Waters bracing for 'pretty wild' NASCAR debut
Supercars
03 Apr
Cam Waters bracing for “pretty wild” NASCAR debut
Tickford star to compete in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race
Waters to race at Martinsville Speedway for ThorSport Racing
Cam Waters is bracing for a “pretty wild” NASCAR debut, with the Tickford Racing Supercars star aiming to finish the race.
Waters will make his NASCAR debut this weekend in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday morning (AEST).
The Tickford Racing star, who will be driving a fifth Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing, follows the likes of Shane van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki in swapping a Supercar for NASCAR machinery.
"I'm absolutely pumped, so I’m super excited to be finally having a race over here in a truck,” the 11-time Supercars race winner said.
"I’ve always followed NASCAR and done a little valuable stuff myself on dirt in Australia, so to do a pavement oval is pretty cool for me and something I’ve always wanted to do.
"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.
“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. I’ve just been chipping away in the background over the last 12 months to make something happen like this.”
While a veteran of over 250 Supercar races, Waters knows he is in for a baptism of fire.
"I heard it's pretty aggressive over here. I've watched a fair few races, so I've kind of picked that up myself,” Waters said.
"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 cited van Gisbergen’s journey, as well as a trackside visit to Martinsville 12 months ago, as reasons behind his desire to get into a car in the United States.
The Ford star revealed he has caught up with van Gisbergen, having stayed in touch with the three-time Supercars champion and Kostecki, last year's Supercars champion.
"I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a long time,” Waters said.
"Shane was super lucky with how his stuff all came together and I was super happy for him and how Chicago went was obviously amazing.
"For me, it’s been something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time and it’s just great to finally be able to pull something together and do this race.
"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.
"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.”
On van Gisbergen and Kostecki, Waters added: “I guess we've got a relationship going from years of racing against each other. We all kind of talk. I went and caught up with Shane the other day. We went and played some Top Golf together here in Concord.
"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. Obviously, it's a little bit different now with Shane going and Brodie's having a year off. As much as we're competitors, we want to see each other do well.”
Waters is 16th in the points heading to the next Supercars round in New Zealand on April 19-21.
