NASCAR Truck Series at Miami 2015 Results: Winner, Standings and Reaction

Matt Crafton may have won the battle, but Erik Jones won the war as he captured the 2015 Camping World Truck Series points title Friday at the Ford EcoBoost 200 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Jones merely needed a top-15 finish in order to secure the title and duly delivered by finishing in sixth. At 19 years old, he's the youngest-ever Truck Series champion, per Fox Sports: NASCAR. The celebrations on the infield were somewhat subdued from Kyle Busch Motorsports, per the team's Twitter account:

The driver did look to enjoy his post-race doughnut, per NASCAR Trucks:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. saluted the victorious teenager:

Jones' title win was somewhat anticlimactic since he entered with a 19-point lead over Tyler Reddick. Crafton was all but out of the equation at 32 points back. Only a complete collapse or catastrophic wreck was going to stop the No. 4 truck en route to glory. 

Jones didn't take too many chances and looked content to do just enough to sit back of the leaders and well inside his safety zone. He never led a lap of Friday's race, but a cautious approach was the much smarter route to take with so much on the line.

Crafton's victory also came with little drama. He led 93 of the 134 laps and held a sizable lead over the final 20-plus laps before the checkered flag.

"We got it balanced just right and it was phenomenal," said Crafton of his team's collective effort, per the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Behind Crafton, John Hunter Nemechek, Reddick, Ben Kennedy and Timothy Peters rounded out the top five finishers:

Pos.	Driver	Time Behind (sec.)
1	Matt Crafton	----
2	John Hunter Nemechek	2.943
3	Tyler Reddick	6.376
4	Ben Kennedy	12.762
5	Timothy Peters	16.770
6	Erik Jones	19.175
7	Johnny Sauter	19.933
8	Daniel Hemric	20.489
9	Cameron Hayley	23.410
10	John Wes Townley	27.511

Crafton and Reddick made up some ground on Jones, but that amounted to finishing 22 and 15 points back, respectively:

Pos.	Driver	Points	Wins
1	Erik Jones	899	3
2	Tyler Reddick	884	2
3	Matt Crafton	877	6
4	Johnny Sauter	809	0
5	Timothy Peters	804	2
6	Cameron Hayley	766	0
7	Daniel Hemric	733	0
8	John Wes Townley	730	1
9	Ben Kennedy	690	0
10	Spencer Gallagher	677	0

Jones won't be around to defend his championship in 2016. In an August interview with The Morning Drive on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (via NASCAR.com's Zack Albert), Joe Gibbs said he plans on elevating the Jones to the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis next year.

Joey Logano is already preparing for Jones' arrival:

With the new champ taking the next step, the stage will be set for Reddick to emerge in a big way on the Truck Series in 2016. The Texas Motor Speedway marveled at the youth coming up through the NASCAR ranks:

A number of future stars are currently represented in the Truck Series, and Fox Sports' Alan Cavanna highlighted how big of an impact they've had:

You can't look past the 2013 and 2014 Truck Series champion, either, when discussing next year's top contenders. There's little reason to expect Crafton to fall off much once the 2016 season gets underway, and many fans will expect him to make it three titles in four years.

Jones may have a rough transition initially in the Xfinity Series but should eventually find his footing. He's one of the most promising drivers in NASCAR, and success at the highest level will come in due time.