NASCAR Truck Series: Suarez wins at Phoenix, the Championship 4 grid is set

Daniel Suarez wins the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway, the penultimate race of the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. For the Xfinity Series regular driver it was his first ever Truck Series victory.

As it was the penultimate race of the season, four drivers qualified for the Championship 4 season’s finale next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Those four are Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton, Timothy Peters and Christopher Bell. The rookie William Byron, one of the series’ front runners, who won six races this season, failed to enter the title fight in a dramatic finish of the 150-lap race at the PIR. The engine of his #9 Toyota Tundra expired on Lap 141 of 150, while he was leading. Kyle Busch Motorsports’ teammate Daniel Suarez took over the race lead and went on to score the first NCWTS victory of his career.

Byron’s elimination also helped teammate Christopher Bell, who claimed a placein the Championship 4 with a seventh-place finish. Bell joins second-place finisher Johnny Sauter, third-placed Matt Crafton and fifth-placed Timothy Peters.