NASCAR Truck Series at Atlanta 2015 Results: Winner, Standings and Reaction
Matt Crafton earned his first win of the 2015 Camping World Truck Series season Saturday night, capturing the checkered flag in the Hyundai Construction Equipment 200.
Few can argue that Crafton wasn't a deserving winner. He led 85 of the 130 laps and finished nearly nine seconds ahead of Ty Dillon in second place. Jim Utter of The Charlotte Observer joked that the 38-year-old was in a hurry to finish up so he could attend the Supercross event also held in Atlanta:
Crafton even took a little bit off as the race neared its conclusion, per Jay W. Pennell of Fox Sports:
According to Kaitlyn Vincie of Fox Sports 1, it's the first time he's tasted success at Atlanta:
Much of what made Crafton successful was the work of his pit crew. Not once did he hit the kind of snag that could've seen him fall back to second, third or worse. He got in, got out and got on with the race. NASCAR Trucks highlighted a quick stop he made on Lap 103:
With Crafton so far ahead, the only drama left during the last few laps of the race was the fight for third place. Daniel Suarez looked sure to have it locked up, but Ben Kennedy made a late charge:
Kennedy wound up taking third, finishing 0.696 seconds ahead of Suarez.
Here's a look at the top 10 finishers.
| 1 | Matt Crafton | ----- |
| 2 | Ty Dillon | 8.752 |
| 3 | Ben Kennedy | 10.275 |
| 4 | Daniel Suarez | 10.971 |
| 5 | Tyler Reddick | 18.693 |
| 6 | Johnny Sauter | 19.472 |
| 7 | Erik Jones | 9.472 |
| 8 | James Buescher | 1 Lap |
| 9 | Timothy Peters | 1 Lap |
| 10 | Joe Nemechek | 1 Lap |
A major problem presented itself for the drivers about midway through the race. Right around 6 p.m. ET, the sun began setting, and it eventually dropped to eye level for the drivers. Andy Lally illustrated from the stands just how tricky navigating Turn 1 was with the sun rapidly setting:
Although the disruption was only minor, it certainly served as a deterrent for any drivers hoping to make a move coming around the first turn.
Early on, Brad Keselowski looked like he might have a say on the final outcome after climbing into the lead. After a caution flag on Lap 18, though, things began going downhill rather quickly for the No. 29 truck.
Keselowski and his pit crew made a tactical gamble, opting not to pit on the caution, while everybody else around him headed for pit road. The decision backfired. By Lap 40, Keselowski had fallen back to 10th and was forced to pit on a green flag.
Then, during that pit stop, NASCAR penalized him for driving through too many stalls, per Motor Racing Network:
John Morris of NASCAR Productions provided a nice visual of how Keselowski ran afoul of the rules:
Keselowski finished the race a lap down in 15th.
Crafton, meanwhile, will look to build on his success next month at the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway. The green flag is set to drop at 2:30 p.m. ET on March 28.
As the two-time reigning champion, Crafton will have a bull's-eye on his back this year. Saturday's win will only make it bigger.
