Veteran driver Grant Enfinger has secured his spot in the Championship 4 race at Phoenix. The driver of the No. 9 CR7 Chevy Silverado truck bagged his first win of 2024 in the first race of the Round of 8 races at Talladega Superspeedway. And it was just the result he needed to inch closer to his dream of winning his maiden championship.

The race certainly lived up to its billing. After a relatively clean first stage, the wrecks and crashes started to pick up in the final stage. But, out of all the wrecks, the last lap chaos was the most terrifying one. As Enfinger held off the late charge by Christian Eckes, several trucks were slipping and sliding off the track, having been involved in a crash.

Tyler Ankram and Ryan Reed were the two notable ones who got banged up pretty hard. Ankram, who was trying to work something on the upper lane, was almost sent flying after making contact. He rammed into one of the trucks in the bottom lane, which also engulfed multiple drives. Whereas Reed’s No. 91 truck was up in flames crossing the start-finish line.

Special home win for Grant Enfinger

The 39-year-old driver was in a good space at GMS Racing last year. He scored three wins and had a good playoff run, but came shot at Phoenix and had to settle for a runner-up finish in the championship standings. It looked like next year the No. 23 Chevy would try to repeat the same heroics, but Enfinger chose a different path and joined CR7 Racing.

A lot of questions were raised on this decision, and although he had a good run of performances throughout 2024, a win eluded him. But the special moment came for him in his own backyard, which gave him the ticket to race for the championship once again in Phoenix.

“We knew stuff was going to get dicey. We didn’t make all the perfect decisions today, but we had a Champion Power Equipment Chevy that was fast enough to get it done today…It’s just Talladega right there, and hopefully all the fans enjoyed it. There’s nothing like winning at your home track. Got my family here and my first win with my daughter and my son here. On top of that, we get to race for the championship in Phoenix.” Grant Enfinger said this in the victory lane, speaking to FOX Sports.

The Talladega race did change the order of the drivers competing in the playoffs. The likes of Tyler Ankrum and Nick Sanchez had a rough outing, whereas Rajah Caruth sneaked in a top 5 finish.

Ankrum and Sanchez took a big hit while Caruth made sizeable gains

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Tyler Ankrum was only trying to work his way up the field by joining the outside lane on the final lap. Everything was going according to plan until his truck was sideways and he rammed into the oncoming traffic in the inside lane. However, rather than pointing fingers at his rivals, he shouldered the responsibility for his fate. After today’s P14 finish, he finds himself at the bottom of playoffs standings and 23 points below the cutline.

“On a replay, it just looks like #43 is giving me a really good push. Coming to the line you know misjudged it, trying to stay square. My back bumper went right a little bit and spun me out, that’s speedway racing.” Ankrum said this to Bob Pockrass after the race. Meanwhile, Rajah Caruth, who was starring at a potential top-10 finish, ended up finishing 3rd. He is still below the bubble, but he closed down the gap to just five points on Corey Heim.

The next Round of 8 race for the Truck series will be after a lengthy break of two weeks. Homestead Miami Speedway will host the second race of the round on Saturday, October 26.