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France: "modest to zero" changes Chase format changed planned: In Brian France's estimation, the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format introduced this year has struck a perfect balance between winning and consistency in determining the series champion. At the same time, France said, the new system, featuring an expanded 16-driver field and eliminations after every third race, has elevated interest in the sport. "It's exceeded what I had hoped for, and it's done precisely what we thought we wanted to do, which was recalibrate competition-or winning, rather-and still have a strong place for consistency and all the rest, but recalibrate that balance," NASCAR's chairman and CEO said Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in his "State of the Sport" question-and-answer session with reporters. "It's only year one, but clearly we're on our way." France said any changes to the format would be "modest to zero," and he doesn't have an issue with the possibility of Ryan Newman winning the Sprint Cup championship in Sunday's Ford EcoBoost 400 without winning a race. "Well, we would like that," France said. "The best team will win on Sunday. What I mean, though, is any format that we've ever had always has the possibility that somebody might win the championship without winning an event, short of us-which we're not going to do-making it a hard prerequisite that you have to win a race to qualify. That takes it out of balance, frankly." (NASCAR Wire Service)(11-15-2014)

Wallace wins at Homestead, Crafton takes the title: #54-Darrell Wallace, Jr. won the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 200 at the Homestead Miami Speedway on Friday. #42-Kyle Larson, who started from the pole and led 96 of the 134 laps, finished second. #17-Timothy Peters, #51-Kyle Busch #29-Ryan Blaney, #19-Tyler Reddick, #9-Ty Dillon, #8-Joe Nemechek, #88-Matt Crafton, and #98-Johnny Sauter closed out the top 10.
With his ninth place finish, Crafton became the first driver to win back-to-back truck championships. He ended the season with a 21-point lead over #29-Ryan Blaney.
There were 7 caution flags for 28 laps and 13 lead changes among 5 leaders.
Complete results are on the Homestead race results page (pdf).(11-14-2014)

Homestead Race Fast Facts:
Darrell Wallace Jr. won the 19th Annual Ford EcoBoost 200, his fifth victory in 44 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
This is his fourth victory and 14th top-10 finish in 2014.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in two races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Kyle Larson(i) (second) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2014.
Timothy Peters (third) posted his fifth top-10 finish in eight races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Tyler Reddick (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Matt Crafton leads the point standings by 21 points over Ryan Blaney.
This is the 15th win for Toyota in 2014 - tieing the manufacturer's most wins a single season (2010).
Most wins all-time in a single season in the NCWTS is 18 by Chevrolet in 1996.
(NASCAR Statistics)(11-14-2013)
Championship Fast Facts:
Driver Champion: Matt Crafton
Team: # 88 Menards Toyota
Matt Crafton won his second consecutive NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. He is the first driver in series history to win back-to-back championships (2013-2014).
Crafton is the 13th different driver to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, and the fourth to win multiple series titles. 2013 marked Crafton's 15th year competing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He leads the series in consecutive starts with 337.
Crafton finished 21 points ahead of second-place Ryan Blaney.
Crafton finished the 2014 season with two wins, 13 top fives, 17 top 10s, and an average finish of 7.0.
Crafton's 2014 Season-To-Date Loop Data: Driver Rating (106.0); Average Running Position (6.504).