On turf that typically belongs to two-time defending NASCAR Camping World Series champion Matt Crafton, Erik Jones dominated on Friday night.
Jones led 117 of 147 laps on the way to victory in the WinStar World Casino & Resort 350 at Texas Motor Speedway, his first win at the venue, his third of the season and the seventh of his career.
In an event that featured only one caution, a track-record low, Jones finished 2.855 seconds ahead of runner-up and NASCAR Drive for Diversity alum Daniel Suarez, who matched his career-best finish. Jones extended his series from ten to 17 points over Crafton, who ran fourth after winning the Keystone Light Pole Award. There are two more races left in the Truck Series season.
The top-two finishers drove Toyotas fielded by Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Jones, who is doing triple duty this weekend at Texas, will race the No. 4 Tundra next at Phoenix, where he has won the last two races.
“Getting the win here, that’s a nice boost for everybody, not just myself but everybody at KBM,” Jones said. “We needed this to get back on track. We’ve struggled a little bit the last month, month and a half and worked hard to get back to this point.
“And now, to go out there and win one the way we did, and lead as many laps as we did, that’s a really nice statement for us. Hopefully, we can go to Phoenix and do the same kind of thing we’ve done the last two years. It’s nice to have that points lead back up closer to the 20 range than the ten range, but we still have two more weeks, and we have to hold onto it, be strong and close this deal out.”
In recent years, Crafton’s been the dominant force in the series at 1.5-mile intermediate speedways, but Jones grabbed the lead on lap 13 and pulled away to a lead of nearly three seconds. Jones squandered that advantage with a slow pit stop under green on lap 47, but the lone caution on lap 54 bunched the field and erased a lead of 5.9 seconds built by Crafton.
Jones overtook Crafton for the top spot on lap 65 and controlled the race the rest of the way, losing the lead only briefly during a cycle of green-flag pit stops around lap 100.
The race was the shortest ever in the Truck Series at Texas, lasting just one hour, 23 minutes and 48 seconds.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
WinStar World Casino 350
Texas Motor Speedway
1. (5) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 147, $62424.
2. (7) Daniel Suarez(i), Toyota, 147, $42737.
3. (15) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 147, $34886.
4. (1) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 147, $27750.
5. (17) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 147, $19678.
6. (6) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 147, $18020.
7. (4) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 147, $17495.
8. (11) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 147, $16965.
9. (9) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, 147, $16861.
10. (14) Cameron Hayley #, Toyota, 147, $17675.
11. (12) John H. Nemechek #, Chevrolet, 147, $16620.
12. (2) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, 146, $16406.
13. (13) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 146, $16297.
14. (3) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 146, $16192.
15. (16) Jesse Little, Toyota, 145, $14406.
16. (8) Jeb Burton(i), Chevrolet, 145, $15952.
17. (10) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 144, $15848.
18. (18) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, 144, $15744.
19. (19) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 142, $15635.
20. (20) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 141, $16031.
21. (21) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 138, $15427.
22. (26) Korbin Forrister #, Chevrolet, 136, $14068.
23. (29) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 136, $13959.
24. (24) Jennifer Cobb, Chevrolet, 134, $12854.
25. (23) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, 89, $12900.
26. (22) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, Oil Leak, 77, $12647.
27. (28) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Suspension, 40, $12543.
28. (27) Todd Peck, Chevrolet, Suspension, 17, $12214.
29. (25) Dexter Stacey, Chevrolet, Electrical, 11, $12094.
30. (32) Mike Harmon(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 6, $11594.
31. (30) Tyler Tanner, Chevrolet, Engine, 0, $10094.
32. (31) Caleb Roark, Chevrolet, Electrical, 0, $9094.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 158.002 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 23 Mins, 44 Secs. Margin of Victory: 2.855 Seconds.
Caution Flags: One for five laps.
Lead Changes: Seven among five drivers.
Lap Leaders: M. Crafton 1-12; E. Jones # 13-47; T. Reddick 48; J. Nemechek # 49; M. Crafton 50-64; E. Jones # 65-98; C. Hayley # 99; E. Jones # 100-147.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): E. Jones # three times for 117 laps; M. Crafton two times for 27 laps; J. Nemechek # one time for one lap; C. Hayley # one time for one lap; T. Reddick one time for one lap.
Top-ten in Points: E. Jones # – 824; M. Crafton – 807; T. Reddick – 803; J. Sauter – 753; T. Peters – 718; C. Hayley # – 698; D. Hemric # – 674; J. Townley – 654; B. Kennedy – 630; S. Gallagher # – 606.