After spending much of the first 120 laps outside the top ten or just barely inside it, Matt Crafton rallied over the final 30 laps to bring the No. 88 Menards/Fishers Chevrolet across the stripe in seventh position at the finish. Crafton reported a loose condition throughout the early stages of the race, even discussing the possibility of a deflating right rear tire with crew chief Bud Haefele, but as the night wore on the truck got better and better and Crafton was able to work his way towards the front.
"It seemed like the right rear might have been going soft," Crafton said. "We were just all over the racetrack and it felt like I might spin out. It wasn't the tire losing air but it definitely felt like it. We got the tires changed and the truck was a lot better. We didn't have any track position and it's hard to pass at a place like this when you're all bunched up and running the same speed. But we had a couple of late cautions and we had a chance to get past about six or eight of them. I always feel like I am pretty good on restarts just about every week, but once we got past the first lap on a restart tonight it would take us a few laps for the truck to come in."
Crafton's seventh-place finish was his 12th top-ten result of the season. Despite a difficult stretch from April through mid-June, Crafton is still in position to make a run at finishing among the top five in the final series standings, something for which he gives all the credit to his team.
"It's all because of my guys," Crafton said. "Bud and the guys have worked their tails off all season. We got behind a little bit in April and May where they had to worry about fixing some wrecked stuff instead of focusing on building better race trucks. Once we shook that bad luck they've been able to focus on getting our stuff better. We still have a good chance at getting up into the top five. We have some of our best tracks left to go, which gives me a lot of confidence, but we can go and win anywhere."
Crafton remains sixth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, 56 behind fifth-place Ron Hornaday.
Next up for Crafton and the No. 88 Menards/SealBest Chevrolet is the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway on Friday September 3; the race will be televised live on SPEED starting at 6:30 P.M. Eastern. It can also be heard live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).
