Matthew Justin Crafton (born June 11, 1976 in Tulare, California) is an American driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He currently drives the #88 Menards Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Early career[]
Before turning to NASCAR racing, Crafton raced go-karts, midgets, and mini sprints. His career went national when he became involved in the 1998 Winter Heat Series shown on ESPN at Tucson Raceway Park, during which he raced against other current NASCAR drivers Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Ron Hornaday. He has made 172 consecutive starts in the Truck series.
Crafton began his go-kart career at the age of seven after receiving a kart for a graduation present for graduating from kindergarten. He won national and regional championships for many years before moving to midgets at the age of 15, winning twenty main events. He joined the Featherlite Southwest Series in 1996, and won the championship in 2000.
Craftsman Truck Series[]
Crafton made his Truck series debut in 2000 at the season finale at California Speedway. Driving the PickupTruck.com Chevy for Thorsport, he qualified 17th and finished ninth. In 2001, he piloted the 88 for ThorSport full time with sponsorship from Fast Track Delivery Sealer and XE Sighting System. He had eleven top-tens and finished twelfth in the championship standings, third behind Ricky Hendrick and Travis Kvapil for Rookie of the Year. Menards first joined as an associate sponsor in 2002 and despite the extra funding, he only had six top-tens and fell to fifteenth in points, before to an eleventh-place finish in 2003.
For 2004, Crafton signed on to drive the #6 GM Goodwrench Silverado owned by Kevin Harvick Incorporated. He posted a third place finish twice, and ended the season fifth in the final standings. Despite the finish, he was released from KHI and returned to ThorSport, and won his first career pole at New Hampshire International Speedway. In 2006, he had four top-five finishes and finished fourteenth in points. In 2007, he improved to eighth in points and posted ten top-ten finishes for the third consecutive season.
Crafton's first NASCAR win came at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 16, 2008, in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. It was his 178th start, the record for most starts a driver has had before getting his first win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The win moved him into the top five in points for 2008. Crafton also filled in for Robby Gordon at Homestead (practice and qualifying) because Gordon was at the final off road race of the season which Gordon became the champion.