Crafton: "I have no friends" and "nothing to lose" in title-decider
Matt Crafton is focused on the Camping World Truck Series championship, not making friends.
Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing Toyota
Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
The two-time NASCAR CWTS champion is ready to go after third title at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend.
Although his resume at 1.5-mile tracks is the most impressive out of the four finalists running for the championship on Friday night, Crafton feels everyone will be on a equal playing field in the season finale.
Crafton has more starts (127) and more top-fives and top-10s than anyone else in the field but he doesn't believe his resume will make a difference this weekend.
“I don't think there's anybody that has an advantage, it's whoever has the best truck, and the best man will win Friday night,” said Crafton. “If it's meant to be, it will happen, and if not, we have 2018 to focus on. I'm looking forward to it."
Going for broke
Although Crafton hasn’t won a title since he went back-to-back in 2013 and 2014, he’s finished in the top three every year since then and feels he’s in a good spot to capture his third crown. And you can expect that he'll be going for broke Friday night.
"Without a doubt, I have nothing to lose, to be honest, and I've done it twice,” he declared.
Crafton joins defending champion Johnny Sauter as the only other driver in the final four to have won at Homestead, which he did from the pole in 2015. He will also face-off against fellow Toyota driver Christopher Bell and rookie Austin Cindric in the BKR Ford.
The Tulare, California native scored his lone win of the season in the July dirt race at Eldora Speedway and hopes his 15th career CWTS win will be a memorable one. Crafton also talked briefly about the on-track drama over the last handful of races, saying that he can’t allow himself to get caught up in all of that with a championship on the line.
"I have no friends. All my friends are going to come in yellow fire suits with Menards on them,” said Crafton. “We're going to take our gloves off, and I promise you that we're going to have no friends going into that race. We're going to do whatever it takes to win."
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