The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returned to Gateway this Saturday in exciting fashion!
Just as the green flag dropped, the yellow flag soon followed suit, with the caution coming out for the #32 of Bret Holmes, after he spun across the backstretch.
With the green flag in the air once again at lap eight, Ty Majeski held the lead on the outside against teammate Ben Rhodes on the inside. Just a lap later, Christian Eckes, in a three-wide attempt, tried for the lead, but Majeski was able to maintain his position over Eckes.
Just twenty laps in Matt Crafton, who had started from the rear after not making a qualifying lap, had moved up to sixteenth. Meanwhile, Dean Thompson, after coming off a fantastic run at Charlotte a week prior, came to pit road after losing oil pressure.
The second caution of the race came out after the #34 of Stephen Mallozzi’s truck lost power at the entrance of pit road. The stage concluded with #23 of Grant Enfinger capturing the stage win.
At the restart, Majeski continued to lead on the outside over teammate Rhodes on the inside. Zane Smith came into the picture for the lead, after giving a bump to Majeski into turn one, stealing the position away from the #98. Smith didn’t hold on to the lead for long though, as just two laps later, Majeksi reclaimed the #1 slot on the track.
At lap fifty-four the yellow flag waved once again after Jack Wood was spun out by Chris Hacker. On pit road, the #42 of Carson Hocevar severed a long stop, after trouble with a broken jack bolt.
With the restart on lap sixty-two Majeski and Eckes went toe to toe for the lead, with Eckes diving low into turn three. The bold move was a clumsy one though, as Eckes made contact with Majeski, allowing for Stewart Friesen to pass the both of them for the lead.
The stage concluded under caution after the #25 of Matt DiBenedetto squeezed Connor Jones after he tried to dive under DiBenedetto heading into turn one, causing him to make a hard impact with the wall. Friesen captured the stage two win.
The third stage was underway at lap seventy-seven with Enfinger taking the lead on the outside, holding the advantage over #45 of Lawless Alan. Just a few short laps later the caution flag came out for Taylor Gray after he spun from the 18th position.
Back under green flag conditions, Enfinger challenged back for his lead with teammate Daniel Dye behind him, however, Zane Smith with a power move entering turn three, overtook the lead from Enfinger off of turn four. A lap later, however, Hailie Deegan made hard contact with the wall after contact with the #2 of rookie star Nick Sanchez.
Back under green flag conditions at lap 94, Enfinger once again led on the outside with Dye continuing to follow behind in second.
Just as green flag pit stops began to get underway with under forty laps to go, the caution came out for Hacker after he spun from contact with Josh Reaume. With just 30 laps remaining the green flag was displayed once again, with the lead now being fought over at the hands of Smith and Hocevar, with Smith having the advantage.
It didn’t take long though for another caution to pop up, as just a few short laps later, Bayley Currey went for a spin on the backstretch from the #24th position. The race was back underway with just 20 laps remaining, with Smith and Hocevar battling hard for the lead, and Friesen following in hot pursuit behind them.
Eventually, it was Smith who captured the top spot with Hocevar and Enfinger falling in line in second and third. However, all was not said and done, as the caution flag came out once again for Lawless Alan, just shy of ten laps remaining in the race.
Back upon the restart, the racing became tight and intense with battles throughout the field. Disaster struck though, for the leaders Majeski and Smith, as they both went spinning hard into the wall after making contact.
The incident allowed for Enfinger and Eckes to move up, however, and put them both in contention for the win. In an overtime three-lap shootout, at the drop of the flag, Enfinger and Eckes battled side by side for the lead, Enfinger having the edge over Eckes. Eckes made one final attempt to steal away the spot, but it was to no avail, as Grant Enfinger would earn his second win of the season.
Featured image credits to @NASCAR_Trucks on Twitter
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