After the NASCAR Xfinity Series held their race this afternoon, it was the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series turn under the lights at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Baptist Health 200. There was a possible threat of showers in the area, and NASCAR officials wanted to get this race in before the showers came. Before the race got underway, Kyle Busch (inspection failure), Tanner Gray (adjustments), Sheldon Creed (rookie mistake), all had to start in the rear of the field. Austin Hill and Christian Eckes were on the front row to take the green flag to get the race underway. NASCAR put in a competition caution on lap 15.
Truckin' under the Miami lights! 📺: FS1 📱:https://t.co/kd5eqlatOc pic.twitter.com/ICKKcMY6Ag — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 13, 2020
As the race began, Kyle Busch served his pass-through penalty on lap one. He was in the 37th position, still on the lead lap. There were no changes upfront as the competition caution came out at lap 15. Some of the lead lap trucks pitted, including Johnny Sauter from the tenth position. Other drivers that pitted were Ty Majeski, Sheldon Creed, Gray Gaulding, Kyle Busch, Spencer Boyd, Brennan Poole, Tyler Ankrum, Korbin Forrister, Codie Rohrbaugh, and Jordan Anderson. During the pit stop, Kyle Busch’s crew were busy fixing the damage on his right rear after Busch got into the wall on the seventh lap.
Austin Hill and Grant Enfinger led the field back to green on lap 20. The trucks only made it to turn four when the caution came out after Zane Smith got into the back of Chase Elliott and collected Brett Moffitt and Brennan Poole.
Spinning on the restart! @chaseelliott gets sent around and multiple contenders get collected in the aftermath. pic.twitter.com/XuKQWRhr7V — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 14, 2020
The race restarted on lap 29 with Austin Hill and Ross Chastain upfront. Both drivers did make some contact while racing for the lead. Chastain briefly got the lead before Hill took it back. Chastain made another attempt to get the lead and does as stage one was coming to a close. Chastain would go on to win stage one. Norm Benning got the free pass.
STAGE WINNER: A three-truck battle goes to @RossChastain and he wins Stage 1 at @HomesteadMiami! Leaderboard: https://t.co/KwuEGyoq4F pic.twitter.com/vhlF17rtBb — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 14, 2020
Some of the lead lap cars pitted, including Austin Hill for four tires and fuel. Those that pitted on lap 17 stayed out. That included Brennan Poole, Kyle Busch, and Ty Majeski. Christian Eckes and Ty Majeski were on the front row to take the green flag for the start of stage two. Kyle Busch made his way up to second after restarting ninth while Austin Hill was third after restarting 11th.
.@KyleBusch didn't need long to overcome his early penalties. He leads the #BaptistHealth200 after these big moves. pic.twitter.com/4sj5LSwI5S — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 14, 2020
Kyle Busch got the lead on lap 39 from Christian Eckes. Eckes would also lose the second position to Austin Hill. On lap 56, Matt Crafton got into the wall with a flat tire and came down to pit road. Busch did not have any challengers as he went on to win stage two.
STAGE WINNER: @KyleBusch gets another one! He's the #BaptistHealth200 Stage 2 winner. Leaderboard: https://t.co/KwuEGyoq4F pic.twitter.com/8paSgI5MXw — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 14, 2020
Everyone came down to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. Kyle Busch would win the race off of pit road with Ross Chastain second. Grant Enfinger remained on pit road as his crew continued to work on the right front fender.
On the restart at lap 67, Christian Eckes got loose from the third position and dropped to tenth. Four laps into the restart, another caution was waved after Brannen Poole tagged the wall from the twelfth position. Matt Crafton got the free pass. The only trucks to pit under caution were Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, and Spencer Boyd.
Busch, along with Hill, would lead the field back to the restart on lap 75. After spinning earlier in the race, Chase Elliott restarted in the fifth position. Elliott would scrape the wall, dropping three spots to the eighth position. Scheduled green flag stops began on lap 93 as Ben Rhodes was the first one pitting from the seventh position. A couple of laps later, Austin Hill, Kyle Busch, Stewart Friesen, Ross Chastain all pitted.
Christian Eckes, Matt Crafton, Brennan Poole, and Tyler Ankrum were the top four and did not pit. A lap later, Poole and Ankrum would pit, leaving Eckes and Crafton as the only ones left not to pit. Meanwhile, those with new tires were catching them as Kyle Busch had now driven up to third place.
Korbin Forrister would bring out the sixth caution of the race for an incident on turn four. Most of the lead lap trucks pitted, but Chase Elliott and Grant Enfinger stayed out. While under caution, Sheldon Creed made a last-second decision to pit but would end up hitting barrels causing a huge mess at the beginning of pit road. The race would then go under a red flag to clean up the mess. He stated that his crew chief called him to pit road to late, and he could not slow down fast enough.
Missed it by THAAAAAAT much … pic.twitter.com/ZO0adCQ0rV — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 14, 2020
When the red flag was lifted, Enfinger would come to pit road for four tires and fuel. The race restarted on lap 111 with Elliott choosing the outside lane putting Busch on the inside. His decision did not work as Busch got the lead from Elliott, and Elliott fell to tenth. Ben Rhodes nearly lost his truck and made an incredible save to keep it under green. With about ten laps to go, Jordan Anderson brought out the seventh caution of the night, making contact with the turn two wall.
Is this the break @chaseelliott needs to get the win? The caution is out in the #BaptistHealth200! pic.twitter.com/8r4jLa9Hoo — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 14, 2020
All of the lead lap truck pitted with Kyle Busch winning the race off of pit road. He elected the outside lane putting Austin Hill on the inside. As the race resumed on lap 128, Ross Chastain made it three-wide for the lead, but Busch had momentum on the outside to maintain the lead.
Three-wide for the lead! pic.twitter.com/Sy3Er0DeQq — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 14, 2020
Once Busch got out in front, the race was over as he stretched the lead and went on to win the Baptist Health 200 by 2.847 seconds over the second-place finisher Tyler Ankrum.
CHECKERED FLAG: @KyleBusch starts in the back and finishes in the front! He wins at @HomesteadMiami! Results: https://t.co/KwuEGyoq4F pic.twitter.com/qymYlw3Zxu — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 14, 2020
The rest of the top ten finishers were Ross Chastain third, Chase Elliott fourth, Johnny Sauter fifth, Todd Gilliland sixth, Austin Hill seventh, Christian Eckes eighth, Matt Crafton ninth, and Ty Majeski tenth. There were eight lead changes and seven cautions for a total of 34 laps.
The truck series will return on June 27th from Pocono Raceway for the Pocono Organics 150 to benefit Farm Aid at 12:30 pm on FS1.
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