Crafton gets first NASCAR Truck victory
Concord, NC - May 17, 2008
By: Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
PHOTO: Matt Crafton beat Chad McCumbee in a green-white-checkered finish to win the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It was Crafton's first win in 178 career starts.-CREDIT: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
It took Matt Crafton 178 starts to snare his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory. It took about 35-crash filled laps at Lowe's Motor Speedway to set the unlikely win in motion.
A chaotic turn of events that took frontrunner after frontrunner out of contention in the late stages of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, Crafton hung on and survived for an unlikely triumph in a race that may well be remembered more for who didn't win than who did.
"Finally we can shut them up," a jubilant Crafton said in victory lane as he celebrated his long-awaited victory. "Now they can say, 'When's the second one coming?'"
Chad McCumbee placed second followed by Brendan Gaughan, Erik Darnell and Rick Crawford.
Billy Ballew Motorsports' Kyle Busch came home eighth but appeared headed for an easy victory when a collision with Kevin Harvick Inc.'s Ron Hornaday Jr. on Lap 104 sent Hornaday spinning and Busch into the Turn 4 wall.
Busch, who led 86 laps after starting from the pole, sustained significant right side damage to his Toyota and never recovered.
"My truck was glued to the race track I guess way better than his," Busch said in reference to Hornaday. "Just unfortunate, man."
Unfortunate would be an accurate description of the circumstances that derailed many of those who appeared most ready to capitalize on Busch's trouble.
While leading the field to a restart with seven laps to go, Darnell spun his tires and lost several positions. Then, Johnny Benson, who moved by Darnell on the outside at the start-finish line to take the lead, was ordered to pit road by NASCAR for jumping the start.
The exchange gave Crafton the lead with just three laps of the regularly scheduled distance left and set up a fierce battle for second that ended with Germain Racing's Todd Bodine spinning Hornaday just past the start-finish line at the entrance to Turn 1.
An angry Hornaday limped home 23rd and took umbrage with Bodine, who finished 12th after being penalized for rough driving.
Hornaday said, "You don't spin somebody out on the straightaway."
Bodine said he didn't mean to cause Hornaday to wreck.
"I was just trying to help him," Bodine said. "And now I look like a goat."
Once the dust settled, all Crafton had left to do was hold off a charging McCumbee on a green-white-checkered restart. And he did, despite McCumbee's attempts to make a run down the backstretch on the final lap.
"That was a hard fought second place, I can tell you that much," McCumbee said.
And a hard night for a host of contenders.
Hornaday remained the points leader after six of 25 scheduled races. He heads Rick Crawford by just five with fewer than 70 points the difference between first and sixth places.
NASCAR Craftsman truck Series
Race Number 6
Unofficial Race Results for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 -
Friday, May 16, 2008
Lowe's Motor Speedway - Concord, NC - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 138 Laps - 207 Miles - Purse: $560,747
Leader
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Total Award Status Times Laps
1 18 88 Matt Crafton Menards/McGuire-Nicholas Chevrolet 138 190 5 $63,500 Running 2 10
2 7 8 Chad McCumbee Malcolmson Construction Chevrolet 138 175 5 $35,675 Running 1 1
3 29 10 Brendan Gaughan International MAXXFORCE Diesel 138 165 $25,870 Running
4 5 99 Erik Darnell Northern Tool + Equipment Ford 138 165 5 $19,235 Running 1 23
5 15 14 Rick Crawford Power Stroke Diesel by Int'l Ford 138 155 $16,085 Running
6 25 60 Terry Cook Wyler.com Toyota 138 155 5 $13,010 Running 1 2
7 28 18 Dennis Setzer Tahoe Smokeless Dodge 138 151 5 $12,510 Running 1 1
8 1 51 Kyle Busch Miccosukee/NOS Energy Drink 138 152 10 $12,060 Running 3 86
9 8 46 Landon Cassill GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 138 138 $12,285 Running
10 4 5 Mike Skinner Toyota Banner Sales Event Toyota 138 134 $13,635 Running
11 14 23 Johnny Benson Exide Batteries Toyota 138 130 $11,760 Running
12 21 30 Todd Bodine Lumber Liquidators Toyota 138 132 5 $11,585 Running 2 5
13 22 52 Ken Schrader Federated Auto Parts Toyota 138 124 $9,210 Running
14 3 2 Jack Sprague American Commercial Lines Chevrolet 138 121 $11,360 Running
15 6 6 Colin Braun # Con-way Freight Ford 138 123 5 $13,210 Running 1 3
16 9 7 Andy Lally # TRG/Adobe Road Winery Chevrolet 138 115 $11,560 Running
17 19 11 David Starr Pit Corporate Training Toyota 137 112 $11,110 Running
18 12 09 Travis Kvapil Zaxby's Ford 137 109 $8,810 Running
19 27 21 Jon Wood Air Force Ford 137 106 $11,010 Running
20 10 13 Shelby Howard ThorSport Racing Chevrolet 137 103 $11,660 Running
21 20 40 Chad Chaffin Curtis Key Plmbg/Mays Meats 137 105 5 $8,640 Running 1 1
22 23 59 Ted Musgrave Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota 137 102 5 $10,835 Running 1 5
23 2 33 Ron Hornaday Camping World Chevrolet 137 99 5 $10,560 Running 1 1
24 11 15 Marc Mitchell # Hyprene Ergon Toyota 136 91 $8,535 Running
25 16 17 Timothy Peters Hayes Iron & Metal/Tahoe Dodge 136 88 $8,485 Running
26 33 08 Jason White GunBroker.com Dodge 136 85 $9,460 Running
27 30 20 Scott Lagasse, Jr Nicholson Group Real Estate Ford 136 82 $8,435 Running
28 17 4 Stacy Compton Crown Dodge of Fayetteville Dodge 135 79 $8,410 Running
29 36 54 Brian Sockwell Sculley Boatbuilders Chevrolet 134 76 $8,360 Running
30 24 91 J.C. Stout Hart's Insurance Agency Chevrolet 124 73 $8,335 Running
31 26 07 John Mickel Dudman Grp/Contac Svc/RSCapp 113 70 $8,310 Accident
32 32 9 Justin Marks # crocs Toyota 113 67 $8,285 Accident
33 13 22 Scott Speed # Red Bull Toyota 107 64 $8,260 Transmission
34 34 71 Donny Lia # Nationrides.com Chevrolet 9 61 $8,235 Accident
35 35 16 Brian Scott # Albertsons Chevrolet 8 58 $8,210 Accident
36 31 74 Derrike Cope Dodge 4 55 $8,198 Vibration
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 40,000 - Matt Crafton won the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 - his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory.
No one dropped to the rear.
Failed to Qualify: (2) 73 Nick Tucker, 28 Wayne Edwards.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 51 Mins, 24 Secs. Average Speed: 111.490 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.184 Seconds
Caution Flags: 7 for 33 laps: Laps: 9-16 (#16,71 accident frontstretch); 22-28 (Debris); 100-103 (Debris); 106-108 (#2,6,22,33,51 accident turn 4); 116-118 (#07,9.18,59 accident turn 2); 125-127 (Debris); 132-136 (#30,33 accident turn 1).
Lead Changes: 14 among 11 drivers: K. Busch 1-21; C. McCumbee 22; C. Chaffin 23; T. Musgrave 24-28; K. Busch 29-77; C. Braun # 78-80; D. Setzer 81; T. Cook 82-83; K. Busch 84-99; R. Hornaday 100; T. Bodine 101-104; E. Darnell 105-127; M. Crafton 128; T. Bodine 129; M. Crafton 130-138.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) R. Hornaday 874;(2) R. Crawford 869;(3) T. Bodine 836;(4) M. Crafton 829;(5) D. Setzer 817;(6) C. Mccumbee 808;(7) Ky. Busch 797;(8) J. Benson 796;(9) E. Darnell 771;(10) T. Cook 760.
Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award : Erik Darnell, #99 (24 Places) Keystone Light Pole Award : Kyle Busch, #51 (179.045 mph)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Matt Crafton, #88 Mobil1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Matt Crafton, #88
Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award : Colin Braun, #6 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Matt Crafton, #88
Wix Filters Lap Leader Award : Matt Crafton, #88 (10 Laps)
Next Race: May. 24, 2008 - Mansfield Motorsports Park
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