Team Information:
Started: 6th
Finished: 10th
Laps: 100/100
Status: Running
Driver Points: 9th
Owner Points: 10th
Quote:
“All-in-all we had a very fast truck. I had to bail out of the draft at one point because we started overheating, and I was afraid to hurt the motor at that point. I got back up there, made some moves, and I felt like we had an honest shot at winning the race, just the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Notes:
- Friday night’s NextEra Energy Resources 250 marked Crafton’s 16th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) start at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway (DIS)
- The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) had two practice sessions on Thursday afternoon in preparation for Friday night’s 100-lap event, and Crafton was 24th and fifth-quick, respectively, in both sessions
- Crafton posted the sixth-fastest time in the two round, single-truck qualifying session on Friday afternoon at DIS
- Starting from the sixth position, Crafton led the field once for five laps (laps 25-29) during the 100-lap event
- Running inside the top-five, Crafton had to pull-out from the pack at lap 53 when his Menards Toyota Tundra began to overheat
- Crew chief Carl “Junior” Joiner brought the No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra to pit road under caution for scheduled stops at lap 13 for fuel, lap 42 for four tires and fuel, and lap 67 for fuel
- Restarting inside the top-20, with 20 laps remaining, Crafton made his way back inside the top-10 before becoming a victim of an 18-truck pile-up in Turn 3, which ultimately brought out the red flag
- When the red flag was lifted, and the caution flag was displayed, Crafton brought his Menards Toyota Tundra to the attention of his crew three times to repair the damage to the left-front nose and toe on the No. 88 machine
- Restarting 15th, with two laps remaining in the 100-lap event, Crafton was able to gain five positions on track and cross the stripe in the 10th position behind race winner, Johnny Sauter
- The top-10 result was Crafton’s seventh top-10 finish in 16 starts at DIS
- In 362 career starts, Crafton has 11 wins, 89 top-five, and 211 top-10 finishes
- Crafton’s ThorSport Racing teammates finished seventh (Rhodes), 25th (Hayley), and 29th (Abreu)
- Up next: The Great Clips 200 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway on Saturday, February 27