Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Spencer Boyd wins Talladega Truck Series race after Johnny Sauter penalized

NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Sugarlands Shine 250

TALLADEGA, ALABAMA - OCTOBER 12: Spencer Boyd, driver of the #20 Alabama Roofing Professionals Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Sugarlands Shine 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 12, 2019 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Getty Images

NASCAR declared Spencer Boyd the winner of Saturday’s Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway after penalizing Johnny Sauter for going below the yellow line and forcing Riley Herbst to do so while racing for the lead on the final lap.

The win is the first of Boyd’s career and comes in his 23rd career start. The driver for Young’s Motorsports is 24 and hails from Creve Coeur, Missouri.

“I got out (of the truck) and they’re like, ‘Hey, it’s under review,’” Boyd told FS1. “You never know what’s going to happen here. The guys gave me a great truck. I’m sitting there, ‘Man, second is amazing for us. I’m happy.’ We finished fourth at Daytona in this truck. One of my crew guys was like ‘You just won!’ I can’t believe this. Two weeks ago I wasn’t running this race. We put this together late with Alabama Roofing Professionals ... It’s been a tough season. It’s been a lot of fun. ...

“I had no idea what to expect,” Boyd continued. “You dream of winning a NASCAR race. Four years ago I was selling cars with my dad at Hendrick Automotive Group. A lot of people have believed in me to get me to this point. ... It’s Talladega. Man, I don’t drink beer, but it might happen tonight!”

The top five in the overtime finish was completed by Todd Gilliland, Herbst, Brett Moffitt and Stewart Friesen.

Sauter was dropped to 14th, the last car on the lead lap.

“It ain’t the first win NASCAR’s taken from me,” Sauter told FS1. “I went down to put a little block on (Herbst), but when I did I got hooked sideways. But that’s just plate racing. I didn’t block his advance or anything like that. If I remember I think Tony Stewart and Regan Smith had the same deal (in 2008). Just hate it for my guys. They deserve better than that. What are you gonna say?”

Scott Miller, NASCAR’s vice president of competition, explained the decision on the finish.

“It’s made very clear in the rule book, in the driver’s meeting video and all of the dialogue we have with the drivers what you can and can’t do when it comes to the yellow line,” Miller said. “It was clearly a violation of what we ask of the drivers when it relates to the yellow line. So there was no other call for us to make, except for what we did.”

The overtime finish was setup by a Gus Dean crash on the backstretch with two laps go in the scheduled distance.

The race was red flagged for a 10-truck wreck with seven laps to go. The wreck involved race leader Ross Chastain, Harrison Burton, Timothy Peters and Grant Enfinger.

The wreck started when Chastain, who is in the playoffs, attempted to block a pass from Sheldon Creed and made contact with him, turning Chastain.
“I turned left on him,” Chastain told FS1. “Sorry to everybody that got taken out. That was on me.

“That was poor execution on my part.”

STAGE 1 WINNER: Sheldon Creed

STAGE 2 WINNER: Stewart Friesen

MORE: Race results, point standings

WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Brett Moffitt (fourth) and Stewart Friesen (fifth) were the top finishing playoff drivers after they bounced back from a penalty for locking bumpers mid-race ... Rookie Tyler Ankrum placed seventh in his first career start on a superspeedway.

WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Tyler Dippel was eliminated in a crash in Stage 2. He finished 31st … John Hunter Nemechek was eliminated and finished 30th due to damage suffered when trucks in front of him stacked up and he rammed into the back of Sheldon Creed … Anthony Alfredo finished 15th after he spun in Turn 4 from a punctured tire with 13 laps to go in the scheduled distance. He was making his first superspeedway start.

WHAT’S NEXT: Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville Speedway at 1:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 26 on FS1