Bell, Crafton, Peters claim final Truck title slots

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Daniel Suarez won the Truck Series race Friday night at Phoenix International Raceway, where four drivers advanced to the inaugural championship finale.

Johnny Sauter won a pair of races in this round of the playoffs to earn one of the berths next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Christopher Bell, two-time series champion Matt Crafton and Timothy Peters took the other three on points Friday.

William Byron led 112 laps and dominated the race until his engine failed with under 10 laps to go. A six-time winner this season and a favorite to win the title, Byron was instead eliminated, along with Ben Kennedy.

Byron was leading when his engine failed, and it opened up the opportunity for three other drivers to make the finale.

The win was the first for Suarez, a regular in the Xfinity Series, after finishing second four times in a truck.

Sauter finished second. Crafton, Cameron Haley and Peters rounded out the top five, while Bell clinched his place at the Homestead table with a seventh-place finish.

FRIDAY'S RESULTS

Lap length: 1.000 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (2) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 150 laps, 0 rating, 0 points.

2. (4) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 150, 0, 31.

3. (10) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 150, 0, 30.

4. (7) Cameron Hayley, Toyota, 150, 0, 29.

5. (8) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 150, 0, 28.

6. (6) John Hunter Nemechek, Chevrolet, 150, 0, 27.

7. (5) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 150, 0, 26.

8. (17) Matt Tifft, Toyota, 150, 0, 25.

9. (18) Ben Kennedy, Chevrolet, 150, 0, 24.

10. (12) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 150, 0, 23.

11. (3) Rico Abreu, Toyota, 150, 0, 22.

12. (13) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 150, 0, 22.

13. (15) Daniel Hemric, Ford, 150, 0, 20.

14. (9) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, 150, 0, 19.

15. (21) Austin Cindric, Ford, 150, 0, 18.

16. (14) Noah Gragson, Toyota, 150, 0, 17.

17. (19) Myatt Snider, Toyota, 150, 0, 16.

18. (20) Stewart Friesen, Chevrolet, 150, 0, 15.

19. (23) Dylan Lupton, Toyota, 150, 0, 0.

20. (26) Kevin Donahue, Chevrolet, 149, 0, 13.

21. (27) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 148, 0, 12.

22. (29) Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, ontrack, 0, 0, 0.

23. (28) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 147, 0, 10.

24. (32) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 146, 0, 9.

25. (30) Bryce Napier, Chevrolet, 146, 0, 8.

26. (31) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 145, 0, 7.

27. (1) William Byron, Toyota, engine, 141, 0, 8.

28. (11) Kaz Grala, Chevrolet, accident, 76, 0, 5.

29. (25) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, engine, 62, 0, 4.

30. (22) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, accident, 36, 0, 3.

31. (24) Dominique Van Wieringen, Chevrolet, accident, 26, 0, 2.

32. (16) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, accident, 11, 0, 1.

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Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 84.443 mph.

Time of Race: 1 hour, 46 minutes, 35 seconds.

Margin of Victory: seconds.

Caution Flags: 9 for 49 laps.

Lead Changes: 5 among 3 drivers.

Lap Leaders: W.Byron 1-25; D.Suarez 26-47; W.Byron 48-68; T.Reddick 69-72; W.Byron 73-138; D.Suarez 139-150

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): W.Byron, 3 times for 109 laps; D.Suarez, 2 times for 32 laps; T.Reddick, 1 time for 3 laps.

Wins: W.Byron, 6; J.Sauter, 3; M.Crafton, 2; J.Nemechek, 2; C.Bell, 1; B.Kennedy, 1; T.Reddick, 1.

Top 10 in Points: 1. J.Sauter, 3072; 2. W.Byron, 3052; 3. C.Bell, 3051; 4. M.Crafton, 3048; 5. T.Peters, 3047; 6. B.Kennedy, 3035; 7. D.Hemric, 2115; 8. J.Nemechek, 2084; 9. T.Reddick, 457; 10. C.Custer, 456.