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09-04-08 History Bodes Well for Crafton at Gateway Matt Crafton hopes to add to his successful track record at Gateway International Speedway in the Camping World 200 on Saturday. In 7 previous starts at Gateway, Crafton has collected 5 top-10 finishes. He has never finished in the top-5 at the track, however, and would like nothing better than to change that this weekend. “I love coming to Gateway,” he said. “It’s one of those tracks where we’ve always seemed to run well for the most part. We’ve always had good trucks here. Last year, we had a great truck but we suffered a couple of flat tires and fell a lap down for most of the race. We were able to run down the leader to get our lap back and pulled-out a top-10 finish. This track reminds me a lot of Phoenix, where we’ve been pretty successful, also. We always feel confident here, and it would be great to get that first top-5 finish here." Crafton has driven into the thick of championship contention. He is 3rd in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings entering Gateway. He won at Charlotte earlier this season, has finished in the top-5 in half the races this season, and his next top-10 finish will mark his 6th consecutive season with double-digit top-10 finishes. Despite the increased attention inherent to a possible championship push, he remains focused on the task at hand. “We’re happy with where we are right now, but we’re far from satisfied,” said Crafton. “Our focus each time out is top-5’s and trying to win races. The guys on this team have been awesome all year, have worked their tails off, and I’m really thankful for that. We know what we’re capable of, and we have to show it every week. If we do that, we’ll be where we want to be. We’ll stay focused on each race and look up with a couple of races to go and see where we are.”
08-20-08 Crafton Looks for Return to Top-5 at Bristol Matt Crafton looks to continue his charge toward the top of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings in tonight’s O’Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Crafton is among three drivers who have separated themselves a bit from the rest of the pack in the drive to a Truck Series championship, but to stay on track, he will need to better a string of three consecutive 12th place finishes at the high-banked half-mile speedway. In 5 career starts at Bristol, Crafton’s best finish was 3rd in ’04. “I love racing at Bristol,” Crafton said. “The high banks of the track and the speed make for an awesome race for the drivers and fans. We get to put on a heck of a show.” Crafton’s enthusiasm for Bristol is tempered by his awareness of how quickly a promising night can turn sour. The top-5 has been a familiar place for Crafton this season. He owns eight top-5 finishes, a career high, and collected his first win in ready-for-primetime fashion at Charlotte. Crafton’s 11th place finish at Nashville was his first finish outside the top-5 since mid-June. “Our Menards Silverado team has been really consistent so far this season, and we will continue to focus on being the best we possibly can each week,” Crafton said. “These guys have worked their tails off for me, and I’m really thankful. They are building awesome race trucks for me, and we’re all on the same page in terms of what we need to do to keep getting better and finding ways to improve. We’ve got a long way to go in this deal, and there’s so little margin for error in this series. You just can’t make mistakes. As long as we maintain our focus each week, we’ll be in position for good things to happen.” Crafton hopes those ‘good things’ include a fine finish tonight. “Bristol is one of those places where every driver would love to have a ‘W’ on their resume,” he said. “There’s so much history and tradition, and the best in our sport have won here. We’ll try to put ourselves in position to be there at the end and have a chance. That’s all you can do.”
08-07-08 Crafton Hopes to Stay on Roll at Nashville Between Matt Crafton and Nashville Superspeedway, something’s got to give in Saturday’s Toyota 200. On one hand, Crafton hasn’t finished out of the top-5 in a race since mid-June. On the other, Crafton has yet to claim a top-5 finish at Nashville. In 7 starts here, his best finish was 7th in ’04. He has 8 top-5 finishes this season, including four in a row, and would like nothing better than to keep his streak intact this weekend. “I always look forward to coming to Nashville,” Crafton said. “The fans are great, the winner’s trophy is really cool, and there’s just lots of excitement here. But for whatever reason, we just haven’t been able to produce the kind of results here that we have at other tracks. I’d love to change my fortune here on Saturday.” His pursuit of a first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship demands it. Crafton is 3rd in the standings, and, though anything can happen in the rough-and-tumble NCTS, appears to be one of only a few prime challengers for the championship. Accordingly, Crafton knows he can’t afford many, if any, subpar performances. “We have a lot of racing left, and we know things can change quickly in this series,” he said. “We’re happy to be where we are right now, but we’re far from satisfied. Our focus hasn’t changed a bit from race to race. We know the mission is the same every week…we’re shooting for top-5 finishes and wins, and we can’t afford mistakes. If you start thinking about what could happen or might happen down the road, it takes your focus away from the only thing that really matters, and that’s the next race. We keep working on getting better and trying to improve. That’s what’s important, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
07-28-08 Crafton Battles to 4th Consecutive Top-5 Finish at Indy For much of Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Power Stroke Diesel 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park, Matt Crafton struggled to find his rhythm. When it mattered most, however, Crafton found his groove as he raced to a 4th place finish and remained in the thick of championship contention. Crafton qualified a respectable 11th for the race, but realized early in the short-track affair that his night would not be without considerable struggle. “We were just horrible when we started the race,” Crafton said. “I said to our guys, ‘I’m not trying to be a jerk, but this truck is awful’. But we’re all in this thing together, and we all decide what we think will work best and make decisions as a unit about our Menards Chevrolet Silverado. We just kept making changes to the truck throughout the race, and we were fortunate to finish the way we did. I give my guys so much credit for the work they did in the pits, because they just kept working their tails off for me. I joked with them after the race that we’d better take that finish and get the heck out of town, because things could’ve been a lot worse tonight.” The avoidance of disappointing finishes has been an ever-present theme in Crafton’s possible storybook season. In most races thus far, his truck has been among the best on the track, and the results have reflected it. He has eight top-5 finishes, including four in a row. He hasn’t finished out of the top-5 since Michigan in mid-June. On the rare occasions when his truck hasn’t been right, however, Crafton and crew have found a way to overcome. “I always recall what Davey Allison told me one time, that he’d ‘rather have been lucky than good’, meaning that it takes those times when you might not be at your best but still are fortunate to avoid a bad night to keep momentum going, and that describes our race at ORP,” said Crafton. “We were terrible early, but we got some breaks and kept battling and making changes and found a way to come out of there with a pretty good finish.” Crafton and the No. 88 team will spend two days this week testing at Chicagoland Speedway, seeking ways to fine-tune the team’s performances at intermediate-length tracks. “We’ll keep working on our program for 1.5 mi. tracks, looking for ways to qualify better and lead laps so that we can gain some of those important bonus points,” Crafton said. Crafton is back in race action on August 9th at Nashville.
07-23-08 Crafton Rides Wave of Momentum into ORP Matt Crafton is riding a major wave of momentum as he prepares for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Power Stroke Diesel 200 at ORP on Friday. Crafton hasn’t finished outside the top-3 in a race since Michigan in mid-June. He finished 2nd at Milwaukee, and collected back-to-back 3rd place finishes at Memphis and Kentucky. Crafton is a point from the NCTS lead, and his track record at ORP is impressive. In 7 NCTS races at the venerable short-track, Crafton has five top-10 finishes. He was 4th in ’05. “I love racing at ORP,” he said. “There’s just so much history here…the track has been on our schedule for a long time. This place is a favorite of (ThorSport Racing owners) Duke and Rhonda Thorson, so it’s always extra special to me to run well here. We’ve been fortunate to have some strong runs here thru the years, and hopefully we can continue that this weekend for Duke and Rhonda.” Crafton has finished in the top-5 in more than half the races this season. He is quick to credit his teammates for his success thus far. “I’m just so thankful to these guys for the awesome trucks they’re building for me, and for their stellar work in the pits each and every week,” he said. “This group has been together for a long time, and we’re all on the same page as far as knowing what we need to do to be successful. We’re not surprised at where we are, because we’re doing the things that are necessary to put ourselves in that position. There have been races like last week at Kentucky where we had the best truck on the track and came up just a little bit short due to track position, and other weeks where we had maybe the fifth or sixth-best truck out there. The key is to make the absolute most out of each situation, especially when we have such a fierce points battle going on. Every spot, every point makes a difference.” Crafton isn’t caught up in the buzz about his chances for a possible NCTS championship. “If you start paying attention to that stuff, it takes your focus away from preparation, and that’ll get you in trouble,” he said. “You have to stay focused on every little detail, on anything that can make this team and our trucks better. As I’ve always said, you can’t win races or finish in the top-five or compete for a championship without first putting yourself in position for those things to happen, and that means taking care of all the little things each week. We have a long way to go. We’ll keep doing what we do, and trying to get better. That’s what’s important right now.”
07-17-08 Crafton Eager to get Back on Track at Kentucky Matt Crafton looks to pick up where he left off a few weeks ago in Saturday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Ford Built Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway. Following a schedule break, the NCTS resumes its roar under the lights at the 1.5 mi. track, and Crafton continues his pursuit of a magical season. “I’m chomping at the bit to get back on the track,” Crafton said. “It’s tough to be away from it for a couple of weeks. It’s extra important that we have a strong run at Kentucky to reaffirm our momentum and get back in stride. I love racing at Kentucky…the track is fast and wide, and you have plenty of room to pass no matter where you are on the track. And anytime you race under the lights, it adds extra excitement and anticipation for the drivers and fans. We’re ready to go.” Crafton is aiming for his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship. He is 2nd in the NCTS standings, and had 6 top-5 finishes in the season’s first dozen races, highlighted by his first NCTS win at Charlotte. He finished 3rd at Memphis before the break. The veteran driver of the No. 88 Menards Silverado is happy with his start, but far from satisfied. “We have a long way to go, and we’re not even thinking about a championship,” he said. “Things can change real quickly in this series. Our focus is on trying to finish in the top-5 every week and competing for wins. We know that if we are able to do that, good things are in store for us. We have to give everything we have each time out, and avoid mistakes and continue to find ways to improve. You have to earn everything you get in this series, and we understand that. Hopefully we can finish strong at Kentucky and keep things rolling.”
06-27-08 Crafton Contending for Title Heading to Memphis Race Matt Crafton has enjoyed a breakout season in the Craftsman Truck Series, establishing himself as a bona-fide contender for the championship going into Saturday's O'Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park. Crafton, 32, won his first race last month at Lowe's Motor Speedway and has two second-place finishes, including last week at Milwaukee. Crafton's best finish in seven previous Truck seasons had been third, which he did five times. And that's not all: He has five top-fives through 11 races in 2008. In his previous 172 races, dating back to his debut in 2000, he had 13. He had one last year. Crafton's best year in the series was 2004, when he was fifth in the points and had six top-fives in his only season with Kevin Harvick Inc. Crafton has spent the rest of his CTS career with ThorSport; his eighth-place finish last season is his best with the team. "This team is awesome," Crafton said. "It is all about these guys. ... I can't thank them enough for putting me in this position week in and week out. We keep doing this all year, come Homestead [the season finale] maybe we will have a shot." Crafton has been solid on all types of tracks. Memphis fits the short-track category, a tight .75-mile layout with 11-degree banking in the turns. Crafton was second at half-mile Martinsville this season and was third at Memphis in 2006. "I love racing at Memphis," Crafton said. "It's probably one of my top-three favorite tracks. The short-track feel, the outcome is more in the driver's hands than some other tracks. The track really wears tires out; you can really fall off from the beginning of a run to the end. So you have to be very disciplined with the throttle, have to take care of your equipment early in the run." (By Sporting News Wire Service, June 27, 2008, 10:46 AM EDT)
06-26-08 Crafton Looks to Stay in Groove at Memphis The more things change, the more they stay the same. The adage applies to Matt Crafton as the driver of the No. 88 Menards Silverado heads for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series O’Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park on Saturday. Plenty has changed for Crafton and crew this season. He won his first NCTS race on NASCAR’S home turf in Charlotte in dramatic fashion. He has collected five top-5 finishes already this season, one below his career best mark for a full season, set in 2004. He is 3rd in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings and a strong contender for a championship. What hasn’t changed is Crafton’s competitive zeal and constant push for improvement. Already the owner of more than eighty career top-10 finishes, Crafton keeps raising the expectations bar, and who knows where the limit might be? His arrival in Memphis would seem to bode well for Crafton’s mission. In 7 starts at Memphis Motorsports Park, he has finished in the top-10 six times. Crafton finished 3rd in the ’06 race. “I love racing at Memphis,” said Crafton. “It's probably one of my top-3 favorite tracks. The short-track feel, the outcome is more in the driver's hands here than at some of the other tracks. The track really wears tires out…you can fall off quite a bit from the beginning of a run to the end. You have to be very disciplined with the throttle, have to take care of your equipment early in the run. Memphis reminds me of Mesa Marin in Bakersfield, which isn't around anymore but was one of my favorite tracks to run back in the day.” Despite his success thus far this season, Crafton maintains his weekly focus on the task at hand. “Whether you finish in the top-5 or have a night where things don’t go as well as you’d like, you have to put it behind you quickly and be ready for the next race,” he said. "We've done a good job of that so far, and we have to keep doing it.” 06-21-08 Matt Crafton Scores Third Top-Two Finish of the Season at Milwaukee “We definitely thought we had something for him (Johnny Benson, race winner). I was begging and pleading to go back racing when we had that little lightning scare there. I was wanting to go back. For some reason, that set of tires, I just got really really tight. Just couldn’t get the thing to go, got tight center up off. Our Chevy Silverado, the first two or three runs we put tires on it, it was really really good. I don’t know if the track cooled off or what, something changed and we got really tight on that last set of tires. “I can’t thank these guys enough. This was the first time this truck has ever been to the race track. They came with that much confidence; they brought a brand new truck that had never seen a race track until today. “We are definitely a top-five team, top-three team. We just keep doing what we are doing all year. That is what you have to do to win races and win championships is put yourself in position each and every week. I feel like we are doing that right now. Just don’t make mistakes, don’t beat yourself, you have to be there at the end. “This team is awesome; it is all about these guys. These guys just built me an awesome Menards Chevy Silverado, all night it was really good. I can’t thank them enough for putting me in this position week in and week out. We had good pit stops all night. We keep doing this all year, come Homestead maybe we will have a shot. “After practice today if you had told me we were going to finish second, I would have said you are crazy. I thought we had a top-10 truck at best. But the guys didn’t give up today. They changed a few springs before the race and quite a few things and said let’s go with her there and hopefully she will come around. For the most part they hit a home run. To come out second as bad as it was in practice, to put us where we are tonight, I can’t thank them enough. “Johnny (Benson, race winner) was definitely hard to beat tonight, but clean air is everything at every track we go to. I want to say if we had gotten out in front that last pit stop, we might have been able to beat him. He could run faster than us, but at times we were faster than him. He was just a little bit better than us at the end. I was in dirty air, if we had been leading the race; I might have been a little bit better with the cleaner air on my nose. I am happy with this but definitely not satisfied.” (Article courtesy of GM Racing News)(6-21-2008)
06-10-08 Crafton Hopes to Stay in Groove at MIS Matt Crafton enters the Cool City Customs 200 at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday looking to add another strong performance to those that have lifted him to 2nd place in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings. “I love racing at MIS,” said Crafton of the 2-mile track. “It’s real fast racing, and there are probably four or five grooves, so you don’t have to stay glued to the white line. You have plenty of room to move. The key at Michigan is truck control…being able to successfully slide the truck around, because the tires wear out in a hurry. You can lose two seconds from the beginning of a run to the end of a run. So you lose grip, and the truck will start sliding sideways. You have to be able to control that slide.” Crafton prides himself on his ability to focus on the variables he can control, and pays no attention to those he can’t. In 6 career NCTS starts at MIS, Crafton has one top-5 finish (5th in ’06 ). “Hopefully we can go to Michigan and come out with a top-5 finish,” said Crafton. “Bud (crew chief Haefele) and the guys on this No. 88 team have just been working their tails off for me, and I couldn’t ask for more. They’re building me some great trucks. I appreciate everything they’re doing.”
06-04-08 Crafton 5th at Dover, Looks to Keep Momentum at Texas Matt Crafton enters the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Sam’s Town 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday looking for his third consecutive top-10 finish on the 1.5 fast track. Crafton finished 7th in both NCTS races at TMS last season, and has one top-5 finish in 14 starts there. “I love racing at Texas,” he said. “The asphalt is old, and we can run in multiple grooves. It makes for some great two-wide and three-wide racing. Hopefully, we can continue what we’ve been doing, and come out of Texas with a top-5 finish." Crafton is 2nd in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings. He collected his first top-5 finish at Dover last week, and has finished in the top-5 four times in eight races this season. “Coming out of Dover with a top-5 was huge for us,” Crafton said. “We’ve been on the way to some strong performances at that track over the years, but it seemed like something always happened and we never had the results to show for it. Fortunately, things finally changed in that regard last week. We came out with a top-5 finish and gained some in the points. We just have to stay consistent and do it again at Texas. We keep battling, and that’s what it’s all about. If you start to dwell on success, or on why things didn’t go your way here or there, you’ll waste the mental energy you need for the next race. The competition in this series is fierce, and you have to prepare the best you can and do what you need to do every time out. You can’t have any missing pieces if you expect to compete for wins and championships in this series.”
05-29-08 Crafton Looks for Reversal of Fortune at Monster Mile For Matt Crafton, the Monster Mile at Dover International Speedway has proved to be a late-race nightmare in recent years, and the driver of the No. 88 Menards Silverado hopes to make his dreams of a top-5 finish at the track a reality in Friday’s AAA Insurance 200. Crafton is 3rd in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings, within a short-track lap of the top of the board, and has collected three top-5 finishes, including his first win at Charlotte, thus far this season. In 7 NCTS races at Dover, Crafton’s best finish is 9th. He has been forced to early race exits in four of those races, including last season. He hopes a little good fortune rides shotgun in the No. 88 this time around. “For some reason, Dover is a track where I just haven’t seemed to have much good luck,” Crafton said. “In ’04, I probably had the best truck here, and blew a motor. Last year, it was late in the race and we had a shot to win, and blew up. I love racing at Dover. It’s great side-by-side racing, and you can move around pretty well. I just hope this time around we can find something good at the end of the day. We always feel we have as good a chance as anybody to win at Dover, and we’ve had some really good trucks, but we haven’t had the results to show for it. If we can come out of here with a top-5 finish, we’ll be really happy.” In the thick of a championship chase, the veteran driver says it’s essential to make the most of those days when things are not going as planned. “At Mansfield last week, where track position is so important, we had a flat tire and had to come in and fell way back in the pack, but we kept battling and by the time it was over we had climbed back to a 12th place finish,” he said. “We made a respectable day out of what could have been a really bad one. It’s inevitable that you’re gonna face adversity some weeks, and how you handle it will say a lot about where you end up. Hopefully, things will turn around for us at Dover starting Friday, and we can continue to build on the momentum we’ve established.”
05-20-08 Crafton Brings Momentum from First Win to Mansfield Homecoming Matt Crafton rose above the fray and roared to a long overdue first victory in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Friday. Now, the driver of the No. 88 Menards Chevy Silverado shifts his focus from triumph in NASCAR’S backyard to possible victory on his team’s ‘home turf’ in Ohio. Crafton enters the Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Park (located an hour from ThorSport Racing headquarters in Sandusky) on Saturday riding the momentum provided by three top-5 finishes in his last four races, including the win in Charlotte. Crafton finished 4th in Atlanta and 2nd at Martinsville, and was headed for a likely top-5 finish at Kansas before a bad break caused by reckless driving elsewhere. He is excited about his Mansfield homecoming. “We’re really glad to be back at Mansfield,” Crafton said. “It’s the home track for ThorSport Racing, and it’s always a special time for our team. This race is circled on our calendars all year, and we’ll have a bunch of friends and family out there cheering for us. It makes us that much more determined to do well, because you don’t want to disappoint them. The fans in Ohio are some of the best racing fans anywhere. They pack the stands, and they treat the drivers like rock stars. It’s a special atmosphere.” Crafton is cautious when discussing the half-mile menace that will also greet him. “It’s a tough track to deal with,” he said of MMP. “It’s difficult to pass anybody, so the name of the game is track position. Qualifying is real important here. You want to get that good position and hang onto it. If you’re stuck in the back, it’s real tough to work your way up front. Hopefully, we can qualify well and stay up front, and make the right calls in the pits to put ourselves in position to have a shot to win.” Crafton qualified 10th and led several laps in last season’s rain-soaked race at Mansfield, but fell victim to the mayhem of the tight racing quarters and finished near the back of the pack. He finished 6th at Mansfield in ’06, and owns a pair of top-10 finishes in 4 NCTS visits to the track. With the win in Charlotte, Crafton moved to 4th place in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings, a mere 45 points from the top of the board. The veteran driver knows all too well, however, that there’s no margin for error at Mansfield. “We’ve done a great job at maintaining our focus week to week, of doing the things we need to do each time out to give us the best shot for success,” Crafton said. “We’re hungry and confident, and we know the little things can make the biggest difference when it comes to preparation. We’re riding some nice momentum right now, but we know we have to work that much harder to keep it. Bud (Crew Chief Haefele) and the guys have been working their tails off for me, and I really appreciate it. We showed what we’re capable of at Charlotte, but we all know it’s about consistency, about putting ourselves in position each time out. Hopefully, we can do that at Mansfield.” 05-16-08 Crafton Storms to First Victory in Charlotte
Matt Crafton has often said that, to win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, a driver must first put himself in position to do so. Crafton, who has been in position for possible victory numerous times throughout his career, including a career-best 2nd place finish at Martinsville earlier this season, broke thru for his long-awaited first victory in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte last night. Crafton entered the race with a track record of success at Lowe's Motor Speedway, having finished in the top-10 in each of five previous NCTS races at the 1.5 mi. fast track. Last night, however, the driver of the No. 88 Menards Silverado was not to be denied a hard-earned visit to Victory Lane en route to ending a 178 race winless drought. With the win, Crafton moved to 4th place in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings, a mere 45 points from the top of the board. Though the season is still young, Crafton and his No. 88 crew served notice that the Sandusky, Ohio-based team intends to be in the championship mix. "We continue to improve, keep finding ways to do things better, and we expect to compete for wins and top-5 finishes each time out," said Crafton. "That's always been the mentality of our guys. We've always believed it was just a matter of time until we won a race. We're hungry and confident, and the guys just continue to work their tails off for me. I'm so thankful to them for that. There's a long way to go in this thing, and we're heading into a part of the season where guys will start to separate themselves a bit. You have to be consistent, have to be focused, and we're doing that. We'll keep giving it everything we have each race, and see where it takes us. But it feels great to get that first win under our belts."
05-14-08 Crafton Looks to Keep Charlotte Streak Intact Matt Crafton returns to Charlotte for Friday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 looking to add to his streak of success in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 88 Menards Silverado has finished in the top-10 in each of his five previous visits to the 1.5 mi fast track, and expects no different this time around. “I’m looking forward to Charlotte,” Crafton said. “I’ve always run well here, and hopefully we’ll be strong again and be there at the end of the race with a chance to win it.” Crafton will drive the truck he drove at Kansas a few weeks ago, where he appeared headed for a likely top-5 finish. Crafton was blindsided in the race, however, and finished 21st. “It was a real strong truck for us at Kansas, and we were on track for a fine finish if not for a deal that shouldn’t have happened,” he said. “But you have to move on quickly in this series, and you realize you can’t control how other people drive. You have to focus on those things you can control. And our guys have worked their tails off getting this truck ready for Charlotte. The racing is always great here, and it seems that as the track ages following the repaving, we’re able to move up into the middle and higher grooves more. I was here last week with Paul Menard when he tested, and we were able to pick up some things.” Crafton is 7th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings, and already has a pair of top-5 finishes to his credit, including a career-best 2nd at Martinsville. As the NCTS heads into the thick of the season schedule, Crafton is confident his ‘marathon, not sprint’ approach will aid his success. “We’re hungry to win races, just like other drivers in this series, but you can’t win if you’re not in the mix at the end,” said Crafton. “We’re focused on doing all the little things right, doing things the best way possible, so that we put ourselves in position to achieve consistent top-5 finishes. If we can do that, we’ll be where we want to be when it’s all said and done.”
04-23-08 Crafton Rides Momentum into Kansas Matt Crafton enters the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday riding the momentum of consecutive top-5 finishes. Crafton finished 4th at Atlanta and a career-best 2nd at Martinsville, and is in 6th place in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings. “I’m happy with where we are right now, but our focus is entirely on Kansas,” Crafton said. “We know the challenges that are in front of us, and we’re working every day to get better.” In 7 career NCTS starts at Kansas Speedway, Crafton has finished in the top-10 three times, including a 10th place finish in ’07. “I always look forward to racing at Kansas,” said Crafton. “The track is smooth and fast, and you can basically run anywhere. The corners are a little tricky, so the truck has to handle well. You have to get a good run down the straightaways here.” The O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 marks the end of a lengthy break in action for the NCTS, and Crafton is raring to go. “I’m chomping at the bit to get back out there and hopefully pick up where we left off,” he said. “We want to keep things rolling. We continue to learn a lot, and everyone on this No. 88 team expects to compete for wins and top-5 finishes each time out. It’s all about consistency, about putting yourself in position for good things to happen. Hopefully that will be the case again on Saturday.”
04-07-08 Crafton & Menard Help the Community NASCAR drivers Matt Crafton and Paul Menard are taking part in the construction of a Habitat for Humanity home today in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The drivers will help by installing insulation donated by Johns Manville. Menard and Crafton will be in Fort Wayne to give of their time and help raise awareness for the organization, while shining a light on the first green build home in Fort Wayne Habitat for Humanity history. In addition to their volunteer efforts, Menard and Crafton will sign autographs for fans in celebration of the grand opening of a new Menards store location in Fort Wayne. Menard heads to Indiana on the heels of a 17th place run in yesterday's Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. Crafton is coming off his career best finish of second place in last weeks Craftsman Truck Series event at Martinsville Speedway. Both drivers represent Menards in their respective series. (Co-Pilott Motorsports Marketing)(4-7-2008)
03-30-08 Crafton Nabs Career-Best 2nd place Finish at Martinsville Matt Crafton eluded the fender-banging, finger-pointing madness of Martinsville Speedway en route to a career-best 2nd place finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Kroger 250 on Saturday. Crafton avoided a multi-truck wreck on turn four of the last lap to secure his second straight top-5 finish and park the No. 88 Menards Chevrolet Silverado in the thick of championship contention. “We just had a great truck all day, and I’m thankful to Bud (crew chief Haefele) and the guys for their effort,” Crafton said of the No. 88 crew. “It was a typical, crazy Martinsville race, and the green-white-checkered finish was the icing on the cake. Guys were running into each other, and patience was at a premium. We knew we had a top-3 truck when we unloaded, and we learned a few things from testing here earlier this month that made us better. The weather change from Friday to Saturday caught us off guard and we didn’t qualify well (Crafton started 24th), but we were good when it counted. We pitted three times, and were able to work our way back up front each time, which is difficult to do here with the one-groove racing. That’s a testament to how good our truck was.” Crafton surged to 6th place in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings. Despite the career-best finish, he remains focused on the big picture. “I’m proud of what we accomplished here, and it’s great for our guys, but our mission is to be there at the end of the season with a shot to win the championship,” said Crafton. “We know we have to be strong each time out, because the competition in this series is so tough. (Owners) Duke and Rhonda Thorson have given us everything we need to compete for a championship, and we feel like we can be as good as anybody. This team won’t be satisfied with anything but top-5 finishes and competing for wins. We have momentum heading to Kansas, and I expect us to be strong there.” The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 is April 26th at Kansas Speedway.
03-25-08 Crafton Ready for Short-Track Madness of Martinsville Matt Crafton relishes a return to the roots of racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, as the driver of the No. 88 Menards Silverado looks to build on a season-best 4th place finish at Atlanta. “Martinsville is a symbol of the old days of racing, a reminder of the Saturday night, short-track races many of us have been thru,” Crafton said. “The track has been around for sixty years, and there’s just so much history here.” Despite his fondness for the echoes of Martinsville, however, Crafton is plenty familiar with the brutish toll exacted by the half-mile menace. “This track is extremely hard on equipment,” he said. “It’s not about aero or horsepower here, it’s about handling and track position. And you have to take care of your brakes. Track position is critical, because there’s just no room to pass anybody. If you aren’t careful, you can get shuffled to the back of the pack pretty quickly, and it’s awful hard to work your way back up front. The difference from the fastest truck to the slowest may be a couple tenths of a second, so there’s no margin for error. The race can be won or lost by the smallest difference.” In 12 career NCTS starts at Martinsville, Crafton has 4 top-10 finishes, including a 3rd place finish in ’06. “Getting to the checkered flag here is tough, because the competition is so fierce,” Crafton said. “With all of the beating and banging going on, it’s easy to get impatient, and you can get caught up in someone else’s mess real easy. If you’re not patient, you can cost yourself a nice finish. We just need to stay patient and try to stay out of trouble, so we can be there at the end.”
03-06-08 Crafton Looks for Return to Top-10 at Atlanta Matt Crafton enters Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series American Commercial Lines 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway seeking a return to the familiar surroundings of the top-10. Crafton, who owns 76 career NCTS top-10 finishes, looks for his first strong finish of the season at a track where history bodes well for him. In 7 previous visits to AMS, he has finished in the top-10 four times, including a 3rd place finish in last season’s spring race. “I love Atlanta,” Crafton said. “The track is really fast and you can hold it wide-open, and you can run pretty much anywhere on the track, from the white line to the fence. If you catch someone, you can get around them, and not have to follow them and wait until they make a mistake to get around them.” The driver of the No. 88 Menards Silverado will pilot the truck he drove at California, where he finished 15th. “We’re racing the same truck, but the guys brought it back to the shop after California and cut it up and made a bunch of changes,” said Crafton. “We fought balance issues with it at California, but the guys worked like heck to make changes and we think the truck is a lot better. I’m looking forward to seeing how we run with it at Atlanta.’ AMS is a high-banked, high-speed monster, but Crafton knows horsepower alone isn’t enough. “Tires are a big key here,” he said. “At the beginning of a run, you have lots of grip, but by the time we’re about ten laps in, they’re wearing out, so there’s a lot of slipping and sliding. At that point, we’re all kind of on an even playing field, and that’s where handling comes into play.” Crafton is in 17th place in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings, albeit after a pair of races. He is confident that Atlanta will provide a necessary jumpstart for the No. 88 team. “We know it’s important to come out of Atlanta with at least a top-10 finish, possibly a top-5, and that would provide a nice spark for us,” Crafton said. “We’ve run well here in the past, and we know what it takes to be there at the end with a shot to win. Atlanta is a great place for us to get things turned around.”
02-21-08 Crafton Looks to Rebound in California Homecoming Matt Crafton looks to rebound from last week’s disappointing finish at Daytona in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series San Bernardino County 200 at California Speedway on Saturday. Crafton was the victim of a multi-truck wreck early in last week’s race, and finished 24th. The Tulare, California native knows, however, that there’s no place like home to get the No. 88 Menards Silverado back on track. “We just got caught up in the typical craziness that happens at Daytona, and there’s nothing we could do about it,” Crafton said. “You can’t dwell on it. You have to focus on the next race, and we’re excited about being back in California. I grew up out here, and it’s always special to come back and race in front of family and friends. Their support over the years has been tremendous, and I’m thankful for it.” Crafton has 3 top-10 finishes in 8 career NCTS starts at California. He finished 11th in last season’s race. The race was moved to Saturday afternoon from a Friday night slot in years past to accommodate a national-television audience on FOX . “The fans are always great at California, and it’s always exciting to race out here,” said Crafton. “But being on network television really adds to the atmosphere. This series is so competitive every week, so to have the added exposure is just a great thing for all of us. I expect us to be strong this week, and hopefully we can come out of here with a top-5 finish and start to build some momentum.”
02-11-08 Crafton Ready To Roll At Daytona Daytona International Speedway is revered for the known…legendary drivers. Massive crowds. Frenzied side-by-side racing. But it is the unknown that perhaps quickens heartbeats of drivers and fans the most here…the inevitable make-or-break wildness of a race’s final laps. Matt Crafton expects Friday’s season-opening NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chevy Silverado 250 to be plenty unpredictable, and the driver of the No. 88 Menards Silverado wouldn’t have it any other way. “The only thing you know for sure at Daytona is that you don’t know what’s gonna happen,” Crafton said. “Last year was a perfect example for us. We were third or fourth when we took the white flag, and we thought we were in pretty good shape. Then a couple of trucks jumped out to the top, and some others followed, and we got stuck toward the bottom and that was it.” Crafton finished 8th in last season’s race, his first top-10 finish at the high-banked behemoth in seven career starts. “You never know what’s gonna happen here, especially during the last ten laps of the race,” Crafton said. “It’s so intense, and one driver mistake can tear up everybody else’s equipment. I’ve been caught up in it plenty down here. But you have to be smart, be patient. The key is to have a good truck, and put yourself in position to be there at the end. Crafton looks to build on his 8th place finish in the NCTS standings (his third finish in the top-10 in the last four seasons) in 2007. “We have the same truck here that we had last year, with some updates,” said Crafton. “The guys worked really hard on it, made it better. It would be a huge momentum-builder for us to come out of Daytona with a top-5 or top-10 finish and start the season strong. Daytona has been referred to as the Super Bowl of NASCAR, and I think that’s true for all of us. It’s the biggest crowd of the season, right out of the gate, and we’re racing under the lights, which always adds electricity. I can’t wait for Friday night.”
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