Waters to make NASCAR debut

Cameron Waters will be the latest Supercars star to take on America next weekend when he will make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut.

Waters will race at Martinsville with support from Ford Performance for ThorSport Racing, which has 30 pole positions and five championship titles.

The race will take place on Saturday, April 6, landing nicely in between the most recent Supercars round at Albert Park and a fortnight before the Taupo Super400.

The Tickford Racing driver will head to the States on Tuesday and admits the opportunity will be a dream come true with a NASCAR race something rumoured and an ambition he has pursued for a long time.

“We’ve been working away at making this happen for some time and to finally be given the change to race, and with a top operation, is great,” Waters said. 

“I’m not putting too much pressure on myself knowing I will be getting thrown into the deep end without any testing, but hopefully I can adapt reasonably quickly and be competitive.  It’s a short oval so I’m sure it will be pretty wild out there.

“I have to thank Ford Performance and the team at ThorSport for helping make this happen and also my long-time team Tickford Racing, who have always supported my plans to explore new driving opportunities in and around my continued dedication to winning the Supercars Championship with them.”

Waters will follow in the footsteps of on track rivals throughout his Supercars career such as Marcos Ambrose, Shane van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki, who have all raced NASCAR.

Both van Gisbergen and Ambrose have had experience in the Truck Series with the Kiwi racing at Indianapolis last year finishing 19th, whilst the Aussie did almost a full season in 2006 with a best finish of third.

Tickford Racing owner Rod Nash is fully supportive of the drive, believing Waters’ experience in sprint car racing and soon NASCAR only making him a better driver.

“Anything that can provide Cam with further seat time is a bonus,” Nash said. 

“His foray into Sprint Car racing and now a NASCAR Truck event provides a fantastic way to stay sharp and further test his skills. 

“The timing in-between the AGP event and Taupo works for our team and we’ll be wishing him well and watching with huge interest.”

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville will take place at 10.30 AEDT Saturday, April 6.

Image: Peter Norton EPIC Sports Photography

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