Matt Crafton scores highest finish in nearly a year
BRISTOL, Tenn. — By finishing fourth in the Weather Guard Truck Race Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, Matt Crafton tied his highest NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finish since the Bristol Dirt Race, nearly one year ago.
Crafton started 20th, collecting three stage points in Stage 2 before scoring his first Top-5 of the year.
“We had really, really good long run speed,” Crafton said. “These guys work hard and they don’t give up on an old guy. I wanted to get them guys so bad but I kept thinking, ‘long run, long run, we’ll get ‘em’ and then the caution came out. I was like, ‘Damn!’ but we’ll get it back to victory lane soon.”
Three of Crafton’s last four Top-5 finishes have come on the racing surfaces at Bristol.
Crafton has now opened the 2024 season with 1 Top-5 finish and 3 Top-10 finishes in the first four races.
Crafton is eighth in points with a 40-point cushion over 11th-place and first driver below the cutline Daniel Dye.
The 47-year-old Crafton is a 15-time winner and three-time series champion. Yet, his last victory came at Kansas Speedway in July of 2020, 85 races ago.
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.