Crafton Picks Up Two Spots on Last Lap to Claim Second Straight Seventh-Place NCTS Finish
Millington, Tenn. – Matt Crafton charged through a cloud of smoke on the final lap to pick off two positions and claim his second consecutive seventh-place finish in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park. Crafton also scored a seventh in the series’ previous race at Kentucky Speedway two weeks ago.
As Crafton reached turn three to come to the checkered flag, there was a cloud of smoke remaining from a spin by another competitor the previous lap still hanging in the air. As the field scrambled to clear the smoke, many not knowing if there were stopped trucks on the other side of the smoke, Crafton swung to the high side and picked off a couple of positions as he came to the checkered.
“It was hard to see down there, but we cleared it and made up some ground,” Crafton said. “I saw one truck was spun out on the bottom, but I knew we were clear around the outside. I went high and some other guys had to slow down on the bottom. We ran hard to the checkered and picked up a solid finish.”
On a hot and steamy night, Crafton and his No. 88 Menards Chevrolet were set up for longer runs, and after a long stretch of green flag racing in the middle of the event, it looked like that strategy might pay off. However, a series of late-race cautions kept the number of green flag laps to a minimum and allowed the extreme heat to start to take a toll.
“It was a pretty good night,” Crafton said. “We were just not that good on the short runs. We needed the longer green flag runs for the truck to really start to come in, and once we started getting all of those cautions late in the race it just wouldn’t go our way. We needed about ten laps for it to come in, and once it did we were just a rocket.”
Crafton had another reason to hope for long green flag runs: the fewer the caution flag laps, the faster the race would end and the sooner he could escape the oppressive heat inside the truck.
“I am from California, and I grew up with heat like this,” Crafton said. “It’s not as hot as I’ve ever been but it definitely was pretty bad. I was hoping we’d get those long runs so the race would get over quicker because I kind of felt like I might be losing some brain cells in that heat. When we had that red flag, you have a chance to start actually thinking about how hot it was and that’s bad. But they brought out some cold drinks for us, and that was a help.”
With another short track next on the schedule, Crafton was happy to leave Memphis with his truck in one piece.
“We were good in the pits all night long, and we’re coming out of here with the truck we’re taking to IRP in one piece,” he said. “It’s a good truck and we’re going to be strong in Indy. All things considered here tonight, I am happy to come out of here with a seventh place.”
Crafton returns to action on Friday August 5 at Indianapolis Raceway Park in the Power Stroke Diesel 200. The race is scheduled for an 8:30 P.M. Eastern start, and will be televised live on Speed Channel. Motor Racing Network will carry the broadcast live on selected radio affiliates nationwide, while TruckSeries.com will have continuous real-time updates throughout practice, qualifying, and the race at www.truckseries.com.
Hines Finishes Long Racing Week with Third Straight Top-20 at Memphis
Millington, Tenn. – Tracy Hines picked up his third consecutive top-20 finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as he drove the No. 13 ThorSport Racing/David Zoriki Chevrolet to 16th in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 Saturday night at Memphis Motorsports Park. The Truck Series race put a cap on a successful week of racing which saw Hines pick up a United States Auto Club National Sprint Car Series win and continue to build positive momentum in the Truck Series.
After fighting extreme temperatures all day long, Hines kept his cool on a night that saw several competitors get caught up in numerous incidents and set to the sidelines. Hines looked to pick up a top-15 finish, but on two-lap dash to the checkered, Hines was forced to check up for a huge cloud of smoke in turns three and four and settled for 16th.
“I am happy to see the progress this team has made over the past couple of months,” Hines said. “It is starting to pay off for us. We’re getting a lot of practice laps, we’re qualifying better, and our race runs are starting to improve. We’re a solid top-20 team now, but none of us want that. We know we’re better than that, but it’s been a building process. The next step is to make this team a top-10 team.”
Hines was embroiled in a hot late-race battle for 15th, which was settled when he approached the smoke screen in turn three on the final lap.
“The 10 truck had a good run on us going into one on the last restart,” Hines said. “I thought we had a chance to get 15th, but that smoke on the last lap really threw a curveball at us. There were trucks slowing down all over the place and one stopped down on the bottom. We were able to pick up a couple of spots as we went through the smoke, but all we needed was that one more.”
Hines picked up several top-5 finishes in the USAC “Indiana Sprint Week”, including a win that tied him for 12th on the all-time USAC win list with Mario Andretti. Overall, he said he had a successful week.
“We ran great in the sprint car and came out of here with a decent finish,” he said. “It’s been a long week, so I am going to enjoy having a couple of days to recuperate and relax.”
The next Truck Series start for Hines will come on August 5 when he heads to his home track, Indianapolis Raceway Park, for the Power Stroke Diesel 200. The race is scheduled for an 8:30 P.M. Eastern start, and will be televised live on Speed Channel. Motor Racing Network will carry the race live on selected radio affiliates nationwide, and TruckSeries.com will provide continuous real-time practice, qualifying, and race updates at www.truckseries.com.
Crafton Scores seventh in Kentucky
Sparta ,Kent . – Matt Crafton piloted the ThorSport Racing No. 88 Menards Chevrolet to a seventh-place finish in the Built Ford Tough 225 NASCAR Truck Series race Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway. Crafton qualified a strong eighth earlier in the afternoon and kept his truck up front and away from all of the on-track mischief throughout the night to pick up his fifth top-10 finish of the 2005 season.
“We had a real good truck tonight,” Crafton said. “I think we were a little better than seventh at the end, but we didn’t get the track position we needed. I came in on the last pit stop and didn’t get in the way I needed to. We gave up a couple of spots on pit road there, but it wasn’t their fault.”
Crafton averted trouble in the mid stages of the race when he felt a left rear tire going down.
“It wasn’t like I was running on a flat tire, but it was definitely going down,” Crafton said. “On the last run, we made an adjustment because it was so loose, and some of it was because of the tire. It tightened us up too much and it hurt. But overall it was a real good night.”
On a night that saw several on-track incidents send numerous drivers behind the wall to repair crash damage, Crafton was able to miss all of the action.
“I know there was a lot going on out there tonight, but I didn’t see any of it,” Crafton said happily. “Thankfully we had such a good truck we were out in front of all of it. I saw some of it breaking out behind me in the rear view mirror, but that was as close as we got to it.”
Crafton takes this weekend off and then moves on to the Memphis Motorsports Park on July 23 rd for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200. Speed Channel will have the live broadcast at 8 P.M. Eastern. Motor Racing Network will have live radio coverage on selected affiliates nationwide, while TruckSeries.com will have continuous real-time practice, qualifying, and race updates at www.truckseries.com .
Hines Builds Momentum with Second Consecutive Top-20 in Kentucky
Sparta ,Kent . – Tracy Hines continues to build positive momentum in the No. 13 ThorSport Racing/David Zoriki Chevrolet as he racked up his second consecutive NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series top-20 finish in the Built Ford Tough 225 at the Kentucky Speedway. Hines qualified 21 st for the event and ran among the top-20 all night long, fighting back from an unscheduled trip through the backstretch grass, before bring his truck home 20 th at the finish.
“I think this whole team is starting to turn the corner,” Hines said. “We’re starting to get the practice laps we need, the guys are learning what it takes to make these trucks go fast, and we’re learning each other. We picked up a half a second on our qualifying run from our fastest lap in practice. The guys are working hard, and it’s starting to pay off.”
Hines, who fought an ill-handling truck in Kansas the week before which sent him on three separate spins, recovered from a mid-race tap that sent him on a long slide down the backstretch.
“We were in heavy traffic and got a tap from someone and I was on a ride from there,” Hines said. “I am sure people are thinking ‘oh, there goes Hines on another spin,’ but we got hit pretty hard and sent on a ride. There wasn’t too much I could do about it but ride it out. Thankfully I was able to keep it off the wall and the tires didn’t go down. We got it back and all we had to do was check the fenders to make sure we didn’t have a rub. I guess if you have to get spun out, that’s the way to do it.”
Hines is not racing in the Truck Series this weekend, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to be busy. He will be driving in selected USAC Valvoline National Sprint Car Series races in the annual “Indiana Sprint Week”, driving the No. 69 Hoffman Auto Racing ride.
“We’re not running for points, so we’re going to pick and choose the races we think we will have the most fun and the best chance of winning,” Hines said. “The Hoffmans always have a good car for me, and I look forward to getting back on the dirt. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and hopefully we pick up a win or two along the way.”
Speed Channel will have the live broadcast of the O’Reilly 200 from Memphis Motorsports Park starting at 8 P.M. Eastern on July 23rd. Motor Racing Network will have live radio coverage on selected affiliates nationwide, while TruckSeries.com will have continuous real-time practice, qualifying, and race updates at www.truckseries.com .
Hines Fights Handling Problems to Pick Up a Top-20 in Kansas
Kansas City , Ks. – Tracy Hines fought back from handling problems that caused three separate spins to record a 19 th -place finish in the No. 13 ThorSport Racing/David Zoriki Chevrolet at the O’Reilly 250 on Saturday at the Kansas Speedway. Hines’ truck went from tight to extremely loose in traffic, and although he spun, in each of the incidents Hines was able to recover without making contact and continue on.
“I think I did a year’s worth of spinning in one day,” Hines joked afterward. “We were tight all day long, but whenever we would get in traffic the truck would get really loose.”
Hines said that while the three incidents may have looked very similar, all three had different causes.
“The first one happened because someone cut down in front of me coming off turn two and I tried to avoid hitting him,” Hines said. “The truck got loose on me when I cut the wheel and it went around on me. The second one we were racing to get back in position to get the free pass if there was a caution and I got underneath the 10 truck and it sucked the air off the spoiler and we ended up being the caution. On the last one, it felt like the air pressure in the tires was a little lower than I expected on a restart and it jumped out from under me. They probably looked alike from the grandstand or on TV, but each time it was totally different.”
As soon as the Truck race concluded, Hines headed for the airport to catch a flight to Fountain, Colo. , to compete in the USAC Silver Crown Series and National Midget Series “Rocky Mountain Classic” at Pikes Peak International
Raceway. In qualifying, Hines set a new world record for the Silver Crown Series with a lap of 143.277 miles per hour. While the Silver Crown race did not go as Hines and his team anticipated, resulting in a 26 th -place finish, Hines picked up a top-5 finish in the National Midget Car Series feature.
“I’ve always liked Pikes Peak ,” Hines said. “We had a great car in (Silver Crown) qualifying, but things didn’t go our way in the feature. The Midget race was a little better. That series has gotten very competitive and we had to work hard to get fifth.”
The O’Reilly 250 from the Kansas Speedway is scheduled for a 3 P.M. Eastern start and will be shown live flag-to-flag on Speed Channel. Motor Racing Network will have live coverage and can be heard on select radio affiliates nationwide. TruckSeries.com will have real-time updates throughout practice, qualifying, and the race at www.truckseries.com .
Crafton’s Solid Kansas Run Ends in Frustration
Kansas City , Ks. – Matt Crafton’s top-10 run in the O’Reilly 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway was derailed by late contact from Ted Musgrave, resulting in severe damage to the front and rear of the ThorSport Racing No. 88 Menards Chevrolet and a 27 th -place finish. Crafton started 21 st but kept his truck out of the numerous mid-race incidents to climb into the top-10 late in the going, but contact sent him head-on into the retaining wall exiting turn four and sliding to a stop in the infield grass. Crafton was unhurt in the crash, and although it was within sight of the checkered flag he felt the incident was unnecessary.
"I guess Musgrave wanted to make an example out of me,” Crafton said. “He made his point, even though I thought I was clear and had room. Musgrave didn't feel I had the room, so I ended up in the wall. I guess I know now that I wasn't clear. Its one thing to give a tap, but to put me head on in the wall is just disrespectful. I try to race with respect for the other drivers, but I can see that he doesn't.
“We had a good race going to that point,” Crafton continued. “We had to go to the back of the field for one of the restarts early on because they said we were a little fast coming out of the pits, and we came back through the field and into the top ten. We were trying to hold off some of those guys late in the race. They were all a little faster than we were, but they were going to have to race hard to get around us. All we were trying to do was hang on and try to get the best finish we could get.”
Crafton remains in the top-10 in NASCAR Truck Series point standings, but fell back a spot to tenth.
Next on the schedule for Crafton and the No. 88 Menards Chevolet is the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday July 9. The 150-lap race is scheduled for a 8 P.M. Eastern start and will be shown live on Speed Channel while Motor Racing Network will carry the broadcast live on selected radio affiliates nationwide. TruckSeries.com will have continuing real-time updates throughout practice, qualifying, and the race at www.truckseries.com .
