Stats:
Started: 3rd
Finished: 28th
Laps: 12/69
Status: Overheating
Driver Points: 2nd (-11)
Owner Points: 2nd
Long Pond, PA (August, 1 2015) – Matt Crafton, driver of the No. 88 Chi Chi’s/Menards Toyota Tundra, had a promising start to the 12th race on the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) schedule at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway on Saturday afternoon. Starting a track-best third in his 350th series start, the ThorSport Racing driver ran as high as second, but was involved in a lap five incident in Turn 3 with Sprint Cup Series regular, Brad Keselowski, and relegated to a 28th-place finish, 57 laps down to race winner, Kyle Busch. The result was Crafton’s worst finish of the 2015 season, and knocked the two-time and defending series champion to second in the NCWTS driver point standings, 11 points behind second-place Tyler Reddick.
Quote:
“Brad (Keselowski) hooked me in the right rear getting in to Turn 3. I mean, that’s all there was to it. Man, I felt so good going into this race – we qualified better than we ever have here before. We were loose at the start of a run, but the truck was just coming to me. It just sucks for all my guys, they work so hard, and this was a really big hit for us. We’re not going to let this bring us down though. We’ll get back after it at Michigan.”
Notes:
- Matt Crafton finished 28th in the Pocono Mountains 150 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday afternoon
- Starting a track-best third, Crafton was involved in a lap five incident in Turn 3 and spent 57 laps behind the wall, relegating the two-time and defending series champion to a 28th-place finish
- Crafton fell to second in the 2015 NCWTS driver point standings, 11 points behind second-place Tyler Reddick
- In 2015, Crafton has four wins, eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes
- In 350 career NCWTS starts, Crafton has nine wins, 84 top-five and 202 top-10 finishes
- Kyle Busch won the 6th Annual Pocono Mountains 150 followed by Kevin Harvick (second), Tyler Reddick (third), ThorSport Racing teammate, Cameron Hayley (fourth), and Austin Dillon (fifth). Johnny Sauter finished sixth.
- Up next: The Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan International Speedway in Ann Arbor on Saturday, August 15