GMS Racing goes 1-2 at Gateway; Carshield 200 recap
Three GMS Racing drivers battled for the win in Sunday’s Carshield 200 at Gateway, but it was Sheldon Creed who emerged victorious over teammates Brett Moffitt and Sam Mayer in the end.
Creed earned his third victory of the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season, beating Moffitt by 0.881 seconds.
Creed led 15 laps, including the final 14 laps when he passed 17-year-old teammate Sam Mayer during the final restart on lap 147.
Mayer led 24 laps and was in control on lap 147 but spun his tires, which knocked him back to fourth, his eventual finishing position. Despite not winning, Mayer’s fourth-place finish is still his best career result in the Truck Series yet, besting a 15th at Dover last weekend.
The top 10 finishers were as follows: Sheldon Creed (15 laps led), Brett Moffitt, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer (24 laps led), Stewart Friesen, Raphael Lessard, Zane Smith (45 laps led), Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski and Tanner Gray.
Todd Gilliland appeared to have the best truck of the day until an incident with 38 laps to go, involving him and Creed in turn 1, took him out of contention.
Gilliland finished 22nd after leading 76 laps, which was the most he has ever led in a Truck race. He now sits 10th in the Truck Series points, 15 points ahead of Derek Kraus for the final playoff spot.
Sunday’s Carshield 200 saw five lead changes among four drivers, including Gilliland. The race was slowed by two stage cautions and three cautions for incidents.
On lap 79, Chandler Smith spun and hit the wall in turn 1 after driving into the corner too hard underneath Ben Rhodes, bringing out the second caution. Smith finished 24th, three laps down.
On lap 126, Jennifer Jo Cobb crashed hard into the turn 2 wall after her truck appeared to have a mechanical issue. Cobb finished 31st, out of the race.
On lap 144, Carson Hocevar made contact with Austin Wayne Self in turn 1, causing Self to spin and hit the wall. On the ensuing restart, Self tried to retaliate but was unable to and eventually parked the car, finishing 30th. Hocevar finished 15th.
Playoff hopeful Johnny Sauter fell out of the race on lap 22 after a bell housing issue. Sauter entered the race 71 points outside of the playoffs and now is 101 points out after finishing 33rd.
Playoff driver Christian Eckes also encountered a broken driveshaft that took him out of the race on lap 121. Eckes finished 32nd but remains locked into the playoffs by 73 points over Derek Kraus, who is the first driver below the playoff cutline.
Austin Hill leads the regular season points standings by 28 over second-place Zane Smith and by 33 over third-place Brett Moffitt.
The next race for the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will be September 6 at Darlington Raceway (2 p.m. ET; TV: FS1).
SOURCES:
NASCAR
Racing-Reference.Info
