Matt Crafton rolls to NASCAR Trucks win at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Matt Crafton rolled to his second NASCAR Trucks Series victory of the season Saturday, winning the North Carolina Education 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Crafton, the series’ 2015 champion, won last week at Dover. It’s the first time in his career that he’s won back-to-back races.
“It’s very sweet to say we’ve gone back to back,” said Crafton. “Maybe we can go for three.”
The victory also all-but assures Crafton’s spot in the eight-driver postseason Chase. He said he wasn’t certain of that before the race, because he felt there could be as many as eight different winners this season.
Turning point
Crafton got a splash of fuel late in the race while leading by eight seconds. He was able to cycle back to the lead and win by nearly six seconds.
Three who mattered
Matt Crafton: He led a race-high 47 laps after starting 17th.
Kyle Busch: Finished second despite a pit-stop error (uncontrolled tire).
Matt Tifft: UNC Charlotte student gets a fifth-place finish after starting ninth, his first top-five in the Truck series.
Observations
▪ Charlotte’s William Byron was on the pole and managed a 10th-place finish. Byron led the first 25 laps of the race.
▪ Busch said he wasn’t concerned about being tired for the All-Star race after running the Truck race. He said both races were relatively short, so he’d be fine.
▪ Mooresville’s John Hunter Nemechek turned a 21st starting position into a 12th-place finish.
They said it
“This (truck) was unbelievable after we dropped the green (flag).” – Crafton.
Next race
Rattlesnake 400
Where: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Tex.
When: 9 p.m., June 10.
TV: Fox Sports 1.
Radio: Motor Racing Network.
This story was originally published May 21, 2016 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Matt Crafton rolls to NASCAR Trucks win at Charlotte Motor Speedway."