The world looked quite a bit different the last time Matt Crafton wasn’t in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
To make everyone feel old, I’ll throw out there that his Truck Series debut pre-dated my existence by nearly six years.
In all seriousness, both NASCAR and the rest of the globe were in much different places on Oct. 13, 2000 — the last time a Truck Series race didn’t feature Crafton in the field, just as what will happen at Daytona International Speedway in February 2026.
The three-time champion has been racing in the Truck Series for nearly 80% of its existence, if you want to attach numbers to an already crazy-sounding mark of 585 (soon to be 592 at the end of the season) Truck Series starts.
Here’s what the world looked like on that October day the last time that Crafton wasn’t in the Truck Series field.
Racing
Dale Earnhardt Was Yet to Win His Last Race
Earnhardt’s final Winston Cup Series win occurred on Oct. 15 at Talladega Superspeedway. His iconic drive was the 76th and final time he reached victory lane at the Cup level before his tragic death in February 2001. Earnhardt went on to finish second in the 2000 Winston Cup standings behind Bobby Labonte.
Tony Roper Passed Away
In the Truck Series’ O’Reilly 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Oct. 13, the most recent race without Crafton, Tony Roper passed away after a harrowing crash in the tri-oval. Roper, 35, scored eight top-10 finishes in 60 Truck Series starts over five years.
Bryan Reffner Was the Most Recent Truck Series Winner
Reffner won the infamous Texas Truck Series race before Crafton’s debut. That victory was the only one of Reffner’s 126-race career in the Truck Series. He made his final start in the 2003 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and made his final NASCAR start across NASCAR’s top three series in a 2005 Xfinity Series race at Gateway.
Jack Sprague Was the Defending Truck Series Champion
In the early years of the Truck Series, drivers such as Sprague led the way and shaped the circuit. Sprague won the 1999 title with Hendrick Motorsports, though he was unable to repeat in 2000 after Crafton made his first start. In 2000, a then 30-year-old Greg Biffle won the championship driving for Jack Roush by 230 points.
Pop Culture
John Michael Montgomery, Green Day and Christina Aguilera Topped the US Music Charts
Montgomery, Aguilera and Green Day were among the top artists of the month in the United States in the days leading up to Crafton’s Truck Series debut. That’s not a list that’s extraordinarily dated — at the very least, Green Day has retained plenty of relevance into the modern day — but it’s certainly a difference from today, where Alex Warren, Morgan Wallen and Billie Eilish have taken over their respective positions.
Meet The Parents and Remember The Titans Had a Stranglehold on the Box Office
In October 2000, Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington and Will Patton were the stars of the silver screen. Those two movies have become cult classics in the two-and-a-half decades following their explosion at the box office — something that may or may not be able to be said for Liam Neeson’s The Naked Gun or Disney’s Freakier Friday.
Bill Clinton was the President of the United States
The 42nd president was the incumbent of October 2000, and the country was less than one month away from the Presidential Election between George W. Bush and Al Gore on Nov. 7.
It’s hard to imagine a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race without Crafton, but come February 2026, it’ll be a reality every race fan will be forced to come to terms with.
A member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Samuel also covers NASCAR for Yardbarker, Field Level Media, and Heavy Sports. He will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2025.