NASCAR Truck Series at New Hampshire 2015 Results: Winner, Standings, Reaction
On Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Austin Dillon won the NASCAR Camping World Truck series UNOH 175 in dominating fashion. The 25-year-old, who is also a stock car driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, led for 78 of the 175 laps in the race.
New Hampshire Motor Speedway congratulated Dillon on his win:
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Dillon's win came as no surprise, as he led both weekend practice sessions and won the Keystone Light Pole Award before Saturday's race. This was an especially impressive performance considering he's just two months removed from a scary crash at Daytona back in July at the Coke Zero 400.
Dillon missed out on a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup this year, finishing 21st in the Sprint Cup regular-season standings, but he may now have more time and energy to devote to the Truck Series. He certainly performed well Saturday—and he's no stranger to the trucks.
Dillon won the 2011 Camping World Truck Series title, and Saturday's win was his seventh career victory in the series. Two-time champion Matt Crafton had to settle for second place, though he never led a lap. Here's a look at the top-five finishers in the race:
| 1 | 33 | Austin Dillon | 1 | 80 |
| 2 | 88 | Matt Crafton | 10 | 0 |
| 3 | 98 | Johnny Sauter | 23 | 0 |
| 4 | 17 | Timothy Peters | 6 | 0 |
| 5 | 8 | John Hunter Nemechek | 12 | 0 |
| 6 | 14 | Daniel Hemric | 11 | 14 |
| 7 | 4 | Erik Jones | 4 | 5 |
| 8 | 29 | Austin Theriault | 9 | 9 |
| 9 | 5 | Dalton Sargeant | 5 | 0 |
| 10 | 54 | Gray Gaulding | 8 | 0 |
Despite his seventh-place finish, Erik Jones maintained his points lead over Crafton—but not by much. Crafton's second-place finish shaved three points off the 19-year-old's lead with just six races remaining in the season. Jones is reeling a bit, as he has just one top-five finish since he finished fourth at the 1-800-CarCash Mud Summer Classic on July 22 at Eldora Speedway. It was a win on August 30 in the Chevrolet Silverado 250.
Jones led briefly early in the race, and per NASCAR Trucks' Twitter account, he sounded confident:
Unfortunately, his lead wouldn't last long. He ran first for just five laps before Dillon took control.
During Jones' up-and-down stretch, no other Truck Series driver has been able to mount enough consistency to overtake him. Crafton has the most wins in the series with four and the most top-fives with 10, but he's also fallen way off the pace in other events.
Things are getting interesting as the race for the lead in the standings heats up. Chase contender and Jones' team owner Kyle Busch appeared to slow down to allow his driver to take the lead and earn what could be a valuable bonus point in the standings.
Per Motorsport.com editor Nick DeGroot, Crafton didn't seem to take too kindly to those tactics:
Because of how close they are in the standings, it could be a wild finish the rest of the way. Here's a look at the updated standings after Saturday's race:
| 1 | Erik Jones | 4 | 666 | Leader | 2 | 9 |
| 2 | Matt Crafton | 88 | 659 | -7 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | Tyler Reddick | 19 | 647 | -19 | 2 | 9 |
| 4 | Johnny Sauter | 98 | 617 | -49 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | Daniel Hemric | 14 | 558 | -108 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Timothy Peters | 17 | 552 | -114 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | Cameron Hayley | 13 | 549 | -117 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | John Wes Townley | 5 | 518 | -148 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Spencer Gallagher | 23 | 504 | -162 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Ben Kennedy | 11 | 504 | -162 | 0 | 2 |
Next up is the Rhino Linings 350 on Saturday, October 3, from Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jones won this race last year, as he edged out Darrell Wallace Jr. and Crafton. If there was ever a time when he needed a repeat performance on a track, it's now.
Can Jones get himself some breathing room? See you Saturday to find out.
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