FORT WORTH, Texas – One month removed from turning 18, Brent Crews continues to take the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series field by storm.
After a fourth-place finish in Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 at Texas Motor Speedway, Crews became the youngest driver in series history to win the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus. It’s his fourth straight top-five finish overall, spanning a variety of tracks, including his first two trips to a 1.5-mile venue. It comes on the heels of a career-best runner-up effort last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
“It means a lot,” Crews said of his newest accolade. “Continuing to learn. Don’t know what I’m going to do with the money; I’m sure my parents aren’t going to let me do anything too exciting but it’s pretty cool.”
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas
Crews was a pillar of the top five at Texas, finishing fifth in Stage 1. The No. 19 Toyota improved throughout the second stage and finished second to Cup Series regular Connor Zilisch.
During the final stage, eventual race winner Kyle Larson and Zilisch were side-by-side for the lead, allowing Crews to close the gap and get to their inside. The three cars made contact but carried on.
“I was trying not to crash; I got really loose,” Crews said. “Kyle doesn’t care who you are, he’s going to put it right on your door as fast as he can. Connor is the same way. That’s how we race up there, and it’s clean, hard racing. It’s the fastest way to learn is with them.”
Larson, who raced Crews on dirt at Millbridge Speedway as the youngster was on the rise, is not surprised that he was in the mix in just his second attempt at an intermediate-sized race track.
“If you don’t know about him it’s unbelievable, but if you know about him it’s very believable,” Larson said in his winning post-race press conference. “He did a super good job again. Definitely races like a veteran. He’s young, but he’s got a lot of experience racing with a lot of different types of racing through his upbringing. It’s not surprising, especially in a JGR car; they are really strong. Justin [Allgaier, the runner-up] got really good again at the end, but I felt like [Crews] was the best car and if he ever got the lead, he was going to drive away.”
After a late restart with 17 laps remaining, Crews dropped to fourth but was never challenged by Sheldon Creed or Sammy Smith for the Dash 4 Cash bonus. The fourth competitor, Corey Day, wrecked out on the opening circuit.
By banking 48 points at Texas, Crews is only 12 points below The Chase cutline with 14 races remaining in the regular season. And by frequently running inside the top five, JGR brass believes a checkered flag is coming soon.
“I actually think he’s meeting expectations based on feedback we got before even came to us and what we saw in his younger years,” Steve de Souza, executive vice president of O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and development for JGR, told NASCAR.com. “Pretty impressive driver and has a tremendous skill set under pressure and yet still has a lot of aggression too.
“We are happy for him. I suspect that a win is not too far in the distant future for him.”
That coveted triumph could come as soon as next week at Watkins Glen International. Racing through the proverbial ladder, Crews was known for his road-course prowess and placed sixth in his series debut at Circuit of The Americas at the end of February.