|
 Kahne's victory in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at
Charlotte Motor Speedway denied the dominant No. 4 Kyle Busch
Motorsports Toyota of Jones, who led 88 laps but ran a disappointing
second after a late caution forced a green-white-checkered flag
finish that took the race five laps past its scheduled distance of
134 laps.
In his six Truck Series starts, Kahne has five wins and a
second-place finish.
Kahne's No. 00 Chevrolet, however, failed post-race inspection.
NASCAR deemed the front of the truck too low on both sides and too
high in the right rear. The sanctioning body will take the truck to
its nearby research-and-development center for further evaluation.
If penalties are forthcoming, they will be announced next week.
Kahne's margin of victory was a mere .005 of a second, tied for
second closest in series history behind the .002-second margin of
Kyle Busch over Aric Almirola at Talladega in October 2010.
"Jones was really fast," Kahne said. "He was kind of in a league of
his own when he could get to clean air. I knew if we could stay back
and stay with him (on the final restart), as long as he didn't get
to clean air, it would be all right.
"I was able to side-draft, and it worked out perfect to get back to
the line."
Less than half a lap before Jones would have taken the white
flag-after Jones made a deft pass for the lead to the outside on Lap
131 -- Daniel Hemric's accident in Turn 1 caused the fifth caution
of the night, sending the race to overtime.
Jones picked the outside lane for the final restart on Lap 138, but
couldn't clear Kahne, who side-drafted Jones' Toyota Tundra off the
final corner and beat him to the stripe.
In the wake of last week's misfortune at Kansas Speedway, where
Jones led 151 of 167 laps but ran short of fuel while leading late
in the race, Friday night's result left the young driver bitterly
disappointed.
"It's really a shame that we can't bring it home," Jones said. "I
really thought tonight was the night. Unfortunately, we just
couldn't do it.
"It just sucks. I don't know what to say. It just really, really
hurts. I can't believe it, man. I really wanted this one, and it's
hard to come home second."
Interestingly, though Kahne and Jones qualified on the front row,
both drivers had to start the race from the rear of the field, Kahne
for an unapproved adjustment (changing a broken shock) and Jones for
arriving late to the drivers1 meeting.
But by Lap 26, after the first caution, Jones had the lead, a
position he maintained until the late caution gave Kahne the
opportunity he needed.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race - NC Education Lottery 200
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Concord, North Carolina
Friday, May 15, 2015
1. (1) Kasey Kahne(i), Chevrolet, 139, $48454.
2. (2) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 139, $36563.
3. (9) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 139, $26622.
4. (7) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 139, $22672.
5. (4) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, 139, $17402.
6. (11) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 139, $17157.
7. (17) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 139, $16592.
8. (3) Matt Tifft, Toyota, 139, $16481.
9. (22) Justin Boston #, Toyota, 139, $16342.
10. (18) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, 139, $17182.
[to top of second column] |
11. (16) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 139, $15761.
12. (6) Scott Lagasse Jr., Chevrolet, 139, $15566.
13. (15) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 139, $15427.
14. (13) Cameron Hayley #, Toyota, 139, $15316.
15. (19) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 139, $15606.
16. (10) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, 139, $15295.
17. (5) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 139, $15040.
18. (20) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 138, $14984.
19. (30) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 137, $14929.
20. (29) Kyle Fowler(i), Chevrolet, 136, $15373.
21. (23) Tyler Tanner, Chevrolet, 136, $13546.
22. (8) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 135, $13485.
23. (27) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 135, $12457.
24. (26) Caleb Holman, Chevrolet, 133, $12430.
25. (28) Wendell Chavous #, Chevrolet, Engine, 132, $12525.
26. (21) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, Accident, 114, $12347.
27. (14) David Gilliland(i), Ford, Vibration, 84, $12318.
28. (31) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, Accident, 62, $12071.
29. (12) Korbin Forrister #, Chevrolet, Steering Box, 38, $12016.
30. (24) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, Electrical, 33, $11516.
31. (25) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, Electrical, 26, $10016.
32. (32) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Suspension, 9, $9016.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 128.947 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 37 Mins, 01 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.005
Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 25 laps.
Lead Changes: 12 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Kahne(i) 0; B. Keselowski(i) 1-4; M. Crafton 5-22;
J. Jennings 23; M. Crafton 24-25; E. Jones # 26-65; M. Crafton
66-69; E. Jones # 70-108; T. Reddick 109; E. Jones # 110; K.
Kahne(i) 111-130; E. Jones # 131-138; K. Kahne(i) 139;.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): E. Jones # 4 times
for 88 laps; M. Crafton 3 times for 24 laps; K. Kahne(i) 2 times for
21 laps; B. Keselowski(i) 1 time for 4 laps; J. Jennings 1 time for
1 lap; T. Reddick 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: M. Crafton - 217; E. Jones # - 201; T. Reddick -
199; J. Sauter - 182; J. Townley - 160; T. Peters - 158; C. Hayley #
- 153; J. Boston # - 149; S. Gallagher # - 145; D. Hemric # - 136.
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