Timothy Peters Wins NASCAR Truck Series Race After Last Lap Wreck at Talladega

Timothy Peters plays NASCAR Truck playoff spoiler at Talladega to end three-race gig with GMS Racing.

byAmanda Vincent|
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Part-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Timothy Peters played 2018 playoff spoiler Saturday when he won the Fr8Auctions 250 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. The race was his last of three from behind the wheel of GMS Racing’s No. 25 Chevrolet.

Saturday’s win was Peters’ 11th-career Truck Series win and third at Talladega, making him the all-time winningest Truck Series driver at the track.

Timothy Peters wins again at Talladega.

, Timothy Peters celebrates winning the Fr8Auctions 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 13, 2018., Getty Images for NASCAR

Justin Haley and Noah Gragson traded the lead back and forth on the final lap before Gragson made hard contact with the inside retaining wall. Gragson attempted to hold on to the second position by blocking Peters, resulting in contact. Haley finished fourth and Gragson wound up 13th.

"You kind of can't let up on that last lap. I hope everyone's okay," Peters said. "I hate to cause that, but I was going for the win; it's my last ride.”

Myatt Snider and David Gilliland finished third and fourth.

Father vs. son at Talladega.

, Todd Gilliland [4] leads father David Gilliland [51] in the Fr8Auctions 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 13, 2018., Getty Images for NASCAR

Grant Enfinger led 31 laps, the most of anyone in the 94-lap race, but wound up 19th after spinning into the infield due to contact with David Gilliland on the final restart inside the final 10 laps.

“It just wasn’t meant to be, I guess,” Enfinger said. ”I haven’t seen the replay. I don’t know if I waited too late or what. The 24 [Haley] did a good job of pushing me on the start, and then, he got hung out by just not having any help behind him, and then the 51 [Gilliland] was coming with a big head of steam, so I blocked him high. I thought I just stayed with him and I don’t know if he got me in the bumper, the quarter-panel or what, but just got us around. I don’t know. It is what it is.”

Enfinger won the first 20-lap stage of the race after taking the lead on Lap 16. He was back up at the beginning of the third 54-lap stage and was in the lead when the yellow flag, and then the red flag, was displayed for a 10-truck wreck that involved playoff drivers Ben Rhodes, Johnny Sauter, Haley, and Matt Crafton.

“That’s Talladega for you. It’s all out of your hands from when we drop the green,” Crafton said. “I mean, when you’re racing and people are side-by-side bouncing off each other like that. We did everything we could do the first two segments and let her fly from there.”

But before the race restarted, Enfinger was penalized for taking equipment out of his pit box when he pulled away with the gas can still attached.

Enfinger in the pits.

, Grant Enfinger receives service on pit road during the Fr8Auctions 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 13, 2018., Getty Images for NASCAR

Enfinger overcame the penalty to get back to the lead by 21 laps remaining. He was able to hold off Todd Gilliland before Gilliland hit the wall while running second to Enfinger with 12 laps remaining.

Todd Gilliland was the winner of the second 20-lap stage. Austin Hill and Spencer Gallagher were on the front row for the restart at the beginning of the stage after pitting just before the end of the opener and, then, staying out between stages. They traded the lead back and forth throughout before Gallagher gave up the lead to pit, again, just before the end of Stage 2.

Enfinger and Haley entered Talladega with their second-round playoff berths already clinched, courtesy of wins in the first two races of the round. Sauter clinched a second-round berth on points during Saturday’s race with stage finishes of second and third before retiring from the race with crash damage.

Gragson was eliminated from the playoffs after his late-race crash. Stewart Friesen was the other driver eliminated. Friesen struggled with a mechanical issue throughout the race, but by being able to avoid carnage, he was able to finish the race in the sixth position.

Other drivers advancing in the playoffs include Matt Crafton, Rhodes and Brett Moffitt.

FR8AUCTIONS 250 RESULTS:

1. Timothy Peters, No. 25 Chevrolet

2. Myatt Snider, No. 13 Ford

3. David Gilliland, No. 51 Toyota

4. Justin Haley, No. 24 Chevrolet

5. Wendell Chavous, No. 49 Chevrolet

6. Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Chevrolet

7. Jordan Anderson, No. 3 Chevrolet

8. Bryan Dauzat, No. 28 Chevrolet

9. Max Tullman, No. 20 Chevrolet

10. Austin Hill, No. 02 Chevrolet

11. Jennifer Jo Cobb, No. 10 Chevrolet

12. Austin Wayne Self, No. 22 Chevrolet

13. Noah Gragson, No. 18 Toyota

14. Robby Lyons, No. 22 Chevrolet

15. Korbin Forrister, No. 7 Toyota

16. Ben Rhodes, No. 41 Ford

17. Brett Moffitt, No. 16 Toyota

18. Scott Lagasse Jr., No. 30 Toyota

19. Grant Enfinger, No. 92 Ford

20. Todd Gilliland, No. 4 Toyota

21. Justin Fontaine, No. 45 Chevrolet

22. Johnny Sauter, No. 21 Chevrolet

23. Bobby Gerhart, No. 63 Chevrolet

24. Chris Fontaine, No. 47 Chevrolet

25. Spencer Gallagher, No. 2 Chevrolet

26. Matt Crafton, No. 88 Ford

27. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 8 Chevrolet

28. Parker Kligerman, No. 75 Chevrolet

29. Bo LeMastus, No. 54 Toyota

30. Joe Nemechek, No. 87 Chevrolet

31. Tanner Thorson, No. 12 Chevrolet

32. Clay Greenfield, No. 68 Chevrolet

UP NEXT: After a weekend off, the Camping World Truck Series will return to action for Round 2 of its playoffs Oct. 27 at Martinsville Speedway. Noah Gragson is the defending winner of the fall Truck Series race at the Virginia short track. John Hunter Nemechek won there in March.

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