Victory Lane at Hickory Motor Speedway was like a block party on Saturday night for Matthew Crag JCR3 Racing.
There was the driver, his dad and family, longtime friend and NASCAR Cup Series crew chief Rodney Childers but also an entire legion of folks in No. 54 gear.
There was a lot of people.
“We’re just close to home and I got some of my neighbors, some of my friends,” Craig said. “This is the closest race to home and it’s just special to win with these guys here.”
It was also his second consecutive CARS Tour Throwback 276 victory dating back to 2019. The 2020 race was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Craig spent most of the race in a battle with March Hickory winner Carson Kvapil. Kvapil took the lead from Craig on lap 19 and Craig spent 60 laps in pursuit.
The winning pass was made off a Lap 80 restart and Kvapil also lost second and third to Smith and Bubba Pollard. A Daniel Webster spin on the frontstretch on Lap 107 set up the decisive restart, but Craig again drove away from Pollard, who he defeated in the 2019 race.
Smith was able to retake second but the gap steadied at one second.
“You’ve got to save tires. Just because you’re not going a whole lot slower than a car, you’re still saving tires by the way you run the corner and you run your car,” said Craig, who beat Smith to the finish by .804 seconds for the $5,000 prize. “I think Kvapil, maybe he had something else go on, but I felt like the line he was taking around the corner was just eating his tires up faster.”
Pollard finished third, over four seconds behind of Craig with Kvapil and Kyle Plott completing the top-five.
- Matt Craig
- Chandler Smith
- Bubba Pollard
- Carson Kvapil
- Kyle Plott
- Brandon Setzer
- Lee Tissot
- Michael Ritch
- Daniel Webster
- Jeff Batten
- Justin Crider
- Tyler Church
Read more Short Track Scene:
