(Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
By Aaron Bearden
Post-race review and analysis from the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Who Won?
Chase Elliott. He fended Kyle Busch off to claim a win in his first Truck start in three years.
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Bounty claimed.
Chase Elliott continued his eventful week with Kyle Busch with a strong drive in Tuesday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200, fending off the hard-charging Nevadan in the closing stages to score a win in his first NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series start since 2017.
The victory ended a seven-race win streak for Busch in the series, a reign of terror that prompted NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and Marcus Lemonis, chairman and CEO of the tour’s sponsor, to put up $50,000 apiece for any Cup driver that could top Busch in a Truck prior to the pandemic. While the bounty was shifted to a charitable donation to the winner’s COVID-19 relief program of choice, it remained as an incentive for Cup stars eager to beat Busch when NASCAR returned.
“It was a lot of fun,” Elliott told the FS1 broadcast. “It’d been a long time. It doesn’t make up for Sunday (finished second in the Coca-Cola 600) but it was still a really good night. I’m glad to win and do some good for the relief efforts for this virus.”
Elliott and Busch have yet to win a Cup race since NASCAR’s return, but they’ve each dominated headlines.
The two were competing for second behind Denny Hamlin, who was on older tires at the time, in the closing stages at Darlington Raceway when Busch mistakenly turned Elliott into the inside wall, ending the Georgian’s day and prompting him to send Busch a middle finger as he drove by. Busch talked with Elliott and apologized shortly thereafter and the two seemingly left NASCAR’s first week back on good terms.
Four days later Elliott found himself rolling to victory at the Coca-Cola 600 when a caution in the final two laps changed the outcome of the race. His No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team brought him to pit road and Elliott ultimately lost because of it, with Brad Keselowski winning after staying out in second.
He climbed out of his car frustrated, holding his hands to his head. Moments later he felt a tap on his back.
It was Busch, who came to comfort Elliott and discuss a type of loss he’d experienced himself in the past.
Busch dominated the airwaves on Monday, scoring his 97th Xfinity Series win in a dramatic overtake of Austin Cindric on the final lap. But Tuesday provided a different challenge thanks to the bounty. Elliott, John Hunter Nemechek and Brennan Poole all entered with hopes of securing the $100,000 bonus.
Elliott ultimately managed the feat, holding off Busch after the defending Cup champion’s up-and-down day. Early setup issues brought him to pit road multiple times, costing Busch track position. A fateful decision to stay out as others pitted late in the race forced Busch to pit with few others on a later caution, trapping him deep in the field.
He mounted a strong comeback to second in the closing laps but couldn’t get to Elliott before the checkered flag flew.
“We were out in left field the whole night, never really had a great feel for the truck, a great-driving truck, and just salvaged what I could,” Busch said of his run.
While Busch processed his near-misss, Elliott celebrated his third win in 13 Truck starts on the front stretch. The second-generation star climbed out of his No. 24 Chevrolet and went through the usual post-race interview and festivities.
Then he did something unexpected. Elliott looked at FOX Sports’ tv camera, checkered flag in hand, and performed Busch’s trademark bow.
— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) May 27, 2020
“Imitation is the strongest form of flattery or I don’t know what it is,” Busch said upon learning about the move. “But that’s cute.”
Elliott claimed the move was unplanned and made in jest.
“It was just a spur of the moment thing,” he said. “I thought we’ve had so much fun with it with Kevin (Harvick) and putting up the money, Kyle was a good sport about it.
“It was not a dig at anybody, just having fun with it. It was about beating him and we did, so why not have some fun with it?”
Tuesday’s win won’t matter greatly in the scheme of things for Elliott, now in his fifth year of Cup competition. It won’t erase the sting of the two close losses he had in the six days prior. But it was a nice way to sweeten up what had been a difficult week.
“It doesn’t make up for Sunday by any means,” he said. “But it was a fun night.”
Zane Smith’s breakout performance
His run may have been overshadowed a bit by the two Cup stars and bounty won ahead of him, but Zane Smith showed strong promise in just his fourth Truck Series start.
The GMS Racing newcomer started back in 30th as a result of the random draw for the Tuesday night showdown but quickly worked his way through the field to join his teammates and battle within the top-10. The rookie scored a third-place finish in Stage 1, led the field to the green flag in Stage 2 and ran inside the top-10 for the majority of the race’s final two stages.
In Stage 3, Smith emerged as a bonafide contender. He ran inside of the top-five and even took Kyle Busch and former Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter three-wide for second in the final 30 laps, diving to the apron in a successful move for the position.
We'd like to introduce you to @zanesmith77.
"What a veteran move!"- @MW55 pic.twitter.com/xyJAFtmgEZ
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 27, 2020
Smith couldn’t catch Chase Elliott and Busch ultimately passed him back for a second, but the rookie held on to third, leading all series regulars when the checkered flag flew.
“Tonight was an awesome night,” Smith said afterward. “Thank you GMS, they gave me an awesome truck right off the hauler. I was worried tonight starting 30th, that I wouldn’t be able to get to the front. I was worried about not getting stage points, but I think we finished the first stage third and the second stage seventh and then ended up third overall behind Chase and Kyle.
“Congrats to Chase, that’s cool for him and GMS Racing. I don’t know how much money is on the line, but I know it’s a good bit. To finish third to those two is hard to hang your head about.”
Smith’s run placed him second of five GMS entries in the field, following Elliott in one of the Georgian’s rare starts. Brett Moffitt finished just behind Smith in fourth, Sheldon Creed followed in fifth and Tyler Ankrum finished a short jog back in ninth.
The result was a name-making performance that elevated Smith’s name and showed that he is capable of fitting in with the best of NASCAR’s third tour.
After a strong four-win ARCA Menards Series season in 2018, Smith had a quiet year in 2019. The Californian made 10 Xfinity Series starts for JR Motorsports with relative success, tallying two top-fives and seven top-10s in the stretch, with a 10.3 average finish and only one DNF.
The runs showed promise, but with limited starts and no wins Smith flew under the radar heading into 2020. He signed with GMS Racing to make a run at the Truck Series championship, and while he hadn’t made waves in the opening two races, Smith arrived at Charlotte with respectable runs of 11th at Daytona International Speedway and sixth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Smith’s third-place effort on Tuesday lifted him from quiet success to the potential for a breakout. He sits tied for second in the standings heading into the next race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with an average finish of 6.7 in his first three runs with GMS Racing.
Other Notes
- Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott combined to claim the stage wins. With Elliott taking the overall victory, that means Daytona winner Grant Enfinger is still the only driver to score any playoff points in the early Truck season.
- Tuesday’s race was the first this year to feature a 40-truck field after NASCAR made concessions to allow more entrants without qualifying being held. The 47-truck entry list was the largest the tour has seen since a trip to Mansfield Motorsports Park in 2004, causing drivers like Erik Jones, Parker Kligerman and Norm Benning to miss out.
- Of those 40 trucks in the field, 35 made it to the finish. There were no incident-related cautions until the final stage, when a rash of accidents unraveled from Lap 80 through Lap 102.
- Todd Gilliland was in contention for a top-10 despite suffering early damage when contact with John Hunter Nemechek sent him into the outside wall and brought his night to an early end in 37th.
- Speaking of Nemechek, he was the top non-Elliott bounty contender in sixth at race’s end. Brennan Poole ended the night 38th after getting caught in separate incidents involving Jesse Iwuji and Natalie Decker.
- It wasn’t a good day for a pair of Championship 4 contenders from last year. Stewart Friesen got caught in a crash and finished 30th, while mechanical issues relegated Matt Crafton to 35th at race’s end. The result tied the worst of Crafton’s career, joining similar finishes at Mansfield (2007) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway (2005).
- Two days removed from a win in South Alabama Speedway’s Rattler 250, Ty Majeski rolled to his first Truck Series top-10 with Niece Motorsports. Majeski finished eighth after a consistent night.
- Tuesday’s race was Busch’s third in as many days, and he’ll run his fourth in Wednesday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. Also accomplishing the feat is Timmy Hill, who finished 22nd for his own team in the Truck Series.
