Hill takes race, Crafton wins
NASCAR Truck Series title
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[November 16, 2019]
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Austin Hill
bookended his 2019 season with a victory in Friday night's Ford
EcoBoost 200 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishing a
comfortable 1.569 seconds ahead of veteran Matt Crafton, whose
runner-up effort was enough to earn him his third NASCAR Gander
Outdoors Truck Series championship.
Hill won all three stages in the race and led a race-best 56 laps to
give the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota its second
consecutive Homestead win. Last year, Brett Moffitt drove the truck
to a race and series championship trophy.
Christian Eckes finished third on Friday to earn Kyle Busch
Motorsports its record seventh series owner championship -- the
organization's sixth in the past seven years.
From the drop of the rain-delayed green flag, the four
championship-eligible drivers -- Crafton, Ross Chastain, Moffitt and
Stewart Friesen -- had to deal with a highly motivated Hill for the
race win. Chastain placed fourth on the night, Moffitt fifth and
Friesen 11th.
Officially eliminated from playoff contention last week at Phoenix's
ISM Raceway, Hill came into the Miami event highly motivated
nonetheless.
He drove around title contender Chastain to win the first stage and
held off Crafton for wins in both the second stage and the full
race.
The 25-year old Georgia native finished the season as he started --
in Victory Lane -- matching his work in the season-opening Daytona
race, his first career win. He won again at Michigan in the summer
and then again at Las Vegas and was truly a formidable contender
through the playoffs. Unable to overcome a points deficit after a
crash at Martinsville, Va. in the final Playoff round, however, kept
him from the Championship 4. Still, his work Friday sent a strong
message that he's ready to contend for the championship next year as
well.
"I'm excited for the win, but at the same time it stings a little
bit just because I know that if we would have been a little bit
better in the Round of 6, we could be celebrating a win and a
championship," Hill said. "But like I say, I can't thank everybody
out there enough.
And Hill conceded with a smile, "It's awesome to get my fourth win
of the season and end on a high note."
Meanwhile, Crafton matched a three-title mark equaled only by Jack
Sprague (2001, 1999 and 1997) and exceeded only by NASCAR Hall of
Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. Crafton is the only driver to ever win
back-to-back truck titles (2013-14).
"It feels amazing, and we're one step closer to what Hornaday's
done," Crafton said after climbing out of his car, noting that many
underestimated his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford team. "And they
called us the underdog."
Moffitt, who led the series with four wins and 13 top fives to go
along with 17 top 10s and three pole positions, was clearly
disappointed with his fifth-place finish.
"We were just pretty bad from the get-go this morning, just missing
speed," said Moffitt, who drives the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet.
"It is what it is, we had a good year and we'll regroup and go after
it again next year.
"It's a disappointment, but we'll move on and get better."
Chastain, who was a strong favorite to earn his first title, was
equally as disappointed following the race. He led 36 laps on the
night and for much of the early race looked ready to challenge Hill
for the race win to land his first NASCAR title.
He won three races and earned a series-best 19 top-10 finishes. A
competitor in all three NASCAR national series, Chastain only
declared himself championship-eligible in the Gander Outdoors Truck
Series in June.
"I want to throw up right now to be honest with you, but it has been
an absolute dream," were the postrace comments of Chastain, who will
drive for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series next year.
"It's pretty crazy that we did that (made the playoffs), and made it
to Homestead," he added. "We did everything we could, and that says
a lot."
Tyler Ankrum, the driver of the No. 17 DGR Crosley Toyota, finished
22nd on Friday, but he officially earned the series' Sunoco Rookie
of the Year honors for his season's work. He wasn't allowed to
compete on the big tracks until he turned 18 in March, costing him
the opening three races of the season calendar.
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"We had a really great season, I thought," said Ankrum, who earned
his first career race win at Kentucky this summer and qualified for
the playoffs as a rookie. "When we had highs, they were really,
really high."
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race -- 24th Annual Ford
EcoBoost 200
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, Florida
Friday, November 15, 2019
1. (5) Austin Hill, Toyota, 134.
2. (9) Matt Crafton (P), Ford, 134.
3. (2) Christian Eckes, Toyota, 134.
4. (3) Ross Chastain (P), Chevrolet, 134.
5. (4) Brett Moffitt (P), Chevrolet, 134.
6. (6) Johnny Sauter, Ford, 134.
7. (7) Grant Enfinger, Ford, 134.
8. (11) Todd Gilliland, Toyota, 134.
9. (12) Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, 134.
10. (27) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 134.
11. (1) Stewart Friesen (P), Chevrolet, 134.
12. (10) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 134.
13. (13) Harrison Burton #, Toyota, 134.
14. (23) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 133.
15. (19) Gus Dean #, Chevrolet, 133.
16. (26) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 133.
17. (32) Jesse Little, Ford, 133.
18. (15) Tyler Dippel #, Chevrolet, 133.
19. (14) Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 133.
20. (20) Natalie Decker #, Toyota, 133.
21. (18) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 132.
22. (8) Tyler Ankrum #, Toyota, 132.
23. (28) Tyler Hill, Chevrolet, 132.
24. (16) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 132.
25. (22) Danny Bohn, Toyota, 132.
26. (30) Codie Rohrbaugh, Chevrolet, 130.
27. (29) Cory Roper, Ford, 129.
28. (25) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 128.
29. (17) Angela Ruch, Chevrolet, 127.
30. (21) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, Electrical, 113.
31. (31) Ray Ciccarelli, Chevrolet, Oil Line, 48.
32. (24) Anthony Alfredo #, Toyota, Engine, 0.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 131.492 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 31 Mins, 43 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.569
Seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 14 laps.
Lead Changes: 12 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: 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.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Austin Hill 5 times
for 56 laps; Ross Chastain (P) 2 times for 36 laps; Christian Eckes
1 time for 26 laps; Matt Crafton (P) 2 times for 9 laps; Gus Dean #
1 time for 4 laps; Brett Moffitt (P) 1 time for 3 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 16,45,52,24,51,88,2,17,98,13
Stage #2 Top Ten: 16,88,45,24,52,98,75,13,2,7
--By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
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