to his first win at the 1.5-mile Kansas City track and the eighth of his Craftsman Truck Series career.  Defending series champ Zane Smith was third with Stewart Friesen fourth and Cup Series regular Ross Chastain completing the top five.

The race was slowed by a handful of caution periods, including two early in the final stage that thinned the field of contenders. A Lap 72 tangle on the frontstretch sidelined rookie Rajah Caruth’s No. 24 Chevrolet and damaged the No. 98 Ford of Stage 2 winner Ty Majeski. Caruth made a blocking maneuver and contact forced the two trucks against the outside retaining wall.

The restart that followed brought more chaos as the field barreled into Turn 1, with a five-truck stack-up that eliminated the quintet of Chase Purdy, Dean Thompson, Christian Eckes, Carson Hocevar and Matt DiBenedetto. All five drivers were evaluated and released at the infield care center.

Next race for the Craftsman Truck Series is next  week at the legendary Darlington Raceway next Saturday night

Unofficial Results: Heart Of America 200, May 6, 2023 - Kansas Speedway  
Fin, Str, Driver, Truck, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 11, Grant Enfinger, No. 23 Chevy Military Appreciation Chevrolet, 134, 4, 2, 3, 65, 5, 56, Running
2) 12, Corey Heim, No. 11 Safelite Toyota, 134, 8, 3, 3, 13, , 46, Running
3) 7, Zane Smith, No. 38 Love's/Speedco Ford, 134, 3, 5, 2, 6, , 48, Running
4) 14, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota, 134, , 9, 1, 1, , 35, Running
5) 17, Ross Chastain(i), No. 41 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 6, Nick Sanchez #, No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 2, Kyle Busch(i), No. 51 Zariz Transport Chevrolet, 134, 1, , 2, 11, 1, 40, Running
8) 4, Jake Garcia #, No. 35 Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 19, Taylor Gray #, No. 17 Dead On Tools Toyota, 134, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 23, Tyler Ankrum, No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota, 134, 7, 7, , , , 35, Running
11) 21, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Black Label Bacon/Menards Ford, 134, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 16, Hailie Deegan, No. 13 Dible Dough Ford, 134, 10, , , , , 26, Running
13) 10, Daniel Dye #, No. 43 Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet, 133, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 28, Bret Holmes #, No. 32 Bret Holmes Racing Chevrolet, 133, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 24, Toni Breidinger, No. 1 Victoria's Secret Toyota, 133, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 5, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Bommarito Ford, 133, 2, , 1, 17, , 30, Running
17) 34, Lawless Alan, No. 45 AUTOParkit Chevrolet, 133, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 8, Tanner Gray, No. 15 Mobil 1 Toyota, 133, , , 1, 3, , 19, Running
19) 27, Johnny Sauter, No. 04 CarQuest Ford, 133, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 26, Brennan Poole(i), No. 46  Toyota, 133, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 31, Nick Leitz, No. 20 Precision Measurements Chevrolet, 133, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 30, Tyler Hill, No. 56 HairClub Cares Toyota, 132, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 32, Justin Carroll, No. 90 Carroll's Automotive/Duratain Toyota, 132, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 29, Josh Reaume, No. 22 JAG Metals LLC. Ford, 132, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 9, Ty Majeski, No. 98 Road Ranger Ford, 131, , 1, 2, 12, 1, 22, Running
26) 36, Spencer Boyd, No. 12 Burco Chevrolet, 131, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 33, Mason Maggio, No. 33 Professional AG Services Ford, 131, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 25, Kris Wright, No. 02 F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet, 91, , , , , , 9, Accident
29) 18, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 25 Rackley Roofing/WAR Shocks Chevrolet, 81, , , , , , 8, DVP
30) 1, Christian Eckes, No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet, 78, , 6, 1, 6, , 12, Accident
31) 20, Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 78, 9, , , , , 8, Accident
32) 22, Dean Thompson, No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, 78, , 10, , , , 6, Accident
33) 3, Chase Purdy, No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet, 78, 5, 8, , , , 13, Accident
34) 13, Rajah Caruth #, No. 24 Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet, 72, 6, 4, , , , 15, Accident
35) 15, Colby Howard, No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 55, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 35, Tim Viens, No. 47 Toyota, 2, , , , , , 0, Transmission

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 134 Laps, 201. Miles
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 59 Mins, 24 Secs.
Average Speed: 101.005 MPH
Margin of Victory: 4.358 Seconds Stage 1 Top 10: 51, 99, 38, 23, 4, 24, 16, 11, 42, 13 Stage 2 Top 10: 98, 23, 11, 24, 38, 19, 16, 4, 52, 5

Comments: Grant Enfinger won the 23rd running of the Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway, his eighth victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.

Prior to the start, the following trucks dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: 45, 41 (unapproved adjustments).

Cautions: 7 for 40 laps;
Laps: 22-28 (No. 20 Spin Backstretch [33]);
32-36 (Stage 1 Conclusion [12]);
50-54 (No. 02 Spin Frontstretch [33]);
62-67 (Stage 2 Conclusion [90]);
74-78 (No. 24, No. 98 Incident Frontstretch [22]);
80-85 (No. 4, No. 5, No. 19, No. 25, No. 42 Incident Frontstretch [20]);
93-98 (No. 02 Spin [20]).

Lead Changes: 15 among 9 drivers;
C. Eckes 1-6;
B. Rhodes 7-23;
K. Busch(i) 24;
Z. Smith 25-29;
K. Busch(i) 30-39;
G. Enfinger 40-50;
T. Majeski 51-55;
C. Heim 56;
T. Majeski 57-63;
G. Enfinger 64-85;
S. Friesen 86;
C. Heim 87-94;
T. Gray 95-97;
Z. Smith 98;
C. Heim 99-102;
G. Enfinger 103-134.