Enfinger bests Austin Hill in OT for Atlanta Truck win

Kyle Busch appeared head to another series win but self-destructed in the final stage with multiple pit road speeding penalties, which left Austin Hill in command of Saturday’s race as it wound to a close.

Chase Elliott spun out with two laps left in regulation to send the race into a two-lap overtime. Enfinger, who restarted fifth, kept pace with Hill on the restart and powered around him on the outside on the final lap to secure the victory.

The win is the second of the season for Enfinger, who also won the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. It’s the fourth win of his career.

“We didn’t have the best truck on the long run, but we had the best truck on the short run, I feel like,” Enfinger said. “It’s just been a special weekend. Congratulations to my grandparents who are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary – sorry we couldn’t be there. This one is for them.

“Just an incredible turn of events there. We had the short-run speed and that’s what it came down to. This one means a lot.

“Duke and Rhonda Thorson kept everything going, kept everybody employed with a paycheck through this pandemic to hopefully put ourselves in a good position when we went back racing. Thank you to them.”

Saturday’s race was the second in the Truck series since NASCAR resumed racing without fans on May 17.

Christian Eckes finished third, Todd Gilliland fourth and Zane Smith completed the top-five. Busch ended up 22nd.

With 50 laps remaining in the race, Ross Chastain was working hard to keep Busch at bay. Busch had restarted the final stage on fresh tires and had set a blistering pace through the field.

On Lap 85, Busch – with 10-lap fresher tires than Chastain – finally got around him to move back into the race lead.

A final round of green-flag pit stops began with 36 laps to go. Busch came in as the race leader but was penalized for speeding on pit road and had to serve a pass-through penalty. Elliott also seemed to miss the entrance to pit road on his first attempt.

Busch sped again when serving his penalty and was forced to make a stop-and-go penalty the second time.

Once the cycle of stops was complete, Hill emerged as the leader followed by Chastain and Gilliland.

On Lap 107, Busch was forced to pit road again, this time for a flat tire.

With 20 laps to go, Hill held about a 2-second lead over Chastain with Gilliland in third. On Lap 114, Elliott moved into third.

With two laps remaining, Elliott – who was running third – spun around off Turn 2 to bring out a caution and send the race into a two-lap overtime.

All the lead-lap trucks elected to pit and Hill was the first off pit road. On the restart in overtime, Hill led the way followed by Gilliland, Eckes, Smith and Enfinger.

NASCAR officials disqualified Johnny Sauter's No. 13 Ford following Saturday's Truck race after it failed post-race inspection. Sauter was found to have unapproved modifications to his tires. The penalty moves Sauter from a 17th-place finish in the race to last in the 40-truck field.

Stage 2

Busch claimed the Stage 2 win after getting a jump on a restart with four laps to go and holding off Enfinger.

Kraus was third, Chastain fourth and Gilliland rounded out the top-five.

Following the break between Stage 1 and 2, most of the lead-lap trucks elected to pit but Smith stayed out and inherited the lead. Elliott was the first off pit road.

Both Sauter and Chastain were penalized for speeding on pit road and had to restart from the rear of the field. On the restart on Lap 38, Smith was followed by Elliott, Busch and Sheldon Creed.

Elliott quickly got around Smith on the restart to take the lead for the first time in the race.

On Lap 48, Busch and Elliott swapped the lead with Elliott earning back a small advantage with 9 laps remaining in the second stage.

On Lap 51, Austin Wayne Self spun around exiting Turn 4 and ended up stopped in the middle of the track to bring out a caution.

Many lead-lap trucks pit but Busch stayed out. Creed, Smith and Cory Roper all sped on pit road and had to restart from the rear of the field. On the restart on Lap 57, Busch led the way followed by Gilliland and Hill.

Stage 1

Busch held off a fast-approaching Elliott to take the Stage 1 win.

Eckes finished third, Smith was fourth and Hill rounded out the top-five.

Eckes, who started on the pole, led the first lap until the race was put under caution on Lap 2 when Bryan Dauzat spun on the backstretch.

The race returned to green on Lap 6 with Eckes out front followed by Enfinger and Brett Moffitt.

On Lap 12, Busch got around Eckes off Turn 2 to grab the lead for the first time. Shortly afterward, Dauzat spun again on the backstretch to bring out another caution. Jeb Burton received some damage from the incident.

NASCAR decided to utilize this caution as its competition caution. Most lead-lap trucks elected to remain on the track. On the restart on Lap 17 Busch led the way followed by Eckes and Moffitt.

Eckes quickly powered back into the lead on the restart as Moffitt moved into second.

With 10 laps remaining in the first stage, Eckes had built a 1.3-second lead over Moffitt, but Busch reclaimed second place with nine laps to go.

With 8 laps remaining, Busch reclaimed the lead from Eckes.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Laps Led
1	98	Grant Enfinger	Ford	136		7
2	16	Austin Hill	Toyota	136	0.215	36
3	18	Christian Eckes	Toyota	136	0.716	18
4	38	Todd Gilliland	Ford	136	0.934
5	21	Zane Smith	Chevrolet	136	1.139	5
6	42	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	136	1.196	17
7	19	Derek Kraus	Toyota	136	1.758
8	23	Brett Moffitt	Chevrolet	136	2.098
9	99	Ben Rhodes	Ford	136	2.289
10	52	Stewart Friesen	Toyota	136	3.038
11	15	Tanner Gray	Ford	136	3.326
12	88	Matt Crafton	Ford	136	3.386
13	40	Ryan Truex	Chevrolet	136	4.497
14	2	Sheldon Creed	Chevrolet	136	4.906
15	26	Tyler Ankrum	Chevrolet	136	4.913
16	44	Jeb Burton	Chevrolet	136	6.348
17	13	Johnny Sauter	Ford	136	6.747
18	30	Brennan Poole	Toyota	136	7.231
19	4	Raphael Lessard	Toyota	136	9.052
20	45	Ty Majeski	Chevrolet	135	1 lap
21	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	135	1 lap	16
22	51	Kyle Busch	Toyota	135	1 lap	37
23	56	Timmy Hill	Chevrolet	135	1 lap
24	04	Cory Roper	Ford	135	1 lap
25	8	John Hunter Nemechek	Ford	135	1 lap
26	11	Spencer Davis	Toyota	134	2 laps
27	68	Clay Greenfield	Toyota	134	2 laps
28	20	Spencer Boyd	Chevrolet	134	2 laps
29	00	Angela Ruch	Toyota	134	2 laps
30	7	Korbin Forrister	Toyota	134	2 laps
31	22	Austin Wayne Self	Chevrolet	132	4 laps
32	02	Tate Fogleman	Chevrolet	132	4 laps
33	49	Bayley Currey	Chevrolet	131	5 laps
34	9	Codie Rohrbaugh	Chevrolet	130	6 laps
35	33	Gray Gaulding	Toyota	129	7 laps
36	97	Jesse Little	Chevrolet	127	9 laps
37	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Chevrolet	109	27 laps
38	3	Jordan Anderson	Chevrolet	95	41 laps
39	83	TJ Jr	Chevrolet	53	83 laps
40	28	Bryan Dauzat	Chevrolet	4	132 laps