Todd Gilliland took the lead from Tyler Ankrum with six laps to go and won Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Toyota Tundra 225. This was the NCWTS inaugural race at the 3.41-mile, 20-turn Austin, Texas, road course, called The Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
This was Gilliland’s first win of the season, second of his NCWTS career, and his first with Front Row Motorsports.
“I definitely did a lot of stuff wrong but that’s what I love about road course racing, there’s 20 turns here, 20 opportunities to pass but also make mistakes,’’ Gilliland said.
Kaz Grala finished second, Ankrum third, Grant Enfinger fourth and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top-five finishers.
Gilliland won stage one but the jackman went over the wall too soon and he had to start from the tail of the field for stage two. Ben Rhodes won stage two, his first stage win of the season.
The NCWTS heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway next Friday for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at 8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Circuit of The Americas
Austin, Texas
Saturday, May 22, 2021
(5) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 41.
(2) Kaz Grala, Chevrolet, 41.
(1) Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 41.
(23) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 41.
(3) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 41.
(21) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 41.
(17) Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 41.
(15) Zane Smith, Chevrolet, 41.
(9) Austin Hill, Toyota, 41.
(11) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, 41.
(26) Paul Menard, Toyota, 41.
(6) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 41.
(13) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 41.
(28) Hailie Deegan #, Ford, 41.
(4) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 41.
(29) Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 41.
(16) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 41.
(8) Parker Chase, Toyota, 41.
(24) Camden Murphy, Chevrolet, 41.
(12) Ryan Truex, Chevrolet, 41.
(19) Derek Kraus, Toyota, 41.
(27) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 41.
(32) Lawless Alan, Toyota, 41.
(22) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 41.
(30) Tate Fogleman, Chevrolet, 41.
(14) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 41.
(31) Chase Purdy #, Chevrolet, 41.
(33) Jack Wood, Chevrolet, 41.
(25) Michele Abbate, Toyota, 41.
(34) Cory Roper, Ford, 41.
(36) Tanner Gray, Ford, 40.
(18) Timothy Peters, Chevrolet, 40.
(20) Chandler Smith #, Toyota, 39.
(35) Roger Reuse, Chevrolet, 38.
(10) Christian Eckes, Toyota, Suspension, 36.
(7) Cameron Lawrence, Chevrolet, 34.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 70.79 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 58 Mins, 30 Secs. Margin of Victory: 7.941 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 2 for 2 laps.
Lead Changes: 8 among 6 drivers.Lap Leaders: K. Grala 1-11;T. Gilliland 12-13;S. Creed 14-23;B. Rhodes 24-26;M. Crafton 27;S. Creed 28-31;T. Ankrum 32-35;T. Gilliland 36-41.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Sheldon Creed 2 times for 14 laps; Kaz Grala 1 time for 11 laps; Todd Gilliland
2 times for 8 laps; Tyler Ankrum 1 time for 4 laps; Ben Rhodes 1 time for 3 laps; Matt Crafton 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 38,02,26,88,99,32,52,4,2,56
Stage #2 Top Ten: 99,88,19,2,26,02,45,32,38,11
