Matt Crafton No. 88 Ideal Door/Menards Toyota Tundra
Post-Race Report
Rockingham Speedway – Carolina Education Lottery 200 at The Rock presented by Cheerwine
Race Recap:
Date: April 14, 2013
Race: 3 of 22
Location: Rockingham Speedway
Started: 5th
Finished: 6th
Point Standings: 3rd
Crafton sixth at Rockingham despite handling inconsistency
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. (April 14, 2013) — Matt Crafton raved about Rockingham Speedway’s tire-grinding track surface as the weekend opened, but after Sunday’s Carolina Education Lottery 200 at The Rock presented by Cheerwine, he realized that attempting to keep up with the track’s varying condition had been his undoing.
Even though Crafton’s No. 88 Ideal Door / Menards Toyota raced in the top 10 all day after starting a ThorSport Racing-best fifth, Crafton lost a spot on the final green-white-checkered restart and he ultimately finish sixth.
That finish, his third consecutive top-10 in three races this season, enabled him to remain in third in the championship standings, 20 points behind his ThorSport teammate and series leader Johnny Sauter and four behind rookie Jeb Burton — who won his second consecutive series pole on Saturday at The Rock.
When he took the green flag, Crafton established a new NASCAR Camping World Truck Series mark for consecutive starts, with 297. It broke a mark he held with former ThorSport driver Terry Cook, who made his first 93 career starts for ThorSport and ultimately reached 296, which Crafton tied two weekends ago at Martinsville.
“We just missed it (on the set-up),” Crafton said at Rockingham. “We could make something happen for a few laps, but we were just trying something a little bit different this weekend and it bit us, to be totally honest.
“It just wasn’t consistent — it was a learning curve and we said at the beginning of the day that if we could get out of here with a top-five finish and if we stumble on it, it’s a win for us (so) all in all, I’m proud of these guys.”
While Sauter suffered on pit road, losing spots every time he hit the service alley, Crafton had more success there, including a critical stop at the race’s midway point where Crafton leapfrogged Sauter by five spots and restarted fifth, where he remained for the entire second half of the race until the last lap.
“We made a lot of changes and a lot of adjustments on every pit stop,” Crafton said. “Our pit stops were absolutely phenomenal all day — besides the first one when I drove through the pit stall.
“I was making fun of the Cup guys last night that were all driving through their stalls (in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas) and what do I do? I do the same thing (so) I guess that’s karma.”
The season’s fourth race, on the 1.5-mile high-banked oval at Kansas Speedway, will be held on Saturday, April 20.
ABOUT MENARDS:
With 270 stores in 14 Midwestern states, Menards has the tools, materials and supplies for all your home improvement needs whether just needing a light bulb or can of paint to building a deck or new home. Menards is known throughout the home improvement industry as the low price leader; it’s no wonder their famous slogan – “SAVE BIG MONEY” – is so widely known and easy to remember. Menards does things right – the company’s strength and success can be seen in the well-stocked and maintained stores, the lowest prices in town and the way guests are always treated like family in a hometown hardware store atmosphere.
ABOUT IDEAL DOOR:
Since 1963, Ideal Door has been an industry leader in sectional garage doors and the preferred choice of home owners, architects and builders for their current and future door needs. For more information, visit www.idealdoors.com.
ABOUT THORSPORT RACING:
ThorSport Racing, based in a state-of-the-art 100,000-square-foot facility in Sandusky, Ohio, is the longest-tenured active NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. Thorsport, which has run full-season Truck Series schedules annually beginning in 1998, in 2013 will run the No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra driven by Matt Crafton, the No, 98 Carolina Nut Co./Curb Records Toyota Tundra driven by Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 SealMaster Toyota Tundra driven by Todd Bodine in the Truck Series and the No. 44 Ansell/Menards Toyota Camry driven by Frank Kimmel in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.
