NASCAR

Erik Jones, 17, becomes youngest Truck Series winner

Erik Jones holds off Ross Chastain, becomes youngest Truck Series winner.

Nov 9, 2013, 3:56 AM UTC

Tom Pennington

In a battle between two drivers who had never won a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, 17-year-old Erik Jones pulled away from Ross Chastain in the final 10 laps of Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150, becoming the youngest winner in series history.

Jones took the lead on Lap 142 of 150, powering to the inside of Chastain through the dogleg on the backstretch. Born May 30, 1986, Jones eclipsed Chase Elliott, a winner earlier this year at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, as the youngest winner in the truck series.

With a fifth-place run, Matt Crafton moved closer to the series championship, ending the evening 46 points ahead of Ty Dillon, who finished fourth. To secure the title, Crafton has to only start Friday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

James Buescher, who entered the race second in points, came home ninth and was eliminated from championship contention. Veteran Brendan Gaughan ran third behind Jones and Chastain.

Jones lost the lead to Chastain during pit stops under caution on Lap 89, the yellow flag necessitated by Ron Hornaday’s hard crash into the Turn 4 wall. After his release from the infield care center following the wreck that ended his race, Hornaday revealed that he had been released from his ride in the No. 9 NTS Motorsports truck and will drive for Turner Scott Motorsports in the season finale.

As soon as the green flag waved, however, Jones powered to the outside of Chastain after a restart on Lap 94 and cleared the No. 19 by the time the trucks exited Turn 2.

Jones opened a lead of 3.2 seconds before debris from Joey Coulter’s truck caused the fourth caution of the night on Lap 110. Chastain grabbed the lead from the inside lane after the Lap 120 restart moments before John Wes Townley’s spin into the outside wall caused the sixth caution.

Chastain retained the top spot until Lap 132, when Timothy Peters’ truck got loose beneath that of fellow Toyota driver Darrell Wallace Jr. and sent both trucks spinning.

Lucas Oil 150 finishing order

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps
1	2	Erik Jones	150
2	1	Ross Chastain	150
3	3	Brendan Gaughan	150
4	12	Ty Dillon	150
5	9	Matt Crafton	150
6	6	Cale Gale	150
7	26	Ryan Blaney	150
8	7	Johnny Sauter	150
9	4	James Buescher	150
10	16	Chase Elliott	150
11	24	Jeb Burton	150
12	11	German Quiroga	150
13	14	Daniel Hemric	150
14	23	Steve Wallace	150
15	5	Max Gresham	150
16	18	Timothy Peters	150
17	8	Ryan Sieg	150
18	22	Brennan Newberry	150
19	25	Dakoda Armstrong	150
20	13	Darrell Wallace Jr.	150
21	19	John H. Nemechek	149
22	27	Mason Mingus	149
23	28	David Starr	146
24	33	Norm Benning	144
25	32	Jennifer Jo Cobb	137
26	10	Joey Coulter	134
27	15	John Wes Townley	119
28	21	Ron Hornaday Jr.	85
29	36	Chad Frewaldt	66
30	35	Steve Smith	65
31	17	Miguel Paludo	34
32	30	Chris Jones	14
33	31	Bryan Silas	10
34	34	Mike Harmon	3
35	29	JJ Yeley	2
36	20	DJ Kennington	1