JESSE LITTLE, No. 97 Carolina Nut Company Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
What is your outlook for your first NCWTS race?
“I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for a long time. I know as a family-owned team, we’ve put a lot of hard work and preparation into this weekend and making my Camping World Truck Series start at Dover is something that hasn’t really hit me yet, but certainly I’m excited. I love coming to this place, I’m very excited and I enjoy it very much and looking forward to a great weekend.”
Is there anyone you know in the garage that you can go to for advice?
“I certainly think so. It makes it enjoyable for us as drivers when we know we have someone we can go to and talk to and they’ll understand. It makes it easier and at the same time it makes it fun.”
What has it been like to work with Harold Holly as your crew chief and the rest of the ThorSport drivers?
“I’m still overwhelmed with all the knowledge all the guys have. It’s something that I’m very fortunate to even be in their presence. Harold (Holly, crew chief) and I go way back. He was my dad’s (Chad Little) crew chief in the early Busch Series days in the mid ‘90s, so he’s always been a great family friend and him and I have always gotten along well together. We always try to go fishing as much as we can on the weekends. This will actually be the first race where he’s listed as our crew chief. I’m looking forward to it. He’s very knowledgeable. Him and I, we have great chemistry and that goes the same for the ThorSport guys. It’s been great to have their help and I have the ability to lean on Matt (Crafton) and Johnny (Sauter) and those guys. Their knowledge is amazing, so definitely going to use that for my advantage and lean on those guys quite a bit this weekend.”
What does it mean to use the No. 97 as your debut number in the NCWTS?
“It’s pretty neat. I think leading up to this weekend he (Chad Little, father) was more excited that I was. It’s cool to make my first national series start. My grandpa is flying in from Washington state to come. It’s a big deal and I’m excited. Hopefully we can have a good showing this weekend.”