Grant Enfinger, an Alabama native, drove his #24 Plugphones Chevrolet into Victory Lane at Talladega for his first Camping World Truck Series win 13 starts. The youngster also did it in the last race in the Round of 8 of the CWTS Chase. As a result, driver John Hunter Nemechek and Daniel Hemric were eliminated from the playoffs.
Grant Enfinger received a firm push from his teammate and Chase driver Ben Kennedy after a restart on Lap 93 of the 94 turned. The eventual winner sped to the front of the field and held his number one spot after a hard challenge from his other teammate, Spencer Gallagher. Gallagher couldn’t gain enough momentum to pass and finished the event in second.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Enfinger. “It’s my home track. This is just so special. We came here as fans, that’s how this whole thing started. It hasn’t sunk in yet, it won’t for a while.”
Grant Enfinger locked himself into the driver’s seat at Talladega Super Speedway only a month ago and competed in a brand new truck for the Fred’s 250 on Saturday. Unfortunately, Enfinger has no plans for any more contests in 2016. Furthermore, the opportunistic racer isn’t sure what 2017 will hold. Team owner Maury Gallagher said he hopes to have a ride available for Enfinger next season.
“This is a tough business, I wish it was less expensive,” Gallagher said. “We’re working hard to get a program together for Grant for next year.”
The race at Talladega Super Speedway reduced the Camping world Truck series Chase field from eight speedsters to six. Timothy Peters guided his Red Horse Racing Toyota to a third place finish.
Timothy Peters was the highest finisher among those who qualified for the Round of 6. Finally, he was followed by Ben Kennedy in fifth place, as GMS owned Toyota’s claimed four of the top seven spots.
“I got behind Grant Enfinger and tried to push him as much as I could,” said Kennedy, who shoved his teammate’s No. 24 Chevrolet to the front in the outside lane. “I also knew the outside line had a little bit of something. Pushed him as much as I could, and once he got out to the lead, that truck was so fast out there. I also thought about trying to make it three-wide, but I didn’t really have the momentum to carry it around him.”
Sixth-place finisher Christopher Bell, who drives for Kyle Busch Motorsports, took the checkered flag in sixth. Another GMS driver Johnny Sauter, finished off his afternoon in the 10th position.
William Byron, who already had sealed his spot into the round of 6 with a win in the opening Chase race at New Hampshire, closed out his day in 10th. Veteran driver Matt Crafton notched a 22nd place result after his motor blew and caused the seventh a final caution.
John Hunter Nemechek hopes of advancing were crushed on lap 13 of the Fred’s 250. The engine in his #8 Chevrolet exploded on Lap 13, and Nemechek ended his run in 32nd place.
Brad Keselowski Racing’s Daniel Hemric, entered the race below the Chase cut line. Hameric was fast, but a 14 car wreck on Lap 59 swallowed up the hopeful driver and severly damaged his # 19 Ford.
To his credit, Daniel Hemric fought back and finished in the 11th position, but fell 13 points short of Matt Crafton. Unfortunately, Crafton’s engine problems happened too late in the event to be of help to Hemric. All told, 10 other trucks had already been behind the wall from damage when Crafton’s engine let go.
“Today was completely full of trials and trying to overcome things,” Hemric said. “All we can do now is try to win races. It wasn’t for lack of effort. We got involved in three or four different situations there and never had the opportunity to get back to the front.”
Sunoco Rookie racer Rico Abreu finished out his race in fourth. It was his second top-five finish of the 2016 season. Fellow rookie William Byron retained the top seed in the Round of 6. The successful first-timer is followed by teammate Christopher Bell, Timothy Peters, Matt Crafton, Ben Kennedy and Johnny Sauter. All six remaining playoff competitors start the Round of 6 with points reset to 3,000.
Final Results for the Fred’s 250 at Talladega Super Speedway:
1. (2) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 94 laps, 0 rating, 37 points.
2. (3) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 94, 0, 32.
3. (6) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 94, 0, 31.
4. (24) Rico Abreu, Toyota, 94, 0, 29.
5. (4) Ben Kennedy, Chevrolet, 94, 0, 29.
6. (14) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 94, 0, 27.
7. (5) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 94, 0, 26.
8. (22) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 94, 0, 25.
9. (12) Matt Tifft, Toyota, 94, 0, 25.
10. (8) William Byron, Toyota, 94, 0, 23.
11. (17) Daniel Hemric, Ford, 94, 0, 22.
12. (27) Dylan Lupton, Chevrolet, 94, 0, 0.
13. (31) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 94, 0, 20.
14. (23) Austin Wayne Self, Toyota, 94, 0, 20.
15. (26) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 94, 0, 0.
16. (29) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 94, 0, 18.
17. (21) Bobby Gerhart, Chevrolet, 94, 0, 0.
18. (28) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 94, 0, 0.
19. (20) Cameron Hayley, Toyota, accident, 93, 0, 14.
20. (15) Austin Cindric, Ford, 92, 0, 13.
21. (32) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 90, 0, 0.
22. (13) Matt Crafton, Toyota, engine, 88, 0, 11.
23. (18) Chris Fontaine, Toyota, accident, 64, 0, 10.
24. (25) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, accident, 59, 0, 9.
25. (19) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, accident, 59, 0, 8.
26. (16) Tyler Reddick, Ford, accident, 59, 0, 8.
27. (10) Korbin Forrister, Toyota, accident, 59, 0, 6.
28. (9) John Wes Townley, Toyota, accident, 59, 0, 5.
29. (1) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, accident, 58, 0, 5.
30. (30) Brandon Hightower, Chevrolet, accident, 51, 0, 0.
31. (7) Cody Coughlin, Toyota, garage, 34, 0, 2.
32. (11) John Hunter Nemechek, Chevrolet, engine, 13, 0, 1.
Race Statistics:
Average Speed of Race Winner: 119.165 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 5 minutes, 54 seconds.
Margin of Victory: seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 33 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 9 drivers.
