Defending champ keeps cool in bid for Texas sweep, repeat title
Matt Crafton's lead with three races left in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship hunt last year was a hefty 51 points, an edge he maintained with enough consistency that he only needed to start the season finale to clinch his first national series crown.
This season, three other drivers are nipping at his heels within that same points window, but the 38-year-old veteran is no less comfortable despite the tighter competition. No matter the proximity of his foes, his faith in his ThorSport Racing team has never wavered.
"If we lose (the championship), I truly believe it will be bad luck," Crafton said. "We won't lose it because we get outran. I truly believe that we have the best group of guys in the garage. I believe 100 percent in them. It's really cool to be in the situation I'm in."
That situation is only made sweeter by returning to Texas Motor Speedway, the site of his most recent victory and host to Friday night's WinStar World Casino & Resort 350 (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1), the 20th of 22 races this season. In June, Crafton prevailed in a gas-mileage battle, but had the field covered on performance as well as fuel economy, leading 118 of 167 laps on the 1.5-mile Fort Worth track.
Crafton has ranked among the top three drivers in the standings ever since posting his first win of 2014 at Martinsville Speedway in the series' second race of the season. His current stretch of six top-five finishes in the last eight races has helped him return to the top, bolstering his quest to become the first back-to-back champion in the series' 20-year history.
"We're just trying to capitalize at each track," Crafton said. "If we keep doing what we're doing, it'll take care of itself."
Crafton holds an 18-point lead on Brad Keselowski Racing's Ryan Blaney and a 22-point edge over Kyle Busch Motorsports' Darrell Wallace Jr., the series' most recent winner at Martinsville Speedway last weekend. Johnny Sauter, Crafton's ThorSport teammate, lurks 40 points off the top.
The series regulars will have an extra challenge in the form of Kyle Busch, who has scored six victories in eight truck starts this season. Busch, who is entered in all three national series events at Texas this weekend, will be trying to pad his operation's lead in the team owner standings. The Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 Toyota, with driving duties split between Busch and 18-year-old NASCAR Next driver Erik Jones, holds a four-point edge over the ThorSport No. 88 wheeled by Crafton in its bid for a team owner title repeat.
A finish of seventh or better by any of the 10 Toyota drivers in the field would also clinch the seventh manufacturer's championship for the Japanese automaker. Toyota has won 15 of 19 races this season.
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