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Chase Briscoe returned to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for the first time in 2018 Wednesday night to drive a fifth entry for ThorSport Racing in the Eldora Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. He parlayed the return into a trip to victory lane after a side-by-side battle with teammate Grant Enfinger after an overtime restart.
“This is our Daytona for dirt guys,” Briscoe said.
Enfinger took runner-up honors to give ThorSport a one-two finish in NASCAR’s only yearly national level race on dirt.
“He used me up and I was going for it,” Enfinger said. “He didn’t do anything dirty. Man, that close. By a bumper. We have a few more races until the playoffs. We’ve got to step it up.”
Briscoe led a race-high 54 laps, including 46 in the second stage of the race. Briscoe was the second-stage winner after leading 46 of the 50 laps that made up the stage.
Logan Seavey, in his first-career Truck Series start, led 53 laps after taking the lead through a pit strategy of staying out during the caution between the second and third stages of the race. Briscoe retook the lead on a restart following a lap 137 caution that came out on lap 137. Enfinger was up to second by the ninth and final yellow flag on lap 146 that sent the race into overtime.
Seavey’s series debut resulted in a top-10, an eighth-place finish.
Ben Rhodes on pole at Eldora
, Ben Rhodes claims the pole for the Eldora Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway on July 18, 2018., Getty Images for NASCARBen Rhodes, winner the previous week at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, dominated earlier in the day, taking the pole in a single-truck qualifying session, winning the first of five qualifying races, and then, leading most of the opening stage. He led all but one lap of the opening 40-lap stage on his way to the stage win, but a few laps later, he hit the wall, fell off the pace, and headed to pit road for repairs.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran driver Ryan Newman returned to the Truck Series for the first time since 2015 to race on the Eldora dirt. Newman, though, was involved in a multi-truck crash on lap 54 that put him multiple laps down. As a result, he wound up with a 30th-place finish in the 32-truck race.
Ryan Newman takes on dirt at Eldora
, Ryan Newman watches other trucks qualify for the Eldora Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway on July 18, 2018., Getty Images for NASCARIn addition to Rhodes, Todd Gilliland, Briscoe, Matt Crafton and Stewart Friesen were winners in the five 10-lap qualifying races. Noah Gragson won the 25-lap last-chance race that determined two of the final spots on the main event starting grid.
Eldora Dirt Derby Results:
1. Chase Briscoe, No. 27 Ford
2. Grant Enfinger, No. 98 Ford
3. Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Chevrolet
4. Matt Crafton, No. 88 Ford
5. Brett Moffitt, No. 16 Toyota
6. Noah Gragson, No. 18 Toyota
7. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 8 Chevrolet
8. Logan Seavey, No. 51 Toyota
9. Justin Haley, No. 24 Chevrolet
10. Nick Hoffman, No. 83 Chevrolet
11. Ty Dillon, No. 12 Chevrolet
12. Max McLaughlin, No. 38 Chevrolet
13. Tyler Dippel, No. 17 Toyota
14. Chris Windom, No. 54 Toyota
15. Sheldon Creed, No. 99 Chevrolet
16. Johnny Sauter, No. 21 Chevrolet
17. Jeffrey Abbey, No. 34 Chevrolet
18. Austin Wayne Self, No. 22 Chevrolet
19. Tanner Thorson, No. 20 Chevrolet
20. Myatt Snider, No. 13 Ford
21. Austin Hill, No. 01 Chevrolet
22. Todd Gilliland, No. 4 Toyota
23. Wendell Chavous, No. 49 Chevrolet
24. J.R. Heffner, No. 15 Chevrolet
25. Justin Fontaine, No. 45 Chevrolet
26. Justin Shipley, No. 80 Ford
27. Dalton Sargeant, No. 25 Chevrolet
28. Cody Coughlin, No. 2 Chevrolet
29. Ben Rhodes, No. 41 Ford
30. Ryan Newman, No. 3 Chevrolet
31. Kyle Strickler, No. 63 Chevrolet
32. Norm Benning, No. 6 Chevrolet
UP NEXT: The Camping World Truck Series returns to asphalt July 28 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Christopher Bell, who has since made the move to full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series races, was the winner of the 2017 Truck Series race at Pocono. None of the current roster of Camping World Truck Series regulars have series wins at the track referred to as the “Tricky Triangle.”
