Grant Enfinger, driver of No. 98 for ThorSport Racing, passed his teammate Matt Crafton in the No. 88 for the lead with seven laps to go and never looked back to win the ToyotaCare 250 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series regular season finale at Richmond Raceway (Richmond).
“It was definitely a special night for us,” said Enfinger. “I feel like we are going to the playoffs with some momentum. Proud of our guys. Proud of the guys on pit road.”
Enfinger’s crew chief, Jeff Hensley, was also part of the winning team in the last Gander Trucks race at America’s Premier Short Track in 2005.
“Fifteen years apart, but at this point in my career I’ll take a streak any way and any how I can get one,” said Hensley. “The principles are still the same, but the players are different.”
Enfinger, who won the first and last race of the Gander Trucks regular season, is now tied for a series best three wins this year. He also completed his ninth top-10 finish. It was his fifth victory in 99 Gander Trucks races and first victory and top-10 finish in his series track debut at Richmond.
He led 18 of the 250 laps around the iconic ¾-mile D-shaped oval at the Action Track in the ToyotaCare 250. Enfinger beat Crafton by 1.033 seconds to the finish line.
Crafton was followed by his teammate Ben Rhodes, driver of the No. 99, to complete the 1-2-3 finish for ThorSport Racing. GMS Racing teammates Brett Moffitt in the No. 23 and Tyler Ankrum in the No. 26 finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Codie Rohrbaugh, David Ragan, polesitter Austin Hill, Timmy Hill and Stewart Friesen completed the top 10 in the ToyotaCare 250. Zane Smith won Stage 1 on Lap 70. Rhodes won Stage 2 on Lap 140.
Austin Hill, driver of the No. 16 Toyota Tundra for Hattori Racing, clinched the Gander Trucks regular season championship in the final stage.
Before the green flag waved at Richmond, six winners had already solidified their playoff spots. Sheldon Creed, along with Enfinger, led the series with three victories. Smith had two wins and Crafton, Rhodes and Austin Hill all had one to clinch playoff spots. Moffitt, Christian Eckes, Ankrum and Todd Gilliland qualified by points.
The first of three Round of 10 races will take place next Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Richmond Raceway 2020 Season
The road to the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship will lead through Richmond as America’s Premier Short Track hosts the second race of the first round of the Playoffs for the ninth annual Federated Auto Parts 400 on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. The fall Cup Series race at Richmond has run “under the lights” since 1991.
Richmond will host the Go Bowling 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Friday, Sept. 11 at 7:00 p.m. The Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 Xfinity Series race will combine with the Cup Playoff race for a doubleheader on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 2:00 p.m.
All three NASCAR races at Richmond will be televised nationally on NBCSN. The races will also air on MRN and its network of nationwide affiliates, in addition to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Richmond Raceway PR
