{"id":28178,"date":"2019-10-12T17:25:55","date_gmt":"2019-10-12T22:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=28178"},"modified":"2019-10-13T10:21:37","modified_gmt":"2019-10-13T15:21:37","slug":"talladega-wreaks-havoc-on-nascar-gander-outdoors-truck-series-playoffs-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/12\/talladega-wreaks-havoc-on-nascar-gander-outdoors-truck-series-playoffs-picture\/","title":{"rendered":"Talladega wreaks havoc on NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs picture"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

TALLADEGA, Ala. \u2013 As many anticipated it would be, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series\u2019 Sugarlands Shine 250 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway Saturday afternoon was full of drama, excitement and this weekend, a big impact on the 2019 championship outlook.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

TALLADEGA, ALABAMA – OCTOBER 12: Johnny Sauter, driver of the #13 Tenda Heal Ford, leads during the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Sugarlands Shine 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 12, 2019 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Spencer Boyd was named the winner shortly after Johnny Sauter took the checkered flag at the track. Race officials ruled Sauter illegally dropped below the boundary line 200 yards before the flag stand while leading the race. So instead, the 24-year-old Boyd hoisted his first ever NASCAR national series trophy.<\/p>\n

The challenge for championship position was equally dramatic. Five of the six championship-eligible drivers finished fourth through eighth in the race standings. Reigning series champion Brett Moffitt\u2019s fourth place finish kept him atop the standings \u2013 23 points up on fifth place finisher and fellow Playoff contender Stewart Friesen.<\/p>\n

Austin Hill was sixth, 18-year-old Tyler Ankrum was seventh and two-time series champion Matt Crafton was eighth. Fan favorite Ross Chastain finished 22nd after being in an accident while leading the race on Lap 87.<\/p>\n

Races at Martinsville, Va. on Oct. 26 and Phoenix\u2019s ISM Raceway on Nov. 8 will set the four-driver championship field for the Nov. 15 finale. Beyond Moffitt and Friesen, Austin Hill is now third in the championship standings, 33 points below Moffitt and Crafton is fourth, 44 points behind. With two races remaining to set the Championship 4, Ankrum and Chastain are ranked fifth and sixth. Ankrum is a single point behind Crafton in the cutoff position. And Chastain is two points behind Crafton.<\/p>\n

Although Moffitt didn\u2019t help decide the victory today, it was a huge effort for the championship leader, who along with Friesen was penalized mid-race for locking bumpers in front of the field. Friesen was leading Moffitt at the time. But both drivers had to drop off the track and serve a stop-and-go penalty. They returned to competition in 25th and 26th place and spent the rest of the race in a highly-determined rally-mode.<\/p>\n

Both Moffitt and Friesen were still shaking their heads at the penalty after the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really know what to say about anything,\u2019\u2019 Friesen said, smiling. \u201cI didn\u2019t see it. I have no idea, no clue.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we were fortunate to get back to the lead lap and get a fifth out of it.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Moffitt, a series best four-time winner this season, was more insistent that they weren\u2019t breaking any rules and sure that he may have pushed but did not lock bumpers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to see It, love to see where we locked bumpers because I was very conscious of it and staying off him, giving him a bubble,\u2019\u2019 Moffitt said. \u201cI would love to see proof. Everyone\u2019s pushing the limit.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

NASCAR\u2019s Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller addressed the officiating call after the race.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/TruckRaceScottMiller_10122019.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSo those are tough calls and I think there were several instances where we were all looking at each other, \u2018Is that too much? Is that too much?\u2019 Miller said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo there was really no other choice but to make that call.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Although frustrated at the time of the penalty, Moffitt conceded that he and his team kept composure and focused on the bigger goal \u2013 leading for the championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt fires you up, but it\u2019s Talladega you know,\u2019\u2019 Moffitt said. \u201cYou got to slow back down. Now had that played out like Daytona where we (went to) the back and ended up in a wreck I\u2019d be a little more upset about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the fact we had really good Chevrolets here today and were able to rebound \u2013 all three of us \u2013 it\u2019s frustrating but ultimately we did our job and out-pointed everyone in the playoffs. Now we have what I\u2019d call a more comfortable buffer going into the next two races moving forward.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

One of Moffitt\u2019s toughest championship contenders Ross Chastain had a tougher Talladega day. Also while leading the race, he misjudged a run from Sheldon Creed and the two trucks collided resulting in the day\u2019s only \u201cTalladega Big One\u201d as the multi-car crashes are known. Ten cars were involved and Chastain\u2019s day ended early.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad more people weren\u2019t caught up,\u2019\u2019 said Chastain, who drives the No. 45 NEICE Racing Chevrolet. \u201cPoor execution on my part. Sheldon [Creed] looked like he had position there and I turned left trying to keep him on my rear bumper and I just made a mistake.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll go on to Martinsville, Phoenix and Homestead and I\u2019ll try to do a better job of executing.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The three-race winner insisted his strategy will not change even though he\u2019s dropped to last place among the six Playoff drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely not,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll try to win practice, try to win qualifying and the race. We will try to win and execute. That was just a poor judgement call on my part. We had a truck capable of winning.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. \u2013 As many anticipated it would be, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series\u2019 Sugarlands Shine 250 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway Saturday afternoon was full of drama, excitement and this weekend, a big impact on the 2019 championship outlook. Spencer Boyd was named the winner shortly after Johnny […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":28172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[16,663,208],"class_list":["post-28178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-gander-outdoors-truck-series","tag-talladega-superspeedway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/NGOTS_Talladega_TruckAction1_10122019.jpg?fit=4255%2C2840&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-7ku","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28178"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28181,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28178\/revisions\/28181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}