CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As the playoffs for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series prepare to kick off Friday night at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Matt Crafton is poised to make history.
Crafton, who qualified for the playoffs despite going winless this season, could tie Ron Hornaday with the most championships in series history if he collects his fourth title when the season concludes at Phoenix Raceway in November.
Crafton drives the familiar ThorSport Racing No. 88 Toyota.
“I want to win as many championships as I can and to have my name possibly next to Ron Hornaday, I mean, I’ve always looked up to Ron,” Crafton said during media day on Tuesday. “He’s a great, great race car driver, one of the greatest to ever race in the Truck Series full time. It would be very cool, no doubt, but we definitely have some work to do.”
Crafton said he has talked to Hornaday about his chances of tying him with four championships.
“Actually, last week we had a beer together and he said if I make the final four, he might just show up and be there and come on stage and have a shot. He was there when I won three and (Carl) Joiner (crew chief) and I held up threes and (Ron) Hornaday stood next to us with his four and said, ‘Still one more to go boys. Four, you could get there.’
“I’m sure he would be proud without a doubt, especially all of us coming from the West Coast, but I’m sure down inside he’s like ‘man, I would like to hold this one as my own.’”
Crafton knows what it takes to win the championship.
“I couldn’t tell you how many points I have or where I stand or where I stack up. I don’t care about any of that. All I know is my task at hand is to go maximize my points each and every week,” Crafton explained. “I don’t even know where I start St. Louis. All I know is I’m going to go out there and have a different mindset going into these next few races to get to Phoenix and have something to prove. I always do that each and every week, but at the same time, if you go out and maximize your points, it will take care of itself.”
Crafton, who won the Truck Series title in 2013, ’14 and ’19, claimed his most recent title without winning a race.
“To be honest, I felt a little bit better going into 2019 just because we had practice and we were making a lot of headway going into the playoffs,” Crafton remembered. “We were running well and we had everything going our way at that point. It was almost funny to see everyone counting us out and I knew the progress we had made throughout that year and we used all of the tools that we had.
“It felt good to be counted out to be totally honest and go and do what we did. I definitely wouldn’t count us out again this year. Junior (Carl Joiner, crew chief) and every one of these guys are working hard and you never count the 88 group out.”