TALLADEGA, Ala. – Spencer Boyd became the latest in a long line of upset winners to grace victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway with a stunning triumph in Saturday’s Sugarlands Shine 250.
Boyd, who previously earned his career-best NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series finish of fourth during the season opener at Daytona Int’l Speedway in February, never led a lap during green-flag conditions, but was handed the victory after apparent winner Johnny Sauter was penalized.
Sauter was racing Riley Herbst for the victory coming off turn four to the checkered flag when Herbst faked Sauter to the high lane before diving to the bottom in an attempt to slingshot past for the win.
Sauter countered with a move to the bottom, but was ruled by NASCAR officials to have forced Herbst below the double-yellow “out-of-bounds” line separating the banking from the apron of the track.
As a result, Sauter was issued a tail-of-the-lead-lap penalty, relegating him to 14th while Boyd – who originally crossed the finish line second in a three-wide battle with Todd Gilliland and Herbst – was elevated to the top of the scoring pylon and subsequently directed to victory lane.
The official margin of victory for both Boyd’s and Young’s Motorsports’ maiden Truck Series victory was .027 seconds.
Boyd had to immediately go from victory lane back to the grid to qualify the No. 52 for Rick Ware Racing on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series side, but took a few moments in victory lane to soak in the moment.
“I got out, and the guys told me right away that it was under review, and you just never know what’s going to happen here,” said Boyd. “The guys gave me a great truck, and second would have been amazing for us. I already finished fourth at Daytona in this piece, and we knew she was fast, but then one of my crew guys came running up and told me I won and I didn’t know what to feel!
“I can’t believe this. Two weeks ago I wasn’t even going to be running this race; we put this together really late with Alabama Roofing Professionals and to deliver for them is just incredible,” Boyd continued. “It’s been a tough season, but thank you to the Young family for believing in me and giving me a chance. A lot of people know how hard it is to run at this level and we made it happen today.
“I’m stoked, man! I don’t drink beer, but it might happen tonight!”
The largely-clean race was thrown into turmoil on lap 82, when Anthony Alfredo spun to trigger a late-race caution flag and set up an eight-lap sprint to the finish. The ensuing restart led to the first wave of chaos, as Ross Chastain was turned from the lead off the front bumper of Sheldon Creed in turn three.
That led to a red flag and another restart with three to go, which saw the field go a lap and a half before Gus Dean went around with help from Todd Gilliland and made heavy contact with the inside wall on the backstretch – setting up the overtime finish where Boyd shocked the masses.
After Sauter’s penalty was applied, Gilliland was credited with the runner-up spot at the finish, followed by Herbst in third place. Playoff contenders Brett Moffitt and Stewart Friesen filled out the top five, rallying back from a penalty for locking bumpers shortly after the start of the final stage.
Austin Hill, Tyler Ankrum, Matt Crafton, Sheldon Creed and Grant Enfinger were the rest of the top 10.
When a starry-eyed Boyd finally made it to the infield media center to discuss his triumph en masse, he was emphatic about one thing in particular: this moment was his childhood wishes come true.
“You dream of winning a NASCAR race; I mean, four years ago, I was selling cars with my dad at Hendrick Automotive Group, so this is proof that if you dream big, amazing things can happen,” Boyd said. “To win for a family-owned team at this level … it doesn’t get much better than this. It really doesn’t.”
To view complete race results, advance to the next page.