In the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ return to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, it was GMS Racing’s Grant Enfinger who emerged from the chaos of an overtime restart to claim his first win of 2022 in the TSport 200 Friday, July 29.
It was the gutsy call to pit from the lead on lap 194 from crew chief Jeff Hensley that put Enfinger back in the pack with fresh tires to start the first of two NASCAR overtimes. In one lap, he cracked the top five.
Restarting from row two in the second overtime, Enfinger had to pass an aggressive Zane Smith, who himself had to muscle past John Hunter Nemechek, to claim his first win of 2022, the eighth of his career and his first since October 2020.
After entering the playoffs seeded ninth, Enfinger leaves IRP locked into the second round of the postseason.
He was 9th entering the #NASCARPlayoffs. @GrantEnfinger got it done! pic.twitter.com/rhe9ZwFoHP
— NASCAR Camping World Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) July 30, 2022
Ben Rhodes, also on fresh tires, edged out Smith for second place, with Stewart Friesen and Corey Heim completing the top five.
Tyler Ankrum scored his best result of the season in sixth, while Layne Riggs came home with a seventh-place run in his first Truck Series start.
Ty Majeski, Matt Crafton and Nemechek rounded out the top 10.
Nemechek started from pole and led every lap to win the first stage, his fourth of the season, but he had to hold off his young teammate Chandler Smith to do so.
The first caution of the evening came out early for Josh Reaume and Spencer Boyd’s fiery crash while battling at the back of the field. Reaume looped his No. 33 again 10 laps later, but the stage otherwise went caution-free.
Crafton was, as FOX’s Vince Welch described, “on the struggle bus” early. While the other 10 playoff competitors locked out nine of the top 10 positions, the three-time series champion faded outside the top 20, and not even an early pit stop for tires and adjustments could bring the No. 88 toward the front by the green-and-white checkers on lap 60.
A slide job into turn 1 gave Hocevar the race lead on the lap 71 restart, but the fast No. 23 Chevy of Enfinger soon closed in. From lap 84 to 105, the two championship contenders battled side by side, until Enfinger was finally able to make a clean move to take the race lead.
😰😰
Too close for comfort. @JHNemechek spins in front of the field and a few #NASCARPlayoff drivers. pic.twitter.com/lX09IiweI4
— NASCAR Camping…
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