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 "Definitely an awesome feeling," Crafton said after joining Ron
Hornaday Jr., Todd Bodine and Jack Sprague as the only drivers to
win the NCWTS title more than once. "To be on the list with those
guys is unreal. To say that I've done it back-to-back and no one has
done that, it's such a good, good feeling."
But Crafton, sitting between crew chief (Carl) Junior Joiner and
ThorSport Racing general manager David Pepper, wasn't about to take
all the credit.
"To say I made history is definitely very, very cool. But it's all
about the guys that are behind me. Without them, I'm just an average
race car driver at best."
Completing his 14th full season, Crafton, 38, has run his entire
NCWTS career for Sandusky, Ohio-based ThorSport and owners Duke and
Rhonda Thorson.
 "The very first time I sat down with Duke at the end of 2000 he told
me going to run this like a business," Crafton recalled. "He said,
'We're going to make it better and better each year, but I'm not
going to outspend myself or go away in two or three years. I'm going
to be an owner who will be around for the long haul. If you want to
stick it out with me, we'll win races and win championships.'"
Stick it out, Crafton did. He didn't win a race until 2008, finished
no higher than fifth in the point standings until 2009 and didn't
win two races in a season until this year when he triumphed at
Martinsville and Texas. Friday night was his 14th top five in 22
races.
"That's what makes it so much sweeter to be where we are today,"
Crafton said. "We didn't have all the resources and all the tools
that we have today. I'd say (Duke) has been a man of his word -- as
has Rhonda -- since the day I met him."
Crafton said that after winning his first title a year ago, he
promised Joiner the team would lead more laps and win more races in
2014.
"We led 10 more laps and won two races," he said. "We had the
capability to win more if we didn't have bad luck in the middle part
of the season. It's a damn shame, because I feel we should have won
at least five races, without a doubt."
But Crafton is hardly complaining.
"I think I'm the luckiest man on earth," he said. "I'm getting paid
to do what I love. I'm getting paid to drive a race car."
Crafton entered Friday's EcoBoost 200 with a relatively comfortable
25-point lead on Ryan Blaney. He knew that a finish of 21st or
better in the 36-truck field would get the job done.
He finished ninth, good enough to finish 21 points ahead of Blaney,
who persevered for a fifth-place finish despite finishing the race
with vise-grips replacing his broken shifter.
He also raced cautiously throughout the first half of the race,
maintaining a low line to keep a safe distance from the wall while
maintaining his spot within the top 10.
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Any hope Blaney had virtually disintegrated during the fourth
caution period of the race. The 20-year-old, who had been running
second for much of the early going, suffered that shifter problem
and dropped all the way to 15th on the restart.
"That was one of the worst trucks we've had all year," Blaney said.
"I can't believe we (managed to) finish fifth. That was tough."
Larson led 96 of the first 100 laps and ended up chasing Kyle Busch
Motorsports driver Bubba Wallace to the finish line in the closing
laps. Wallace, driving the No. 54 Tundra, was thrilled to finally
"beat the boss."
Kyle Busch Motorsports captured its third NCWTS owner's championship
in five seasons (second consecutively). Erik Jones made 12 starts
and Busch drove 10 races in the No. 51 Toyota Tundra, which edged
ThorSport and Crafton for the owner's title by 24 points.
"It's a great milestone for us," said Busch, who is ineligible to
race for the driver's championship because he is a full-time NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series competitor. "It's what we can race for. We've had
a lot of people come to KBM to work who have stayed a long time.
Some move on to other things. That's really what the Truck Series is
all about: a proving ground and a growing series."
Wallace's victory gave KBM 14 wins for the season and provided
Toyota with 18, tying Chevrolet's 2010 mark for most wins in a
season.
Ben Kennedy was named NCWTS Sunoco Rookie of the Year, despite
settling for 17th in his No. 31 Chevrolet.
"We weren't really all that great tonight," Kennedy said, "but it
pays off for the whole season we put together. It's a testament to
this team and how hard the guys at Turner Scott Motorsports worked.
When we were on, we were really on -- up there with the top dogs.
When we were off, we struggled a little bit, but we worked hard and
we worked together to make the most out of each position and each
lap."
Kennedy held off Tyler Reddick (sixth in his No. 19 Ford on Friday)
for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors, based in part on each
team's 14 best finishes of the season.
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