An on-track scuffle with another truck ultimately forced Matt Crafton into the garage area for repairs and ended his chance for a top-five finish with the No. 88 Menards/Australian Gold Chevrolet in Saturday's E-Z-Go 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
To underscore the strength of Crafton's ride, he led the opening 10 laps after powering past front row starters Ron Hornaday and Kyle Busch before the field had even reached the first turn of the first lap.
While Crafton was racing Todd Bodine through turn two on lap 61 for a spot among the top-five, Bodine's truck sucked the air off Crafton's spoiler. Crafton chased the truck up the track but made contact with Bodine, sending Bodine into a spin and Crafton into the outside barrier. The ThorSport Racing crew made quick repairs to the truck, but on lap 68 the right front tire was cut down and Crafton smacked the wall again in turns one and two. Crew chief Bud Haefele ordered Crafton to the garage area for repairs, costing Crafton 35 laps and relegating him to 27th at the finish.
"It's the second year in a row we've had one of the best trucks here and we are leaving here without the finish to show for it," Crafton said. "I hate it for the guys on the Menards Chevy team and I hate it for the guys on the 30 truck with what happened down there. I was super loose all day and when he got to the outside of me it sucked the air off the spoiler and it started to go around on me. I tried to catch it but we got together and wrecked. We went back out then cut down a right front tire and that did some real damage and we had to come in and fix it. The guys did a great job all weekend. We definitely had a top five truck here and it's a shame we didn't get the finish our team deserved."
Crafton maintains the eighth place in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, 98 points behind leader Todd Bodine and just 30 points behind fifth-place Aric Almirola.
Next up for Crafton and the No. 88 Menards/Australian Gold Chevrolet is the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday March 27. There will be two rounds of practice on Friday March 26, the first at 10 A.M. Eastern and the second at 1:10 P.M. The 36-truck starting field will be set immediately following Sprint Cup Series qualifying. The race will be televised live on SPEED starting with a 30-minute pre-race show at 1:30 P.M. Eastern. The race can also be heard live on select affiliates of the Motor Racing Network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).
