By Dean Reller
"It was a night where everyone was on top of their game and it showed on the race track," said Erik Jones who capped off a strong night as he won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series American Ethanol 200 at the Iowa Speedway. Jones led 131 of the races 200 laps, setting a new career high for the 17 year old up and coming driver. Ryan Blaney battled all night long, but came up short as he finished 2nd. "I tried all I could in traffic, he (Jones) wasn't very good in traffic," said Blaney about coming up just short in his bid for a second win on the 7/8ths mile track.
Matt Crafton and Joey Coulter swapped third a few times in the race's final laps, before Crafton was able to lock down the spot. "It's a brand new truck, they built it in the last four days, these guys did an awesome job", said a very pleased Crafton following the race. Coulter seemed rather pleased as well with his fourth place finish. "It's getting better and better every week. We talked today about putting this whole puzzle together and we did that tonight," said a smiling Coutler as he caught his breath following the race.
With the finish, Crafton now leads Blaney by 2 points in the Championship standings.
American Ethanol 200
1. Erik Jones 2. Ryan Blaney 3. Matt Crafton 4. Joey Coulter 5. German Quiroga 6. Ben Kennedy 7. Jeff Choquette 8. Cole Custer 9. Tyler Reddick 10. John-Hunter Nemechek 11. Spencer Gallagher 12. Chase Pistone 13. Darrell Wallace Jr. 14. Jeb Burton 15. Justin Jennings 16. Mason Mingus 17. Tyler Young 18. Johnny Sauter 19. Chris Eggleston 20. Justin Lofton 21. Ron Hornaday Jr. 22. John Wes Townley 23. Tayler Malsam 24. TJ Bell 25. Brandon Brown 26. Norm Benning 27. Dustin Hapka 28. Eric Caudell 29. Bryan Silas 30. Jennifer Jo Cobb 31. Timothy Peters 32. Raymond Terczack Jr. 33. Korbin Forrister 34. Charles Lewandoski 35. Caleb Roark 36. Tommy Regan
Margin of Victory: .629 seconds
Avg. Speed: 110.429 MPH
Lead Changes: 6 among 4 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 19 laps
Time of Race: 1 hr, 35 min. .05 sec.
