Interview with Reigning NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES Champ Crafton as He Heads to Eldora

Two-time and reigning NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES champion Matt Crafton returns to Eldora Speedway for Wednesday’s race (live on FOX Sports 1 at 9:00 PM ET) with a better chance than ever of beating one of the dirt aces he’ll face, such as Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Tyler Reddick and Ken Schrader.

Crafton entered the inaugural Mud Summer Classic at Tony Stewart’s half-mile clay oval in 2013 with very limited dirt experience. When Eldora was added to the Truck Series schedule, Crafton started logging laps in a dirt Modified car to acclimate himself with dirt racing, and it paid off with an eighth-place finish. He has continued to run dirt races in his free time and estimates he has run approximately 12 since the 2013 Eldora event.

As he prepares to head to Eldora this week, Crafton, leading Reddick by 20 points in the standings on the strength of four wins, chatted with FOX Sports regarding the upcoming race and how far he has come on dirt in the last two years.

FOX Sports: Leading into the inaugural Eldora race in 2013, you said you were going there to win, as you do every weekend, but you really had to survive. How have your dirt skills evolved since then?
Crafton: “I’ve definitely gotten better, but as a whole, we still need to get better. I feel a lot more confident this year about it with what we’ve learned, and what we just keep learning about it, so I’m looking forward to it.”

FOX Sports: You spent a lot of time on the bottom groove early in the inaugural Truck Series race at Eldora and managed an eighth-place finish. You ran higher the second year there. What did you learn between those two races that changed your preferred line on the track?
Crafton: “I didn’t run it just to be down at the bottom. There was definitely some moisture there and some grip down there, so I ran down there because it worked so well in the heat race. I almost won the heat race running the dead bottom, so I tried it in the main event, as well. It (grip) was there in the beginning and then it went away, and I had to move up.”

FOX Sports: What is the most important thing you have learned the first two years in dirt racing?
Crafton: “It’s not so much what I’ve learned because the cars I drive when I race on dirt are night-and-day different from what the Truck is. I hate to say it, but the Trucks are like a street-stock car with their suspension. The suspension is so trick and so different compared to what I run when I run the dirt cars. The Trucks are just completely different. When I go race those races, I race to see what the dirt does more than anything.”

FOX Sports: So, are you continuing to run dirt races because you enjoy it or because it benefits you, particularly for Eldora?
Crafton: “Oh, I learn something. I enjoy it and I do it because I learn something when I’m doing it. There are changes, as we’ve seen so much in a dirt race, from the beginning of the day when it’s muddy and heavy and then it goes to almost like an asphalt track at the end and goes through transitions. There’s lot of things guys have taught me to do and how the places change.”

FOX Sports: What are your odds of winning at Eldora this week?
Crafton: “If everything goes right, if I’m right, we should win without a doubt. I’m not going there and saying I can’t win. The first year we went in there for survival. The second year we went and raced a little more but had some bad restarts at the end and didn’t finish quite as well. But I definitely feel with the stuff we’ve learned, we can win.”

FOX Sports: Who will be your biggest competition at Eldora?
Crafton: “Austin and Ty Dillon and Ken Schrader for sure. And I’m sure Christopher Bell (Kyle Busch Motorsports entry) will be good. And Bobby Pierce, who’s driving the Mittler Brothers Truck — I’m sure he will be good, as well. But those things (Trucks) are so much different than what they’re used to driving, but they’ve got a lot of dirt experience, so they’ll figure it out.”

FOX Sports: Were you surprised by how well you ran at Eldora the first two years with limited dirt experience?
Crafton: “No, not really. I definitely felt we could go in there and run in the top 10. Now our goals are definitely a little higher – to run in the top five and contend for the win.”

FOX Sports: Would you like to see NASCAR add another dirt race to the schedule?
Crafton: “Hell no.”

FOX Sports: Why not?
Crafton: “We should be racing on asphalt tracks where we belong and where we are every week. There are plenty of great asphalt tracks that we don’t go to that I’d love to be at.”

FOX Sports: Is there anything you have found that’s applicable from dirt racing to asphalt?
Crafton: “Nothing.”