Darrell Wallace Jr. Wins Truck Race; Matt Crafton Wins Back to Back Championship
In a blur of burnouts, Darrell Wallace Jr. won the EcoBoost 200, Matt Crafton won the Truck Series championship, and Kyle Busch Motorsports won the owner’s championship. Ben Kennedy also secured Rookie of the Year honors for the Camping World Truck Series.
Darrell Wallace Jr. won the race, his first win at Homestead and his fourth victory of the season. This was also Toyota’s 18th win, tying Chevrolet for the all-time series record of wins in a single season.
“We came down here and tested and I felt pretty happy with what I found out,” the driver of the No. 54 ToyotaCare Toyota said. “Practice wasn’t great but these guys never gave up on me. I might get a little bratty but we always come together. We’ve strung together four wins and it’s been a lot of fun.”
“We didn’t have a shot at the title but we wanted it more than anything else,” Wallace continued. “We beat the boss finally.”
Wallace also said this was one of his most emotional wins of the season and dedicated the race to his engineer’s mother, who passed away.
“We put her name on top of the door,” Wallace said. “She was our guardian angel.”
Matt Crafton made history at Homestead by winning back to back championships in the Truck Series.
“To say I made history is definitely very, very cool,” the ThorSports driver of the No. 88 Jeld-Wen/Menards Toyota said. “It’s all about these guys that are behind me. Without them, I’m just an average race car driver at best.”
“To say I’m in the history books with Ron Hornaday and all those great race car drivers, it’s great,” Crafton continued. “It’s the best racing in NASCAR.”
Kyle Busch Motorsports won the owner’s championship and secured its place in history as the only team to win back-to-back owner’s championships in the Truck Series.
“It’s a great milestone for us and a great accomplishment,” Busch said after finishing fourth. “It’s a true testament to all the hard work and dedication of Eric Phillips (crew chief) and the team. That’s what the Truck Series is all about as a proving ground. Truly to have two drivers to compete and to capture an owner’s championship says a lot about our team and our organization.”
Ben Kennedy, whose family has been so integral to the sports of NASCAR, scored Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.
“This is awesome,” Kennedy said. “I think it’s a testament to the team and how hard the guys at Turner Motorsports worked. This Rookie of the Year deal was on my bucket list and I’m humbled by it.”
“We weren’t really all that great tonight but it pays off for the whole season.”
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 42 ParkerStore Chevrolet, and Timothy Peters, behind the wheel of the No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota, finished second and third respectively.
“We definitely had the best truck,” Larson said. “We had a bad pit stop that last stop and I had a couple bad restarts. It’s hard to find clean air in the trucks as they punch such a hole.”
“We were so even,” Larson continued. “Bubba did a good job once again. Two tracks he beat me at where he ran the rim. I hate it that we finished second but it was a good run for us.”
“It was a lot of fun,” Peters said. “What a way to finish and end the season. It feels good to come to Homestead and do this. Wish we had about 20 more laps but we’ll build on it and go to Daytona.”
“I just wish that the second half of the season was the first half for us as that could have been us celebrating the championship.”
Ryan Blaney, who was also fighting for the possibility of the championship, battled a shifter issue for much of the race, finishing top-five.
“We struggled all night,” Blaney said. “It was one of the worst trucks I’ve ever had. I can’t believe we finished fifth.”
Blaney ended his season 21 points behind the newly crowned champion Matt Crafton.
Jeff Gordon Scores 200th Hendrick Pole; Announces Spoiler Intention
Jeff Gordon, who fell out of championship contention last week, scored his first ever pole at Homestead-Miami Speedway and the 200th pole for Hendrick Motorsports. And with that he also announced that he fully intends to pursue the spoiler role in the NASCAR race season finale.
Gordon scored the pole for the Ford EcoBoost 400 with a speed of 180.747 mph and a time of 29.876 seconds. This was his 77th pole in 761 Cup Series races.
“I’m just blown away right now,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet said. “I knew we had a pretty good race car. I committed to the top and it stuck well.”
Gordon also took great pride in being the Hendrick Motorsports driver to score the historic 200th pole for Hendrick Motorsports.
“It’s a great organization,” Gordon said. “We just never quit. We bring great cars and power to the track and that contributes to wins and poles. This is a great achievement to start the weekend and something that we can smile about.”
And finally, Gordon admitted that he has his sights set on being the race winner, boxing out the four final contenders for the championship.
“We want to finish off this season the best way we can,” Gordon said. “We’re disappointed that we are not in the championship hunt but we do want to finish strong, with the pole and a win.”
“I think everybody wants to come in here and spoil the championship by winning this race. We want to be the spoiler, there is no doubt about that.”
Kurt Busch, the driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, will start the race in the outside of the first row. This was Busch’s 17th top-10 start of the season and his eighth in 14 races at Homestead.
“It was a tremendous set of laps. We came home just a bit shy. Congrats to Jeff Gordon as that was a perfect lap he laid down,” Busch said. “I felt like we laid down a really good lap. To do it with Tony Gibson in our third race together just shows all the signs are pointed in the right direction.”
“I couldn’t be happier.”
Matt Kenseth, behind the wheel of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, secured the third starting position for the final race of the season. Kenseth also has winning on his mind to close out the year, something he has not yet accomplished in 2014.
“It was really good. It wasn’t as good as Kurt’s and Jeff’s but it was good,” Kenseth said of his qualifying lap. “It’s always important to run up front and be competitive. That’s what you show up to do every week.”
“The longer you go without a win, the more you think about it,” Kenseth continued. “It would be great to end the season on a positive note.”
The championship contenders Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano all qualified top-10 in the 5th, 8th, and 9th positions respectively. The final contender Ryan Newman qualified a bit more poorly and will start in the 21st position.
“We had a good day,” Harvick said after qualifying best of all of the championship contenders in fifth. “We should get a good pit stall, have a solid day tomorrow and get prepared for the race.”
“I think today kind of went like most of the year for us, but better,” Hamlin said of his eighth place qualifying run. “We weren’t blazing fast but we had a nice run at the end there. It’s got the feeling as to what it needs to be successful on Sunday.”
“We had an OK day today,” Logano said after qualifying ninth. “We made it through the first round, which surprised the heck out of me. Overall, we qualified decent and the car was a little better in race trim.”
Ryan Newman was the only championship contender that did not advance to the final round of qualifying, with the worst starting position of all of the contenders in the 21st spot. This was also Newman’s worst starting spot since August 3rd at Pocono Raceway.
“It was actually all good,” Newman said. “It wasn’t what we wanted so we start 21st. I don’t think that’s the end of our day. We have 267 laps to get through the field.”
“It’s not where you start, it’s where you stop,” Newman said simply. “It’s going to be a crazy race.”
Brad Keselowski qualified fourth, Clint Bowyer sixth, Kyle Busch seventh, and Martin Truex Jr. had a good effort, qualifying tenth.
The complete qualifying line up is as follows:
2014 NSCS Ford EcoBoost 400 Starting Lineup
| Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet | 29.876 | 180.747 |
| 2 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Haas Automation Chevrolet | 29.895 | 180.632 |
| 3 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Dollar General Toyota | 29.951 | 180.294 |
| 4 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Miller Lite Ford | 30.001 | 179.994 |
| 5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Budweiser Chevrolet | 30.009 | 179.946 |
| 6 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | 5-hour Energy Toyota | 30.068 | 179.593 |
| 7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M’s Toyota | 30.087 | 179.48 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Express Toyota | 30.109 | 179.348 |
| 9 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 30.124 | 179.259 |
| 10 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Chevrolet | 30.156 | 179.069 |
| 11 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | National Guard Chevrolet | 30.28 | 178.336 |
| 12 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe’s Chevrolet | 30.563 | 176.684 |
| 13 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota | 30.167 | 179.004 |
| 14 | 51 | Justin Allgaier # | BRANDT Chevrolet | 30.178 | 178.938 |
| 15 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Fastenal Ford | 30.201 | 178.802 |
| 16 | 27 | Paul Menard | Richmond/Menards Chevrolet | 30.202 | 178.796 |
| 17 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Stanley Ford | 30.205 | 178.778 |
| 18 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Foods Ford | 30.235 | 178.601 |
| 19 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Cessna Chevrolet | 30.235 | 178.601 |
| 20 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 3M Ford | 30.256 | 178.477 |
| 21 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Caterpillar Chevrolet | 30.296 | 178.241 |
| 22 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Fastenal Ford | 30.344 | 177.959 |
| 23 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Great Clips Chevrolet | 30.375 | 177.778 |
| 24 | 3 | Austin Dillon # | Dow Chevrolet | 30.392 | 177.678 |
| 25 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Hungry Jack Chevrolet | 30.298 | 178.23 |
| 26 | 21 | Trevor Bayne(i) | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford | 30.314 | 178.136 |
| 27 | 42 | Kyle Larson # | Target Chevrolet | 30.315 | 178.13 |
| 28 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet | 30.333 | 178.024 |
| 29 | 13 | Casey Mears | GEICO Chevrolet | 30.39 | 177.69 |
| 30 | 33 | Brian Scott(i) | Shore Lodge Chevrolet | 30.476 | 177.189 |
| 31 | 34 | David Ragan | The Pete Store Ford | 30.489 | 177.113 |
| 32 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Florida Lottery/GoDaddy Chevrolet | 30.496 | 177.072 |
| 33 | 40 | Landon Cassill(i) | Harvey Gulf Chevrolet | 30.622 | 176.344 |
| 34 | 83 | JJ Yeley(i) | Dip Your Car Toyota | 30.629 | 176.304 |
| 35 | 38 | David Gilliland | MDS Transport Ford | 30.672 | 176.056 |
| 36 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | Feed The Children/Dei Fratelli Chevrolet | 30.745 | 175.638 |
| 37 | 98 | Josh Wise | PPR98.com Chevrolet | Owner Points | |
| 38 | 95 | Michael McDowell | KLOVE Radio/Thrivent Financial Ford | Owner Points | |
| 39 | 7 | Michael Annett # | Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet | Owner Points | |
| 40 | 32 | Blake Koch(i) | LeafFilter.com Ford | Owner Points | |
| 41 | 23 | Alex Bowman # | Dip Your Car Toyota | Owner Points | |
| 42 | 26 | Cole Whitt # | Speed Stick Gear Toyota | Owner Points | |
| 43 | 66 | Brett Moffitt | X8 Energy Gum Toyota | Owner Points |
(i) Ineligible for Driver Points in this Series, # Denotes Rookie, * Required to Qualify on Time.
Source: Timing and Scoring provided by NASCAR Media/NASCAR Statistics
