• Qualifying was canceled due to weather, so Gilliland began the race in 11^th position.
• During the first stage, Gilliland brushed the wall, and reported that his Tundra was loose.
• At the end of the first stage, Gilliland was 12^th.
• Crew chief Wes Ward called him to pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel.

• Gilliland began the second stage in 11^th, and was able to climb into the top-10
• He was able to climb to seventh, and then Ward opted for pit strategy and called him to pit road under caution on lap 49 when he said his Tundra was "super loose" in the center of the corner and off.
• They changed four tires and filled the No. 4 with fuel during the stop.
• Following the pit stop, Ward instructed Gilliland to save his tires, so Gilliland completed the stage in 23^rd.

• Ward opted for track position and kept Gilliland on the track between stages. The No. 4 JBL/SiriusXM began the final stage in third.
• On the restart, Gilliland reported that his Tundra had lost right front grip and he fell to the bottom of the top-10.
• On lap 98, Ward brought Gilliland to pit road under green flag conditions for the final scheduled pit stop for four tires, fuel and an adjustment.
• During the final segment, Gilliland unfortunately came into contact with an animal and damaged the grille and front end of the No. 4 Tundra.
• Despite the damage, Gilliland crossed the finish line in eighth, earning his 14^th top-10 of the 2019 season.

KBM PR

• Qualifying was rained out, so the field was set by the rule book, meaning the No. 51 started on the outside of the front row.
• In the opening laps, Eckes reported a loose handling condition, and slid back in the top-10, finishing the first stage in fifth.
• Fugle called the young driver to pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires, Sunoco fuel and adjustments during the stage break.

• Eckes started the second stage in fifth, but was unable to make forward progress, falling to 10^th within a few laps.
• Under caution on lap 49, Fugle opted to bring Eckes to pit road for four tires, fuel and another adjustment.
• Fugle instructed Eckes to save his tires for the remaining laps in the stage, so the No. 51 finished the second stage in 21^st.
• During the stage break, Fugle had Eckes stay on track to gain track position.

• Eckes began the final stage in the lead. He kept the lead for 26 laps, before relinquishing it to eventual race winner, Austin Hill.
• Fugle called the No. 51 to pit road under the green flag for the final scheduled pit stop on lap 97.
• When stops cycled through, Eckes was in third, and he maintained that position through the closing laps.
• The third-place finish was the highest of the teams competing for the owner championship, and the No. 51 earned the seventh owner championship for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

KBM PR

• After qualifying was washed out due to rain, Burton lined up 13^th based on owner's points.
• As Stage One went caution free from start to finish, the second-generation driver communicated that the Safelite Tundra was experiencing a "four-wheel slide" in the corners and would finish the stage in 14^th. 

• Crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. summoned his young driver to pit road for a four-tire and fuel stop with a trackbar adjustment in an effort to improve the handling.
• When Stage Two went green on lap 35, the No. 18 Toyota was scored in the 12^th position.
• Burton continued to be unhappy with the handling of his Safelite Tundra, communicating that it was "chattering on exit." When fluid on the track brought out the second caution of the event, a few trucks pitted, but the Safelite team stayed on track in an effort to be able to put on fresher tires for the start of the Final Stage.
• The rookie driver was scored in 10^th for the ensuing restart, but fell back to 12^th when Stage Two came to completion on lap 60. 

• Hillman Jr. summoned his driver to pit road between stages for a four-tire and fuel stop with an assortment of adjustments hoping to bring the truck to life for the Final Stage.
• Burton would start the Final Stage scored in the 14^th position. In the early portion of the stage he communicated that the Safelite Tundra was "loose on entry and tight center-off."
• He was scored in the 13^th position when he hit pit road for a scheduled green-flag stop on lap 95.
• When stops cycled through he was in the 11^th position, but continued to battle the handling in the closing laps and would cross the stripe 13^th. 

KBM PR

HRE PR

Austin Hill bookended his 2019 season with a victory in Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway – finishing a comfortable 1.569-seconds ahead of veteran Matt Crafton, whose runner-up effort was enough to earn him his third NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship.

Hill won all three stages in the race and led a race best 56 laps to give the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota its second consecutive Homestead win. Last year Brett Moffitt drove the truck to a race and series championship trophy.

Christian Eckes finished third on Friday to earn Kyle Busch Motorsports its record seventh series owner championship – the organization’s sixth in the last seven years.

From the drop of the rain-delayed green flag, the four championship eligible drivers – Crafton, fourth place Ross Chastain, fifth place Moffitt and 11th place Stewart Friesen – had to deal with a highly motivated Hill for the race win. Officially eliminated from Playoff contention last week at Phoenix’s ISM Raceway, Hill came into the event highly-motivated nonetheless.

He drove around title contender Chastain to win the first stage and held off Crafton for wins in both the second stage and ultimately the race trophy.

The 25-year old Georgia native finished the season as he started – in Victory Lane - matching his work in the season-opening Daytona race – his first career win. He won again at Michigan in the summer and then again at Las Vegas and was truly a formidable contender through the Playoffs. Unable to overcome a points deficit after a crash at Martinsville, Va. in the final Playoff round, however, kept him from the Championship 4. However his work Friday sent a strong message that he’s ready to contend for the championship next year as well.

“I’m excited for the win, but at the same time it stings a little bit just because I know that if we would have been a little bit better in the round of six, we could be celebrating a win and a championship," Hill said. “But like I say, I can’t thank everybody out there enough.

And Hill conceded with a smile, “It’s awesome to get my fourth win of the season and end on a high note."

This year’s champion Crafton matches a three-title mark equaled only by Jack Sprague (2001, 1999 and 1997) and exceeded by only NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. Crafton is the only driver to ever win back-to-back truck titles (2013-14).

“It feels amazing and we’re one step closer to what Hornaday’s done," Crafton said after climbing out of his car, noting that many underestimated his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford team. “And they called us the underdog."

Moffitt, who led the series with four wins, 13 top fives along with 17 top 10s and three pole positions, was clearly disappointed with his fifth-place finish.

“We were just pretty bad from the get-go this morning, just missing speed," said Moffitt, who drives the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet.  “It is what it is, we had a good year and we’ll re-group and go after it again next year."

“It’s a disappointment but we’ll move on and get better," he added.

Chastain, who was a strong favorite to earn his first title, was equally as disappointed following the race. He led 36 laps on the night and for much of the early race looked ready to challenge Hill for the race win to land his first NASCAR title.

He won three races and earned a series best 19 top-10 finishes. A competitor in all three NASCAR national series, Chastain only declared himself championship eligible in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series in June.

“I want to throw up right now to be honest with you, but it has been an absolute dream," said Chastain, who will drive for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series next year.

“It’s pretty crazy that we did that [made the Playoffs], and made it to Homestead," he added. “We did everything we could and that says a lot."

Tyler Ankrum, the driver of the No. 17 DGR Crosley Toyota, finished 22nd on Friday, but officially earned the series’ Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors for his season’s work. He wasn’t allowed to compete on the big tracks until he turned 18 in March and he missed the opening three races of the season calendar.

“We had a really great season I thought," said the 18-year old Ankrum, who won his career first series race at Kentucky this summer and qualified for the Playoffs as a rookie.

“When we had highs they were really, really high."