Fantasy NASCAR Racing

would see the "Chase" come to the NASCAR Truck series.  Crafton won twice in the regular season; posting back to back wins at Dover and Charlotte.  He ran well during the playoffs and advance to the final race at Miami to try to win the Championship.  Crafton wouldn't be able to keep pace with Johnny Sauter as he finished third in the race to win the Championship.  Crafton finished seventh and ended up second in points.  2017 saw Crafton struggle to get wins.  He pulled off the surprise win on the dirt at Eldora to qualify for the Chase.  He once again advanced to the season's final race to run for the Championship; but his truck never had speed that night, as Crafton never led a lap and finished fourth in the points.  The team continued to struggle as Joiner and Crafton had issues getting the truck to perform and be able to run up front.  For their first full season together they went win less.  The did run well enough to advance to the Chase; but were eliminated from Championship contention just before the final race at Homestead.  It marked the first time Crafton had failed to make the finals since the Chase was implemented.  Unfortunately 2019 was much a mirror image of 2018.  Again Joiner couldn't seem to find the handle on the truck that Crafton needed to make it run up front.  They again failed to win a race and posted seven Top 5 finishes.  He made the playoffs and ran well.  At Las Vegas he and his teammates Johnny Sauter and Grant Enfinger all blew their motors within a 40 lap span.  Luckily for Crafton, he had accumulated enough points in the previous two races to advance to the next round.  Crafton moved forward to the season's final race at Miami once again.  But without a win for over two season; it was a long shot for Crafton to win the race or Championship.  As luck would have it Crafton unloaded off the truck fast; but qualified poorly. Crafton would take the green flag from ninth place; while the other championship contenders would start in the first three spots.  Crafton had a good long run truck and it was also fast when it got dark.  The race only had one yellow flag besides the stage breaks and this prevented his competitors from having much of a chance to improve upon their trucks.  As the race wound down no one could keep up with Austin Hill.  But he had not qualified for the Chase and was of no concern to Crafton.  He was able to run second and keep all his championship competitors in his rear view mirror as he and Joiner claimed the Truck Championship for the third time.  In 2020, after a two year hiatus, Joiner and Crafton was able to get back in victory lane.  They made mostly good runs all season long and crossed the finish line first at Kansas.  It was Crafton's first wins since 2017.  In the Chase they ran well, but in the final round before the Championship race at Phoenix, they were eliminated from contention.  This, even though they had finishes of eighth, sixth and fifth.  For the season they finished fifth in the points.  Crafton and Joiner had much the same season as they had in 2020.  They had five Top 5 and 12 Top 10 finishes in 22 races.  He finished second at Gateway, finishing just behind Sheldon Creed.  They were eliminated from the Chase just before the final race of the season.  After the final race of the season, it was announced that Joiner would not be returning full time for 2022.  Crafton and Joiner have been paired together for 10 years in the Camping World Truck Series and have won three series titles.  When asked why he’d be stepping down from the pit box, Joiner explained, “it’s time to be a dad.”  Carl Joiner and Johnny Sauter were together in 2022; but on a very limited schedule.  They duo only ran four races together.  The ran great at Martinsville and almost pulled off the win; coming home second.  The next race was at Gateway where they finished fifth.  They were 12th at IRP and in their final start were 25th at Talladega; finishing on the lead lap.  No plans have been announced for the duo in 2023 yet.  For his NASCAR career, Joiner only crew chiefed in the Truck Series.  And he was only ever with Crafton.  In 226 starts they got 13 wins, 84 Top 5 and 160 Top 10’s.  That is a 69% of finishing in the Top 10.  They won three Truck Series Championships together (2013, 2014, 2019).