When Matt Craig first arrived at Southern National Motorsports Park for the #CARSTour300, he did not have high hopes for the weekend.
“I thought we were hoping for a top 20 when we started.”
Instead, Craig continued what has been a strong start to the 2016 season with a fifth-place finish, his first career top ten on the CARS Super Late Model Tour.
“I really didn’t know we had a top five in us when we unloaded yesterday,” said Craig after the 150-lap Super Late Model feature. “We tuned on it, tuned on it. Thanks to Clay Rogers for crew chiefing.”
“It’s a totally different car,” Craig added about his machine. “The whole setup is changed since we unloaded. I just have to thank C&C Boiler, my family, the team, we had a good run.”
Craig started 16th in the field of 24 Super Late Models, but methodically worked his way through the field during the event, where tire management proved critical. A caution at lap 108 for Jeff Batten spinning in turn four gave Craig the opportunity to charge into the top five.
“We just stayed on it and rolled with it,” Craig said. “We had that one caution the whole race. We picked a few up right there and we just kept digging as hard as we could.”
There were glimpses that Craig was due for a breakthrough performance, thanks in part to his performance to date in the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Touring Series. Currently second in that championship behind Kodie Conner, Craig owns a pair of sixth-place finishes at Greenville-Pickens Speedway and Dillon Motor Speedway.
Craig’s presence in the top five might be considered a surprise, but Craig and his team have long believed they were capable of competing at this level, waiting for breaks to fall their way.
“We knew we could do it all along,” said Craig. “We just had so much bad luck, really. Freak things happening or breaking or whatever. We’re finally starting to gel, get all going together and getting some speed in the car. This is going to give us a lot of momentum to push harder and know we can do it.”
Craig only ran eight of last year’s ten CARS Super Late Model Tour events, with a best finish of 11th place at Motor Mile Speedway. Craig planned on running a similar CARS schedule in 2016, but he admitted that Sunday’s result might lead to a change in plans.
“We weren’t planning on running the whole series,” Craig said. “But now we might have to change our mind.”
