Sounding Off – Matt Crafton:
“ThorSport Racing as a whole, has been really good on the mile-and-a-half tracks. Last year, the race played out perfectly for us with it being cancelled Friday night and NASCAR making it a day race. I love day races – you get to slip and slide around. Night races you are running so long, so wide open, making it that much more aero-dependent. Whenever the race track is slick, you can move around more and try to find grip in other areas. When it’s cool at night, sometimes it’s a little bit harder. Charlotte does have a wider groove than some other mile-and-a-half tracks that we’ve been to, even at night, but the day races, I love.”
News & Notes:
- Chassis Chatter… The No. 88 ThorSport Racing (TSR) team will unload chassis No. 48 for Friday night’s NC Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte (NC) Motor Speedway (CMS). This chassis, which is nicknamed, “Tom Brady,” had two wins in 2015 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (June), and one win in 2016 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
- Charlotte Shakedown… Two-time and defending race winner, Matt Crafton has 14 starts to his credit at CMS. In fact, the two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) champion earned his first career win at the 1.5-mile track. Among active series drivers, Crafton has more starts than any other active series driver at CMS, has the most top-10 finishes (11), has completed the most laps (1866), and has the most lead laps finishes (13).
- Testing, 1, 2, 3, Testing… Crafton and the No. 88 Menards team participated in the NCWTS test at CMS on Tuesday, May 2. The ThorSport Racing driver posted the fastest time overall.
- You’ll Never Forget Your First… CMS is the site of Crafton’s career first win in the NCWTS (2008). The ThorSport Racing driver started eighth, led 10 laps, and brought home his first career win in more than seven seasons driving for ThorSport Racing.
- Intermediate Track Success… No current NCWTS driver is better at Intermediate tracks than Crafton. Dating back to 2014, Crafton has finished in the top-10 in 24 of the last 28 races at ovals measuring 1.5 or 1.54 miles. Included in that stretch are seven wins, and six runner-up finishes.
- Take Me Back – Charlotte, 2016: Making his 14th career start at CMS, Crafton started 17th, led the field twice for a race-high 47 laps, and finished first.
- Rearview Mirror – Kansas… Starting second, Crafton ran as high as first, but finished 16th in the 167-lap event due to a late-race spin, and flat right rear tire late in the race.
- Catch Crafton at Charlotte… Crafton, along with his TSR teammates will participate in the NCWTS autograph session on Friday, May 19 from 3-3:45pm ET in the Whiskey River Hospitality area, under the Ford Grandstands at CMS.
Crafton’s Charlotte Motor Speedway Stats:
- Starts: 14, since 2003
- Laps Completed: 1866 of 1891 (98.7%)
- Laps Led: 100
- Wins: 2 (2008 & 2016)
- Top-5 Finishes: 6
- Top-10 Finishes: 11
- Best start: 2nd (2014)
- Average start: 12.0
- Average finish: 7.7
Crafton’s Career Truck Series Stats:
- Starts: 388, since 2000
- Wins: 13
- Top-five Finishes: 98
- Top-10 finishes: 228
- Poles: 12
- Laps Completed: 59,945
- Laps Led: 2138
- Average start: 12.7
- Average finish: 11.4
Team Stats:
2017 Driver Point Standings: 3rd
2017 Owner Point Standings: 4th
Charlotte Stages:
- Stage 1 – 40 laps (concludes at lap 40)
- Stage 2 – 40 laps (concludes at lap 80)
- Stage 3 – 54 laps (concludes at lap 134)
Race Information:
Date: Friday, May 19
Time: 8:30pm ET on FOX Sports 1
Track: 1.5-mile
Distance: 134 Laps, 201 Miles
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