Tag: matt crafton

Erik Jones Beats the Odds With Truck Series Win at Las Vegas

Erik Jones took the lead from teammate Darrell Wallace Jr. with 14 laps to go in his No. 51 ToyotaCare Tundra scoring his second victory of the season in the Rhino Linings 350 at Las Vegas.

It is the 18-year-old Jones’ third career win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Kyle Busch Motorsport’s first win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The victory is also KBM’s 10th win in 17 races this season.

“That was a blast,” Jones said after the race. “Getting a win on a mile-and-half (track), that’s awesome. I couldn’t ask for any more than this right here. I wanted to win here so bad.”

Darrell Wallace Jr. led the most laps with 84 in his No. 54 Toyota but was unable to catch his teammate in the closing laps, finishing second. It was his fifth second place finish of the 2014 season.

“Just got beat, flat out,” said a disappointed Wallace Jr. “Congrats to the 51 (Jones), hate that it’s not the 54. We need a win. (It’s) frustrating, I hate finishing second so bad. Thanks to my guys though. I thought it was ours. Another KBM dominance for sure. We’ll go on to Talladega and try to finish one spot better.”

Current points leader Matt Crafton, finished in third place and extended his points lead to 19 over Johnny Sauter, who finished 14th.

Timothy Peters, last year’s race winner at this track, led 26 laps but had to settle for a fourth place finish in Saturday night’s race. Brian Ickler finished in the fifth position.

Ryan Blaney, who started on the pole, is third in the points standings (-27) followed by Darrell Wallace Jr. in fourth (-33) and Joey Coulter in fifth place (-82).

The Camping World Truck Series will take a three week break but returns Saturday, October 18 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Complete Finishing Order:

POS.	CAR	DRIVER
1	51	Erik Jones
2	54	Darrell Wallace Jr
3	88	Matt Crafton
4	17	Timothy Peters
5	7	Brian Ickler
6	29	Ryan Blaney
7	31	Ben Kennedy
8	13	Jeb Burton
9	32	Tayler Malsam
10	21	Joey Coulter
11	5	John Wes Townley
12	99	Bryan Silas
13	23	Spencer Gallagher
14	98	Johnny Sauter
15	19	Tyler Reddick
16	77	German Quiroga Jr
17	8	Joe Nemechek
18	15	Mason Mingus
19	2	Tyler Young
20	9	Ron Hornaday Jr
21	63	Justin Jennings
22	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb
23	20	Jason White
24	6	Norm Benning
25	50	T.J. Bell
26	8	Jimmy Weller III
27	7	B J McLeod
28	36	Scott Stenzel
29	0	Caleb Roark
30	35	Charles Lewandoski

September 28, 2014

Alex Tagliani Wins Truck Series Pole at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Alex Tagliani won the Keystone Light Pole Award and set a new track qualifying record at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with a lap of 80.558 seconds at 109.889 mph. As he leads the field to green in Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 race, he will also be making his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Tagliani competes in the Canadian Tire Series and has one previous start in the series at this track in 2008 where he finished in fifth place. He also competes in IndyCar.

After qualifying he talked about his preparation for qualifying and racing this weekend.

“We went out, the truck was fast from the get go,” he said. “We had just one little glitch we had to fix, we had some fuel pressure issues. Basically it took about 25 minutes to fix that and then we went and ran and made sure that everything was good. We parked it before the session was over, the guys were happy enough. We used the second practice getting ready for the race tomorrow.”

Tagliani also spoke about being part of the Brad Keselowski Racing team saying, “I feel really honored to be here and drive his truck.”

NASCAR Next driver Gray Gaulding will start beside him on the outside pole. Erik Jones will begin the race in the third position followed by German Quiroga Jr. and Cole Custer to round out the top five.

Several drivers had difficulties keeping their trucks on the track including third place finisher Jones who went off track during qualifying. Joey Coulter, who drove his No. 21 into the tire barriers, qualified in the 15th position. Ryan Blaney, who will start 14th, got sideways and Matt Crafton had similar issues but will begin the race in eighth place.

Series’ point leader Johnny Sauter will start the race from the 11^th position.

The Chevrolet Silverado 250 is scheduled for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET, with television coverage on FOX Sports 1.

Complete Starting Lineup:

POS.	CAR	DRIVER
1	19	Alex Tagliani
2	20	Gray Gaulding
3	51	Erik Jones
4	77	German Quiroga Jr
5	0	Cole Custer
6	53	Andrew Ranger
7	54	Darrell Wallace Jr
8	88	Matt Crafton
9	17	Timothy Peters
10	32	Cameron Hayley
11	98	Johnny Sauter
12	31	Ben Kennedy
13	9	Brennan Newberry
14	29	Ryan Blaney
15	21	Joey Coulter
16	8	John Hunter Nemechek
17	13	Jeb Burton
18	99	Bryan Silas
19	2	Tyler Young
20	35	Mason Mingus
21	7	Ray Courtemanche Jr
22	50	T.J. Bell
23	63	Scott Stenzel
24	8	B J McLeod
25	36	Justin Jennings
26	6	Norm Benning
27	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb
28	0	Caleb Roark

August 30, 2014

Darrell Wallace Jr. Recharges With Win at Gateway Motorsports Park

The Drivin’ For Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series showcased experience levels from veterans to up-an-coming talents, though, at the conclusion it wasn’t a seasoned driver or rookie going to victory lane, it was ‘middle-aged’ Darrell Wallace Jr. capturing his second-career triumph.

Wallace, 21, led a remarkable 85 laps of the 160 scheduled en route to a dominating win in the Truck Series reappearance at the Madison, Illinois track.

The win makes Wallace the third victor in the Truck Series this season, joining his team owner, Kyle Busch and defending champion, Matt Crafton.

It also reinstalls Wallace’s confidence in chasing an elusive Truck Series championship; he’s now ninth in points, 43 markers behind point’s leader Johnny Sauter.

“To have the troubles that we’ve had, and keep cool and come out and put on a dominate show like we did today shows a lot about (our team).” Wallace expressed post-race. “We are down, but we aren’t out of the fight.”

German Quiroga Jr., a former NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series champion, had a strong performance, relieving his team from the struggles throughout these past few weeks. He finished a career-best second, coming up a few car lengths short to Wallace in the race’s final laps.

“I wish it was first, not second,” Quiroga explained in the media center following the effort. “We finished second which is good for our comeback in the championship. We are getting there, closer and closer each week.”

Timothy Peters finished third, respectively, with Sauter, the new point’s leader, and Ron Hornaday Jr. completing the top five at the finish.

Cole Custer, who won the pole, setting a new track record for the event, Ryan Blaney, John Wes Townley, Chase Pistone and Tayler Malsam completed the top-10.

The caution flag flew seven times on the evening, which was the pivotal factor in allowing Wallace to gain track position and score the win.

Wallace rolled off the grid second and rocketed to the race lead before completing the first turn. He led the first 63 laps before succeeding his position on a green flag pit stop, which was disastrous.

Wallace’s crew let down the jack too soon when the tire wasn’t attached, causing damage to the right rear and costing him the race lead.

“It was wild,” Wallace said in victory lane after the race, “We got in a little trouble on the first pit stop, but a little adversity never hurts anybody.”

John Hunter Nemechek then pounced on the misfortune and muscled to the race lead, where he remained for 53-laps before the veteran Crafton took the top spot.

Tires issues, though, derailed a promising run for Crafton. His No. 88 machine pounded the outside wall in turn four bringing out the caution and ending his evening in the garage area.

“Just cut a tire,” said a frustrated Crafton. “Such a fast truck and it was handling great but there was nothing I could do when the tire goes except go into the wall.”

Under the caution, pit stops began, and prevailing was the 17-year-old Nemechek who won the battle off pit lane, giving him the lead, again, with a mere 30 laps remaining.

On the restart, though, Wallace resurfaced from the issues on pit lane and powered back to the top spot leaving an intense battle for second and third behind him.

However, the action was ceased again when Nemechek’s left rear went flat sending him spinning and giving the fans another restart, this time with about eight laps remaining.

Erik Jones, Wallace’s teammate, stole the lead on the race-deciding restart, however, he was clipped and spun around by Quiroga before leading a lap, sending him hard into the inside retaining wall and into the garage area.

“I guess we just got dumped again,” said Jones. “I don’t know what to do about that. I felt like it was our race. We had a great truck and I felt like we should have been there in Victory Lane.”

Quiroga, however, saw the incident in a different fashion.

“He started getting loose and drove in really deep into (Turn) 1 and he was slowing a lot on the exit and was already sideways, and I just kept on driving straight trying not to hit him,” Quiroga explained.

Back to the racing, business was picking up.

With four laps remaining, the machines came back to life and it was Wallace proving his dominance. He snatched the lead and eventually took the checkered flag, claiming his first win since Martinsville last season.

The Truck Series returns to action June 26th at Kentucky Motor Speedway for the UNOH 225.

June 15, 2014
Matt Crafton: NASCAR Champ, Texas Race Winner and Elladee’s Dad

Matt Crafton may be a NASCAR Camping World Truck Champion and the most recent race winner in Texas this past weekend, but his most important role in life to date is that of being dad to daughter Elladee.

“It’s been a dream come true,” Crafton, driver of the No. 88 Menards Toyota for ThorSport Racing, said. “I had never expected it to be as cool as it’s been to be a dad without a doubt.”

Crafton credits Elladee Ann, who is now a little over a year old, to being part of the reason for his recent success, winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship last year and winning two races so far in the 2014 season, at Texas this past weekend and Martinsville in March.

With his Texas win, Crafton also assumed the points lead in the championship standings, moving eleven points ahead of Johnny Sauter, his ThorSport Racing teammate.

“She is my lucky charm without a doubt,” Crafton said. “She came into our lives and has changed it for sure.”

“She’s definitely been my little good luck charm.”

Given that she has brought so much good luck to her daddy, Elladee has not missed a single race yet in her young life. She does, however, hang back with her mother Ashley in Victory Lane until all the Gatorade is sprayed and the confetti has flown.

“She’s been in every Victory Lane and she hasn’t missed a race,” Crafton said. “It is so special to have her at the track and to be able to spend time with the family. To travel with me is the only way I would want it for sure.”

“She loves the camera and she loves people,” Crafton continued. “That’s what is so cool. Before the race, when everyone is around, she is just so happy and energetic to be there. And when she is in Victory Lane, it’s the same thing. When we won at Martinsville, she was in the middle of a nap. They woke her up to bring her to Victory Lane and she was tired but she was still hanging in there.”

Unlike other public figures that sometimes shield their children, Crafton, as do so many parents in the NASCAR garage, thinks it is very important to have Elladee not only with him but with other people to learn life lessons and grow socially.

“I know that some people hide their kids and don’t want them in the spotlight but most race car drivers have them out and about among everybody,” Crafton said. “I think that is going to be very key later in her life to be able to be around people and be able to talk and communicate instead of being sheltered.”

“I was always involved with my dad,” Crafton continued. “He raced and I can remember being at the race track from as long as I can remember. I was too young back then to even go into the pits so I would sit in the stands with my grandparents throughout practice and all that. I can remember sneaking into the pits too.”

“I’ve learned the lesson of just being involved,” Crafton said. “It’s so cool to have her and be able to do the same things with her sitting with me. To have her a part of my life the same way I was with my parents is special.”

Crafton admitted he is an involved dad, however, there are a few things that give him pause about parenthood.

“I had her this morning on my own and of course as soon as mom left, she goes ‘number two’ and I’ve got to change the diaper,” Crafton said. “I do it, but if mom’s here, I definitely try to hand her off as much as I can because I’m not going to lie, I have a weak stomach and some of that is bad.”

While her dad acknowledged that he is open to her pursuing whatever passion, whether racing or not, Elladee has already shown some proclivity toward speed even at her tender young age.

“Putting her on my quad or in my side-by-side is my favorite thing to do,” Crafton said. “That’s what we were doing this morning before my wife showed up. We were driving down the street and did about ten laps down and back.”

“She just loves, loves riding around,” Crafton continued. “It doesn’t matter what she’s in. When she was three months old, I would ride her on the golf cart at the race track and if she was fussy, she would immediately stop.”

“We have ridden for hours on that golf cart to make her happy.”

While Crafton has no specific plans for the upcoming Father’s Day weekend, he knows there is one thing that he absolutely will do and that is to spend that precious time with his daughter.

“Hopefully I’ll get to hang out with family which will be the best thing,” Crafton said. “I haven’t thought much about being a father for Father’s Day. It’s just been too hectic to think about it I guess.”

“I guess when it gets here, it will be a little bit different for sure now that I’m a dad,” Crafton said. “It’s definitely going to be awesome.”

June 12, 2014
Crafton Wins NCWTS WinStar World Casino & Resort 400

By Texas Motor Speedway

FORT WORTH, Texas (June 6, 2014) – Defending NASCAR Camping World Truck SerIes champion Matt Crafton led a career-best 118 laps to propel him to victory Friday evening in the WinStar World Casino & Resort 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

After 26 previous starts and three near misses with runner-up finishes, Crafton (No. 88 Slim Jim/Menards Toyota) finally broke through for his first career victory at Texas Motor Speedway in dominant fashion.

Crafton led 118 of the 167 laps – the most he has led in a single race in his 14-year career – and cruised to a 13.302-second victory over runner-up, polesitter Justin Lofton (No. 20 NTS Motorsports Chevrolet). It was the fifth win of Crafton’s career and second of the season, marking the first time in his career he has recorded multiple wins in a single season.

The only drama remaining late in the race was whether Crafton would be able to go the final 61 laps without a pit stop. While other contenders were forced to pit for a splash of fuel inside of 10 laps remaining, Crafton stayed out, conserved fuel and watched a 3.8-second lead morph into his double-digit margin of victory that established a track record for the series. The previous mark was 11.817 seconds set by Dennis Setzer in this event in 2004.

Crafton, who started second, had a strong truck from the outset but it didn’t appear initially that he would coast to a victory. Ryan Blaney (No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford), who led 45 laps and finished fourth, and Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 30 Ruud Chevrolet), who finished sixth, were his chief competition until 10 to go and they were forced to pit. Crafton took the lead from Blaney on Lap 112 and led the final 56 laps for the win over Lofton.

Joe Nemechek (No. 8 smokeandsear.com Toyota), with 42 combined NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series career starts at Texas Motor Speedway, was on a different sequence then the leaders and took third in his first truck series start at Texas.

The victory allowed Crafton to take the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship points lead. Crafton, who came into Texas one point behind Timothy Peters (No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota), exits with an 11-point lead over Johnny Sauter (No. 98 Nextant/Curb Records Toyota), who finished seventh.

The race weekend culminates at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday evening when the Verizon IndyCar Series competes in the Firestone 600. Race time is 7:30 p.m. CT.

Tickets for the Firestone 600 are available by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com or the Texas Motor Speedway ticket office at Gate 4 on race day. For additional information, contact the ticket office at (817) 215-8500.

June 6, 2014
Kyle Busch Four for Four Wins in Truck Series with Monster Mile Victory

Kyle Busch, in his No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award Toyota, scored yet another ‘W’ in the Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 200, making it four wins in four races this season.

This was Busch’s fourth victory, fourth top-10 finish for the 2014 season, and his fourth victory at Dover International Speedway. Busch achieved his eighth perfect driver rating in the Truck Series as well.

“We had a really good truck,” Busch said. “Eric (Phillips, crew chief) and these guys have done a really good job this year. Last year and maybe a little bit more the year before, we’ve been working on our stuff to make it a little bit faster. All that work’s paying off this year.”

“I think these guys here and everyone back at the shop prepared some good trucks,” Busch continued. “It’s been fun to be up front and lead laps in the Series. A couple of our lead competition guys, the 88 had trouble today and the 29 just came on a little too late. Excited to see Toyota in Victory Lane and the NASCAR Foundation too.”

Busch credits his four for four victory spree on “being focused and in good stuff, believing in it and believing in these guys.” The team that bears his name is first in the Owner Points and Busch is excited to continue to run for that honor.

Busch advised that he was handing the wheel back to Erik Jones for the next few races until he steps back into the race truck at Kentucky.

“I’m really excited now to see Erik Jones get in the car and run some races,” Busch said. “I told him that just because they change the name on the roof, doesn’t mean he shouldn’t end up in Victory Lane. The pressures is on these guys to keep going and keep the Owner’s Championship up in the points.”

While Busch dominated the Monster Mile for most of the race, he was getting some heavy competition from Matt Crafton, that is until Crafton’s tire went down and he hit the wall on Lap 156. The driver of the No. 88 Rip It Energy Fuel/Menards Toyota finished 23^rd and fell out of the points lead as a result.

With Crafton out of the race, Ryan Blaney, behind the wheel of the No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford came on strong to finish in the runner up position. This was Blaney’s second top-10 finish in two races at Dover and is his third top-10 finish of the season.

Blaney now sits in the seventh spot in the points standings.

“We didn’t start in the best spot, in 14th, but got into the top five fairly quickly,” Blaney said. “We had to work our way to the front from there. They did a great job on pit road all day and had good stops. We gained some spots there a few times.”

“With about 50 or 60 to go, we had a pit stop and had a loose left front wheel,” Blaney continued. “Luckily we caught it before we went back green. We were able to come back and change it and then we had a caution maybe 20 laps after that. I was able to line up sixth and finally got a break. But I don’t think it mattered as nobody was going to catch the 51. He was something else.”

Truck Series veteran Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 96 Nextant/Curb Records Toyota, finished third. This was Sauter’s third top-10 finish in six races at the Monster Mile.

“For whatever reason, we were a long run truck,” Sauter said. “I didn’t run my fastest lap until Lap 18. Having said that, we knew that we needed to get some speed. We started the race too tight and made some adjustments.”

“I’m just proud of my guys, especially the over the wall guys,” Sauter continued. “They made gains by leaps and bounds on pit stops today. We had a solid day. We weren’t the fastest truck by any means but we were comparable to the leaders on the long run. Solid points day for us and the truck is in one piece, which is easier said than done at a place like Dover.”

Ben Kennedy, behind the wheel of the No. 31 Click It or Ticket Chevrolet, was the highest finishing Rookie of the race. And as such, he readily admitted that he had plenty of lessons learned from the Monster Mile track experience.

“It was pretty good,” Kennedy said. “It was a day of ups and downs for us I guess. We were crazy free in a couple of runs and then got really tight. I’m proud of the whole team because coming from practice we weren’t that great. It was a good day for us and a good day for the Delaware Highway Safety team.”

“Changing track conditions is something I really learned today,” Kennedy continued. “It was pretty drastic with the setup we had. We went from the first half of the run being pretty awesome to the second half of the run being wrecking loose.”

“The shade coming up from the casino as the sun sets over there was a big thing for me. Every time I get behind the wheel I learn and gain confidence. Hopefully, we will be up there in the top five running consistently soon.”

Brandon Jones, driver of the NO. 33 Exide Chevrolet, and Joey Coulter, in the No. 21 Allegiant Chevrolet rounded out the top five in the finishing order.

Peters emerged as the points standings leader by one point over Matt Crafton. The unofficial results from the Lucas Oil 200 are as follows:

POS Car # Driver Make

1 51 Kyle Busch Toyota

2 29 Ryan Blaney Ford

3 98 Johnny Sauter Toyota

4 33 Brandon Jones Chevrolet

5 21 Joey Coulter Chevrolet

6 8 John Hunter Nemechek Toyota

7 31 Ben Kennedy Chevrolet

8 19 Tyler Reddick Ford

9 77 German Quiroga Jr Toyota

10 17 Timothy Peters Toyota

11 30 Ron Hornaday Jr Chevrolet

12 5 John Wes Townley Toyota

13 92 Scott Riggs Ford

14 0 Cole Custer Chevrolet

15 50 T.J. Bell Chevrolet

16 54 Darrell Wallace Jr Toyota

17 2 Tyler Young Chevrolet

18 13 Jeb Burton Toyota

19 63 Justin Jennings Chevrolet

20 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb RAM

21 20 Gray Gaulding Chevrolet

22 32 Ben Rhodes Chevrolet

23 88 Matt Crafton Toyota

24 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet

25 99 Bryan Silas Chevrolet

26 35 Mason Mingus Toyota

27 9 Brennan Newberry Chevrolet

28 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet

29 7 Jake Crum Chevrolet

30 8 Jimmy Weller III Chevrolet

31 56 Raymond Terczak Jr Chevrolet

32 42 Charles Lewandoski Chevrolet

33 40 Todd Peck Chevrolet

34 0 Ryan Ellis Chevrolet

35 36 Blake Koch RAM

May 31, 2014

Kyle Busch Wins Caution Plagued SFP 250

Kyle Busch threw the monkey off his back at Kansas Speedway by winning the SFP 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race. The race saw a series high number of cautions, with nine. Busch added to his 130 career win tally with the victory.

Busch led a race-best 104 laps winning Friday night’s SFP 250 NCWTS race. The victory was the second of the season in the truck series for Busch. It was his 37th win in the series. The margin of victory came by 3.021 seconds over second-place Matt Crafton.

“Kansas? I’m a winner at Kansas?” Busch said in mock shock in Victory Lane. Yes, it’s true. Thanks, he said, to a terrific Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra and an Eric Phillips-led team that were in his words, “flawless.”

“Just real proud of Eric and all my guys,” Busch said of Phillips, who by winning his 79th race as a truck series crew chief became the series’ winningest crew chief. “It was really good once we unloaded and we just made some slight changes to it, playing around with some things, trying to make it better in practice.”

Matt Crafton finished second a year after winning at Kansas, and Joey Logano, Busch’s former Sprint Cup teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, finished third.

Crafton said despite his second-place finish, he had nothing for Busch. “He had a very, very fast truck,” Crafton said. “We were just a little bit scared – we wanted to make a maybe a track bar change – but we were tight center-off all night. We made one adjustment and made it quite a bit better. But then I got a little bit free and tight-off but I was afraid to make any more adjustments to help my off because I knew it was going to hurt my entry.”

The race was halted nine times by cautions. The most serious being a multi-car incident that involved Johnny Sauter and Ryan Blaney. Blaney spun in turn two and Sauter was hit from behind shoving him straight into the wall and then into the truck of Blaney.

“We were three wide.” Sauter said, “and I think another truck ran into me in the back and sent me from the bottom of the race track to the top. When I got there, Ryan was sideways and stopped and there just wasn’t enough room between him and the wall.”

“We were racing hard with Joey and I took it to the fence and they got kind of bottled up there behind me and destroyed our truck,” Blaney, who started the race fourth in points, said.

“Just hard racing. He (Logano) was just too (close) on my door and it just sent me around, that’s how we got on the apron. Just unfortunate, we had a good truck.”

The race was slowed for one more caution when Bryan Silas spun. Austin Dillon would lead the charge out of the pits but Busch would take the lead with 21 laps to go and never looked back.

1	51	Kyle Busch	Toyota	1	167
2	88	Matt Crafton	Toyota	9	167
3	19	Joey Logano	Ford	5	167
4	20	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	7	167
5	32	Tayler Malsam	Chevrolet	13	167
6	13	Jeb Burton	Toyota	6	167
7	77	German Quiroga Jr	Toyota	17	167
8	30	Ron Hornaday Jr	Chevrolet	14	167
9	8	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	16	167
10	35	Mason Mingus	Toyota	18	167
11	5	John Wes Townley	Toyota	11	167
12	21	Joey Coulter	Chevrolet	10	165
13	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Chevrolet	27	163
14	17	Timothy Peters	Toyota	8	158
15	54	Darrell Wallace Jr	Toyota	21	156
16	63	Justin Jennings	Chevrolet	26	154
17	50	T.J. Bell	Chevrolet	24	150
18	57	Norm Benning	Chevrolet	29	140
19	99	Bryan Silas	Chevrolet	22	125
20	31	Ben Kennedy	Chevrolet	30	115
21	98	Johnny Sauter	Toyota	3	85
22	29	Ryan Blaney	Ford	2	84
23	02	Tyler Young	Chevrolet	15	84
24	9	Brennan Newberry	Chevrolet	12	76
25	07	Jimmy Weller III	Chevrolet	20	49
26	08	Todd Shafer	Chevrolet	23	37
27	7	Brian Ickler	Toyota	4	9
28	0	Ryan Ellis	Chevrolet	28	8
29	42	Charles Lewandoski	Chevrolet	25	3
30	23	Spencer Gallagher	Chevrolet	19	0
31	36	Scott Stenzel	Chevrolet	31	0

May 10, 2014

Surprising and Not Surprising: Homestead Ford EcoBoost 400

With the crowning of just one last champion to join Matt Crafton, Truck Series Champion, and Austin Dillon, Nationwide Series Champion, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the final race of the season, the Ford EcoBoost 400, at Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Surprising: For someone used to winning championships, especially after his sixth, Jimmie Johnson was surprisingly emotional in Victory Lane, especially as he remembered his grandmother who had passed away and when he saw his wife and daughter Genevieve appear to congratulate him.

“I know there was an angel, at least one, but maybe four angles riding on this car,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “My Grandmother passed away a month or so ago, and I am without grandparents now which is a sad thing.”

“But, I know my Grandma and my other grandparents were helping me guide this car around this car around the track,” Johnson continued. “This one is for her.”

“She was my biggest fan.”

Johnson became most emotional when he talked about his wife and mother of his two children Chandra.

“She is the strongest woman on the planet,” Johnson said. “She makes me who I am, and makes me a better man.”

“She does a fantastic job raising these kids and keeping me in line; I am her third kid,” Johnson continued. “I am so thankful to have her as wife.”

“We are going to have a lot of fun and enjoy this moment.”

Johnson finished the Homestead race in the ninth position, which put him 19 points ahead of Kenseth for the Sprint Cup championship. This was the 11th championship for Hendrick Motorsports and makes Johnson only one of three competitors, including Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, to win six or more championships.

Not Surprising: There were at least two drivers, the second and third place finishers at Homestead-Miami Speedway, that along with many fans have one simple wish – that the season would not end.

“For me, when you’re running good, you kind of don’t want the season to end in a way,” Matt Kenseth, runner up in the last race and in the championship, said. “You want to keep going to the track.”

“To me as I get older, the seasons go faster and faster honestly,” Kenseth, driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, continued. “It was more fun this season so in a way, you don’t want it to end.”

Third place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr. could not agree with Kenseth more.

“Ever since I started working with Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and that whole team, I hadn’t wanted the year to end,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “We seem to get better as the season goes.”

“You would just love to go to another race next week.”

Surprising: After a surprisingly tough season of injury, recovery and struggles, Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, scored his first victory in the last race of the year. This was Hamlin’s second win in nine races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“It was just an amazing drive,” Hamlin said. “Just proud of Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and this whole team for giving me a race-winning car.”

“It just gives us huge momentum,” Hamlin continued. “We started kicking things into gear about two months ago and then last week with a horrific effort and that kind of gets your spirits down, but then to come here to Miami and back it up with a win — this is something we can think about for the entire winter.”

Not Surprising: The reigning champ of 2012, Brad Keselowski, was the highest finishing Ford, bringing the Blue Deuce to the checkered flag in the sixth position.

“We definitely had the car on the short runs, but just weren’t close on the long runs,” Keselowski said of his last race of the season. “If we could have got the long run speed to go with the short run speed, we would have killed them tonight, but we just didn’t have that.”

Even with a solid top-ten finish, Keselowski could not help but reflect on the championship year that ended when Jimmie Johnson hoisted the champion’s trophy.

“A champion is forever,” Keselowski said thoughtfully. “It might not be reining, but you’re still a champion forever.”

“I’m proud of that.”

Surprising: Kevin Harvick is looking forward to a surprisingly new adventure with now former team owner Richard Childress.

“I think Martinsville brought a lot of things to a head and we were able to talk about a lot of things,” Harvick said of the controversy between him and Childress. “Really this was the way I would want to leave with everybody shaking hands and happy that we have been together and been successful together.”

“I can’t wait for our first hunt together as friends,” Harvick continued. “That will be good times.”

Harvick, in his last race with the ‘ole two niner’ finished tenth at Homestead and third in the championship points, 34 points behind six-time winner Jimmie Johnson.

Not Surprising: In his first year with Penske Racing and with an eighth place finish in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford at Homestead, Joey Logano pronounced his year good.

“I’m more impressed with our year,” Logano said. “We did a good job this year and learned a lot about each other, and learned a lot about where we could have done a better job in races and where we need to improve next year and where to work on our cars during the off-season.”

“I had a lot of fun this year and this was my best season personally,” Logano continued. “We’ve got areas we need to improve and we’ll do it.”

Logano also had a significant moment off the track to top off the 2013 season as he got engaged as well.

Surprising: One of the most surprising moments of the race occurred when Paul Menard, who had sustained damage during a wild restart, came to pit road in flames. The right rear tire then exploded sending parts and pieces flying throughout pit road.

Thankfully no one, including the driver of the No. 27 MOEN/Menards Chevrolet, was injured. Menard, who at times was in the top-five running order, finished 39^th.

“That was pretty wild,” Menard said. “We were having a great day.”

“On that restart, everybody kind of checked up and we got some right rear damage and had a flat tire,” Menard continued. “I guess a bunch of rubber got wrapped up underneath around the axle I guess.”

“Came in a couple of times trying to fix the damage and try to get the rubber off,” Menard said. “We didn’t get it all and I guess it just caught fire.”

“I didn’t really know it until there was a little bit of spark coming in the car and landed on the window net, thought that was kind of weird,” Menard continued. “About a lap later they said I was on fire; I lost my brakes, then the damn wheel blew right off (the car).”

Not Surprising: Even four-time champions can make a mistake or two and Jeff Gordon did just that, spinning his wheels on a restart, with almost catastrophic results for at least one of the championship contenders.

“Yeah, I was trying to get some momentum and he (Denny Hamlin) checked up and it just messed the whole thing up and I got wheel spin,” Gordon said. “That is the second time this year I have done that right in front of Matt (Kenseth) and he has drove right into the back of me and about wrecked us both.”

“The last thing I would want to do in front of Matt is that, but you can’t run into the guy you know,” Gordon continued. “It was a bad unfortunate situation and it just trickles on back from there.”

“It could have been even worse.”

Surprising: Danica Patrick had a surprisingly good run for the last race of the season and in fact was the highest finishing rookie in 20^th. This was Patrick’s eighth top-20 of her rookie 2013 season.

“It’s one thing to have the yellow stripe on the car,” Patrick said. “It’s another thing with all the things being a rookie signifies, which a lot is, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’

So I think that’s what I’m most pleased about is, now I’ve done the whole season, I’ve gone to every track and learned a lot about a lot of things — not just cars but about the team — and it just makes me more prepared for the future.”

Not Surprising: Even with Patrick finishing ahead of him, boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. still scored the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors.

“It means a lot, looking at all the other names that have won this award,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “It definitely wasn’t the season that we wanted, but we slowly but surely got better throughout the season.”

“I was proud of what we did throughout the season, of getting better, qualifying better, having runs up front, and leading laps throughout the year,” the driver of the No. 17 Ford EcoBoost Ford said. “Thought we had a chance at winning some races there, at least being in contention.”

“I was proud of those moments.”

This concludes the Surprising and Not Surprising column for the 2013 season. Thanks for all the reads and comments, have a great holiday season, and cheers to an exciting 2014 season, coming in just 100 days at Daytona!

November 17, 2013
Homestead Championship Preview

It’s hard to believe it but the longest season in sports is just about over with. In a few days, three new NASCAR champions will be crowned. Matt Crafton leads the Camping World Truck Series standings and only needs to start the race in order to clinch his first title. Austin Dillon is the points leader at the Nationwide level with Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr. stalking him from only eight points back. The owner’s title is still up for grabs as well and will come down to Gibbs’ No.54 car versus the No.22 of Penske Racing. In Cup, 5-time champion Jimmie Johnson can almost taste his 6th Cup and only needs a top 23 finish to ensure the crown is his but Kenseth and Harvick will be ready to pounce just in case the unthinkable happens and that No.48 stumbles. Here’s a breakdown of what is at stake in the season finale, who the players are and my predictions regarding who will emerge victorious when the checkered flag falls on 2013.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

As I previously mentioned, this battle is all but over. Matt Crafton has only won a single race this year but 19 top 10’s in 21 races is more than enough to compensate for the lack of visits to victory lane. He leads Ty Dillon by 46 points and when he takes the green flag Friday night, it will preclude anyone from challenging him no matter what happens during the race. This is Matt’s 13th full-time season in the Truck series and to finally win that first title will be such a relief for him and his team. Speaking of his team, the fight for the owner’s title is not quite over with just yet. ThorSport leads by 23pts which is still a fairly comfortable margin but the man and team chasing them happens to be Kyle Busch who has won four races and posted seven top five’s in just 10 starts this season. Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal when he shows up at these Truck races.

My Prediction: The No.3 team will not lock Matt Crafton up in a Port-O-Potty and he will easily win the driver’s title with probably another top ten finish to end his impressive year. I also believe that ThorSport will hang on against the hard-charging Kyle Busch and his No.51 team to win the owner’s championship.

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Austin Dillon is a former Camping World Truck Series champion and his opponent is a former winner of the Indianapolis 500; Sam Hornish Jr. A mere eight points separate these guys and a slip up by one will all but hand the title over to the other. Dillon wants it because he’s moving to the Cup level in 2014 and Hornish wants it because, well, he currently doesn’t have a ride for next year. The owner’s standings is an even closer battle with just four points between the top two and things have gotten fairly hostile between the rival teams as of late. Joey Logano will pilot the No.22 for Penske Racing which is currently in command of the points while Joe Gibbs Racing wisely has Kyle Busch in the No.54 car. An interesting detail that should not be overlooked is the fact that Penske is entering a third car in the race which will be driven by none other than Brad Keselowski who has vowed retaliation against Busch for spinning him out at Kansas. Will he fulfill his promise? I highly doubt it but will he do everything he possibly can to make Kyle Busch’s day a living hell? Of course he will! That’s why he’s in this race…to take points from that No.54 and the No.3 as well as do his best impression of a moving roadblock when necessary.

My Prediction: This will be the most enthralling title bout of the weekend and Austin Dillon will win the driver’s title with a top five finish while the No.54 steals the owner’s championship from Penske by winning the race.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Jimmie Johnson is at it again! After winning five straight championships and taking a two year hiatus from the big table in Vegas, the California native is closing in on the #SixPack. Three drivers mathematically have a shot at taking home the hardware but it is going to take a catastrophic failure on the No.48 or a crash to even give gentleman Matt and the pugnacious Harvick a chance. It’s unlikely but can definitely happen though. Jimmie may seem infallible but in reality, bad luck can just as easily bite him as it can his adversaries. In fact, his last two finishes at Homestead are 36th and 32nd. In 2011, he spun out with what was an awful car and in 2012, he suffered rear gear failure so don’t fool yourself into believing this thing is over with. Remember, this is NASCAR. We set race tracks on fire and break our ex-teammate’s back; okay. If Jimmie were to have some unforeseen issues that consequently costs him the title, imagine the dogfight we would have between JGR newbie Matt Kenseth and lame-duck Kevin Harvick! RCR hasn’t won the Sprint Cup championship since 1994 with Dale Earnhardt; that was nearly 20 years ago and it’s been a decade since Matt was last crowned champion.

My Prediction: Jimmie Johnson survives and wins his 6th championship but if he were to falter and it came down to the two guys chasing him, I think Matt Kenseth would prevail seeing that JGR has practically dominated most of the 1.5 mile races this year.

No matter which drivers and teams are able to call themselves champions when the day is done, I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed the 2013 season. It hasn’t been the best year in NASCAR’s 65 year history but it was certainly an interesting one. Good luck to all those chasing championships this weekend and may the best (or luckiest) man win!

November 14, 2013
Matt Crafton appears comfortable in Nationwide Series

Matt Crafton has accumulated 310 starts in the Camping World Truck Series. Driving the familiar No. 88 Menards Chevrolet, he is in the midst of the best season of his career. Currently, Crafton is leading the series standings by 41 points over second place and defending series champion, James Buescher.

Crafton is also on an amazing streak of 16 top-10 finishes in 16 races. Buescher and Ryan Blaney are the next closest competitors with ten top-10’s. Crafton has become one of the most consistent, dependable drivers in the history of the series.

In addition to his success this season in the truck series, Crafton has ventured into something he has wanted to do for a while – compete in the Nationwide Series. He made his series debut earlier this season at Kentucky Speedway driving the No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.

Crafton’s debut was a success. He qualified eighth and finished a very respectable third. He followed that up with a tenth place finish at Chicago a few weeks later.

Richard Childress Racing has a very successful Nationwide Series program. Austin Dillon and Brian Scott race full time for the team. Dillon is currently in the middle of a tight championship battle sitting just 17 points behind series points leader, Sam Hornish. Scott, who sits seventh in the standings, recently had a dominating performance at Richmond International Raceway starting from the pole and leading 239 of 250 laps only to come up short at the end thanks to a late race caution.

Crafton stated earlier this season at Kentucky that, “I have been looking forward to the opportunity to drive in the series with great equipment for a long time.” Driving for RCR gives him that opportunity.

Given the off weekend for the Truck Series, Crafton has returned to Kentucky Speedway for the Kentucky 300, a standalone event for the series.

Crafton’s success continued Friday as he paced practice with a lap 173.740 mph edging out his RCR teammates Dillon, and Scott who were second and third respectively. A top-10 finish this weekend will give him the opportunity to achieve a perfect 100% stat in top-10’s this season in all of his NASCAR touring series starts.

Crafton seems to be right at home in the Nationwide Series cars, which could bode well for his future. Rumors are that Austin Dillon will be moving to the Sprint Cup Series next season. If that holds true, Crafton could be the perfect replacement to fill that seat in 2014.

The green flag will fall on the Kentucky 300 at 7:30pm local time on Saturday.

September 21, 2013