Matt Crafton Tag

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla.—As strong as he was in winning Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200, Matt Crafton was already looking ahead to 2016. Crafton, whose hopes for a third consecutive NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship were dashed by a crash at Phoenix last week, won his sixth race of the season, holding off John Hunter Nemechek and Tyler Reddick in the season finale. Although Crafton’s No. 88 Toyota Tundra finished 2.9 seconds ahead of Nemechek and more than six seconds ahead of Reddick, the 39-year-oldRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service There’s nothing like a championship to validate the efforts of a young driver — or a team owner, for that matter. When Erik Jones and Tyler Reddick take center stage as the opening act of Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the spotlight will shine squarely on the two 19-year-olds, one of whom will become the youngest-ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, barring a Matt Crafton miracle. Just as the significant, however, is the battle between the owners of the two teams, KyleRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – After the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series battle changed dramatically with a wreck involving the two series leaders, Timothy Peters held off John Hunter Nemechek to win Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. Peters beat Nemechek to the checkered flag by .309 seconds to record his first victory at the one-mile speedway, his second of the season and the 10th of his career. But the real drama occurred 30 laps before Peters crossed the finish line in theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Texas – On turf that typically belongs to two-time defending NASCAR Camping World Series champion Matt Crafton, Erik Jones dominated on Friday night. Jones led 117 of 147 laps on the way to victory in the WinStar World Casino & Resort 350 at Texas Motor Speedway, his first win at the venue, his third of the season and the seventh of his career. In an event that featured only one caution, a track-record low, Jones finished 2.855 seconds ahead of runner-up andRead More

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – 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 theRead More

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’ firstRead More

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – Two weeks ago in the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Alex Tagliani got turned out of the lead by Regan Smith and lost his shot at a win. Today in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Tagliani had a chance to be the one doing the turning. Heading into Turn 5B on the final lap, Tagliani says he was in a position to push Erik Jones aside and claim victory for himself. But he didn’t.Read More

BRISTOL, Tenn – A spin with four laps to go in Wednesday night’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway proved to be the saving grace for Brad Keselowski Racing’s Ryan Blaney, who grabbed the lead on a green-white-checkered restart to win his first race of the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. Blaney recovered from an early race penalty for jumping a restart to find himself closing on leader Matt Crafton with five laps remaining. When Ty Dillon spun on Lap 196, it triggered the final caution of theRead More

BROOKLYN, Mich.—Not even a pit road speeding penalty could keep Kyle Busch from his appointed rounds on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. With drafting help from Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Erik Jones entering Turn 1, Busch regained the lead from Ryan Blaney on Lap 97 of 100 in the Careers for Veterans 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and held on to win by .157 seconds. Blaney held the second spot, and Jones finished third, followed by Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon. Two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton battledRead More

In one of the most anticipated races of the year, Christopher Bell scored a dramatic win in the third annual 1-800-CAR-CASH Mud Summer Classic on the famed Eldora Speedway dirt. It was the first victory for Bell in just his third career start. Bell’s triumph marked back-to-back victories for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the No. 54 Toyota Tundra at Eldora. “It’s just unbelievable,” said Bell in Victory Lane. “I’ve been coming here quite a few times and if you would have told me two years ago that my first winRead More