Matt Crafton Wins the Championship as Austin Hill Wins at Homestead

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HOMESTEAD, FL – RIS -Matt Crafton won the 2019 NASCAR Outdoors Truck Series driver championship by finishing second, the highest finishing of the four drivers eligible to win the title. Driving the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford, Crafton finished second to race winner Hill (led a race-high 56 laps), but placed higher than the other Championship 4 drivers – Ross Chastain (finished fourth in the race, second in the season standings), 2018 champ Brett Moffitt (fifth in the race and third in the season standings) and Stewart Friesen (11th in the race and fourth in the season standings) – to take home his third career Truck Series title.

Wrapping up his 19th full-time season in the Truck Series, Crafton’s previous titles were in 2013 and 2014. He finishes the season with zero wins, seven top-five and 18 top-10 finishes.

“It’s amazing, just one step closer to what Hornaday has done,” Crafton said, alluding to NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr.’s record four Truck championships. Hornaday joined Crafton to celebrate in victory lane. Crafton is now tied for second on the all-time Truck Series championships list with Jack Sprague (three titles apiece).

“They called us the underdog, that I didn’t have it, but we fought harder than everyone, I guarantee you, every one of these guys worked harder,” Crafton said.  “This thing ran flawless all night, the motor was very good as well. Everything just went our way.”

Crafton even poked a bit of fun at himself, having endured criticism and questions of his ability for not having won in over two years, and also having issues on restarts that led to some calling him “the old man”.

 “I guess I finally got up off the wheelchair and got up on the wheel and got it done,” Crafton said with a laugh. “I took a lot of criticism over restarts and it was time to get it done now.”

The rest of the top 10 finishers in the season finale were Christian Eckes (third place), Chastain, Moffitt, Johnny Sauter, Grant Enfinger, Todd Gilliland, Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman.

Race winner Austin Hill won the first stage after leading the last to laps of the stage Chastain led the first 28 laps.  Austin Hill wins stage again. Only one driver has won the first two stages and then gone on to win the Truck race this season: Kyle Busch.

In the latter stages, Chastain, one of the favorites to win the championship, faded with an ill-handling truck.

Christian Eckes drove the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota to clinch the owner’s championship.  It was the 6th time Kyle HBM has won the manufacturer’s championship.

The 2020 season starts soon. The 2020 season kicks off in Daytona Beach with the NextEra Energy 250 on February 14, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Unofficial Results: 24th Annual Ford EcoBoost 200: November 15, 2019: Homestead-Miami Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Truck, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Pts, Status
1) 5, Austin Hill, No. 16 Chiba Toyopet Toyota, 134, 1, 1, 5, 56, 60, Running
2) 9, Matt Crafton (P), No. 88 Jack Links/Menards Ford, 134, 6, 2, 2, 9, 35, Running
3) 2, Christian Eckes, No. 51 Mobil 1 Toyota, 134, 5, , 1, 26, 40, Running
4) 3, Ross Chastain (P), No. 45 CarShield Chevrolet, 134, 2, 3, 2, 36, 33, Running
5) 4, Brett Moffitt (P), No. 24 CMR Construction & Roofing Chevrolet, 134, 4, 4, 1, 3, 32, Running
6) 6, Johnny Sauter, No. 13 Tenda Heal Ford, 134, 10, 8, , , 35, Running
7) 7, Grant Enfinger, No. 98 Champion Power Equipment Ford, 134, 9, 6, , , 37, Running
8) 11, Todd Gilliland, No. 4 JBL/SiriusXM Toyota, 134, , , , , 29, Running
9) 12, Sheldon Creed #, No. 2 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 134, 7, 9, , , 34, Running
10) 27, Parker Kligerman, No. 75 Food Country USA Chevrolet, 134, , 7, , , 31, Running
11) 1, Stewart Friesen (P), No. 52 Halmar International Chevrolet, 134, 3, 5, , , 26, Running
12) 10, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Dish Fish/Go Fish Ford, 134, , , , , 25, Running
13) 13, Harrison Burton #, No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota, 134, , , , , 24, Running
14) 23, Joe Nemechek, No. 8 Fire Alarm Services/Fleetwing Chevrolet, 133, , , , , 23, Running
15) 19, Gus Dean #, No. 12 LG Air Conditioning Technologies Chevrolet, 133, , , 1, 4, 22, Running
16) 26, Tanner Gray, No. 7 Turtle Beach Construction Toyota, 133, , 10, , , 22, Running
17) 32, Jesse Little, No. 97 Diversified Utility Group Ford, 133, , , , , 20, Running
18) 15, Tyler Dippel #, No. 02 Lobas! Productions Chevrolet, 133, , , , , 19, Running
19) 14, Austin Wayne Self, No. 22 GO TEXAN Chevrolet, 133, , , , , 18, Running
20) 20, Natalie Decker #, No. 54 Arthritis Foundation Toyota, 133, , , , , 17, Running
21) 18, Jordan Anderson, No. 3 Bommarito.com/Rusty's Off Road Chevrolet, 132, , , , , 16, Running
22) 8, Tyler Ankrum #, No. 17 RAILBLAZA Toyota, 132, 8, , , , 18, Running
23) 28, Tyler Hill, No. 56 HairClub Chevrolet, 132, , , , , 14, Running
24) 16, Colby Howard, No. 20 Project HOPE Foundation Chevrolet, 132, , , , , 13, Running
25) 22, Danny Bohn, No. 30 Sierra Delta Toyota, 132, , , , , 12, Running
26) 30, Codie Rohrbaugh, No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 130, , , , , 11, Running
27) 29, Cory Roper, No. 04 Preferred Isdustrial Contractors Ford, 129, , , , , 10, Running
28) 25, Jennifer Jo Cobb, No. 10 Waldo's Painting Company Chevrolet, 128, , , , , 9, Running
29) 17, Angela Ruch, No. 44 Give A Child A Voice Chevrolet, 127, , , , , 8, Running
30) 21, Josh Bilicki, No. 33 Exotic Car Trader Chevrolet, 113, , , , , 7, Electrical
31) 31, Ray Ciccarelli, No. 49 CMI Motorsports Chevrolet, 48, , , , , 6, Oil Line
32) 24, Anthony Alfredo #, No. 15 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota, 0, , , , , 5, Engine
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs qualified

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 31 Mins, 43 Sec
Race Length: 134 Laps - 201. Miles
Average Speed: 131.492 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.569 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 16, 45, 52, 24, 51, 88, 2, 17, 98, 13
Stage 2 Top 10: 16, 88, 45, 24, 52, 98, 75, 13, 2, 7

Race Comments: Austin Hill won the 24th annual Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, his fourth victory in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.

Failed to Qualify: (4) 87 Camden Murphy, 5 Dylan Lupton, 11 Spencer Davis, 19 Derek Kraus.

Caution Flags: 3 for 14 laps;
Laps: 32-35 (Stage 1 Conclusion [02]);
51-54 (Possible Fluid From #49 [None]);
62-67 (Stage 2 Conclusion [30]).

Lead Changes: 12 among 6 drivers;
S. Friesen (P) 0;
R. Chastain (P) 1-28;
A. Hill 29-32;
B. Moffitt (P) 33-35;
R. Chastain (P) 36-43;
A. Hill 44-55;
M. Crafton (P) 56;
A. Hill 57-63;
C. Eckes 64-89;
A. Hill 90-99;
G. Dean # 100-103;
M. Crafton (P) 104-111;
A. Hill 112-134.