Byron Wins Rattlesnake 400

FORT WORTH, Texas  – Teenager William Byron overhauled Matt Crafton with five laps remaining and drove to victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rattlesnake 400 Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway.

Byron, of Kyle Busch Motorsports, posted his second NCWTS victory at the expense of Crafton, who dominated the 167-lapper after brushing the Turn 3 wall 11 laps into the night. Byron earned his breakthrough series victory earlier this season at Kansas Speedway, a 1.5-mile quadoval similar to TMS.

Byron, 18, is the youngest truck series winner at TMS and the second-youngest overall, a record held by Chase Elliott in the NASCAR XFINITY Series in 2014.

“It’s huge for our race team to get another win this year,” said Byron, a resident of Charlotte, N.C., who won his second series race in eight starts. “We didn’t leave any doubt out there that we deserved to win. It was cool to lead when it counted; to finally finish out there gives me a bit of confidence. I learned a lot about running the top.”

Byron’s margin of victory was 2.095-seconds and at an average speed of 134.919 mph. Polesitter Johnny Sauter finished third, followed by Ben Kennedy and Tyler Reddick.

With 43 laps to go, Crafton and Byron hooked-up in a six-lap, side-by-side duel that

lasted until the former took the lead on Lap 129. Crafton held the point until Lap 163, when Byron drove his No. 9 Liberty University Toyota into the lead for good.

“I found the top earlier in the race and it didn’t work very well 15 to 20 laps in the run,” said Byron, who led twice for only six of 167 laps. “Once I could get laps on the tires…it’s all about heart and you have to want it and my team wants it and I see that every day.”

Byron said he was frustrated when Crafton chose the outside for the restart on Lap 125, following the night’s fourth caution. “I learned the side draft and to pin him up there. I really pinned him tight,” Byron said. “I was sideways a few times and I hope I earned his respect.”

Crafton admitted he was not initially comfortable racing the rookie side-by-side.

“That’s impressive what that kid did,” Crafton said. “If I could have done it any differently, I would have. We just lost all drive off the corner for whatever reason there. We ran so hard at the beginning of that run that it had zero drive off.”

Crew chief Ryan Fugle, who worked with KBM phenom Erik Jones during his run to the series championship last year, placed Byron in the same class. “I’ve got the best race team in the garage,” Fugle said. “We go compete and William plugged-in and has done awesome. Tonight was really cool. He struggled for a run, kept learning and running the top there and looked good.

“We trust out notebook. KBM has a really good notebook; we’ve won a ton of races. We practice nowhere near we race. We use our notebook, all our drivers and crew chiefs and Kyle (Busch) working tighter.”

Rico Abreu, Crafton’s ThorSport Racing teammate, also passed Crafton’s fading No. 88 Menards/Ideal Door Toyota on Lap 164 and began pursuit of Byron. But Abreu’s bid ended when he brushed the wall with his No. 98 Safelite Auto Glass/Curb Records Toyota heading into Turn 1, a mishap that dropped him to ninth overall.

“I got the top going in (Turns) 3 and 4 there and I kept following and following and you can only follow for so long,” Abreu said. “We came to the white (flag) and you have to push it with the way they’ve built this Chase format – you have to win and he’s (Byron) already won. I wasn’t going to do something too stupid and wreck him because I’ve done that before.

“We’ll just build off of that. Obviously not the finishes we want. I’ve crashed so many trucks for these guys. Duke and Rhonda Thorson (co-owners), I just thank them for believing in me and giving me this opportunity at ThorSport Racing with Safelite and Curb Records – they’re all here because I’m here.

“I’m just really disappointed. I wish I could get them better finishes. I know we have speed, I just have a lot of drive and am never going to quit.”

Crafton made a major save on Lap 11, when the right front tire on his Toyota blew, sending the truck skating into the Turn 3 wall. Crafton had led the first 10 laps after starting fourth. The truck suffered damage to the right rear panel, which was patched-up in the pits under direction of crew chief Carl Joiner. By Lap 35, Crafton was back in the lead and checking-out.

Crafton’s crew changed three tires during his stop, while NASCAR “gifted” the two-time series champion with a right front. “It says a lot about this team,” Crafton said. “If you look at the right side of this Tundra and how beat up this thing is, we led the most laps (133) and should of/could of won this race. It’s all about these guys and never giving up.”

Crafton has an 18-point lead in the championship over Timothy Peters, who finished sixth. Byron is third, just 23 points behind Crafton.

Toyota scored its 16th NCWTS victory at TMS, most of any track.

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