Matt Crafton, No. 88 Slim Jim®/Menards Toyota Tundra
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Kansas Speedway – Toyota Tundra 250
Race No. 4 of 23
Stats:
Started: 2nd
Finished: 1st
Laps: 167/167
Status: Running
Driver Points: 1st (+17)
Owner Points: 1st
MATT CRAFTON “SNAPS” INTO VICTORY LANE AT KANSAS
Kansas City, KS (May 9, 2015) – Defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) champion, Matt Crafton, defied history once again, winning Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, KS. The Slim Jim®/Menards driver earned his seventh career victory and became the series’ first repeat winner in 15 NCWTS races at the 1.5-mile oval.
Crafton, who started second, wasn’t the fastest driver on Friday night, but he proved to be the lucky one. “Some days you’re lucky, some days you’re good,” said Crafton as he crossed the stripe and clenched the win.
The ThorSport Racing driver maintained a position inside the top-two through the races first 60 laps before being forced down pit road for a lengthy stop on lap 67 for a vibration. While most teams on pit road opted for two tires, the No. 88 Menards team was forced to take four tires, losing valuable time and track position on pit road. Restarting 10th at lap 71, Crafton was able to work his way back inside the top-five by lap 100 before making his final stop on pit road at lap 111, under caution, for four tires and fuel.
As the laps started winding down in the Toyota Tundra 250, fuel mileage was the buzz on pit road. Crafton, who was told by his crew chief Carl “Junior” Joiner that he couldn’t make it on fuel, was running fourth with five laps to go in the 167-lap event when the leaders began pulling to the apron with empty fuel cells. One by one, the top-three drivers slowed on the race track and Crafton was able to cruise to his seventh career victory with only drops left in his tank.
“You’ve got to be close enough to sneak one out once in a while,” said Crafton. “I’ve lost some like this, so every once in a while, when you steal one, I don’t feel too bad about it.”
The victory was the second of the season for Crafton, and his second in the last three NCWTS races at Kansas.
Quote:
“I said when we took the checkered flag that I would rather be lucky than good sometimes and we definitely were tonight. We definitely didn’t have the fastest truck – I felt we had the second-fastest truck and just lost track position. I had a bad vibration at one point and took four (tires) and a lot of people took two or no tires. That got us back there. I could catch those guys, but it was just super, super tough to pass. You have to be close enough to be able to sneak one out every once in a while and I’ve lost them on things like this. Every once in a while when we steal one, I don’t feel too bad about it.”
Notes:
- Matt Crafton won Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway, his seventh career NCWTS victory
- This was Crafton’s second win at the 1.5-mile track in 15 starts, making him the first repeat winner in the history of the NCWTS at Kansas Speedway
- Crafton led three times for six laps, including the final two laps of Friday night’s 167-lap event
- The Menards driver retains the point lead after the fourth race on the 2015 NCWTS schedule. Crafton is now 17 points ahead of second-place, Tyler Reddick
- In 2015, Crafton has two wins (Atlanta Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway), three top-five and four top-10 finishes
- Crafton’s ThorSport Racing teammates, Johnny Sauter finished third followed by Cameron Hayley in fifth. This is the first time in ThorSport Racing’s history that all three trucks finished inside the top-five
- In 342 career NCWTS starts, Crafton has seven wins, 79 top-five, and 196 top-10 finishes
- Up next: NC Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway on Friday, May 15
ABOUT SLIM JIM:
Slim Jim® is a brand of ConAgra Foods’ Consumer Foods segment, which manufactures and markets leading branded products to retail and foodservice customers in the United States and internationally. ConAgra Foods’ products are found in 97 percent of America’s households, including major brands such as Egg Beaters®, Healthy Choice®, Hunt’s®, Orville Redenbacher’s® and PAM®, just to name a few.
ABOUT MENARDS:
With 287 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 THORSPORT RACING:
ThorSport Racing, based in a state-of-the-art 100,000-square-foot facility in Sandusky, Ohio, is the longest-tenured NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. ThorSport, which has competed in the NCWTS since 1996, will run the No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra driven by two-time NCWTS drivers’ champion Matt Crafton, the No. 98 Nextant Aerospace/Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff/Curb Records Toyota Tundra driven by Johnny Sauter, and the No. 13 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota Tundra driven by Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender, Cameron Hayley in 2015.
