Erik Jones gets first Truck win of season at Iowa

NEWTON, Iowa — Everything finally came together for the Camping World Truck Series' most dominant driver.

Erik Jones used a supersonic Toyota and overpowering restarts to push frustration into the past and win Friday night's American Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway.

It was the first trucks win of the 2015 season for the rising 19-year-old star, who came to Newton leading NASCAR's third-level series in almost every key category — average start, laps led, average running position, fastest laps — except checkered flags.

It was also the first win of the season for Kyle Busch Motorsports' three-car fleet.

"What a day, what a day," Jones said. "Sat on the pole, won the race. That's how you do it."

Jones wasn't in a position to relish his second consecutive trucks win at Iowa Speedway for long. After spending the night in Iowa, he'll head to Chicagoland Speedway for Saturday night's Xfinity Series race.

Jones had been bitten in every imaginable way during the Truck Series' first eight races — by miscalculated fuel mileage at Kansas Speedway, by a nose at Charlotte Motor Speedway, by battery issues at Texas Motor Speedway, and by electrical/tire problems last week at Gateway Motorsports Park. He led 391 laps in those four races, but his win total was stuck at zero.

That changed Friday as he sped past his competitors on three late-race restarts as he did during Friday's earlier practice and in winning his fourth pole position of the year.

"The last month was just stressful all around. Stressful on me as a person," Jones said. "Really made me grow a lot.

"Kind of came to realize it doesn't come as easy as everybody thinks it does."

Jones' fifth win in 26 career trucks starts might be his most relieving — and could have his competitors saying, "Uh-oh." Jones jumped one spot into third in the standings after leading 112 of 120 laps. He trails leader Matt Crafton by 26 points with more than half the schedule to go.

"It took us a while to get here," Jones said. "But now that we're here, I think we'll keep reeling a few off."

Brandon Jones, 18, finished a career-best second, but like the rest of the field couldn't hang with the race winner's No. 4 Toyota.

"They've been on a rail all year. Definitely hat's off to those guys," said the runner-up, who entered with a high finish of eighth in six 2015 starts for GMS Racing. "They've been really good."

Tyler Reddick was third, and two-time defending series champion Crafton fourth. Christopher Bell, making his NASCAR national series debut in KBM's No. 51 Toyota, was fifth.

"Coming here, I had just one expectation and goal, and that was to finish the race," said Bell, predominantly a dirt racer who had never sat in a NASCAR truck before Friday. This was his only scheduled start for KBM this season. "To come out with a top-five, I'm just thrilled about it.

"The truck's probably a little bit better than the driver tonight. I think Erik proved that one."

Chad Leistikow writes for The Des Moines Register, a Gannett affiliate.

*****

FULL RESULTS: American Ethanol 200

1. (1) Erik Jones, Toyota, 200 laps, 149.1 rating, 48 points, $48,421.

2. (4) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 200, 113, 43, $29,147.

3. (3) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 200, 96.5, 41, $27,459.

4. (9) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 200, 121.8, 41, $21,600.

5. (10) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 200, 99.7, 39, $18,646.

6. (16) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 200, 97.4, 38, $16,562.

7. (14) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 200, 80.8, 37, $16,006.

8. (13) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 200, 77, 36, $15,757.

9. (7) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 200, 76.5, 35, $15,701.

10. (12) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 200, 80.9, 34, $16,596.

11. (11) Justin Boston, Toyota, 200, 79.8, 33, $15,591.

12. (18) Austin Theriault, Ford, 200, 84.8, 32, $15,451.

13. (8) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, 200, 69.2, 31, $15,396.

14. (6) Caleb Holman, Chevrolet, 200, 75.3, 30, $13,090.

15. (23) Ray Black Jr., Chevrolet, 199, 61.9, 29, $15,801.

16. (17) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, 199, 62.5, 28, $15,062.

17. (20) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 198, 81, 28, $14,952.

18. (22) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 198, 52.2, 26, $14,813.

19. (5) Cameron Hayley, Toyota, 198, 97, 26, $14,702.

20. (19) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 197, 51.1, 24, $13,897.

21. (27) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 196, 41.8, 23, $13,230.

22. (26) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 193, 40.5, 22, $12,119.

23. (2) John Hunter Nemechek, Chevrolet, accident, 157, 99.9, 21, $11,980.

24. (21) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, driveshaft, 148, 45.5, 20, $11,897.

25. (29) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, oil leak, 93, 35.8, 19, $12,019.

26. (25) Korbin Forrister, Chevrolet, engine, 65, 38.7, 18, $11,841.

27. (15) Jake Griffin, Chevrolet, accident, 41, 46.8, 17, $11,786.

28. (30) Tommy Regan, Chevrolet, electrical, 33, 33.8, 16, $11,539.

29. (28) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, suspension, 24, 32.6, 15, $11,511.

30. (31) Michael Affarano, Chevrolet, vibration, 22, 29.2, 0, $11,011.

31. (24) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, electrical, 15, 35.6, 13, $9,511.

32. (32) Caleb Roark, Chevrolet, vibration, 5, 29.8, 0, $8,511.

RACE STATISTICS

Average speed of winner: 96.730 mph.

Time of race: 1 hour, 48 minutes, 33 seconds.

Margin of victory: 5.860 seconds.

Caution flags: Six for 36 laps.

Lead changes: Six among five drivers.

Lap leaders: E.Jones 1-43; J.Sauter 44-57; C.Hayley 58-94; M.Crafton 95-127; E.Jones 128-152; B.Jones 153-156; E.Jones 157-200.

Leaders summary (driver, times led, laps led): E.Jones, 3 times for 112 laps; C.Hayley, 1 time for 37 laps; M.Crafton, 1 time for 33 laps; J.Sauter, 1 time for 14 laps; B.Jones, 1 time for 4 laps.

Top 10 in points: 1. M.Crafton, 370; 2. T.Reddick, 358; 3. E.Jones, 344; 4. J.Sauter, 327; 5. J.Townley, 294; 6. S.Gallagher, 288; 7. T.Peters, 283; 8. D.Hemric, 282; 9. C.Hayley, 280; 10. B.Kennedy, 269.