Matt Crafton Keeps Name In Mix For Series Title
Matt Crafton (No. 88 Menard’s Chevrolet) might be thinking he’s experiencing some déjà vu. As the series prepares to head to Kentucky Speedway next weekend, he’s sitting right where he was at this point last year, second in points behind leader Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Longhorn Chevrolet). This time around though, Crafton is looking to reverse what became of last season.
In eight races at Kentucky, the Tulare, Calif., native has five top-10 and two top-five finishes. He finished third last season, which allowed him to hold on to his second place in the standings. From there, however, he slowly fell back before finishing the year fifth, matching his previous best points finish of 2004.
Surrounded by three former series champions, the driver knows the competition he’s up against and how valuable each week is in order to end up on top.
“We’re heading into the summer stretch where contenders start to separate themselves from the pack a bit,” said Crafton. “Sometimes, you have an awesome truck and maybe don’t have a strong finish to show for it. Other times, you’re fortunate to finish well when you don’t have your best truck. The bottom line with all of it is staying focused on what it takes to be successful each week, on the things we can control. That’s what will get us to where we want to be.
“This series is so competitive and we only have 25 races, so you have to make each race count. It’s important to make the absolute most out of your situation each week and the biggest part of that is finishing races. You can’t challenge for wins if you’re not there at the end; if you’re not in position.”
Being in Victory Lane is something that took Crafton a while to accomplish. He grabbed his first career win last season at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in his 178th start. He’s eager to get back there as noted after finishing second to Todd Bodine (No. 30 Toyota) to take over the points lead at Texas in June. “I would give up the points lead to be where Bodine is tonight,” he said.
Is Kentucky Success Key To Championship?
Ron Hornaday Jr.’s season is coming together as though he might be on his way to a record fourth series title. But as previous seasons have shown, anything can happen in the remaining 14 races that send the decision down to the final lap at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. The series heads to Kentucky Speedway for race No. 12 on Saturday, July 18. In nine visits to the Bluegrass State, the series has yet to see a repeat winner. However, they have seen four eventual series champions win: Greg Biffle (2000), Mike Bliss (2002), Bobby Hamilton (2004) and most recently Johnny Benson (2008).
Of those perched among the top five in the current standings, only two have wins at Kentucky. Points leader Hornaday won in 2006. He finished 10th in 2007, the same year he claimed his third championship and then again last year before he finished the year runner-up to Benson.
Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota), third in the current standings, made it to Victory Lane in 2007. Last year he sat on the pole before finishing the race in seventh.
One title contender has had mixed luck at the track. In four starts, Todd Bodine (No. 30 Toyota) has a second-place finish, a top 10, and two finishes outside the top 10. A year ago, an accident relegated him to a 27th-place finish.
Looking at who occupies the fifth position in the standings, David Starr (No. 24 Zachry Toyota) is having a strong season. Starr might be the one to wind up in Victory Lane and break his 82-race winless drought. Starr finished fifth last season at Kentucky. In six additional starts, he only has two finishes outside the top 10 —15th in 2000 and12th in 2007. His best finish was third in 2004.
Loop Data: White Hot Braun Launching Up Standings
Something must have clicked for Colin Braun after the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Dover.
He finished 22nd that race – his fourth DNF in five races, all the result of accidents.
The finished dropped him to 20th in the series standings. His runs were much better than that, but luck refused to smile on him to that point.
But then came the race at fast Texas Motor Speedway, a track at which his Roush Fenway Racing team always excels.
Braun finished third that race. A week later, at Michigan, Braun collected his first career victory (and Roush Fenway’s 50th in the series). The Victory Lane visit launched him to 12th in points.
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