MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Is Kentucky a race track you enjoy?
“I love it – just how rough the place is and all the different grooves that it’s had over the years. You definitely can move around and search for different grooves. It seems to promote side-by-side racing so hopefully we will put on a great show if we can get it in tonight.”
What have you been doing during the rain delay?
“I was trying to find a place to sleep – that’s what I was trying to do. This long, grueling, boring day – I’m in the trailer and it gets pretty boring and the search for food and a place to sleep. Besides that, we’re ready to get on the track.”
What have you heard about getting track time and how much practice do you need?
“I think once they get the track dry, one of the biggest problems here is it weeps real bad just out of the cracks. I think that’s what happened last night and why they cancelled it. If they can get it dry and I’m sure NASCAR has no idea how long the weepers will last, but I know once it stops raining, it will maybe take two hours if that to get it dry besides the weepers. I know they want to get it done now and I think realistically if we get 30 minutes of practice it would be fine. I’m sure some of us will need more – we probably will. This place hasn’t been the most kind to us over the last couple years.”
Is this an easy commute for your team and would NASCAR start the race without any practice?
“Yeah, I think it’s only four hours to drive for our guys if that to get here. I don’t think NASCAR would actually send them right off the truck to the race track. I think we at minimum would have to have 20 to 30 minutes of practice. I’m sure they’re going to call qualifying here in a little bit if I was a betting man and just get us some practice so we can go race. At that point I think they would go by points if I’m not mistaken. I’m fine with that.”
ERIK JONES, No. 4 Special Olympics Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Are you looking forward to racing a truck at Kentucky?
“I’ve never actually raced a truck race here, but I’ve been here in an ARCA car a few years back and it was pretty fun and a pretty racy place. Just a lot of character even a couple years ago. Excited to get back here in a truck and make some laps here hopefully today and hopefully get this race in tonight as well. Just been fun to be here, it’s a fun track and we all love coming here. Excited to turn my first laps here in the truck.”
What have you been doing during the rain delay?
“I’ve been working on logistics for a late model race I’m trying to run next weekend. I’ve been pretty busy for the last hour or so. You get antsy and you want to get in the truck and you want to feel where your stuff is at and where you are. You get nervous about how much practice you’re going to get. We were supposed to get quite a bit of practice this morning and it got trimmed down and it’s none at this point so you’re always wondering just how much practice you’re really going to get in and see where your truck is at.”
What was it like waiting to get that first NCWTS win this season and the logistics of the weekend at Iowa and Chicago?
“I wouldn’t say it was a wait more than just me being anxious to try to get a win. It was disappointing – I just wanted to get my crew guys that win more than anything. They work so hard and we just really didn’t have anything to show for our year to that point. It was more just me wanting to get something for them. Obviously, it came in a bunch there two weekends ago at Iowa and Chicago. It wasn’t too crazy getting back and forth. I didn’t fly up to Chicago until the next morning after the Truck race in Iowa. I had plenty of time to get there and we weren’t even on track in Chicago until one or two in the afternoon. Pretty easy day and not too bad on travel – nothing too crazy.”
What have you heard about getting track time and how much practice do you need?
“I haven’t heard anything, but obviously we’re working on getting the track dry and we’ll kind of go from there. I’m not entirely worried about getting a ton of practice. It would be quite a spectacle if we went out there with no practice. I think there would be a lot of people kind of fighting for their lives at some point. It would be nice to have at least 30 minutes of practice just to go out there and get travels and make sure nothing is hitting the race track. If we can get that, it makes me pretty comfortable.”
Do you think NASCAR would start the race with no practice time?
“We were talking about that and somebody said it was I-70 speedway in 1998 – they went straight to the race. I was two. If it was this month, it if was before May, I was a year old.”
Are you hoping Christopher Bell gets more races in the 54 Tundra?
“Absolutely. Christopher (Bell) is a pretty great young talent. Obviously, I enjoy racing with him and it’s cool to have a guy come along in KBM and really right there with us and figuring stuff out together. Any opportunity he gets is great – it’s cool to see for him. He’s worked hard and been successful in late models and definitely deserves the opportunity. It’s been fun to get to race with him. Obviously he was pretty fast at Iowa and I’m sure this weekend will be no different for him.”
How much do you pay attention to the talk about your racing future?
“I kind of let it take care of itself. Obviously, I’m concerned about my career path. I think anybody that says they don’t look at it entirely is lying. I see it and it’s there, but I honestly don’t pay much attention to it. I go out and do my job every week and try to drive as hard as I can and try to win the race. As long as you do that, everything else will fall into place. We’ve had a good week a couple weeks ago and that was great. Just focused on this weekend now and trying to keep everything going and keep that success. It’s been fun and it’s been a good year. I’m definitely excited about the future.”
What does it mean to be discussed as a future NSCS star?
“It means a lot. I worked for a long time to be considered to be one of the better young guys coming up. When I was 13, 14, 15 and running late models, I wasn’t really in the conversation with some of the other guys coming up. To finally be at that point where I’m in those talks, it means a lot to me and it’s important to me to be up there and makes me feel good. Nice to see all that work pay off for us and to be at this point right now.”
