Restart costs Crafton win, but gains points lead

And a green, white, checkered restart proved as much, as the ThorSport Racing driver was unable to hold off Joey Logano here at Martinsville Speedway in a wild finish to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 250.
 
"I felt I had a pretty good shot (at the win)," Crafton said after finishing second to Logano in a race extended eight laps beyond its scheduled distance. "I knew his shot was going to be getting down in Turn 1; he lagged back just enough and got a good run on us. I felt I had a decent restart there, but man, I had no idea. He came like he was shot out of a cannon ... and went by us."
 
Crafton, the 2013-14 series champion, led six times for a total of 100 laps in the series' third race of the season. He and JR Motorsports driver Cole Custer made contact to bring out the day's ninth and final caution and set up the green, white, checkered restart.
 
By then, a charge by Erik Jones had the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver restarting second alongside Crafton, with Brad Keselowski Racing's Logano third and Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender and ThorSport Racing's Cameron Hayley fourth.
 
With Logano's charge to the inside on the restart, and Jones on his right, Crafton quickly found himself pinned in the middle.
 
"I could have went down and turned left when I got to the line and tried to block (Logano) but probably get turned at that point," Crafton said of the restart, "and would have probably wrecked me and Erik on the outside."
 
Logano rode the inside line into Turn 1 and came out of Turn 2 with the lead while Crafton fought to hold his position while attempting to run the race leader back down.
 
But by that point, there were too few laps and too few opportunities remaining.
 
Jones said he had a plan for the final restart -- "I guess you kind of run through in your head what you want to happen," he said. "But there's a very slim-to-none chance that's what is going to happen. Especially here."
 
Crafton moved into the points lead with the combination of his runner-up finish and former points leader Tyler Reddick's fifth-place run for Brad Keselowski Racing. Crafton leads Reddick by two (128-126), while Jones is third (122).
 
"It's a shame that I didn't get the clock and get the win," Crafton said. "I definitely thought we were the best truck on the long run and then I got underneath the 29 (Logano) and then the 00 (Custer) came in there and pile-drove us both. ...
 
"But all in all not a bad day. Move on to Kansas, go to the next one."

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