Enfinger Edges Anderson For Daytona Truck Win

Grant Enfinger gets his nose across the finish line first
Grant Enfinger gets his nose across the finish line first
All photos by Mike Mercurio/AR1.com

Grant Enfinger scored the biggest win of his NASCAR Gander Outdoor Trucks Series career by inches on Friday night at Daytona International Speedway.

In an overtime finish, Enfinger had the lead coming off of turn four to the checkered flag. Within sight of the finish line, Jordan Anderson powered to the outside, moving alongside Enfinger in a bid for the win.

The two made contact, bouncing off each other a couple of times as they came to the line. In the end it was Enfinger score the win by one-hundredth of a second.

It’s the third career series win for the Fairhope, Alabama native.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling," said Enfinger. “It’s the 100th win for Ford in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, so it’s great for them. More importantly it’s the 25th anniversary for (team owners) Duke and Rhonda Thorson, who have put so much into this sport.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]“The biggest thing is we had a really good Ford F-150 to do it with. With four or five laps to go it was time to go and we were able to get up in the third groove and make some stuff happen. We got the lead on that big wreck going into one and two and that’s what kind of sealed the deal for us. My buddy, Ross (Chastain) gave me some good pushes at the end. I know he was trying to reach out on us and I was able to block him, but it’s just an unbelievable night."

Anderson finished in second, the best career finish for the Forest Acres, South Carolina driver.

“To try to put into words what this means for our team, I had to move some money around this winter just to get through to buy this truck," Anderson said. “We knew that we needed to bring the best truck that we could. This sport isn't easy, and I love NASCAR, I love this sport. This is what NASCAR is about, man."

Codie Rohrbaugh came home in third, almost sneaking into the fight for the win on the low side. It was a strong rebound for Rohrbaugh, whose No. 9 truck was sent spinning down pit road on lap 35 after contact with another truck. There was no caution, and Rohrbaugh lost a lot of time as a result.

Derek Kraus finished in fourth, with Natalie Decker scoring a career best fifth place in the unofficial rundown.

Fogleman's fireball
Fogleman's fireball

It was a night of mayhem for the trucks, as three-wide racing at times resulted in big crashes. The first occurred on lap 15 as the field exited the tri-oval, when Tate Fogleman got loose off of the front bumper of another truck, turning him into the side of the truck of Austin Wayne Self.

Self’s truck turned down into the door of Ty Majeski, sending Majeski’s truck sideway into the wall, where it then flipped over on its roof before sliding upside down in a shower of sparks into turn 1.

Majeski was unhurt, but couldn’t exit his truck until safety crews were able to right it. The race was red flagged for eight minutes to allow for clean up.

After finishing the first segment, the race went caution free through the second segment, the field raced hard but clean, with the lead pack racing side-by-side several times. The action was broken up again on lap 65, when Angela Ruch’s truck broke loose after contact with Derek Kraus. Ruch’s truck turned up the track, gathering up the trucks of Brett Moffitt and Fogleman in the process.

The oil cooler was knocked off of Fogleman’s truck, resulting in a fireball under the hood. As he came to a stop the truck of Bryan Dauzat hit him in the rear after being caught up in the incident. Christian Eckes was also involved in the crash.

Grant Enfinger celebrates
Grant Enfinger celebrates

The final caution of the night flew with just three laps to go, and it involved much of the lead pack. It occurred as Enfinger, Ben Rhodes and Todd Gilliland raced three wide for the lead, with Rhodes in the middle. Rhodes truck suddenly broke loose off the front bumper of Johnny Sauter. Rhodes’s truck was turned down into the side of the 38, triggering a crash that swept up 11 trucks in all, including Rhodes, Sheldon Creed, Sauter, Eckes, pole sitter Riley Herbst and others.

That set up the overtime finish, which saw defending race winner Austin Hill challenge for the lead. Enfinger would prevail, with Ross Chastain following in second. Chastain would challenge on the outside to challenge for the lead, as would Zane Smith.

On the final lap, Chastain was again looking for the passing lane when his truck broke loose, killing his momentum and sending the pack behind him scrambling.

Up front, Enfinger still held the point, as the field jostled behind him. As he came off turn four, Anderson made a move on the outside, but came up just short at the finish line.

Race Results

POS NO./DRIVER MFG START LAPS LED BEHIND
1 #98 Grant Enfinger Ford 11 106 41 Leader
2 #3 Jordan Anderson Chevrolet 23 106 0 0.010
3 #9 Codie Rohrbaugh Chevrolet 21 106 0 0.070
4 #19 Derek Kraus Toyota 16 106 0 0.176
5 #44 Natalie Decker Chevrolet 30 106 0 0.263
6 #16 Austin Hill Toyota 15 106 11 0.279
7 #13 Johnny Sauter Ford 5 106 0 0.283
8 #40 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 4 106 0 0.401
9 #2 Sheldon Creed Chevrolet 12 106 2 0.490
10 #33 Jason White Chevrolet 31 106 0 0.517
11 #21 Zane Smith Chevrolet 6 106 0 0.542
12 #51 Riley Herbst Toyota 1 106 21 0.623
13 #23 Brett Moffitt Chevrolet 2 106 0 0.626
14 #04 Cory Roper Ford 19 106 0 0.797
15 #88 Matt Crafton Ford 10 106 0 1.138
16 #38 Todd Gilliland Ford 25 106 0 1.409
17 #30 Brennan Poole Toyota 27 106 0 4.760
18 #7 Korbin Forrister Toyota 9 106 0 12.292
19 #20 Spencer Boyd Chevrolet 29 105 0 1 lap
20 #4 Raphael Lessard Toyota 8 105 0 1 lap
21 #52 Stewart Friesen Toyota 28 105 13 1 lap
22 #18 Christian Eckes Toyota 3 105 0 1 lap
23 #15 Tanner Gray Ford 14 98 0 8 laps
24 #97 Jesse Little Chevrolet 26 98 0 8 laps
25 #99 Ben Rhodes Ford 13 97 17 9 laps
26 #56 Gus Dean Chevrolet 20 97 0 9 laps
27 #26 Tyler Ankrum Chevrolet 7 97 1 9 laps
28 #00 Angela Ruch Chevrolet 32 65 0 41 laps
29 #28 Bryan Dauzat Chevrolet 22 65 0 41 laps
30 #02 Tate Fogleman Chevrolet 18 62 0 44 laps
31 #22 Austin Wayne Self Chevrolet 24 15 0 91 laps
32 #45 Ty Majeski Chevrolet 17 15 0 91 laps