The 2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 was a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race held on October 26, 2019, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 200 laps on the .526 mile (.847 km) paperclip-shaped short track, it was the 21st race of the 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series season, fifth race of the Playoffs, and second race of the Round of 6.
Background
Track
Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.
Entry list Driver Team Manufacturer 0 Cody McMahan Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet 02 Tyler Dippel (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 2 Sheldon Creed (R) GMS Racing Chevrolet 3 Jordan Anderson Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 4 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 6 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 8 John Hunter Nemechek (i) NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 9 Codie Rohrbaugh CR7 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 15 Tanner Gray (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 16 Austin Hill Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 17 Tyler Ankrum (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 18 Harrison Burton (R) Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 20 Spencer Boyd (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 21 Sam Mayer GMS Racing Chevrolet 22 Austin Wayne Self AM Racing Chevrolet 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 30 Danny Bohn (R) On Point Motorsports Toyota 33 Dawson Cram Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 34 Josh Reaume Reaume Brothers Racing Toyota 44 Jeb Burton (i) Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 45 Ross Chastain Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 49 Ray Ciccarelli CMI Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Christian Eckes Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 54 Natalie Decker (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 56 Timmy Hill (i) Hill Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 98 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 99 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford
Practice
First practice Christian Eckes was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 19.851 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 51 Christian Eckes Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 19.851 95.391 2 45 Ross Chastain Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 20.004 94.661 3 2 Sheldon Creed (R) GMS Racing Chevrolet 20.043 94.477
Final practice Todd Gilliland was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 19.788 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 19.788 95.694 2 18 Harrison Burton (R) Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 19.881 95.247 3 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 19.897 95.170
Qualifying Christian Eckes scored the pole for the race with a time of 19.844 seconds and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 51 Christian Eckes Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 19.844 2 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 19.860 3 18 Harrison Burton (R) Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 19.908 4 88 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 19.926 5 17 Tyler Ankrum (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 19.940 6 13 Johnny Sauter ThorSport Racing Ford 19.951 7 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 19.954 8 99 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford 19.987 9 98 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 20.003 10 8 John Hunter Nemechek (i) NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 20.007 11 4 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 20.013 12 45 Ross Chastain Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 20.059 13 02 Tyler Dippel (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 20.064 14 2 Sheldon Creed (R) GMS Racing Chevrolet 20.119 15 15 Tanner Gray (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 20.137 16 12 Gus Dean (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 20.175 17 16 Austin Hill Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 20.183 18 9 Codie Rohrbaugh CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet 20.226 19 30 Danny Bohn (R) On Point Motorsports Toyota 20.244 20 22 Austin Wayne Self AM Racing Chevrolet 20.245 21 21 Sam Mayer GMS Racing Chevrolet 20.245 22 56 Timmy Hill (i) Hill Motorsports Chevrolet 20.267 23 20 Spencer Boyd Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 20.338 24 44 Jeb Burton (i) Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 20.489 25 3 Jordan Anderson Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 20.527 26 54 Natalie Decker (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 20.715 27 33 Dawson Cram Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 20.844 28 49 Ray Ciccarelli CMI Motorsports Chevrolet 20.990 29 34 Josh Reaume Reaume Brothers Racing Toyota 21.414 30 6 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 21.624 31 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet 22.116 32 0 Cody McMahan Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet 32.067 . – Playoffs driver
Race
Summary Christian Eckes started on pole, but Brett Moffitt took the lead from him and held it until the end of Stage 1. One caution occurred during Stage 1 for Ray Ciccarelli spinning.
In Stage 2, Tanner Gray spun on lap 78 and brought out a caution. The leaders pitted, giving the lead to Grant Enfinger on lap 82, while Matt Crafton stalled out with engine issues. Sam Mayer took the lead on the restart and held it to the end of the second stage.
Stage 3 began with several wrecks; the first occurring when Natalie Decker collided with Jeb Burton and collected Moffitt, Dawson Cram, and Tyler Dippel. Another caution occurred immediately after the restart as Ross Chastain slipped past Mayer before Mayer was involved in a wreck that also involved Austin Hill, Tyler Ankrum, Enfinger, and Todd Gilliland, which brought out a lengthy red flag. The race afterwards had numerous cautions; Ciccarelli spun again, while Stewart Friesen was turned by Johnny Sauter. Eckes briefly took the lead away from Chastain but lost it soon after, while Spencer Boyd collided with Jordan Anderson, also collecting Norm Benning and Ben Rhodes.
With 20 laps remaining, Jennifer Jo Cobb's truck lost an axle, and Gilliland passed Chastain for the lead on the restart with 10 laps left. The final caution came on lap 194 when Decker and Anderson collided and collected Gus Dean, setting up an overtime.
Harrison Burton had contact with Chastain on the final lap, beginning a series of incidents. Gilliland survived the incidents and took the victory, with Chastain finishing second. Timmy Hill notably earned his best finish of 5th place in the race.
Similarly to the previous week's race, none of the playoffs drivers had locked themselves into the final round due to a non-playoffs driver winning the race. Crafton and Ankrum left the race below the cutoff line.
Fox Sports 1 was heavily criticized for cutting off the live feed of the race's final two laps in order to switch to the college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Iowa State Cyclones. As a result, NASCAR fans not in attendance missed Gilliland's win.
Stage results
Stage One Laps: 50
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 102 51 Christian Eckes Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 93 99 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford 84 88 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 75 13 Johnny Sauter ThorSport Racing Ford 66 18 Harrison Burton (R) Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 57 17 Tyler Ankrum (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 48 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 39 98 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 210 45 Ross Chastain Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 1
Stage Two Laps: 50
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 21 Sam Mayer GMS Racing Chevrolet 102 98 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 93 16 Austin Hill Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 84 45 Ross Chastain Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 75 51 Christian Eckes Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 66 02 Tyler Dippel (R) Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 57 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 48 13 Johnny Sauter ThorSport Racing Ford 39 30 Danny Bohn (R) On Point Motorsports Toyota 210 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 1
Final Stage results
Stage Three Laps: 100
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 11 4 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 201 402 12 45 Ross Chastain Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 201 433 6 13 Johnny Sauter ThorSport Racing Ford 201 434 9 98 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 201 445 22 56 Timmy Hill (i) Hill Motorsports Chevrolet 201 06 7 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 201 357 10 8John Hunter Nemechek (i)NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 20108 19 30 Danny Bohn (R)On Point MotorsportsToyota 201 319 24 44Jeb Burton (i)Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 201 010 18 9Codie RohrbaughCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet 201 2711 14 2 Sheldon Creed (R)GMS Racing Chevrolet 201 2612 25 3 Jordan Anderson Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 201 2513 27 33 Dawson Cram Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 201 2414 16 12 Gus Dean (R)Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 201 2315 23 20 Spencer Boyd (R)Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 201 2216 8 99Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord 201 2917 1 51 Christian Eckes Kyle Busch MotorsportsToyota 201 3518 3 18Harrison Burton (R)Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 201 2419 2022 Austin Wayne Self AM Racing Chevrolet 201 1820 15 15 Tanner Gray (R)DGR-CrosleyToyota 201 1721 28 49Ray CiccarelliCMI MotorsportsChevrolet199 1622 26 54Natalie Decker (R)DGR-Crosley Toyota 199 1523 4 88 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 193 2124 30 6 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 163 1325 5 17 Tyler Ankrum (R) DGR-Crosley Toyota 133 1626 17 16 Austin Hill Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 127 1927 31 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet 127 1028 21 21Sam MayerGMS Racing Chevrolet 122 1929 2 24 Brett Moffitt GMS Racing Chevrolet 122 2230 13 02Tyler Dippel (R)Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 121 1231 29 34 Josh Reaume Reaume Brothers Racing Toyota 37 632 32 0 Cody McMahan Jennifer Jo Cobb RacingChevrolet 0 5 . – Driver advanced to the next round of the playoffs.
. – Playoffs driver
References