Exposing The System: The Matt Crafton Story

How and why this happened has been on the minds of NASCAR executives this offseason, how someone with zero wins somehow takes the championship in a format where winning means more. Matt Crafton came into play when it

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ered most and exposed the

system

in the process before we go any further, let's take a look at the man behind the championship in 2001 Matt Crafton entered the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at the age of 24, He was one of the first full-time drivers for Thor Sports in the early 2000s and from the beginning he was competing for championships, in fact, he was considered an underdog and from 2001 to 2003 he would achieve points in 12th, 15th places and 11.

One of the big teams took notice and in 2004 Kevin Harvick chose Crafton to drive his number six GM Goodwrench Chevy, but even after a fifth place finish and a season in which he set career highs and between the top five, the top ten and the average of results, they let him go, because he did not win after being fired and he was welcomed back to the sport of Thor with open arms for the In the next couple of seasons he would achieve consistent performances, since that he would score top 10 points in three years, even with some of these stellar performances, the fact is that in his first seven seasons he had yet to achieve a victory, not only is consistency key. but perseverance is also key at the age of 32, this long-awaited victory came in 2008 in Charlotte.

After this victory, he would achieve the best racing streak of his entire career up to this point over the next five seasons, from 2008 to 2012. He earned points of fifth second fourth eighth and six Matt Crafton had shown with persistence and consistency that he was one of the strongest drivers in the truck series until 2012, but had not yet been certified as a championship threat. 2013 was the Last year, all this changed, where Crafton, after so many seasons of effort and consistency, was finally able to put together a championship season, his 2013 drivers' championship, but he looks, as always, one place behind, potentially, that I needed to finish to get the owners. championship, the lovable old loser for so many seasons was finally a champion, he took home a limping truck and won a championship with it in the final race, when it counted the most that was added to his stature, by barely being able to lift the trophy of the championship, also made for a fun time while celebrating his championship some major changes were happening at the top of NASCAR 2014 would mark the first season in which the Cup Series would introduce a new playoff format entering the era of the Cup Series elimination for the first time in sports.

In the storied hi

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, a

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had been implemented where winning was key, while this had no effect in the current Truck Series format and Crafton took full advantage from the start. It was evident that Crafton and his Thor Sport 88 Menards team were in the way. The Right Way to Repeat This marked the first season in which he earned multiple wins and he also made hi

story

in the process for the first time in series history. Crafton claimed back-to-back championships, a feat that even top truck drivers like Mike Skinner Ron Hornaday Jack Sprague and Johnny Benson couldn't manage to lift the championship trophy over their head for the first time Crafton did, but in 2015 this team would discover that Nothing lasts forever and was followed by a six win season for the most part.

Unfortunately, Matt Crafton's career in this Matt Crafton was not the most consistent and he would finish third in the standings very soon after consistency would be a thing of the past. in the Truck Series. 20:16 would mark the first season in the playoffs. NASCAR executives who won the format across all series will be featured to ensure every series from Xfinity and Cup Trucks had that adapt-or-die Game 7 moment and one of the most consistent drivers in the history of the truck series now had to do it. He found a way to win his third championship in this format at first, it didn't seem to be a problem, he would achieve two wins in 2016 and make the inaugural fourth championship.

He was four places behind Johnny Sauter, finishing second in the 2017 classification saw a regression, he would reach the fourth championship for the second consecutive season, but only with one victory, coming like an ax in the open air, he did not even obtain a single victory that season on pavement, he finished last in that season's final four and in 2018, he would go winless for the first time in five years. Add to that a missed appearance in the Final Four for the first time in the Truck Series playoff era and it seemed as if father time had caught up with 42-year-old Matt Crafton, but just barely.

Did we know that heading into 2019 we would witness one of the most improbable championships in all of NASCAR history? This marked the beginning of a new era at Thor Sport, as the team would switch from Toyota to Ford during the 2019 regular season. Crafton was not a championship favorite, not even close, in fact, he was actually showing it. His Thor sports teammate, Grant, and Toe and Toe somehow became the new Matt Crafton, as he would not win during the regular season, but would take home despite that. The regular season championship, playoff field was set with multiple favorites in play which didn't include Crafton starting the playoffs with 611 points as it was going to be an uphill battle and the 52's froze contact there a bit , possibly, but they certainly freeze.

Worst of all, the first two races of the first round confirmed in everyone's minds that Crafton was not a legitimate favorite, the controversy was that Stewart's reason was the highlight of these two races as he would finish seventh at Bristol and 11th at Canadian Tire. Even though he was fourth, five points above the cut line, it seemed like his teammates were ready to pounce. The first round cut in Las Vegas was where Grant and Fingers scored their second career victory the year before and a place where their other teammate Johnny Sauter has gained the unpredictability of motorsports, which is why we We sat and watched a collapsible race for two and a half to three hours.

Every once in a while you'll see a strange moment and on Friday the 13th this was evident by one of our the championship maybe fizzled out the season said he was a regular season points champion and a solid start to this 98th quick race to try to replace all the spark plug wires check each one individually here changer and the 13 of us have to be kidding my God guys there are more guys that would be three the fourth or more trucks inside the fair Johnny Shawn by some miracle guessed four of the eight contenders to the Truck Series playoffs they would come out with engine problems due to the misfortune of their teammates Crafton would be the only one for the sport The truck advanced with a smile and figure and Johnny Sauter was eliminated.

Crafton would get the pole for the round of 16 opener at Talladega. The attitude of the second round was simple, survive and advance. Crafton played the conservative role, as he would lead the first lap and finished eighth and finished the race one point above the cut line. Crafton would have to maintain the same strategy heading into Martinsville. The events that unfolded here in Martinsville had a serious impact on the championship. Matt Crafton sees his team doing a battery change. Crafton did not. In the pits, Austin Hill and Ross Chastain, the three championship contenders left on the track, Crafton would have been the race leader for this restart, but lost power in his truck.

We speculated that maybe he was turning it off to try to save fuel or whatever. The point may be that if he was doing that we backed up a small road with a wrecker, it looked like Mulligan had already been used. Crafton once again had power issues while competing at Martinsville and ended up finishing 23rd, leaving him nine points shy of the cut line. If he wanted to advance, he would have to beat the team that won the championship last year in a Torrey race and his new driver, Austin Hill, throughout the race, Crafton was able to get some extra stage points and when the final stage came around, he was already was. just two points shy of the cut line after the final restart, Crafton was able to make his way through the field while the Austin Hills truck began to fade at the end despite all the craziness that happened during the playoffs for this team, They were able to secure the final championship spot for a winless driver making it to the final four is nothing new, we saw it in the inaugural 2014 Cup Series Final Four when Ryan Newman nearly shocked the world, but a winless driver took home one of the top three.

The winless championships would be one of the most surreal championships in NASCAR history. One last race tonight. A champion will be the reason. With that emphatic victory, the stage was set for the 2019 Truck Series championship. In order to win, Crafton was going to have to fight adversity from the start. It started, he was going to start ninth, the lowest of any championship for drivers was Stewart Freese and winning the pole and Brett Moffitt on Ross Chastain starting on the second row, the stage was set for one of the most surprising championship races in history of NASCAR, it is the The last race of the season is for the championship and it is green at Homestead, the first time for these drivers at this track since early this morning.

We have had heavy rain as the crews have done a great job drying it out and freezing it. Jump forward. but chastain didn't waste much time passing him for the lead this is what these actions will look like all night we could

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he knows he has to go in a hurry thread the needle his partner loses the nose of the truck and gets loose these guys will really fight against the front spilling into the center of these turns, none up the hill started far behind Crafton on the outside taking a look at Austin Hill Chastain Hill and Moffitt the only three leaders tonight Crafton trying to add his name to the list, Matt Crafton says come back guys, he's one of those who will prove that he will be a championship contender and win this race, falls on the outside of Austin Hill, next to Crafton, a two-time Series champion. he didn't win, he's the only one of the four championship contenders who hasn't gone to Victory Lane this season.

We talked about the peak of the show. He's had speed this year. He's had speed in the playoffs. He just didn't manage to finish before showing it. he's got speed here, they've had his share of problems, some of which you had during the course, you know it's your fault, some of which have been his fault, as they've admitted, but his jr. Joyner, today we have a lot of confidence that they could come here and win this championship. I love that guy over there Jr. Joyner is so prepared and confident that he believes in his driver Matt Crafton believes they can get the job done and are leading this race, but there is company coming to take Austin Hill in second place and Gus there are several trucks on the track that are faster than Crafton. now, but if I'm Crafton with a lead of about a second, I'm running at 90%.

I'm not going to cross the line here. I'm not going to try to abuse my tires too much. I'm definitely not going to enter the finish line. By the way, I have some advantage to give up. Crafton would be the first Truck Series champion to win the championship without winning a race this season if he won the championship tonight without winning the race. I'm very happy. For Matt Crafton, they've always been here talking about the fact that he's the underdog and no one really gave him a chance to win this championship until today. Phil, after those two practices, was born and there were a lot of crew chiefs on pit road saying 88.

It was one of the best tracks we could choose. It could have been designed again. They are acting when it matters. This is an incredible night for that team. Tonight before the race. Such a beautiful young woman and she was very proud of her dad. I could see her, there's just a big smile on her face and her dad has made everyone in that camp smile tonight as he continues to chase the lead and meanwhile the driver of the 88 Matt Crafton is chasing him in second but Crafton is in the lead Until now. Championship-wise, Austin Hill backs up two straight wins for Hitori Racing at Homestead and Austin Hill takes his first win at Miami and Matt Crafton wins his third Truck Series championship, the 100th win for the front, making the manufacturer and those team members will never forget. night in South Florida just like they won't forget that night in South Florida we as fans will never forget this championship, winning the championship in a format where you are supposed to win is the most important thing you can do , it's amazing, congratulations to Matt.

Crafton and this team ofThor have fun with 88 Menards on how to break the system and will once again do it for another video. Thank you all very much for watching this. This is a black flag issue. See you next time.