TOYOTA NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
Matt Crafton & Johnny Sauter — Notes & Quotes
Martinsville Speedway – October 25, 2013
MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Menards/Ideal Door Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
How was practice?
“Our truck is pretty good. We were happy with it in race trim. Our qualifying trim didn’t quite work as well. It just got a little bit too tight, but my times were close. I think I ran an 82 and I think a 74 was third so it was just so close. But, like I said, this afternoon is the one that counts.”
How much pressure does it put on you in qualifying with the practice times so close?
“I don’t think you’re going to see — like I said, everybody did short runs today. I mean, realistically five lap runs, eight lap runs. Tomorrow I know you’re going to see some probably 50 to 80 lap runs in the middle of this race, you always do. I think that’s going to separate the field. Usually it does.”
How much do you focus on a good day at Martinsville?
“We’re just going in trying to race as we did in the spring race. Just going out and trying to win the race. I mean, yes, we’re going to be a little bit smarter. We’re not going to — say we’re going to shoot three-wide that we might have done in the spring race at some point — but at the end of the day if we race hard and try to race upfront and not points race we should be fine.”
What do you think about going back to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next season?
“I look forward to it. I always loved going there. It was disappointing that we didn’t go there this year, but I don’t know what they did to get it back on the schedule. Like I said, I really like going there. It’s always been one of my favorite race tracks. I like the mile, the flat stuff because I always say it puts more of the driver back in the seat. It will be interesting what the Truck schedule will bring.”
What does it say about ThorSport Racing to have led the point standings the entire season?
“It’s awesome. It just shows what Duke and Rhonda Thorson have done and gave us to work with to be able to lead the points. Johnny (Sauter) led the first quarter of the season and I’ve led up to here and that just shows what Duke and Rhonda Thorson have done and have been so loyal to the Truck Series. It’s going to be huge for us if we can pull it off, we’ve just got to be smart and hopefully be lucky.”
Can you compare the Truck race and the Cup race at Talladega?
“What weekend isn’t the truck racing better? It was awesome. At the end you just kind of know there’s going to be a wreck and I’m pushing and pushing and I come off (turn) four and I’m like, ‘Okay, we made it off four.’ Then we made it to the tri-oval and the center of the tri-oval and coming off we were good and at that point I look in my left mirror and I saw the 19 (Ross Chastain) coming and I move right and I start to move right and he got me. (Parker) Kligerman caused a big one, one of the big ones there at the end.”
What would it mean to win the championship?
“It would mean everything. That’s what me, my whole family — we’ve all worked for. What Duke and Rhonda Thorson (team owners) have given me the opportunity to work for. At the end of the day to be able to say if it comes true and it all comes together, to be able to say that you were one of the champions of 2013 would be everything to me.”
JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 98 Carolina Nut/Curb Records Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
How was practice?
“Our truck was pretty good. I thought we unloaded pretty decent. Just had to work on some stuff a little bit, get the splitter off the ground a little bit, but the one thing I’m noticing today more than usual is the field, even on long-run stuff is very, very close. If you look at the lap tracker — I went through and I just scrolled through a couple of the guys and an .01 to an .04 to an .03 – I mean everybody is right on top of each other. I felt like our Carolina Nut Curb Records Toyota was pretty decent. We want a little bit more. I think we were struggling for a little bit of traction up off the corner. I think we ran 60 laps today and I feel pretty comfortable with it, I just want to get a little bit better so we can race upfront all day.”
How much pressure does it put on you in qualifying with the practice times being so close?
“Obviously you want to qualify as best you can. Track position seems to be pretty important. More importantly I think it puts a huge emphasis on pit stops and making sure you’re solid all day long on pit road. Lap times are close right now. The race track is still pretty green. I think it’s got more grip than what we’ll see tomorrow. You’ve got all of these Cup guys out there running laps. I think the race track will change a little bit as far as grip is concerned and hopefully some guys — and hopefully we’re the guys that stay the same and everybody else falls off. You’ve just got to kind of guess what the race track is going to do and pay attention to what the race track looks like, if it’s taking rubber or not.”
What do you think about going back to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next season?
“Yeah, I’m excited about it. Like Matt (Crafton) said, it’s more of a short track I guess. I know it’s a mile race track and you can interpret that to be a short track or intermediate track — whatever you want to — but it’s just a good short track atmosphere and I echo what Matt said, I’m excited it’s back on the schedule. We haven’t had it — I think it was 2012 and 2013 — so the fact that it’s back is awesome. Yeah, it’s been two years. Some of the rumors I’m hearing about some of the other race tracks coming are pretty exciting as well.”
What does it say about ThorSport Racing to have led the point standings the entire season?
“Yeah, I mean obviously the news this week — Nextant Aerospace is a sponsor and if anybody is looking on their computers right now you can go to Next98.com and check it all out. That’s a huge partnership for not only myself being able to have the opportunity to know that I’m going to be able to go to the race track and race for the next couple years, but for ThorSport as a whole. I think that’s just a step in the right direction and this year has been huge for ThorSport. Based in Sandusky, Ohio, obviously Matt (Crafton) — it looks like he’s on the way to his first championship and Frank Kimmel wrapped up the ARCA Championship. Again, I echo what Matt said, it’s just the commitment from Duke and Rhonda Thorson. They’ve been at this for 17, 18 years now and this is big. Every year we seem to get better and this is good, so hopefully next year it’s me and Matt going down to the wire trying to run for another championship.”
How much of what you learned in the spring will be relevant this weekend?
“I think anytime you race somewhere twice in one season what you did in the spring race is very relevant as far as setups. Strategy will probably be a little bit different. The race was 250 laps in the spring and this time it’s only 200. I think that puts a bigger emphasis on getting where you want to be in a hurry. I think you’re going to see some guys gamble tomorrow to try to make it a one-stop race. New tires felt really good to me so I don’t know if I can go with that strategy yet or not. I’m thinking I’m going to want two sets, but setups and all that stuff obviously correlate from the spring race, but it was six months ago. Obviously, you learn a lot more stuff throughout the course of the season. We went to Sandusky, Ohio — little speedway up there and shook some stuff down and tried some stuff. I think we’re better. Everybody’s better and that’s why you don’t see a huge difference in speed.”
How did you feel about the win at Talladega?
“Last weekend was a pretty good deal for us. At the end of the race and I looked up in the mirror all I saw was the yellow 88 (Matt Crafton) Menards truck and I thought, ‘Hey, this is going to work out perfect.’ Who better than your teammate do you want behind you with a three-lap shootout? Just a crazy race. Some points in the race you had people doing what I would consider the traditional draft riding around the bottom and then you had the tandems pulling out of line sometime and making a run on the outside. You kind of had a little bit of both worlds I guess. Towards the end of the race tandem obviously prevailed with a group of three tandems side-by-side for the win. It’s unfortunate that Matt got wrecked because I would have like to see a one-two finish for ThorSport. It was just wild. We’re riding around and you have a guy pushing you and up behind you and he’s pushing as hard as he can and you see guys with a little bit of momentum squeezing up on the inside and it’s three wide with a group on the outside and it was just crazy. When I did finally get to watch the replay I realized that I was really the only truck that crossed the start-finish line and I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ We had two separate wrecks and it was definitely exciting and I think the trucks did put on the best show.”
