Matt Crafton won the Keystone Light Pole Award for the EnjoyIllinois.com at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday, but had to settle for an uncharacteristic 14th place finish to the race. He remains 2nd in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings.
Crafton turned a qualifying lap of 31.411 in winning his first Keystone Light Pole Award this season.
He led the first several laps of the race, and spent nearly half the race running among the top-three trucks. Tire issues cost Crafton several spots, however, and he never regained front-running status.
"We had an issue with the right front tire during a long green-flag run, and unfortunately it cost us a great deal in terms of track position," he said. "We were never able to get it back. We had a really good truck at Chicagoland, but just weren't able to show it like we expected. That's the way it goes sometimes. Our guys kept battling like they always do, and it turned-out to be one of those nights where we made the most of an unfortunate situation, and avoided a night that could've been really bad. We're disappointed, obviously, but we expect to bounce back strong and battle for a win at Iowa. Our focus now is to be as strong as possible at Iowa, and hopefully take our Menards Chevy to Victory Lane in the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race there. It would be special."
