“Do what makes you happy again”: Matt Crafton gets candid about his next chapter in life, opens up about ‘pathetic’ NASCAR season

Matt Crafton, who has raced with ThorSport Racing for most of his career, ran his final Truck Series event with the team last Friday at Phoenix Raceway. The 49-year-old, Tulare, California native announced his retirement earlier this season, leaving his fans wondering about his plans for the days to come.

During a post-race interview at the dogleg, the three-time champion revealed how he would like to spend his retired life. For starters, he wants to be involved with ThorSport one way or the other and take the organization back to its winning ways.

2025 didn’t go well for Crafton at ThorSport Racing, given that it was his third straight year without a win and his first year since 2002 without a single top-five. Speaking of his season, Crafton told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio,

“It's been pretty pathetic. The whole organization has been really good this year. I don't think we've won one race...the whole organization...it suck to see what it used to be and what it is right now. Hopefully I can still stay a part of it and try to make it better because it's been really sad to see the...we used to win a lot more races and be a lot more competitive.”

The ultimate goal for Matt Crafton is to do what makes him happy. He wants to spend more time with his family, take part in dirt racing here and there, and, if possible, run a truck on a part-time basis.

“Hopefully, go race part-time, go hang out with family, and go dirt racing and do what makes me happy again,” Crafton added. “Because here, the last few years hasn't been making me very happy, sucking as bad as we have.”

Matt Crafton is one of the most accomplished drivers to run full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He retires with 15 wins (ranking him 10th on the all-time list), 16 poles, 135 top-fives, and 333 top 10s across 592 starts.

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Matt Crafton details why he carries “more emotion” as a championship-winning NASCAR driver

Matt Crafton is the only driver in the history of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to claim back-to-back championships in 2013 and 2014. He captured his third series title in 2019, proving his racing prowess in multiple championship formats.

Crafton started his career in motorsports, filling in for his dad, who once was a contender in NASCAR’s Southwest Series. And when not racing, young Crafton would work on cars at his father’s race shop in San Jose.

Matt Crafton spoke about his humble beginnings that shaped much of his outlook towards racing. Speaking of the success that followed, the driver said (via NASCAR.com),

“I haven’t had it handed to me, I had to work for it. I don’t know how many times I’ve been brought into the NASCAR trailer and told to calm down and not cuss on the radio and not rant and rave. I always told them, the day I don’t do that is the day I need to quit.” “If you go back and look at Kevin Harvick or Kurt and Kyle Busch or Tony Stewart or Dale Earnhardt, everybody who has had to work for it from the grassroots, to fight and claw, you’re naturally going to carry more emotion,” he added.

The Truck Series drivers are currently in their off-season. The racing resumes on February 13, with the series’ season opener at Daytona International Speedway.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua