HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Momentum was the name of
the game as Johnny Sauter took home the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, Nov. 18.
This was the first Truck Series championship
for Sauter, driver of the No. 21 car for GMS Racing, who came into the
championship after winning two of three races in the Chase’s Round of 6. Sauter
has come full circle, with a win in the season-opener in Daytona in February
and now winning the Truck Series championship tonight.
“Yeah, I’ve wanted a driver’s championship
for 15 years,” said Sauter. “Everybody wants to be a champion. You want to win
races ultimately, and you want to be in the hunt.”
Sauter beat out Matt Crafton, Christopher
Bell and Timothy Peters, who finished seventh, eighth and ninth respectively,
to win the championship.
Not one to be outshone, 18-year-old William
Byron took home the Ford EcoBoost 200 after a tight race, powering through
after being eliminated from the Chase at Phoenix last week due to a blown
engine. This victory marks the young No. 9 driver’s seventh win of the season,
and was his final race as a member of Kyle Busch Motorsports.
“It feels awesome. It’s just – it’s
incredible,” said Byron. “I mean this team has worked so hard all year. We just
had an unfortunate situation last week that we couldn’t control, but, man, they
brought a good truck. These guys just are awesome.”
On top of winning the Ford EcoBoost 200, Bryon
was also awarded the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award.
Bryon’s win and Bell’s eighth place finish
made the pair of rookies instrumental in Kyle Busch Motorsports taking home its
record fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Owner’s Championship in seven
years. It is also the only team in history to win four consecutive
championships. KBM took home its first Driver’s championship last year with
Erik Jones’ 2015 championship win.
“It’s frustrating but yet rewarding on the
same end that William and the guys, they didn’t give up, they came out here and
executed exactly was to win an owner’s championship for myself and Samantha,”
Busch said.
The Ford EcoBoost 200 Camping World Truck Series
was the kickoff of Ford Championship Weekend, which continues Saturday at 3:30
p.m. with the Ford EcoBoost 300 Xfinity Series race and culminates Sunday after
the Ford EcoBoost 400 Sprint Cup Series race at 2:30 p.m.
