Charlotte: Matt Crafton qualifying notes

CONCORD, N.C. - Matt Crafton earned the 19th starting position for the Hardee's 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in qualifying held Thursday, May 15. Bill Lester won the pole, the inaugural truck event at the 1.5-mile oval in suburban Charlotte.

Crafton's fastest lap was 31.516 seconds (171.342 miles per hour). Lester's lap was 30.753/175.593.

"What a great deal for Bill Lester," Crafton said.  "I'm happy for him
and all the guys on that team.  Bill's been close to the pole a couple of
times.  I'm glad to see he got one tonight."

Qualifying was in doubt to the very end of the session. Threatening skies, which loomed throughout the day, opened into a drizzle after 12 of 38 trucks posted times and forced a brief delay.

The shower passed and allowed qualifying to resume, but sprinkles returned with a few trucks remaining to qualify. The rain remained light enough to allow for the completion of qualifying.

A steady rain immediately after time trials forced the cancellation of a final practice. Crafton is prepared to take to the track for the 134-lap race without any additional laps.

"The Menards/Enzyme Magic Chevrolet Silverado handled really well in qualifying," Crafton said. "We had some problems bottoming out on the bumps in turn three in practice. We made some changes for qualifying and the truck reacted well. I think we have found something that will make us be pretty good in the race tomorrow night."

The Hardee's 200 starts at 8 p.m. EDT Friday, May 16. The race will be telecast live on SpeedChannel and broadcast on the radio affiliates of the Motor Racing Network.

-tsr-