NCWTS: Erik Jones Dominates WinStar World Casino & Resort 350K at Texas

Erik Jones will leave the Texas Motor Speedway with his seventh career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory. Jones battled at the front all evening long with Matt Crafton after starting in the fifth spot. The Michigan native led the field for 117 of the 147 laps of the WinStar World Casino & Resort 350K.

“We’ve went through a lot of ups and downs these past couple of months and trying to get back into this championship hunt and getting our Tundra back in there,” said one happy Jones in victory lane. “It’s pretty awesome, a swing up and it’s nice to get back in victory lane here at Texas, a place I love.”

Jones will leave the Texas Motor Speedway still leading the driver standings by 17 points ahead of Crafton. The drivers entered the weekend with a 10-point gap and will spread out some after Crafton took home a fourth-place finish in his No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra. Tyler Reddick will sit four points behind Crafton in third. Reddick took home a fifth-place run in his No. 19 Ford F-150. Johnny Sauter and Timothy Peters will round out the top five.

The next three tracks on the Camping World Truck Series slate has been good in the past for the team. Jones added his thoughts on that in victory lane on Fox Sports 1.

“I’m definitely excited,” continued Jones. “Me and Kyle (Busch, owner) were talking earlier this week and talking how these next three tracks are really good for KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports), good for myself. Going on to Phoenix, we’re undefeated there with two-and-0, so hopefully we’ll have another next week.”

As for Crafton, the night wasn’t exactly what he had hoped for.

“We were a little too free on the first few runs and just over adjusted on the last one and got pretty tight at the end. All in all, not a bad day for our Menards Toyota Tundra. It was decent, but not quite as good as we needed to be. We’ll go on to Phoenix and go from there.”

Daniel Suarez brought home the runner-up position in his No. 18 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports at the Texas Motor Speedway on Friday. Suarez, a native of Mexico, came into the weekend looking to capture his first career national series victory. The 23-year old driver would later end the night 2.855 seconds short of just that. He now has five top five and eight top 10 finishes in 11 Camping World Truck Series starts this season.

Ryan Blaney will leave the 1.5-mile oval with a third-place finish. Blaney made his fifth Camping World Truck Series start of the season for Brad Keselowski Racing after Austin Theriault got injured in a crash last month at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The native from North Carolina now holds one victory, four top five and five top 10 finishes in the series this season.

Spencer Gallagher brought home a 12th-place finish after starting the race in the runner-up position. Gallagher lost a number of positions on the initial start after spinning his tires when the field went green. The Las Vegas native wasn’t able to recover from there and was the first truck to finish one lap down when the race ended.

The series will now head off to Phoenix International Raceway for the Lucas Oil 150. Coverage will begin on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports Go at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Motor Racing Network will carry the live radio broadcast.

Brett Winningham
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