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In a Nutshell: Grant Enfinger scored his second victory in four races when he took the checkered flag 0.215 seconds ahead of Austin Hill Saturday afternoon (June 6) at Atlanta Motor Speedway. A lap 129 caution for Chase Elliott spinning erased a more than four-second lead Hill had built over the field and set up the overtime finish. Enfinger got a strong restart, which set up the pass and the win.
ENFINGER GETS IT DONE! @GrantEnfinger powers past @_AustinHill on the final lap to win at @amsupdates! #VetTixCampingWorld200 pic.twitter.com/y5S3cNjXTU
— NASCAR Camping World Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 6, 2020
Rookie Christian Eckes, who sat on the pole, ended up third, followed by Todd Gilliland. Rookie Zane Smith rounded out the top five with his third straight top 10.
Race Rundown:
Johnny Sauter Disqualified
When post-race inspection finished, Enfinger’s victory was confirmed, but Johnny Sauter’s 17th-place run was disqualified. The No. 13 Ford was found in violation of Section 20.16.2.f of the 2020 NASCAR Rule Book with unapproved modifications to its tires.
NEWS: Johnny Sauter's No. 13 truck disqualified for tire violation at @amsupdates.
Details: https://t.co/zs8n9e4R7Y pic.twitter.com/mmRahQiwDX
— NASCAR Camping World Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 6, 2020
NASCAR did not specify exactly what the issue was with the tire.
Truck director Brad Moran says they impound tires during the race said the Sauter team had an issue with one of the tires.
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 6, 2020
The disqualification dropped Sauter to a 40th-place finish. He also lost six spots in the point standings and is now eighth. He will not face further penalties.
No further penalties for Sauter, just the DQ. The tire failed the “dunk tank” test that checks for modifications. They chose one team from each manufacturer to take the tires. Took them from last stage.
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 6, 2020
In addition to Sauter’s issue, Eckes’ No. 18 Toyota and Timmy Hill’s No. 56 Chevrolet were each found with one loose lugnut.
Christian Eckes Matches Career-Best Finish
After drawing the pole for Atlanta, Eckes led the field to the green flag alongside Tyler Ankrum. Despite both drivers making their first laps on the mile-and-a-half oval when the green flag flew, the pair made a clean start.
Eckes held onto the top spot for 11 laps before giving it up to Kyle Busch. Eckes took it back on the restart on lap 16 before once again relinquishing it to Busch. And though he never sniffed the lead again, the driver of the No. 18 Toyota raced inside the top five and top 10 for much of the day before settling in for a third-place finish.
“We were really fast on short runs,” Eckes said after the race. “I felt like we could run with the best of them for about three or four laps, and then for whatever reason, we just weren’t good past that. Finally, this is a result we can build on – the 22nd, 23rd and 14th place finishes to start the year definitely hurt, but we finally got it turned around a little bit, and we can build on it. Hopefully, be two spots better at Homestead.”
For the No. 18 team, it’s a much-needed turnaround for a 2020 season that hadn’t started off well at all. A 22nd-place finish in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway led to a 23rd-place run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before the series took its hiatus in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. A 14th-place run at Charlotte Motor Speedway was a step in the right direction for Eckes but not the kind the team was looking for.
“We kind of had a ‘coming to Jesus’ moment in the conference room this past week just trying to figure out what we could do better,” Eckes explained. “I feel like we’ve done that and we can finally start trending some finishes together. It will be big for momentum, and that’s definitely what this sport it all about. To finish third means a lot, and it’s definitely a lot harder with a 40-car field now. Third would probably be fifth or sixth in a normal race. I’m really happy to finish here and just looking forward to the next race.”
The career-best run matches a pair of third-place finishes at Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami Speedway last season. He currently sits sixth in the driver standings after four races this season.
Quick Hits:
- Coming into the 2020 season, Enfinger had just two career wins, and he’s already doubled that number just four races in. Last year’s regular-season champion entered this year determined to show he should have made it deeper into the playoffs.
- Despite the heartbreaking runner-up finish, Hill remains the only driver to have finished inside the top 10 in all four races during the 2020 season. Sauter and Sheldon Creed were a part of that group until the Atlanta checkered flag flew. Sauter was disqualified and credited with a 40th-place finish while Creed ended up 12th.
- Back-to-back speeding penalties took a potentially race-winning Busch out of contention for the win after he had led 37 laps. He ended up 21st, one lap down.
.@KyleBusch's streak of 11 consecutive top-two finishes is over.
Today's 22nd-place finish is his worst since Pocono, 2017, placing 25th.
— Dustin Albino (el-bee-no) (@DustinAlbino) June 6, 2020
- Can we just take a moment and appreciate this four-wide pass?
FOUR-WIDE RACING AT ATLANTA! @GrantEnfinger makes a huge move in the #VetTixCampingWorld200! pic.twitter.com/9lSpCaIW7m
— NASCAR Camping World Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 6, 2020
- In case you missed it during the week, Chase Elliott revealed exactly where the $100,000 bounty he won at Charlotte Motor Speedway went.
A lot of y’all have been asking about the bounty money and what I decided to do with it, so here’s where we landed: @KevinHarvick 50k – Feed the Children Covid 19 response. @marcuslemonis and @CampingWorld 50k – 25k to the Res Cross AND 25k to @KyleBusch Foundation.
— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) June 5, 2020
Rookie Report
2020 Rookie of the Year Candidates
Tate Fogleman – No. 02 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet
Raphael Lessard – No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota
Spencer Davis – No. 11 Spencer Davis Motorsports Toyota
Zane Smith – No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet
Tanner Gray – No. 15 DGR-Crosley Ford
Christian Eckes – No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota
Derek Kraus – No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Toyota
Ty Majeski – No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet
Number of Rookies in the Race: 8
Number of Rookies finishing in the Top 10: 3; Christian Eckes, finished third; Zane Smith, finished fifth; Derek Kraus, finished seventh
Rookie of the Race: Eckes
Finally a good result for the @safelite @KBMteam. P3 at the end. Fought hard, lots of positives. Still some improvement to be done but closer. Ready for Homestead!
— Christian Eckes (@christianeckes) June 6, 2020
Up and down day. Scored some stage points, got a speeding penalty which hurt our strategy battled hard back to the front had a outside lane restart and salvaged a 5th place finish. Happy to end on a good note! Thanks @GMSRacingLLC @Lapazproducts @TeamChevy #VetTixCampingWorld200
— Zane Smith (@zanesmith77) June 6, 2020
Good run today for my @NAPARacing @ToyotaRacing Tundra! Ended up p7! Great day and I’m really looking forward to Homestead next weekend! @BMR_NASCAR
— Derek Kraus (@derek9kraus) June 6, 2020
We were on the struggle bus today. Felt like we just missed it on the balance and never got it to what we needed. I have no idea how we finished 11th but we’ll take it and move on to homestead. Proud of everyone @DGR_Crosley
— Tanner Gray (@tannergray5) June 6, 2020
Disappointing end of race for team #4 @Mobil1 | LAV Équipements | Sociétés Louis Jacques | FRL Express. We were P7 on the last restart with two laps to go. The Toyota Tundra was fast, my crew did an amazing job. Results:
➖ Stage 1: P13
➖ Stage 2: P8
➖ Stage 3 : P19 pic.twitter.com/3DERiYIJuD— Raphaël Lessard (@raphael_lessard) June 6, 2020
Ended p26. Got up to 13th and just made a wrong adjustment on pit road. We’ll rebound stronger for homestead with our notes. Gotta thank my guys for working hard along side eachother and only wanting to improve our program.
— Spencer Davis (@SpencerDavis_29) June 6, 2020
Points Update: Austin Hill maintains his spot atop the standings by a 21-point margin over Zane Smith, who moved up one position. Grant Enfinger’s victory propelled him up four spots to third. Brett Moffitt and Ben Rhodes round out the top five. Christian Eckes moves up two spots to sixth, followed by Sheldon Creed. Johnny Sauter’s disqualification dropped him six positions to eighth. Derek Kraus and Todd Gilliland, both up three spots this week, round out the top 10.
Series-regular winners this season: Grant Enfinger (Daytona, Atlanta)
Tweetable:
What a great day @amsupdates Great short run speed in our F-150, and that’s what it came down to. Thanks to everyone @ThorSportRacing @FarmPaint @ChampionPowerEQ @CurbRecords @FordPerformance @BlueSpringH2O https://t.co/xvib6PDZTO
— Grant Enfinger (@GrantEnfinger) June 6, 2020
My @Hattori_Racing guys are the best there is. They gave me a winning @ToyotaRacing Tundra and I wasn’t able to close it out on the GWC. Our time is coming we just gotta keep diggin. Bring on @HomesteadMiami #teamtoyota
— Austin Hill (@_AustinHill) June 6, 2020
Dang P4! Solid race put together by the whole team. Super proud of everyone. Restarted frontrow on a GWC couldn’t get it done. Thank you @ManningtonUSA @FordPerformance @Team_FRM can’t wait to get to @HomesteadMiami
— Todd Gilliland (@ToddGilliland_) June 6, 2020
Tough day… TV never said but we had a RF tire go down at the end after earlier contact with another truck. Tore the radiator surge tank off and was dumping all the water out. Ready to put today behind us and move on to the next one.
— Jordan Anderson (@j66anderson) June 6, 2020
Up Next: The Truck Series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway next Saturday evening, June 13, for the Baptist Health 200. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1; the race can also be heard on your local MRN affiliate or SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90.
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