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Jones entered the race with a 17-point lead in the standings over the two-time defending series champion. But as they raced for position with 31 laps remaining, Crafton lost control of his truck and bumped into Jones.
Crafton then careened into teammate Johnny Sauter to end the race for both drivers.
Jones was able to continue, but had to pit and was no longer a threat for his third consecutive win at Phoenix. He finished ninth.
"At that moment, I wasn't thinking about the championship. I was thinking about winning the race," Jones said.
Headed into the season finale next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jones has a 19-point lead in the standings over Tyler Reddick. Crafton fell 32 points behind Jones, who only needs to finish 15th or better at Homestead to win his first career title.
Crafton took full responsibility for causing the wreck.
"I just got loose, it was 100 percent my fault," Crafton said. "It was close, tight racing. I made a mistake, mistakes happen, we're all human."
Jones said he didn't want to discuss the contact with Crafton, which ended his shot at the victory.
"I think there's definitely hard racing, definitely some hard racing," Jones said. "He didn't want to cede the lead, obviously, and he made a mistake and slipped up."
Peters' victory gave Toyota its eighth manufacturers' championship.
John Hunter Nemechek finished second and was followed by John Wes Townley, Daniel Suarez and Reddick.
Rico Abreu made his Truck Series debut but was caught in an early crash that ended his evening. He was trying to get approved by NASCAR for next week's finale, and wasn't sure if he'll get permission to race on the bigger track.
"Hopefully we can get to Homestead, we didn't get to run that many laps," Abreu said. "I was really just racing behind guys and understanding what your truck does. I just was learning, it was a learning process."
- Credit to ESPN for this article.
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