Lawless Alan will join Venturini Motorsports forces and contend for the ARCA Menards Series championship in 2025.
Alan, a 24-year-old native of Van Nuys, California, will be piloting the No. 20 Toyota Camry entry on a full-time basis with continuous sponsorship support from AUTOparkit.
The news comes as Alan is coming off his third consecutive full-time campaign in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series division, where he achieved his first top-five career result by finishing fifth at Talladega Superspeedway this past October. In addition, he recorded a total of six top-20 results and an average-finishing result of 24.2 before he settled in 24th place in the final standings, all while competing with Reaume Brothers Racing.
“Super excited to make this announcement with Venturini Motorsports,” Alan said in a released statement. “This is a great opportunity to be in topflight equipment each week and have the reassurance of the team and amazing manufacturer like Toyota behind me. I can’t thank everyone enough for making this deal happen, especially the ongoing support from AUTOparkit, they make this happen. It feels good to have this type of confidence going into the season. Knowing Venturini has the resources allows me to be more aggressive with my mindset. I fully expect to compete each week for wins. I think once I see my name at the top of the speed charts, I know we’ll be ready for business.”
Alan, who grew up racing in Legends cars and Late Models, captured the NASCAR Home Tracks championship at Irwindale Raceway and the Winter Showdown at Kern County Raceway in 2018. He elevated his racing career to the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli the following season and campaigned across the ARCA Menards Series divisions, between the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
In 2021, Alan made his Truck Series debut at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course with Reaume Brothers Racing, where he finished 36th. He made four additional starts with the Reaume Brothers organization before he campaigned in four of the final six Truck events with Niece Motorsports.
The following season, Alan drove Niece’s No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado RST entry for his first full-time campaign in the Truck Series. Throughout the season, he recorded eight top-20 results, a season-best 11th-place run at Circuit of the Americas and an average-finishing result of 24.2 before settling in 22nd place in the standings. He would finish 22nd in the final standings for a second consecutive time during the following season, but he accumulated 23 additional points at 317 overall as he notched a career-best average-finishing result of 22.3 and notched his first top-10 career result at Talladega.
Throughout the 2024 season, Alan also competed in six ARCA starts with Reaume Brothers, where he recorded four top-nine results and a season-best fifth place at the Milwaukee Mile in late August.
Alan is the second confirmed competitor full-time driver for Venturini Motorsports in the upcoming ARCA Menards Series season. He will be a teammate to Isabella Robusto, who was announced as the driver of the team’s No. 55 Toyota entry in mid-December. In addition, Chase Pinsonneault, the 2024 CRA JEGS All-Stars Tour Rookie-of-the-Year recipient, will drive Venturini’s No. 15 Toyota entry for the 2025 season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in mid-December.
With his plans for this upcoming season set, Lawless Alan’s bid for the 2025 ARCA Menards Series championship with Venturini Motorsports will commence at Daytona on February 15 at noon ET on FOX.
TRICON Garage revealed its driver lineup for the organization’s No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry, dubbed the “all-star” entry, that will be fielded for the entire 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule.
The competitors who will split the driving duties of TRICON’s No. 1 entry for the upcoming season are Lawless Alan, Brent Crews, Brandon Jones and William Sawalich.
Sawalich, the reigning two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, will first pilot the entry for the first three-scheduled events that include Daytona International Speedway (February 14), Atlanta Motor Speedway (February 22) and Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 14). He will then return to compete at Nashville Superspeedway (May 30) before making his fifth and final scheduled start of the year at Watkins Glen International (August 8).
Sawalich, who is also set to campaign in his first full-time Xfinity Series season with Joe Gibbs Racing, is no stranger to TRICON as he has made a total of 16 Truck starts with the organization over the previous two seasons. Throughout his previous 16 Truck starts, he notched his first career pole at Talladega Superspeedway this past October and has finished in the top 10 three times.
Next, Jones, a 27-year-old racing veteran from Atlanta, Georgia, will make his first Truck start of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway (March 21) before he proceeds to compete at the spring Bristol Motor Speedway event (April 11), Rockingham Speedway (April 18), Texas Motor Speedway (May 2), Kansas Speedway (May 10), Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 23) and at Pocono Raceway (June 20).
While he is new to the TRICON organization, Jones is no stranger to the Truck Series division as he has made a total of 49 career starts over eight part-time seasons (2013-20). Within the span, he scored his first career victory at Pocono while driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2020. He has also registered five runner-up results, 14 top-five results, 24 top-10 results, 85 laps led and an average-finishing result of 13.1 as he strives to add more Truck victories to his resume. Aside from his part-time Truck campaign, Jones is set to reunite with Joe Gibbs Racing for a full-time Xfinity campaign after spending the previous two seasons at JR Motorsports.
Alan, a 24-year-old native from Van Nuys, California, will make his first Truck start of the 2025 season at the spring Martinsville Speedway event (March 28) before he returns to race at Michigan International Speedway (June 7), Darlington Raceway (August 30) and at Talladega Superspeedway (October 17).
Alan’s part-time Truck campaign with TRICON comes hours after he was announced to be scaling back down to the ARCA Menards Series and contending for the 2025 series’ title with Venturini Motorsports. Previously, the Californian, who claimed the 2018 NASCAR Home Tracks championship at Irwindale Speedway, spent the previous three seasons as a full-time Truck competitor for Niece Motorsports (2022-23) and Reaume Brothers Racing. This past season, he recorded his first top-five career finish in the series after finishing fifth at Talladega.
Lastly, Crews, a 16-year-old racing prospect from Hickory, North Carolina, will campaign in his first nine Truck Series career events that commence at North Wilkesboro Speedway (May 17) before he returns for the series’ inaugural event at Lime Rock Park, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (July 25), Richmond Raceway (August 15), the fall Bristol Motor Speedway event (September 11), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (September 20), the series’ inaugural event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (October 3), the fall Martinsville Speedway event (October 24) and the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway (October 31).
Crews, who is also a Toyota Driver Development competitor, is coming off a productive 2024 season, where he claimed the World Series of Asphalt Super Late Model and CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour Rookie-of-the-Year championships. Over the previous two seasons, he earned his first two ARCA Menards Series career victories while driving for Venturini Motorsports. To date, Crews is the youngest Trans-Am Series champion at age 15 years, seven months and three days, and the youngest Trans-Am winner at age 14 years, three months and six days.
As announced in mid-December, the No. 1 Toyota team will be led by crew chief Jake Hampton, who was atop the pit box for returning full-time TRICON competitor Tanner Gray for a single event in 2021 and for Tanner’s younger brother, Taylor, for 10 events in 2023. Each of TRICON’s “all-star” competitors (Alan, Crews, Jones and Sawalich) will compete alongside the organization’s full-time competitors which include Tanner Gray, Corey Heim and rookies Toni Breidinger and Gio Ruggiero.
With the No. 1 Toyota entry’s driver lineup set, which completes its full driver lineup, TRICON Garage’s 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is scheduled to commence at Daytona International Speedway on February 14. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
The feeling of winning at home never felt sweeter for Grant Enfinger, who guaranteed himself an early shot to contend for this year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship after capping off a dominant performance with a victory in the Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, October 4.
The 39-year-old Enfinger from Fairhope, Alabama, led nine times for a race-high 34 of 85-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place and spent a majority of the event racing upfront amid the draft and up against both his fellow Playoff and non-Playoff contenders. After finishing second in the first stage before winning the second stage, Enfinger, who would endure three restarts throughout the final stage period, retained the lead at the start of the final one with nine laps remaining. He then fended off late challenges from Playoff contenders Christian Eckes and Taylor Gray through the frontstretch on the final lap and amid a multi-truck wreck approaching the finish line to record his first elusive victory of the season and automatically transfer his way into this year’s Championship 4 round.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, William Sawalich, the 2024 ARCA Menards Series East champion, notched his first Truck Series career pole position after he posted a pole-winning lap at 175.764 mph in 54.482 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ben Rhodes, who posted his best qualifying lap at 175.648 mph in 54.518 seconds.
Prior to the event, Keith McGee dropped to the rear of the field as a result of replacing Bryan Dauzat in the FDNY Racing entry. Bayley Currey also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change to his Niece Motorsports entry.
When the green flag waved and the race started, William Sawalich muscled his No. 1 Starkey/Soundgear Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead with the lead from the inside lane as he was followed by Ben Rhodes and Playoff contenders Ty Majeski and Taylor Gray through the first two turns. Sawalich proceeded to lead through the backstretch as a bevy of competitors behind dueled early for positions in two drafting lanes. When the field returned to the frontstretch, Playoff contender Grant Enfinger received a draft from Chase Purdy from the outside lane to rocket his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead and lead the first lap ahead of Sawalich.
Through the second to fifth lap, the field fanned out to three drafting lanes as Purdy, Enfinger and Matt Mills all took turns leading at the front while Jake Garcia, Sawalich, Connor Zilisch, Dean Thompson, Majeski, Playoff contender Tyler Ankrum, Dean Thompson and Lawless Alan all followed pursuit. By then, Ben Rhodes, who started on the front row alongside Sawalich, was penalized for jumping the start, as he launched ahead of Sawalich when he was not in control of bringing the field up to race pace before the event’s start. After serving a drive-through penalty for the penalty, however, Rhodes was penalized a second time, this time for a blend violation as he moved up the racing surface early through the backstretch. The pair of penalties would result in Rhodes losing a lap to the field while Mills and Enfinger dueled for the lead in front of the field.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Enfinger was leading ahead of Purdy, Sawalich, Mills and Majeski while Garcia, Playoff contender Taylor Gray, Zilisch, Ankrum and Dean Thomson were racing in the top 10. Behind, Playoff contender Corey Heim occupied 11th place ahead of, Lawless Alan, Playoff contender Christian Eckes, Playoff contender Rajah Caruth and Ryan Reed while Bret Holmes, Nick Sanchez, Stefan Parsons, Stewart Friesen and Tanner Gray were mired in the top 20.
Five laps later, Enfinger, who led three of the previous five laps, was leading by a hair amid a side-by-side battle with Mills while the rest of the field racing in two-packed lanes followed suit. By then, Garcia, Sawalich and Zilisch were running in the top five as Playoff contenders Majeski, Taylor Gray and Ankrum were racing in the top-10 mark. In addition, Heim and Caruth were battling within the top-15 mark while Eckes and Sanchez were mired within the top-20 mark. Meanwhile, Johnny Sauter, who was making his second Truck start of the season with Hattori Racing Enterprises, had pitted to have a broken spoiler brace fixed.
With two laps remaining in the first stage period, Sanchez and Currey pitted their respective entries, primarily for fuel, as Enfinger retained the lead.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Matt Mills received a draft from Garcia to overtake Enfinger from the outside lane through the backstretch and claim his first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Enfinger settled in second ahead of Garcia, Zilisch and Sawalich while Thompson, Majeski, Alan, Taylor Gray and Tanner Gray were scored in the top 10 on the track. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders that included Ankrum, Heim, Eckes and Caruth were mired within the top 16 while Sanchez was down in 32nd place.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Mills pits while the rest including Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Spencer Boyd and Sanchez remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Enfinger exited pit road first ahead of Majeski, Garcia, Alan, Zilisch, Eckes, Thompson, Taylor Gray, Caruth and Tyler Ankrum. Friesen, Crafton and Boyd would eventually pit prior to the second stage’s start while Sanchez, who pitted before the first stage’s conclusion, remained on the track and inherited the lead.
The second stage period started on Lap 27 as Sanchez and Enfinger occupied the front row. At the start, Sanchez and Enfinger dueled for the lead for a full lap and in front of two stacked lanes. Enfinger was being pushed by Garcia while Sanchez was being pushed by Majeski and Zilisch. By then, Taylor Gray pitted to have a punctured tire on his No. 17 Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro removed as both Sanchez and Enfinger continued to duel for the lead by the Lap 30 mark.
Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, the caution flew after Sanchez, who had both lanes to his control before Enfinger came storming back to challenge him for the lead, got loose by Zilisch through the frontstretch. Sanchez then slid sideways into the path of Zilisch, where Zilisch kept pushing Sanchez’s spinning No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST while Sauter, Rhodes and Purdy all wrecked against the outside wall while trying to avoid the wreck. The incident occurred as Mills and Parsons made contact, but avoided igniting a wreck entering the frontstretch while being mired behind Playoff contenders Heim, Ankrum and Taylor Gray, the latter of whom had lost a lap to the field.
The multi-truck incident on Lap 37 was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 40 to officially conclude under caution as Enfinger was awarded his second Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Garcia, Eckes, Alan, Caruth, Thompson, Heim, Tanner Gray, Ankrum and Stefan Parsons were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, some, led by Crafton and including Boyd while the rest led by Enfinger pitted. During the pit stops, Mason Maggio, who made contact with Ankrum on pit road, was penalized for having too many men over his pit wall. Soon after and amid the caution period, a bevy of names including Playoff contender Taylor Gray, Sanchez all returned to pit road for additional services.
With 39 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Dye and Caruth occupied the front row. At the start, Daniel Dye, who received drafting help from a bevy of Chevrolet teammates, including teammate Eckes, muscled his No. 43 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead of Caruth before he then moved in front of Caruth entering the backstretch. Eckes would also follow suit and he also transitioned his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST in front of Caruth on the inside lane. By the following lap, Dye was leading ahead of a five-truck breakaway from the field along with teammate Eckes, Ankrum, Caruth and Dean Thompson while Enfinger and Corey Heim dueled for sixth place in front of two lines of stacked competitors.
With 35 laps remaining, teammates Eckes and Dye dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes of competitors. Five laps later, the top-10 competitors on the track were separated under a second as Eckes was leading ahead of Enfinger, teammate Dye, Caruth and Parsons while Mills, Garcia, Alan, Kaden Honeycutt and Sanchez were in the top 10.
Then with 28 laps remaining, a majority of field led by Eckes and Enfinger pitted under green. During the pit stops, Caruth blew a tire while he was slamming on the brakes and locking up his front tires of his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST while trying to enter pit road. Caruth, however, would be penalized for being too fast while trying to enter pit road as he eventually lost a lap. In addition, Dye missed pit road and could not pit with the front-runners while Norm Benning spun on pit road after making contact with Stefan Parsons. Soon after, Purdy was seen limping his slowed truck below the apron on the backstretch, but he continued without drawing a caution.
Back on the track with 25 laps remaining, Jason White was leading ahead of Dawson Sutton, Mason Maggio, Honeycutt and Sanchez while Enfinger, Eckes, Garcia, Riggs and Friesen were scored in the top 10.
Shortly after, the caution flew when Garcia got turned off the front nose of Parsons that resulted in Garcia colliding with rookie Layne Riggs and clipping Riggs again that sent Riggs back across the track and into Tanner Gray and Matt Mills up against the outside wall. Connor Zilisch and Dean Thompson would also get involved in the carnage while Playoff contenders Tyler Ankrum and Taylor Gray slid through the infield grass and kicked up dirt to avoid the carnage.
During the caution period, some led by the leader Jason White and including Sutton, Mason Maggio, Clay Greenfield, Cory Roper, Spencer Boyd and Ankrum pitted while the rest led by the new leader Honeycutt remained on the track.
Down to the final 17 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Honeycutt received a draft from Eckes on the inside lane to rocket ahead with the lead through the first two turns. As the field started to fan out to three lanes through the backstretch, Eckes made his move to the outside lane as he overtook Honeycutt while he was followed by Sanchez. Sanchez then made a move beneath Eckes in Turn 4 as he assumed the lead and led the following lap ahead of Honeycutt and Eckes. Sanchez would then be placed on defense to block Eckes and Honeycutt as Enfinger and Taylor Gray started to muscle up into the top five by the following lap.
The caution would then return with 15 laps remaining after Sanchez received a push from Eckes that got him sliding sideways below the apron entering Turn 3. While trying to save his truck from spinning, Sanchez slid up the track backward in between Turns 3 and 4 and barely clipped Dye, which sent Dye for a spin below the turn’s grass. With nearly the entire field dodging Sanchez’s truck, Keith McGee and Mason Maggio wrecked along with Dawson Sutton while avoiding Sanchez.
The start of the following restart period with nine laps remaining featured Enfinger rocketing ahead with the lead with drafting help from Eckes and Alan while Taylor Gray, who restarted outside the front row, blended in line in fourth place ahead of Ryan Reed and Ankrum. With a majority of the front-runners running in a long single-file line towards the inside lane, Enfinger retained the lead for the following lap and ahead of Eckes, Alan, Ankrum and Reed.
Down to the final five laps of the event, the top 12 competitors were racing under a second while the top 16 were separated within a second. In the process, Enfinger was leading ahead of Eckes, Alan, Taylor Gray and Reed while Ankrum, Friesen, Heim, Caruth and Majeski were mired in the top 10 ahead of Bret Holmes and Spencer Boyd.
During the following lap, the field behind Enfinger slowly started to fan out to multiple drafting lanes as Heim, racing in eighth place, was leading a charge from the outside lane with drafting help from Caruth. Heim and Caruth then made contact entering the backstretch, which stalled their momentum and forced both to blend back in the long drafting lane towards the double yellow lines and behind Enfinger, who continued to lead in front of Eckes.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Enfinger remained as the leader ahead of Eckes, Alan, Taylor Gray and Reed while Daniel Dye was trying to ignite a final drafting charge from the outside lane along with Caruth, Parsons and Heim. Enfinger would continue to lead through the backstretch along with Turns 3 and 4 as both Taylor Gray and Ankrum transitioned to the outside lane to receive the drafting momentum Dye was receiving.
Then through the frontstretch and with the finish line in sight, Lawless Alan would then transition to the outside lane, but Taylor Gray and Eckes pinned him in three-wide formation. As Enfinger retained the lead, trouble ignited as Ankrum was bumped and sent spinning through the frontstretch before he was hit in the driver’s side by Friesen. Eckes then slid sideways off the front nose of teammate Reed and shot back across the track, where he collected a majority of the front-runners. Meanwhile, Enfinger managed to fend off a charge from Taylor Gray to claim the checkered flag and grab the victory.
With the victory, Enfinger, who scored his first series victory at Talladega in 2016, became the first Playoff competitor to win the Truck Series Playoff event at Talladega and he became the fifth competitor to achieve multiple Truck victories at Talladega. He also notched his 11th career win in the Craftsman Truck Series and his first since winning at the Milwaukee Mile in August 2023.
Above all, Enfinger, who came into Talladega strapped in seventh place in the Playoff standings, became the first competitor to clinch a spot into this year’s Championship 4 round, where he will contend for the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series championship at Phoenix Raceway on November 8.
“[My team] knew stuff was going to get dicey,” Enfinger, who credited spotter Tim Fedewa with the victory, said on FS1. “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. That was hairy coming right [to the finish]. I knew Taylor [Gray] was coming with a run. Tim told me to go up, then he told me to come down. It’s just Talladega right there. Hopefully, all the fans enjoyed it. It’s nothing like winning at your hometown, home track. On top of that, we get to race for a championship at Phoenix.”
Enfinger’s Talladega victory was also the first ever for CR7 Motorsports, a team that debuted in 2018 and had hired Enfinger as a part-time competitor in 2021 before signing him to a full-time, multi-year deal at the start of this season. Now after recording five top-five results and barely transferring into the Playoff’s Round of 8 throughout the previous 19 events on this year’s schedule, the organization will receive its first opportunity to contend for a NASCAR championship with the veteran Enfinger also setting his sights on claiming the title one year after being one position shy of claiming it.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“There are just so many people that make this team,” Enfinger added. “It’s a little bit of the little team that could, but we have great resources with our friends over there at [McAnally-Hilgemann Racing]. Obviously, great resources from everybody at Team Chevy. We’ve been knocking on the door. I know it’s speedway race, but we’ve been knocking on the door at all the tracks. I feel like we stumbled that first round of the Playoffs, but it really doesn’t matter now. [I was] able to win our way to Phoenix. Now, we can just focus on that. Looking forward to having some fun the next couple races, but a championship’s on the line now.
Behind Enfinger, Taylor Gray tied his career-best result of second place as he just missed his first victory and an early ticket to the Championship 4 round by 0.041 seconds. Daniel Dye managed to cross the finish line in third place with a destroyed race truck while Rajah Caruth and Lawless Alan finished in the top five. Christian Eckes, Ryan Reed, Stefan Parsons, Bret Holmes and Spencer Boyd finished in the top 10 on the track.
With Playoff contenders Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Caruth and Eckes finishing in the top 10 on the track, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Corey Heim, Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum and Nick Sanchez ended up 11th, 12th, 14th and 22nd, respectively. As a result, Eckes, Heim and Majeski leave Talladega above the top-four cutline to the Championship 4 round while Caruth, Gray, Sanchez and Ankrum trail the cutline.
There were 27 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 25 laps. In addition, 23 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Grant Enfinger, 34 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Taylor Gray
3. Daniel Dye, three laps led
4. Rajah Caruth, two laps led
5. Lawless Alan
6. Christian Eckes, eight laps led
7. Ryan Reed
8. Stefan Parsons
9. Bret Holmes
10. Spencer Boyd
11. Corey Heim
12. Ty Majeski
13. Stewart Friesen, one lap led
14. Tyler Ankrum
15. Clay Greenfield
16. Cory Roper
17. Danny Bohn
18. Mason Maggio
19. Kaden Honeycutt, three laps led
20. Jason White, seven laps led
21. Norm Benning
22. Nick Sanchez, 10 laps led
23. Matt Crafton, one lap led
24. Dawson Sutton, four laps down, one lap led
25. Chase Purdy, 14 laps down, one lap led
26. Keith McGee – OUT, Accident
27. William Sawalich, 21 laps down
28. Layne Riggs – OUT, Accident
29. Jake Garcia – OUT, Accident
30. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident
31. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident, 14 laps led, Stage 1 winner
32. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident
33. Connor Zilisch – OUT, Accident
34. Johnny Sauter – OUT, DVP
35. Ben Rhodes – OUT, Accident
36. Bayley Currey – OUT, Rear Gear
*Bold indicates Playoff competitors
Playoff standings
1. Grant Enfinger – Advanced
2. Corey Heim +30
3. Christian Eckes +29
4. Ty Majeski +5
5. Rajah Caruth -5
6. Taylor Gray -13
7. Nick Sanchez -20
8. Tyler Ankrum- 23
The second Round of 8 event in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to occur at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, and is scheduled to occur on October 26 and air at noon ET on FS1.
After 12 previous attempts, Justin Allgaier made his 13th attempt of winning at Michigan International Speedway pay off to perfection as he utilized pit strategy to withstand an overtime shootout and win the rain-delayed Cabo Wabo 250 on Saturday, August 17.
The 38-year-old Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois, led three times for a race-high 37 of 128 over-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified in 16th place, but managed to methodically carve his way to the front as he nearly won the first stage period on Lap 30 before settling in fourth place amid the draft. Then through a flurry of pit strategies, on-track chaos and a fight against time with Mother Nature, Allgaier, who pitted several laps later than most of his front-runners including teammate Carson Kvapil, Sheldon Creed and John Hunter Nemechek cycled his way into the lead for the third and final time with 16 laps remaining.
Despite having his progress to the victory halted as the caution flag flew with 10 laps remaining due to a late incident involving Kyle Weatherman and having to wait on pit road for more than 23 minutes due to a second red flag period for inclement weather, Allgaier managed to muscle ahead of teammate Sammy Smith at the start of an overtime shootout. He then proceeded to drive away from Creed, Nemechek and the field before claiming the checkered flag and the victory under caution amid a harrowing multi-car wreck on the final lap that resulted in Kyle Sieg going airborne, flipping and sliding on his roof through the backstretch’s infield.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, August 16, Sheldon Creed notched his second Xfinity pole position of 2024 and the third of his career with a pole-winning lap at 171.645 mph in 41.947 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Riley Herbst, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 171.233 mph in 42.048 seconds.
Prior to the event, Ryan Ellis and Joey Gase dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Sheldon Creed and Riley Herbst dueled for the lead in front of Taylor Gray, Cole Custer and the rest of the field through the first two turns. Then as the field fanned out through the backstretch amid the draft, this being due to the field running superspeedway restricted engines with intermediate aerodynamics, Gray attempted to execute a three-wide pass on Creed and Herbst for the lead, but Creed managed to muscle his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra ahead from the outside lane through Turns 3 and 4 as he just managed to lead the first lap.
Over the next four laps, Creed retained a narrow advantage over Herbst as Custer, Brandon Jones and Ryan Sieg followed suit in the top five. Behind, Carson Kvapil occupied sixth place in front of Noah Gragson, Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier while Gray, who dropped back as far as 11th in the opening laps due to losing the draft from the leaders, was fending off teammate Chandler Smith for 10th place. With the majority of the front-runners running in a single file line towards the outside wall, Creed continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Herbst.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Creed stabilized his advantage to a tenth of a second over Herbst followed by Custer, Jones and Ryan Sieg as Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Gray, Noah Gragson and Chandler Smith were racing in the top 10. Behind, Justin Allgaier occupied 11th place ahead of John Hunter Nemechek, rookie Jesse Love, Parker Kligerman and Austin Hill while AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Dye, Anthony Alfredo, Jeb Burton and Parker Retzlaff occupied the top 20 ahead of Sam Mayer, Kyle Weatherman, Lawless Alan, rookie Shane van Gisbergen and Kyle Sieg.
Three laps later, the event’s first caution period flew when Gray, who was battling Sammy Smith for seventh place, got loose underneath Smith and slid his No. 19 Operations 300 Toyota Supra sideways towards the apron between Turns 1 and 2 before he steered and looped his car in a 360 spin below the track as he then proceeded without sustaining any significant damage.
During the event’s first caution period and with early pit strategy amid weather concerns commencing, some led by Carson Kvapil and including Jesse Love, Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Sam Mayer, Daniel Dye, Noah Gragson, Shane van Gisbergen, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Jeremy Clements, Jeb Burton and Gray pitted while the rest led by Creed and including top-five contenders Herbst, Custer, Jones and Ryan Sieg remained on the track.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 18, Creed muscled ahead from the outside lane as he retained the lead through the first two turns while the rest of the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes. In the midst of the three-wide battle, Sammy Smith fell off the pace due to sustaining a flat right-rear tire to his No. 8 Allstate Peterbilt Group Chevrolet Camaro through the first two turns and the backstretch. With the race remaining under green flag conditions as Smith limped his car to pit road without damaging it and eventually lost a lap due to pitting, Creed retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Herbst by the Lap 20 mark as Jones, Chandler Smith and Allgaier followed suit in the top five.
Then on Lap 23, the caution flew when the leader Creed got aero loose off the front nose of Herbst’s No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang, slipped sideways and spun towards the outside wall in Turn 4, where he then proceeded to straighten his car and drive through pit road. With Creed spinning and plummeting below the leaderboard, Herbst inherited the lead as Jones, Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Parker Kligerman and Ryan Sieg followed suit in the top six.
During the caution period, select names including Custer, Nemechek, Parker Retzlaff, Sam Mayer, Brennan Poole, Leland Honeyman, Jeremy Clements, Blaine Perkins, Kyle Weatherman and Creed pitted while the rest led by Herbst remained on the track.
With the race restarting under green with three laps remaining in the first stage period, Herbst launched ahead from the outside lane to retain the lead before Allgaier muscled ahead from the inside lane amid the draft as he led for the first time. With Allgaier leading, Ryan Sieg would follow suit in second while Herbst was battling Chandler Smith, Jones and Kyle Sieg to retain third place as the field behind battled within close quarters and fanned out through all corners and straightaways.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Ryan Sieg, who received a draft from Chandler Smith and Brandon Jones to overtake Allgaier through the backstretch on Lap 29, proceeded to claim his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Jones followed suit in second and Chandler Smith edged Allgaier for third place while Lawless Alan, Austin Hill, Herbst, Kyle Sieg, Allmendinger and Kligerman were scored in the top 10.
Immediately after the first stage period concluded, rain started to hit the track. Soon after, the field, led by Ryan Sieg, was directed to pit road, halted and placed in a red flag period due to the damp conditions, beginning on Lap 33.
More than nine minutes later, the red flag lifted as the track was deemed dry from the wet weather and the field led by Ryan Sieg returned to the track under a cautious pace. During the caution period, some led by Chandler Smith and including Lawless Alan, Kyle Sieg, Kligerman and Matt DiBenedetto pitted while the rest led by Ryan Sieg remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 36 as Ryan Sieg and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Sieg and Allgaier dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Then as the field fanned out, Austin Hill, who was trying to execute a three-wide move on Allgaier and Sieg in his bid for the lead, turned across the right-front fender of Kvapil and spun his No. 21 United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro below the track and through the infield grass before he came back up across the track and was dodged by the field just past the backstretch and in Turn 3. In the process, Allgaier managed to move into the lead over Sieg as Herbst, Allmendinger and Kvapil were scored in the top five.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 41 featured Allgaier and Allmendinger, the latter of which moved up to start on the front row during the choose lane option the lap prior, dueling for the lead entering the first two turns as the field fanned out. With Allgaier receiving a shove from Ryan Sieg from the outside lane, he continued to battle Allmendinger before he muscled ahead and retained the lead for the following lap Behind, Allmendinger slipped to third as Sieg moved back into second while Kvapil would overtake Herbst for fourth place.
Herbst would then be overtaken by Love, Nemechek and Jones for the following lap as he slipped out of the top five as a flurry of battles ensued behind him. With a majority of the front-runners running in a single-file line amid the draft towards the outside wall, Allgaier continued to lead by a tenth of a second ahead of Ryan Sieg, Kvapil, Love and Nemechek, respectively, as Herbst, Jones and Gray followed suit by the Lap 45 mark.
Then on Lap 47, the caution returned when Herbst, who was battling Sieg for fourth place, veered right and got turned off the left-front fender of Sieg as Herbst went head-on into the outside wall in Turn 3 while Jones slid his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro as he was trying to dodge Herbst’s carnage. With Herbst left with a wrecked No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, Jones, who was dodged by most of the field through Turns 3 and 4, was then hit on the driver’s side by teammate Sam Mayer, which sent Jones’ car back up the track as he received a shunt in the rear by Cole Custer’s No. 00 Autodesk Ford Mustang. Amid the carnage, Herbst, Jones and Mayer were knocked out of contention while Custer continued with a patched-up nose.
During the caution period, the leader Allgaier along with Kvapil, Ryan Sieg and Gragson pitted while the rest led by new leader John Hunter Nemechek remained on the track.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 54, the field jostled for spots amid two tight-laned packs as Nemechek and Allmendinger dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. For the following lap, Nemechek would prevail from the outside lane and retain the lead. Behind, Jesse Love would retain second over Allmendinger while Gray, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith and Gray battled for fourth place. With more battles ensuing around the track just past the Lap 55 mark, Nemechek remained as the leader ahead of Love and Allmendinger.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 60, Nemechek captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season after he fended off Love by three-tenths of a second. Love settled in second ahead of Allmendinger, Gray and Sammy Smith while Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Creed, Jeb Burton and Anthony Alfredo were scored in the top 10 amid a flurry of on-track battles.
During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Nemechek pitted for service while a select few led by Kvapil and including Clements and Josh Williams remained on the track. With mixed strategies ensuing, Nemechek exited pit road first with only two fresh tires ahead of Gragson and Allgaier while Chandler Smith, Austin Hill and Parker Retzlaff followed suit.
With 61 laps remaining and the sun brightly overshadowing the Michigan circuit, the final stage commenced as Kvapil and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek received a draft from Allgaier that moved Nemechek’s No. 20 Pye Barker Toyota Supra into the lead through the first two turns. With the field fanning out through the backstretch and back to the frontstretch, Nemechek retained the lead ahead of Allgaier as Kvapil, Chandler Smith and Sammy Smith were in the top five.
A lap later, however, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck that started when Lawless Alan got loose and clipped both Jeb Burton and Daniel Dye. The contact sent the former spinning below the track’s infield grass while the latter backed his No. 10 Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet Camaro into the outside wall and was hit by Alan, all of which occurred in Turn 2 and which knocked both Dye and Alan out of contention. During the recent caution period, some including runner-up Allgaier, Clements, Williams, Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg and van Gisbergen pitted while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track.
The start of the next restart period with 54 laps remaining featured another duel for the lead, this time between Nemechek and Sammy Smith, while the rest of the field behind began to fan out through the first two turns. With the field still fanned out through the frontstretch and jostling for late positions, Nemechek maintained the lead and he would proceed to lead with 50 laps remaining by a tenth of a second over Kvapil while Sammy Smith, Gragson and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top five. By then, van Gisbergen was penalized for a restart violation while Custer lost multiple laps due to pitting under green.
With 40 laps remaining, Nemechek continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Kvapil while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by half a second. Meanwhile, fourth-place Gragson trailed the lead by a second as he was trying to fend off Chandler Smith for the spot while Creed, Gray, Hill, Love and Allgaier were scored in the top 10 ahead of Kligerman, Allmendinger, Alfredo, Kyle Sieg, Matt DiBenedetto and Ryan Sieg.
Shortly after, Kvapil overtook Nemechek through the backstretch to lead the proceeding lap with 39 laps remaining. Kvapil’s overtake on Nemechek allowed Sammy Smith, Gragson, Chandler Smith, Creed and Gray to all close in on runner-up Nemechek amid the draft. In the process, Chandler Smith overtook both Gragson and Sammy Smith for third place. In addition, Creed would move back up into the top five and Gragson slipped to sixth. With Allgaier overtaking Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill and Love for eighth place, Kvapil extended his advantage to more than a second over Nemechek with less than 35 laps remaining.
Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Kvapil continued to stretch his advantage as he was leading by more than two seconds over Nemechek as Creed trailed Nemechek by less than two-tenths of a second. With JR Motorsports’ Allgaier and Sammy Smith mired in the top five, Chandler Smith followed suit in sixth along with Gragson and Gray, all of whom trailed the lead by more than four seconds, while Hill and Love rounded out the top 10.
Five laps later, Kvapil stabilized his advantage to less than two seconds over Nemechek as teammate Creed, Allgaier and Sammy Smith battled for third place. With the top-five competitors separated by two seconds, sixth-place Chandler Smith trailed by five seconds along with Gray, Gragson and Hill while Love and 11th-place Allmendinger trailed by eight seconds.
Another three laps later and with a cloud overcast hovering around Turns 3 and 4, Kvapil, who tried extending his dry fuel tank as far as possible, surrendered the lead to pit his No. 88 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet Camaro for fuel. Meanwhile, Allgaier, who powered past Creed and Nemechek over the last few laps, cycled his No. 7 Hellmann’s/Meijer Chevrolet Camaro into the lead. With Love also pitting his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro under green, Nemechek and Creed moved up to second and third behind Allgaier while Sammy Smith and Gragson were scored in the top five. Allgaier would proceed to lead by half a second over Nemechek as Creed followed closely behind with 15 laps remaining.
Then with 10 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Kyle Weatherman blowing a right-front tire and hitting the Turn 2 outside wall hard. At the time of caution, Allgaier was leading by four-tenths of a second over Creed as Sammy Smith, Nemechek, Gray and Gragson were running in the top six. During the caution period, select names including Chandler Smith, Ryan Sieg, Kligerman, Retzlaff and Leland Honeyman pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.
Amid the caution period as the laps dwindled, a drizzle started to fall and soon began to increase into a steady rain. With the light rain continuing to fall, however, the field led by Allgaier was directed to pit road and placed in a second red flag period for more than 23 minutes and with two laps remaining of the event’s scheduled distance.
When the red flag was lifted, the field led by Allgaier returned to track under a cautious pace as the event was sent into overtime.
The start of the first overtime attempt featured Sammy Smith, who opted to start alongside teammate Allgaier on the front row and attempted to slide up in front of Allgaier through the first two turns. Allgaier, however, managed to duel and overtake Smith through the backstretch as the field fanned out to multiple lanes. With Smith losing ground as he got shuffled out of the draft while being pinned in the middle lane and being overtaken by a bevy of competitors, Creed muscled his way up to second followed by Nemechek and Gragson as Alfredo charged his way into the top five, all of which occurred through Turns 3 and 4.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier remained as the leader by six-tenths of a second over Creed and a flurry of competitors jostling for positions. Then as Allgaier kept his No. 7 Meijer/Hellmann’s Chevrolet out in front through the first two turns and the backstretch, the event concluded under caution when Caesar Bacarella made contact and turned Kvapil into the backstretch’s outside wall. This ignited a chain reaction wreck as Chandler Smith and Kyle Sieg were sent spinning towards the inside wall, with Sieg then getting airborne and rolling over onto his roof, where his No. 28 Bailey Excavating Ford Mustang slid through the infield backstretch and into the grass before the car rolled back over and came to rest on all four wheels.
With the event concluding under caution, Allgaier was able to coast his car back to the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag for his second Xfinity race victory of the 2024 season.
With the victory, Allgaier notched his 25th career win in the Xfinity Series, which moved him into sole possession on 10th place on the all-time wins list after he was initially tied with his team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tommy Houston for the mark. The Michigan victory was also the Illinois veteran’s first since winning at Darlington Raceway in May as he became the fifth multi-race winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season. Allgaier’s Xfinity victory was also the fourth for JR Motorsports and the 12th for the Chevrolet nameplate through 21 scheduled events in 2024.
Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[I] Just cannot say thank you enough to this team, all these [No. 7] guys standing right here,” Allgaier said on USA Network. “The effort that’s been put in is incredible. We did not show up to Indianapolis two, three weeks ago like we wanted to and these guys have worked tirelessly through this break. It’s truly special and to win here at Michigan, manufacturer’s backyard, these fans. I can hear them all chanting whenever we were sitting in the car under the red flag. I hope whoever got turned over over here’s OK and we’ll go on and celebrate this one for a while.”
Amid his flip and slide on his roof on the final lap, Kyle Sieg, who ended up in 28th place, the first competitor scored a lap down, emerged uninjured.
With Allgaier winning, Sheldon Creed, the pole winner who led 23 laps and was announced to be driving for Haas Factory Team in 2025 earlier in the day, ended up in second place, where he has now accumulated the most runner-up results in the Xfinity Series as a winless competitor for the 11th time.
This [runner-up finish] frustrates me the most just because I was saving fuel there behind [Nemechek], we were, maybe, three to four laps short there, so I was just trying to buy some time,” Creed said. “I knew [Allgaier] wasn’t going to have to [save fuel] as much. [I] Kind of let him go and yeah, a caution at the wrong time that hurt us. Once I went and got around [Nemechek] and was running [Allgaier] down, I felt like I had a car just as fast as Xfinity Internet and could’ve passed him. That one stings a little bit, but I’m super proud of everyone. Starting today at 13 races left, I really think we’re turning into a team that can make a really good fight for this championship.
Teammate John Hunter Nemechek had enough fuel, like teammate Creed, to settle in third place after he led 31 laps while Anthony Alfredo and Sammy Smith finished in the top five. The rally for Smith to achieve the top-five result ended up being crucial as he launched himself back into the top-12 cutline to make the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs and holds sole possession of the final transfer spot by a single point over 13th-place finisher Ryan Sieg with five regular-season events remaining on the schedule.
Noah Gragson, Matt DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray, Caesar Bacarella and AJ Allmendinger completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 10 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 39 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 21st event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer continues to lead the regular-season standings by 12 points over Justin Allgaier, 70 over Austin Hill and 84 over Chandler Smith.
Results.
1. Justin Allgaier, 37 laps led
2. Sheldon Creed, 23 laps led
3. John Hunter Nemechek, 31 laps led, Stage 2 winner
4. Anthony Alfredo
5. Sammy Smith
6. Noah Gragson
7. Matt DiBenedetto
8. Taylor Gray
9. Caesar Bacarella
10. AJ Allmendinger
11. Parker Kligerman
12. Leland Honeyman
13. Ryan Sieg, seven laps led, Stage 1 winner
14. Ryan Ellis
15. Jeremy Clements
16. Jeb Burton
17. Shane van Gisbergen
18. Austin Hill
19. Josh Williams
20. Parker Retzlaff
21. Jeffrey Earnhardt
22. Patrick Emerling
23. Blaine Perkins
24. Josh Bilicki
25. Logan Bearden
26. Carson Kvapil, 25 laps led
27. Chandler Smith
28. Kyle Sieg, one lap down
29. Jesse Love, one lap down, one lap led
30. Cole Custer – OUT, Suspension
31. Joey Gase – OUT, Fuel Pump
32. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident
33. Brennan Poole – OUT, Oil Pump
34. Daniel Dye – OUT, Accident
35. Lawless Alan – OUT, Accident
36. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident
37. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident
38. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident, four laps led
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Daytona International Speedway for the Wawa 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, August 23, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
Connor Zilisch executed the final two restarts to his advantage to grab a thrilling ARCA Menards Series victory in the Circle City 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday, July 19.
The 17-year-old Zilisch from Charlotte, North Carolina, led twice for a race-high 89 of 205 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place and ran upfront in the early stages before he assumed the lead for the first time on Lap 44. Despite leading through the halfway mark on Lap 100, Zilisch lost the lead to William Sawalich amid a restart with 92 laps remaining.
After spending a majority of the mid-race portion trialing Sawalich, Zilisch then executed a restart with 21 laps remaining to force his way past Sawalich as he nearly slid up into Sawalich entering the first turn. After fending off another attack from Sawalich, Zilisch appeared to have the race within his grasp until an incident involving Amber Balcaen sent the field into an overtime attempt. Despite having Sawalich lined up alongside him for the overtime attempt, Zilisch was not to be denied as he motored away from the field amid a strong launch and cruised to both his fourth ARCA Menards Series East victory and his third consecutive ARCA Menards Series victory overall.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, William Sawalich secured the pole position with his best lap occurring at 110.715 mph in 22.306 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Lavar Scott, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 109.921 mph in 22.467 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, William Sawalich and Lavar Scott battled dead even against one another for the lead through the first two turns. Then just past the backstretch, Scott tried to muscle ahead of Sawalich entering Turn 3 from the inside lane, but Sawalich pulled a crossover move on Scott entering the frontstretch and he managed to lead the first lap by a hair.
Sawalich and Scott would duel and cross over one another for the top spot for the following lap before Scott managed to motor ahead of Sawalich and have both lanes to his control by the third lap. He would proceed to lead just past the fifth lap mark while Sawalich, Connor Zilisch, Andres Perez, Lawless Alan and Giovanni Ruggiero trailed in the top six.
Following the event’s first caution period on the ninth lap due to Jackson McLerran spinning his No. 96 Firemark Property Mgrnt/Arylco Toyota in Turn 2, the race restarted under green on Lap 14. At the start, Scott and Sawalich dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch before Scott used the outside lane to muscle ahead and retain the lead for the following lap.
As Scott proceeded to lead just past the Lap 15 mark, Alan prevailed in an early side-by-side battle with Ruggiero for fifth place as they trailed another side-by-side battle for third place between Zilisch and Perez. Amid the early battles around the circuit, Scott would then be challenged by Sawalich for the lead on Lap 18. Despite Sawalich’s attempt to gain a run underneath Scott through the turns, Scott would manage to muscle ahead as he retained the lead by Lap 20.
At the Lap 30 mark, Scott, who was being mired in lapped traffic, continued to lead by nearly half a second over Sawalich, who was being intimidated by Zilisch for the spot, while Perez and Ruggiero trailed by as far as six seconds in the top five. Meanwhile, Alan, Greg van Alst, Toni Breidinger, Kris Wright and Christian Rose were running in the top 10 ahead of Dean Thompson, Marco Andretti, Amber Balcaen, Isaac Johnson and Zachary Tinkle while Andrew Patterson, Presley Sorah, D.L. Wilson, Michael Maples and Cody Dennison were mired in the top 20 ahead of Tyler Tomassi, Becca Monopoli, Jayson Alexander, Alex Clubb and Braynton Laster.
Ten laps later, Scott, who was continuing to weave his way through lapped traffic, stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Zilisch, who nearly pulled a slide job on Scott for the lead amid lapped traffic, while Sawalich trailed in third place by half a second. Behind, Perez and Rugiero remained in the top five while Alan, Van Alst, Breidinger, Kris Wright and Christian Rose occupied the top 10 on the track.
With the event reaching a second caution period on Lap 50 mark due to Presley Sorah wrecking against the outside wall in Turn 3 and just past the backstretch, the start of the next restart period on Lap 57 featured Zilisch, who assumed the lead for the first time on Lap 42, muscling ahead and retaining the lead from the outside lane. Behind, Perez charged his way up to second place while Scott, Alan and Sawalich battled amongst one another for third place. Sawalich would prevail in the three-car battle for third place over Scott and Alan as Zilisch continued to lead on Lap 60.
By Lap 75, Zilisch stretched his advantage to two seconds over Sawalich while third-place Perez trailed by more than five seconds. Behind, Scott and Ruggiero trailed by as far as nearly eight seconds in the top five while Alan, Breidinger, Van Alst, Thompson and Marco Andretti were in the top 10.
Ten laps later, Zilisch stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Sawalich while third-place Scott trailed by nine seconds. Perez and Ruggiero continued to run in the top five as Alan followed suit in sixth place ahead of Breidinger, Andretti, Thompson and Wright, with the leaders navigating their way through lapped traffic.
At the halfway mark on Lap 100, a designed caution flew for a mid-race break. At the time of caution, Zilisch was leading by more than a second over Sawalich, who chopped half of his deficit in trailing Zilisch for the top spot, as third-place Scott trailed the lead by 12 seconds. Perez, Ruggiero, Alan, Breidinger, Andretti, Thompson and Wright were scored in the top 10.
During the mid-race break period, which included the race being red-flagged, the entire field led by Zilisch pitted for a non-competitive service, which kept Zilisch in the lead when the field returned to the track under a cautious pace.
With 93 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Zilisch and Sawalich dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Sawalich used the inside lane to muscle ahead of Zilisch. Zilisch then tried to pull a crossover move underneath Sawalich, but the latter would clear the former and retain the lead for the following lap. With Sawalich leading Zilisch with 90 laps remaining, Perez and Scott battled for third place while Alan was up into fifth place ahead of Ruggiero and Breidinger.
Down to the final 75 laps of the event, the caution returned due to Becca Monopoli, who was lapped by the leaders, slipping sideways before she snapped back across the track and hit the backstretch’s outside wall head-on while being dodged by Jackson McLerran. Amid the hard accident, she emerged uninjured. By then, Sawalich had slightly stretched his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Zilisch.
The start of the next restart period with 67 laps remaining featured Sawalich rocketing away from the lead through the frontstretch and the first two turns while Perez also rocketed his way into the runner-up spot. As Zilisch retained third place in front of Perez and Ruggiero, Alan and Breidinger battled for sixth place while both were also trying to pressure Ruggiero for a top-five spot while Andretti and Wright tried to close in from eighth and ninth, respectively. Amid the late on-track battles, Sawalich had extended his lead to more than a second as he continued to lead with 60 laps remaining.
With 50 laps remaining, Sawalich stabilized his advantage to more than a over Zilisch while third-place Scott trailed by four seconds. Behind, Perez retained fourth place ahead of Ruggiero as Breidinger, who was up to sixth place, was trying to pressure teammate Ruggiero for more.
Ten laps later, Sawalich retained his advantage of more than a second over Zilisch, with both competitors logging in fast lapped times. Behind, Scott trailed by more than seven seconds in third place while Perez and Ruggiero remained in the top five ahead of Breidinger, Andretti, Wright, Alan and Thompson.
Another four laps later, the caution flew due to Jackson McLerran spinning in Turn 2 for a second time. In the process of McLerran’s spin, Breidinger, who was trying to navigate her way past teammate Ruggiero for a top-five spot, had slammed on the brakes, smoked her front tires and made light contact with the outside wall to avoid hitting McLerran. Despite hitting the wall, Breidinger remained on the track and retained sixth place.
With the event restarting under green with 29 laps remaining, Sawalich and Zilisch dueled for the lead for nearly a lap until Zilisch nearly slid up the track in Turn 3, which allowed Sawalich to rocket ahead and retain the lead for the following lap. The caution, however, quickly returned as both Alan and Breidinger wrecked up against the outside wall in Turn 2, where the latter was then hit by McLerran as her strong run within the top six came to an end. The incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period as the on-track safety crew cleared the carnage scene.
When the red flag lifted and the race resumed under green with 21 laps remaining, Zilisch wasted no time forcing his way into the lead from the inside lane over Sawalich. Despite running wide through the first two turns, which allowed Sawalich to cross over and duel with Zilisch through the backstretch and prior to hitting Turns 3 and 4, Zilisch managed to muscle ahead from the outside lane and hold the lead with 20 laps remaining. Zilisch then started to place a reasonable gap between himself and Sawalich over the proceeding laps while Perez, Scott and Ruggiero followed suit in the top five.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Zilisch extended his advantage to a second over Sawalich. Zilisch would stretch his advantage to nearly two seconds over Sawalich with 10 laps remaining while Perez, Scott and Ruggiero trailed by as far as five seconds.
With five laps remaining, Zilisch retained his lead to more than a second over Sawalich as he also navigated his way through lapped traffic. In the process, Perez trailed in third place by nearly five seconds as Scott, Ruggerio and Wright followed suit in the top six.
Then just as Zilisch was approaching the frontstretch to take the white flag and start the final lap of the event, the caution flew due to Amber Balcaen spinning as she was battling Zachary Tinkle while entering the frontstretch. Balcaen’s incident sent the event into overtime and spoiled Zilisch’s advantage of nearly two seconds over Sawalich.
The start of the first and only overtime attempt featured Zilisch gaining a strong start from the inside lane as he rocketed his No. 28 Silver Hare Development Chevrolet away with the lead as Perez overtook Sawalich’s No. 18 Starkey/Sound Gear Toyota for the runner-up spot. As the rest of the field, including Perez and Sawalich, battled, Zilisch muscled away from the field.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Zilisch remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Perez, who was trying to fend off Sawalich for the runner-up spot. Having a comfortable advantage for a final circuit, Zilisch navigated his way back to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed the checkered flag by nine-tenths of a second over Perez.
With the victory, Zilisch, a development competitor for Trackhouse Racing, is three-for-three in the ARCA Menards Series as he is coming off wins between Flat Rock Speedway and Iowa Speedway. To go along with his first victory at Lucas Oil IRP along with the fourth ARCA East victory of his career and of the 2024 season, Zilisch also racked up his third ARCA Menards Series career victory in the process as this event marked a combined event between the ARCA and ARCA East divisions.
With two ARCA Menards Series East races remaining on this year’s schedule, Zilisch continues to lead the series standings by 23 points over Sawalich.
Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“This Silver Hare Racing, Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet was so fast,” Zilisch said on FS1. “I kind of messed up two restarts in a row. Luckily, I got a third shot at it and I could just hear Josh Wise and Scott Speed in the back of my head, telling me what to do. We’ve prepped for this race for weeks now. It just feels good to have that prep pay off and get my team a win in this critical situation. We’re racing for a championship. These wins matter a lot.”
“I just wanted leverage,” Zilisch, who stood by his decision to restart on the inside lane that led him to victory, added. “When I’m on the bottom [lane], I have more control than when I’m on the top. As long as I beat [Sawalich] to the start/finish line and got a good run, I could kind of slide myself and get clear off of [Turn] 2. It’s all about leverage in these games and obviously, me and [Sawalich] had a little bit of history. I just didn’t want to take a chance on it. I’m glad it paid off.”
Andres Perez, the current points leader in the ARCA Menards Series division and who is still searching for his first ARCA career victory, managed to fend off William Sawalich to claim the runner-up spot as Lavar Scott and Giovanni Ruggiero finished in the top five. The runner-up result, which marks Perez’s best result in the series, allowed him to retain the lead in the ARCA standings by 46 points over Greg Van Alst and 45 over Lavar Scott.
Kris Wright, Marco Andretti, Greg Van Alst, Dean Thompson and Isaac Johnson completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were four lead changes for three leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 44 laps. In addition, nine of 31 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Connor Zilisch, 89 laps led
2. Andres Perez
3. William Sawalich, 72 laps led
4. Lavar Scott, 44 laps led
5. Giovanni Ruggiero
6. Kris Wright
7. Marco Andretti
8. Greg Van Alst
9. Dean Thompson
10. Isaac Johnson, one lap down
11. Zachary Tinkle, three laps down
12. Andrew Patterson, three laps down
13. Amber Balcaen, four laps down
14. Cody Dennison, five laps down
15. Michael Maples, six laps down
16. D.L. Wilson, six laps down
17. Tyler Tomassi, seven laps down
18. Jayson Alexander, eight laps down
19. Braynton Laster, 11 laps down
20. Rita Goulet, 13 laps down
21. Alex Clubb, 16 laps down
22. Christian Rose – OUT, Accident
23. Lawless Alan – OUT, Accident
24. Toni Breidinger – OUT, Accident
25. Jackson McLerran – OUT, Accident
26. Casey Carden – OUT, Mechanical
27. Becca Monopoli – OUT, Accident
28. Nate Moeller – OUT, Mechanical
29. Presley Sorah – OUT, Accident
30. Dale Shearer – OUT, Mechanical
31. Brad Smith – OUT, Mechanical
Next on the 2024 ARCA Menards Series schedule is the Salem ARCA 200 at Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, July 27, with a start time at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
From being involved in an early multi-truck wreck to escaping a final lap multi-truck wreck, Nick Sanchez capped off his roller-coaster evening mired with on-track chaos to claim his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career victory in the Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, February 16.
The 22-year-old Sanchez from Miami, Florida, led three times for a race-high 26 of 101 over-scheduled laps in an event where he was involved in a multi-truck wreck on the fifth lap. Despite sustaining cosmetic damage to his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST, Sanchez managed to continue as he methodically remained within distance of the front-runners through the draft. Amid more carnages ensuing, he assumed the lead for the first time with nearly 40 laps remaining and managed to remain upfront amid four additional late-race restarts amid four on-track carnages.
Then during an overtime shootout, Sanchez, who briefly lost the lead to Rajah Caruth, reassumed the top spot with drafting help from Taylor Gray before the final lap. During the final lap, Caruth ignited a multi-truck wreck entering the backstretch that sent a multitude of competitors piling into one another and Gray flipping in the air and on top of two competitors before rolling back on all four wheels. With Sanchez managing to drive away from the field prior to the incident, he was able to cruise back to the frontstretch under a cautious pace and claim his first checkered flag in his 24th series start.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Ty Majeski started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 178.767 mph in 50.345 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Johnny Sauter, who clocked in the second-best qualifying lap at 178.703 mph in 50.363 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Spencer Boyd, Ben Rhodes and Jason White dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season commenced, Majeski and Sauter battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch amid two tight-packed lanes. With the front-runners continuing to battle amid two tight-packed lanes through Turns 3 and 4 and through the frontstretch, Sauter managed to lead the first lap by a hair over Majeski while receiving drafting help from teammate Matt Mills.
Through the next four laps and as the field started to fan out to three lanes amid the draft, Sauter and Majeski duked back and forth for the lead until Sauter managed to muscle his No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead of the pack with both lanes in his control. In the process, Majeski settled in second ahead of Corey LaJoie, Tyler Ankrum and Daniel Dye. Meanwhile, Mills, who sustained significant front nose damage to his No. 42 J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet Silverado RST by drafting Sauter hard in the early laps, was the lead competitor on the outside lane until he was shoved out of the draft amid a tight three-wide battle towards the front.
Then just past the fifth lap mark, the event’s first caution flew after Crafton, who was boxed in between Tanner Gray and Christian Eckes amid a stacked two-pack lane within the top 15, received a bump from Eckes into Gray that got Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 loose and bumping into the side of rookie Layne Riggs, which then carried forth into Crafton clipping Tanner Gray, who clipped Stewart Friesen, who then clipped Nick Sanchez through the backstretch. The chain reaction incident ended up triggering a multi-truck wreck that also included Ty Dillon, Thad Moffitt, Rajah Caruth, Lawless Alan, Keith McGee, Enfinger, and Jake Garcia. Amid the incident, Sauter was scored the leader ahead of Majeski, LaJoie, Ankrum and Daniel Dye while Bayley Currey, Taylor Gray, Bret Holmes, Toni Breidinger and Dean Thompson were running in the top 10.
During the caution period, some including Jason White, LaJoie, Grant Enfinger, Timmy Hill, Ben Rhodes, Crafton, Riggs, Mills and Tanner Gray pitted while the rest led by Sauter remained on the track.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 12, Sauter and Majeski dueled for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. They remained dead even for the lead through the frontstretch as Sauter tried to edge ahead before Majeski fought back on the inside lane. Amid the tight battle for the lead, Sauter had teammate Currey and Taylor Gray drafting him while Majeski had drafting help from Ankrum as he then muscled ahead with the lead through Turns 3 and 4 during the following lap. Majeski would continue to have both drafting lanes to himself with the lead and with drafting help from Ankrum by the Lap 15 mark.
Shortly after, the caution returned after Lawless Alan, who was involved in the event’s early multi-truck wreck, spun by himself below the apron entering Turns 1 and 2 after he blew a right-rear tire and damaged his front nose after his truck dug into the infield grass before he then spun back across the track and was dodged by oncoming traffic. During the caution period, some including Dye, Stefan Parsons, Cory Roper, Sanchez, Caruth, Codie Rohrbaugh and Boyd pitted while the rest led by Sauter remained on the track.
With a single remaining in the first stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, Sauter and Majeski again dueled for the top spot through the first two turns until Sauter prevailed on the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Currey to assume the top spot for good through the backstretch. The field then fanned out through the backstretch as both Currey and Majeski tried to mount a late charge for the lead, but their momentum was not enough as Sauter managed to capture the first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Majeski and Currey duked for the runner-up spot while Ankrum, Taylor Gray, Holmes, Jack Wood, Eckes, Thompson and Heim were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, some led by Sauter pitted while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 26 as Majeski and Ankrum occupied the front row. At the start, Majeski and Ankrum dueled for the lead until Ankrum muscled ahead with drafting help from teammate Eckes through Turns 1 and 2. With the field dispersed and the competitors trying to regather into a drafting file, Ankrum retained the lead over teammate Eckes and Rhodes while LaJoie, Crafton, Daniel Dye, Sanchez, Breidinger, Heim and Mills moved up the leaderboard as Majeski dropped out of the top 10.
At the Lap 30 mark, Ankrum retained the lead ahead of a hard-charging Rhodes, who received drafting help from LaJoie on the outside lane to challenge Ankrum for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 while Eckes continued to draft teammate Ankrum on the inside lane. Amid the stacked two-packed field, Crafton and Sanchez battled for fifth while Heim, Dye, Majeski and Breidinger were running in the top 10 ahead of Enfinger, Mills, Caruth, Sauter, Roper and Holmes.
A lap later and as both Ankrum and Rhodes continued to battle dead even for the lead, the caution flew due to debris in the form of a tire carcass from Stewart Friesen’s entry being spotted in Turn 3, with Friesen pitting for fresh tires. During the caution period, some including Sauter, Currey, Thompson, Tanner Gray, Breidinger, Mills and Holmes pitted while the rest led by Ankrum remained on the track.
During the following restart on Lap 37, Ankrum received another strong push from teammate Eckes to muscle ahead with the lead on the inside lane. Crafton and Dye would follow suit while Rhodes fell back into a side-by-side battle with teammate Majeski for fifth place amid the draft and two stacked lanes. With Rhodes picking up LaJoie as a drafting partner through the frontstretch, Ankrum maintained the lead ahead of teammate Eckes, Crafton and Dye through the proceeding lap.
The caution, however, would return on Lap 38 due to reports of mist around the superspeedway venue. With the field being directed to pit road and placed under a red flag period for more than seven minutes to await the track being dried, Ankrum was awarded the Stage 2 victory scheduled to conclude on Lap 40. Teammate Eckes settled in second while Crafton, Dye, Rhodes, Majeski, LaJoie, Enfinger, Sanchez and Heim were scored in the top 10.
Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace for the second stage break, nearly the entire field led by Ankrum pitted while the rest led by Bret Holmes and Sauter remained on the track. During the pit stops, Ankrum nearly collided with Spencer Boyd, who was trying to enter his pit stall. In addition, Jason White drove through multiple pit stalls while Majeski was penalized due to his pit crew jumping over his pit stall too soon.
With 56 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Holmes and Sauter occupied the front row. At the start, Holmes marched ahead with the lead from Sauter, where the former moved in front of him to the inside lane before Tanner Gray gained a strong run amid the draft through the backstretch to claim the lead followed by Chase Purdy. Amid Gray’s early efforts, Holmes would maintain the lead amid the draft followed by Sauter for the next two laps before the caution returned as Keith McGee wrecked in Turn 4.
During the caution period, select names that included Sanchez, LaJoie and Cory Roper pitted while the rest led by Holmes remained on the track.
With the event restarting with 49 laps remaining, Sauter and Holmes engaged in another side-by-side battle for the lead and in front of two tight-packed lanes. Five laps later, however, the caution flew after Holmes slipped sideways while battling Sauter entering the frontstretch and spun towards the infield along with Currey, who spun off the front nose of Taylor Gray and made light contact with the inside wall towards the pit road entrance. This resulted in a majority of the field led by Sauter returning to pit road for service while the rest led by Enfinger pitted. Enfinger, however, would pit shortly after along with several other names during the caution period, thus handing the lead to Sanchez
With the event restarting with 39 laps remaining, Sanchez received a strong push from Taylor Gray to muscle away with the lead. As the field fanned out to two and three tight-packed lanes amid the draft, Sanchez had both lanes to his control as he retained the lead followed by Taylor Gray. Three laps later, however, Ben Rhodes received a strong shove from Eckes to march forward into the lead, where he would lead the next five laps before he was challenged by Sauter for the top spot.
Then with 30 laps remaining, Rhodes made an unscheduled pit stop under green due to a tire issue to his No. 99 Ranch Fuel Energy Drink Ford F-150 as a result of an earlier on-track contact with Ankrum, where Ankrum ran into the right side of Rhodes’ entry. Amid Rhodes’ issue, a three-way battle for the lead ensued between Chase Purdy, Sanchez and Eckes for the lead while LaJoie, Parsons, Taylor Gray, Ankrum and Jack Wood joined the battle amid two tight-packed lanes.
Two laps later, Rhodes’ event went from bad to worse after he slipped sideways and spun in Turn 4 while also making contact with Tanner Gray and Breidinger due to another tire issue to his entry. The issue occurred as Rhodes was lapped by the leaders entering Turns 3 and 4. With the damage to his entry, the reigning two-time Truck Series champion concluded his event in his pit stall.
During the proceeding restart with 23 laps remaining, Sanchez received a strong shove from Eckes to assume the lead from LaJoie as Taylor Gray followed suit in third place. Trouble, however, returned during the following lap when Eckes received a bump from LaJoie that sent his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST sideways and into the side of Parsons while he also got rear-ended by Sauter, whose hood popped up as both he and Eckes spun entering the frontstretch.
The start of the next restart with 16 laps remaining featured Sanchez muscling away from the field on the inside lane with a strong push from Taylor Gray. They would be followed by Jack Wood while the rest of the field engaged to battling in two tight-packed lanes. The following lap, the caution returned after Dean Thompson ran into the rear of Mason Massey entering Turn 4 and slipped sideways while teammate Breidinger was also involved as she ran into the rear of Thompson, slipped up the track and spun her No. 1 Celsius Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.
During the following restart with nine laps remaining, Rajah Caruth received drafting help from teammate LaJoie to move into the lead entering the first two turns. Both Spire Motorsports competitors would muscle away from the field through the backstretch until Sanchez gained a massive draft to reassume the top spot with drafting help from Taylor Gray as they were followed by Wood, Ankrum and Purdy while Caruth and LaJoie briefly separated amid the draft.
Two laps later and as Sanchez and Taylor Gray started to battle dead even for the lead in front of the pack, the caution flew after Ankrum slipped sideways off the front nose of Purdy, with both collecting Eckes before spinning through the backstretch’s grass. The incident was enough to send the event into overtime as Sanchez was scored the leader ahead of Caruth, Taylor Gray, Wood, LaJoie and Crafton.
At the start of the first overtime attempt, Sanchez and Caruth battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns until Caruth assumed the lead from the outside lane as both he and LaJoie rocketed ahead from the outside lane. They then maintained the lead through the backstretch until Sanchez and Taylor Gray gained a run to the outside lane towards Turns 3 and 4, which was enough for Sanchez to reassume the lead entering the frontstretch.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Sanchez was leading ahead of Taylor Gray, Wood, Caruth and Heim as the field started to fan out to three lanes through the first two turns. Then entering the backstretch, a fiery multi-truck ignited after Caruth drove up the track and turned Wood into Taylor Gray, which sent Gray spinning and wrecking against the backstretch’s outside wall before he was T-boned by Daniel Dye and sent upside-down on top of Eckes and Tanner Gray before his No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro rolled back on all four wheels. With the caution flag flying to end the event as nearly the entire field wrecked in the backstretch, Sanchez, who drove away from the incident, was scored the leader and declared the winner for his first series’ career victory.
With the victory, Sanchez, who claimed the 2023 Truck Series Rookie-of-the-Year title and just missed the Championship 4 cutline amid a winless season, became the 123rd competitor overall to achieve a victory in the Craftsman Truck Series and the seventh to do so at Daytona International Speedway. He also recorded the first victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series for Rev Racing and the 100th points-paying victory in NASCAR at Daytona for the Chevrolet nameplate, with the Chevrolet nameplate also racking up its fourth victory at Daytona.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[The win]’s Pretty surreal, especially with how the race started,” Sanchez said on FS1. “A big thanks to my team, sticking with me all last year. We were winless. It hurt. We should’ve won, but we redeemed ourselves in the first race possible. [It’s] Definitely gonna be a good year.”
Amid the carnage, Corey Heim ended uo in second place followed by Rajah Caruth, who navigated his damaged No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST to a strong top-three result while Bret Holmes and Spencer Boyd ended up in the top five. Parsons, Crafton, Timmy Hill, Bryan Dauzat and Eckes finished in the top 10.
Taylor Gray, who ended up 19th following his final-lap upside-down wreck, emerged uninjured, though he, LaJoie, Dye, Roper, Thompson and Rohrbaugh were unable to finish.
There were 24 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured 12 cautions for 52 laps.
Following the first event of the 2024 Truck Series season, Tyler Ankrum, who finished 11th at Daytona, leads the regular-season standings by a single point over Sanchez, four over Eckes, five over both Holmes and Crafton, seven over both Heim and Majeski and eight over Caruth.
Results.
1. Nick Sanchez, 26 laps led
2. Corey Heim
3. Rajah Caruth, one lap led
4. Bret Holmes, 13 laps led
5. Spencer Boyd
6. Stefan Parsons
7. Matt Crafton
8. Timmy Hill
9. Bryan Dauzat
10. Christian Eckes, one lap led
11. Tyler Ankrum, 16 laps led, Stage 2 winner
12. Jason White
13. Bayley Currey
14. Stewart Friesen
15. Ty Majeski, six laps led
16. Tanner Gray, one lap led
17. Grant Enfinger, two laps led
18. Jack Wood
19. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident
20. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident, five laps led
21. Daniel Dye – OUT, Accident
22. Cory Roper – OUT, Accident
23. Codie Rohrbaugh – OUT, Accident
24. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident
25. Mason Massey, one lap down
26. Matt Mills, two laps down
27. Tony Breidinger, four laps down
28. Chase Purdy – OUT, Accident, one lap led
29. Johnny Sauter – OUT, Accident, 24 laps led, Stage 1 winner
30. Ben Rhodes, – OUT, Accident, five laps led
31. Keith McGee – OUT, Accident
32. Lawless Alan – OUT, Overheating
33. Layne Riggs – OUT, DVP
34. Jake Garcia – OUT, Accident
35. Ty Dillon – OUT, Accident
36. Thad Moffitt – OUT, Accident
With the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season underway, the next event on the schedule is the Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, February 24, and air at 2 p.m. ET on FS1.
A timely caution amid a major wreck during the finish of an overtime attempt generated a new winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series as Matt DiBenedetto was awarded his first career win in the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 1.
The 31-year-old DiBenedetto from Grass Valley, California, placed himself in prime position of contending for the win as he was running in the top five during the final lap of the first and only overtime attempt that was caused when Carson Hocevar intentionally spun to draw a caution with four laps remaining. Approaching the frontstretch and the finish line, DiBenedetto went three-wide on Playoff contender Ben Rhodes and Bret Holmes as he launched his bid for the win. Despite getting forced below the double yellow line by Rhodes as Rhodes wrecked along with a host of other competitors, DiBenedetto managed to cross the finish line sideways in the runner-up spot after being edged by Holmes. Following an extensive review of the finish, however, DiBenedetto was deemed the winner due to being out in front at the moment of caution prior to taking the checkered flag and completing the race, thus claiming his first NASCAR national touring series career victory.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Playoff contender John Hunter Nemechek claimed his seventh pole position of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 178.767 mph in 53.567 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate and Playoff contender Chandler Smith, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 177.732 mph in 53.879 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Nemechek jumped ahead with an early advantage as the field stacked up in two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Nemechek retained the lead ahead of teammate Chandler Smith while Zane Smith started to challenge on the outside lane. Despite Zane Smith gaining a run through the frontstretch, Nemechek moved up to block him as he went on to lead the first lap.
A lap later, a side-by-side battle for the lead between Zane Smith and Nemechek occurred while the field behind started to fan out to three lanes.
Through the first five scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by a hair over Zane Smith followed by Ty Majeski, Chandler Smith, Carson Hocevar, Colby Howard, Matt Crafton, Corey Heim, Jordan Anderson and Christian Eckes.
By Lap 10 and with the field settling into two tight-packed lanes within the draft, Nemechek continued to lead ahead of Zane Smith, Hocevar and Crafton while Chandler Smith and Jordan Anderson battled for fifth. By then, half of the remaining eight Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 with Eckes in eighth. Behind, Ben Rhodes was in 12th, Stewart Friesen was in 17th, Grant Enfinger was back in 23rd and Ty Majeski settled in 27th.
Then with two laps remaining in the first stage, the first caution of the event flew when the No. 3 Chevrolet Silverado RST piloted by Anderson, which was running in fifth place, went up in smoke and flames at full speed. With the truck up in flames, Anderson, who was trying to keep his truck below the apron with reduced speed, managed to avoid contact with the field as he then steered his flaming truck towards the inside wall in Turn 2 before escaping it. He would then be airlifted to a local hospital to be further evaluated with burns.
The caution for Anderson was enough for the first stage to conclude on Lap 20 as Nemechek secured his seventh stage victory of the 2022 season. Zane Smith settled in second followed by Hocevar, Chandler Smith, Tanner Gray, Colby Howard, Rhodes, Heim, Tyler Ankrum and Eckes. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Friesen, Enfinger and Majeski were scored in the top 20.
Under the stage break, the leaders led by Nemechek pitted, most for fuel, as Chandler Smith exited first followed by teammate Nemechek, Friesen, Rhodes, Heim and Eckes.
The second stage started on Lap 26 and at the start, Chandler Smith and Rhodes dueled for the lead in front of Nemechek as the field stacked up entering Turn 2. Then as Rhodes gained another strong run on the outside lane to overtake Chandler Smith for the lead, the caution returned when Colby Howard spun in the middle of the pack and towards the backstretch after cutting a left-rear tire.
When the race restarted on Lap 31, a tight side-by-side battle for the lead ignited between Rhodes and Chandler Smith through the first two turns before Nemechek gave teammate Chandler Smith a small draft to lead through the backstretch. Rhodes, however, fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Eckes as the field battled in a tight side-by-side pack.
During the following lap, the caution flew when Lawless Alan blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 3. With debris flying out of Alan’s wrecked truck, Bryan Dauzat and Hocevar also received damage. This caution provided mixed strategy amongst the field as some pitted while others remained on the track.
With two laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Rhodes and Chandler Smith dueled for the lead in front of the pack and they remained dead even for the lead when they returned to the frontstretch and started the final lap of the second stage.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 40, Chandler Smith received a draft from teammate Nemechek to surge ahead of Rhodes and capture his sixth stage victory of the 2022 season. Teammate Nemechek settled in second while Friesen, Rhodes, Enfinger, Eckes, Ankrum, Heim, Zane Smith and Majeski were scored in the top 10. By then, all of the eight Playoff contenders cracked the top 10 and had scored at least one stage point.
Following the second stage’s conclusion, Zane Smith nursed his No. 38 Love’s Travel Stop Ford F-150 into his pit stall after he cut a right-rear tire and damaged the right-rear fender of his truck. Once pit road became accessible for the field, some led by Nemechek pitted, mainly for fuel, while names like Chase Purdy, Bret Holmes, Johnny Sauter, Matt DiBenedtto, Hailie Deegan and Clay Greenfield remained on the track. Prior to the restart, names like Nemechek and Chandler Smith pitted again to top off on fuel and for damage repair.
With 49 laps remaining, the final stage started as Chase Purdy and Bret Holmes occupied the front row. At the start, Holmes cleared the field and assumed the lead on the outside lane followed by Matt DiBenedetto as the field started to fan out to three lanes through the backstretch.
At the halfway mark on Lap 47, Holmes was leading ahead of DiBenedetto, Purdy, Johnny Sauter and Derek Kraus while Jack Wood, Enfinger, Eckes, Blaine Perkins and Carson Hocevar were scored in the top 10. By then, Eckes was the lone Playoff contender running in the top 10 while the remaining seven were mired inside the top 30.
With less than 40 laps remaining, Eckes made his way to the top of the field followed by Holmes, Hocevar, DiBenedetto and Sauter while Ryan Preece, Kraus, Purdy, Wood and Enfinger were in the top 10. With two of eight Playoff contenders running in the top 10, Rhodes and Majeski were in the top 20 while Friesen, Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Zane Smith were mired back from 25th to 28th, respectively.
Then nearing the final 30 laps of the event and with most of the front-runners veering to pit road for service under green, the caution flew when Hailie Deegan, who entered pit road too fast, hit her tire carrier and caused a tire to roll out of her pit box and onto the infield grass, which prompted the tire carrier to bolt to the infield grass and retrieve the tire. Following the pit stops, additional names like Friesen, Sauter and Purdy were penalized for speeding on pit road.
Down to the final 26 laps of the event, the race proceeded under green as Eckes and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Hocevar was drafted into the lead followed by Enfinger before Eckes fought back on the outside lane through the backstretch. Soon after, Eckes and Hocevar engaged in a tight side-by-side battle for the lead in front of the pack running tight through two drafting lanes.
Five laps later, the caution returned when Colby Howard spun in front of Nemechek in Turn 4, though he managed to straighten his truck and not sustain any significant damage nor collect others.
With 18 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Eckes received a push from teammate Rhodes on the outside lane to remain as the leader by a mere margin before Hocevar fought back on the inside lane with drafting help from Preece.
Three laps later, the caution flew when Playoff contender Grant Enfinger, who was starting to fall off the pace in Turn 3, was bumped by Austin Wayne Self as both slipped sideways and pounded the outside wall. In the process, Sauter and Tanner Gray were collected as all four sustained significant damage to their respective trucks.
During the following restart with 10 laps remaining, Hocevar received drafting help from Preece to lead the inside lane while teammates Eckes and Rhodes fought back on the outside lane. As the field returned to the frontstretch, the front-runners were mired in a tight pack between two lanes as Eckes and Hocevar remained dead even for the lead.
Then with five laps remaining of the event, Hocevar, who was battling Eckes for the lead, dropped his truck below the apron and was falling off the pace after cutting a tire. Then with the race remaining under green while the lead pack zipped by, Hocevar remained on the track below the apron and looped his truck around past the start/finish line. This prompted NASCAR to draw the caution as Eckes was ahead followed by teammate Rhodes, DiBenedetto, Bret Holmes and Preece. In addition, NASCAR issued a one-lap penalty to Hocevar for intentionally causing a caution as the field was sent into overtime.
During the start of overtime, teammates Eckes and Rhodes battled for the lead through the first two turns. Then through the second turn and the backstretch, Rhodes received drafting help from Holmes to briefly pull away with the lead before the rest of the front-runners caught up to them through Turns 3 and 4. By then, Holmes navigated his way into the lead as DiBenedetto and Rhodes dueled for the lead.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Holmes was leading ahead of Rhodes, DiBenedetto, Eckes and Preece. Through the backstretch, Rhodes was drafted into the lead by Eckes before both ThorSport Racing teammates dueled for the lead in front of the pack.
Then entering Turn 4, Rhodes started to pull ahead of Eckes when Heim got bumped as he wrecked his No. 51 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the outside wall. With Heim coming back across the track and collecting more competitors, Holmes and DiBenedetto went three-wide on Rhodes approaching the start/finish line. While Holmes remained on the outside lane, DiBenedetto made contact with Rhodes as he was shoved below the double yellow line. The contact got Rhodes sideways as nearly the entire field wrecked while crossing the finish line. Back at the front, however, Holmes edged DiBenedetto by 0.002 seconds to score what appeared to have been his first NASCAR national touring series career victory.
Following an extensive review of the final lap incident, the battle for the win and who was out in front at the moment of caution, NASCAR determined that the caution was displayed before Holmes crossed the finish line to complete the race and that DiBenedetto was out in front when the caution was displayed, thus being declared the official winner.
With the victory, DiBenedetto, who has made 248 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, achieved his first career victory in his 338th career start across NASCAR’s top three national touring series and in his 21st career start in the Camping World Truck Series. The victory was also the first for Rackley-W.A.R. Racing, a team that debuted in 2021.
DiBenedetto’s victory marks the seventh consecutive season where the Truck Series Playoff event has been won by a non-Playoff contender with the streak spanning to the series’ Playoff inception in 2016. He also became the sixth different competitor to record a first Truck career victory at Talladega.
“Oh man, it’s such a long time coming!” DiBenedetto said on FS1. “Praise God. I’m so thankful. [My fans] have bared with me through so much in me being a reckless human being sometimes just through life. This one’s life-changing. I’m out of breath. I think I was more nervous waiting and hearing what would happen. My spotter, Doug Campbell, is awesome. We worked together so good. I think in the Cup Series, we led on like the white flag twice here or something at Talladega. So, I owe a lot to him. At the end there, we were just really committed to staying on the bottom [lane] and pushing. This [truck], it pushed well, so I was just committed to staying there and pushing whoever was in front of me. I’m so thankful. So thankful! This is amazing. This team deserves it.”
Once the final finishing order was displayed, Rhodes was awarded the runner-up spot despite ending up with a wrecked truck while Holmes was shuffled back to a career-best third place.
“It’s tough to lose something that close,” Holmes said. “We lost an ARCA race that close, I don’t know, probably lost it closer today. I want to win here so bad, I can’t stand it. I have so many people here from my hometown, friends, and family. Growing up and racing at the dirt track across the road, it just would mean the world for me to win here. It seems like the last couple years in ARCA we’ve been right there, the Truck races we’ve been right there. It’s just super tough, hate we couldn’t pull it off for everybody. Wish the race ended at the finish line because I feel like we would’ve had it…It’s tough to lose that one, for sure.”
Preece ended up fourth while Eckes completed the top five. Deegan notched a career-best sixth place despite being involved in the final lap accident while Purdy, Colby Howard, Parker Kligerman and Tyler Ankrum completed the top 10 on the track.
There were 25 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 36 laps.
Results.
1. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led
2. Ben Rhodes, two laps led
3. Bret Holmes, six laps led
4. Ryan Preece
5. Christian Eckes, 25 laps led
6. Hailie Deegan
7. Chase Purdy, six laps led
8. Colby Howard
9. Parker Kligerman
10. Tyler Ankrum
11. Kaden Honeycutt
12. Clay Greenfield
13. Derek Kraus, three laps led
14. Chandler Smith, 17 laps led, Stage 2 winner
15. Timmy Hill
16. Parker Retzlaff
17. Zane Smith, one lap led
18. Kaz Grala
19. Jack Wood
20. Stewart Friesen
21. Bayley Currey
22. Matt Crafton, one lap led
23. Ty Majeski, one lap led
24. John Hunter Nemechek, 20 laps led, Stage 1 winner
25. Johnny Sauter
26. Corey Heim – OUT, Accident
27. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident
28. Carson Hocevar, one lap down, 12 laps led
29. Grant Enfinger, one lap down
30. Austin Wayne Self – OUT, Accident
31. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident
32. Jennifer Jo Cobb – OUT, Clutch
33. Lawless Alan – OUT, Accident
34. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident
35. Bryan Dauzat – OUT, Dvp
36. Jordan Anderson – OUT, Accident
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings
1. Ty Majeski – Advanced
2. Chandler Smith +30
3. Zane Smith +18
4. Ben Rhodes +3
5. Christian Eckes -3
6. Stewart Friesen -3
7. John Hunter Nemechek -5
8. Grant Enfinger -29
With the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season nearing its conclusion, the Playoff’s Round of 8 will next continue at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 22, where the Championship Round field will be set. The event’s coverage is scheduled to commence at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.
