The Round of 8 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series continued Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway’s SpeedyCash.com 400. Sheldon Creed won the pole by a metric qualifying system, with his teammate Brett Moffitt starting second. The “Choose Cone Rule” was back for this race, and no trucks went to the rear of the field.
Another chance to secure your #Championship4 spot. Buckle up! We're racing at @TXMotorSpeedway on FS1 and at https://t.co/kd5eqlatOc! pic.twitter.com/GTgohD2udz — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 25, 2020
Creed led the first 31 laps before the first caution came out for Tim Veins getting into the wall at turn four that would end stage one going to Sheldon Creed. During the caution, everyone went to pit road with Creed and Austin Hill, the first two trucks off of pit road. Creed chose the inside lane with Hill outside to start stage two on lap 41.
A lap into stage two, Clay Greenfield spun and made contact with the outside wall on turn two to bring out the second caution. The red flag would be displayed a short time later to for clean-up. He got out of his car and was taken to the infield care center, where he was treated and released. The red flag lasted six minutes before the race could resume. During the caution, Tyler Ankrum went to pit road to make adjustments to the front suspension.
A hard impact for @claygreenfield has us under the red flag at @TXMotorSpeedway. 📺: FS1 | 📲: https://t.co/kd5eqlatOc pic.twitter.com/wS3ThnD18Q — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 25, 2020
Creed chose the outside lane with Ben Rhodes inside for the restart on lap 49. The restart only lasted three laps before Tate Fogleman spun at turn four to bring out the third caution. Once again, Creed chose the outside lane with Matt Crafton inside for the restart on lap 58. Crafton tried to take the lead, but Creed slammed the door shut. Creed remained in the lead for seven more laps before Crafton passed him on the inside of turn three to take the lead.
The first challenge today for @sheldoncreed comes from @Matt_Crafton! He goes to the race lead at @TXMotorSpeedway! pic.twitter.com/Qjp7dXvMuN — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 25, 2020
Crafton led the last five laps to win stage two, his first stage win of the season. During the caution, everyone went to pit road with Crafton and Creed the first two off of pit road. Crafton chose the outside lane while Creed went inside to start the final stage on lap 78. Creed got a great jump to take first while Crafton fell to second. On lap 92, a puff of smoke came out of Grant Enfinger’s truck to bring out the caution for the fifth time. Enfinger’s day was done and would finish in 32nd place.
Massive #NASCARPlayoffs implications for @GrantEnfinger! His truck goes up in smoke at @TXMotorSpeedway! pic.twitter.com/jTtawyZ1IM — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 25, 2020
During the caution, everyone went to pit road with Derek Kraus and Sheldon Creed, the first two trucks off of pit road. Kraus chose the outside lane with Creed inside for the restart in lap 97. The restart lasted nine laps before Todd Gilliland and Ben Rhodes, who were both fighting for fifth place, made contact. Gilliland slammed the outside wall at turn one hard and brought out the sixth caution of the day.
No one's giving an inch in #NLTX. 😬@ToddGilliland_ hits the wall hard after contact with @benrhodes. pic.twitter.com/6o6wIfcg0r — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 25, 2020
During the caution, Kraus and Dylan Lupton were the only trucks to pit. Creed chose the outside with Crafton inside for the restart on lap 113. Stewart Friesen passed Crafton for second on the same lap. The restart lasted four laps before Chandler Smith spun, hitting the outside wall at turn two to bring out the day’s seventh caution. Smith blamed Tanner Gray for the incident and let him know how he felt.
.@CSmithDrive is not too happy. 🤬 pic.twitter.com/IXUYpROOBh — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 25, 2020
During the caution, Smith was the only driver to go to pit road. However, he had to come back to pit road when his left rear tire detached from the truck. Creed chose the outside lane with Friesen inside for the restart on lap 123. Three laps into the restart, Friesen drove under Creed and nearly made contact with Creed to take the lead. Creed would lose the second spot to Johnny Sauter three laps later. A lap later, Sauter and Friesen got together fighting for the lead on the backstretch to bring out the eighth caution.
THE LEADERS CRASH!!!@JohnnySauter gets loose and collects @StewartFriesen! pic.twitter.com/b0zuVJ8RsD — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 25, 2020
During the caution, Tyler Ankrum had stopped on the track and had to be pushed to pit road. Creed chose the inside lane with Moffitt outside for the restart on lap 136. Creed got a great push from Hill for the lead while Ben Rhodes moved to second after restarting fourth. Rhodes challenged Creed for the lead three laps later but got loose and fell back to fourth. Rhodes took out Christian Eckes on the front stretch to bring out the tenth caution with two laps to go, sending the race to overtime.
.@_AustinHill takes the lead as @christianeckes wrecks behind the leaders! We'll have NASCAR Overtime at @TXMotorSpeedway! pic.twitter.com/Zc2SzKe7jp — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 25, 2020
Creed chose the inside lane with Austin Hill outside to start overtime on lap 151. Hill did inch ahead of Creed at turn three, but Brett Moffitt gave Creed a push to put him ahead of Hill. Creed would hold off Hill to win the race by .131 seconds to punch his ticket to the final four playoffs at Phoenix. After the race, Ben Rhodes explained why he took out Eckes.
The restart that sealed the chance at a title for @sheldoncreed. Retweet to congratulate the @GMSRacingLLC driver on his victory at @TXMotorSpeedway! pic.twitter.com/hpHmjf8NxL — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 25, 2020
"… these guys in the @KBMteam trucks just run over everybody and race with no respect." Strong words from @benrhodes after an eventful day at @TXMotorSpeedway. pic.twitter.com/xO6KKcCRLu — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 25, 2020
The rest of the top ten finishers were Zane Smith third, Raphael Lessard fourth, Brett Moffitt fifth, Matt Crafton sixth, Austin Wayne Self seventh, Dylan Lupton eighth, Derek Kraus ninth, and Tanner Gray tenth. There were ten cautions for 49 laps and fourteen lead changes.
Round of 8 playoff standings is Brett Moffitt first (1 win), Sheldon Creed second (1 win), Austin Hill third (+27), and Zane Smith fourth (+12). Outside looking in are Matt Crafton fifth (-12), Grant Enfinger sixth (-42), Ben Rhodes seventh (-45), and Tyler Ankrum eighth (-79). The Round 8 playoffs conclude next Friday, October 30th, from Martinsville Speedway’s NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at 8 pm on FS1.
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