Matt Crafton
Crafton atLas Vegas Motor Speedway in 2025
Born	Matthew Justin Crafton (1976-06-11)June 11, 1976 (age 49) Tulare, California, U.S.
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	160 lb (73 kg)
Achievements	2013,2014,2019NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion 2000 NASCARFeatherlite Southwest Tour Champion All-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series top tens leader All-time most starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Awards	West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame (2023)
NASCARCup Series career
3 races run over 3 years
2023 position	64th
Best finish	53rd (2019)
First race	2015Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last race	2023Food City Dirt Race (Bristol Dirt)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career
4 races run over 2 years
2014 position	98th
Best finish	98th (2014)
First race	2013Feed the Children 300 (Kentucky)
Last race	2014Boyd Gaming 300 (Las Vegas)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 3 0
NASCARCraftsman Truck Series career
592 races run over 26 years
Truck no., team	No. 88 (ThorSport Racing)
2025 position	15th
Best finish	1st (2013,2014,2019)
First race	2000Motorola 200 (California)
Last race	2025NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race (Phoenix)
First win	2008North Carolina Education Lottery 200 (Charlotte)
Last win	2020E.P.T. 200 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles 15 333 16
ARCA Menards Series career
5 races run over 3 years
Best finish	55th (2010)
First race	2010Menards 200 (Toledo)
Last race	2012Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 (IRP)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 1
ARCA Menards Series West career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish	42nd (2000)
First race	2000 Home Depot 300 (Irwindale)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0
Statistics up to date as of October 31, 2025.

Matthew Justin Crafton (born June 11, 1976) is an American semi-retired professionalstock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in theNASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 88Ford F-150 forThorSport Racing.

A long-time veteran of the series, Crafton drove for ThorSport his entire career, with the exception of 2004, and is a three-time champion of the series, winning the championship in2013,2014, and2019. He is regarded as one of the greatest drivers in Truck Series history. With the exception of 2004, Crafton has spent his entire truck series career driving for ThorSport Racing along with longtime sponsorMenards. He holds the record for most consecutive truck series starts with 591.^[1] Following the conclusion of the2025, he stepped down from full-time competition, choosing to instead run a few select races a season going forward.^[2]

Crafton was born inTulare, California. Before turning to NASCAR racing in 2000, he racedgo-karts,midgets, andmini sprints. Crafton began his go-kart career at the age of seven after receiving a kart as a present for graduating fromkindergarten. He won multiple national and regional championships before moving to midgets at the age of fifteen, winning twenty main events.

He joined the Featherlite Southwest Series as a substitute for his injured father, Danny Crafton, in 1996, filling in as the driver of the No. 46 entry for the final three races of the season. Crafton took over the No. 46 full-time in 1997. His career went national when he became involved in the 1998Winter Heat Series shown onESPN atTucson Raceway Park, during which he raced against other NASCAR driversGreg Biffle,Kevin Harvick,Kurt Busch, andRon Hornaday. After four full-time seasons in the Featherlite Southwest Series, Crafton won the championship in 2000 on the strength of four wins that year. His success in the Featherlite Southwest Series that season led to the invitation to make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut for SealMaster Racing.

Crafton made his Truck Series debut in 2000 at the season finale, held at California Speedway. Driving thePickupTruck.com Chevy for ThorSport Racing, he qualified seventeenth and finished ninth. In 2001, he piloted the No. 88 for ThorSport full-time with sponsorship fromFast Track Delivery Sealer andXE Sighting System. He had eleven top-tens and finished twelfth in the championship standings, third behindRicky Hendrick andTravis Kvapil forRookie of the Year. Menards first joined as an associate sponsor in 2002, and that season, he earned six top-tens and finished fifteenth in points. Crafton earned 11 top 10s before finishing 11th in points in 2003.

In 2004, Crafton signed on to drive the No. 6GM Goodwrench Silverado owned byKevin Harvick Incorporated. He posted a best finish of third place in two races, and with six top fives and 17 top 10s, he ended the season fifth in the final standings. Despite strong statistics in 2004, he was released from KHI and returned to ThorSport for the 2005 season, where he won his first career pole atNew Hampshire International Speedway, earning two top-fives and ten top-tens and finishing ninth in the standings. In 2006, he had four top-five finishes, ten top-ten 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 atCharlotte Motor Speedway on May 16, 2008, in theNorth 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 Truck Series. The win moved him into the top five in points for 2008. Later that season, Crafton filled in forRobby Gordon in practice and qualified for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Homestead because Gordon was competing in the final off-road race of the season.

In 2009, although he did not win a race that season, Crafton scored two poles (Chicagoland Speedway andTexas Motor Speedway), 11 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes, ultimately finishing second in the point standings behind champion Ron Hornaday. Crafton had another strong season in 2010, earning one pole at Texas Motor Speedway, 10 top-fives, and 20 top-10 finishes, resulting in a season-ending rank of fourth.

2011 saw the second win of Crafton's career at Iowa Speedway, in addition to poles at Michigan International Speedway and Martinsville Speedway, where he broke the track qualifying record. However, four DNFs (Did Not Finish) due to engine failures, mechanical issues and accidents caused by other competitors led to only five top fives and thirteen top-tens, ultimately relegating Crafton to eighth in the final standings. In 2012, after the team had moved from Chevrolet to Toyota, he had a decent season, finishing sixth in points.

2013 was Crafton's best season in his career to date. He won his third career race atKansas in April. After this win, Crafton picked up the points lead and held it for the rest of the season. He finished in the top ten in the first sixteen races of the season, and nineteen overall, with a worst finish of 21st in the season finale atHomestead. He clinched his first Truck Series championship with his start in that race,^[3] and was able to stay on the lead lap despite late crash damage to become the first driver to complete every lap of the season in the Truck Series. He also made his Nationwide debut that year, running the No. 33 car for Richard Childress Racing, since the car was sponsored by Menards (which he drives in the Truck series). He ran both Kentucky races and Chicagoland in July. He performed well in all three races, finishing third at both Kentucky races and tenth at Chicagoland.^[4]

On March 30, 2014, Crafton scored his fourth career Truck win atMartinsville.^[5] On June 6, he won on fuel strategy atTexas Motor Speedway to win two races in a season for the first time in his career. It was also the first time he led more than one-hundred laps in a race. Despite crashing out at Dover and Gateway, his first DNFs in over two years, Crafton would ultimately go on to become the first back-to-back champion in the Truck Series.

On February 28, 2015, Crafton scored his sixth career Truck victory in the revivedAtlanta race. On May 8, he used fuel strategy to win atKansas after multiple other top-five Trucks ran out in the closing laps, winning a second race at one track for the first time in his career. He was also the first driver to win two truck races in Kansas. On June 5, he won at Texas, successfully defending his win from the year before, another career first. His fourth win of the season came at Kentucky after the race was cut short due to damage to the catch fence fromBen Kennedy's crash. Crafton scored his fifth victory of the season at Martinsville on October 31, marking his second win at Martinsville and the deepest into the season he had ever won a race to that point. He would add one more win in the season finale at Homestead-Miami, marking his first career victory from the pole; his season total of six wins is more than in his entire career before 2015. However, Crafton struggled more noticeably with consistency than in the previous two seasons. He crashed out at Gateway for the second year in a row after tangling withJohn Hunter Nemechek, and a few weeks later, he crashed out at Pocono after getting hit byBrad Keselowski. He would get swept up in a third wreck at Talladega withStanton Barrett after being penalized for speeding on pit road, and while racing eventual series championErik Jones for the win at Phoenix would wreck out one final time, all of which eventually consigned him to third in points behind Jones andTyler Reddick.

On May 13, 2016, Crafton scored his twelfth career Truck victory atDover. Eight days later, he scored his second career victory at Charlotte, marking the first back-to-back victories in his career.

In the 2017NextEra Energy Resources 250, while leading on the final lap, Crafton was caught in a late-race incident and was clipped byBen Rhodes; the contact turned his truck, sent it airborne into a flip, before landing on its wheels.^[6] On July 19, he scored his fourteenth career victory at Eldora. Despite finishing last of the final four drivers at Homestead, Crafton wound up with his sixteenth top-ten finish of 2017.

For the first time since 2012, Crafton went winless in 2018 with a season's best finish of second at the fifth race of the season at Dover and went on to finish sixth in the final point standings despite being eliminated after the Round of 6.

Although Crafton still won no races throughout 2019, he made his 2nd-ever Championship 4 appearance. He finished 2nd at Homestead toAustin Hill and 2 spots ahead ofRoss Chastain to claim his 3rd career Truck Series Championship.

On July 25, 2020, Crafton broke a 67-race winless streak by winning atKansas Speedway for the third time in his career.^[7] That was his only win of the season. He failed to make the Championship 4.^[8]

In 2021, Crafton went winless again but made the Championship 4 and benefited by late-race chaos at Martinsville. Crafton finished fourth in points.^[9]

Crafton did not make the playoffs easily in 2022, as he had to hold offDerek Kraus for the final spot, which he succeeded at doing. Crafton was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, landing only 9th place in points with two top-fives for the season.

Crafton once again made the playoffs in 2023 without winning a race but was eliminated again atKansas. Following theTalladega fall race, Crafton attackedNick Sanchez in the garage area as a result of an on-track incident when both of their trucks made contact with each other, triggering amulti-truck pileup.^[10] NASCAR fined Crafton $25,000 and Sanchez $5,000 for the fight.^[11]Greg Van Alst suffered a fractured vertebrae in the same crash.

In 2024, Crafton would fail to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the playoffs were introduced to the Truck Series in 2016.

On August 18, 2025, it was announced that Crafton would retire from full-time competition following the season.^[2]

Crafton made three starts in theNationwide Series withRichard Childress Racing in 2013, the first of which came atKentucky, where he finished third. In his second start atChicagoland, he finished tenth. He then scored an additional third place finish in theKentucky 300. He made an additional start atLas Vegas the following year, where he finished twelfth after starting 33rd.

Because of Crafton's sponsorship with Menards, he has made spot duty with Menards' Cup teams, including taking over forPaul Menard on occasion. Crafton was called in to substitute for Menard's No. 27Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet twice in 2014; first at January Daytona testing after a pipe burst in Menard's house,^[12] and Crafton was third fastest with a speed of 194.342 miles per hour (312.763 km/h).^[13] In March, with Menard on paternity leave, he was on stand-by to relief drive for Paul Menard atLas Vegas Motor Speedway for theKobalt 400, due to Menard and his wife expecting their first child.^[14] Crafton practiced and qualified for Menard at theAuto Club 400,^[15] qualifying 30th.^[16] At Talladega's2019 1000Bulbs.com 500, he was on standby for Menard's No. 21Wood Brothers Racing Ford while Menard was dealing with neck pain; Crafton practiced the car on Friday.^[17] Menard eventually ran the first stage before Crafton relieved him for the remainder of the race;^[18] he was involved in a multi-car wreck on lap 163 but finished fourteenth.^[19][20]

In 2014, he attempted to make his Cup Series debut withRAB Racing in the No. 29 at theBrickyard 400, but failed to qualify.^[21] Later in the year, he returned to the Childress Cup paddock, qualifying the No. 78Furniture Row Racing Chevy at thePure Michigan 400 in place ofMartin Truex Jr., who was on leave as his girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, underwent cancer treatment.^[22]

Crafton ran his first Cup race in the2015 Daytona 500, substituting forKyle Busch in theJoe Gibbs Racing No. 18 after Busch suffered a compound leg fracture in theprevious day's Xfinity Series race.^[23] He finished eighteenth after starting 43rd. Over four years later, he made his second Cup start in the2019 First Data 500 at Martinsville in the No. 36 ofFront Row Motorsports afterMatt Tifft was hospitalized with a health issue. He qualified 31st and finished 25th, five laps down.^[24] Crafton would return to the Cup Series in the2023 Food City Dirt Race to replaceCody Ware, who had opted out of the race due to a believed personal matter. It would later be revealed that Ware was arrested for domestic battery and was indefinitely suspended by NASCAR the next day.

Throughout 25 full-time seasons in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Crafton has reached several milestones and broken records, both individually and with his team:

• Crafton holds the record for the most Truck Series starts.
• Crafton holds the record for the most consecutive Truck Series starts by an active driver.
  • In the third race of the 2013 season, Crafton passedTerry Cook's record of consecutive starts in the series. Cook had previously held the record with 296 consecutive starts.
• On August 6, 2011, Crafton and teammateJohnny Sauter started ThorSport Racing's 354th NCWTS race with at least one entry in the field, eclipsingRoush Fenway Racing's previous record of 353.
• On November 14, 2014, Crafton became the first back-to-back NCWTS champion.
• On November 15, 2019, Crafton claimed his 3rd career Championship despite going winless for the second season in a row. He became the first in Series history to claim a Championship despite finishing a season winless and the second to pull off the feat in any Series sinceAustin Dillon in 2013.

In 2012, Crafton, supported byTravis Pastrana, competed in theTORC: The Off-Road Championship series' PRO 2WD truck race at Chicagoland, finishing third. He came back to TORC in 2015, running in the Pro 4WD division in aChris Kyle Memorial Benefit-sponsored truck at Texas.^[25] During the race, he was forced to operate the truck with atwo-wheel drive due to issues with his truck'sdifferential.^[26]

Crafton raced in the 2014 and 2015IWK 250 pro stock races atRiverside International Speedway in support of theIWK Health Centre inHalifax, Nova Scotia.^[27] Crafton sat on the pole for the 2014 edition of the race, and wound up finishing tenth, one lap down.^[28] In 2015 Crafton started third and quickly made his way to the front of the pack before retiring from the race with brake failure, ultimately finishing 21st.^[29]

In March 2019, Crafton participated in theMichelin Pilot Challenge sports car race atSebring International Raceway, driving a Ford forMultimatic Motorsports alongside ThorSport Racing teammatesGrant Enfinger,Ben Rhodes, andMyatt Snider.^[30]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMatt Crafton.

• Official website
• Official profile at ThorSport Racing
• Matt Crafton driver statistics at Racing-Reference

• 1976 births
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Tulare, California
• Racing drivers from California
• NASCAR drivers
• ARCA Menards Series drivers
• NASCAR Truck Series champions
• Richard Childress Racing drivers
• Joe Gibbs Racing drivers
• Multimatic Motorsports drivers
• Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers
• Daytona 500 drivers

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