The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series made a stop to Michigan International Speedway Friday afternoon for the Henry Ford Health Systems 200. Chandler Smith was the pole-sitter for this race, along with Brett Moffitt, to make up the front row. NASCAR implemented the choose rule that will allow the drivers to pick which lane to start in which only created chaos. Before the race began, Johnny Sauter was issued an L1 penalty, losing ten points and crew chief Joe Shear Jr along with going to the rear of the field. Rich Lushes filled in for Shear Jr. as Sauter’s crew chief.
Rolling through the Irish Hills! The #HFHS200 is green on FS1! pic.twitter.com/zlbvMBQuXa — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 7, 2020
Chandler Smith chose the outside lane to start the race. Brett Moffitt took the lead away from Smith on the inside of turn one. On the fourth lap, Josh Reaume and Trey Hutchens III got together coming off of turn four to bring out the first caution of the day. This would be the first of many in this race.
Early trouble will slow the field. Under the caution at @MISpeedway. pic.twitter.com/wuRMwXzzh3 — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 7, 2020
Brett Moffitt went to the outside lane as Christian Eckes chose the inside from the third position as the race resumed on the eighth lap. Christian Eckes would briefly take the second spot before Ben Rhodes grabbed the spot back, and Eckes settled for third. Eckes would lose a couple more places before getting loose off of turn two to bring the second caution.
.@christianeckes went for quite the ride here 😳. pic.twitter.com/wq70MpHiJA — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 7, 2020
During the caution, the top ten leaders stayed out. Todd Gilliland was the first to pit from the 11th position. The race got back underway with four laps to go in stage one. Two laps into the restart, the third caution would come out when Brennan Poole spun, in turn, four suffering no damage. Stage one would end with Brett Moffitt winning the stage.
During the caution, most of the leaders pitted. Stewart Friesen and Ty Majeski took two tires, Austin Wayne Self took fuel only while the rest took four tires. As Ben Rhodes came out of his pit box, Tyler Hill did the same and went wide, making light contact with Rhodes. Friesen would go back to pit road with a flat tire while Chandler Smith led the field back to green on lap 25 to start stage two.
A little early to start doing donuts, but we're still impressed. pic.twitter.com/1Nctas4u63 — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 7, 2020
Todd Gilliland pushed Smith, getting him out of shape, allowing Raphael Lessard to take the lead. Smith would fall to fifth place. A lap later, Lessard was challenged by Parker Klingerman for the lead. Klingerman took the lead from Lessard briefly before Lessard took it back at turn four.
A big battle for the lead and FIVE-WIDE racing behind them 🥵. pic.twitter.com/LaeyVXzEEj — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 7, 2020
Within three laps, Johnny Sauter got by Klingerman for second place. Lessard slowed down at turn one with a right rear flat tire, allowing Sauter to take the lead with 12 laps to go in stage two. Sauter was ahead of Brett Moffitt by two-seconds and would claim stage two.
Playing strategy to perfection. @JohnnySauter is looking for a stage win in the #HFHS200! pic.twitter.com/p997CI3P5F — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 7, 2020
During the caution, everyone came to pit road for four tires with Todd Gilliland coming out first. Gilliland led the field back to green on lap 48 to start the final stage. Two laps into the final stage, multiple trucks were involved in an accident due to Christian Eckes turning Stewart Friesen into the outside wall on the front stretch, which ended up collecting Ryan Truex, Matt Crafton, and Ty Majeski and brought out caution number five.
He just wasn't clear. Watch what triggered a big crash in the #HFHS200. pic.twitter.com/SErrtI5v73 — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 7, 2020
During the caution, the leaders stayed out, with only six trucks, including Christian Eckes, pitted. Sheldon Creed would choose the inside lane from the fourth spot and would be upfront with Hill on the restart. Austin Hill would lead the field back to green on lap 59. On the same lap, the sixth caution would come out when Ben Rhodes turned Chandler Smith. Before the caution, Smith moved up on Rhodes on the front stretch and tagged the outside wall suffering right front damage.
✨ F R U S T R A T I O N ✨ pic.twitter.com/1fgpr4vwby — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 7, 2020
During the caution, everyone pitted for fuel with Johnny Sauter coming out the winner. He would lead the field back to green on lap 65. A lap into the restart, Sauter got loose trying to hold off John Hunter Nemechek and Grant Enfinger for the lead. Nemechek and Enfinger both got by Sauter with Enfinger taking the lead. Enfinger pulled away as Sauter battled Nemechek for second until Austin Wayne Self got loose and hit the outside wall at turn two to bring out the seventh caution of the day.
That's a lotta damage.#NASCARonFS1 pic.twitter.com/1GoMVl4xSJ — FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) August 7, 2020
During the caution, Derek Kraus was the only driver to pit with a flat left rear tire. The race resumed on lap 77. During the green flag, Enfinger and Sauter broke away from the rest of the field. The teammates battled it out for the lead with less than 20 laps to go. Sauter was going for the lead with 16 laps to go with Enfinger side-drafting him. They were both coming off of turn two, when Sauter got loose and hit the outside wall to bring out the eighth caution of the day.
DISASTER FOR @JOHNNYSAUTER! pic.twitter.com/DA8yxHJs5N — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 7, 2020
During the caution, Sauter came to pit road as his crew tried to fix the damage. On the restart, Tanner Gray would choose the inside lane from the fifth position to align himself with Grant Enfinger as the race got back underway with eleven laps to go. Enfinger got a big push on the restart from Sheldon Creed. The restart did not last long as the ninth caution flag would wave for Ray Ciccarelli, who hit the outside wall off of turn two. Once again, none of the leaders pitted with Enfinger leading the field back to green with six laps to go.
Grant Enfinger was pulling away as Nemechek and Creed were clashing for the second spot. The tenth caution came out shortly after as the 04 truck of Cory Roper hit Tyler Hill, causing Hill to slide into the grass on the front stretch suffering minimal damage. The race would now be heading into overtime.
In overtime, Enfinger took hold of first with John Hunter Nemechek in second. Both drivers began to pull away from the rest of the field. Just as if it looked like the two would contest for the win, another caution came out for the eleventh time when Brennan Poole and Jeb Burton got together on the backstretch. Poole would come to a complete stop as his truck caught fire. The race would go to a red flag for clean up of oil left by Poole at turns three and four. The red flag would last about ten minutes before the yellow flag would wave again. Several drivers reported the oil prior to the incident on their scanners, but a yellow flag was not thrown.
The second attempt of overtime was underway when Austin Hill pushed Enfinger to go to the middle of the track. Enfinger tried to block Hill from taking the lead, but Hill turned Enfinger. John Hunter Nemechek, who was on the bottom when Enfinger got turned, had nowhere to go and got caught up in their battle. Christian Eckes ended up taking took over the lead. No caution came out for the incident as the race stayed green. Eckes had both Tanner Gray and Zane Smith chasing him for the lead with one lap to go. Trey Hutchens III would spin his truck around on the backstretch; again, no caution came out. Zane Smith got by Gray for second and would then take the lead from Eckes on the inside of turn one. Smith would go on to win the Henry Ford Health Systems 200 by .318 seconds over Christian Eckes. This is Smith’s first career win in the Truck Series.
An unbelievable drive to the lead for @zanesmith77! A PERFECT pass gave him the lead on the last lap. pic.twitter.com/atVkuGY00y — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 8, 2020
The rest of the top ten finishers were Tanner Gray third, Tyler Ankrum fourth, Todd Gilliland fifth, Brett Moffitt sixth, Raphael Lessard seventh, Derek Kraus eighth, Parker Klingerman ninth, and David Gravel tenth. With the win, Smith punched his ticket to the playoffs. There were sixteen lead changes from thirteen drivers, eleven cautions for 51 laps.
Drivers that are locked into the playoffs are Grant Enfinger first (2 wins), Zane Smith second (1 win), Sheldon Creed third (1 win), Austin Hill fourth (1 win), and Matt Crafton fifth (1 win). The remaining playoff standings are Ben Rhodes sixth, Christian Eckes seventh, Brett Moffitt eighth, Derek Kraus ninth, and Todd Gilliland tenth. Outside looking in are Tyler Ankrum eleventh, Tanner Gray twelfth, Johnny Sauter thirteenth, and Raphael Lessard fifteenth.
Next up for the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series is a stop at the Daytona road course on Sunday, August 16th, at noon on FS1.
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