Enfinger Takes Second Talladega Truck Win
(TALLADEGA, AL – OCT 4, 2024 – RIS) Grant Enfinger led 34 of the 85 laps in the Love’s RV Stops 225 at Talladega on the way to his second win at his home track. The race ended under caution as a crash broke out just behind the leader as he neared the checkered flag.
Matt Mills made a move from the outside row to the inside row to lead the first stage at the green and white checkered flag, just ahead of Grant Enfinger, with Jake Garcia, William Sawalich and teen phenom Connor Zilisch fifth after starting in twelfth place. Ben Rhodes caught a pair of penalties in the stage, first for jumping the start and then for a blend line error after serving the drive-through penalty on the first infraction. Rhodes gained a lap as the lucky dog under the caution.
Pole winning William Sawalich had truck woes as the stage ended, coasting around the track before getting pushed to the pits where the crew tried to diagnose and correct an electrical problem reported as the main power switch. Nick Sanchez gained the lead of the race by taking only fuel in his stop, followed by Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski, Jake Garcia and Lawless Alan.
Stage Two was also a short, only twenty-lap stage, with Enfinger and Sanchez swapping the lead. As the stage wound out the final laps, Sanchez spun on the front stretch from a tap by Zilisch, with Rhodes and Chase Purdy getting locked together.
Enfinger, Jake Garcia, Christian Eckes, Lawless Alan and Dean Thompson headed the field as the pack followed the pace truck to end the stage.
With just over 25 laps to run, the Talladega ‘big one’ happened when Jake Gracia had to lift off the throttle while being pushed, lost control and then mayhem happened.
Dean Thompson, Connor Zilisch, Jake Garcia, Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray, Tyler Ankrum, Layne Riggs, Matt Mills and Stefan Parsons were all involved to some extent. Kaden Honeycutt led in the caution, with Parsons’ truck able to continue with minimal damage.
On the restart with 17 laps remaining, Sanchez and Honeycutt led early, with Eckes moving into second, followed by Enfinger, who then took second place.
Nick Sanchez, after a push from Eckes slid in the fourth turn, with Mason Maggio and Keith McGee getting together as the pack tried to avoid Sanchez’ truck.
Enfinger, Eckes, Alan, Taylor Gray and Ryan Reed headed the restart with ten laps left,
Enfinger held on to win the race ahead of Taylor Gray, Daniel Dye, Rajah Caruth an Lawless Alan as yet another crash broke out as the pack approached the checkered flag, “That’s Tim Fedewa” said Enfinger, crediting his spotter with helping him earn the win.
Unofficial Results: Love’s RV Stop 225, October 4, 2024 - Talladega Superspeedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Truck, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 4, Grant Enfinger (P), No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet, 85, 2, 1, 9, 34, 6, 59, Running
2) 5, Taylor Gray (P), No. 17 Place of Hope Toyota, 85, 9, , , , , 37, Running
3) 35, Daniel Dye, No. 43 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet, 85, , , 1, 3, , 34, Running
4) 13, Rajah Caruth (P), No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 85, , 6, 1, 2, , 38, Running
5) 16, Lawless Alan, No. 33 AUTODockit Ford, 85, 8, 3, , , , 43, Running
6) 15, Christian Eckes (P), No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet, 85, , 4, 1, 8, , 38, Running
7) 22, Ryan Reed, No. 91 Tandem Diabetes Care Chevrolet, 85, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 23, Stefan Parsons, No. 75 popsells.com Chevrolet, 85, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 19, Bret Holmes, No. 32 Golden Eagle Chevrolet, 85, , 9, , , , 30, Running
10) 20, Spencer Boyd, No. 76 Tibbetts Lumber Chevrolet, 85, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 9, Corey Heim (P), No. 11 Safelite Toyota, 85, , 7, , , , 30, Running
12) 3, Ty Majeski (P), No. 98 Road Ranger Ford, 85, 7, , , , , 29, Running
13) 26, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota, 85, , , 1, 1, , 24, Running
14) 7, Tyler Ankrum (P), No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet, 85, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 21, Clay Greenfield, No. 95 Backyard Blues Pools Chevrolet, 85, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 25, Cory Roper, No. 04 FlyAlliance/CarQuest Chevrolet, 85, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 28, Danny Bohn, No. 44 Rust-Oleum Chevrolet, 85, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 29, Mason Maggio, No. 21 US Off Market Real Estate Toyota, 85, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 18, Kaden Honeycutt, No. 45 Moore's Venture Foods Chevrolet, 85, , , 1, 3, , 18, Running
20) 27, Jason White, No. 22 Powder Ventures Excavations Ford, 85, , , 1, 7, , 17, Running
21) 31, Norm Benning, No. 6 Pennsylvania Motor Speedway Chevrolet, 85, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 11, Nick Sanchez (P), No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 85, , , 4, 10, , 15, Running
23) 17, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Jack Links/Menards Ford, 85, , , 1, 1, , 14, Running
24) 30, Dawson Sutton, No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, 81, , , 1, 1, , 13, Running
25) 6, Chase Purdy, No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet, 71, , , 1, 1, , 12, Running
26) 24, Keith McGee, No. 28 FDNY Racing/OB Builders Chevrolet, 70, , , , , , 11, Accident
27) 1, William Sawalich, No. 1 Starkey/Soundgear Toyota, 64, 5, , , , , 16, Running
28) 33, Layne Riggs #, No. 38 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 61, , 10, , , , 10, Accident
29) 10, Jake Garcia, No. 13 Quanta Services Ford, 61, 3, 2, , , , 25, Accident
30) 34, Tanner Gray, No. 15 Dead On Tools Toyota, 61, 10, 8, , , , 11, Accident
31) 8, Matt Mills, No. 42 J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet, 61, 1, , 5, 14, 1, 16, Accident
32) 14, Dean Thompson, No. 5 Boot Campaign Toyota, 61, 6, 5, , , , 16, Accident
33) 12, Connor Zilisch(i), No. 7 Austin Hatcher Foundation Chevrolet, 61, 4, , , , , 0, Accident
34) 36, Johnny Sauter, No. 16 Aflac Toyota Tsusho Toyota, 42, , , , , , 3, DVP
35) 2, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Kubota Ford, 38, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 32, Bayley Currey, No. 41 DQS Chevrolet, 17, , , , , , 1, Rear Gear
(i) Ineligible for driver points, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs
Race Length: 85 Laps, 226.1 Miles
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 48 Mins, 24 Secs.
Average Speed: 125.148 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.041 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 42, 9, 13, 7, 1, 5, 98, 33, 17, 15
Stage 2 Top 10: 9, 13, 33, 19, 5, 71, 11, 15, 32, 38
Comments: Grant Enfinger won the Love's RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway, his 11th NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Seris victory.
Prior to the green flag, the following trucks dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: No. 41 (engine change), No. 28 (driver change).
Failed to Qualify: (2) No. 56 Timmy Hill, No. 02 Keith McGee.
Cautions: 4 for 25 laps;
Laps: 22-27 (Stage 1 Conclusion [99]);
39-46 (No. 2, 7, 99, 77 incident frontstretch / Stage 2 Conclusion [17]);
63-68 (No. 13, 38, 15, 42, 7, 18, 17, 5 incident turn 1 [28]);
72-76 (No. 28, 21, 2, 19, 43 incident turn 4 [32]).
Lead Changes: 27 among 12 drivers;
W. Sawalich 0;
G. Enfinger (P) 1;
C. Purdy 2;
M. Mills 3;
G. Enfinger (P) 4;
M. Mills 5-9;
G. Enfinger (P) 10-12;
M. Mills 13-14;
G. Enfinger (P) 15;
M. Mills 16-17;
G. Enfinger (P) 18-19;
M. Mills 20-23;
S. Friesen 24;
N. Sanchez (P) 25-29;
G. Enfinger (P) 30-32;
N. Sanchez (P) 33;
G. Enfinger (P) 34;
N. Sanchez (P) 35;
G. Enfinger (P) 36-42;
M. Crafton 43;
R. Caruth (P) 44-45;
D. Dye 46-48;
C. Eckes (P) 49-56;
D. Sutton 57;
J. White 58-64;
K. Honeycutt 65-67;
N. Sanchez (P) 68-70;
G. Enfinger (P) 71-85.
John Davison
Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.