Reigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) champion, Matt Crafton, has the opportunity to make history following the final race on the 2014 schedule at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway on Friday. The seasoned veteran is looking to do what no other competitor has done in the series before him – become the first back-to-back champion. Crafton, who enters the 22nd race of the season with a 25 point lead over second-place Ryan Blaney, has to finish 21st or better in the 134-lap event to clinch his second-consecutive series title.
The ThorSport Racing driver hasn’t lucked into his championship run this season – “Consistent Crafton” has earned it. In his 14th full-time season in the NCWTS, Crafton has never won multiple races in one year. This season the Tulare, Calif. native was victorious at both Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (3/29/14) and Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (6/6/14). The Menards driver has led 298 laps – a personal best in one season – and scored a series-high 13 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. Finally, Crafton currently has a season-best Average Start of 7.8 and his second highest Average Finish of 6.9.
Crafton, who has 13 NCWTS series starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, including two top-five and five top-10 finishes, will pilot the same Toyota Tundra that he drove from last to third at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon earlier this year – a dependable and steady workhorse that he hopes will have him galloping into the history books on Friday night.
Sounding Off – Matt Crafton:
“I love going to Homestead – its great racing. You can race on the white line or up against the wall and everywhere in between so it’s got a lot of character. It depends on the handling of your truck, but you want to start off in the middle, then when the tires start falling off, you start sliding, and then you move up to the wall if your truck handles well up there. That’s one of the really cool things about Homestead; it’s all dependent on how your truck handles to where you can run on the race track.”
“I’m going into Homestead and trying to win the race. That’s been our goal since Daytona — we haven’t looked at the points and we haven’t focused anything on points. Just went out there and tried to win as many races as possible.”
Thorsport PR
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