Matt Crafton: A Career That Was One in a Thousand

Most of the time, teams are quick to move on from drivers for all sorts of reasons. Sponsorship, performance stagnating or getting worse, or even for the next big up-and-coming star. But something Matt Crafton and ThorSport show is that sometimes the best thing to do is to stick to a driver you know is talented.

How Crafton Helped ThorSport Blossom

2000 was an important year for both Sealmaster Racing, now ThorSport, and Crafton. Sealmaster and long-time driver Cook were parting ways after 3 years together, and Matt Crafton had won the 2000 Featherlite Southwest Series championship. So Crafton was chosen to be Cook’s replacement. In Crafton’s first three seasons, he failed even to score a top 5 with the No. 88 team, but he picked up where Cook left off. Cook finished 14th in points when he left the team. By year 3, Crafton had brought the No. 88 to finishes of 12th and 11th in the points, and so he was looking for bigger opportunities.

Crafton’s Time at Kevin Harvick Industries

In 2004, he left for the team that was owned by the man who replaced Dale Sr., Kevin Harvick, seizing his opportunity to impress a Cup Series driver in hopes of attracting a Cup Series owner. On paper, he did great, with his first six career top fives along with a total of 16 top tens for a 5th place finish in the points, Crafton’s first top 5 or 10 points finish. But Harvick wanted a winner, and since he never finished second, he threw him out.

Now, if ThorSport took things personally like a Childress, there’s no way he’d be allowed back in that building.

But after ThorSport struggled with replacement Hines, they went back to what worked and signed Crafton back. He earned the team their first-ever top 10 points finish with a 9th in 2005, but his first career win was still nowhere near. Again, Thorsport could’ve gotten frustrated or fooled themselves into believing some younger up-and-coming driver would’ve gotten them that win. But they kept believing in him, and in 2008 at Charlotte, it paid off!

Crafton’s First Win

He was up front all day when everything fell into place. Benson got a black flag for jumping the restart after Darnell stalled. Crafton went to Benson’s outside to take the lead when a caution came out, and Benson was black flagged. He was then batting for the lead with champions Hornaday and Todd Bodine when Hornaday’s 33 made contact with Bodine’s 30.

Bodine was so angry that he drafted Hornaday, until he spun around, bringing out the caution, which made Hornaday so mad that he hit Bodine under yellow. Bodine was sent to the back of the longest line, allowing Crafton to earn his 1st ever win.

Crafton’s Dominance is Unmatched

The win made it even easier for ThorSport to put faith in him, and with Sauter leading the ship, it put less pressure on him and gave him more room to improve, which is how the period from 2013 to 2017 happened. At the peak of his career, he won 12 of his 16 career wins in this stretch, and in those 113 races, he earned 86 top tens for an insane 76.11% top ten percentage over 4 seasons.

His 2015 season was by far his career best, marked by the most wins in a single season (6), the most poles (4), and his best average finish was 7.7. He won two of his truck series titles in 2013 and 2014; additionally, he would’ve won more if not for the playoffs.

Crafton’s Playoff Revenge

2019 was a return to form for him. Getting the most top 10s he’s had since 2015 and the most poles since then, too. People were still shocked that, in a system that awards winning, he had sneaked into being one of the four drivers contending for a title despite lacking a win.

But with a graphic showing he’d only beat the rest of the 4 Chastain, Moffitt, and Friesen twice all year, if he did tonight, he’d have to win. No, because non-final four driver Austin Hill won, and Crafton finished right behind him. Beating out all other championship contenders to take his 3rd title, winning a championship without a win in a system that’s supposed to reward them.

The Aftermath

He’d win his last race in 2020, and his previous top 5 point finishes in 2021, with his last final four appearance in 2021. Things would go downhill fast, as 2022 would be his last year with 10+ top tens, and so far this season, he has not even had a top 5. But now that he’s retired, let’s remember his dominant and consistent peak, not his last years, and the faith Crafton showed in himself and ThorSport, which reciprocated that faith. With that, it paid off in multiple wins and championships. Thanks a bunch for reading.