After a five-year absence, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to the fabled Darlington Raceway for the Too Tough to Tame 200, a race Matt Crafton and his ThorSport Racing team can't wait to put in their rear view mirror.
Are you looking forward to racing at Darlington, or anxious to get it behind you? "I can't wait to get it behind us. There are so many variables there, things outside of your control. It might not be in the same league as a Daytona or Talladega but it's close. We need to make sure we keep the right front fender on the truck and not be up scraping against the wall. These trucks are so aero dependent now that anything that damages that right front will end your chances pretty quick. It's not a long race, just 200 miles, so we'll need to drive hard but drive smart. We need to worry about racing the racetrack and not get carried away racing someone too hard too early."
Is there anything you can take from your previous experience there or have things changed so much since 2004 that nothing carries over? "We're going there with an empty notebook. So much has changed. The trucks are so much more dependent on aero now. The engine package is different. The track has been repaved and is a lot faster now. What we do know is that we're going to be driving it a lot like some of the mile and a half tracks, especially through turns one and two. We should be running wide open through there."
Have you noticed a change in your team from the early part of the season to now? "It's tough on everyone when you're running well but not getting the finishes you deserve. We have been fast every week but for a couple of months we just didn't have anything to show for it. It was tough on my guys when we were going though that streak of bad luck. But now that we're running better, I can definitely see a change. A lot of it is because they aren't working on fixing wrecked stuff, they can focus on making our stuff better. Now we're getting the finishes and we're back in contention for the championship and my team is as focused as I am."
