Matt Crafton won Wednesday night’s fifth annual Eldora Dirt Derby 150 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway.

Over the last forty laps of the race, Crafton worked his way from the bottom of the top-10 and took advantage of a Lap 127 caution to challenge a dominant Stewart Friesen for his first win since Charlotte Motor Speedway last May.

“My first dirt win – a lot of fun,” said Crafton, who picked up his 14th career win. “In the second part of that race we down-right just stunk. It was my fault. We over-tightened it a little bit in the first run. It got free and we just went back to the way we started the race.

“I knew I was getting beat down low. Finally, at the end, I said, ‘Well, we may have to tear the right side off to get the win.’ I started doing it and this truck became a rocket ship.”

Friesen, who finished second to earn his career-best finish in the Truck Series, accepted defeat with dignity.

“Congrats to Matt, he’s been doing his homework on the dirt and it paid off,” said Friesen who led a race high 93 laps.

“We didn’t come here to run second that’s for damn sure, but I’m proud of these guys. They worked hard to get this truck dialed in. We had a great truck, he (Crafton) just got rolling on the top, it cleaned up, I was so committed to the bottom and go there in the middle and he just found a line and got us. It burns.”

###

Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a trip to Pocono Raceway for the Pocono Mountains 150 on July 29.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – Eldora Dirt Derby

Eldora Speedway

Rossburg, Ohio

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

1. (2) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 150.
2. (1) Stewart Friesen, Chevrolet, 150.
3. (12) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 150.
4. (11) Grant Enfinger #, Toyota, 150.
5. (6) John H. Nemechek, Chevrolet, 150.
6. (26) Bobby Pierce, Chevrolet, 150.
7. (10) Noah Gragson #, Toyota, 150.
8. (13) Justin Haley #, Chevrolet, 150.
9. (4) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 150.
10. (17) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 150.
11. (27) Cody Coughlin #, Toyota, 150.
12. (5) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 150.
13. (29) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 150.
14. (16) Jeffrey Abbey, Chevrolet, 150.
15. (23) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 150.
16. (28) Wendell Chavous #, Chevrolet, 149.
17. (24) Ken Schrader, Chevrolet, 149.
18. (31) Mike Harmon(i), Chevrolet, 147.
19. (20) Chris Windom, Chevrolet, 146.
20. (8) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 146.
21. (18) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 146.
22. (32) Ray Ciccarelli, Chevrolet, 146.
23. (14) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 143.
24. (25) Brandon Hightower(i), Chevrolet, 138.
25. (21) Justin Shipley, Ford, Engine, 121.
26. (15) Rico Abreu, Toyota, Accident, 117.
27. (19) Sheldon Creed(i), Chevrolet, Overheating, 80.
28. (30) Korbin Forrister, Chevrolet, Accident, 44.
29. (22) Max Johnston, Chevrolet, Accident, 41.
30. (7) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, Accident, 40.
31. (3) Kaz Grala #, Chevrolet, Accident, 34.
32. (9) Caleb Holman, Chevrolet, Transmission, 12.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  42.56 mph.

Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 45 Mins, 44 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.960 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  10 for 59 laps.

Lead Changes:  7 among 4 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   S. Friesen 1-33; M. Crafton 34-40; S. Friesen 41; J. Nemechek 42-52; S. Friesen 53-91; C. Bell 92-113; S. Friesen 114-133; M. Crafton 134-150.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  S. Friesen 4 times for 93 laps; M. Crafton 2 times for 24 laps; C. Bell 1 time for 22 laps; J. Nemechek 1 time for 11 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 88,52,8,29,99,19,16,24,98,80

Stage #2 Top Ten: 52,99,8,4,19,98,80,89,88,24

 

No Comment