Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
NASCAR WIRE SERVICE — In the normally unpredictable NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, there has been one common trend the last few years. When the trucks travel to an intermediate track, Matt Crafton regularly appears atop the leaderboard.
Dating back to the beginning of the 2014 NCWTS season, Crafton has finished in the top 10 in 16 of the last 17 races at tracks spanning 1.5 to 1.54 miles. During that stretch, Crafton has earned six wins and three runner-ups. He’s finished second or better in 53 percent of the events at intermediate ovals over the last two seasons.
Crafton will make his first start of the season at an intermediate track in Saturday’s Great Clips 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (4:30 p.m. ET on FS1) where he is the defending race winner.
“Atlanta is by far, hands down, my favorite race track that we go to. I love Atlanta,” said Crafton, who boasts one win, four top fives and eight top 10s in 14 starts there. “You get so much tire fall-off from the beginning of a run, to the end. It’s incredible. You can run around there for the first two laps wide open, and then after that, when you get 15-20 laps into it, your hanging on for dear life, and screaming you need tires. Then, you still have to go another 20 laps after that.
“Atlanta definitely separates the field, for sure.”
