NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Review: Lucas Oil 150




Deep in the desert of Arizona, there was a championship feel in the air as NASCAR's three National touring series all crowned a new champion.  This championship weekend started off with the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck series.  This was really the only true "night" race of the weekend, which added a special intensity to the championship race.  It proved to be Grant Enfinger vs. GMS in the championship hunt.  Zane Smith, Brett Moffitt, and Sheldon Creed, all GMS drivers, joined Enfinger as contenders for the title.  Who would prevail and become the 2020 Truck series champion?

The race started out with Enfinger, with his championship competitors in toe, leading the field to green.  By the end of the first lap, Enfinger was already at the bottom of the championship 4.  Zane Smith got out to an early lead over his two GMS championship competitors.  Smith held on to lead the majority of the laps in Stage 1 and win the stage.  However, no points were awarded to any of the championship drivers during the stages.  Creed, Moffitt, Enfinger, Crafton, Rhodes, Ankrum, Eckes, Friesen, and Kraus finished stage 1 behind Smith in the Top 10.

Sheldon Creed got ahead of his GMS teammate and took an early lead in Stage 2, but it was Brett Moffitt who took the lead and did not let go.  Ben Rhodes was the first driver to get up and break the Championship 4's stranglehold on the Top 4 spots.  Rhodes made it past his teammate, Enfinger, and had almost made it past Sheldon Creed for 3rd when Stage 2 ended. Brett Moffitt went on to win Stage 2 with Z. Smith, Creed, Rhodes, Enfinger, Friesen, Ankrum, Lessard, Eckes, and Mayer all earning a Top 10 in the stage.  

Brett Moffitt was on the fast track to continue his dominance throughout the final stage.  Carson Hocevar brought out the caution at lap 103 after spinning into the wall coming off Turn 2.  This allowed Grant Enfinger, who had not been a threat all night, to get off pit cycle and take 4 fresh tires.  Grant Enfinger slowly started to gain spots, but it wasn't nearly enough to catch Brett Moffitt.  Moffitt pulled out to nearly a 5 second lead over the field.  It appeared to be Moffitt's championship for the taking.  Unfortunately, Moffitt's worst nightmare came true as the caution came out with 3 laps to go, forcing NASCAR overtime.  Moffitt, in the lead, and Enfinger, having no sets of tires left, had no choice but to stay our.  For Creed and Zane Smith, the opportunity arose for them to take tires.  Zane Smith opted to take 4 tires while Sheldon Creed took 2.  The final restart was about as chaotic as it could get without causing another caution.  Moffitt and Enfinger's older tires just could not hold on to the lead.  Sheldon Creed came charging to the front with Smith right behind him.  Sheldon Creed pulled away from Smith and went on to grab the win and the championship.  It was Creed's 5th win of the season, a series best.  This is Sheldon Creed's first championship in only his second full-time season in the Truck Series.  Z. Smith, C. Smith, Eckes, Lessard, Friesen, Rhodes, Ankrum, Gilliland, and Moffitt all finished the season with a Top 10 finish.  Enfinger (13th) was the only Championship 4 driver to finish outside the Top 10.  This race was a great start to championship weekend in the desert.  Congratulations to Sheldon Creed for capturing his first NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series championship.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Letter From The Editor - ''My Personal Story, and Racing Refresh's Commitment to Motorsports Diversity."

Image
I have been a true student of motorsports since year 2000 when my uncle moved to Columbus, OH and introduced me to Big and Little E . Prior to my pursuit of racing knowledge, I have distinct memories of watching Dennis Anderson's monstrous Grave Digger, or King Kenny Bernstein's iconic Budweiser livery win countless races. I remember the rainbow assortment of Pontiac Trans-Ams race in the prestigious IROC events. I sat in amazement as the greatest racer that ever lived, Michael Schumacher won what felt like every start of his career. I always enjoyed motorsports, but it was the off-season of 2000-01 that made me crave and live for more each day.  My uncle had diecast cars that sat on shelves, each with their own story. While they were a wonderful collection, I think I assumed price tags in the millions of dollars as a child. Earnhardt's K2 , old Chevy hot rods, Busch Series this, Winston Cup Series that, he had a wonderful collection. There was one driver he highlighted to
Read more

30 Second Read: Larson Sweeps in Wine Country

Image
                              (Kyle Larson celebrates in victory lane at Sonoma Raceway)       https://twitter.com/TheLTFiles/status/1401690984358944770?s=20      Kyle Larson has found a hot streak! after his stage and race sweep of the Coca Cola 600 last weekend, the Elk Grove, California native doubles down at his home track pulling off another sensational race winning every stage plus the race win in the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. This marks his third win of the year and thus putting him in 1st in playoff seeding. This is not only Hendrick Motorsports fourth consecutive win but fourth in a row of finishing both first and second, which no team has accomplished since the 1950's. Is Larson a new favourite at road courses? with an average finish of 15.2 over 17 career starts on these types of race tracks is almost twice the average finish of teammate Chase Elliott of 8.3 who finished second to Larson. It is not far fetched to say he is a favourite given how he has excel
Read more