By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor
After a largely successful NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut, Cam Waters will return to ThorSport Racing to compete in the Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway.
Waters turned heads at Martinsville Speedway, quickly adapting to the close-quarters competition in the Truck Series. The Repco SuperCars driver was 12th fastest in practice and qualified the No. 66 TRADIE Ford F-150 22nd.
In the race itself, Waters ran as high as 11th, challenging for a spot inside the top-10. Pit strategy ultimately put the 11-time SuperCars winner in the middle of the melee. He was swept up in a multi-truck accident with 35 laps to go. Shortly after the restart contact with teammate Jake Garcia while trying to avoid a wreck with 24 laps to go ended the Australian’s night.
“It’s great to be getting another crack at racing the Ford truck for ThorSport and hopefully I can adapt to the Kansas Speedway reasonably quickly,” Waters stated. “The track is almost three times long as Martinsville and has an average lap-speed of just on 180-mph, although I have heard it’s less of a bull ring than Martinsville was.”
Despite the early end at ‘The Paperclip,’ Waters was approved by NASCAR officials to compete at the high-banked 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway. With no testing allowed, the 29-year-old will have to rely on the Ford Performance simulators to get up to speed.
That practice in the simulator will be crucial as ThorSport’s No. 66 truck enters Kansas 31st in Owner Points. If there’s over 36 entries, Waters will have to qualify on time to ensure a spot on the starting grid.
“I’ll spend some more time in the simulator to accelerate the learning and look forward to the challenge,” Waters said. “I also appreciate some news services have already mention the Kansas race, but what nobody knew at the time was NASCAR have stringent criteria they apply to licensing for the high-speed venues, and I needed to get through Martinsville before I could be assessed for approval to run at Kansas. This has now been completed.”
When Waters took the green flag at Martinsville, he became the 204th internationally born driver to make a start in a NASCAR National Touring Series race and the 77th in Truck Series competition. He was also the 15th Australian driver to compete in one of NASCAR’s three touring series. When the green flag flies at Kansas, he will become just the 50th international driver to have multiple starts in the Truck Series.
Six races into the 2024 Repco SuperCars Championship season Waters has a best finish of fifth in the first race of the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit race weekend. He also has one pole position this season.
The Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway is scheduled for Saturday, May 4 at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1. The race will also be broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90. Listings for international broadcasts of NASCAR races can be found here.