MARTINSVILE, Va.—Race runner-up Matt Crafton said Joey Logano barreled into Turn 1 on the final restart “like he was shot out of a cannon.”
Ducking to the inside with the accelerator mashed was the move Logano, the Coors Light Pole Award winner, had to make to vault from third to first and win Saturday’s Kroger 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway in an event that went eight circuits past its posted distance of 250 laps.
Logano led 150 laps in winning the first NCWTS race of his career and becoming the 26th driver to take a checkered flag in each of NASCAR’s top three national touring series.
After Crafton led the field to green on Lap 257, Logano and third-place finisher Erik Jones made a sandwich of Crafton’s No. 88 Toyota, and Logano squeezed his No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford through the first two corners into the lead. With a car that was set up for short runs, Logano was untouchable the rest of the way and arrived at the finish line with a .431-second advantage over the two-time defending series champion.
“I just had a great restart,” Logano said of the winning move. “The tires worked out well. I prepped them good down the back straightaway and made sure I had them clean enough. I got a good jump, a fourth-gear grab there, drove it in there and hope I got past him—and it was able to stick down there…
“It’s cool to say I’ve won in all three series now. It’s kind of special.”
Logano is the first driver to put a Ford truck in Victory Lane since Ricky Craven in 2005.
Crafton caused the caution that sent the race to overtime when he bumped Cole Custer’s No. 00 Chevrolet off Turn 4 and sent him spinning on Lap 248. Crafton’s tap was retaliation for an aggressive move on Custer’s part on lap 246, where Custer drove hard into Turn 1, knocked both Crafton and Logano out of the way and took a short-lived lead.
But Crafton soon caught Custer and moved him out of the way. With Custer’s Chevrolet sitting in the middle of the frontstretch, NASCAR was forced to call the ninth caution of the race, setting up the green-white-checkered-flag finish.
“I drove in too hard and couldn’t stop, and I hit ‘em a little too hard,” Custer said of the move that gave him the lead for two laps. “It worked, so I knew he (Crafton) was going to come back and nudge me a little bit. I was giving it everything I had to try and stay up there.”
In vain, as it turned out. Driving a truck fielded by JR Motorsports, Custer finished 16th after overcoming two pit road speeding penalties.
Crafton led 100 laps in his second-place effort and took the series lead from Tyler Reddick, who ran fifth. Reddick trails Crafton by two points through three events this season.
Johnny Sauter came home fourth, followed by Reddick, Daniel Suarez, James Buescher, John Wes Townley, Matt Tifft and Justin Boston.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – Kroger 250
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville, Virginia
Saturday, March 28, 2015
1. (1) Joey Logano(i), Ford, 258, $51336.
2. (13) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 258, $31542.
3. (4) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 258, $25488.
4. (9) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 258, $19518.
5. (7) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 258, $18458.
6. (11) Daniel Suarez(i), Toyota, 258, $16574.
7. (15) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 258, $14158.
8. (5) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 258, $16352.
9. (19) Matt Tifft, Toyota, 258, $16297.
10. (21) Justin Boston #, Toyota, 258, $17191.
11. (3) Cameron Hayley #, Toyota, 258, $16186.
12. (14) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 258, $16046.
13. (26) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 258, $15990.
14. (18) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, 258, $15935.
15. (6) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 258, $16252.
16. (2) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 258, $15769.
17. (12) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 257, $13663.
18. (17) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 257, $15658.
19. (22) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, 257, $15602.
20. (10) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 257, $16019.
21. (23) Caleb Holman, Chevrolet, 257, $13241.
22. (20) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, 256, $13213.
23. (27) Korbin Forrister #, Chevrolet, 255, $15436.
24. (31) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 250, $14130.
25. (30) Tommy Regan, Chevrolet, 248, $14197.
26. (24) Jake Griffin, Chevrolet, Handling, 218, $12992.
27. (28) Cody Ware #, Chevrolet, Vibration, 216, $12964.
28. (29) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 174, $12716.
29. (16) John H. Nemechek #, Chevrolet, Transmission, 173, $12660.
30. (8) David Gilliland(i), Ford, Brakes, 132, $12160.
31. (25) Bryan Silas, Chevrolet, Overheating, 120, $10660.
32. (32) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 83, $9660.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 68.214 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 59 Mins, 22 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.431 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 61 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Logano(i) 1-36; M. Mingus 37-40; J. Logano(i) 41-110; M. Crafton 111-161; J. Logano(i) 162; M. Crafton 163-178; J. Logano(i) 179-180; M. Crafton 181-193; E. Jones # 194-195; M. Crafton 196-205; J. Logano(i) 206-244; M. Crafton 245; C. Custer 246-247; M. Crafton 248-256; J. Logano(i) 257-258.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): J. Logano(i) 6 times for 150 laps; M. Crafton 6 times for 100 laps; M. Mingus 1 time for 4 laps; C. Custer 1 time for 2 laps; E. Jones # 1 time for 2 laps.
Top 10 in Points: M. Crafton – 128; T. Reddick – 126; E. Jones # – 122; J. Sauter – 112; J. Buescher – 100; J. Townley – 90; R. Black Jr. # – 89; C. Hayley # – 84; S. Gallagher # – 84; B. Kennedy – 83.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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