Monday

Matt Crafton Charges to Second-Place Finish in Homestead Finale

Matt Crafton

“We just came up short tonight,” Crafton said. “I pumped those tires up on that last run. The run before that one, we got behind, caught some lapped traffic, and the No. 4 and No. 17 got too far away from us. We could slowly run them down, but they just had too much distance on us. The crew chief made a great call to take four tires right there at the end, and we were able to make it back to second-place. I said I wanted to go down swinging, and we did. But overall, our No. 88 Australian Gold Chevy was really strong. The guys worked on it a bunch from the time we rolled it off the trailer. We qualified seventh for the race, and we knew we’d have a great shot to win. We wanted to win so badly, but it wasn’t to be for us. Our guys did a heck of a job, like they have all season, and I really appreciate everything they’ve done for me.”

It was Crafton’s fifth second-place finish this season, and his second in the last three races. He finished in second-place in the NCWTS standings. For the season, Crafton racked-up a career-high eleven top-five and twenty-one top-ten finishes. He won Pole Awards at Chicagoland and Texas.

“We did some good things this season, and there’s no doubt we expect to be right there battling for the championship again next season,” he said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be better next season. We’ve sold a few trucks already here at the end of the season, and we’re building new trucks for next season. We know what we need to do to make our trucks just that much better, and our sights are set on a championship run. This team has come a long way in a few years, and we just keep getting better. I’m thankful to (owners) Duke and Rhonda Thorson for providing us all of the resources we need to try to win races and a championship, thankful to Menards and Chevy for all of the great help they continue to provide to us. Hopefully, we can bring a championship home next season.”

- ThorSport Racing Press Release