The 2019 Eldora Dirt Derby was a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race held on August 1, 2019, at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Contested over 150 laps on the dirt track, it was the 15th race of the 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series season.
Background
Track
Eldora Speedway is a high-banked clay dirt oval. Located north of Rossburg, Ohio in the village of New Weston, Ohio. Originally constructed as a 1/4-mile semi-banked clay dirt oval by track founder and legendary promoter Earl Baltes, Eldora was enlarged to a 3/8-mile length and later to the "half-mile" standard required by the United States Auto Club (USAC) for National Championship events featuring the stars of the Indianapolis 500.
Entry list Driver Team Manufacturer 02 Tyler Dippel (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 2 Sheldon Creed (R) GMS Racing Chevrolet 03 Jake Griffin Mike Affarano Motorsports Chevrolet 3 Carson Hocevar Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 4 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 6 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 08 Tim Ward Kart Idaho Racing Toyota 8 Colt Gilliam NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet 12 Gus Dean (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 13 Johnny Sauter ThorSport Racing Ford 16 Austin Hill Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 17 Tyler Ankrum (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 18 Harrison Burton (R) Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 20 Landon Huffman Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 22 Austin Wayne Self AM Racing Chevrolet 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 27 Chase Briscoe (i) ThorSport Racing Ford 32 Devin Dodson Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 33 Mike Marlar Reaume Brothers Racing Toyota 34 Mason Massey Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 38 Mark Smith Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 44 Jeffrey Abbey Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 45 Ross Chastain Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Christian Eckes Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 54 Kyle Strickler DGR-Crosley Toyota 74 Darwin Peters Jr. Lou Goss Racing Chevrolet 80 Justin Shipley Jacob Wallace Racing Ford 88 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 98 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 99 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford
Practice
First practice Chase Briscoe was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 19.257 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 27 Chase Briscoe (i) ThorSport Racing Ford 19.257 93.472 2 88 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 19.381 92.874 3 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 19.470 92.450
Final practice Stewart Friesen was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 19.886 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 19.886 90.516 2 27 Chase Briscoe (i) ThorSport Racing Ford 19.933 90.303 3 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 19.980 90.090
Qualifying heat races Chase Briscoe scored the pole for the race after winning the first qualifying heat race.
Race 1 Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps1 1 27 Chase Briscoe (i) ThorSport Racing Ford 102 2 13 Johnny Sauter ThorSport Racing Ford 103 4 18 Harrison Burton (R) Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 104 6 8 Colt Gilliam NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 105 3 44 Jeffrey Abbey Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 106 5 22 Austin Wayne Self AM Racing Chevrolet 107 7 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet 10
Race 2 Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps1 1 88 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 102 2 02 Tyler Dippel (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 103 4 45 Ross Chastain Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 104 3 51 Christian Eckes Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 105 6 20 Landon Huffman Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 106 5 17 Tyler Ankrum (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 107 7 74 Darwin Peters Jr. Lou Goss Racing Chevrolet 9
Race 3 Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps1 1 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 102 2 4 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 103 5 3 Carson Hocevar Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 104 4 03 Jake Griffin Mike Affarano Motorsports Chevrolet 105 3 33 Mike Marlar Reaume Brothers Racing Toyota 106 6 32 Devin Dodson Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 9
Race 4 Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps1 1 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 102 2 99 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford 103 3 80 Justin Shipley Jacob Wallace Racing Ford 104 4 16 Austin Hill Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 105 5 38 Mark Smith Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 106 6 6 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 10
Race 5 Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps1 2 54 Kyle Strickler DGR-Crosley Toyota 102 1 2 Sheldon Creed (R) GMS Racing Chevrolet 103 3 98 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 104 4 12 Gus Dean (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 105 6 08 Tim Ward Kart Idaho Racing Toyota 106 5 34 Mason Massey Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 0
"Last Chance" qualifying race Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps1 2 17 Tyler Ankrum (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 152 4 6 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 153 5 34 Mason Massey Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 154 6 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet 155 7 74 Darwin Peters Jr. Lou Goss Racing Chevrolet 156 3 32 Devin Dodson Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 147 1 22 Austin Wayne Self AM Racing Chevrolet 5
Starting lineup Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 27 Chase Briscoe (i) ThorSport Racing Ford 2 88 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 3 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 4 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 5 54 Kyle Strickler DGR-Crosley Toyota 6 13 Johnny Sauter ThorSport Racing Ford 7 02 Tyler Dippel (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 8 4 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 9 99 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford 10 2 Sheldon Creed (R) GMS Racing Chevrolet 11 18 Harrison Burton (R) Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 12 45 Ross Chastain Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 13 3 Carson Hocevar Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 14 80 Justin Shipley Jacob Wallace Racing Ford 15 98 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 16 8 Colt Gilliam NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 17 51 Christian Eckes Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 18 03 Jake Griffin Mike Affarano Motorsports Chevrolet 19 16 Austin Hill Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 20 12 Gus Dean (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 21 44 Jeffrey Abbey Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 22 20 Landon Huffman Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 23 33 Mike Marlar Reaume Brothers Racing Toyota 24 38 Mark Smith Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 25 08 Tim Ward Kart Idaho Racing Toyota 26 17 Tyler Ankrum (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 27 6 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 28 34 Mason Massey Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 29 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet 30 74 Darwin Peters Jr. Lou Goss Racing Chevrolet 31 32 Devin Dodson Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 32 22 Austin Wayne Self AM Racing Chevrolet
Race
Summary Chase Briscoe started on pole and remained in the lead, winning Stage 1 despite cautions caused by Landon Huffman and Jake Griffin spinning on separate occasions. Harrison Burton later spun on the backstretch on lap 57. A huge crash occurred on lap 65 after Christian Eckes spun around and collected numerous others including Johnny Sauter, Mason Massey, and Jeffrey Abbey. Stage 2 was also won by Briscoe, who had continued his strong lead.
After Stage 2, Stewart Friesen took over the lead. Ross Chastain spun in front of the field, though did not cause any major damage. Kyle Strickler brought out the next caution after spinning out, while another crash collected Briscoe, Sauter, and Tyler Dippel. At the same time, Jennifer Jo Cobb got turned by Norm Benning and collected Devin Dodson.
Dippel failed an attempted slide job on Ben Rhodes late in the race, pushing Rhodes into the fence and dropping him six spots behind Dippel. After the race, Dippel rammed into Rhodes on the cool-down lap, leading Rhodes to attempt to drag Dippel out of his truck on pit road after the race before being pulled away by NASCAR officials. Dippel later called out Rhodes in an expletive-laced tirade, calling it "cool" that Rhodes would miss the playoffs and implying that Rhodes was scared of fighting him. Rhodes, in a calmer post-race interview, called Dippel a dirty driver.
On the final restart, Friesen stayed out and was able to maintain his lead, holding off Sheldon Creed and Grant Enfinger to win the dirt derby. This was also Friesen's first win in the truck series.
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 40 Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 27 Chase Briscoe (i) ThorSport Racing Ford 02 4 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 93 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 84 2 Sheldon Creed (R) GMS Racing Chevrolet 75 88 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 66 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 57 99 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford 48 3 Carson Hocevar Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 39 45 Ross Chastain Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 210 54 Kyle Strickler DGR-Crosley Toyota 1
Stage Two Laps: 50
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 27 Chase Briscoe (i) ThorSport Racing Ford 02 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 93 88 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 84 54 Kyle Strickler DGR-Crosley Toyota 75 98 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 66 45 Ross Chastain Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 57 4 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 48 33 Mike Marlar Reaume Brothers Racing Toyota 39 02 Tyler Dippel (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 210 99 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford 1
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 60
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 4 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 150 542 10 2 Sheldon Creed (R) GMS Racing Chevrolet 150 423 15 98 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 150 404 23 33 Mike Marlar Reaume Brothers Racing Toyota 150 365 8 4 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 150 456 17 51 Christian Eckes Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 150 317 1 27 Chase Briscoe (i) ThorSport Racing Ford 150 08 7 02 Tyler Dippel (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 150 319 26 17 Tyler Ankrum (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 150 2810 2 88 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 150 4111 14 80 Justin Shipley Jacob Wallace Racing Ford 150 2612 12 45 Ross Chastain Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 150 3213 32 22 Austin Wayne Self AM Racing Chevrolet 150 2414 9 99 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford 150 2815 24 38 Mark Smith Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 150 2216 25 08 Tim Ward Kart Idaho Racing Toyota 150 2117 30 74 Darwin Peters Jr. Lou Goss Racing Chevrolet 150 2018 5 54 Kyle Strickler DGR-Crosley Toyota 149 2719 29 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet 149 1820 21 44 Jeffrey Abbey Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 147 1721 6 13 Johnny Sauter ThorSport Racing Ford 145 1622 27 6 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 145 1523 28 34 Mason Massey Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 144 1424 22 20 Landon Huffman Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 144 1325 13 3 Carson Hocevar Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 143 1526 18 03 Jake Griffin Mike Affarano Motorsports Chevrolet 143 1127 16 8 Colt Gilliam NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 143 1028 20 12 Gus Dean (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 142 929 3 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 141 1630 31 32 Devin Dodson Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 141 731 11 18 Harrison Burton (R) Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 127 632 19 16 Austin Hill Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 79 5
References