Waters hoping to apply speedway skills to Martinsville

Cameron Waters is looking to transfer the skills he learnt racing speedway on the dirt to his NASCAR Truck Series debut this weekend.

The Tickford racer will follow in the footsteps of former Supercars rivals Shane van Gisbergen and Marcos Ambrose at race in the NASCAR Truck Series at Martinsville.

Whilst his only previous experience of racing in America was attending last year’s NASCAR race at Martinsville, he is no stranger to ovals.

A massive part of Waters with his entire family a massive part of the speedway scene with brother and father also national champions in Modified Sedans and Modlights respectively.

Recently Cameron has also been a regular on the dirt, going sprintcar racing in recent seasons with Chief Racing and fighting against the best.

Having done countless laps on dirt ovals, Waters is looking forward to having a crack on a pavement oval.

“I think just racing I guess, years of oval stuff, I think it’s only going to help,” Waters said. 

“I think the sprint pass stuff, having to search for grip and different lines and things like that should only complement what I’m doing this weekend.

“The style of our racing is totally different. I’ve grown up on a dirt oval background.  

“My dad used to race. I’ve raced sprint cars, late models, modifieds, so oval stuff isn’t new to me, so I wanted to come over and experience the pavement oval.

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“The truck was probably the perfect opportunity to come over here and do a short oval and get racing.

“It is pretty cool for me and something I’ve always wanted to do.”

In addition to his speedway skills, Waters has also tapped into his Supercars contacts to prepare for the one-off truck appearance.

He has been in contact with former Supercars champions van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki, who both raced NASCAR with success last year.

Especially the Kiwi, who finished 12th in his one and only NASCAR Truck Series appearance at the shorter Indianapolis oval in August.

Both Kostecki and van Gisbergen have offered Waters advice before he jumps behind the wheel this weekend.

“It’s totally different to how we go racing in Australia. We have 12 weekends a year that we’re racing, where over here you’re racing every weekend. It’s pretty full-on,” Waters said.

“The style of our racing is totally different. I heard it’s pretty aggressive over here. 

“I’ve watched a fair few races, so I’ve kind of picked that up myself. 

“I talk to Brodie all the time. We’re always trying to help each other when we can, you know, when it’s not in the Supercar series.

“I spoke to Shane the other day about how he’s obviously tackled racing and the Thor Sport drivers as well have given me a few tips with how truck races go down. 

“They say it gets pretty wild at times, so hold on. But the way I want to treat it is just finish, keep the truck clean, and learn as much as I can.”

In terms of driving the Ford truck rather than Mustang Supercar, Waters already understands some of the differences will encounter, which is important given there is just one practice session, directly before qualifying whilst the race is on the same day.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of things which will be challenging,” Waters said. 

“The track’s going to be totally different than anything I’ve ever driven. 

The tyres are totally different, more power, more weight, so I think just learning the car under you and working out what it likes will be the biggest challenge for me with limited practice.

“I’m very lucky to have an awesome team around me with so much experience. 

“All the other drivers have been so helpful, giving me tips and whatnot. 

“I’ve got a lot to take in in a short period of time, but I like the challenge of it. So I’m really looking forward to it.”

The 2024 Long Johns Silvers 250 is scheduled to begin at 10.30 AEDT Saturday morning, but at this stage there is no sign that Fox Sports or Kayo will broadcast the race like van Gisbergen’s Truck Series appearance last year.

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