Cam Waters during Friday’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
RIDGEWAY, Va. — Cam Waters, an Australian Supercars ace, got caught up in a crash on Lap 176 and ended up finishing 30th in his NASCAR debut at Martinsville Speedway. The 29-year-old from Mildura, Victoria, drove the No. 66 entry for ThorSport Racing in Friday’s CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Long John Silver’s 200.
Understandably, Waters expressed dissapointment in not finishing his debut. But at the same time, he still enjoyed his maiden NASCAR experience.
“I had so much fun [Friday] and all day,” Waters said, addressing the media from the infield care center. “It is totally different racing from what I usually do and I just wanted to learn. I learned so much. There at the end I just had nowhere to go and knocked the radiator out of it. It is a shame but I was having fun and learning and had some awesome battles too.
“The racing is so robust. Everyone is into each other. There is still a bit of respect there. It’s totally different from what we do in Australia. I love it. You can bump a little and give some back a little without putting someone in.”
Though Waters’ experience on paved ovals are limited, his background outisde of road-course racing is on dirt. He ended up qualifying 22nd and spent most of the race mixing it up around the top 15.
With 35 laps to go, Waters got caught up in his first incident of the night. He ended up spinning around in Turn 3 along with teammate Jake Garcia and others, losing some of his hard-earned track position. But a few laps after the restart, his night came to an end. Layne Riggs went for his third spin of the day and Waters couldn’t slow his Ford F-150 in time, plowing into Garcia, who slowed for the incident. Waters suffered terminal front-end damage.
Just minutes before his night came to a screeching halt, Waters radioed up to his team and jokingly asked when the race would start to get loaded with cautions. He certainly got what he expected.
Cam Waters during NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series practice at Martinsville Speedway on Friday. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
“I have watched a lot of races and knew it was going to be pretty crazy,” Waters said. “Shane [Van Gisbergen] and Marcos Ambrose told me it was going to be wild out there and even all the drivers when I got here said the same thing. It was definitely wild, but I loved it. It was a lot of fun. Everyone was kind of into each other a bit and the racing is pretty hard.”
Ultimately, the entire race was a learning curve for Waters. He had to learn pit stops, which moments before climbing into his truck, he spent time physically walking through entry and exit from his box. The procedure of crew members jumping over the wall is different, as well.
“They are a lot different than Australia,” Waters said. “The pit road speed was probably the biggest thing just trying to stay in the white and the guys coming over the wall was new to me as well, but it was good.”
Waters wants to make a return to NASCAR and potentially run full time down the road. FOX Sports reported that’d he also run Kansas Speedway next month, but Waters said that Martinsville was his only scheduled race for now.
But regardless of what’s next, Waters checked an item off his bucket list with his first NASCAR start.
“I always watch NASCAR and this is my first proper taste of it to see if I like it or not, and honestly I love it,” Waters said. “I still have unfinished business back in Australia and I have an amazing team there that I have been trying to win a championship with so I will go back home and win some races in Aussie and see if we can get back here again.”
