- Tundra driver Matt Crafton (second) scored the top Toyota finish in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Martinsville Speedway behind race-winner Joey Logano.
- Defending race-winner and series champion Crafton led six times for a total of 100 laps (of 258). In addition to Crafton, Tundra driver Erik Jones also led two laps at the half-mile Virginia oval.
- Tundra drivers Jones (third), Johnny Sauter (fourth), Daniel Suarez (sixth), Matt Tifft (ninth) and Justin Boston (10th) also finished in the top-10.
- Crafton took over the unofficial NCWTS standings and leads second-place Tyler Reddick by two points. Tundra drivers Jones (third), Sauter (fourth), Cameron Hayley (eighth) and Ben Kennedy (10th) are also in the top-10 in the point standings after three of the 23 events in 2015.
MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Hormel/Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
How strong was the truck in the race?
“This Menards Toyota Tundra was good. It took a few laps to get going. I had the lead early and there towards the end the 4 (Erik Jones) and the 29 (Joey Logano) got by me. I was just not that good on the short run, but it would keep coming to me and coming to me. I never touched the 29 earlier whenever I passed him and then he just kept putting the bumper to me and I was like, ‘well, it’s the race for the lead here,’ and I wasn’t going to move him. We got in there side by side and I got a little bit loose in there and the 00 (Cole Custer) came in there and just pounded us. It’s racing I guess.”
What happened in the closing laps?
“I felt like the first half of the race I raced everybody clean. The 29 (Joey Logano), I passed him earlier and didn’t put a mark on him and whenever he got back to me later on, he was beating my bumper off. Inside of 10 (laps) to go, I said that it was every man for himself at that point. I wasn’t going to wreck him, but I was definitely going to put a bumper to him here and there, but I definitely wasn’t going to wreck him. Then the 00 (Cole Custer) just came in there and pile drove us both. It’s racing.”
Did you expect the final restart to be chaos?
“The 29 (Joey Logano) got a huge – he lagged back big, big on us getting into the restart area and I knew it was going to be big because I saw him coming with that run and I couldn’t do anything about it at that point. I knew if I shut the door we were all going to get wrecked.”
ERIK JONES, No. 4 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 3rd
Were you surprised at the bumping in the closing laps?
“He (Joey Logano) had to do what he had to do to win. I wish I could have raced the 88 (Matt Crafton) for it, I was looking forward to having a shot at it. Figured he (Logano) was probably going to do that. Thankfully it worked out and we were able to drop in third. The tires are just killed on this thing and we got too loose the last run. Good day overall for us in our Toyota Tundra and just hopefully we can go on to Kansas and pick up a win for this season. Feel pretty good about it.”
What did you learn in today’s race?
“A lot about Martinsville – I feel a lot better about coming back to this place now. We came here with a new package, a little bit different from what we’ve run the past couple years with me. It worked pretty well and I was real happy with it. Kind of have a better idea of what we need to do through the race now adjustment-wise and looking forward to getting back in the fall and taking another stab at it.”
JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 98 Smokey Mountain/Curb Records Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How was the race?
“It ended really well. Obviously we didn’t run like we have in the past. Our Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Toyota was decent. I just started out really, really tight at the beginning of a run and like lap 15 of a run it’s like somebody flipped a switch and it was so loose I couldn’t drive it. Clearly we had a balance problem, I don’t know what it is. Nonetheless, we finished fourth and we survived. When you’re not the fastest truck here, you have to kind of change your approach and try to survive and that’s all we did today.”
Does your experience help on a day like this?
“Experience is good in a lot of ways and in a lot of ways it’s bad. I don’t believe in all that stuff about rookies and this and that. I think if you’re in a good truck or a fast truck, you’ll run well and if you have some decent sense about you. Having said all that, being a veteran sometimes you have preconceived notions on how things should be or how you should run. Having said all that, I don’t know – what a crazy race though. They were knocking and beating and banging up there. I didn’t get to see a lot of it because I was trying to get up there. It was a good day.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 51 ARRIS Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 6th
MATT TIFFT, No. 25 Clinical RM Toyota Tundra, Venturini Motorsports
Finishing Position: 9th
JUSTIN BOSTON, No. 54 Zloop Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 10th
CAMERON HAYLEY, No. 13 Cabinets by Hayley/Carolina Nut Co. Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing:
Finishing Position: 11th
What happened on the final restart?
“We got dive-bombed on that last restart three times being on the outside and then we hit the wall at the end. Everyone says Martinsville is frustrating, but until you race here you really don’t know how hard it is to finish 11th after running in the top-five all day. I’m so disappointed, but we had a good Tundra all day.”
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 18th
BEN KENNEDY, No. 11 Heater.com/Local Motors Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 19th
