Crafton Conserves Fuel to Win NASCAR Truck Race at Kansas

File Photo

KANSAS CITY, KS – RIS – Matt Crafton, running  fourth in the closing laps of the NASCAR Toyota Tundra 250, saw each of the trucks in front of him run out of fuel.  Crafton conserved just enough fuel while the leaders kept running out in the final laps to win the NASCAR Trucks Series race at Kansas Speedway, extending his lead in the points race by becoming the first two-time winner at the track.

"I said when we took the checkered flag, 'We'd rather be lucky than good sometimes,'" Crafton said. "You have to be close enough to sneak one out once in a while. I've lost them in things like this, so every once in a while, you steal one, I don't feel too bad about it."

All the trucks were forced to pit with 55 laps remaining, just on the upper end of the fuel window, when Ray Black Jr. blew his engine after a long green-flag run. It gave Crafton and the rest of the field a chance after 18-year-old Erik Jones had built a 12-second lead.

Jones raced right back to the front on the restart, once again stretching his lead to several seconds. But after leading 151 of 167 laps, his No. 4 Toyota ran out of fuel with five to go.

Tyler Reddick, who had wrecked his primary truck in qualifying, took over the lead. But he only had it for about a lap before his tank also ran dry.

Daniel Suarez moved into the lead, but he ran out of gas with two laps remaining, allowing the crafty Crafton to pull in front. He had just enough gas left in his No. 88 Toyota to cross the finish line and spin out on the dirt of the infield in celebration.

"It was almost comical, the way they dropped like flies there at the end," said Crafton's crew chief, Carl Joiner Jr. "It was good. We'll take it."

Ryan Newman finished second after a disastrous final pit stop. One of the tires taken off his truck got away from a crew member, and Newman was penalized to the back of the lead lap.

"The tire deal hurt us, no doubt," Newman said. "You know, I was giving it my all. It took me 35 or 40 laps to get aggressive with the truck and that was too long."

Johnny Sauter was third, followed by Timothy Peters and Cameron Hayley.

It was a frustrating end to what had been a dream start to Jones's big weekend.

The Joe Gibbs Racing prodigy, who made his Sprint Cup debut in relief of Denny Hamlin at Bristol, will make his first start in Saturday night's race. He was among the fastest all day in Cup practice, then made the final round of qualifying and will start in the 12th position.

"We had by far the best truck," Jones said. "We were up to an 11-second lead at one point. Just so terrible for these guys when we had so fast of a truck."

Jones said that he tried to conserve fuel during the long green-flag run to the finish, but he was never able to rest easy with Reddick giving chase in his backup truck.

"It's just too bad," Jones said, shaking his head. "We'll have to bring another fast truck to Charlotte and we'll go get a win there."

Unofficial Race Results: 15th Annual Toyota Tundra 250
Fin, Str, Driver, Trk, Lap, Pts, BPts, Status, TLd, LLd
1) 2, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Slim Jim/Menards Toyota, 167, 47, 4, Running, 3, 6
2) 4, Ryan Newman(i), No. 8 Chevrolet, 167, 0, , Running, 1, 2
3) 7, Johnny Sauter, No. 98 Nextant/Curb Records Toyota, 167, 41, , Running
4) 12, Timothy Peters, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota, 167, 40, , Running
5) 8, Cameron Hayley #, No. 13 Cabinets by Hayley/Carolina Nut Co. Toyota, 167, 39, , Running
6) 10, Daniel Suarez(i), No. 51 ARRIS Toyota, 167, 0, , Running, 1, 1
7) 9, Justin Boston #, No. 54 Zloop Toyota, 166, 37, , Running
8) 11, Scott Lagasse Jr.(i), No. 31 Boy Scouts of America Chevrolet, 166, 0, , Running
9) 13, Mason Mingus, No. 15 811 Call Before You Dig Chevrolet, 166, 35, , Running
10) 6, Daniel Hemric #, No. 14 California Clean Power Chevrolet, 166, 34, , Running
11) 1, Erik Jones #, No. 4 Toyota Toyota, 166, 35, 2, Running, 5, 151
12) 15, John Wes Townley, No. 05 Zaxby's Chevrolet, 166, 32, , Running
13) 22, Tyler Reddick, No. 19 BBR Music Group Ford, 165, 32, 1, Running, 2, 7
14) 23, Austin Theriault #, No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford, 165, 30, , Running
15) 25, Tyler Tanner, No. 63 Vitterott College/Ski Soda Chevrolet, 165, 29, , Running
16) 24, Wendell Chavous #, No. 94 Testoril/The Glow Zone Chevrolet, 164, 28, , Running
17) 14, Spencer Gallagher #, No. 23 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet, 163, 27, , Running
18) 27, Jordan Anderson, No. 74 Auntie Anne's/Impact Racing Products Chevrolet, 159, 26, , Running
19) 21, Jennifer Jo Cobb, No. 10 Mark One Electric Chevrolet, 154, 25, , Running
20) 26, Ryan Ellis, No. 1 Chevrolet, 154, 24, , Running
21) 16, Ray Black Jr. #, No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet, 109, 23, , Engine
22) 19, Korbin Forrister #, No. 08 Tilted Kilt Chevrolet, 90, 22, , Rear Gear
23) 17, Tyler Young, No. 02 Randco Industries/Yng'sBldngSystms Chev, 74, 21, , Accident
24) 29, Norm Benning, No. 6 Chevrolet, 69, 20, , Vibration
25) 28, Travis Kvapil, No. 50 Burnie Grill Chevrolet, 60, 19, , Rear Gear
26) 5, Ben Kennedy, No. 11 Local Motors/SpongeBob SquarePants Toyota, 57, 18, , Overheating
27) 30, Justin Jennings, No. 36 Mittler Bros Machine & Tools/Ski Soda Chevrolet, 24, 17, , Brakes
28) 20, BJ McLeod, No. 45 Tilted Kilt Chevrolet, 18, 16, , Vibration
29) 18, Matt Tifft, No. 25 Toyota, 18, 15, , Oil Leak
30) 3, Brandon Jones #, No. 33 Master Force Chevrolet, 11, 14, , Accident
31) 32, Michael Affarano(i), No. 03 Affarano Motorsports Chevrolet, 6, PE, , Ignition
32) 31, Caleb Roark, No. 0 Grimes Irrigation & Construction Chevrolet, 5, 12, , Electrical, ,

# = Rookie, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led.

Average Speed: 139.857 MPH
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 47 Mins, 28 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 8.339 Seconds
Lead Changes: 11 among 5 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 19 laps

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the midle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2015, Issue 5, Posted 12:23 AM, 05.09.2015