The Toyota 200 from Gateway gave fans an exciting race with a second-time winner and other exciting storylines. Here are five takeaways from the race.
1. Grant Enfinger earns his second win of 2023
Grant Enfinger held off a charging Christian Eckes to earn his second win of 2023 and his first at Gateway. Enfinger, who qualified 10th, took the lead from Ty Majeski on Lap 33. Enfinger would win Stage 1 and finish seventh in stage two. When the leaders wrecked on lap 155 and the caution came out, Enfinger was placed in the lead of the race. Eckes could not get around the #23 Chevrolet on a green-white-checker restart, allowing Enfinger to drive to his second win of the year.
Following the burnout on the start-finish line, Enfinger shared some exciting news with the crowd. He and his family are expecting another child. Luckily, he won the second race of the Triple Truck Challenge, awarding him an additional $50,000. If he can win at Nashville in two weeks, he will win an additional $100,000. Enfinger is currently third in the championship points standings, nine points behind the leader Corey Heim.
BABY ENFINGER ON THE WAY!!!
Bet your announcement wasn't this cool. pic.twitter.com/tAro7t4p2v
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 3, 2023
2. Christian Eckes gets a second-place finish
Christian Eckes had a solid race. He qualified third, behind Ben Rhodes and Majeski. In Stage 1, he finished sixth. During Stage 2, he kept charging, finishing the stage in fourth, with Stewart Friesen winning the stage. When the leaders wrecked, giving Enfinger the lead, Eckes was sixth. Moving to second before the overtime restart, he held the position through those last two laps.
Eckes would say in the post-race press release, “There were a lot of times we shouldn’t have finished second. Obviously wish we could have won there, but I’m proud of the fight today. I thought we’d be a little better. We struggled with a couple things today, but we stayed with it throughout the race and had enough speed in our BlueDEF Platinum / NAPA Nightvision Chevy that we were able to get back towards the front. We would have liked to be one spot better, but we’ll take the points, another top-five, and move on”.
3. Zane Smith and Ty Majeski wreck battling for the lead
Zane Smith and Ty Majeski have been the two fastest Ford trucks in every race this season. Majeski sits second in points, and Smith is fourth. In qualifying for the Toyota 200, Zane Smith put down a lap to earn him sixth, and Majeski earned the pole. Majeski would finish both stages in second place, and Smith would finish fourth in stage one and score no stage points in the second.
The two would meet again in the final stage. When Lawless Alan spun on lap 151, the two would restart side-by-side. Both racing at 110%, they were dueling coming off the backstretch. With the No. 38 in the higher groove and the No. 98 on the bottom, Majeski got loose, sliding into the left rear of Smith, wrecking both drivers. Majeski would finish 30th, failing to finish. Smith would repair the damage and return to the track and finish 20th.
At Charlotte, Smith had a spin that resulted in a 23rd-place finish. In the last four races, Smith has not finished outside the top twenty. This was Majeski’s first DNF this season.
He just sent it too hard!@TyMajeski takes out @ZaneSmith while battling for the lead 🤯 pic.twitter.com/UoGrv0JXK4
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 3, 2023
4. Hailie Deegan wrecked by Nick Sanchez
Coming into Gateway, Hailie Deegan was 17th in the championship points. In qualifying, she earned a 19th-place starting spot. In her race day vlog, she said was confident in the handling of her truck, saying she messed up one of the turns in qualifying. On lap 88, Nick Sanchez was right on the bumper of the No. 13 when he bumped the right corner of Deegan’s bumper, sending her crashing into the wall at speed. Deegan was cleared from the infield care center and sounded dejected in her debrief of the race. Sanchez later apologized to Deegan in a video by Bob Pockrass from Fox Sports.
A push sends @HailieDeegan hard into the outside wall at @WWTRaceway. pic.twitter.com/F3lPMb7vZ4
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 3, 2023
Deegan has had a rough season in 2023. She only has one top 10 finish this season at Texas. Prior to Gateway, she had two DNFs, with four finishes of 30th or worse.
5. Heim holds onto points lead despite missing Gateway
On Friday before the race, TRICON Garage put out an announcement that Corey Heim would miss the race at Gateway, due to illness. In his place, Jesse Love would swap rides, moving from the No. 1 Tundra to the No. 11. Toni Breidinger would pilot the #1, making her second career start in the Truck Series. Love would finish the race ninth, his first top 10 in his first start. Breidinger would finish 24th.
While still holding the points lead, Heim’s absence allowed Majeski to close the gap in the points to just one point. If Majeski had not wrecked out of the race, Heim would most likely not held the points lead. With Nashville in two weeks, expect a battle for points between these two.
