Noah Gragson Spins, And Timothy Peters Wins Following Last-Lap Crash At Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Timothy Peters squeezed by a spinning Noah Gragson to win Saturday’s Fr8auctions 250 and capture his third victory at Talladega Superspeedway.

On the final lap of Saturday’s race, Timothy Peters made contact with the rear of Gragson’s truck. Gragson was leading at the time, when he spun down the backstretch in front of the pack, igniting the second “big one” of the afternoon. Since the field had already taken the white flag, the race was over, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series veteran, Peters was declared the winner in the GMS Racing No. 25 Kingman Chevrolet Chevrolet. The win marks Peters’ 11^th career victory in the series.

“You kind of can’t let up on that last lap,” Peters said in Victory Lane. “I hope everyone is okay. I hate to cause that, but we were going for the win. This is my last ride in the Kingman Chevrolet.”

Gragson finished 13^th, but he did advance to the Round of 6 in the NASCAR Playoffs. Following the crash, the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver didn’t blame Peters for the last-lap accident.

“I was just trying to keep Timothy with me and have him keep pushing because that was the only way we were going to be able to win the race,” Gragson said. “Not trying to block, but just trying to stay with my line. That’s speedway racing. I don’t blame anybody in there and I hope they don’t blame me. Hopefully we gave the fans one hell of a finish because it was fun in the driver’s seat. Normally I hate racing at these places, but that was a lot of fun.”

Myatt Snider finished second, and pole-sitter David Gilliland finished third. Justin Haley and Wendell Chavous finished fourth and fifth respectively. Rounding out the top-10 were Stewart Friesen, Jordan Anderson, Bryan Dauzat, Max Tullman and Austin Hill.

As with any superspeedway race, at some point, there’s probably going to be a big crash. On Saturday, the “big one” occurred on lap 60 in Turn 4, when contact with the front bumper of Haley’s truck sent Justin Fontaine spinning. Among those involved was NASCAR Playoff contender, Ben Rhodes. Unfortunately for Rhodes, his competitive run resulted in a 16^th-place finish, and he didn’t advance onto the next round in the NASCAR Playoffs. The 10-truck crash brought out an 11-minute, 42-second red flag.

While Rhodes didn’t advance, neither did Friesen, who had an up and down afternoon.

Drivers advancing to the Round of 6 included Johnny Sauter (+28), Brett Moffitt (+23), Noah Gragson (+11), Grant Enfinger (+4), Justin Haley (-4) and Matt Crafton (-15).

The first race of the Round of 6 will be held at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 13. Live coverage of the Texas Roadhouse 200 presented by Alpha Energy Solutions will broadcast on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) and the Motor Racing Network (MRN) at 1 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

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