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  • Exclusive-Catching up with 2016 Truck Series Champion Johnny Sauter

    Exclusive-Catching up with 2016 Truck Series Champion Johnny Sauter

    Johnny Sauter is a racer’s racer, a 23-time race winner, 2016 champion, a future NASCAR Hall of Fame member and a tell it like it is, race car driver.

    In this interview, we talk everything racing including how Sauter got his start, his return to Thorsport Racing, the NASCAR schedule and recent rule changes, what race car part he would be and if he would retire now, would he be satisfied with his career?

    Necedah, Wisconsin is where you will find the famous racing name, the Sauter family. The Sauter name has been a big name in racing, just like any big name in racing. Tim Sauter, Johnny’s brother, and Jim Sauter, Johnny’s dad all made their mark in NASCAR by making starts in several series.

    Growing up, he was not your typical sports kid. He was always interested in racing from a very young age, like most race car drivers nowadays. Sauter did not spend time Friday nights watching high school football games or basketball games. Instead he was focused on racing and spending time with his family at the racetracks.

    The Wisconsin native talks about what peaked his interest in wanting to become a racecar driver.

    “I couldn’t help, but take an interest in it (racing), going to short tracks with my old man,” Sauter said. “You know, growing up in a small town, I really didn’t get into too many sports or any other thing, like that. I kind of always wanted to be around racing. So I would go to the racetrack with my older brothers, work on the car during the week and in the summertime, I spent my time going to the track.”

    He recalls his first few memories of being at the racetrack at such a young age. He remembers being aggressive and people not being happy with it.

    “I remember being pretty aggressive and a lot of guys wanting to kill me,” Sauter said. “Early on, I didn’t know what I was doing. I had a very fast car. I made a lot of contact. Those were some of the earliest memories, but I was able to figure it out really quick and had success being able to win races pretty quick.”

    “I just remember it being a lot of fun,” he said. “Back in those days, you did all you could to get to the racetrack and then when you got there, there’s nothing like it. Those are some of the earliest memories for sure.”

    Before his time in NASCAR, he competed in what is now the defunct ASA National Touring Series, where his first start came in 1998, by racing in seven races. The series was known for building drivers before competing nationally.

    He talks about how he started racing in ASA and why it led him to where he is today.

    “I was having a lot of success in the ASA Series, which was a national series,” the 2016 champion said. “It was responsible for developing a lot of guys like Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki, Rusty Wallace, the Allisons, and you know, all these people. Unfortunately, it’s not here anymore.”

    “I was in that series in 2001 and won 10 out of 20 races, won Rookie of the Year and the championship all in one season,” Sauter told Speedway Media. “That’s kind of how it catapulted my career to get the opportunity to go south and race for a living.”

    With the ASA gone for several years now, Sauter thinks it could come back, but it would have to take the right people.

    “I miss it (ASA),” he said. “I wish there was something equivalent to others. The unique thing about ASA, it was a national touring series, but it focused on short tracks. You went to Milwaukee, which was a mile, to me the biggest track you could ever think about going to. Just a lot of your grassroots short tracks. I don’t know if there is really anything that focuses on that, like ASA did. So obviously, I was a big fan of that, I would love to see something similar come back, but it went away for a reason I guess it was not sustainable. It’s pretty unfortunate.”

    “I think it could come back,” he continued. “It takes the right people, like anything. What I see nowadays, a lot of times, the short track world with just so much division with the rules. You know, this is legal here and this is not legal here, having this in a certain place. So to me, the short track world really needs to take a serious look at how they are doing things. I feel like it’s a detriment for the short track series. They need to get the hell together and come up with some common ground. “

    “Back before my time, you could run anywhere in the country with an asphalt late model car and run ASA,” Sauter said. “Now it’s just so divided. You can’t even go two hours apart, short track to short track, without having different rules. So I don’t know, I just miss ASA.”

    With his involvement in ASA, Johnny didn’t make his first Truck Series start until 2003 driving the No. 9 Christopher Beckington machine. Sauter built his own truck and ran a few races the following year before it was too expensive. In 2005, he ran one race for Thorsport, which ultimately started Duke and Rhonda Thorson’s relationship with the team to where they are today.

    “I dabbled in the Truck Series a little bit,” he said. “If I remember it was very good stuff. In 2004, I built my own truck, ran second with it at IRP (now Lucas Oil Raceway). I probably only ran it myself, two or three times, that’s how expensive it was. It just wasn’t for me, you know?”

    “Early on in my career, I ran some stuff and I can’t even remember the first truck I ran.”

    He returned to Thorsport Racing in 2009 to his first full season in the Truck Series. He talks about their relationship and why running for the team is so special. And if he is superstitious of his No. 13.

    “Originally, I had ran one race for Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) in 2005 at Homestead,” Sauter said. “They needed somebody at that time. I’m not exactly sure why. From there, it was just a one race deal and four years later, we’re going in to 2009 full-time. I think it was a deal, where I was obviously looking for a ride. They thought it was a good option.”

    “You know, I don’t really remember a lot of the specifics, but it was a good run,” the Thorsport racing driver said. “We came within six points of winning a championship, we won 10 races. I went off to do the GMS thing and here we are back at Thorsport. It’s been good. I’ve always built a good relationship and I feel like this is really awesome. I look for us to win races and a trip to the championship.”

    He also explains if he is superstitious about driving the No. 13.

    “You know, I’m the least superstitious guy out there,” he explained. “That stuff just doesn’t phase me at all, I don’t even think about it. I think the No. 13 is pretty cool, honestly. It was cool to have the option to go back to the 13 where it all started at Thorsport. I just don’t look at stuff like that, I guess. I know, a lot of people are like, how can you do that, but it is what it is.”

    When he is not racing in the Truck Series, he is racing and building his own late models. However, there are some tough times that come with it.

    “It’s going good,” Sauter said, “but I’m pretty discouraged with all of it in the direction it’s headed. I don’t know if it’s ignorance or arrogance, or what the deal is. It’s just made it really hard to be able to travel around and race. There’s just so many different rules, so many different engines. Especially for me where I live in Wisconsin, eight different engine packages. I love it, hope to run some, but it’s making it less and less enjoyable just because there’s no common ground. It’s sickening.”

    “Promoters can’t work together or sanctioning bodies don’t want to work together, and there is no common ground,” he emphasized. “Half the tracks in the state I’ve been around, they run the old template body and the others run the new body, several different engine packages, 10 different weight packages. Just all the different rules, it makes it hard for a guy to pick a few races and go have some fun. It’s really hard to have a car to race everywhere.”

    “You know, quite frankly, a couple of years ago that was never the case. There was common ground, but that’s all been blown out the window. As far as I’m concerned, shame on the promoters, track owners, and the competitors, they are as much to blame.”

    Being back at Thorsport Racing means Matt Crafton, also a two-time champion, is his teammate again. The two have definitely shared a lot over the years and remain close friends. Sauter describes their relationship and how it helps the team of what they need.

    “Yeah, at the end of the day, if Thorsport wins, Thorsport wins,” the No. 13 driver said. “It’s been a good relationship through the years. We like to give each other a hard time and have some fun, and race each other hard and all that. I mean, it’s good. It’s cool to have two veteran guys on the same team. That’s a lot of fun actually.”

    With some possible schedule changes coming up in a few years, Sauter agrees with Crafton’s thought of going to “Sonoma, Mid-Ohio, Elkhart Lake, IRP.”

    “To me, it’s been talked about quite a bit,” Sauter said. “I think they (NASCAR) need to get back to the grassroots a little bit. Kind of accommodate some of the short track fans across the country. Me personally, I don’t think you need to be going to places like Pocono. It’s cool, the Cup goes there and all that, but I don’t think the Truck Series needs to be running there. The more short tracks you go to, at the end of the day, it would cost the team owners less for not having to go to the wind tunnel, where you try to find speed on the mile and a half stuff.”

    “I think going to short tracks and as I say that, you go back 10 years ago, there was a lot of short tracks on the schedule,” he told Speedway Media. “They all went away for some reason. I don’t know if that would be problem solved personally. We used to go to Memphis, Milwaukee, IRP, Mansfield and so many good short tracks. Those places kind of went away, so I don’t know what the cure is. Mixing it up a little bit, maybe just stay away from the places that take up a lot of resource if you ask me.”

    Throughout the years, he has competed off and on in the Xfinity and Cup Series driving for multiple people. The last few years, however, he has been in the Truck Series. He explains why the trucks are a perfect fit for him.

    “Let’s be honest, you could go get in a Cup car but it won’t be in a competitive situation,” Sauter said. “There are only so many guys that are quality enough to go out and win. To me, if I tell people I go out and drive a Cup car, I could care less. I’ve always felt that way. It doesn’t matter to me. I want to go out and win, week in and week out. The Truck Series has been a good place for me to go do that.”

    “The schedule is nice, especially now that I have four kids and trying to spend time with them,” he said. “That Cup schedule is a grind and is very demanding. The Truck Series is just a good fit. At the end of the day, it’s about being competitive and having a shot to win. I have those opportunities in the series.”

    Sauter also gives his thoughts on the schedule length to either keep it at 23 or have more or less races.

    “I think anywhere in that neighborhood is good,” Sauter said. “You always think about things like it would be nice to have more, but I understand the cost side of things in what that would mean to add more, the expense and always worrying about the over saturation where you try to do too much and people pay less attention to it.”

    “There’s a lot of things to consider, but I think the schedule is right,” he said. ” I don’t think it needs to be much more or much less.”

    In addition to talking about the schedule, Sauter explains where his favorite stop is.

    “I like Dover,” Sauter said. “I love that racetrack and love racing there. The speed, the banking, it’s just a fun place. I even felt like that before I won the last two years there. It’s a nice part of the country to go and get away, but that racetrack there is bad to the bone. I would have to say that’s pretty close to the top of the list.”

    “There’s a lot of places we go to honestly, but Dover is my favorite,” he said. If I had to race one more time, it would be Dover.”

    With Sauter and Crafton being the veterans of the series, more and more young drivers are coming up through the series just to get experience and move on to the next thing.

    “This is going to sound pretty bad, but I don’t pay attention to it,” he said. “I’ve always kept my nose down and focus on what I needed to do. Obviously the goal in anyone’s career is to move up and I can’t fault somebody to move up. And if they move up too soon, I think a lot of times you have to move up when the opportunity presents itself, whether you’re ready or not.”

    “That’s a tough deal,” he continued. “Sports are getting tougher and tougher on when to move up. I don’t know who the next breakout star is. It depends where they are going and who they align with. I probably look at it a little more in depth from a experience stand point.

    The Truck Series has grown in status and has become quite popular among the fans from where it was 20 years ago. It’s quite possibly the best racing out of the three series. Sauter details his thoughts on what it looks like 20 years from now.

    “I kind of would like to see it revert back to where it started, honestly,” Sauter said. “The short tracks across America. Like I said before, I don’t know how easy that is, but what I find in life that is cool, a lot of other people don’t. “

    With Sauter being around racing his entire life, it’s hard to imagine him doing anything else other than being a racecar driver.

    “I’ve thought about a lot of different things” the Thorsport driver said. “You get to a lot of cool things that are very intriguing, but I really don’t know. I’ve always been all in on this and gave it all that I had. It’s easy to sit here and speculate what you would do, but I’m thankful I haven’t had to figure that out yet.”

    During the interview, Sauter had to think hard about what kind of racecar part he would be.

    “Oh boy, a racecar part?” Sauter said. “I don’t know, I guess a shock? I’ve never really thought about that.”

    He also remembers the 2010 Iowa race where he started fifth and finished second. Sauter also tells why you shouldn’t get caught up in the moment.

    “Second maybe,?” the Wisconsin native said. “Pretty good ain’t it? 2010, that’s a long time ago. I just know I finished second, third, fourth and fifth at Iowa a lot of times. So it was just a pretty good guess if you want to know the truth.”

    If NASCAR had come to him for an opinion on what he could change rule wise, he explains that he doesn’t know what he would change.

    “I think I would make less rules for sure,” he told Speedway Media. “I would try to go back to the olden days, but technology has kind of changed things so much. I’ve always feel like less rules make better racing. There isn’t one or two huge things, but do a little bit of this and that. You know, make it easier for everyone involved and not police stuff. There’s always someone trying to get an edge.”

    “It’s easy to list off five things that need to change, but there’s a reason things are the way they are,” he continued. “To do it with common sense maybe. That would be something I would have to sit back and study.”

    With being on the topic of rules, the 2016 champion gives his thoughts on what he thinks about NASCAR changing the rules so that if someone fails post-race inspection, they will be disqualified and lose the win.

    “I think it’s depending on the infraction,” he said. “Me personally, that’s how I would look at it. I’ve seen some people get disqualified in the late model stuff and it would make me sick. I don’t know if I’m a huge proponent of that personally, but like I said, depending on the infraction and how big of an advantage was it, there’s ways to measure that. By all means, if it’s something outrageous, then it should cost them but that’s a fine line.”

    Almost every driver wishes they had a race they could do over again. Whether it’s a restart, a pit stop, whatever it is, a racecar driver always remembers. In this case, Sauter remembers the 2011 Texas race that ultimately cost him the championship that year.

    “I’ve got a lot of them,” Sauter shared. “You know, you always have a race when you find yourself in a bad spot that maybe costs you the win. I think back to Texas in 2011, where they gave me a lane violation. I don’t know if it was totally a lane violation, but it cost me the win. We won the race, but they took it away, ultimately losing the championship that year by six points and basically took 25 points from you that day. That one always sticks back in my mind.”

    If there was to ever be an exhibition race that included legends such as Ron Hornaday, Todd Bodine, Jack Sprague, Mike Skinner, Ted Musgrave and himself included, he thinks he could win.

    “Oh I think I would win, just becuase I’m better than all those guys,” Sauter jokingly said. “It would be cool.”

    He also said that maybe a race like that could draw fans.

    “Yeah, I don’t know,” he continued. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea. I was lucky enough to race against Hornaday, Skinner, Bodine in the early days. There’s been some good drivers that made some good careers in the Truck Series and get those guys together, that would be fun to watch.”

    With the stage racing and Playoffs being implentend in the Truck Series, Sauter thinks it hasn’t really changed much in terms of the race aside from pit strategy.

    “I don’t know if stage racing has made a huge impact in the Truck Series,” Sauter said. “In a lot of ways, I think it has dictated when one would pit. Our races are so short, so it’s kind of hard when to layout the pit strategy for the night. I don’t know if I’m a big fan, but it’s not that terrible either. It’s whatever. What rules they make, we’ll make sure we race with them.”

    “Believe me if I was smart enough to do those things, I would.” Sauter continued. “I think NASCAR is in a tough spot. Everything is so easy to sit back and criticize. It’s like okay, they give me a clean sheet of paper and tell us what you think, I don’t know if I would be any better.”

    With the Truck Series not racing as much as the Cup and Xfinity Series, it gives guys like Sauter the opportunity to spend more time with their family and he’s a big fan of that.

    “You know, I’m a huge fan of dropping my kids off and picking them up every day,” he said. “If I’m not at Thorsport, I try to work on my super late model stuff. We are getting into that time of year, where I need to be working on that stuff. My biggest deal right now is working on this truck deal and learn my guys, and have them learn me, learn some stuff up here..

    At some point in a driver’s career, they think about retirement. Sauter doesn’t know what that’s like, whether it’s this year or five years from now. One’s thing for sure, he won’t be around much if he is done racing.

    “If I’m not driving, you won’t ever see me much at the racetrack,” Sauter said. “Having said that, I don’t know what retirement is. Whether if it’s this year or something, I don’t know what it is. A lot of times, I don’t think that’s a driver’s option to be put in. I have the opportunity to race now and I’m going to make the best of it.”

    “After retirement, I can’t just do nothing” he emphasized. “I’m so used to doing things, I’ll figure out something to do. Keep myself busy, I’m not a sit around and do nothing guy. I’ve always got to be doing something. There’s plently of things to do in the world that’s for sure.”

    Kyle Busch has been in the news recently and receiving a lot of criticism for competing in both series. Sauter thinks it’s ridicoulous and people need to quit complaining about it.

    “It doesn’t bother me at all,” the Wisconsin native said. “They were saying some stat where out of my 23 wins, only six of them was when Kyle Busch was in the field. On any given day, if the opportunity presents itself, they’re beatable. They’re obviously good drivers and all that. I think people need to get off that complaining stuff, you know what I mean?

    “Me personally, when I see a guy like Kyle (Busch) want to come and race in the Truck Series, I think it’s pretty cool,” Sauter continued. “Not only just the Trucks but the late model stuff. That’s the way it used to be, that’s what racers did. I can remember being a kid and Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt some of these guys would come do some ASA racing across the country and mix it up a little bit with the short track guys. I think it would be odd if the Cup guys didn’t have a presence in the Truck Series.”

    Sauter continued to explain about comparisons in other sports.

    “The comparisons from major leagures to Triple AAA and all that stuff, it’s just garbage.”

    With having a best season of six wins last year, Sauter gives his prediction of how many wins he thinks he will have by the end of the 2019 season.

    “Four,” he said. “I feel like where we are it would be a decent number. Obviously, I want it to be more. Like I said, it’s a new deal. We’ve shown speed right out of the gate at (Las) Vegas, ran second at Atlanta. Anything less than that would be a disappointment.”

    In his Truck Series career, he has 247 starts over 16 years, 23 wins, a championship, 103 top fives, 159 top 10s and seven poles. The fierce competitor doesn’t look like he will be slowing down anytime soon.

    You can follow Johnny Sauter on Twitter.

  • Matt Crafton-The Seasoned Veteran Isn’t Slowing Down Anytime Soon After A Milestone Career

    Matt Crafton-The Seasoned Veteran Isn’t Slowing Down Anytime Soon After A Milestone Career

    Most of you have heard the name, but for those who don’t know, Matt Crafton is a two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion. He has 14 race wins in 421 starts across more than 19 years spent in the Truck Series. Most of his career has been spent driving for ThorSport Racing, aside from 2004 when he signed on with Kevin Harvick.

    But before his NASCAR career took off, Crafton, like many other drivers, began racing early and eventually an opportunity came knocking at his door for a Truck Series ride in 2000.

    “My racing career got started when I was about seven years old, racing go-karts until I was about 15, then I started racing micro-midgets,” Crafton said. “Then I started racing asphalt super late models when I was about 18-years old and then from there, went straight from that and won championships in that Southwest Tour, and I got a Truck ride with Duke and Rhonda Thorson and the rest is history.”

    With ThorSport Racing being a huge part of the Tulare, California native driver’s career, he explains why the relationship has been so special and how it had a major impact on his racing career.

    “Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) have been so, so loyal, such good people to work with them,” he said. “There’s so many people in the business, it’s just so hard to trust. You always hear the nightmare stories that people come and go, but Duke is a man of work and there’s not many people I can say that about in this sport that I worked with or being around. They’ve been great people to work with, Rhonda as well. Everything they’ve said, they have done.”

    During Crafton’s 19 career Truck Series seasons, he drove for NASCAR Cup Champion Kevin Harvick for one year in 2004. He explains how that opportunity came about and how he met Harvick.

    “I actually used to race against Kevin (Harvick) out in the Southwest Tour,” the No. 88 Menards Ford driver said. “We raced against each other, were competitors. His dad was my dad’s crew chief a couple of different times out there in the west coast and then raced go-karts. My very first go-kart came from Kevin’s dad that ended up getting me that. Worked with my dad to get that kart and we raced together for a little bit, and then he moved up, got a Truck ride first, then shortly after that, I got my first Truck ride.”

    The Truck Series has been a mainstay in the two-time champion’s career with a few starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one start in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He explains why the Truck Series is so special to him and why he has been in it for so long.

    “I love the Truck Series,” Crafton said. “I’ve had opportunities to go race other places, but they haven’t been good. At the end of the day, I’m with Duke and Rhonda, and I know each and every week they can go win races and contend for championships. That’s what it’s all about. I don’t know, I was just talking to a friend of mine the other day where we talked about racing in the Xfinity and Cup Series, not doing it any different.”

    “People lose sight of why they do what they do in the series,” he said. “When I was seven-years-old, I started racing because I loved to win. I wanted to win races and I didn’t care about anything else, except winning races. And so many people lose sight of it, where they want to move to the Cup Series to go out there and run 25th, and say that’s a good day. You know, they can make more money that way, but at the end of the day, last time I checked, it was about bringing home the trophies and winning races, going to the track and having fun, knowing that you can get it done.”

    Crafton’s first start in the Truck Series was at Fontana in 2000, where he started 17th and finished ninth. Fontana is no longer on the schedule, but Crafton wishes it was.

    “Oh god, I definitely wish Fontana was back on the schedule,” Crafton said. “It’s such an awesome racetrack. Especially now, since the asphalt is so much older and just to see the Cup races and Xfinity races, where they get to run the bottom of that track and to the top of the track right up against the fence. I mean, that’s so much fun.

    “It just reminds of the big Atlanta, where you get to move to multiple lanes and so much better than the new asphalt racetracks, where you get the single grove racetracks.”

    During the Truck Series early years from 1995-2000, the Truck Series ran at a variety of tracks. The fans and some drivers want to go back to those older tracks. Crafton gives his take on what should be done to the schedule and what should be changed.

    “I still definitely have mile and a half racetracks,” he said. “I would get rid of a few of them and add some more short tracks. Go to IRP (Indianapolis Raceway Park), go back to Milwaukee (Mile), run Sonoma, run Mid-Ohio, you know, Elkhart Lake, just road courses. Just change things up. That’s what the problem is. I know the schedule, we do too much of the same thing and it just bores some of the fans. It’s just because you’re doing the same mile and a half tracks and we could go to a road course, sell the place out and have 100,000 people come in, and the writing is on the wall there.”

    When the Truck Series isn’t racing, Crafton continues to keep busy at his own shop in Mooresville, North Carolina.

    “I’m at my shop in Mooresville, North Carolina,” Crafton said. “I have my own shop and we’re building dirt cars together and working on racecars. I love to dirt race. Right now, I have a lot of fun and get to go hang out with family, and it’s just a lot of fun getting laps and always be there.”

    Crafton follows up with how the dirt racing opportunity comes about.

    “The first Truck Race,” he said. “A friend of mine, they ended up offering me a ride in a modified and I raced a handful of races, and went on to Eldora and did that for three years. I loved it and I had a lot of fun doing it, but I just wanted to have my own and built the perfect blend of science and racing on dirt to asphalt, and so I went to buy my dirt car last year, worked a lot on it, studied a lot on it, went on to win Eldora last year. And this year, we definitely had a truck capable of winning, just a few more laps at the end, I would have come from 17th to fourth in that last segment and felt like we were one of the fastest trucks on the track, but just ran out of laps.”

    With switching from dirt racing to truck racing, there isn’t that much you can apply skill wise as Crafton explains.

    “No,” he said. “Just aside from maybe you can use a little more car control, but at the end of the day, they’re so drastically different. That’s why I chose the dirt car to try and figure out to go win that golden shovel because I needed to protect that skill I had there.”

    The 2018 season has been uncharacteristic-like, to say the least, for the two-time Truck Series champion. It’s almost a replica of his 2012 season. So far, Crafton has no wins, only five top fives and seven top-10 finishes. Crafton explained why they haven’t been to victory lane yet this season.

    “We haven’t been as consistent,” he said. “We’ve been trying a lot of new stuff and working on different setup stuff, and just mechanical problems. That’s been a thorn on our side. Like Las Vegas, the third race of the season, we came on pit road and stood on the brakes coming to the pits, and sheared all of our studs off the brake caliper, something that’s unheard of. And then we go to St. Louis, lose an alternator 15 laps into the race, and we just had so many, just dumb mechanical failures.”

    Times have changed throughout NASCAR’s history. In the early years of the series, there were seasoned veterans like Ron Hornaday, Todd Bodine, Jack Sprague, and the list goes on and on. Now, it’s Crafton and Johnny Sauter with the most of the series is comprised of young stars using it as a stepping stone to the next series.

    Crafton gives his take on what he thinks of stars moving up too fast.

    “They definitely move on very fast without a doubt,” he said. “The dollars are just hard to come by right now. They’re hard to come by with sponsorship, so a lot of the younger ones come with some sponsors and make the things go.”

    It was recently announced that the Truck Series will be renamed to the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Series in 2019 replacing sponsor Camping World. Crafton elaborates on what the series and sport could look like 10 years from now.

    “It should be good,” Crafton said. “If they start switching up the schedule and changing up the schedule, and doing different things, it would definitely be a very good thing. I mean, there isn’t one race this year, when the trucks have been a short field. We’ve had a full field every race, there have been plenty of races where we sent trucks home this year. So, for some of the other series they can’t say the same thing.”

    While Crafton is a seasoned veteran with a 19-year career, he has no quit in him anytime soon.

    “I would like to do it for quite a while longer, really,” he said. “I would love to continue racing. Ron Hornaday did it until he was 50 something years old and he was wearing a lot of these young drivers out. Wearing us out too. If you still have the itch, you still want to go and make it happen, and that’s what I plan on doing.”

    Carl Joiner Jr. has been the crew chief on Matt Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 for a long time now. Crafton explains why they work so well together.

    “We believe in each other at the end of the day,” Crafton said. “I mean, that’s what it’s all about in this sport. Just believing in each other and he believes me when I tell him the truck is doing this, and I believe he can make all the right changes. I know there’s been times we’re not going to get it right away, but that’s happened this year. We’ve been on a new tire this year, the majority of the places the tire the cup cars are on, and it’s a different tire than we were on last year and all of our old setup stuff just hasn’t been working with what we used to run.”

    “So we’ll just keep working on that and we’ll get one by the time the season is over, if not a few.”

    Whenever Crafton hangs up the belt for the last time in his career, up until then, it will be no different than what he is doing now.

    “Just to win more championships and races,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

    Over the span of Crafton’s career, he has made 421 starts collecting 14 wins, 107 top fives and 249 top-10 finishes, along with 13 poles and 2,491 laps led. And he’s not finished yet.

    You can follow Crafton on Twitter.

  • Catching Up With NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Driver Ben Rhodes

    Catching Up With NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Driver Ben Rhodes

    In this weeks feature story, we catch up with NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Ben Rhodes. Rhodes, a Louisville, Kentucky native, drives the No. 41 ThorSport Racing Ford and has been competing in the Truck Series full time since 2016 with one part-time season in 2014, competing in only four races that year.

    We talk everything racing from how he got his breakthrough in the sport, to the NASCAR Next class, how he and Carl Edwards became friends, and what Rhodes thinks of his season so far.

    Before moving through the ranks of being a racecar driver, Rhodes started at a young age just like most other drivers.

    “I actually started racing when I was seven years old at Sportsdorm Speedway right across the river from my hometown in Louisville, Kentucky,” Rhodes said. “It all started at home. I was on four-wheelers, dirt bikes, go-karts, all at a very young age, at about three-years-old. Whenever my brother and I started racing the go-karts around the house, down the driveway trying to spin the go-karts around as many time as possible, still keep going in a straight direction, I think my mom figured out real quickly we were a little bored.”

    “She talked to my dad and we went out to a local racetrack,” he said. “I’ll tell you the first time didn’t go so well, but after sticking with it and I’m glad I did, I think I found a passion and something I loved ever since.”

    From there on, the Kentucky native progressed through the ranks of NASCAR competing in the K&N Pro East Series, which is a developmental series for all young NASCAR stars. He ran there for two years earning five wins, 13 top fives and 18 top 10 finishes, along with six poles. Rhodes describes how he got that breakthrough in the sport.

    “It was interesting for me to kind of move up to that level,” Rhodes said. “The cars were heavier, they still had a very similar setup to the late model stocks that I drove. But they were heavier, more horsepower and they drove like a true stock car. So it was a little different and it was a little bit of a learning curve in 2013. I did part time in 2013 and I felt ready.”

    “I felt ready and I felt that 2014 was our time to shine. Boy, it was a really good season. I mean it was interesting again to see that we had pit stops. They weren’t live pit stops, but there were just so many different things we had to work with that season that I’ve never worked on before. It was such a huge stepping stone and confidence builder for my entire career.”

    Rhodes also talks about how different the pit stops were as it was his first time doing them.

    “It wasn’t too hard,” the No. 41 ThorSport driver said. “They weren’t live, but it was still interesting that, hey you’re racing, going hard as you can and then you have to slow down and come down to a complete stop for four or five minutes. I think that was actually harder to adjust to than the current pit stops that we’re doing in NASCAR, the live pit stops. Just for the fact that you had to come to a complete stop, you had to wait for so many minutes with the guys working on the car and everything. It was just kind of weird to experience that.”

    From there, Rhodes competed in four Truck Series races in 2014 driving for Steve Turner but ultimately went to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2015 driving for JR Motorsports, for 10 races. It wasn’t until after that season when he got the call from ThorSport to drive for them full time.

    “ThorSport Racing actually contacted me after my season with JR Motorsports,” Rhodes said. “I’m really glad that they did. It’s been a really awesome experience ever since. Duke Thorson is such an incredible guy. Duke and Rhonda Thorson, they own the team, but their leadership stands from the top and works their way down through the company. Awesome culture.”

    “Just their love for the sport,” he said. “They don’t do it for the money. They put a lot of money into it and they do it just because they love it. They love it just as much as anybody in the shop, if not more. It’s pretty cool to see that. I’ve enjoyed every moment there. Sure, we had our ups and downs, but 2018 I’m looking to really go after this championship. I know that we have the championship caliber team and the equipment to do it.”

    Rhodes first NASCAR stock car race was at Bristol competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. He started 21st and finished ninth that day. Rhodes talks about how hectic that day was.

    “It was interesting,” Rhodes said. “We led so many laps that we led the entire advertised distance. And then on the last restart, a driver that kind of started the rivalry, drove me going down into Turns 1 and 2 on the restart, took us three wide and basically doored us up the track, and almost hit the wall. Unfortunately, we lost the race because of that, but we dominated the whole time.”

    “If you’re going to be at Bristol, leading is the best place to be,” he said. “You don’t want to be in the back where all the carnage is. We had a really clean racecar up until that point. I was pretty mad afterward.”

    He also doesn’t really have a race he wishes that he could do over again. But just small mistakes that Rhodes wishes he could correct if given a second chance.

    “That’s hard to say,” the Kentucky native said. “Any race I wish I had a chance to redo. You never have a perfect race. Even our win at in Las Vegas, it wasn’t the perfect race. It worked out, but it wasn’t the perfect race. Every single race, there’s something I want to do over.”

    “I wouldn’t say it would be Bristol,” he said. “I would want to redo a race that I made a mistake on my own. It would be a race, where I could have easily fixed something and had a lot better finish. Maybe not even winning, but a lot better finish did not wreck the piece of equipment. Just really trying to make things better, not so much get myself the win. There’s plenty of those races where I could have fixed as well.”

    The 2018 NASCAR Next Class was recently announced with drivers Anthony Alfredo, Chase Purdy, Riley Herbst, Hailie Deegan, Derek Kraus, Will Rodgers, Zane Smith, Tanner Thorson, and Ryan Vargas. Rhodes was apart of the NASCAR Next class early on in his career and he explains how special it was to be a part of that, and who he thinks might shine from this class.

    “It’s hard to say,” Rhodes said. “They’re all really good drivers. They’re all kinds of superstars from their own domain. I think they’re all shining bright. That’s obviously why they were chosen in the NASCAR Next group.”

    “For me, I just have good memories spending time and racing my competitors, and learning about one another and just seeing a different side of NASCAR that I hadn’t seen before. I am actually really grateful that I had the NASCAR Next program and that I was a part of the group. It’s pretty neat to see where that started and where those drivers are from the first class, and where those drivers are in all the other classes after that. Just seeing how spot on they’ve been and scouting out talent.”

    Rhodes sponsor, Alpha Energy Solutions, has been with him ever since he started racing in the K&N series. They are based out of his hometown in Louisville, Kentucky and he explains what they’re mission is.

    “Alpha Energy Solutions is a mechanical service contractor,” Rhodes said. “It sounds like your local power company right? But it’s not, it’s a service contractor. Essentially, your electricity, heating and air, anything that keeps you nice and comfortable in your house. That’s what they work on. They don’t work on it for houses, but big commercial buildings. So, big offices, exhibitions centers, stadiums, just big buildings. They’re based out of my hometown, so that’s been a cool experience.”

    There’s at least one track that he wishes that was on the Truck Series schedule and Rhodes thinks it would be interesting to see it happen.

    “I would like to see Watkins-Glen,” he said. “That’s one of my favorite tracks. I loved it ever since I was a little kid. I remember playing on the NASCAR games and that’s the only track I ever wanted to race. I’ve had decent runs there, but I felt like I can do a lot better than what my results were when I ran there in the Xfinity Series and the K&N East.”

    “So I would love to take trucks there,” Rhodes said. “I think you would be wide open through esses. It would be a super fast track for us. There would be a lot of drafting and I think it would be a unique race. Something that Watkins-Glen really hasn’t seen before.”

    There’s one thing that fans might not know about Rhodes, but they could possibly know about it already due to his social media channels.

    “That’s a tough one,” he said. “What do they not know about me? Gosh. I don’t know, I’ve got my pilot license. Going for a little flight Thursday and some fans know it. They keep up with me on my social media. Others may not, but I enjoy flying and using that license being able to commute to different sponsors. Just kind of using that to my advantage with the busy travel schedule.”

    The Louisville, Kentucky native jokes around about the last famous person he has in his contacts and brings up a surprising fact and connection, that he made through his pilot’s license.

    “Celine Dion,” Rhodes jokingly says. “I’m just joking. I don’t have Celine Dion on my phone. Honestly, it’s probably NASCAR drivers. NASCAR drivers, we’re all kind of in a group or community, I guess you could say. Everyone knows each other. Probably the last one that I added was Carl Edwards before he announced his retirement from the sport.”

    “I haven’t really been able to keep up with Carl,” he said, “ever since he stepped away. “I wish I did. I probably should send him a text message to see what’s going on, especially when we made our Midwest swing because he’s a pretty good pilot. It would have been really neat to go up into a plane with him and learn a few things.”

    “But no, I haven’t texted him,” Rhodes said. “I need too. I think that would be kind of cool.”

    “It was actually Ford Championship weekend,” the Kentucky native said, “2016 Ford Championship weekend right before his last race of his career, at least for now. It was the night before his race, we actually had met. We were staying in the same place, the same little area, the community if you want to call it. We met at an ice cream parlor. He was there with his kids and I was there with my family, and we just kind of chatted a little bit.”

    So far in the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, Rhodes has three top fives and five top 10 finishes, along with one pole. He assessed his season so far and thinks they can be a little better than they are currently.

    “It’s okay,” Rhodes said. “It’s not where we want to be. It’s not where we should be. Just okay. I do feel like our season is going to become a lot better. Leaving Daytona, we were seventh in the points including a 10 point penalty. Going into Kansas we were second in points without even a win yet. We had so many top fives, so many top 10s and it was just really cool to see that momentum that we’re building.”

    “Two engine issues this year and a mechanical failure at Dover,” he said, “you know, we’re still not doing that bad. We’re fourth in points right now and I would like to see us further up. We should be further up. I do believe that we could have three wins right now and it’s just not me saying this, but my team, crew members, mechanics, are legitimately mad that we should have a couple of wins by now. They’re really mad about it with just the issues we’ve had.”

    “We need to get the issues, get rid of the mistakes, any issues on pit road, any issues with part failures, engine failures. We need all of that to go away. Once that’s gone, once we fix all of those things, I think we’re going to be right on track going after a championship and get multiple wins this year.”

    Rhodes has a Facebook live show that is called BR841 and it airs every other Wednesday. He explains how that came about.

    “I’m enjoying it so far,” Rhodes said. “We used to actually have this show called Live at Five. I would do it Monday’s at five. Just kind of Facebook living with the fans, just interacting. I turned it into more of a show this year called BR841, every other Wednesday night at 8:41. Kind of playing off my 41 number. Essentially, I have fans come on as guests and they join the show via video, and then we have other guests on like my teammate Myatt Snider, spotters, people from various racetracks, done big giveaways.”

    “So it’s just something, a cool way interact with fans,” he said. “It’s different. Kind of experimenting with different and new show rundown layout. We might change it up in the future, but we’re kind of having fun with it.”

    For more information on Ben, you may visit his website www.benrhodes.com. His social media channels are Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

  • 2018 a Winning Season For Both Rossi and IndyCar

    2018 a Winning Season For Both Rossi and IndyCar

    2018 continues to prove to the rest of the racing world that the Verizon IndyCar Series cannot stop winning. The new aero package has put competitors on a level playing field considering that there isn’t a discrepancy among manufacturers. The quality of the competitors in the field is top notch, and to boot the racing this season has been phenomenal.

    According to 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi, the sport has even been generating some much wanted (and needed) mainstream attraction.

    “I really think there has been a lot of extra buzz at the races this year,” said Rossi, who appeared on the most recent season of CBS’s The Amazing Race with fellow IndyCar driver Conor Daly. “It seems like there’s more fans in the stands and definitely more people who come and ask about the show.”

    Rossi also co-hosts the podcast Off Track with fellow IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe, where they tackle topics both racing-related and mainstream. But when it comes to IndyCar’s mainstream media presence, he is optimistic where the sport stands in comparison to NASCAR and Formula One.

    “We’re not on their level, but we hope to get there soon and we have momentum,” said Rossi. “We have a lot of young talented drivers who can perform on the track, but also do things off-track to showcase their personalities.”

    The Andretti-Herta Autosport driver currently sits second in points following the Indianapolis Grand Prix, where his NAPA Racing Honda finished fifth behind winning Team Penske driver Will Power. Rossi has already gone to Victory Lane this season, winning at Long Beach in the third race of the season.

    According to Rossi, the credit for the excellent racing product this season goes to both the drivers and the cars this season, placing emphasis on the onslaught of rookies this year, pointing out that their level of talent just makes the talent level of the field even deeper and more competitive, which in turn brings the best out of each driver.

    Rossi is quick to credit his team for his growth and success, stating that great cars and great teammates can go a long way in the IndyCar garage.

    “Having a good car underneath you, and great veteran racers like [Ryan] Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti, makes it easy to learn,” said Rossi. “The team has made a step forward each year on all types of courses. We are ready to compete against anyone on all types of tracks.”

    With the Indianapolis 500 less than two weeks from now, Rossi’s chances of success are high. Along with his 2016 victory in the event as a rookie, he placed seventh there a year ago after leading 23 laps. His average finish of fourth in the event should give him the confidence needed to contend for the victory if the last two Indy 500s are any indicator of his performance.

     

     

  • ‘Dash 4 Cash’ Events Are Helping XFINITY Series Regulars to Shine

    ‘Dash 4 Cash’ Events Are Helping XFINITY Series Regulars to Shine

    Of all the arguments made in favor of the XFINITY Series being a members-only division or at least diminishing the participation of Cup drivers, this stretch of Dash 4 Cash events (Bristol, Richmond, Talladega, Dover) has shown some of the best racing of the 2018 XFINITY season, all of which have been run by series regulars.

    Diehard fans and racers who have felt that NASCAR was letting the series waste away through Cup participation have been vindicated considering the racing product has been excellent during this all-too-brief stretch.

    Granted, Cup participation in 2018 is supposed to have diminished among drivers, and for the most part, it has. But this season, in the first six events prior to the Dash 4 Cash, only one regular has won – Tyler Reddick at Daytona. Since then, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney have all dominated the 2018 season.

    This was a trend that was bucked seven races in when Ryan Preece scored his second career win for Joe Gibbs Racing. That was followed by Christopher Bell scoring his second career win at Richmond, then Spencer Gallagher scored his first-career win at Talladega. Although Preece is running a limited XFINITY campaign he’s still counted for XFINITY points. Otherwise, out of nine events in 2018 three full-time series regulars have won.

    It’s been said before and it will be said again, this isn’t good for business. What is good, though, is seeing the XFINITY Series provide new faces and new, fresh winners, which is exactly what’s going on.

    Granted, that’s bound to change. In the continuing quest for the “Owner’s Championship,” a paper championship with no real prestige, Cup drivers will be in future events this season in Cup-backed rides. There are still stand-alone events to look forward to at Iowa, Mid-Ohio, and Road America before the playoffs begin on September 21 at Richmond, where Cup regulars will be absent from competition for the rest of the season.

    The Dash 4 Cash events have helped bring the true stars such as guys like Reddick, Preece, Bell, and Gallagher to light, and Dover could only add to that list. The XFINITY Series has had to deal with an identity problem where opportunities were stolen from up-and-coming drivers who saw their opportunities come and go due to Cup interference. To see more emphasis placed on their role in the sport – they’re NASCAR drivers too, just so that’s clear – is great for the sport, but it shouldn’t be as limited as this.

    IndyCar doesn’t have this sort of identity issue with Indy Lights. Formula One doesn’t have an issue with this in their feeder series. NHRA doesn’t. IMSA doesn’t. Why does NASCAR? Why should they? That’s not to say that Nascar should ban Cup drivers and affiliations. Instead, continue to diminish their competition roles, and focus on the growth of a division that was originally created to be more than a feeder division. NASCAR is more than just the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, so let’s treat it as such.

     

  • Bickford’s Late Model Schedule Puts Driving Career Back On Track

    Bickford’s Late Model Schedule Puts Driving Career Back On Track

    James Bickford, the 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Rookie of the Year is scheduled to make a limited run of eight races in 2018 in the Pacific Coast Challenge Series, a Northern California touring series for Super Late Models. Bickford, a two-time winner in the K&N Pro Series West, will be piloting the No. 35 Kamps Propane/Slidebelts entry for Scott Family Racing in an April 20 testing session before his debut on June 23 at Shasta Speedway in Anderson, California.

    “This opportunity came in about February, and I’ve been friends with the Scotts and Matt Scott is currently the driver, but due to other commitments with Bill McAnally Racing (Scott is the Car Chief for Derek Kraus), I was given the opportunity to fill in for him for the races he won’t be able to attend while he’s working with the No. 19 team,” said Bickford. “It couldn’t be done without Kamps Propane and Slidebelts, and I’m just really looking forward to getting back into the car.”

    Bickford, an alumnus of NASCAR Next, finished a career-high fifth in points in 2014 in the K&N Pro Series West. He stepped away from the division in 2016 due to lack of funding. According to Bickford, there were a lot of close deals that ultimately didn’t work out. He credits those as part of a huge life experience to go through and to find his life without racing.

    “There’s pros and cons to every situation. I haven’t stopped working at trying to gather sponsorship to go back racing and trying to get that initial funding I need to get back into racing, but that’s proven to be a very difficult thing to do,” he said.

    In the meanwhile, Bickford has been a Richard Petty Driving Experience instructor, traveling to the various speedways across the nation. However, there have also been discussions behind closed doors with different Camping World Truck Series teams and XFINITY Series teams, both of which are also part of Bickford’s long-term goals, yet nothing has come into fruition – yet.

    Although his current schedule states that he’ll be running up to eight races, Bickford stated that his schedule could be expanded if funding allows, but for now they will be sticking to the current schedule.  Meanwhile, on his April 20 test, Bickford pointed out that he’ll be using the test to get himself acquainted with stock cars again.

    “There’s never been a time in my career where I haven’t been able to get accustomed quickly,” said Bickford. “But I’d rather be doing that on a test session at Shasta Speedway, looking for speed and getting back to that edge we need. We’re going to be working hard at that session and Matt will be racing the car on April 21.”

     

  • Matt DiBenedetto Overwhelmed by Social Media Support

    Matt DiBenedetto Overwhelmed by Social Media Support

    If you’ve followed Twitter the past couple of weeks, you may have noticed the incredible support for the Go Fas Racing driver, Matt DiBenedetto.

    Entering his fourth full-time season in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series, DiBenedetto has raced for low budget teams making their way through the top level of the stock car series. While the No. 32 Ford Fusion holds a charter and is guaranteed to run in every race, the team found themselves in a difficult position with no sponsor to cover the weekend expenses at Phoenix.

    After hard work researching sponsorship opportunities, DiBenedetto posted a video on Twitter the week of the race at ISM Speedway.

    The news spread like wildfire.

    Drivers Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, and retired driver and NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip, personally pitched in $5,000 each. DiBenedetto’s appeal spread across various social media platforms and eventually led to a single-race sponsorship from multiple fans and companies for Sunday’s race at ISM Raceway.

    The gamble that paid off for the Go Fas Racing Ford resulted in the Zynga Poker online game securing a primary sponsorship for the weekend. Additionally, secondary and associate sponsorships included Enlisted Nine Fight Company, Pit Stops for Hope, and Waltrip Brothers Charity Championship.

    DiBenedetto shared how they received additional funding to allow them to do more than they’ve been able to during a regular race weekend.

    “Last weekend, we tried to save a set of tires for the race instead of using them in practice,” he said. “So now that we’re sponsored, maybe if we need to use an extra set in practice, we can afford to do that where otherwise we might need to conserve. Now we can afford better parts and pieces.”

    One example of this at Auto Club Speedway was the ability to hire an extra crew member and have team lunches over the following few weeks, something that higher teams can take for granted and as a result, the Go Fas Racing crew got to enjoy meals together over the weekend without having to worry about finances.

    DiBenedetto clarified later in the week Friday there was no danger of the team not showing for this weekend’s race activities but that it needed more financial input to move forward.

    As the team visited California for the following weekend’s race, the Auto Club 400, I took some time to sit with DiBenedetto outside his hauler and ask him about his whole experience before the start of the race.

    Matt DiBenedetto shared a few moments with me before the Auto Club 400. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
    Matt DiBenedetto shared a few moments with me before the Auto Club 400. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.

    Justin Schuoler: Last weekend, you got some very unique sponsorship opportunities to jump on board with Go Fas Racing for Phoenix [ISM Raceway]. How long were you aware that the Phoenix race had no sponsor?

    Matt DiBenedetto: All the way since the beginning of the season and we were working on it from the start of the season trying to sell it, and that was one that we just didn’t have any luck selling. We had quite a few gaps to fill throughout the year, and that just happened to be one of them.

    JS: Roughly how many people reached out to you about sponsorship opportunities once you posted that on social media? Twitter kinda blew up when you put that video up on Twitter. You felt half bad, but it seemed like that was an opportunity you took advantage of and a lot of people jumped on that.

    MD: Yeah, so probably with the drivers retweeting me, you know, [Kevin] Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Darrell Waltrip, and spreading the word, it probably got us well over 100 inquiries from different people. Ryan [Elllis] and I had to filter through to see what was potential and not, and it was a lot. We’re still behind actually now.

    JS: That’s a good problem to have then!

    MD: Exactly.

    JS: Who was the first to reach out to you within the NASCAR community about your situation?

    MD: Denny [Hamlin]. He retweeted it and said he wanted to help out. He was the first one, and he is kinda responsible for starting the trends. Obviously, I have to thank all of them immensely for what they did, but yeah, Denny started it. And through Denny starting it, somebody he follows retweeted it, and then someone that follows them was the one that saw the message, Zynga Poker, and that got us the primary sponsor for last weekend. Denny was ultimately responsible for helping us a ton, and all of them for spreading the word and making it a big story.

    JS: Besides finances, what all is involved with getting a sponsor to jump on board with a race team?

    MD: You got to put the right partnerships together that makes sense for both ends. It’s gotta be beneficial for the sponsors, so that deal, in particular, is a good example. Zynga Poker reached out to us, said they were interested. We can give a lot of bang for the buck because we’re a smaller funded team. I’m lucky to have a really good, dedicated following, and I’m in the media a lot and things like that. We just try to be creative and out of the box. Their deal was pretty straightforward, so for Zynga Poker, we just wanted to get them as much exposure as possible. They’re a big company, they have many, many millions of downloads, so we just got them on board and through social media and the media stuff, it was a cool story and it gave them a lot of exposure, which is great, and gave us exposure too, so it worked out for both parties.

    JS: Now on the flip side, have you ever had the opportunity to be on the other side of the situation with a fellow competitor?

    MD: You know, I’ve tried to help some of my friends that race back at Hickory Motor Speedway, local levels, things like that, trying to put them together with some connections with some [Camping World] Truck Series owners or some people who may want to sponsor them. You know, it’s late models so it’s not quite as much money. See, it’s my fourth year in the [Monster Energy] Cup Series, so I’m still one of the newer guys, I guess, and still trying to build my resume and my career, and get to the top. But yeah, I’ve been able to be in a position to help some of those guys at a smaller level.

    JS: Awesome, well what would you say is the biggest thing you’ve learned from the entire experience from Phoenix?

    MD: Just how close the whole NASCAR community is. That’s the biggest thing I took away, and it was pretty breathtaking.

    Matt DiBenedetto races at Auto Club Speedway. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
    Matt DiBenedetto races at Auto Club Speedway. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.

    JS: So your best career start here at Auto Club Speedway was 33rd back when you were with BK Racing, but today you got a little luck on your side with everyone failing pre-qualifying inspection. You’re starting 18th, so how does that feel?

    MD: Yeah, that’s much better. I’ve had a really good race car in the past here a couple years ago. We were really fast in the race, but we never really had great qualifying efforts here, just couldn’t seem to get our stuff right. This time, we ended first practice in 22nd with everybody out on track, so our car had good speed for qualifying, and then obviously some people had some trouble getting through tech and that helped us even more. So starting 18th, it starts your day off a lot easier by knowing you have good track position so you’re not trying to run away from the leaders.

    JS: One last question, do you have your camo socks ready for today?

    MD: I don’t, actually! I had so much bad luck two years for a streak of races, like eight or 10 races in a row where we had horrible luck and every bit of it was out of my control, little weird things happening like running over debris that caused us some DNF’s. So I threw all my superstitions out the window, I got so frustrated.

    About Zynga Poker: Zynga Poker offers a variety of options to play virtual and video poker. You can play on Facebook, or download the app from the Apple app store, Google Play store, Windows store, or Windows Phone store . If you like playing with friends, then head over to Facebook after you download, authenticate with your Facebook credentials, and enjoy the same smooth, authentic experience. The game feeds over 130 million hands of poker each day across all of their users. They also offer strategy tutorials to help buff your game to the next level.

    About Matt DiBenedetto: Matt has received praises from many competitors, including retired Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. who called him “one of the most underrated drivers in the series.” He has raced in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series for four years with three career top-10 finishes, including a best career finish at Bristol in 2016 with a sixth-place result. He also has three career victories in the K&N Pro Series East. His average start and finish in the Cup series have steadily improved throughout his career. He was born and raised in California and lives in Hickory, North Carolina with his wife and childhood friend, Taylor.

  • Daytona Win A Capper on Self’s Comeback In Racing

    Daytona Win A Capper on Self’s Comeback In Racing

    After financial difficulties almost sidelined Michael Self’s career only a few short years ago, his Daytona win is undoubtedly a sweet vindication in his racing comeback. Self, 27, took his second career ARCA win in the wild season-opening Lucas Oil 200 at Daytona. The win was his second-straight overall and his fourth win in five starts between ARCA and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West division.

    Self, a former Richard Childress Racing development driver, had won six races between 2011 and 2013 during his tenure in the No. 21 Chevrolet. However, due to financial constraints, he was left without a firm ride for the 2014 season. A pair of starts for Tom Venturini’s ARCA team in 2014 netted a best finish of 18th at Mobile, and he also made seven NASCAR XFINITY Series starts for JD Motorsports in 2015, with a best finish of 11th at Road America.

    Self made one ARCA start in 2016 for Doug Fuller, finishing third at Kansas, and didn’t race full-time again until 2017 when he returned to the K&N Pro Series West for Bob Bruncati, winning at Meridian and Roseville and tying his career-best fourth-place points finish. He also made six ARCA starts for MDM Motorsports, winning the season finale at Kansas before signing on for a limited engagement with Venturini Motorsports in 2018, where he responded with what could be the biggest win of his career so far.

    “It was absolutely a dream for me to win at Daytona,” said Self. “But it was one I didn’t necessarily think would be a reality for a long time. Now, after a few weeks, whenever I think about the win or look at the trophy I get excited and it feels great. A few years ago I didn’t have the opportunity to race at all, because financially I didn’t have any backing, but Sinclair Oil Corporation gave me the chance to get back in the seat, and after working the partnership from the ground up and knowing how much has gone in to me being to compete at Daytona at all, the win feels especially rewarding, and I’ll always be proud of that and what we’ve done together.”

    Despite only being listed for 10 events in 2018, Self maintains that he plans to use the momentum not only from his Daytona win but from those last four wins in the next nine events. He has proven himself to be a versatile driver; not only has he won on short tracks, mile-and-a-half tracks, and superspeedways, he’s also a road racing coach who has coached for Chip Ganassi Racing drivers.

    “I’ve got nine more races this year and I go to every race with intentions of putting on a good weekend for the Sinclair folks, and winning the race,” he said. “That’s my job and that’s what I have to do at every race no matter what the results were the race before.”

    When it comes to which speedways he’ll feel the strongest at, Self feels that he’ll be the strongest on the mile-and-a-half speedways. This is highlighted by his runs at Iowa and Chicagoland, where he finished fourth and 19th respectively (the 19th-place was the result of a late-race crash after running near the front all race). He will be teamed up with Reed again this season, so he feels that the VMS Toyotas he will pilot will be a force to contend with.

    “I’m really confident in the 1.5-mile program after having a good bit of success there last year,” Self explained. “I felt like we ran really well at Iowa and Chicagoland last year in cars that were built by Kevin Reed, so I’m excited to be back with him for all the big tracks. I love racing on anything that’s a mile or larger, so those are the races I look forward to the most.”

    In the off-season, he was faced with other options on where he wanted to go with his racing career, but according to him, the staff at VMS went “went above and beyond” to work with him and current sponsor Sinclair Oil Corporation. According to Self, the group showed great initiative in helping him where he needed assistance, like growing the Sinclair program. With VMS’s experience with sponsors, as well as the massive commitments made from both financial and time standpoints Self said he knew he could help the program excel in 2018.

    The relationship between Self and VMS can be seen as going both ways in terms of expertise and drive.

    “They have a lot of young but talented rookie drivers under their stable this year, so I hope I can help guide some of them on track while I work with Kevin Reed to make the cars the best they can be for all of us driving them,” said Self. “Everyone at VMS just inspires confidence in me. For the most part, they’re people I know and have worked with in the past, so it’s nice to have preexisting relationships and to know the guys working on my stuff. It makes it easy to trust the scenario whenever I jump in one of their cars. There’s also no one in the garage area that wants to win more than Kevin Reed and Billy Venturini, and I know both of them will give me whatever I need to do that.”

    Self will be back in the car on April 7 at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville.

  • Getting To Know NASCAR Driver Justin Haley

    Getting To Know NASCAR Driver Justin Haley

    Justin Haley is in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driving the No. 24 for GMS Racing Chevy. However, just like any driver, he started at a young age. For Justin, it was the around the age of nine.

    “I started racing when I was around the age of nine or eight and a half years old,” Haley said. “The reason I got into racing is mainly because of my uncle Todd Braun and Ralph Braun. They owned a NASCAR Xfinity team (nationwide back in the day), but Jason Leffler, Kyle Busch, Dave Blaney, all of them guys ran for them. My little cousin was actually racing a quarter midget at the time for my other uncle and I was at one of his birthday parties, and I thought it was pretty cool that I drove his quarter midget around the next day and I kind of asked my mom, ‘hey can I get one of those? Can I race?’ So I got started late, but I’m definitely thankful I did.”

    Haley can remember the first race he competed in and remembers what his emotions were at the time.

    “Yeah, so we bought this crappy quarter midget and it was very rough on the edges but we cleaned it up, and made it nice,” he continued.  “I spray painted it myself and didn’t have stickers on it. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. We built it and had no idea how to set it up. In quarter midgets, there’s a lot of different classes. There’s probably 12 or 13 different classes. I started at Kokomo Midget Club for my first race ever. My sister actually raced quarter midget a little bit later, but the first race I finished was third out of 25. That was pretty cool. Ever since then it kind of took off.”

    “I was definitely nervous,” he added. “But I really didn’t know enough at the time to be overly nervous. I was just trying to have fun, going out there, going to the go-kart track for any of us.”

    For many drivers, the ARCA Racing Series, K&N Pro Series and for Justin, the Super Late Model Tour series, was a stepping stone to making it to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It’s a great way for young drivers to get experience before making it to the next step in racing.

    “Obviously, it’s a progression,” Haley said. “It’s a ladder of how you do things. I won a few Super Late Model races, CRA which excelled me to ARCA. I got a big break with Venturini Motorsports in 2015. I got a pole for them (Elko). HScott Motorsports signed me on. I won a championship over there in 2016 and then I got some opportunities with Great Clips with Braun Motorsports to do some Truck races, and GMS hired me on. Ever since then, it’s been a great ride. I’ve been living my dreams. I can’t necessarily say one thing helped me to another. I’m still learning today. There’s so much to learn, you know? Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch learn every weekend. I’m definitely thankful for the opportunities I’ve had.”

    Throughout a race car drivers career, they will normally have a great race car that they remember well for years later. For Justin, it was the Phoenix race in the K&N series.

    “We went to Phoenix in a K&N west car with Hscott with Justin Marks in the 2015 season, I believe,” Haley said. “We did not win the race, but it was kind of an odd race. I just got done racing my full east season over on the east coast and we went over to the west coast to Phoenix., and ran William Byron, Landon Cassill those guys were in that same race. William Byron was my teammate, Dalton Sargeant was over, I think Rico was the next year. Anyway, we qualified on the pole and didn’t practice the greatest but qualified it on the pole by just an insane speed. It was a 100-lap race and I think I had a 15 or 16 second lead on Landon Cassill, and William Byron was third. And then, I ran over something with my right front with three to go, popped a tire and lost the race. It was just an unbelievable car. Probably the best car I ever had in my life. I would have to go way back then.”

    “I’ve won races in worst driving cars,” he added. “It just kind of frustrates me that we couldn’t get the job done that night.”

    One of Justin’s sponsors right now in the truck series is F.O.E, which stands for Fraternal Order of Eagles. He describes more of what they are and what they do.

    “Fraternal Order of Eagles is a non-profit organization throughout Canada and America,” Haley said. “Basically, they just raise money for charity. It’s not a specific charity here and there, but any charity. They seem to be everywhere. You apply to be a member and you have to renew that for any amount of years. But basically, you’re part of this organization and you just raise money for charities. They’ve helped me a lot with my career. They’ve given me so many opportunities.”

    “The first time ever they were on my car was at Columbus Motor Speedway in the K&N East series,” Haley added. “I won with them. To kick off that partnership was pretty cool back then and obviously, they are supportive of my truck career as of now. It’s pretty cool to have them on as a sponsor.”

    Sometimes a race car driver wishes they can go back and do a race over again. In Haley’s mind, he couldn’t quite come up with an answer.

    “Man, I don’t know if I could ever put a race that I would like to redo,” he said. “Any racer I think would tell you that any race you lost, you would like to redo to have another shot at. I’ve raced so many races that I can’t think back to it. I always like to think if I went back in time to when I was 12 racing street stocks or the late models at 13 and if I knew what I knew now, it would be pretty cool to watch. I definitely like to say, any race that I ever lost I would redo it.”

    Stage racing was implemented last year for all three series and every driver has a different opinion on it.

    “Everyone was a little bit skeptical at first, but I think it really helps sell business opportunities and helps the competitiveness on how we race,” Haley said. “It really shows at superspeedways more so than a mile and a half, where we are all single file and just running. The strategy of the races has changed. Fuel mileage. NASCAR has done very good making them non-fuel mileage races, eliminating that factor. So we have good competitive races. I think it’s been good for the sport. I think it needs to evolve and it was a step in the right direction. I can’t wait to see what’s next!”

    Justin also has an idea on what could be added to the NASCAR Truck Series schedule.

    “I think it would be cool to add some more road courses to the truck schedule,” he said. “We have Mosport up in Canada and we’ve run really good up there. With my road course and dirt background, they all seem to fit me pretty well. I like to have my advantages on the road courses. Any road course. I think Road Atlanta would be cool. Road America. Places like that, I think we could do the Homestead roval, which would be really cool. They’re doing the Charlotte roval this year in the cup series, so maybe that can transform in later years to the lower series. That would be really sweet.”

    Haley was signed on to drive for GMS Racing in 2017. In any way, owner Maury Gallagher has helped him grow as a person and driver.

    “Maury is just a cool guy,” Haley said. “He is a business guy and he’s a leader for the sport, and GMS Racing and everyone involved. He’s given us all opportunities and people behind us. GMS is an empire. You walk in the building and so many people, so many faces, so much brain power and it’s absolutely unbelievable. Having Maury put Mike Beam, even Spencer his son in there, all the crew chiefs, Joe Shear Jr or even Johnny Sauter being in there. As a whole, he’s done so much for the sport and I can’t thank him enough for what he’s done for my career.”

    Prior to the June race last year in Texas, Justin won his very first NASCAR Truck Series pole. It was a great moment for him and the team.

    “Yeah, that was for sure cool,” Haley said. “The mile and a half stuff we kind of struggled on the 24 team last year, but we progressively got it better. That’s why it was so special to me and my team. We may have not started the best. We had our ups and downs. We had some podium finishes on the mile and a half’s, which was really cool but to go out there and be faster than anyone else really shows what kind of determination, and willpower that my guys have. We have a no quit attitude. To go out there and get my first career pole; that was insane.”

    “Obviously, Daytona last week and getting the second place finish that capped it off even more,” he added. “We have a lot of momentum going into Atlanta.”

    Johnny Sauter can most likely be seen as a leader for his teammates at GMS Racing. Justin has been able to get some advice on the truck throughout the weekend.

    “Johnny was really good at racing,” Haley said. “He’s just been around for so long and I can just feed on him for what he has to say. I was new to this mile and a half racing and I did the short tracks, and I did the superspeedways as well as the road courses and raced on dirt too. But, I hadn’t worked the air on the mile and a half’s yet. Last year at the beginning of it, we were new teammates and I just took everything I could from him and the crew chief Jerry Baxter, and everyone over there, Spencer too. Johnny has been great with me. Obviously, we’ve been working really well together. It showed last week when we had a 1-2 finish. It’s been cool to have that partnership.”

    2018 has started off hot for GMS Racing with a 1-2 finishing position at Daytona last week. Haley explains why they’ve started off well.

    “We’ve got some good guys this year,” he said. ” A new mechanic and front-end mechanic. New interior guy, tire guy. Having them guys, showing them what I’m capable of and my willpower, my overall strength in a race car. I think it built our team a lot and we walked in Monday morning having a smile on their face, and pumped to go to Atlanta this weekend. It was really positive it was what we needed. We need another strong finish here at Atlanta and hopefully lock ourselves in the chase.”

    Justin will be heading to Atlanta this weekend to make his first ever track debut.

    “I’m very prepared,” he said. “I’ve watched a lot of film and looking at raw data. Alex Bowman filled in for me last year. I have a lot of resources. I’ve been at a Chevy on the simulator and turning laps for hours. Leaning on everyone at GMS for the support and having that technology behind me is really helpful.”

    Finally, Haley has set some expectations for the 2018 NASCAR Truck Series season.

    “Winning the championship,” Haley added. “That comes with making the final four for my expectations. I’ve told everyone this. We are a championship caliber team and there’s no reason we shouldn’t be in the final four. We just need to go out there and focus on every race, and individually can’t get wrapped up over one lap and one race. I think if we just stay focused on our goal and task at hand, I think that’s what we will do best.”

    You can follow Justin Haley on Twitter at @Justin_Haley_.

  • Catching Up with Former NASCAR Truck Series Driver Randy Tolsma – Part 3

    Catching Up with Former NASCAR Truck Series Driver Randy Tolsma – Part 3

    As we wrapped up our interview, Tolsma spoke about the sacrifices he made in order to compete at racing’s highest level. He also gave his insights on the future of the sport.

    “Prior to winning that race (at Mesa Marin Raceway) I had given racing my all,” Tolsma said. “For three years of our life my wife Tiiffanie and I drove 751 miles from Boise, Idaho to California and home Sunday 31 times a year to race at a higher level. We sold everything we owned to move to Indiana to give racing full time a shot. We basically left Indiana on a moment’s notice to move to North Carolina where we lived above the shop, walked across the shop floor to watch TV in the transporter, and did laundry in the fabrication area of the shop. We did this to pursue a dream, to lay it all out there and hope. When I saw the checkered flag, it was all worth it, I had accomplished the dream.”

    Nowadays in Randy’s career, he is working in an automotive company and is making his son’s dream come true.

    “I am Vice President of Operations for an automotive marketing company called AMCI,” Tolsma said. “AMCI specializes in 3 areas – AMCI Live is experiential marketing, creating campaigns that transform opinion, create advocacy, and drive dealership traffic, AMCI Testing that provides vehicle evaluations that discover product truths, and certify thousands of claims. And thirdly, AMCI Inside which are experts in product education and launches, pioneers in culture change initiatives and dealership performance.

    “On a personal front I support my son’s dream. Elijah is in his sophomore year of high school now and is a remarkable student carrying a 4.33 GPA. He loves baseball, likely more than I loved racing. He is a pitcher, middle infielder and plays outfield. He plays on one of the top tier programs in the country and will likely be a four-year starter on his high school team. The odds to play college or pro ball are slim, but so were the odds for a guy out of Idaho to make it as a race car driver with nothing more than heart.”

    If the opportunity rose again to drive in the truck series, Randy would definitely like a chance to revive himself again.

    “I drive laps every day in my head and still dream, so yes,” he says. “I would like to redeem myself for the last starts that were not my best. Funny, I might be older but I think I have become wiser which would have me attack it all in a much different way.”

    Tolsma still follows the Truck Series somewhat and has his own thoughts on how the series is now, and possibly what he might change if he were to be in charge.

    “I do follow it all, maybe not at the level I once did, but I follow,” he said. “It’s changed from what once was a landing and launching series for those who earned it because years of success to a launching series to the young guns on the fast track. When I was making my way through my career, age 36-40 was a driver’s prime, so you spent years cultivating your skills. Now if you have not made it in your early to late 20s, it’s all over. So the series moves the drivers through much sooner.

    “I am not sure if that is good or bad, but different. It does scare me more for the short track series around the country. No longer is there drivers spending years of time, building a name and following in whatever series that might be. I listed a plethora of names above and with those names came followers because they had watched them develop. You had fans follow and fans love a series because they were watching the next possible superstar. With the short amount of time drivers spend at the sort tracks, it is less time for fans to connect.”

    The one thing that he would get back in place is the halftime breaks and racing at other tracks.

    “I would go back to halfway breaks and try to get back to supporting the short tracks with the series,” Tolsma said. “This would give the Truck Series its own identity, which is now all under one umbrella of NASCAR. When you see the lineup for the weekend at a track, what’s different other than the look of the cars? Same teams run up front, many of the same drivers, and the same format. The trucks were once different and made changes when people only wanted more of the same. Now we see that the fans only seem to care about the elite, so the trucks need to differentiate themselves to be unique like we once were.

    “I am not a genius on how to cut costs, but it must be done for both the teams and the smaller tracks to host. The other thing missing is a way for the non MENCS (Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) affiliated engine builders to compete with the factory supported programs.

    “I would also like to see NASCAR hire an outside marketing agency to help build a case for why marketing dollars should be spent with these race teams. The smaller teams have no real shot nor a true understanding how to present themselves to a company. I don’t mean that as a condescending statement, but marketing, social media tracking, influencers, creators, social listening, metrics are all a science. It’s not simply only about the mentions on TV, or the championship banner in the shop. This is a complicated story, yet NASCAR has a supportive, passionate and loyal fan base that many marketers crave.

    “NASCAR should be helping fund the cost of an outside agency. Racing is a quality investment for the right sponsors, and the truck level is a fantastic offering. The amount of money needed for sponsorship, for the exposure, is a great value. Sadly, the sport is still seen through one lens, from those within the sport looking out, and possible companies looking in. I have been on both sides, seen it from the innermost circle and seen if from a total outsider’s perspective. It’s not broken, but needs fresh outside thinking and there are some incredible companies that could help.”

    With Tolsma’s career over for right now, there are many things he misses about being a racecar driver.

    “I am commonly asked what I miss about racing,” he said. “I miss the checkered flag, because at the end of the day you know if it was a good day or a bad day. If your race ended well you celebrate and I mean really celebrate the good times. In life and business, we don’t celebrate minor success like we should. If the race was bad, you know what you need to do, you have goals set and you work to achieve those goals. In real life, we go through it and sometimes my work day is just a work day, not really knowing if it’s good or bad.

    “The checkered flag signified more than the conclusion, sometimes it signified a new start.”

    You can follow Randy Tolsma on Twitter at @rtolsmaamci.

    Part 1

    Part 2