Matt Crafton Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – It wouldn’t be a race at Bristol Motor Speedway without tempers flaring at one point or another during the event. In Thursday night’s UNOH 200, it was two playoff drivers in Stewart Friesen and Matt Crafton that butted heads in the final stage of the race. Battling for position on lap 152, Friesen and Crafton got together, sending Friesen for a spin in Turn 4. Though Friesen was able to gather his Chevrolet back up with minimal damage, he was quick toRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Top-seeded Brett Moffitt held off determined 17-year-old Chandler Smith after a restart with three laps left and took home the trophy in Thursday night’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. With the victory in the first event of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs, Moffitt, the defending series champion, gained an automatic berth in the Round of 6, as other Playoff contenders either overcame adversity or succumbed to it. “It was tough,” Moffitt said in Victory Lane. “Our (No. 24)Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent BRISTOL, Tenn. – Chandler Smith was just one spot shy of becoming a playoff spoiler in the UNO200 at the age of 17. The Kyle Busch Motorsports driver dueled with defending NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Champion Brett Moffitt on the final two restarts. Moffitt got the better of Smith’s No. 51 IBuyPower Toyota Tundra on the lap 190 restart at Bristol Motor Speedway. A caution four laps later gave the young driver a second chance. Smith lined up alongside Moffitt. He held his ownRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent BRISTOL, Tenn. – The playoff drivers in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series swept both practices for the Food City 200. Tyler Ankrum was fastest in the first session at Bristol Motor Speedway. The David Gilliland Racing – Crosley Group driver ran a 15.178 second, 126.420 MPH lap in the No. 17 May’s Hawaii Toyota Tundra. Ross Chastain was second fastest, with a 15.249 second, 125.831 MPH lap. Matt Crafton, Raphael Lessard, and Brett Moffitt rounded out the top-five. The rest of the top-10 includedRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs get underway Thursday night with the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – the first of seven races that will crown the 2019 series champ. Brett Moffitt will begin defense of his 2018 Gander Trucks title as the No. 1 seed for this year’s edition of the Playoffs. The driver of the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet SilveradoRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – Austin Hill’s victory in Saturday’s Corrigan Oil 200 at Michigan International Speedway provided sweet relief for two-time NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion Matt Crafton. With Hill’s second victory of the season, Crafton has a chance to run for a third title, having cliched the final spot in the series Playoffs on points. The outcome—and Crafton’s fate—weren’t decided until the final moments of a race that went five laps beyond its scheduled distance of 100 laps. For two nail-biting laps ofRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Depending on their racing background and certainly their ability to adapt quickly, NASCAR Gander Outdoors Series drivers show up in Rossburg, Ohio this week ready to test their skills on NASCAR champion Tony Stewart’s challenging half-mile Eldora Speedway dirt track – a venue that will likely help decide the 2019 championship field. With only two races remaining to set the eight-driver playoff, Thursday night’s Eldora Dirt Derby (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is not only hugely popular for its one-of-a-kind challengeRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Stage 2 was a chaotic mess in Thursday’s Buckle Up Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway and it bit NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series points leader Grant Enfinger on Lap 65. On a late stage restart, the pole sitter restarted on the inside as race leader Brandon Jones, who had worked his way up to the front after starting 27th, chose the top groove as the field took the green flag. Enfinger’s teammate Matt Crafton pushed Jones to get the strong advantage, but it didn’t stopRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. – Brett Moffitt has long insisted he wanted to earn a checkered flag this season with his performance on track and Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway he did just that – winning the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Camping World 225 by a no-doubt 3.950 seconds over Brandon Jones. The reigning series champion Moffitt has been vocal in his desire to hoist a trophy this weekend at Chicago – for the second consecutive year. And he earned It in convincing style –Read More

By Robert Gray, NASCAR Wire Service NEWTON, Iowa — Brett Moffitt shed his race suit. He simmered silently in street clothes, sipped on a beer, and stewed over what seemed to be a missed opportunity at his home state track. Then strange, but welcomed news arrived — and that brew tasted somewhat sweet rather than extremely bitter. Ross Chastain’s No. 44 truck, which he apparently wheeled to a much-needed victory, had failed post-race inspection because of being too low in the front. Suddenly, a sense of second-place dejection transformed intoRead More