Grant Enfinger wins first Truck race in almost two years at Lime Rock
SALISBURY, Conn. — After a wild race at Lime Rock Park, Grant Enfinger wins his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in two years.
The 41-year-old veteran from Fairhope, Ala. wins his 13th career victory and first ever on a road course in the Truck Series.
Enfinger continues to put himself in a much better position to make the Chase this season after a rough start to the season.
The 100-lap race was chaotic all around with seven cautions and hard battles all throughout the field.
Point leader Layne Riggs won the pole for the race. 33 trucks started. Ben Rhodes and Colin Braun had to start at the rear of the field.
Race Summary
As the green flag dropped, Riggs took off and Kaden Honeycutt moved into second over Connor Mosack.
The first stage went caution free as Riggs led from flag to flag in the 30-lap stage. Honeycutt closed in on Riggs but couldn’t make a pass for the lead. Wesley Slimp also spun late in the stage but did not bring the caution out.
As the stage ended, Chandler Smith slowed as his truck broke an axle seal. Ben Maier who finished the stage in 12th had a fuel pump issue under caution and needed a push back to pit road. Maier ended up out of the race.
After stage two got underway, Riggs maintained the lead. Halfway through the stage, Graham Doyle made contact with Frankie Muniz in turn six sending him around. Doyle sustained damage to the left front of his truck.
Then while running sixth, Ty Majeski lost control into turn one and slammed hard into the tire barriers. The caution came out for the second time of the day. Smith had to return to pit road due to the mechanical issues.
Just as the green came out again, the caution flew again for a big wreck involving Landen Lewis spinning on the frontstretch. Rhodes sustained heavy damage in the wreck, ending his race. Mosack and Thomas Annunziata (who won the ARCA race) also sustained damage in the wreck. Honeycutt took the lead from Riggs on the restart.
With a three lap dash to end stage two, Honeycutt cleared Riggs and held on to win the stage.
When stage three began, multiple drivers stayed out and took the frontrunning spots amid non-competitive pit stops. Stewart Friesen became the new leader when the final stage started.
As the race restarted, Kris Wright spun exiting the Paul Newman Straight and made contact with the guardrail bringing out the caution again. Honeycutt and Riggs quickly moved up after restarting in 10th and 11th respectively.
The caution became a red flag due to fluid around the track needing to be cleaned up.
On the next restart, chaos ensued as Gio Ruggiero got into Cole Butcher sending Friesen around. Honeycutt and Riggs also spun trying to slow down to avoid Friesen. Ruggiero became the new leader.
However, another caution was thrown due to Smith coming to a stop exiting the esses. Under caution, Annunziata’s truck running in second caught fire, and smoke filled the cockpit quickly. Annunziata was reported to be “awake and alert”, but was taken to a local medical center for further evaluation.
When the green came out again, Ruggiero maintained the lead. Braun while running top five spun in the esses after contact with Butcher. No caution came out. However, Slimp and Dawson Sutton went off course in turn one a lap later and got into the barriers. Both were able to continue, but the caution came out with nine laps to go for Corey LaJoie who stopped in the esses.
The race resumed with a three-lap dash to the finish. Enfinger took the lead after Ruggiero had to block a hard charging Lewis on the restart. IndyCar regular Louis Foster then spun in the esses but got back going.
With two to go, Honeycutt spun Ruggiero, his teammate, for third in the esses. Enfinger and Lewis pulled away from the field setting up a battle for the win.
Lewis came close to getting Enfinger, but didn’t have enough for him on the last lap.
Post Race Comments
In his post race press conference, Enfinger said, “it’s been a long time, but what’s hurt worse is that it’s been few and far between when we’ve had contending speed.”
Enfinger also talked about how the last three to four weeks, the No. 9 team of CR7 Motorsports has shown more speed and talked about how the team has worked incredibly hard in-house. He also felt the team had the third best truck all day but discussed how he never lost any track position.
Enfinger also discussed how the team has had to overcome many mechanical issues throughout road races for the team, including in practice today.
He also expressed interest in racing at Lime Rock for a third time next year, based on how the local communities supported the race weekend and making it special. He wishes that it would be easier to pass though with how fun of a track Lime Rock is to drive.
Notable Finishes
Lewis scored his best career Truck Series finish with a second place run. Lewis has finished in the top ten in three of his four starts this season now. He will also be finishing the season in the No. 45 truck for Niece Motorsports.
Parker Kligerman finished fourth in the No. 77 truck for Spire Motorsports. What makes it more special is that he co-owns the track. Kligerman grew up in Connecticut making him a hometown hero to fans in attendance. He also got one of the loudest crowd applauses of the day during driver intros.
Christian Eckes finished in fifth despite still recovering from a Grade Three Lateral Sprain he’s dealt with since leaving Coronado. Eckes is still looking for his first win of the season.
Despite the late collision with Butcher, Colin Braun still made it back up to the top 10 rounding it out. Braun goes two for two with top 10 finishes in his return to NASCAR this year.
Jackson Lee finished an impressive 13th in the No. 2 for Team Reaume. This is Lee’s best finish in the series, beating out a previous best of 26th at Watkins Glen. Lee is the son of Indy NXT lead commentator Kevin Lee.
Race Results
- 9 Grant Enfinger
- 45 Landen Lewis
- 11 Kaden Honeycutt
- 77 Parker Kligerman
- 91 Christian Eckes
- 19 Daniel Hemric
- 44 Andres Perez De Lara
- 15 Tanner Gray
- 52 Stewart Friesen
- 25 Colin Braun
- 13 Cole Butcher
- 12 Brenden Queen
- 2 Jackson Lee
- 16 Justin Haley
- 26 Dawson Sutton
- 62 Wesley Slimp
- 81 Kris Wright
- 7 Connor Mosack
- 5 Graham Doyle
- 17 Gio Ruggiero
- 76 Louis Foster
- 98 Jake Garcia
- 34 Layne Riggs -1 Lap
- 14 Mini Tyrrell -1 Lap
- 18 Tyler Ankrum -2 Laps
- 33 Frankie Muniz -2 Laps
- 22 Josh Reaume -2 Laps
- 10 Corey LaJoie OUT
- 1 Thomas Annunziata OUT
- 38 Chandler Smith OUT
- 99 Ben Rhodes OUT
- 88 Ty Majeski OUT
- 42 Ben Maier OUT
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will return at North Wilkesboro on Saturday, July 18 for the FaithFest 250. There are only four races left until the start of The Chase. Riggs and Honeycutt are the first two drivers to clinch spots in The Chase.
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