Thrilling Truck Finale Leaves Busch Victorious, Crafton as Champion

Kyle Busch, driver of the #51 ToyotaCare Toyota, crosses the finish to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 15, 2013  Photo - Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Kyle Busch, driver of the #51 ToyotaCare Toyota, crosses the finish to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 15, 2013
Photo – Chris Trotman/Getty Images

A season of fantastic racing for the Camping World Truck Series ended with more on Friday night. Exhilarating restarts in the last laps of the race left the door open for any driver to win. Kyle Busch proved too strong as he hung on for his fifth truck victory of the season. His performance also claimed the owner’s championship for Kyle Busch Motorsports. The drivers crown was given to Matt Crafton as he only needed to start the race, to take home the series’ championship trophy.

Busch’s toughest competition on the night was Ryan Blaney. When Busch wasn’t out front, it was most like Blaney. The No.29 truck started from the pole and led early. He got into the wall with 41 laps left to run, but other than that, it was a perfect day for Blaney.

As Blaney suffered his issues, Austin Dillon went up front to challenge Busch. Dillon and Busch had a back-and-forth battle at the front for about ten laps. Busch eventually had the edge with 18 laps remaining and didn’t falter for the rest of the race.

Three wild green-white-checker finishes concluded the race. The first brought the caution out when a wreck unfolded on the backstretch which included the champion, Matt Crafton. Crafton suffered heavy damage, but was able to continue in the last laps. Another restart brought more carnage, but the third and last one went green until the end.

The last lap featured a hard-charging Ryan Blaney coming after Busch, but Busch was able to hold the rookie sensation off in the last turns of the race. Blaney ended his season with the series’ Rookie of the Year honors.

Busch‘s 2013 season turnaround may have seen its final victory on Friday night. His miraculous season across NASCAR‘s top-three series, with multiple victories has proven Busch’s dominance.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion Matt Crafton, driver of the #88 Ideal Door / Menards Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane with his teammates after the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 15, 2013  Photo - Robert Laberge/Getty Images

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion Matt Crafton, driver of the #88 Ideal Door / Menards Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane with his teammates after the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 15, 2013
Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images

As Busch celebrated his victory, it was Matt Crafton celebrating his first career championship. Crafton was extremely consistent throughout the season allowing him to get to the top and stay there for much of 2013. The truck veteran has been close before, but this championship solidifies his name among the best series’ drivers of the last decade.

The trucks now roar-down for the year, but soon enough; the engines will come alive again at Daytona in February.

Results via ESPN.com

POS DRIVER CAR MANUFACTURER

LAPS

MONEY

START

LED

PTS

BONUS

PENALTY

1 Kyle Busch 51 Toyota

148

12

62

0

0

0

2 Ryan Blaney 29 Ford

148

1

67

44

2

0

3 Jeb Burton 4 Chevrolet

148

15

0

41

0

0

4 Brendan Gaughan 62 Chevrolet

148

13

0

40

0

0

5 Ron Hornaday Jr. 34 Chevrolet

148

11

0

0

0

0

6 John Wes Townley 7 Toyota

148

14

0

38

0

0

7 German Quiroga Jr. 77 Toyota

148

20

0

37

0

0

8 Ross Chastain 19 Ford

148

5

2

37

1

0

9 Timothy Peters 17 Toyota

148

19

0

35

0

0

10 Cale Gale 33 Chevrolet

148

9

0

34

0

0

11 Miguel Paludo 32 Chevrolet

148

10

0

33

0

0

12 Ryan Sieg 39 Chevrolet

148

22

0

32

0

0

13 James Buescher 31 Chevrolet

148

6

0

31

0

0

14 Ty Dillon 3 Chevrolet

148

3

0

30

0

0

15 Darrell Wallace Jr. 54 Toyota

148

18

0

29

0

0

16 Johnny Sauter 98 Toyota

148

2

2

29

1

0

17 Jimmy Weller III 81 Toyota

148

30

0

27

0

0

18 Jeff Agnew 27 Chevrolet

148

26

0

26

0

0

19 B.J. McLeod 78 Chevrolet

148

32

0

25

0

0

20 Austin Dillon 6 Chevrolet

148

7

3

0

0

0

21 Matt Crafton 88 Toyota

148

8

12

24

1

0

22 Max Gresham 8 Chevrolet

148

16

0

22

0

0

23 Dakoda Armstrong 60 Chevrolet

148

21

0

21

0

0

24 Frank Kimmel 13 Toyota

148

27

0

20

0

0

25 Mason Mingus 35 Chevrolet

148

28

0

19

0

0

26 D.J. Kennington 84 Chevrolet

147

34

0

18

0

0

27 Joey Coulter 18 Toyota

142

25

0

17

0

0

28 Norm Benning 57 Chevrolet

140

35

0

16

0

0

29 Brennan Newberry 24 Chevrolet

135

23

0

15

0

0

30 Ben Kennedy 30 Chevrolet

103

17

0

14

0

0

31 Nelson Piquet Jr. 9 Chevrolet

101

4

0

0

0

0

32 Spencer Gallagher 21 Chevrolet

101

33

0

12

0

0

33 Chad McCumbee 99 Ford

42

24

0

11

0

0

34 Travis Kvapil 93 Chevrolet

5

36

0

0

0

0

35 Chris Jones 38 Chevrolet

3

29

0

9

0

0

36 J.J. Yeley 07 Toyota

2

31

0

0

0

0

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