Matt Crafton
2006

2/27
THORSPORT DUO FINDS  GOING DIFFICULT AT CALIFORNIA

ThorSport Racing’s Matt Crafton and Kerry Earnhardt were unable to mount a serious challenge for victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Racetickets.com 200 at California Speedway on Friday.

Crafton, driver of the No. 88 Menards Chevy Silverado, qualified 30 th and finished 20 th at California, a disappointing follow-up to his sixth-place finish there a year ago.  Crafton and crew fought handling issues on the truck throughout the race and never found a comfort zone, preventing him from any shot at consistently running with the race leaders.

Earnhardt, driver of ThorSport Racing’s No. 13 Chevrolet Silverado, experienced similar results at California as he qualified on an owner’s provisional (starting 35 th ), battled aero tightness on his truck for the duration , and settled for a 29 th place finish.

The ThorSport duo sits 19 th and 20 th , respectively, in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings after the first two races of the ’06 season.

Next up for Crafton and Earnhardt is the fast track of Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 17 th .

2/23
CRAFTON TO CELEBRATE HOMECOMING IN RACETICKETS.COM 200

Matt Crafton heads home to California Speedway for Friday night’s Racetickets.com 200 looking to rebound from a 26 th place finish in the ’06 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season-opener at Daytona.

Crafton grew up in Tulare, a couple of hours from California Speedway, and the driver of ThorSport Racing’s No. 88 Menards Chevrolet Silverado hopes to repeat the success of his last “business” trip out West on Friday.  In January, Crafton captured the final NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division Southwest Series 100 at Phoenix International Speedway.  

Crafton started 10 th and finished sixth at California last season, his best finish there to date.  In ’00, Crafton made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut for ThorSport Racing at California, and finished ninth.  He began racing full-time for ThorSport in ’01.

A little home-cooking just might be the recipe for success for Crafton at California on Friday.  “It’s always special to me to race there…it’s like coming home,” Crafton said.  “I ran my first race for ThorSport Racing there.  I have family and friends that will come and support me.  It means so much to me, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

2/17
CRAFTON CAUGHT IN LATE-RACE CRASH, FINISHES 26TH IN GM FLEXFUEL 250

Matt Crafton was caught in a crash involving seven trucks and finished 26 th in the season-opening NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series GM FlexFuel 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday.

Crafton, who started 22 nd in the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Menards/Energizer Chevrolet Silverado, found his groove in the middle part of the race and was running 11th when he was swept up in the multi-car wreckage sparked by a cut tire on Kraig Kinser’s truck on lap 73.  He finished two laps down.

“Unfortunately, I got caught up in something I couldn’t avoid,” Crafton said.  “ I feel bad for the guys at the shop.  They worked really hard getting this truck ready to race. We’ll just keep fine-tuning it and be ready to go at California.”