From there, the race resumed after a 17 minute, seven second red flag but barely made it half a lap before the next crash ensued, this time after a five-wide scramble for position on the backstretch gone wrong.
Contact between Stewart Friesen and Dalton Sargeant sent Sargeant down the track into the No. 97 of Jesse Little, who bounced lower still and hooked Ryan Truex up across the track, sending all three trucks careening into the outside wall in turn three and causing heavy damage to each one.
That crash forced a red flag period of 14 minutes and 12 seconds, with Bell and Gragson again lining up on the front row for another restart once the caution was displayed again.
Green flag action returned with 10 to go, with Bell holding his own on the outside and Gragson searching for every inch of racing room he could find on the inside lane as he looked to get back by Bell for the lead and the win.
Ultimately, Gragson got loose on Bell’s inside on the exit of turn four, spinning out and tipping Bell up into the wall coming to seven to go as Sauter watched on from third on the race track.
Gragson then came down the track and was t-boned by fourth-running Justin Haley, ending both of the young guns’ nights as a third and final red flag of six minutes and four seconds was sparked to clean up the wreckage.
After that, all Sauter needed was a clean launch to take off into the Arizona night, breaking Nemechek’s heart in the process.
Nemechek could only advance into the Championship 4 with a victory Friday at Phoenix, ultimately falling one spot short of the goal.
“I needed a little bit better restart at the end,” Nemechek lamented. “He (Sauter) drove into (turn) one really hard and I don’t know what else I could have done. It stinks to be that close, but I can’t thank my guys and all of our sponsors enough. We definitely have to keep our heads held high, because there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“We came here with one goal and that was to win the race and we put ourselves in position to do so. That’s all you can ask for. Hopefully we can go to Homestead and get a win.”
Cody Coughlin finished a career-best third, followed by Chase Briscoe and Kaz Grala.
Bell rallied back to cross the line eighth at the finish, just ahead of Cindric in ninth.
Among the playoff drivers, Sauter was already assured a spot in the final four after his win one week prior in Texas, while Bell clinched his spot in the championship race thanks to the bonus points he scored for winning stage one.
Crafton secured his place among the championship contenders at the end of stage two, by virtue of stage points scored combined with eight trucks being out of the race at that point, while Cindric’s berth wasn’t officially secured until the checkered flag flew.
Those four drivers will fight for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship during the Ford EcoBoost 200 next Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM).
Full race results can be viewed on the next page…
