Matt Crafton stormed to a 2nd place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series O'Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday.
The finish was Crafton's best at Bristol, his 7th top-5 and 12th top-10 this season, and kept him squarely in the thick of NCWTS championship-contention.
"I'm just so proud of our guys,' said Crafton of the No. 88 Menards crew. "They did an awesome job with the changes to our Menards Chevy Silverado. We were coil-bound all day, but went conventional at the end of practice and threw everything but the kitchen sink at it. When the race started, we really had no idea what we had, but early in the race, it became obvious to me that we had a heckuva piece. Our truck was really good, just outstanding on the long runs. It took a few laps to get going, but then just kept getting better."
Crafton qualified 18th for the race at a venue where track-position is paramount, adding to the team's challenges.
"Tonight was a great example of what these guys continue to do for me," Crafton said. "We just kept battling and the guys were doing everything possible to keep improving our truck, and it paid off for us. We keep looking for ways to get better, ways to maximize what we have each time out, and that's what it's about. These guys expect to finish at the front, and will keep battling and making adjustments to put us there. We all know things can happen at Bristol that can cause a bad night in a hurry, and we were fortunate to come out of there with everything intact. All in all, it was a good night for us, and we'll take it and be ready at Chicago."
Crafton remains in 2nd place in the NCWTS standings.
