YouTube download / NASCAR video / Highlights of the final laps of the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Race - 21st Annual NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, in Daytona Beach, Florida.
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Grant Enfinger held off charging Jordan Anderson on the final lap of overtime to win the NextEra Energy 250 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race Friday night under the lights at Daytona International Speedway.
The margin of victory was a mere .010 seconds.
Enfinger put himself in a position to win following a big wreck on Lap 98 of a scheduled 100 took out his teammate, Ben Rhodes, and a dozen other drivers.
Enfinger had the lead for a restart on Lap 105, but Anderson made a move to the outside and briefly took the lead. But Enfinger steered his No. 98 Ford to the right, hitting Anderson’s No. 3 Chevrolet and breaking his momentum just enough to get to the finish line with two feet to spare.
"It’s an unbelievable feeling," said Enfinger, who broke a 28-race winless streak in the series. "It’s the 100th win for Ford in the series–unbelievable for them. God’s blessed us with a great opportunity to come out here and pull it off tonight."
Grant Enfinger, shown here celebrating after the race, put himself in a position to win following a big wreck on Lap 98 of a scheduled 100 took out his teammate, Ben Rhodes, and a dozen other drivers.
Enfinger had the lead for a restart on Lap 105, but Anderson made a move to the outside and briefly took the lead. But Enfinger steered his No. 98 Ford to the right, hitting Anderson’s No. 3 Chevrolet and breaking his momentum just enough to get to the finish line with two feet to spare.
"It’s an unbelievable feeling," said Enfinger, who broke a 28-race winless streak in the series. "It’s the 100th win for Ford in the series–unbelievable for them. God’s blessed us with a great opportunity to come out here and pull it off tonight."
Codie Rohrbaugh took third .070 seconds back, followed by rookie Derek Kraus and Natalie Decker, whose fifth-place finish was the highest ever by a female driver in the truck series.
Enfinger said the "biggest thing is we had a really good F-150 to do it with," adding, "I made a mistake there with about 20 to go and got hung up there in the sucker hole. I pulled up in front of Ben (Rhodes) too late, and it was either going to wreck me or put me in the middle, and that’s what happened."
With less than five laps left, "it was time to go." Enfinger stressed. "We were able to get up in the third groove and make some stuff happen and get the lead during that last big wreck."
Enfinger, who led a race-high 41 laps, won both the second stage and the race.
Still, Anderson was ecstatic with his runner-up status - the first Top 5 of his 102-race Gander Trucks career. Anderson could barely contain his excitement as he watched the replay on pit road.
"Grant, Grant, what are you doing door-slamming me man?" Anderson said with a laugh as the video rolled. "I came here in 2015 and emptied my bank account to try to come down here and run. To be in a position to even go for a win at Daytona, man, I’m a kid that just wanted to go racing from South Carolina…
"I thought we set him up good. We tried to follow Ross (Chastain) there and push him. I know he got loose, and I got up on Grant’s bumper there in (Turn) 4 and got a good run. It was like NASCAR Thunder 2003 all over again. I’m like, ‘God, I can do this!’ And I pushed him out of the way, and I thought we had it."
It didn't take long for the race's first big crash.
With five laps left in the first stage, Todd Gilliland’s Ford sent the Chevrolet of Tate Fogleman sliding out of control as the field entered Turn 1.
Fogleman’s Silverado slammed into the Chevrolet of Austin Wayne Self, collecting the No. 45 of Ty Majeski in the process. Majeski’s Chevrolet tipped over, and the truck slid on its roof through Turn 1, the contact between the sheet metal and asphalt causing a shower of sparks.
NASCAR red-flagged the race while the emergency crew righted the truck, enabling Majeski to climb out.
"It’s just unfortunate," Majeski said after leaving the infield care center. "It’s just a product of this (super-speedway) racing… It wasn’t a good feeling (hanging upside-down). I’m not hurt, thankfully—just my pride. It’s all good. We’ll live to race another day and go get ‘em next weekend."
It didn't take long for the first big crash.
With five laps left in the first stage, Todd Gilliland’s Ford sent the Chevrolet of Tate Fogleman sliding out of control as the field entered Turn 1.
Fogleman’s Silverado slammed into the Chevrolet of Austin Wayne Self, collecting the No. 45 of Ty Majeski in the process. Majeski’s Chevrolet tipped over, and the truck slid on its roof through Turn 1, the contact between the sheet metal and asphalt sending a shower of sparks.
NASCAR red-flagged the race while the emergency crew righted the truck, enabling Majeski to climb out.
"It’s just unfortunate," Majeski said after leaving the infield care center. "It’s just a product of this (super-speedway) racing… It wasn’t a good feeling (hanging upside-down). I’m not hurt, thankfully—just my pride. It’s all good. We’ll live to race another day and go get ‘em next weekend."
The fiery action-filled race featured three wrecks of nine trucks or more, the last of which set up the overtime finish.
Austin Hill, Johnny Sauter, Chastain, Sheldon Creed and Jason White completed the top 10.
The National Weather Service out of Melbourne had predicted a 30 percent chance of rain Friday night. Despite the thick clouds, the threat of rain never materialized.
Photo for Headline Surfer / Natalie Decker, 22, of Eagle River, Wisc., and driver of the No. 44 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports, and shown here in a post-race interview with FOX Sports, finished Friday night's race in fifth place, the highest ever by a female driver in the truck series.