Waters, who has already made a pair of starts in the Truck Series this year, drove a third entry in Sunday’s race at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway for RFK Racing.
He struggled in qualifying on Saturday and started 31st but by the second stage of Sunday’s race he was running in the top 20.
On lap 35 of 110, Josh Berry cut across the nose of Erik Jones and hit the inside wall in Turn 11, then turned back onto the track and slammed into several cars, including Martin Truex Jr. and Waters. At least seven cars in all suffered damage in the incident.
Waters’ No. 60 Ford was never quite the same after that and he was finally forced to the garage with major suspension damage, retiring after 66 laps and a 35th place finish.
Disappointed? Hardly.
“I had so much fun,” the 12-time Supercars winner said. “This weekend and the whole experience coming to a road course in a Cup car was sensational.
“I can’t thank everyone enough for making that happen. The start of the race, I took it easy the first couple of laps and then I pressed on and tried to pass some cars. The car was super-fast.
“It could absolutely make some ground passing cars, which was really good. The cautions fell our way a bit and I guess effectively we were right up there. It was all looking really good.”
Hairpin pileup
That was until Waters found himself in what was shaping up to be a no-win situation entering Turn 11 on lap 35.
“I think there were three or four cars going into one corner – it just was never going to work, unfortunately,” he said. “That’s part of racing and not a lot I could have done about it, I guess. It is what it is.
“We were looking really good and it’s a shame what happened, but I’m not going to let that put a damper on my weekend.”
Waters, 29, had some familiar company in Sunday’s race as current Supercars series leader Will Brown was also making his Cup debut, driving a third entry for Richard Childress Racing. Brown also had issues in the race but finished 31st and three laps down.
Asked if he would like to make additional Cup starts, Waters was adamant.
“I definitely want to do it again,” he said. “So, hopefully I can get the call up and hopefully something doesn’t clash on the track, and I can come over and have another crack.”
