NASCAR Spring Kansas Recap: Enfinger, Hamlin Score Big Wins

The 134-lap Heart of America 200 that took place at Kansas Speedway was won by GMS Racing’s Grant Enfinger, picking up his first win of the season and his eighth career victory in the Craftsman Truck Series. Enfinger led for 65 laps, the highest of anyone else, in a race that had seven cautions for 40 laps. This also marked Enfinger’s first win since winning at IRP back in July 2022. As he crossed the line with an over 4-second lead over Corey Heim, it was clear that Enfinger’s truck was no match for the rest of the field, showcasing a dominant performance.

“It was a huge night for us,” said Enfinger after the race. “From the drop of the green flag, we had a really, really good Chevy Silverado. Just started out really tight. Once Jeff (his crew chief Jeff Hensley) made one adjustment on it, I felt like from that point forward, we were potentially the best truck out there.”

Runner-up Corey Heim had a good chance to win the race but the final caution was the one that cost him. He finished second, edging out Zane Smith. Stewart Friesen and Ross Chastain completed the top five, while Nick Sanchez, Kyle Busch, Jake Garcia, Taylor Gray, and Tyler Ankrum rounded out the top ten. The final caution of the night was caused by Kris Wright, who had a second spin during the race.

“I think that last caution put a hole in our strategy a little bit,” Heim said. “If we had that last run go green and we had the same tires as the 23 (Enfinger), I thought we could beat him straight up.”

Rajah Caruth had a very strong truck earlier on as he was running up front during the first half of the race, alongside Ty Majeski. That was until they were caught up in a wreck while fighting for a top-five position, leaving both Majeski and Caruth’s cars heavily damaged. The wreck was caused when it looked like Caruth pulled a late block on Majeski to hold his spot.

“It was really close, and we had a long way to go,” Caruth said after the wreck. “I was trying to cover the top, and he just kind of hooked me there. Good to know.”

“We had a good truck. We got back up front there with a little bit of strategy,” Majeski said. “Thought we may have made a wrong adjustment when we were racing the No. 24 there. He was ultra-aggressive blocking. So, he blocked once, then twice, and I had a run and he was a little late.”

Kyle Busch went on to win the first stage while Corey Heim won stage two. The truck series will be back in action next week at Darlington Raceway for the Buckle Up South Carolina 200.

Many fans called the Kansas Cup race the best race so far, as many drivers were driving hard and were not giving an inch, leading to emotions boiling over between a couple of drivers after the race. It came down to Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin, two of the sport’s top stars, contending for the win in the AdventHealth 400. It was an intense fight to the finish that began on lap 221 of the 267-lap race. Hamlin was chasing down Larson lap after lap, not leaving the No. 5 Chevrolet of Larson out of his sight. On the final lap, Hamlin reeled in Larson once more, loosening up and making slight contact with Larson that sent the No. 5 Chevrolet into the backstretch wall, allowing Hamlin to pass by. Denny Hamlin earned his first win of the season, while Larson was able to recover finishing second. This win also marked Joe Gibbs Racing’s 400^th overall win in NASCAR.

Hamlin exited his car as he began to celebrate the snapping of a 33-race winless streak, as he was met with a shower of boos from the crowd that didn’t like the way that Hamlin had won the race. 

“Yeah, I got position on him there, tried to side-draft him, and clipped his left rear,” said Hamlin after the race. “But I’m glad he was able to at least finish.”

“Credit to my FedEx team, though. Four hundred wins for Joe Gibbs Racing (203 in the NASCAR Cup Series, 197 in the Xfinity Series)-it’s such a great accomplishment for them.”

A fun fact about the 2023 AdventHealth 400 was that the race featured 37 lead changes among 12 different drivers, the most ever in the history of Kansas Speedway and in a 400-mile race on a 1.5-mile intermediate speedway. In part of that, Larson led for 85 laps across seven different times, which included the final 46 of 47 laps, the last one led by the race winner Denny Hamlin. 

“I haven’t seen a replay,” Larson said, “but obviously, he was side-drafting really aggressively, like he would. He was touching me, it felt like, and it had me really out of control. I wish we could…”

As Larson began to talk about what happened at the end of the race, the attention, including Larson’s, was quickly turned to a confrontation between Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson. Both drivers did make contact during the race on a couple of different occasions as they both took a couple of swings until being split up by NASCAR officials.

“I got tight off of (Turn) 4, for sure,” said Chastain, who ran Gragson up toward the wall during the final stage of the race. “Noah and I have a very similar attitude on the racetrack. We train together, we prepare together, and we know every little thing about each other.

“Yeah, I definitely crowded him up off of 4, and he took a swipe at us in 3 and came down and grabbed ahold of me (after the race). A very big man once told me we have a no-push policy here at Trackhouse.”

Pole winner William Byron settled for a third-place finish after being hit with a speeding penalty that put him two laps down. Bubba Wallace finished fourth and Ross Chastain finished in fifth. Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick, and Austin Dillon completed the top 10. The Cup Series will also race at Darlington next weekend for the Goodyear 400, with its throwback weekend.