Erik Jones, 17, makes Truck Series history with win

Posted on November 8, 2013 by

Jones is youngest winner in series history; Crafton closes in on title

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AVONDALE, Ariz. — In a battle between two drivers who had never won a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, 17-year-old Erik Jones pulled away from Ross Chastain in the final 10 laps of Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway, becoming the youngest winner in series history.

Driving the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, Jones took the lead on Lap 142 of 150, powering to the inside of Chastain through the dogleg on the backstretch. Born May 30, 1996, Jones eclipsed Chase Elliott, a winner earlier this year at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, as the youngest winner in Truck Series history.

With a fifth-place run, Matt Crafton moved closer to the series championship, ending the evening 46 points ahead of Ty Dillon, who finished fourth. To secure the title, Crafton has to only start Friday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

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James Buescher, who entered the race second in points and is the reigning series champion, came home ninth and was eliminated from championship contention. Veteran Brendan Gaughan ran third behind Jones and Chastain.

Jones and Chastain swapped the lead through a series of late-race cautions before Jones made the winning pass and pulled away. After the final restart on Lap 141, Chastain blocked a strong run by Jones at the top the track, a move that made Jones all the more determined to win the race.

"On the last restart, we stayed with him through (Turns) 1 and 2 on the top side," Jones said. "He squeezed us up — but that’s racing with 10 to go. You can’t blame him for that. But when something like that happens, it makes you more determined than you were before.

"I was really determined after that to go back and get it. I really felt like we had a better truck from the previous restart, and I really felt like it was our race all day and didn’t want to let it slip away."

Jones lost the lead to Chastain during pit stops under caution on Lap 89, the yellow flag necessitated by Ron Hornaday’s hard crash into the Turn 4 wall. After his release from the infield care center following the wreck that ended his race, Hornaday revealed that he had been released from his ride in the No. 9 NTS Motorsports truck and will drive for Turner Scott Motorsports in the season finale.

As soon as the green flag waved, however, Jones powered to the outside of Chastain after a restart on Lap 94 and cleared the No. 19 by the time the trucks exited Turn 2.

Jones opened a lead of 3.2 seconds before debris from Joey Coulter‘s truck caused the fourth caution of the night on Lap 110. Chastain grabbed the lead from the inside lane after the Lap 120 restart moments before John Wes Townley‘s spin into the outside wall caused the sixth caution.

Chastain retained the top spot until Lap 132, when Timothy Peters‘ truck got loose beneath that of fellow Toyota driver Darrell Wallace Jr. and sent both trucks spinning.

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Posted on November 8, 2013 by

Points leader wins third pole of the season, sets track record

MORE: Lineup for AdvoCare 500 | Gen-6 records

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Call it an extra gear. Call it the benefit of a late draw.

Whatever you call it, Jimmie Johnson found that extra modicum of speed in Friday’s qualifying session at Phoenix International Raceway.

With a record run at 139.222 mph (25.858 seconds), Johnson won the pole for Sunday’s AdvoCare 500, the next-to-last race in the 10-event Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, as the top four drivers in time trials broke the previous mark Kyle Busch set a year ago.

It was the 19th time this season a track record has fallen in the Cup series.

Johnson was the 41st of 43 drivers to make qualifying runs, and he took full advantage of the late draw on a cooler track. As a result, the Chase leader will start 13 positions ahead of Matt Kenseth, second in points and seven points behind Johnson.

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The Coors Light Pole award was Johnson’s third of the season, his second at Phoenix and the 32nd of his career. Seven of Johnson’s 24 victories in Chase races have come from the pole, including his win at the fall race at Phoenix in 2008.

Denny Hamlin (139.023 mph), Kenseth’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, qualified second and promised to make things as difficult as possible for Johnson, within the bounds of racing decorum. Joey Logano (138.942 mph) will start third, followed by Busch (138.851 mph) and Jeff Gordon (138.627 mph).

Johnson’s record-setting pole run was no surprise to Logano, who said the driver of the No. 48 had been on “kill mode” in recent weeks, as evidenced by his dominating win last Sunday at Texas.

"Just to see the speed in his car — he unloads today and you watch in practice how fast his car was," Logano said. "It seems like, when they’re racing for the championship, the find that extra notch that a lot of teams can’t find."

Hamlin said much of the same.

"Those guys (the 48 team) had their struggles right before the Chase started, but I think everyone in the garage knew that they can kind of turn it up at will," Hamlin said. "This is typically the time of year that they start doing that, especially when they are in championship contention."

Johnson, however, doesn’t think he or his team is doing anything out of the ordinary.

"I don’t feel like I’m doing anything different, but — at least the years we won championships (2006 through 2010) — we’ve been able to do more than we have in the regular season. It’s hard when you’re inside the car and inside the team to know the difference is, because we’re doing the same stuff.

"But when I look around, and I see what other champions do to win … they always seem to find a way to find a little more. Somehow we’re doing it — yes, I recognize that — but it’s not a concerted effort. It’s not something that we’re doing any differently. It’s just what you have to do to win championships, and we’re trying to rise up to the face of the 20 (Kenseth), and beat him."

The 18th driver to make a qualifying attempt, Busch was first to break his own track record. Busch covered one-mile the distance in 25.927 seconds on Friday to knock Kevin Harvick off the provisional pole.

Busch’s record run simply opened the floodgates. Logano, 24th out, followed with his lap at 138.942 mph but didn’t stay on top of the qualifying chart for long. Hamlin, who followed Logano in the order, toured the irregularly shaped mile in 25.895 seconds to supplant the driver of the No. 22 Ford.

Hamlin remained on the provisional pole until Johnson posted his record lap.

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