- Tundra drivers grabbed four of the top-five finishing positions in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
- Darrell Wallace Jr. (second), Matt Crafton (third), Johnny Sauter (fourth) and John Hunter Nemechek (fifth) all registered top-five results in the 175 lap race.
- Cole Custer was the race-winner.
- Crafton started last (30th) in the field, due to an electrical problem, en route to his third-place result.
- The fifth-place finish was a career best NCWTS result for Nemechek.
- Tundra drivers Matt Crafton and Erik Jones both led laps in the race. Crafton was at the front of the field once for 20 laps. Jones led the field twice for a total of seven laps.
- Other Tundra drivers in the top-15 included Jones (seventh), Timothy Peters (11th), Jeb Burton (12th) and German Quiroga (15th).
- In the unofficial NCWTS point standings, Crafted has extended his lead over second-place Sauter to seven points. Wallace sits fourth in the standings, 35 points behind first-place.
DARRELL WALLACE JR., No. 54 Toyota Care Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 2nd
How was your race?
“Once again I would have had to wreck him to get by him. I think I gave it up a little too much into (turn) three — when he got clear, could have got to him on the bumper. Four tires prevailed for him (Cole Custer). So, congratulations to Cole. I told him he’d get the pole. The kid is always fast — so it’s always cool to see a new winner. I just hate a Toyota wasn’t in victory lane. Our Toyota Care Tundra was okay. We were a top-three truck — a top-five truck at the beginning of the race. Just couldn’t get off the corner, but we saw some stuff late in the race. We’ll go on to Las Vegas. Proud of my guys. They never gave up. Pit stops were incredible. Gained us some spots — just come up one spot short. I’m pumped. I’m all good. We’ll go on to Vegas with our Toyota Care Tundra and be ready to win.”
Could you have caught Cole Custer if the race was longer?
“No. I’m glad it was only like four laps (longer) because he would have checked out by a straightaway. Just four tires though. He was fast all race long. You wonder where you stack up on pit stops — he was so far out we wouldn’t see him until we cycled back around. He was just fast. Any more laps — we would have dropped. We did not have a short run truck at all. We had to make the most of it — couldn’t give up an inch, for sure.”
Does another strong finish give you momentum?
“For sure. We’ll take this as momentum and go to Vegas. Our mile-and-a-half program has turned around a tremendous amount. We’re pumped for Vegas. We have a brand new Toyota Tundra going there. We’ll be ready.’
MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Slim Jim/Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
How was your race?
“We had a fast truck. It’s a damn shame that we finished third with it. I don’t know — that 00 (Cole Custer) was fast. He definitely was fast. He had four tires right there at the end — we were kind of sitting ducks with two tires. I didn’t think that four tires was going to pay off quite as much as it did. All the restarts we had right there at the end killed us.”
How would you describe your race?
“Started in the back, drove to the front and got beat at the end.”
JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 98 Nextant/Curb Records, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
JOHN H. NEMECHEK, No. 8 Smoke-and-Sear/SWM Toyota Tundra, Joe Nemechek Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How does it feel to get a top-five result?
“It definitely feels good to break into the top-five. It’s been a difficult task to do every week that I’ve raced. We finally did it. So, hopefully we can start knocking off some top-threes and maybe even a win before the end of the year. I have two races left (Martinsville and Phoenix) in the truck and I think Dad (Joe Nemechek) has three or four (races). We’ll see what we could do.”
How was the end of the race?
“Johnny (Sauter) got under us and it was definitely all we could do to hang on there. It was definitely a fun race. We overcame a bunch of little things that we had happen — just not having the perfect truck today. Hopefully, we’ll get one here soon.”
ERIK JONES, No. 51 Toyota Care/Project Pink Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 7th
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 11th
JEB BURTON, No. 13 Estes/Carolina Nut Company, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 12th
GERMAN QUIROGA, No. 77 NET 10 Wireless Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 15th
MASON MINGUS, No. 35 Call 811 Toyota Tundra
Finishing Position: 17th
JOHN WES TOWNLEY, No. 7 Zaxby’s Toyota Tundra, Athenian Racing
Finishing Position: 18th
