Crafton Closes Season with Tenth in Homestead; ThorSport Racing Collects First Top-10 Points Finish
Homestead ,Fla. – Matt Crafton closed the season with his tenth top ten finish of the 2005 season, driving the ThorSport Racing No. 88 Menards Chevrolet to a tenth-place finish in the season ending Ford Championship 200 NASCAR Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday morning. After a 12-hour delay forced the race to run Saturday morning rather than Friday night, Crafton jumped out of the box like a jackrabbit in the early stages and was able to avoid several late race incidents while fighting an increasingly ill-handling truck on his way to the finish.
Crafton’s season-long efforts – two top-five finishes, ten top-ten finishes, and one pole position earned in qualifying – gave his team, Sandusky-based ThorSport Racing the team’s first-ever top ten finish in both series driver and owner championship standings. Crafton and team owners Duke and Rhonda Thorson each finished ninth in their respective standings.
“We had a great run going on Saturday,” Crafton said. “When the race started, I was thinking we were going to be a shoe-in for a top five finish. The truck was strong, and I could run with any one of the Toyotas except for (Todd) Bodine and (Jack) Sprague. They ended up first and second, and I think we could have made the Menards Chevy a little better and given them a run for it.”
But as the race wore on, the track bar bolt backed itself out of its seat, creating a tight condition that mystified Crafton and his crew.
“We kept adjusting on it but nothing seemed to help,” Crafton said. “We just thought that the track had tightened up way more than anyone would have ever guessed. But once we got the truck back to the pits we looked it over and saw the track bar worked itself out about an inch. It was just so tight there wasn’t anything I could do late in the race. On the last lap they started wrecking in front of us and I had to take it to the grass to miss it. We were lucky not to get caught up in that one, or when the 38 truck spun underneath us early in the race.”
Crafton takes tremendous pride in finishing among the top ten in points in one of the NASCAR Truck Series’ most competitive seasons ever.
“Look at all of the guys in front of us,” he said. “They either drive for teams with a Cup affiliation, or they have a ton of factory backing. Most of them have a lot of experience driving in the Cup series too. To be a truly independent team and to finish among that group of teams and drivers says a lot about ThorSport Racing and the people we have in place. They took a chance on me when I was a rookie and stuck with me, and invited me back to drive the Menards Chevy this season and I am more happy to give them their first top ten in points than I am for myself. They really deserve it.”
ThorSport Racing team officials expect to make an announcement regarding the driver of the team’s second truck in the coming weeks. Johnny Sauter drove the team’s No. 13 Chevrolet to 20 th position in the Ford 200 on Saturday.
Crafton One Step Closer to Top-10 Points Finish After Phoenix
Matt Crafton had a good weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, driving to a second place finish in Thursday's NASCAR Southwest Series 125-miler and backing it up on Friday with a eighth-place finish in the ThorSport Racing No. 88 Menards/SealBest Chevrolet in the Silverado 150 NASCAR Truck Series race. It was Crafton's ninth top ten finish of the season, and with it he moves on step closer to locking up a top ten finish in the 2005 NASCAR Truck Series point standings.
"It was a good weekend here in Phoenix ," Crafton said. "We had a good car in the Southwest Tour race and after that late caution I thought we had a chance to win it, but (Ken) Schrader was just a little too strong. Second place is a little disappointing when you're that close, but it was a great run and a good way to start the weekend. The Menards Chevy was strong too. We picked up positions on the start and pretty much stayed in the top ten all night long. We were right in the middle of a lot of action out there. There were a couple of times when I had my eyes closed and just aimed for a hole and hoped we came out the other side. It worked out good for us, and we grabbed another top ten and some momentum going into Homestead ."
With only the 2005 season finale left on the schedule, Crafton is now one race away from his second consecutive top ten finish in the NASCAR Truck Series point standings. Crafton sits ninth in the points, just one point behind eighth-place Jack Sprague and 32 points ahead of tenth-place Jimmy Spencer. As he has been all season long, Crafton is in the middle of an intense battle for position, with just 56 points separating the drivers from eighth to 13th.
"I am not a points racer, but this would be huge for this team to end up the season in the top ten," Crafton said. "People said a lot of things when I came back to this team this season, but I never once thought of it as a step backwards. This team has everything it takes to compete at the front of the pack here in the Truck Series. I would put my guys up against any team in the series. I am so proud of the hard work they've put in this year and we're one race away from finishing in the top ten. We're going to go out and try to win at Homestead and our mile and a half program has been good all season long so we think we have as good a shot as anyone. But we're also going to keep the big picture in mind and do all we can do to make sure we finish the season as high as we can in the points. There's a couple of them ahead of us I'd like to catch, and if we win that could take care of itself."
The No. 88 Menards/SealBest Chevrolet will make its final 2005 race appearance in the Ford 200 Friday November 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race is scheduled for an 8 P.M. Eastern start and will be shown live on Speed Channel. Motor Racing Network will have live radio coverage on select affiliates nationwide, while TruckSeries.com will have complete event coverage including practice, qualifying, and race updates at www.truckseries.com.
Crafton Looks to Phoenix for End of Season Momentum Boost
Matt Crafton has been coming to Phoenix International Raceway for a long time, long before he ever took the wheel of the ThorSport Racing No. 88 Menards Chevrolet. He first started making the trek to the Valley of the Sun to watch his father, Danny Crafton, compete in NASCAR Southwest Tour competition. Eventually, the younger Crafton would take the reins of his father's racecar and take to the one-mile oval himself, adapting quickly to racing at higher speeds than seen at the third-mile and half-mile tracks he grew up on.
"Going to Phoenix was always like going to Daytona for the Southwest Tour guys," said Crafton, the 2000 NASCAR Southeast Tour champion. "It was the biggest and fastest track we ran on all season long and we were in front of all of the Cup teams. Everyone wanted to go to Phoenix and win."
The Phoenix track has always fit Crafton's driving style as well. Known as a flat track specialist, Crafton quickly adapted to PIR's ultra-fast but flat corners.
"I like places like Phoenix because the driver is more involved than at some of the other banked tracks," Crafton said. "Everyone can't drive down into the corner at the same speed like they can at Daytona. Phoenix is definitely a seat of the pants track for the driver. You have to count on yourself here. I have put a lot of effort on myself at being sharp at these flat tracks. You need to have a good chassis setup and a lot of horsepower here, but the driver plays such a big part of it that I don't want to let my guys down."
Going into the tricky turn one at such high speed without a lot of banking can be a difficult task, Crafton said.
"You carry so much speed into turn one," he said. "There is some banking there, but not a lot. You haul off into there and it's a lot tighter than turns three and four. It can be one of the hardest corners to get a hold of, especially if your setup is off. They widened the track coming off turn two a little, which makes it a little easier coming down the backstretch and through the dogleg. Turns three and four are almost flat so you need to have a truck you can roll through the corner, but you want to carry as much speed in and off the corners as you can. The ends of the track are different, and that's where the challenge comes in."
With the 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season coming to a close, Crafton looks to the familiar turf as a start to end the season on a high note.
"We want to come to Phoenix and win," Crafton said. "The guys have worked so hard this year and this is one we've looked to all season long as one we thought we had a realistic chance at not just a top five finish but a win. We're in a tight points battle right now, and we obviously want to finish as high as we can in the points but we also want to win races. If we come out of Phoenix with a win, the points will take care of themselves."
Crafton has four career NCTS starts at Phoenix International Raceway, with two top-10 finishes including a third place run in 2004. His average finish is 10.2 with a 12.0 average start. Crafton has four lead lap finishes, and his worst finish among the four starts is 15th in his NCTS debut at the track in 2001.
The Silverado 150 is scheduled for 6:30 P.M. Eastern on Friday November 11. Speed Channel will have live television coverage, while Motor Racing Network will have the live radio call on selected affiliates nationwide. TruckSeries.com will have practice, qualifying, and race updates at www.truckseries.com.
Crafton Races into Top Ten Before Settling for 16th at Texas
Matt Crafton came from the back of the pack in the ThorSport Racing No. 88 Menards/SealBest Chevrolet on Friday night after a post-qualifying engine change, but having the entire field in his windshield didn't bother him as he methodically picked up position after position until he was within the top ten with 15 laps to go before a caution flag allowed drivers on fresher tires to line up on his tailgate. Crafton was at the proverbial gunfight with a knife and did all he could do to hang on to 16th at the checkered flag.
On the initial start, Crafton picked up several positions by blasting to the outside, and on the first restart he gained five more positions by again going to the outside. With just six cautions throughout the evening, Crafton used a fast truck to pick up positions rather than gaining spots in the pits.
"We had a problem with the engine after qualifying and had to change it," Crafton said. "We started at the back but that wasn't really a problem. We had a good start and got a few of them right off the bat. I know that restarts are always a good chance to make passes, so I was really up on the wheel every time we came to the green and we picked up spots on every one. We raced from 36th to tenth and I think every pass we made was on the track, not in the pits. These guys gave me an awesome truck, we just didn't have the tires to hold those guys off at the finish. It was a great run, we just didn't need to see that caution flag there at the end."
Crafton maintains the tenth spot in the points, but there is one thing he would like more than a top-10 finish in the championship standings.
"We aren't points racing right now," Crafton said. "We want to go out and win races. This team has everything in place to go to victory lane before the end of the season. That is what I am focused on. If we can go out and lead the most laps and win both races, the points will take care of themselves. If we don't win, then we always want to get the best finish we can get. We're going to Phoenix and that is one of my favorite tracks, so we're going to go out and try to get that first win next week."
The Silverado 150 from Phoenix International Speedway is scheduled for a 6:30 P.M. Eastern start on Friday November 11 and will be shown live on Speed Channel. Motor Racing Network will have the live radio call on select radio affiliates nationwide, while TruckSeries.com will have complete event coverage, including practice, qualifying and race coverage at www.truckseries.com.
Engine Trouble Sends Hines to Garage Early in Texas
Tracy Hines finished a disappointing 35th in the Silverado 350 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday after engine failure sent the ThorSport Racing No. 13 David Zoriki Inc. Chevrolet to the garage just 22 laps into the 147-lap race.
"We had a decent truck, but unfortunately we're in the garage before the checkered flag again," said a dejected Hines. "We've had zero luck this season. It seems every time we start feeling optimistic about coming to the track and running well, something like this pops up and takes the wind out of our sails. I think we had a shot at a top 15 finish but it's hard to do that when you're out this early."
Hines will be leaving the ThorSport team at the end of the 2005 season, but would like to close out the year with good finishes both for himself and the team.
"We're going to be doing something different next year, but that doesn't mean we've given up on this season yet," Hines said. "I'd like to go into the off season with some positive momentum. We know what we're going to be doing next year, and I'd like to take two really good runs into the off season and carry that over into testing and the start of 2006. And even though we're not going to be back with ThorSport Racing, we're leaving on good terms and I want nothing more to go out with a couple of good runs and maybe it will help them find the right driver to hop in this truck for next year. But the main thing is I'd really like a good finish to thank these guys for all they've done this year. It's been a long season with a lot of bad luck, and they've worked too hard to close out the season on a bad note."
Hines and the ThorSport Racing No. 13 ThorSport Racing Chevrolet return to action in the Silverado 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. Speed Channel will have the live broadcast starting at 6:30 P.M. Eastern on Friday November 11, while Motor Racing Network will have the radio broadcast on select affiliates nationwide. TruckSeries.com will have complete event coverage, including practice, qualifying, and race coverage at www.truckseries.com.
