Matt Crafton has accumulated 310 starts in the Camping World Truck Series. Driving the familiar No. 88 Menards Chevrolet, he is in the midst of the best season of his career. Currently, Crafton is leading the series standings by 41 points over second place and defending series champion, James Buescher.
Crafton is also on an amazing streak of 16 top-10 finishes in 16 races. Buescher and Ryan Blaney are the next closest competitors with ten top-10’s. Crafton has become one of the most consistent, dependable drivers in the history of the series.
In addition to his success this season in the truck series, Crafton has ventured into something he has wanted to do for a while – compete in the Nationwide Series. He made his series debut earlier this season at Kentucky Speedway driving the No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
Crafton’s debut was a success. He qualified eighth and finished a very respectable third. He followed that up with a tenth place finish at Chicago a few weeks later.
Richard Childress Racing has a very successful Nationwide Series program. Austin Dillon and Brian Scott race full time for the team. Dillon is currently in the middle of a tight championship battle sitting just 17 points behind series points leader, Sam Hornish. Scott, who sits seventh in the standings, recently had a dominating performance at Richmond International Raceway starting from the pole and leading 239 of 250 laps only to come up short at the end thanks to a late race caution.
Crafton stated earlier this season at Kentucky that, “I have been looking forward to the opportunity to drive in the series with great equipment for a long time.” Driving for RCR gives him that opportunity.
Given the off weekend for the Truck Series, Crafton has returned to Kentucky Speedway for the Kentucky 300, a standalone event for the series.
Crafton’s success continued Friday as he paced practice with a lap 173.740 mph edging out his RCR teammates Dillon, and Scott who were second and third respectively. A top-10 finish this weekend will give him the opportunity to achieve a perfect 100% stat in top-10’s this season in all of his NASCAR touring series starts.
Crafton seems to be right at home in the Nationwide Series cars, which could bode well for his future. Rumors are that Austin Dillon will be moving to the Sprint Cup Series next season. If that holds true, Crafton could be the perfect replacement to fill that seat in 2014.
The green flag will fall on the Kentucky 300 at 7:30pm local time on Saturday.
The best show in NASCAR is the TRUCKS !!!!!