WISCASSET — Nick Jenkins had a feeling, even as he was answering questions about an apparent second-place finish immediately after the Boss Hogg 150 on Sunday night at Wiscasset Speedway.

It turns out Jenkins’ suspicion was correct, and the Brownville driver was credited with the win when Scarborough’s Garrett Hall was disqualified because he used an unapproved tire.

“It would have been nice to cross the line first, but we’ll take it,” said Jenkins, whose win was the first of his career in a 150-lap event. “A $5,000 check (for winning)? Yeah, we’re here.”

Hall, who led the final 40 laps following a final restart on Lap 111, pitted on Lap 94 for two right side tires. As he was battling his way back through the field after the pit stop, Hall was spun by Mike Hopkins while racing for fourth on Lap 103 and cut his left rear tire.

He returned to pit road, where his crew put on one of its practice tires as a replacement – though that tire was not part of the six-tire inventory the team had selected for the race. All teams had six total race tires, and any tire they changed had to come from that group.

“We didn’t have a left side tire except for one that we’d been practicing on all day that we bought (at the track),” Hall said. “What else was I supposed to do, just park the car? We bought the tire (Sunday) morning and we ran 100 laps of practice on it. I thought there might be a little bit of lenience, I don’t know. I didn’t think that there would be a problem with it.”

Before being credited with the victory, Jenkins noted that his crew saw Hall’s team change three tires during the race. The win, in which Jenkins led just a single lap during the middle stages of the race, was a bit of vindication for a driver who lost the Coastal 200 in 2015 at Wiscasset on a late restart.

“My crew told me,” Jenkins said. “They told me on the last restart, they told me ‘that guy took three tires, man, and we’re only allowed to take two. This race is yours, whether you finish first or second. This race is yours.'”

Cody Tribbet of Richmond moved up to second place for his best career finish in a Pro Stock. Wyatt Alexander of Ellsworth, who won this event two years ago, ended up third.

Patience and pit strategy played a significant role in the outcome. Early leader Daren Ripley of Thomaston, a previous Boss Hogg winner, spun by himself just 20 laps into the race and collected third-place runner John Peters of Westbrook. Twenty laps later, Hopkins spun out of second place while pressing Hall for the lead. Five-time track champion Scott Chubbuck was booted out of the lead by Jeff Burgess with 40 laps remaining.

“Those guys were sideways, battling, beating each others’ doors,” Jenkins said. “I guess that’s why I run 150-lap races. I was shocked when I saw somebody like Ripley wrecking. We just sat back in seventh or eighth place and saved my right-side tires.”

The restarts and off-sequence pit cycles played right into what seemed to be perfectly-laid out strategy for Jenkins.

“It’s what we had planned,” said Jenkins, who pitted on Lap 103 for fresh right-side tires. “We wanted to wait until 30 or 40 laps to go, and it worked out perfect for us. We thought when they all pitted at (Lap) 90 that we were in pretty good shape.”