Australian Supercars contender Cam Waters attended the NASCAR weekend at Martinsville Speedway and it sparked an idea that finally manifest itself a year later.
I want to do that.
Waters, 27, was the championship runner-up in 2022 to current NASCAR star Shane van Gisbergen and has always had a fascination for American Stock Car racing and it was just a matter of time before the pieces fit to sample it.
He will make his debut on Friday in the Craftsman Truck Series at Martinsville for ThorSport Racing in the No. 66.
“I’ve wanted to do it for years, but with what I do in Australia has always been my focus and still is my focus, for sure, but we came to Martinsville 12 months ago and watched a race and that’s what probably sparked a bit more interest in me to pursue it,” Waters said during a midweek availability this week. “I’ve just been chipping away in the background over the last 12 months to make something happen like this.”
He’s getting the full experience too, having flown into Cleveland this week so he could drive to the ThorSports shop to meet the team and get fitted for a seat. He then flew into Charlotte so he could go to the Ford Performance building for some simulator time to get acclimated with the Truck Series platform since there is so little practice time.
“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 tire’s 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.
“So, 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. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Waters has said he pursued a Truck Series race over Cup or Xfinity Series because it’s a lower investment and a more reasonable way to dabble in the discipline. He wanted to do an oval as opposed to a road race because he truly wanted to experience NASCAR style racing in its purest form.
“To me, I wanted to experience oval racing and the truck was probably the perfect opportunity to come over here and do a short oval and get racing,” he said.
That includes going door-to-door, fender-to-fender, and all the things he isn’t allowed to do in a Supercar.
“I heard it’s pretty aggressive over here,” he conceded. “I’ve watched a fair few races, so I’ve kind of picked that up myself. I spoke to Shane about how he’s obviously tackled racing and races and the ThorSport 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.”
Waters, who has 11 wins in Supercars, eventually wants to race NASCAR full-time too.
“I definitely have a dream to one day get over here and race full-time NASCAR, but to get there it’s such a long journey and I’ve got a pretty cool thing going on in Australia racing Supercars,” he said. “For me to do the odd NASCAR race like we’re doing this weekend is pretty cool, so we’ll go through this weekend and have a bit of fun and work out what NASCAR is all about and see what happens in the future.”
And for now, that means a pure one-off at Martinsville.
“I think Friday night, if we can keep the truck clean, like I said, and take in as much as I can, I think that’d be good,” Waters said. “I’ve kind of got no expectations. I don’t really know how I’m going to go. It’s going to be kind of jumping in the deep end, so to speak, with the limited practice and not being able to drive the truck beforehand.
“Right now, this is the only thing we’ve kind of got set in stone. It’s kind of hard with my schedule in Australia. I’m going after a championship over there. This race fit in pretty perfectly between AGP and Telpo to fit in a race. Really just need to get through this weekend and see how we go and go home, go to New Zealand, and try and win some races over there to get my Supercar championship back on track.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.