Category: RC Truck Series

By Reid Spencer

Those who were delivering a post-mortem to Matt Crafton’s hopes for a third straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title after last weekend’s race at Talladega learned on Saturday that the lid on the coffin is far from nailed shut.

Crafton survived five restarts in the final 50 laps of Saturday’s Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway and won the race by .396 seconds over John Hunter Nemechek, who shoved third-place finisher Cameron Hayley out of the way after a restart with two laps left to secure the runner-up position.

With his fifth victory of the season, his second at the .526-mile short track and the 10th of his career, Crafton chopped 13 points off the series lead of Erik Jones, who struggled throughout the afternoon and came home 10th.

Crafton moved into second place in the standings, 10 points behind Jones with three races left in the season. Fifth-place finisher Tyler Reddick is third in points, 13 behind Jones.

Crafton grabbed the lead from Nemechek after a restart on Lap 137 of 200 and held it the rest of the way. Polesitter Cole Custer, who ran fourth, led a race-high 96 laps but wasn’t able to regain the top spot after suffering a pit road speeding penalty under caution on Lap 124.

For Crafton, though, the race was a dramatic turnaround after a late wreck a week earlier at Talladega dropped him to 24th at the finish, third in the standings and seemingly out of touch with Jones. But the misfortune at NASCAR’s longest oval turned on a dime at one of the sport’s shortest.

“We’ve had a very trying last two months, but to get back to Victory Lane is awesome,” Crafton said. “These guys (his No. 88 ThorSport Toyota team) just never give up. We weren’t that great on the short run, but like I said, I never give up on these guys. They keep fine-tuning and fine-tuning.

“The second-to-last run, we just got really tight, for whatever reason, but (crew chief) Junior (Joiner) called an audible, made a little change there, and the thing was good. I just had to pace myself and save enough tires for the end of the race.”

Jones felt his Kyle Busch Motorsports team simply missed the setup for the race.

“It was just a fight all day,” said Jones, whose handling issues were compounded by a soft brake pedal. “We missed it a little bit as an organization. I think it showed we were off most of the day for the three trucks (including the Toyotas of 16th-place Daniel Suarez and 21st-place Gray Gaulding).

“We’ll work on it and get it better.”

Ross Kenseth, son of 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth, finished 17th in his Truck Series debut. Austin Cindric, son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric, had a strong top-10 run going in his maiden race in the series before running afoul of a three-wide wreck on the backstretch with eight laps left.

After the crash, Cindric came home 25th, the last driver on the lead lap.

The race featured 12 cautions, four short of the event record.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – Kroger 200
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville, Virginia
Saturday, October 31, 2015

1. (13) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 200, $39197.
2. (3) John H. Nemechek #, Chevrolet, 200, $29673.
3. (2) Cameron Hayley #, Toyota, 200, $21627.
4. (1) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 200, $23569.
5. (4) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 200, $17413.
6. (11) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 200, $15471.
7. (16) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 200, $15005.
8. (18) Caleb Holman, Chevrolet, 200, $12700.
9. (17) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 200, $14895.
10. (8) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 200, $15789.
11. (26) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 200, $14783.
12. (5) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 200, $14644.
13. (9) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 200, $14589.
14. (10) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, 200, $14534.
15. (23) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 200, $14823.
16. (6) Daniel Suarez(i), Toyota, 200, $12290.
17. (25) Ross Kenseth(i), Toyota, 200, $12035.
18. (19) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, 200, $14228.
19. (27) Austin Hill, Ford, 200, $11923.
20. (21) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 200, $14618.
21. (7) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 200, $14090.
22. (28) Bobby Pierce, Chevrolet, 200, $14062.
23. (12) David Gilliland(i), Ford, 200, $11785.
24. (30) Camden Murphy, Chevrolet, 200, $12757.
25. (14) Austin Cindric, Ford, 200, $12852.
26. (24) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 199, $11674.
27. (29) Brandon Hightower, Chevrolet, 196, $11591.
28. (15) Dalton Sargeant, Toyota, 196, $11345.
29. (20) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, 196, $11290.
30. (31) Paige Decker, Chevrolet, 193, $10790.
31. (32) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 186, $9290.
32. (22) JJ Haley, Chevrolet, Accident, 119, $8290.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 60.615 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 44 Mins, 08 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.396 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 12 for 69 laps.
Lead Changes: 6 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Custer 1-36; G. Gaulding 37-45; C. Custer 46-82; J. Nemechek # 83; C. Custer 84-106; J. Nemechek # 107-137; M. Crafton 138-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): C. Custer 3 times for 96 laps; M. Crafton 1 time for 63 laps; J. Nemechek # 2 times for 32 laps; G. Gaulding 1 time for 9 laps.
Top 10 in Points: E. Jones # – 776; M. Crafton – 766; T. Reddick – 763; J. Sauter – 722; T. Peters – 680; C. Hayley # – 663; D. Hemric # – 644; J. Townley – 627; B. Kennedy – 595; S. Gallagher # – 574.

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Timothy Peters finished Saturday’s fred’s 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway exactly where he started—at the front of the pack—despite an extraordinary ebb and flow between the opening green flag and the checkers.

Peters was out front when NASCAR called the sixth caution of the race on the first lap of the only attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish, after contact between the trucks of John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher sent both crashing hard into the outside wall.

The victory was Peters’ first of the season, his second straight at Talladega and the ninth of his career.

Brandon Jones, who led the field to the last restart on Lap 97, finished second after Gallagher, his GMS Racing teammate, pushed Peters to the lead. Mason Mingus ran third, a career-best, and Erik Jones finished fourth and extended his series lead to 18 points over second place Tyler Reddick, who came home fifth on Saturday.

Jones picked the inside for the final restart, even though he could have started in front of Gallagher. Peters wasn’t particularly surprised that Jones picked the preferred lane, rather than choosing the spot in front of his teammate.

“I kind of thought that maybe he would take the outside,” Peters said, “but we’d already gotten the radio from the tower that this was going to be the one and only attempt (at the green-white-checkered). At that point, teammates are good for 95 laps.

“Coming to the checkered, you’re on your own, and he kind of knew it was every man for himself. I appreciate the push that Spencer gave to me. I’m glad he’s OK after that wreck on the back … The push that Spencer gave me was a little delayed, but it was enough to get us both in front of the 33 (Jones).”

Throughout the afternoon, storylines materialized and disappeared as quickly as the smoke from the “Big One”—the almost inevitable multicar wreck that finally occurred on Lap 92 of a scheduled 94 and skewed both the finishing order and the series standings.

Brian Keselowski, making his first series start in a Ford owned by his brother, Brad Keselowski, threatened to win the race—until he ran out of fuel before the last restart.

“They (Keselowski’s team) said right from the get-go to save fuel, and I was,” said Keselowski, who finished 17th after leading 10 laps. But you can only do so much when you’re leading.

“You’ve got to go, so I didn’t save any when I was out front. I guess I should have, but that’s a little bit of inexperience in the Truck Series probably showing up. We’ll learn better next time.”

Two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton was shuffled to the rear of the field when debris struck to the grille of his No. 88 Toyota, but that was the least of his troubles. Crafton was a victim of the Lap 92 10-truck wreck ignited by contact between the Tundras of Johnny Sauter and Matt Tifft.

Crafton finished 24th and fell to third in the standings, 23 points behind Erik Jones.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – Fred’s 250 presented by Coca-Cola
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, Alabama
Saturday, October 24, 2015

1. (1) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 98, $67978.
2. (13) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 98, $48318.
3. (19) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, 98, $36014.
4. (3) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 98, $27203.
5. (15) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 98, $20861.
6. (16) Cameron Hayley #, Toyota, 98, $20056.
7. (8) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 98, $19470.
8. (12) Chris Fontaine, Toyota, 98, $18939.
9. (20) Chad Boat, Chevrolet, 98, $16579.
10. (18) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 98, $19675.
11. (14) John H. Nemechek #, Chevrolet, 98, $18616.
12. (17) Bobby Gerhart(i), Chevrolet, 98, $18428.
13. (10) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 98, $18318.
14. (27) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 98, $18214.
15. (30) Korbin Forrister #, Chevrolet, 98, $18705.
16. (2) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 98, $18000.
17. (11) Brian Keselowski, Ford, 98, $17891.
18. (9) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, 98, $17787.
19. (32) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 97, $17655.
20. (25) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 97, $16796.
21. (24) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 96, $16192.
22. (22) Austin Hill, Ford, 96, $15082.
23. (6) Matt Tifft, Toyota, 96, $14979.
24. (7) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 96, $15869.
25. (5) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, 96, $14909.
26. (28) Tyler Tanner, Chevrolet, Accident, 91, $14655.
27. (31) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, Accident, 91, $14551.
28. (4) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 91, $14215.
29. (21) Stanton Barrett(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 85, $14106.
30. (26) Clay Greenfield, Chevrolet, Overheating, 77, $13606.
31. (23) Terry Jones, Chevrolet, Accident, 35, $12106.
32. (29) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, Engine, 29, $11106.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 130.051 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 00 Mins, 16 Secs. Margin of Victory: Caution.
Caution Flags: 6 for 25 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T. Peters 1-13; R. Black Jr. # 14; B. Kennedy 15-18; J. Townley 19; M. Crafton 20-39; T. Hill 40; T. Peters 41-42; M. Crafton 43; T. Peters 44; M. Crafton 45-66; E. Jones # 67-72; T. Peters 73-77; B. Kennedy 78-79; B. Keselowski 80-89; B. Jones # 90-96; T. Peters 97-98.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): M. Crafton 3 times for 43 laps; T. Peters 5 times for 23 laps; B. Keselowski 1 time for 10 laps; B. Jones # 1 time for 7 laps; E. Jones # 1 time for 6 laps; B. Kennedy 2 times for 6 laps; T. Hill 1 time for 1 lap; J. Townley 1 time for 1 lap; R. Black Jr. # 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: E. Jones # – 742; T. Reddick – 724; M. Crafton – 719; J. Sauter – 687; T. Peters – 642; C. Hayley # – 622; D. Hemric # – 612; J. Townley – 594; B. Kennedy – 565; S. Gallagher # – 559.