(Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
By Aaron Bearden
Post-race review and analysis from the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors race at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Who Won?
Grant Enfinger. The Alabamian drove by Austin Hill on a two-lap sprint to score his second win of 2020
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Capitalizing on opportunities
Grant Enfinger put his growth in display in a two-lap shootout at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
He didn’t have the best truck. In fact, the Alabamian hadn’t led a lap prior to NASCAR Overtime. But he surged when it counted most to steal a win in Georgia.
Enfinger restarted fifth for the final two-lap sprint, well behind race leader Austin Hill.
Prior to a caution for a spinning Chase Elliott with three laps to go, Hill was cruising to a home track win on a lengthy green-flag run. But his No. 16 Toyota wasn’t strong on short runs, so the final caution left him vulnerable to a late overtake.
After a strong jump through the opening corners, Enfinger rose outside of Hill heading to the white flag, powered by him on the final lap and drove off to an unexpected win.
“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.”
The victory was a major moment for Enfinger, symbolic of his maturation as a driver in five years of Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series competition.
Prior to 2020 Enfinger had struggled to find consistent paths to victory, earning just two wins in 77 starts despite leading 524 laps along the way. He won the regular season title in 2019, but failed to find victory lane and dropped out of title contention early when he had few playoff points to cushion the blow of a difficult opening round.
The 35-year-old has flipped the script early in his fourth full-time season, claiming two wins in just four races in dramatic fashion. Enfinger’s first triumph of the year came in a side-scraping battle to the line at Daytona International Speedway, where he snatched victory away from Jordan Anderson in the final hundred yards.
On Saturday it was Hill being denied, losing out on an emotional home track triumph in his second year with Hattori Racing.
“I’m sure when I go back and watch the race, I’m going to look at all the different things I could have done differently for that not to happen,” Hill said.
“I saw the 98 was getting a run on me down the backstretch, but we had been so good on the bottom all day at the line that I didn’t really want to give that up, and he was able to get to my quarter on entry to Three.
“Maybe I could have protected the outside line more or made my truck just a little bit wider; but I just think when we go back to the drawing board, maybe I could have said something different to (crew chief) Scott (Zipadelli) and the guys to maybe have a little better truck on that short run.”
The narrow defeat was a heartbreaker for Hill, who made his name at Atlanta in Bandoleros and Legend Cars.
“They’re always tough to swallow when you know you know that you’re that good and end up second,” Hill said. “But that being my hometown, this is one of the race tracks I’ve wanted to win at since I was a little kid racing here when I was eight years old racing on the front stretch. It hurts and it’s really frustrating, but we’ll keep digging.
Hill proved capable of accomplishing what Enfinger had struggled to do in his first year with a top team, claiming four of 23 races in 2019. But on Saturday it was Enfinger that led the way, swapping roles and surging to an surprising win – one he quickly thanked his team owners for.
“Duke and Rhonda Thorson kept everything going, kept everybody employed with a paycheck going through this pandemic, to hopefully put ourselves in a good position when we went back racing,” he said.
Two races in, ThorSport Racing’s effort to be in a good position is bearing fruit for the No. 98 team.
Domination gone awry
Before Austin Hill and Grant Enfinger’s late battle, Saturday’s show appeared poised to be another episode of the Kyle Busch show.
Try as they might, the field couldn’t keep up with the Nevadan. Busch was just too fast.
Thankfully for all involved, that also proved true on pit road
Busch was leading the way when the time for his final planned pit stop arrived with 35 laps to go. He dove to pit road, underwent what seemed to be a standard stop and quietly rejoined the field.
Moments after returning to the track Busch was informed of a speeding penalty sustained on pit road. He then found himself slapping the outside wall while trying to dodge the damaged truck of Jordan Anderson.
The damage slowed Busch down, and a second speeding penalty while serving his first one killed what little hope the Nevadan still had for a good result.
He ultimately proved to be a non-factor in the run to the checkered flag, finishing a lap behind the leaders in 21st.
Chase Elliott would have been poised to replace Busch at the front of the field, but the Georgian missed pit road and lost track position during the final round of stops. He attempted to make up ground and rose to third in the closing laps, but in doing so burned through his tires.
Elliott ultimately crashed with just three laps remaining, causing the race-altering caution prior to a 15th-place finish.
Ross Chastain was the lone remaining contender outside of Truck Series regulars, but the Floridian had to pit twice prior to NASCAR Overtime for what appeared to be a loose wheel, knocking him out of contention.
That left only Truck Series regulars remaining at race’s end, with Enfinger taking advantage for his second win of 2020.
Other Notes
- Todd Gilliland put together a quiet, consistent drive to tally his first top-five with Front Row Motorsports. The Ford prospect sat second for the final restart, but settled for fourth after dropping in the unfavorable outside lane.
- Christian Eckes made a late rise to third to tie his career-best finish for Kyle Busch Motorsports. While his teammate Raphael Lessard has struggled early on, Eckes sits firmly inside of the playoff grid heading into the summer months.
- Zane Smith rallied for a fifth-place finish at race’s end, scoring his third top-five in five career starts. Smith sits second to Austin Hill in the points after four races.
- Johnny Sauter’s bad day turned worse in the aftermath of Saturday’s race. The veteran’s 17th-place finish was relegated to 40th after his team was DNQ’ed for a post-race tire violation.
- Heartbreak aside, Austin Hill is the only series regular with top-10s in each 2020 start so far. That’s helped the Georgian maintain the points lead
