KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Matt Crafton called his truck “junk,” and his crew chief tossed and turned all night, trying to come up with ways to make it better in time for Saturday’s race.
They changed out springs, adjusted shocks, messed with sway bars.
“We made wholesale changes,” Crafton said, “and luckily it worked.”
Crafton charged to the lead with 29 laps remaining in a crash-filled race at Kansas Speedway, then held off a late run by Joey Coulter to pick up his third career Truck Series victory.
Crafton and Coulter were engaged in a spirited game of cat-and-mouse over the final 20 laps, but Crafton maintained his truck-length lead as they crossed the start-finish line, allowing him to celebrate his first win since Iowa in 2011 with a burnout that tore up one of his rear tires.
“I think track positioning was everything, and it was whoever got out front,” said Crafton, who has made 298 starts in the Truck Series.
“I knew Joey was there, and he had a very fast truck,” Crafton said. “ It’s awesome to know that Joey isn’t going to be one of those drivers who’s going to do something stupid.”
Coulter chased Crafton across to finish second.
“I could get to him, but that five feet I needed to get next to him was hard to get,” said Coulter, who was looking for his second Trucks Series victory. “Both of our trucks were good.”
Ryan Blaney got around Brendan Gaughan on the final lap to finish third, and Johnny Sauter rounded out the top five. Defending series champion James Buescher, who started on the pole, finished sixth and was followed by Darrell Wallace Jr., Ty Dillon, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Timothy Peters.
There were 11 cautions, and a red flag flew for about 12 minutes after Brennan Newberry and Todd Bodine were involved in a wreck that scattered debris all over the track.
Sports, Pages 30 on 04/21/2013