Toyota Tundra Driver Wins Back to Back NASCAR Truck Championships
Tim Esterdahl | Nov 17, 2014 | Comments 4
For the first time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series history, a team captured back to back championship titles. The winning driver, Matt Crafton did it in the ThorSport Racing No.88 Menards Toyota Tundra. The win caps off an impressive season by Tundra drivers and makes the fifth NCWTS driver’s title for a Toyota Tundra driver. Toyota also won the manufacture’s title for the seventh time.
Toyota Tundra driver Matt Crafton celebrates his back to back NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship title.
For the year, Crafton won twice – Martinsville (March 3) and Texas (June 6) and recorded 13 top-five finishes as well as 17 top-10 results in 22 races. He never trailed in the points standing after the September Chicagoland Speedway race.
“To say I made history is definitely very, very cool, but it’s all about the guys at ThorSport Racing that are behind me,” said Crafton, following the race. “Without them, I’m just an average race car driver at best. It’s all about the truck that these guys put underneath me each and every week. This Menards Toyota Tundra has been really — it’s been unbelievable to drive every week this year.”
He joins fellow back-to-back winners Todd Bodine, Ron Hornaday and Jack Sprague.
During the 2014 season, Tundra drivers established a series record with 12 consecutive race wins including the first 10 races of the season and the last two events of 2013. Along with the record for consecutive victories, Tundra drivers totaled 18 wins this year — equals the single-season record for wins by one manufacturer in the series. The victories enabled Toyota to secure a seventh NCWTS manufacturer’s championship (2006-2010, 2013-2014) in 11 seasons participating in the series (2004-2014).
Along with Crafton’s two wins, Kyle Busch visited victory lane seven times (Daytona, Kansas, Charlotte, Dover, Kentucky, Chicago and Texas). Darrell Wallace Jr. earned four first-place trophies (St. Louis, Eldora, Martinsville and Miami) and his Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) teammate Erik Jones earned three wins (Iowa, Las Vegas and Phoenix). Two Tundra drivers — Sauter (Michigan) and Peters (Talladega) — each picked up one victory.
Tundra drivers have earned a total of 130 victories since joining the series in 2004.
The 2015 NCWTS season will began at Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 20.
Filed Under: Tundra News
Do they use a modified 5.7 iforce motor in that nascar?
Chris,
Actually it is a specially built 5.9L. Here is some information: https://www.tundraheadquarters.com/blog/tundra-racing-the-nascar-craftsman-truck-series/
-Tim
All are pushrod engines.
Thems the rules.
No DOHC and it is still a hot engine! Would like to see the build up of that 5.9L.
With NASCAR’s myriad array of power robbing rules and restrictions against speed, it’s ironic that they would not allow competing manufacturers to use their respective DOHC engines and primarily legislate cubic inches being equal. Breathing is where the real advantages are.