Tate Fogleman wins maiden Truck race in wild finish

Delivering your post-race interview when you win your first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is a special feeling. Doing so from the infield medical centre is still special, but also very bizarre.

Tate Fogleman did not quite get to celebrate his maiden Truck Series win in Victory Lane in traditional fashion after being involved in a chaotic finish that saw him spin leader John Hunter Nemechek before beating Tyler Hill to the line. The top two alone make for an unusual duo as Fogleman had never scored a top ten on a paved track (his lone top ten was a ninth at the Knoxville dirt track in July) while Hill had zero top tens entering Saturday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250. But Talladega Superspeedway is infamous for its crazy wrecks and surprise winners, and Saturday was no different.

Ben Rhodes, winner of the other superspeedway race at Daytona in February, started on the pole while Fogleman and Hill were mid-pack. Rhodes dominated the opening stage ahead of Austin Hill, Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen, Johnny Sauter, Nemechek, Drew Dollar, Sheldon Creed, Todd Gilliland, and Austin Wayne Self.

Bryan Dauzat brought out the first caution on lap 33, which also turned out to be the only yellow flag of Stage #2. Although Toyotas led much of the segment, Creed took the win. Sauter, Zane Smith, Crafton, Hill, Chandler Smith, Tanner Gray, Nemechek, Friesen, and Bret Holmes rounded out the top ten.

Ten laps into Stage #3 marked the largest wreck of the day when Hill was clipped on the backstretch and sent up into Zane Smith, triggering a massive crash that officially dragged in nineteen other drivers. Both Smiths, Dollar, Fogleman, Gilliland, Gray, Sauter, Self, Lawless Alan, Willie Allen, Tyler Ankrum, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Hailie Deegan, Clay Greenfield, Parker Kligerman, Derek Kraus, Dylan Lupton, Cory Roper, Jason White, and Kris Wright all suffered some form of damage in the carnage that resulted in a red flag for cleanup.

Gilliland took the lead for the ensuing restart and continued to hold it through another large wreck involving Alan, Crafton, Deegan, Friesen, Greenfield, and Grant Enfinger. Chase Purdy caught Gilliland and sparred with him for the lead before being turned through the tri-oval shortly before the finish to set up overtime.

On the final lap, Nemechek reached Gilliland’s rear bumper as multiple drivers wrecked behind them in turn three. Fogleman and Hill then joined the two leaders and shuffled Gilliland back. After bumping between Fogleman and Nemechek coming to the finish, the former clipped the latter and spun him. Hill tried to capitalise but instead collided with Fogleman as they crossed the line, causing the two to wreck each other.

“I know we missed that first big wreck, got through the second one, and it kind of felt like things were finally going right on a superspeedway,” Fogleman told FS1 in his post-race interview after being released from the care centre. “I never finished a superspeedway race before.”

It is Young’s Motorsports’ second victory. Incidentally, the first was also a surprise first-time victor at Talladega with Spencer Boyd in 2019.

Race results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Status
1	20	12	Tate Fogleman	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	99	Running
2	21	56	Tyler Hill	Hill Motorsports	Chevrolet	99	Running
3	2	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	99	Running
4	7	4	John Hunter Nemechek	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	99	Running
5	14	40	Ryan Truex	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	99	Running
6	31	04	Cory Roper	Roper Racing	Ford	99	Running
7	28	20	Spencer Boyd	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	99	Running
8	23	30	Danny Bohn	On Point Motorsports	Toyota	99	Running
9	15	23	Chase Purdy	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	99	Running
10	38	41	Keith McGee	Cram Racing Enterprises	Chevrolet	99	Running
11	34	3	Jordan Anderson	Jordan Anderson Racing	Chevrolet	99	Running
12	9	2	Sheldon Creed	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	99	Running
13	1	99	Ben Rhodes	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	99	Running
14	3	88	Matt Crafton	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	99	Running
15	19	32	Bret Holmes	Bret Holmes Racing	Chevrolet	99	Running
16	29	9	Codie Rohrbaugh	CR7 Motorsports	Chevrolet	98	Accident
17	39	6	Norm Benning	Norm Benning Racing	Chevrolet	98	Running
18	30	25	Willie Allen	Rackley WAR	Chevrolet	94	Running
19	10	18	Chandler Smith	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	92	Running
20	13	19	Derek Kraus	McAnally-Hilgemann Racing	Toyota	90	Running
21	17	98	Grant Enfinger	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	78	Accident
22	4	52	Stewart Friesen	Halmar Friesen Racing	Toyota	76	DVP
23	32	11	Clay Greenfield	Spencer Davis Motorsports	Toyota	75	Accident
24	26	1	Hailie Deegan	David Gilliland Racing	Ford	75	Accident
25	6	42	Carson Hocevar	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	75	Accident
26	25	34	Dylan Lupton	Reaume Brothers Racing	Toyota	71	Accident
27	35	33	Jason White	Reaume Brothers Racing	Chevrolet	66	DVP
28	27	26	Tyler Ankrum	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	65	DVP
29	12	22	Austin Wayne Self	AM Racing	Chevrolet	63	Electrical
30	11	13	Johnny Sauter	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	61	Accident
31	33	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing	Ford	58	Accident
32	5	16	Austin Hill	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Toyota	57	Accident
33	8	21	Zane Smith	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	57	Accident
34	22	15	Tanner Gray	David Gilliland Racing	Ford	57	Accident
35	18	51	Drew Dollar	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	57	Accident
36	16	02	Kris Wright	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	57	Accident
37	37	75	Parker Kligerman	Henderson Motorsports	Chevrolet	57	Accident
38	36	45	Lawless Alan	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	57	Accident
39	40	28	Bryan Dauzat	FDNY Racing	Chevrolet	27	Accident
40	24	24	Jack Wood	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	23	Engine

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