MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Race runner-up Matt Crafton said Joey Logano barreled into turn 1 on the final restart "like he was shot out of a cannon."
Ducking to the inside with the accelerator mashed was the move Logano, the Coors Light Pole Award winner, had to make to vault from third to first and win Saturday's Kroger 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway in an event that went eight circuits past its posted distance of 250 laps.
Logano led 150 laps in winning the first NCWTS race of his career and becoming the 26th driver to take a checkered flag in each of NASCAR’s top three national touring series.
After Crafton led the field to green on lap 257, Logano and third-place finisher Erik Jones made a sandwich of Crafton’s No. 88 Toyota, and Logano squeezed his No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford through the first two corners into the lead. With a truck that was set up for short runs, Logano was untouchable the rest of the way and arrived at the finish line with a .431-second advantage over the two-time defending series champion.
"I just had a great restart," Logano said of the winning move. "The tires worked out well. I prepped them good down the back straightaway and made sure I had them clean enough. I got a good jump, a fourth-gear grab there, drove it in there and hope I got past him—and it was able to stick down there…
"It’s cool to say I’ve won in all three series now. It’s kind of special."
Logano is the first driver to put a Ford truck in victory lane since Ricky Craven in 2005.
Crafton caused the caution that sent the race to overtime when he bumped Cole Custer’s No. 00 Chevrolet off turn 4 and sent him spinning on lap 248. Crafton’s tap was retaliation for an aggressive move on Custer’s part on lap 246, where Custer drove hard into turn 1, knocked both Crafton and Logano out of the way and took a short-lived lead.
But Crafton soon caught Custer and moved him out of the way. With Custer’s Chevrolet sitting in the middle of the frontstretch, NASCAR was forced to call the ninth caution of the race, setting up the green-white-checkered-flag finish.
"I drove in too hard and couldn’t stop, and I hit ‘em a little too hard," Custer said of the move that gave him the lead for two laps. "It worked, so I knew he (Crafton) was going to come back and nudge me a little bit. I was giving it everything I had to try and stay up there."
In vain, as it turned out. Driving a truck fielded by JR Motorsports, Custer finished 16th after overcoming two pit road speeding penalties.
Crafton led 100 laps in his second-place effort and took the series lead from Tyler Reddick, who ran fifth. Reddick trails Crafton by two points through three events this season.
Johnny Sauter came home fourth, followed by Reddick, Daniel Suarez, James Buescher, John Wes Townley, Matt Tifft and Justin Boston.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Martinsville Speedway - Martinsville, VA
Kroger 250 - March 28, 2015
1. 1 29 Joey Logano(i) Cooper Standard Ford 258 0 144.6 $51,336 Running 6 150
2. 13 88 Matt Crafton Hormel/Menards Toyota 258 43 1 130.2 $31,542 Running 6 100
3. 4 4 Erik Jones # Toyota Toyota 258 42 1 119.6 $25,488 Running 1 2
4. 9 98 Johnny Sauter Smokey Mountain/Curb Records Toyota 258 40 107.6 $19,518 Running
5. 7 19 Tyler Reddick DrawTite Ford 258 39 91.2 $18,458 Running
6. 11 51 Daniel Suarez(i) ARRIS Toyota 258 0 97.7 $16,574 Running
7. 15 31 James Buescher ERT Investments Chevrolet 258 37 75.7 $14,158 Running
8. 5 05 John Wes Townley Zaxby's Chevrolet 258 36 83.4 $16,352 Running
9. 19 25 Matt Tifft Clinical RM/Honoring Ebola Fighters Toyota 258 35 84.1 $16,297 Running
10. 21 54 Justin Boston # Zloop Toyota 258 34 72.4 $17,191 Running
11. 3 13 Cameron Hayley # Cabinets by Hayley/Carolina Nut Co. Toyota 258 33 101.2 $16,186 Running
12. 14 14 Daniel Hemric # California Clean Power Chevrolet 258 32 64.9 $16,046 Running
13. 26 07 Ray Black Jr. # ScubaLife.com Chevrolet 258 31 58.2 $15,990 Running
14. 18 23 Spencer Gallagher # Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 258 30 65.6 $15,935 Running
15. 6 33 Brandon Jones # Masterforce Tool Storage Chevrolet 258 29 91.6 $16,252 Running
16. 2 00 Cole Custer Haas Automation Chevrolet 258 29 1 90.1 $15,769 Running 1 2
17. 12 7 Gray Gaulding Krispy Kreme Toyota 257 27 59.7 $13,663 Running
18. 17 17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota 257 26 67.7 $15,658 Running
19. 22 11 Ben Kennedy Heater.com/Local Motors Toyota 257 25 52.5 $15,602 Running
20. 10 02 Tyler Young Randco Industries/Young's Building Systems Chevrolet 257 24 63.1 $16,019 Running
21. 23 75 Caleb Holman FdCntryUSA/LpzWlthMgmt./MnngFshFrms Chev 257 23 47.1 $13,241 Running
22. 20 15 Mason Mingus Georgia 811 Chevrolet 256 23 1 49.7 $13,213 Running 1 4
23. 27 08 Korbin Forrister # Tilted Kilt Chevrolet 255 21 36.5 $15,436 Running
24. 31 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet 250 20 29.8 $14,130 Running
25. 30 35 Tommy Regan Blue Diamond/American Tactical Chevrolet 248 19 29.1 $14,197 Running
26. 24 63 Jake Griffin Mittler Bros. Machine & Tool/Ski Soda Chevrolet 218 18 41.4 $12,992 Handling
27. 28 50 Cody Ware # Burnie Grill Chevrolet 216 17 36.6 $12,964 Vibration
28. 29 6 Norm Benning Chevrolet 174 16 29.3 $12,716 Rear Gear
29. 16 8 John H. Nemechek # SWM International Chevrolet 173 15 72.1 $12,660 Transmission
30. 8 92 David Gilliland(i). BlcksTire/GdyrCmmrclTire&SrvcNtwrk/Wynns Ford 132 0 60.7 $12,160 Brakes
31. 25 99 Bryan Silas Kapoya Premium Energy Drink Chevrolet 120 13 34.6 $10,660 Overheating
32. 32 1 Travis Kvapil Bubba Burger/Kioti Tractors Chevrolet 83 12 31.3 $9,660 Rear Gear
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 59 Mins, 22 Secs. Average Speed: 68.214 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.431 Seconds
Caution Flags: 9 for 61 laps:
Lead Changes: 14 among 5 drivers: J. Logano(i) 1-36; M. Mingus 37-40; J. Logano(i) 41-110; M. Crafton 111-161; J. Logano(i) 162; M. Crafton 163-178; J. Logano(i) 179-180; M. Crafton 181-193; E. Jones # 194-195; M. Crafton 196-205; J. Logano(i) 206-244; M. Crafton 245; C. Custer 246-247; M. Crafton 248-256; J. Logano(i) 257-258.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) M. Crafton 128;(2) T. Reddick 126;(3) E. Jones # 122;(4) J. Sauter 112;(5) J. Buescher 100;(6) J. Townley 90;(7) R. Black Jr. # 89;(8) C. Hayley # 84;(9) S. Gallagher # 84;(10) B. Kennedy 83.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
