Matt Crafton scored his ninth top-10 finish of the season in the Good Sam Club 200. With one of the fastest trucks under the lights, fuel strategy ultimately resulted in a seventh-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Taking the green flag from the seventh spot, Crafton advanced to fourth place by lap eight. When the caution waved for the first time on lap 20, Crafton relayed to crew chief Bud Haefele that the No. 88 Menards/Zecol Chevrolet was a little free but coming to him. Crafton opted to pit with his competitors, taking four scuffed tires, fuel and a small air-pressure adjustment. Quick work by the No. 88 crew gained Crafton a position on pit road, placing him third when green-flag racing resumed on lap 27.
Crafton quickly informed his crew that the truck was now a little bit tight, but when the caution flag waved on lap 38, Crafton remained on track with the rest of the leaders. Still in third when the green flag waved on lap 43, Crafton was laying down fast lap times, but he slipped back to the seventh position on lap 56, radioing that the truck had become too free over the course of the run. When the yellow came out for a spin on lap 60, Crafton came in for service in the seventh spot, taking four sticker tires and fuel. Another speedy stop got Crafton back on track in fifth for the restart on lap 65.
Crafton took over fourth after the green flag waved, but the yellow flag would appear just eight laps later. Crafton and the crew discussed coming in for fuel, but the No. 88 team opted to maintain track position and save their final set of sticker tires for as long as possible. After the track went green on on lap 77, Crafton notified his team that the truck’s handling was really good with the sticker tires, and on lap 83, Crafton maneuvered into the second spot, challenging the leader for first place. Unfortunately, the truck once again became too loose, and the Menards/Zecol machine dropped to fifth by lap 101.
As a long green-flag run unfolded, pit stops began on lap 105. Crafton brought his truck into the pits under green on lap 112 to fill the No. 88 with fuel and take on his remaining set of sticker tires. As stops cycled through, it appeared that Crafton would once again enter the top five, but a varying fuel strategy allowed a small number of trucks to not have to pit. Ultimately, once all of the trucks requring fuel pitted in the final laps, Crafton took the checkered flag in seventh place.
“I’m really surprised how this race ended,” said Crafton after the race. “We knew there were a few trucks on varying fuel strategies but historically there have always been late-race cautions at this track. Our strategy was to hang onto our sticker tires until as late in the race as possible so that we could have the advantage of new tires to pass the trucks that didn’t need to pit for fuel, but that final caution never came and we were too spread out over that long run to take advantage of our tires.”
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series next has an off-weekend before heading to the Windy City on September 17th at Chicagoland Speedway. Crafton remains seventh in the point standings, now 53 points behind the leader and five points outside fifth place.
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