TALLADEGA, Ala.: Lawless Alan didn’t win Friday afternoon’s Love’s RV Stop 225 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, but the Reaume Brothers Racing driver had a fast enough truck to win and turned the speed into a career-best day.
Alan, aboard his No. 33 AUTODockit Ford F-150, started the day off with a solid qualifying effort, which contributed to his strong performance at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.
Without practice, Alan qualified his No. 33 Reaume Brothers Racing Ford F-150 in the 16th position – a career-best Talladega qualifying effort in NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series competition.
From the drop of the green flag, Alan quickly drafted his way inside the top-10 and avoided the early race jockeying for position by finishing eighth and scoring two stage points for himself and his Salisbury, N.C.-based team.
In Stage 2, Alan proved the speed from his Josh Reaume-owned team was no fluke as he hustled back from just outside the top-10 to finish third in Stage 2 – setting a competitive tone and confidence for the end of the race.
During Stage 3 and following his green flag pit stop, Alan could drive back through the top—15 and survive a caution-filled stage to find himself fifth with a nine-lap restart to the finish.
Alan gained two positions on track through the final eight laps by hugging the yellow bottom line in control of third place coming to the white flag.
On the last lap, Alan stayed tucked in behind leader Grant Enfinger and Christian Eckes, but as the trucks screamed out of Turn 4 onto the frontstretch for the final time, Alan saw an opportunity to make his move and perhaps pull an upset win.
However, his move came without the benefit of drafting partners, with his competitors electing to split the Van Nuys, Calif. native with the checkered flag waving.
The move actually benefited Alan, as he could dodge a series of two wrecks over the final couple hundred feet of the race to escape the carnage with a fifth-place finish.
After the race, Alan, 24, said he was happy with the finish but thought he could pull off a stunner.
“It worked out pretty much exactly how I wanted it to,” said Alan after the race. “I wanted to be on the bottom, and I wanted the No. 9 (Enfinger) and the 19 (Eckes) to be in front of me, and that’s how it worked out. We all got a really good launch and were all pushing really well.
“We got to third and were just riding, and I feel like I could have won the race if I effectively blocked the No. 17 (Taylor Gray), but I knew that I had to do something in order to not be third. I feel like if I did that, I would have won, so I’m happy with fifth, but, man, what could have been.”
Alan said he was most proud of his team’s efforts for finishing based on their actual performance rather than superspeedway luck.
“I’m super proud of Reaume Brothers Racing and AUTODockit and everybody that helps support me up to this point,” added Alan. “I’m happy to have given them a finish and it’s not like we got lucky. We were there on merit and speed, so it feels good.”
Before Friday afternoons’ race, Alan had scored just one top-10 finish, also coming at Talladega Superspeedway driving for Niece Motorsports in September 2023, finishing 10th after starting 21st.
For Reaume Brothers Racing, it was their second career Truck Series top-five finish. The team finished fourth on the Eldora Speedway dirt after starting 23rd during the 2019 season with dirt ace Mike Marlar.
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
