Grant Enfinger wins wild Truck Series race at Lime Rock
- TSN MOTORSPORTS INSIDER
- Jul 13
- 3 min read
Veteran driver Grant Enfinger seized the lead during a late-race restart and successfully fended off a determined challenge from Landen Lewis to secure a return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Victory Lane for the first time in over a season. This marked his inaugural career road-course victory on Saturday afternoon at the LiUNA 150, held at Connecticut’s historic Lime Rock Park.
Enfinger, positioned alongside Gio Ruggiero for a restart with three laps remaining, gained the advantage at the green flag and subsequently maintained his lead against Lewis, who was vying for his first career series win. The race concluded in an appropriately thrilling manner, featuring an 18-minute red flag and intense door-to-door competition, especially in the final laps.
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Enfinger's No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet finished 0.483 seconds ahead of Lewis' Niece Motorsports entry.
"I feel like certain factors worked in our favor," Enfinger commented, acknowledging the day's strongest competitors, "I don't think we could have directly challenged the 11 [Kaden Honeycutt] or the 34 [Layne Riggs]."
Regarding the final restart, Enfinger expressed satisfaction with gaining the lead over then-leader Ruggiero at the green flag. He considered starting from the preferred outside position but chose to line up next to Ruggiero on the front row to compete for the lead. This victory marked his 13th career win.
"I wanted to beat him fairly from the outside," Enfinger added. "There were many considerations, but I didn't want to intentionally move him aside for the win. I believe we outperformed him at the start. And I think we had a superior car.
"The team did an outstanding job with this Chevrolet. ... I believe this is only my second top 10 on a road course. We've had road-course trucks this year, but today we were a solid top-five truck, and fortune smiled on us, allowing us to secure the win."
Championship contender Honeycutt secured third place after an impressive drive through the field. The Tricon Garage Toyota driver had fallen to 24th position with 28 laps remaining after a multi-truck incident late in the race.
Popular driver and television analyst Parker Kligerman, a part-owner of Lime Rock, finished fourth in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Christian Eckes secured fifth in the No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet.
Honeycutt's day concluded after winning Stage 2 and closely challenging polesitter and series championship points leader Riggs for most of the race. Riggs led the initial 34 laps, with one or the other leading through the first 62 laps of the 100-lap event. Riggs won Stage 1, and Honeycutt claimed Stage 2.
Then chaos ensued. Four caution flags—and a red flag—were issued in the final 40 laps.
Diverse pit strategies disrupted the front of the field, forcing Riggs and Honeycutt to recover after the Stage 2 break at Lap 60. The two, who have led the championship standings for the past two months, collided while attempting to advance through the field.
The damage to Riggs' No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford was too severe for him to contend for the win. Despite leading 48 laps, the most of the afternoon, he finished 23rd, the first driver a lap down.
He maintained the championship lead, however, and is now 44 points ahead of Honeycutt with four races remaining in the Regular-Season Championship. Both secured spots in The Chase on Saturday.
Enfinger's victory was vital as it moved him into the championship top 10, which will ultimately advance to The Chase. He is now ninth in points, 25 points ahead of 10th-place Tyler Ankrum. Stewart Friesen and Jake Garcia are tied, 17 points behind Ankrum.
MORE: Truck Series standings
Daniel Hemric, Andrés Pérez, Tanner Gray, Friesen, and Colin Braun—an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship full-timer—completed the top 10 on Saturday.
Thomas Annunziata, who was at the front all day after winning the ARCA Menards Series race at Lime Rock on Friday, was sidelined in the day's most dramatic incident. He pulled off the track with his No. 1 truck in flames while running second with 22 laps to go.
Annunziata quickly exited his No. 1 Toyota and paused to catch his breath beside a track wall. He was taken to a local medical facility for further evaluation and finished 29th.
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