Winners: Ricky Stenhouse Jr (Cup); Sammy Smith (Xfinity); Grant Enfinger (Trucks); William Sawalich (ARCA); Trevor Huddleston (ARCA West)
NASCAR Cup
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Plays Spoiler, Wins Chaotic Playoff Race
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held off the field in overtime to claim the victory in a dramatic NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway — edging Brad Keselowski and William Byron by a mere 0.006-second in a thrilling three-wide finish.
That heart-stopping finish was indicative of the afternoon of competition at the 2.66-mile behemoth — which once again lived up to its reputation and provided a thrilling playoff race with significant implications for the 12 championship contenders.
A massive 23-car accident with five laps remaining brought out a red flag and stopped the race for nearly 10 minutes. The incident affected eight of the 12 playoff cars in varying degrees. There is only one more race remaining in this round to settle which eight drivers advance to the next round of championship competition.
“Felt really good, we had our Chevy teammates behind us and I was hoping Kyle [Busch] wouldn’t push the six [Keselowski] that hard, I knew the 24 was going to try to get to the line,” said Stenhouse, who scored his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Talladega in 2017.
“Man, this team has put a lot of hard work in and obviously we haven’t won since the Daytona 500 in ’23. It’s been an up-and-down season, a lot of hard work this season trying to find a little bit of speed, but we knew this track is one of ours to come get it.”
What a finish at @TALLADEGA!! pic.twitter.com/uMgVnUyalQ
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 6, 2024
Pole: Michael McDowell
Click Here for Race ResultsNASCAR Xfinity
Sammy Smith Wins to Advance to Next Round
After entering Saturday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway below the elimination line, Sammy Smith punched his ticket to the next round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs by winning the United Rentals 250 in overtime.
The driver of the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet held off a hard charge from runner-up Ryan Sieg in the tri-oval coming to the checkered flag. Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith rounded out the top five.
Smith, who now has two career wins, snapped a 56-race losing streak after picking team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s brain about racing at Talladega. Earnhardt won six Cup Series races at the Alabama superspeedway.
“We sat down with him Wednesday, wasn’t a whole lot, just kind of some of the stuff he’d do in those situations,” Smith said. “But, man, it feels very good to win here.”
SAMMY SMITH WINS AT TALLADEGA!
— NASCAR on TSN (@NASCARonTSN) October 5, 2024
The No. 8 driver entered today in 12th in the standings and is now locked into the Round of 8 after scoring his first win of the season and first at @JRMotorsports.#NASCAR #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Sl50FsdsQp
Pole: Jesse Love
Click Here for Race ResultsNASCAR Trucks
Grant Enfinger Wins Truck Series Playoff Race at Talladega
The home crowd favorite, Grant Enfinger claimed the victory in Friday afternoon’s Love’s RV Stop 225 Playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway – the Alabama native’s second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win at the big track and the most important, as the victory delivers an automatic entry into the season championship finale next month at Phoenix Raceway.
Enfinger’s No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet led a race-best 34 of the 85 laps, won Stage 2 and held the point on the final lap when a caution came out ending the race.
“We knew stuff was going to get dicey,” the 39-year-old Enfinger said of having to hold the field off following a restart with nine laps remaining to claim his first victory of the season – first ever for the team – and 11th of Enfinger’s career.
“We didn’t make all the perfect decisions today, but we had a Champion Power Equipment Chevy that was fast enough to get it done today, so even though we chose the outside [lane for a restart] once or twice and maybe we shouldn’t have. … it’s just Talladega right there and hopefully all the fans enjoyed it.
“There’s nothing like winning at your home track. Got my family here and first win with my daughter and my son here. On top of that, we get to race for a championship in Phoenix.”
It would be hard to explain how special this one is! But today was a very good day at the home track! pic.twitter.com/actuyvKpss
— Grant Enfinger (@GrantEnfinger) October 5, 2024
Pole: William Sawalich
Click Here for Race ResultsARCA
William Sawalich Wins Season Finale at Toledo Speedway While Andres Perez Clinches Title
While Andres Perez was able to celebrate his victory as ARCA Series champion by merely starting the event; the race itself, though, belonged to William Sawalich.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver who secured his second consecutive ARCA Menards Series East championship last month, Sawalich won his ninth ARCA Menards Series (national) race of the season when he led all but a few laps on the northwestern Ohio half-mile. The 18-year-old’s nine victories in 2024 are a series-high, a number he accomplished in 14 starts.
“I definitely got a good jump,” Sawalich said of the last restart. “I can’t thank my guys enough. Just a good day overall, a good end of the year for us.”
Perez finished the race in sixth place.
Had a blast at @TALLADEGA and P1 at @ToledoSpeedway. 12 wins with @JoeGibbsRacing. It is an honor to have brought home the owners’ championship for Joe Gibbs Racing. #TeamToyota pic.twitter.com/4q2fXizJwQ
— William Sawalich (@WilliamSawalich) October 6, 2024
Pole: William Sawalich
Click Here for Race ResultsARCA West
Trevor Huddleston Goes Wire-to-Wire at All American Speedway
Trevor Huddleston dominated Saturday’s NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Berco Redwood at All American Speedway for the ARCA Menards Series West, leading all 150-laps from the pole for his second consecutive series win.
Huddleston topped General Tire Pole Qualifying and left zero doubt during a non-stop contest, clicked off in under 37 minutes on the one-third mile speedway. Huddleston’s lead fluctuated between two and three seconds over Eric Nascimento, Jr. throughout the contest.
“Epic man. Epic,” Huddleston said. “It’s a crazy couple of days. Got engaged (last weekend in victory lane) and got these wins. I live a blessed life.”
Huddleston accepted the checkered flag with a 1.482-second lead followed by Eric Nascimento, Jr., Reif, Hingorani, and Wood.
ABSOLUTE. DOMINATION.@TrevorHudd50 goes wire-to-wire at All American Speedway to score his second ARCA Menards Series West win of 2024! pic.twitter.com/9zrOf3wA7q
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) October 6, 2024
Pole: Trevor Huddleston
Click Here for Race Results
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