Contact between Ben Rhodes and Austin Cindric on Friday at Phoenix Raceway shaped the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4.
The two drivers made contact on Lap 129, which led to heavy damage to the No. 27 truck of Rhodes and an exit for the ThorSport Racing driver. Rhodes had spent much of the night in the top 10 and came down pit road for tires following a Lap 121 caution in an effort to match Cindric’s fresh tires late in the race.
Rhodes and John Hunter Nemechek were both eliminated from the Truck Series Playoffs following the Round of 6 finale at Phoenix on Friday.
The Championship 4 is made up of three of the four drivers that made it this far last year in Sauter, Bell and Crafton, with Cindric making his first appearance in the Championship 4.
Sauter, who locked into the Championship 4 with a win at Texas, is the defending series champion. The veteran driver for GMS Racing ended up with two wins in the Round of 6 as he was victorious in the Phoenix race as well to give him four for the season. Bell has five wins on the season and has held the points lead for about half the season. Crafton, a two-time champion, scored his lone win of 2017 at Eldora. The rookie Cindric scored his first national series victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in September.
The four advancing drivers will see their point totals bump up to 4,000. Drivers competing in the Championship 4 will not be awarded stage points at Homestead-Miami. The first driver to cross the finish line when the checkered flag is waved in the Ford EcoBoost 200 will be crowned the champion.
The four drivers advancing are:
Johnny Sauter, No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet
Christopher Bell, No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota
Matt Crafton, No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota
Austin Cindric, No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford
The two drivers eliminated are:
Ben Rhodes, No. 27 ThorSport Racing Toyota
John Hunter Nemechek, No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet
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