Dillon Wins Truck Title Despite Valiant Run By Race Winner Sauter

Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

 

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  

(November 18, 2011)

  

HOMESTEAD, Fla.—Austin Dillon withstood a strong challenge from race winner Johnny Sauter to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship in Friday night’s Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

NASCAR called the event with 15 laps left with Sauter in the lead and Dillon in 10th place, giving Dillon, 21, the youngest champion in series history, a six-point edge over Sauter in the final series standings.

 

Dillon is the first driver in series history to win the rookie of the year title in his first full season and the series championship the following year.

"I remember my first championship with Dale Earnhardt," said team owner Richard Childress, Dillon’s grandfather. "I had the same feeling tonight watching my grandson."

 

"You can’t go out of the truck series any better than this," said Dillon, who will graduate to the Nationwide Series with RCR next year.

Denny Hamlin finished second in the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck, followed by Kevin Harvick, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Joey Coulter, who won the 2011 rookie of the year title. Coulter is a teammate of Dillon’s at Richard Childress Racing.

Early in the race, patience was a virtue for Dillon, who steered clear of potential complications and found a comfortable place to run at or near the back of the top 10.

As the race progressed, so did Dillon, who had worked his way into the second position behind Sauter before Ross Chastain’s spin on Lap 96 caused the fourth caution of the evening. The subsequent restart, however, brought more stress than Dillon ever could have expected.

Dillon fell back to 15th, fearing that he might have a problem with the right front fender on the No. 3 Chevrolet. Shortly thereafter, Sauter clinched most laps led, putting Dillon in danger of losing the championship if he lost more positions by the end of the race.

But Dillon drove back to the 10th position before rain halted the race on Lap 119 of 134 with Sauter in the lead.

"The fender got bent in—I don’t know how it happened," Dillon said. "I didn’t hit anybody on the track, but I think it happened on pit road. We got real tight once I got back there (in traffic). I think it was more on the conservative side when I was three-wide. We were three-wide in the middle, and to force a spot right there was not worth it."

 

Sauter, who won his second race of the season and the fourth of his career, wasn’t aware of how far behind Dillon had fallen on the restart.

"I had no clue," said Sauter, who won more than one event in a season in a top NASCAR touring series for the first time in his career. "Not one time tonight did they tell me where the 3 truck was. It didn’t really matter where he was running. We knew what we had to do, and that was lead the most laps and win the race.

"It’s a huge accomplishment, coming out here and doing what we needed to do. Six points is a bummer. You can think back on the season—dominating Kentucky, broke an axle, 20 to go, leading the race; ORP (Indianapolis), leading the race, flat tire; the lane violation at Texas, 22 points; six points at Pocono. You can go down the list—but everybody can. That’s just racing."

 

Notes: Greg Biffle and Travis Kvapil won rookie of the year honors and truck series championships, but not in consecutive years. Biffle accomplished the feat in 1998 (rookie) and 2000. Kvapil was rookie of the year in 2001 and champion in 2003. … Harvick had clinched the owners’ championship with his No. 2 truck before the series arrived at Homestead.

 

2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Ford 200
Race Results

 

1. 13 Johnny Sauter SafeAuto/Curb Records Chevrolet
2. 18 Denny Hamlin Dollar General/DirecTV Toyota
3. 2 Kevin Harvick Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet
4. 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. Piquet Realty Chevrolet
5. 22 Joey Coulter RCR Graphics Center Chevrolet
6. 21 Ty Dillon Charter Chevrolet
7. 24 Elliott Sadler AM/FM Energy Chevrolet
8. 17 Timothy Peters Tire Kingdom/Service Central Toyota
9. 23 Jason White Gunbroker.com Chevrolet
10. 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
11. 81 David Starr Zachry Toyota
12. 31 James Buescher Exide Chevrolet
13. 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. OneMain Financial Chevrolet
14. 29 Parker Kligerman Cooper Standard Dodge
15. 15 Dusty Davis Red Top Auto Auction Toyota
16. 5 Todd Bodine International Trucks/Monaco RVs Toyota
17. 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet
18. 6 Justin Lofton CollegeComplete.com Chevrolet
19. 88 Matt Crafton Menards/Tarkett Chevrolet
20. 62 Brendan Gaughan Tire Kingdom/Service Central Toyota
21. 9 Max Papis GEICO Toyota
22. 60 Cole Whitt Fuel Doctor/Red Bull Chevrolet
23. 32 Blake Feese Red Hot Insurance Chevrolet
24. 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet
25. 98 Dakoda Armstrong Ferrellgas/EverFi.com Chevrolet
26. 51 German Quiroga telcel Toyota
27. 93 Ross Chastain National Watermelon Chevrolet
28. 9 Bryan Silas Rockingham Speedway Ford
29. 57 Norm Benning G.L. Hubbard & Sons Inc. Chevrolet
30. 68 Clay Greenfield Anave Weight Loss Dodge
31. 66 Max Gresham MattyBRaps.com/Gresham Motorsports Park Chevrolet
32. 7 Miguel Paludo Duroline Toyota
33. 74 Mike Harmon KOMA Unwind Chevrolet
34. 38 Dennis Setzer RSS Racing Chevrolet
35. 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb DrivenMale.com Ford
36. 7 Johnny Chapman BOBBER.info Toyota

Mike Wallace Wins Talladega Race With Assist From Hornaday

Photo Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR

 

 

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

 

(October 22, 2011)

 

 

TALLADEGA, Ala.—In his first Camping World Truck Series start since 2009, Mike Wallace won Saturday’s Coca-Cola 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, as Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Ron Hornaday Jr. pushed him across the finish line.

 

Hornaday ran second, followed by James Buescher, who made a dent in the series points lead of Austin Dillon. Dillon scrambled to a seventh-place finish after he was demoted to 18th for not maintaining pace under the final caution of the race. The recovery enabled Dillon to stay ahead of Buescher in the standings.

 

The victory was the fifth overall for Wallace, who was substituting for Elliott Sadler, whose wife, Amanda, is expecting the couple’s second child. Wallace won in the truck series for the first time since 2000. The victory was his first in any of NASCAR’s top three touring series since he won a Nationwide race at Daytona in July 2004.

 

Wallace had tears in his eyes when he climbed out of his truck in victory lane.

 

“I’m very emotional right now, because a lot of people doubt you,” Wallace said. “They doubt your ability. An opportunity like this just proves, ‘Hey, I can get it done. Give me something good to drive, and I can prove I can do it.’

 

“I’m numb. My son’s at home, my daughters … I wish they were all here. It is my wife (Carla) and my anniversary this weekend. It’s a cool anniversary.”

 

Wallace turned to his wife in victory lane.

 

“This is your exotic weekend, honey,” Wallace said.

 

Johnny Sauter’s championship aspirations suffered a major setback on Lap 35. He and ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton had dropped to the rear of the field to stay out of harm’s way early in the race, but the strategy backfired.

 

The two trucks crashed as they ran together in tandem, after Donnie Neuenberger’s Chevrolet blew a right-front tire in front of them. Sauter, who entered the race second in the standings and five points behind Dillon, lost two laps as his crew made repairs on pit road.

 

With a wave-around and a free pass, Sauter got back on the lead lap and finished 15th, lessening the damage to his title chances.

 

Notes: Buescher trails Dillon by three points with three races left in the season. Sauter is third in the standings, 14 points back of Dillon and two ahead of Hornaday in fourth. … The top two finishers are a combined 105 years old. Wallace is 52, Hornaday 53.

 

 

2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Coca-Cola 250 Powered by Fred's
Talladega Superspeedway
Race Results

  

1. 6 33 Mike Wallace Anderson's Maple Syrup Chevrolet
2. 5 2 Ron Hornaday Jr. Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet
3. 1 31 James Buescher Bad Boy Mowers Chevrolet
4. 4 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet
5. 19 23 Jason White Gunbroker.com Chevrolet
6. 25 5 Todd Bodine NTB/Service Central Toyota
7. 3 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
8. 29 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota
9. 17 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota
10. 23 9 Max Papis GEICO Toyota
11. 16 6 Justin Lofton CollegeComplete.com Chevrolet
12. 18 82 Grant Enfinger VisitGulf.com Ford
13. 22 51 Josh Richards Joy Mining Machinery Toyota
14. 10 60 Cole Whitt Fuel Doctor/Red Bull Chevrolet
15. 20 13 Johnny Sauter SafeAuto/Curb Records Chevrolet
16. 8 20 Johanna Long Panhandle Grading & Paving Toyota
17. 27 98 Dakoda Armstrong Ferrellgas/Agrisure Chevrolet
18. 24 7 Miguel Paludo Stop Diabetes Toyota
19. 11 32 Blake Feese AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet
20. 7 22 Joey Coulter Rip It Energy Fuel Chevrolet
21. 26 39 Ryan Sieg Pull-A-Part, LLC Chevrolet
22. 30 76 Ryan Hackett www.jandrsupply.com Ford
23. 15 17 Timothy Peters NTB/Service Central Toyota
24. 32 28 Wes Burton FDNY Racing Chevrolet
25. 14 84 Chris Fontaine Glenden Enterprises Toyota
26. 2 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. tagg/Qualcomm Chevrolet
27. 35 93 BJ McLeod Pull-A-Part, LLC Chevrolet
28. 9 29 Parker Kligerman Penske Truck Leasing Dodge
29. 36 2 Jamie Dick VivaAutoGroup.com Chevrolet
30. 13 81 David Starr BuildYourFuture.org/Zachry Toyota
31. 12 88 Matt Crafton Menards/Certain Teed Chevrolet
32. 31 16 Donnie Neuenberger Eagle Convenience Stores Chevrolet
33. 34 7 Butch Miller ASI Limited/BOBBER.info Chevrolet
34. 28 1 Jeffrey Earnhardt Poynt Chevrolet
35. 21 99 Patrick Sheltra Chase Mattioli Racing Ford
36. 33 66 JJ Yeley Turn One Racing Chevrolet

Busch Spanks Rivals in New Hampshire NASCAR Camping World Truck Race

Photo Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

September 24, 2011)

LOUDON, N.H.—The Magic Mile gave Kyle Busch a chance to show his mastery.

 

Busch started from the pole and dominated Saturday’s F.W. Webb 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a race in which only six Camping World Truck Series entries finished on the lead lap.

Busch, who led 165 of 175 laps, crossed the finish line 3.816 seconds ahead of runner-up Austin Dillon to post his sixth win in 14 starts this season and the 30th victory of his career. Kevin Harvick finished third, followed by Ron Hornaday Jr. and Johnny Sauter.

Busch led the first 130 laps and didn’t surrender the top spot until he came to pit road for tires and fuel on Lap 131. That handed the lead to Dillon, who didn’t pit until Lap 135.

By the time pit stops cycled through, Busch had opened his advantage over Dillon to nearly six seconds. Harvick was running third at that point, more than 12 seconds back.

Busch had led every lap in a Nationwide race at Phoenix earlier this year, but both he and crew chief Eric Phillips said the prospect of doing that in two different series in the same year didn’t affect their decision to pit earlier than Dillon did.

"I never thought of that, actually," Busch said. "But that’s cool. Certainly, Phoenix and Loudon, when I can hit it right, I can hit it right. The cars are really, really good. Today was no different. I don’t know what Eric’s strategy was to pit—I won’t say that early, but to pit early."

Phillips didn’t want to see a repeat of last week’s race at Chicagoland, which Dillon won.

"I came early, because I didn’t want to see what we tried to do last week, taking two tires," Phillips said. "I think we had about 13 seconds on third, when I decided to come to pit road, and Austin was right there with us. So I felt like, if I came early, that would kind of force Austin’s hand and some of the other guys.

"Kyle was really good getting on an off pit road, and we were able to run a second faster almost for about eight laps there before Austin pitted, and we had almost (six) seconds when it finally cycled between us. That paid off."

Though Dillon closed the gap over the final 30 laps, Busch was able to cruise to the win, breaking a string of five straight Chevrolet victories in the series. Dillon now is atop the truck standings by two points over James Buescher, who finished seventh, the first driver one lap down.

Over the closing laps, Dillon kept the big picture in mind—his quest for the series championship.

"I wish we could have come out a little closer to him off pit road," Dillon said. "I lost a little time getting onto pit road, and that hurt us. But we came out leading the points with six (races) to go. We’ll focus on that, and we’re happy with this finish."

Harvick Dominates In Rain-Delayed Pocono Debut

Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(August 7, 2011)
LONG POND, Pa.—Thanks to fuel-saving technique and opportune late cautions, Kevin Harvick had enough gas to survive a green-white-checkered-flag finish in Sunday’s rain-delayed Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service 125 and win the Camping World Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway.

The victory was Harvick’s first in three starts in the series this year and the 10th of his career. Kyle Busch finished second, followed by James Buescher, points leader Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon.

When the race went three laps beyond its scheduled distance of 50 laps, the only question was whether Harvick had enough fuel in his tank to go the extra 7.5 miles. There was no question about the quality of his ride.

“I didn’t have anything for Kevin,” said Buescher, who lost second place to Busch on Lap 46. “He was in a league of his own.”

Harvick didn’t come to the pits on Sunday, having changed tires for the last time on Lap 15 under caution for rain the day before. The race was suspended two laps later. Harvick said his truck was so strong that he didn’t want to sacrifice track position for fresh rubber.

“I think you saw the 18 (Busch) drive back up through there with tires,” Harvick said. “Tires still meant something. Our truck was just so fast that there was really no reason to give up the track position to come and get tires, since we were good on fuel.

“That’s one of the shortest races I’ve raced in a long time, and the strategy changes a little bit. You’ve got to get out there quick and try to put yourself in position quick on strategy, and you don’t have a lot of chances to make things happen if you’re off the pace.

“They (the team) just did a great job of hitting it right off the truck, and that makes life easy.”

NASCAR called the fourth caution of the race on Lap 32, after a smoking chunk of Nelson Piquet Jr.’s flat right front tire sheared off in the middle of the racing surface on the Long Pond straight.

The caution laps provided cover for those who might have been short on fuel—notably Harvick.

Nevertheless, Harvick, wary of the possibility of a green-white-checkered-flag finish, began shutting off his engine entering Turn 1 to save fuel. But a caution on Lap 37 for a wreck involving David Starr, Brendan Gaughan and Peyton Sellers necessitated the fifth caution and gave Harvick the cushion he needed to make it to the finish of the race.

On Lap 42, Sellers stalled on the access to pit road to cause the sixth caution. Harvick pulled away on the restart on Lap 46, while Busch and Buescher battled for the second position. Harvick held a comfortable advantage, when contact from Dillon’s Chevrolet sent Todd Bodine’s Toyota spinning on Lap 49 to send the race to overtime.


2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Pocono, Pennsylvania
Pocono Raceway
Race Results

2 Kevin Harvick Ollie's Bargain Outlet Chevrolet
18 Kyle Busch CocoaVia.com Toyota
31 James Buescher Wolfpack Rentals Chevrolet
13 Johnny Sauter SafeAuto/Carrier/Curb Records Chevrolet
3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
22 Joey Coulter DarrellGwynnFoundation/RCRGraphicsCenter Chevrolet
32 Mark Martin Exide Batteries Chevrolet
88 Matt Crafton Menards/Ideal Door Chevrolet
33 Ron Hornaday, Jr. UTZ Snacks Chevrolet
17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota
9 Max Papis GEICO Toyota
5 Todd Bodine International/Monaco RVs Toyota
29 Parker Kligerman Penske Truck Rental Ram
8 Nelson Piquet, Jr. Bozzano/Jontex Chevrolet
60 Cole Whitt Fuel Doctor/Red Bull Chevrolet
6 Justin Lofton CollegeComplete.com Toyota
23 Jason White Gunbroker.com Chevrolet
81 David Starr Zachry Toyota
7 Miguel Paludo Stemco Duroline Toyota
4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet
39 Ryan Sieg S&W Services Chevrolet
62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota
28 Wes Burton FDNY Racing Chevrolet
57 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet
66 Peyton Sellers Skills USA Chevrolet
7 Chad McCumbee SS Green Light Racing Toyota
84 Chris Fontaine Stingray Chevrolet/Glenden Enterprises Chevrolet
38 Mike Garvey Sieg Racing Chevrolet
93 Shane Sieg S&W Services Chevrolet
75 James Hylton Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet
89 Chris Lafferty Lafferty Performance/Blue Ox Chevrolet

Timothy Peters spins and wins at Lucas Oil Raceway

Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

By Jim Pedley
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(July 29, 2011)

CLERMONT, Ind.—A flat tire turned out to be one of the biggest breaks of Camping World Truck Series driver Timothy Peters’ career.

That flat tire occurred just before the halfway point in Friday night’s AAA Insurance 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway. It put him off cycle in terms of pit stops, allowed his crew to improve his truck and paved the way for Peters to take the lead with six laps to go.

Once in the lead, Peters went on to get his first victory of the season and third of his career.

"That’s what saved our night right there," Peters said.

The truck he passed with six laps to go belonged to James Buescher, who led from just past the halfway point until being overtaken by Peters.

Buescher, 21, was going for the first victory of his career in his 60th start.

"It’s definitely frustrating when you lose the lead that late," said Buescher, who led a race-high 97 laps. "Can’t get any closer to a win than that. But we had nothing for him."

David Starr was third, his first top five since October 2009 at Talladega. Rookie Miguel Paludo finished fourth, and Ron Hornaday Jr. was fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 were Matt Crafton, rookies Joey Coulter and Cole Whitt, polesitter Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain, who was making his first start.

Coulter was the last car on the lead lap as the final 107 of 200 laps were run under green. The race set a record for fewest cautions—four—for a truck race at the .686-mile track. The second caution, for 17 of the 28 laps run under yellow, was because of rain.

Peters’ fateful flat occurred just before he made contact with Steve Arpin. Peters said he didn’t even realize he had cut the tire until much later.

During the ensuing pit stop, crew chief Butch Hylton and his crew went to work with a series of adjustments to the track bar and tire pressures. Peters’ Toyota Tundra, which was slow off the truck Friday morning, came alive.

Points leader Johnny Sauter also suffered a cut tire, but he finished 23rd. He also damaged a track bar. Before those troubles, Sauter, who started the race leading the standings by 18 points over Dillon, had led 44 laps and appeared to be the driver to beat.

Dillon led 36 laps and closed to four points of Sauter. He also closed in on a postrace confrontation with Todd Bodine. The two tangled late in the race, and Dillon didn’t like it. He blocked Bodine’s way on pit road after the cool-down laps.

Bodine, who finished 12th, took the blame for the incident and apologized.

"I thought I was clear (of Dillon)," Bodine said. "Austin is the last person in the world I would do that to."

Hornaday wins at Texas when Sauter is black-flagged

Photo Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images

By John Sturbin
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(June 10, 2011)


FORT WORTH, Texas—Ron Hornaday Jr. won the Camping World Truck Series WinStar World Casino 400k Friday night when race leader Johnny Sauter was black-flagged for changing lanes on the night’s final restart.

Sauter, who had passed Hornaday for the lead with a powerful run through Turn 4 on Lap 130, was penalized for moving from the outside lane to in front of Hornaday before crossing the start/finish line on a green-white-checkered restart on Lap 167. The race went 168 laps, one beyond its scheduled distance.

“Good way to steal one,” Hornaday said. “I think we had a third- or a fifth-place truck, but it worked out for us. On that restart, he was the leader, but he kind of blocked, basically.”

Asked at what point he realized Sauter had broken the restart rule, Hornaday said, “Soon as the green dropped he turned in my lane, and I was yelling, ‘He’s in my lane!’ At that time we had a second-place truck, but it was a (good) call. I spun my tires, he spun his tires, and his spotter must have said, ‘Clear.’ ”

The black flag call was made by series director Wayne Auton, who Hornaday said specifically addressed the issue during Friday’s driver’s meeting.

“He said, ‘This is your last warning.’ I think he said it three times,” Hornaday said. “ ‘You go into another guy’s lane, better give it back before you get to Turn 1.’ Sticky call. But you can’t change lanes until you pass the start/finish line. And I hate that rule.”

Sauter, the series points leader, was scored 22nd, the last vehicle on the lead lap.

“He’s got a lane to race down there,” Sauter said as he walked to his hauler. “We both spun the tires.”

Asked if he would confront NASCAR officials over the decision, Sauter said, “It’s official, isn’t it?”

Hornaday, a four-time series champion, earned his 48th career victory and first of the season. It was his third victory on Texas’ 1.5-mile quadoval. Parker Kligerman finished second for his third top 10 of the season. He is the second-highest rookie, eighth in the standings.

David Mayhew’s third-place run easily eclipsed his previous best series finish of 14th. Brian Ickler and rookie Joey Coulter rounded out the top five.

Contact between Austin Dillon and Matt Crafton—fourth and fifth in the point standings, respectively—ended Crafton’s night after a grinding crash into the outside and infield retaining walls on Lap 90. The two were entering the quadoval off Turn 4 when Dillon hooked the right rear quarter panel of Crafton’s truck and sent it spinning.

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Crafton exited uninjured, but rather than head for the ambulance, he proceeded to walk toward Turn 4 to “confront” Dillon as he cycled around. Crafton raised his arms in a “What were you thinking?” pose as Dillon drove past. After reviewing the replay, Crafton was considerably cooler.

“I was a little bit loose and trying to get out of the throttle and turn back to the left,” Crafton said. “But when you get hooked in the rear on the front straight, that’s a tough way to go out at Texas Motor Speedway.”

Earlier, Todd Bodine saw his shot at a seventh victory at Texas end via contact and a crash with David Starr. Their crash on Lap 68 in Turn 2 was the second of the night involving Bodine, who was caught up in another Turn 2 incident with Ickler on Lap 52. Bodine won this event in 2009 and 2010.

Kasey Takes Kyle Busch Motorsports Truck to Win at Darlington

Geoff Burke/ Getty Images for NASCAR

By Jared Turner
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service


DARLINGTON, S.C.—Kasey Kahne did it again.

Making his first and possibly only Camping World Truck Series start of the year, Kahne cruised to a relatively comfortable win in Saturday’s Too Tough To Tame 200 at Darlington Raceway.

The victory made Kahne the first driver in the truck series to win three of his first four starts.

Second alongside Elliott Sadler on a restart with 53 laps to go, Kahne immediately dispatched of Sadler—who had taken two tires under the previous caution—and never trailed again.

Kahne held on through three more restarts, including a final one with three laps to go, to take the checkered flag ahead of four-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. and 2010 Darlington winner Todd Bodine. Matt Crafton and James Buescher completed the top five.

Kahne’s stiffest challenge over the final laps came from Bodine, who once moved alongside before getting loose and falling into the clutches of Hornaday.

“I gave it a shot and got sucked around and got loose and all that and finished third,” Bodine said.

Kahne, a full-time driver in the Sprint Cup Series since, scored truck wins at Darlington and Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2004 and finished second last year at Pocono Raceway.

Saturday marked Kahne’s second appearance in the Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota normally driven by team owner Kyle Busch, who was vacationing in Cancun.

“This is one of my favorite racetracks,” said Kahne, who qualified second and led four times for 95 of the 147 laps. “I’m really glad I came. I really enjoy driving this thing.”

Matt Crafton remained the series leader, stretching his advantage to six points on rookie Cole Whitt, who moved into second after three races. Whitt finished an impressive eighth after starting from the pole and leading twice for 30 laps before dropping back with a pit-road mistake and engine issue.

Whitt, 19, was making his fourth career truck series start, his first at Darlington.

“The track just kind of suited my driving style, and from the get-go we just kind of fell into the rhythm,” Whitt said.

The race was slowed by 10 cautions, including one for a three-truck wreck involving Johanna Long, Ricky Carmichael and Nelson Piquet Jr. that brought out the red flag for 7 minutes, 37 seconds.

Notes: Kahne’s margin of victory was 1.116 seconds. … Kahne, who started second, became the fourth winner to start inside the top five. Bodine started eighth last year, and Bobby Hamilton started 14th when he won in 2003. … Kahne’s three wins tie Rich Bickle, Andy Houston and Dave Rezendes for 27th on the all-time win list.


Article provided with permission of NASCAR



Pos # | Car # | Driver ('i' denotes ineligibility for championship)| Sponsor/ Vehicle Make

1.18 Kasey Kahne(i) Toyota Toyota
2. 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. Tide / Kroger Chevrolet
3. 30 Todd Bodine Germain.com Toyota
4. 88 Matt Crafton Tarkett / Menards Chevrolet
5. 31 James Buescher Wolfpack Rentals Chevrolet
6. 17 Timothy Peters GearWrench Toyota
7. 2 Elliott Sadler(i) Armour Vienna Sausages / Bi-Lo Chevrolet
8. 60 Cole Whitt Red Bull Chevrolet
9. 13 Johnny Sauter SafeAuto / Curb Records Chevrolet
10. 81 David Starr ZACHRY Toyota
11. 92 Clay Rogers BTS Tire & Wheel Distributor / Fleet HQ Chevrolet
12. 93 Shane Sieg S&W Chevrolet
13. 77 Justin Lofton Lofton Cattle Toyota
14. 29 Parker Kligerman Penske Truck Leasing Dodge
15. 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Remington/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
16. 39 Ryan Sieg S&W Chevrolet
17. 5 Travis Kvapil International Truck / Monaco RV's Toyota
18. 9 Max Papis GEICO Toyota
19. 46 Craig Goess Greenville Toyota of N.C. Toyota
20. 1 Jeffrey Earnhardt Fuel Doctor Chevrolet
21. 15 Dusty Davis Vision Airlines / Emerald Coast Toyota
22. 50 T J Bell LibertyTireRecycling/PinnacleRubberMulch Chevrolet
23. 07 Jamie Dick VIVAAutoGroup.com Chevrolet
24. 66 Justin Marks GoPro Chevrolet
25. 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Hotel and Casino Toyota
26. 57 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet
27. 7 Miguel Paludo Stemco Duroline Toyota
28. 22 Joey Coulter RCR / Darrell Gwynn Foundation Chevrolet
29. 25 Tayler Malsam One Eighty Toyota
30. 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet
31. 20 Johanna Long Panhandle Grading & Paving Toyota
32. 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. Qualcomm / Nelson Piquet Chevrolet
33. 23 Jason White GunBroker.com Chevrolet
34. 10 Chase Mattioli CollegeComplete.com Ford
35. 51 Justin Johnson Vision Airlines / Wounded Warrior Toyota
36. 32 Brad Sweet Great Clips Chevrolet

Kyle Busch Takes Camping World Truck Finale; KBM Takes Owner's Championship

Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images 

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(November 19, 2010)


HOMESTEAD, Fla.—

Kyle Busch ran away from Ron Hornaday Jr. after a restart with four laps left in Friday night’s Ford 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway and won the race by .577 seconds over last year’s series champion.

In winning for the eighth time in 16 starts this season and the 24th time in his career, Busch locked up the owners’ championship for his No. 18 Toyota in his first year as an owner in the series.

"This is so cool, to come out here and win in our last race the way we did," said Busch, who is still looking for sponsorship to sustain his truck team next year. "(Crew chief) Eric Phillips made some great calls and got my head back in the race."

Johnny Sauter ran third, followed by 2010 truck series champion Todd Bodine and Aric Almirola, second in the standings this year.

Busch was running in the top five when Sauter’s No. 13 Toyota pinched him into the outside wall on Lap 102 of the 134-lap race. The right front tire on Busch’s Toyota blew shortly thereafter, causing the fourth caution of the race. That turned out to be a minor hurdle between Busch and the victory.

Busch stayed on the lead lap and restarted 21st on Lap 111. By the time John Jackson’s wild slide into the sand barrels protecting the entrance to pit road brought out caution No. 5 on that same lap, Busch was running 14th. NASCAR red-flagged the race while the barrels were replaced.

Hornaday took the lead after a restart on Lap 115 and held it until Elliott Sadler’s spin off Turn 4 caused the sixth and final caution and set up the decisive four-lap run to the finish.

Kevin Harvick, Hornaday’s owner, urged his driver to take the outside on the final restart. Hornaday tried to hold Busch down to the inside, but to no avail. Hornaday said it wouldn’t have mattered which lane he picked.

"No, it didn’t matter—we were just too tight up through the middle, and his truck was free enough where he kept the momentum going," Hornaday said. "I just wish Johnny had hit him a little harder when he squeezed him against the fence over there, so he didn’t have such a good truck to come back and beat me."

Hornaday Gives Chevrolet First Truck Pole at Talladega

Photo Credit:  Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

For the second straight week, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series joins stock car's headline Sprint Cup series for the Talladega Superspeedway race weekend. Friday qualifying for the Mountain Dew 250 set for 3 P.M. Eastern on Saturday afternoon saw Chevrolet performing a first-ever feat in the truck series at the 2.66 mile oval. Wearing the Bowtie logo, the #33 Kevin Harvick Incorporated truck piloted by Ron Hornaday Jr flew to pole at Talladega posting a top qualifying time of 52.839 seconds or the equivalent average speed of 181.230 miles per hour. Hornaday's Chevrolet Silverado outran the #23 Ford F-150 of Jason White through the time trial by more than just 1/10th of a second to give himself as well as his manufacturer a first time pole at the super fast Alabama race track.

Late into the Camping World Truck Series qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway, Richard Childress Racing rookie Austin Dillon drew a late qualifying run to potentially challenge Hornaday's mark with the #3 Chevrolet. Dillon came short but still produced a 3rd fastest time to start Saturday's Mountain Dew 250. With two of the top-three starting position occupied by Chevrolet Silverados, the Friday qualifying outing was quite a reason to celebrate through the top-10. The #2 KHI Chevy being driven by stock car veteran Ken Schrader secured a front-running 4th spot. 7th through 9th, Turner Motorsports trucks driven by Ricky Carmichael and James Buescher sandwich the another Chevy, the #13 Thorsport Racing truck of Johnny Sauter.

Bucking the usual trend for double-duty drivers during companion races at the same race track leading into the Sprint Cup race, there will only be as many as three drivers planning to run both the truck and cup race at Talladega. Among the most notable, driver and embattled first year truck team owner Kyle Busch will start 18th in his #18 Toyota Tundra. Driving the #9 Ford again for Richard Petty Motorsports after a more than respectable outing in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville, Aric Almirola runs his season-long campaign with Bill Ballew Motorsports' #51 Toyota. Almirola will start 5th for the Mountain Dew 250 Saturday behind Schrader and ahead of Chris Fontaine's enviable 6th fastest qualifying lap. 

Runaway points leader in the Camping World Truck Series Todd Bodine starts 10th with his #30 Germain Racing Toyota. Holding onto a 282-point lead above Aric Almirola, fortune at Talladega would go a long way to sealing the 2010 championship. After four truck races at Talladega, Bodine comes into the event with stellar history of two wins and a worst ever finish being 4th in 2006.

Though a big qualifying result for Ron Hornaday Jr, Kevin Harvick Incorporated and Chevrolet, qualifying positions will be of little importance once the Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway commences. Guaranteed to be a rough and tumble outing as high-speeds, close quarters as well as drafting is certain to shuffle the field with likelihood of multiple vehicle wrecks looming for 36 competitors.


NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Mountain Dew 250
Talladega Superspeedway
October 29th, 2010

Starting Lineup:

1. 1 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. E-Z-GO 2Five Chevrolet 52.839 SEC / 181.230
2. 23 Jason White GunBroker.com/Pursuit Channel Ford 52.932 SEC / 180.911
3. 3 Austin Dillon BassProShops/Rmngtn/TrckrBoats Chev 52.942 SEC / 180.877
4. 2 Ken Schrader Moore's Marinade Chevrolet 52.947 SEC / 180.860
5. 51 Aric Almirola Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota 53.104 SEC / 180.325
6. 84 Chris Fontaine Glenden Enterprises Toyota 53.153 SEC / 180.159
7. 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet 53.262 SEC / 179.790
8. 13 Johnny Sauter FarmPaint.com Chevrolet 53.348 SEC / 179.501
9. 31 James Buescher Wolf Pack Rentals Chevrolet 53.353 SEC / 179.484 
10. 30 Todd Bodine Valvoline Toyota 53.431 SEC / 179.222
11. 88 Matt Crafton Australian Gold/Menards Chevrolet 53.435 SEC / 179.208
12. 95 Grant Enfinger BeasleyAllen.com/Roush Yates Ford 53.475 SEC / 179.074
13. 81 David Starr Zachry Toyota 53.547 SEC / 178.834
14. 60 Narain Karthikeyan SafeAuto Insurance/Wyler.com Chevrolet 53.549 SEC / 178.827 
15. 17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota 53.562 SEC / 178.783
16. 5 Mike Skinner Exide Toyota 53.668 SEC / 178.430
17. 7 Justin Lofton visitpit.com Toyota 53.711 SEC / 178.288
18. 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Tundra/TRAXXAS Toyota 53.731 SEC / 178.221
19. 46 Craig Goess Jr. Greenville Toyota Toyota 53.960 SEC / 177.465
20. 9 Max Papis GEICO Toyota 54.030 SEC / 177.235
21. 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb DrivenMale.com Ford 54.048 SEC / 177.176
22. 12 Mario Gosselin Accell Cnstrctn/TireMnky/JamesCrtr Att Chev 54.050 SEC / 177.169
23. 47 Donnie Neuenberger Plan B Techologies Chevrolet 54.067 SEC / 177.114
24. 6 Jeffrey Earnhardt Firestop/FWI/FuelDoctor Dodge 54.117 SEC / 176.950 
25. 07 Tony Jackson Jr. ASI Limited/Akzo Nobel Chevrolet 54.124 SEC / 176.927
26. 39 Ryan Sieg S&W Towing Chevrolet 54.530 SEC / 175.610
27. 93 Mike Garvey S&W Towing Chevrolet 54.705 SEC / 175.048
28. 53 Justin Hobgood Alabama Cattlemen's Association Chevrolet 54.872 SEC / 174.515
29. 57 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 55.071 SEC / 173.885
30. 89 Mike Harmon Lafferty Performance/Blue Ox Ford 55.205 SEC / 173.463
31. 85 Brent Raymer Blast It All Ford/Ford Drive one Ford 55.327 SEC / 173.080
32. 28 Andy Lally FDNY Racing Chevrolet 55.474 SEC / 172.621
33. 72 John Jackson James Carter Att./SponsortheTruck.com Chev 55.515 SEC / 172.494
34. 48 Bryan Silas Pro Gold Chevrolet 55.930 SEC / 171.214
35. 00 Dominick Casola Koma Unwind Chevrolet 56.589 SEC / 169.220
36. 24 Jerick Johnson Lafferty Performance Chevrolet 57.978 SEC / 165.166

 

 

Finally! Veteran Hornaday Wins Martinsville Truck Race

Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images

 

Before the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway, the tour's most decorated driver Ron Hornaday Jr has never won at the historic short track. Despite winning on the almost every under one mile oval the Truck Series have visited (including a multitude of race tracks long since vanished from the modern NASCAR schedule), 16 starts for Hornaday had left the 46-time race winner and reigning series champion snake-bitten. After a green-white-checker finish where Hornaday fended off a determined Toyota driven by Kyle Busch, the driver of the #33 Chevrolet crossed the line first at Martinsville. Leading just 11 laps in the Kroger 200, those laps came at am important time for Hornaday's #33 Chevrolet.

As Hornaday did not present himself until the end of Martinsvile's Kroger 200, the race's lead was initially held by pole sitter Kyle Busch for the first 7 laps. As Sprint Cup regular Busch wanted to fill his trophy room with more Camping World Truck Series honours, his lead was maintained only until another Cup star surged past. The Kevin Harvick drove his #2 truck to what would be 35 laps.

Typical of Camping World Truck Series rounds on the 0.526 mile short oval, cautions came often during the 200 lap distance. A total of 11 yellow flags slowed the field for 59 laps. Two crashes occurring in the last 1/3rd of the Martinsville race proved to most extreme. Swarming into turn 3 on lap 165, the lead lap trucks of Timothy Peters and Matt Crafton made contact.

Getting punted on the restart, Timothy Peters skated up the race track getting bumped by the #23 of Jason White and the #3 of Austin Dillon. Losing momentum, Matt Crafton dived below Timothy Peters into turn 3 as two additional vehicles were matched side-by-side. Four-way into the turn, crowded real estate caused Crafton to touch the #17 Toyota one more time propelling Peter's truck hard into the outside barrier. The wrecked #17 car required almost 9 minutes of red flag time to clean up so the precious late laps of the Martinsville race would wrap up. Crafton continued on the finish 10th but the previous race winner Timothy Peters was forced into retirement due to heavy front-end damage to his #17 Toyota.

While Thorsport Racing's #88 Chevrolet of Matt Crafton fared well in the race's running, the #13 teammate vehicle of Johnny Sauter saw his fortunes turn from good to bad. Leading 49 laps before the halfway point of the Kroger 200, Sauter's day went south after an impact from James Buescher's #31 when the two were fighting for position into turn 1 on lap 159. As the #13 Chevy truck attempted to circulate for a finish, a rear tailgate cover began to lift off and hang loosely on the vehicle's rear causing a serious concern that Johnny Sauter would be black flagged. On lap 183, the Thorsport Racing crew instead to convinced the #7 Toyota of Justin Lofton to knock off the loose body panel under race condition. A trick exploited on several occasions through racing to avoid losing ground on pit road, it backfired this time in this case. As the #7 truck pushed against the rear sheet metal to rub off the tailgate cover of the #13 Chevy, the Toyota launched itself over top of the rear end crushing through Sauter's rear bodywork. 3rd in the 2010 Camping World Truck Series points, Johnny Sauter could do no better than 21st place. Justin Lofton would finish in 13th place but made few friends on the day. Also making contact with Kevin Harvick at the end, the #7 truck driver earned a conversation with 'Happy' Harvick.

Topping the laps led count on with 83 circuits, Todd Bodine convincingly paced the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway through the second half of the event. However, the #30 Toyota did not have the strength in the final short runs to hold off competitors. As first Kyle Busch's #18 Toyota maneuvered his way around Bodine, it was Ron Hornaday on lap 196 who took the lead and the race win.     

Todd Bodine finished 3rd in the final results and proceeds to lead the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series by a giant 282 point gap on Aric Almirola. Next on the tour's schedule is the Talladega event promising to be a wild race on October 30th.


2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Kroger 200
Martinsville Speedway
Race Results

1. 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. Armour Vienna Sausage / Kroger Chevrolet
2. 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Tundra / Z-Line Designs Toyota
3. 30 Todd Bodine Germain.com Toyota 
4.  23 Jason White GunBroker.com / Pursuit Channel Toyota 
5.  51 Aric Almirola Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota
6. 5 Mike Skinner International Trucks / Monaco RV Toyota
7. 81 David Starr Zachry Toyota
8. 60 Stacy Compton SafeAuto Insurance / Melling Engine Parts Chevrolet
9. 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet
10. 88 Matt Crafton Tide / Menards Chevrolet

Elliott Sadler Scores Confidence-Building Pocono Truck Series Win

Photo Credit: Drew Hallowell/Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

LONG POND, Pa.—Elliott Sadler isn't ready to be written off.

On Saturday at Pocono Raceway, he showed why. Pulling away on the second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish, Sadler won the Pocono Mountains 125 Camping World Truck Series race from the pole, his first victory since 2004 in any of NASCAR's top three touring series.

Sadler, 35, beat Kasey Kahne to the finish line by .445 seconds in a race that went five laps past its scheduled distance of 50 laps at the 2.5-mile triangular track. With his first truck series victory, Sadler is the 21st driver to win at least one race in each of NASCAR's top three divisions. Matt Crafton finished third, followed by Aric Almirola and rookie Justin Lofton in the truck series' first visit to Pocono.

Sadler's win vindicated the faith of team owner Kevin Harvick and provided a welcome highlight in a two-year stretch that has seen Sadler struggle in a Sprint Cup car at Richard Petty Motorsports. Sadler announced July 9 that he will leave the No. 19 RPM Ford at the end of the season.

"It's hard to put in words what this means to me," said Sadler, whose last NASCAR win was Sept. 5, 2004 in a Cup car at Fontana, Calif. "To have a tough couple years like we've had in the Cup series, and things not go like we want to, as far as running up front, and winning races and leading laps and things like that. …

"You sit at home a lot, wondering if you're ever going to make it back to victory lane. Are you ever going to have that situation again? Are you ever going to be in that position again? This, to me—I know it's recent, and it's today—but this is the biggest win in my career.

"There's a lot of naysayers out there, and there's a lot of people that write me off, not giving me a chance to make a comeback and be a strong presence again in this sport. To be able to come here and sit on the pole and win the race and race against people like Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin (who finished ninth), who I think are two of the best racecar drivers we have in our sport, means a great deal to me."

Notes: Sadler drove Harvick's No. 2 Chevrolet to the lead in the series owners' standings. The No. 2 truck leads the No. 18 of Kyle Busch, driven by Kahne on Saturday, by two points. … Todd Bodine, who tops the drivers' standings, rallied from a spin on Lap 41 to finish 12th. Bodine leaves Pocono 149 points ahead of Almirola in second.

Armirola Wins in Michigan; his 2nd NASCAR Truck Series Race

Photo Credit: Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(June 12, 2010)

BROOKLYN, Mich.—Aric Almirola passed Todd Bodine and Kyle Busch three-wide through the middle with seven laps left in Saturday’s VFW 200 and held on to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

Bodine finished second and retained his series lead by 55 points over Almirola, who won for the second time this season in Billy Ballew’s No. 51 Toyota. Busch ran third, followed by Ron Hornaday Jr. and polesitter Austin Dillon, who overcame a late pit-road penalty to post his second straight top five.

“I didn’t think it was the greatest place to be,” Almirola said of his middle position after a restart on Lap 93 of 100. “But I knew we were going to run wide open through the corner. We were either going to crash, or we were going to make it out the other side—because I knew how important clean air was.

“I knew that was my only shot to get out in the lead, and if I didn’t get out in the lead, there was no chance of us winning the race. So I went down in Turn 1, and I knew I was going to run a shorter distance than Todd (who was on the outside), so I just tried to hang tight on Kyle’s door and get him loose, which I did.

“By the time we got off Turn 2, I was almost clear of Todd, and then when we went through (Turns) 3 and 4, I cleared him. So I think that was the move of the race, as far as I’m concerned.”

In a race that featured a track-record 20 lead changes, Almirola didn’t go to the front until his pass on Lap 93. Bodine had held the lead for a restart on Lap 89 and had begun to pull away when Nelson Piquet Jr. spun through the frontstretch grass to bring out the fifth and final caution of the afternoon.

“Maybe it caught me a little off guard,” Bodine said of Almirola’s pass for the lead. “Aric’s a hell of a racer, and they had a good truck when it counted. On a short run like that—especially as many laps as we rode around under caution, with the tires cooling down—everybody’s handling pretty good for three or four laps, five laps.

“I really believe that, if this race was 10 laps longer, I probably would have beat him—but, guess what, there weren’t another 10 laps.”

Notes: The race was red-flagged for 40 minutes, 12 seconds because of a rain shower that caused the third caution on Lap 34. … Timothy Peters finished sixth and remained third in the standings, 165 points behind Almirola. … Matt Crafton retired after 83 laps with an engine failure and fell three spots to 10th in points.

Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Kyle Busch Takes Truck Race in Charlotte

Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR


The following article is from an outside news source delivered under agreement of NASCAR.

CONCORD, N.C.—Polesitter Kyle Busch survived a scrape with the wall and held off Todd Bodine in a two-lap dash to the finish to win Friday night's North Carolina Education Lottery 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch, who owns the No. 18 Toyota he drove to victory, crossed the finish line .228 seconds ahead of Bodine to give Toyota its first truck series victory at the 1.5-mile racetrack. Ron Hornaday Jr. was third, followed by James Buescher and Elliott Sadler.

The victory was Busch's second in five starts this season, his third at Charlotte and the 18th of his career. Busch has won three straight races in NASCAR's top three touring series, having triumphed in last weekend's Nationwide and Sprint Cup events at Dover.

On Lap 40 of 134, Busch's Toyota broke loose while leading and slammed the outside wall, damaging the front splitter. Initially, Busch slowed after the contact and lost three positions but began working his way back to the front.

As luck would have it, the brush with the wall helped correct a loose handling condition.

"I made it where I could drive it," Busch said. "I knocked some 'tight' into it. This team did a great job in preparing this truck to come here, and I tried to screw it up. I guess the driver owes the car owner a little something today."

On Lap 65, Bodine passed Brad Keselowski for the second spot and regained the lead when Sadler made a green-flag pit stop on Lap 67. Busch stayed out front until Lap 80, when Brent Raymer's truck blew an engine and went up in a ball of fire in the tri-oval to cause the third caution of the race.

After a lengthy pit stop to repair the right front fender on his Tundra, Busch restarted ninth on Lap 90. He gained two spots on the restart lap before Ryan Sieg blew his right front tire and slammed the Turn 3 wall to bring out the fourth yellow flag.

Eleven laps after a restart on Lap 95, Busch passed Bodine for the second position and held it until Dennis Setzer's hard contact with the Turn 2 wall slowed the field for the fifth time. With an excellent restart on Lap 118, Busch took the lead from Hornaday but ran only three green-flag laps before Donny Lia spun off Turn 2 and crashed nose-first into the inside wall on the backstretch.

Bodine leads the series standings by two points over Aric Almirola, who finished seventh.

Busch Plays Solo to Win Nashville Truck Race

Photo Credit: John Sommers II/Getty Images for NASCAR

For the first time in 2010, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ran on consecutive weekends after running on the short track of Martinsville Speedway. In the end of the 150 lap event on the 1.33 mile Nashville Superspeedway, Kyle Busch claimed his first win with his own race equipment holding off an unsuccessful late race charge from Kevin Harvick. Debuting at Daytona this year, it took only 4 races for Busch to find victory lane as an owner/driver by dominated the Camping World Truck Series' Nashville 200 on Friday night.

A great win for Kyle Busch and Kyle Busch Motorsports, the Nashville 200 was overall a very hum-drum event. In fact, for the rest of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series field, the Nashville 200 ran like an old country song. With all but 8 trucks on the lead lap, even trucks on the lead lap could only vaguely contend against the Dollar General juggernaut. Not helping matters for the competitors was that only 2 cautions slowed the Nashville Superspeedway truck race. Considering the barn-burning action first 3 races of the 2010 Camping World Truck Series season, the Nashville 200 was off-tempo for excitement.

With only 5 lead changes between 3 drivers, Daytona truck race winner Timothy Peters driving his #17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra provided the only sustained challenge to the dominant Busch leading 17 laps. As the race progressed however, Peters lost touch with the #18 truck but still wound up in a 4th place finish by the end of the event. The #30 Germain Racing Toyota of Todd Bodine would also lead for two laps under a pit stop exchange. For the balance of the race, Busch's #18 Dollar General Toyota led 131 laps around the 1.33 mile concrete oval racing surface. In all, Toyota Tundras lead every single lap of the Nashville 200.



Photo Credit: John Sommers II/Getty Images for NASCAR

In the closing laps Kyle Busch did encounter some grief with lapped traffic, aiding the efforts of the #2 Chevrolet truck of Kevin Harvick in chasing down the #18 Toyota. However, running side-by-side through one of the latter laps of Nashville, Harvick charged below Busch down the backstretch. Under attack, Kyle Busch was actually able to get lapped traffic to work in his favour as a low-running back-marker provided the #18 with a so-called pick against the #2 Chevrolet. Into turn 3, approaching the lapped vehicle, Harvick needed to backed off.

Going onto victory, Kyle Busch returns to the victory lane where in the NASCAR Nationwide Series last June he did his best Pete Townshend impression by breaking the unique Sam Bass-designed Gibson guitar trophy. To the silent relieve of Sam Bass and to Gibson guitar fans, the Kyle Busch's 2010 trophy left the victory lane ceremonies intact. Of course, the fact that this year's Gibson guitar marks Kyle Busch Motorsports' first truck win might have installed some sentimentality into the usually out-spoken NASCAR driver.

With the top 2 trucks piloted by driver/owner individuals, Kevin Harvick Incorporated primary driver Ron Hornaday Jr secured 3rd place on the #33 Chevrolet. His 2nd straight top-5 finish, Hornaday Jr is attempting a truck series title defense after crashing out of the first two events. 5th through 10th place in the Nashville 200 truck race has Todd Bodine, Matt Crafton, Mike Skinner, Aric Almirola, Stacy Compton and Rick Crawford crossing the line in that order.

As before mentioned, Timothy Peters came in 4th at Nashville making the driver the only competitor to achieve a top-10 in every NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event for 2010. Rewarded by his own consistency, Peters holds an 82 point lead in the series overall standings over Aric Almirola.


2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Nashville 200 at Nashville Superspeedway
Race Results

Pos # | Truck # | Driver | Sponsor/ Car Make

1 18 Kyle Busch        Dollar General Toyota
2 2 Kevin Harvick    Charter Communications Chevrolet
3 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. Longhorn Chevrolet
4 17 Timothy Peters    Crescent Tools/Red Horse Racing Toyota
5 30 Todd Bodine      Germain.com Toyota
6 88 Matt Crafton     Menards/Ideal Door Chevrolet
7 5 Mike Skinner     International Trucks/Monaco RV Toyota
8 51 Aric Almirola    Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota
9 60 Stacy Compton    Safe Auto Insurance/Wyler.com Chevrolet
10 14 Rick Crawford    Circle Bar Ford
11 13 Johnny Sauter     In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet
12 15 Steve Wallace    Red Top Collector Car Auction Toyota
13 90 James Buescher   Great Clips Toyota
14 3 Austin Dillon     Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet
15 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet


Other Notables

18 29 Brad Keselowski   Brad Keselowski Racing Dodge
21 12 Mario Gosselin    TireMonkey.com/James Carter Attorney Chevrolet
25 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb driverboutique.com Ford
26 92 Dennis Setzer         BTS Tire & Wheel Chevrolet

Kevin Harvick Wins Truck Series Race in Atlanta

Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images

While the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series rolled through their first 3 races in the passing 3 weeks for 2010, the E-Z-Go 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway was only the second race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In hindsight, this three-week break for the NASCAR's Tailgaters gave the teams an adequate opportunity to mend after the crashfest at Daytona.

Taking pole, the #88 Kevin Harvick Incorporated (KHI) Chevrolet driven by Ron Hornaday led the field from an elected outside position. Into the first corner, Matt Crafton used a strong start to force a three-wide scenario between Busch and Hornaday. Through this brief battle, the tight run led Ron Hornaday's Chevrolet lowered to collide with Kyle Busch, running in the middle of the three-abreast racing. While both vehicles suffered fender damage (Hornaday's truck briefly smoked through the friction of the fenders and tire rubber), both trucks continued.

Attributed to a durable but racy Goodyear tire, drivers were unafraid to push their race trucks around the 1.52 mile oval of Atlanta Motor Speedway. Even in the initial circuits By lap 11, Ron Hornaday and Kyle Busch fully recovered from the lap 1 incident by sweeping by Crafton. Hornaday's truck team owner Kevin Harvick, running the #2 Chevrolet for the event, hung within striking distance of top 3 for a handful of early laps. After the dicing of Hornaday and Busch, Harvick decided to join in action taking the lead on lap 16.

As laps continued to tick away without incident, the #18 Toyota Tundra and #33 Chevrolet Silverado appeared to have no ill effects of the opening lap contact. However, on lap 23 the tire rub wore enough on Ron Hornaday's truck to cut the right front in the middle of turn 3 and 4. Snapping the KHI-owned truck sideways, Hornaday slammed hard into the turn 3 SAFER barrier. The #33 Chevrolet Silverado settled at the bottom of the track with massive deformation to the NASCAR truck.

Lap 61, The #88 of Matt Crafton wobbled just slightly in the lower part of turn 1 and made contact with Todd Bodine's #30 Toyota left rear. Bodine drifted through turn 2 but averted serious damage. With the track under caution, both trucks attended their pit crews for extended maintenance still running in the lead lap. However, just a few laps later, the #88 Chevrolet truck would blew a tire through the same corner of the initial incident committing the Thorsport Racing team to direct Crafton behind the wall. With Hornaday's truck wrecked, Crafton's trouble shown that the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series' 1st and 2nd place points finishers of 2009 will not experience business as usual for 2010.

NASCAR Nationwide driver but truck series newcomer Steven Wallace led a few laps in the Billy Ballew Racing #15 Toyota. Providing an impressive run in his truck debut, the younger Wallace brought his truck home fourth.

With 14 laps remaining, Harvick continued to lead under green aided by the #81 truck of David Starr struggling to get up to speed beside him. Starr's restart took pressure off of the #2 truck as Kevin Harvick rolled to victory at Atlanta. The Toyota trucks of Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola followed the Chevrolet across the finish line.


2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
E-Z-Go 200
Atlanta Motor Speedway

Top 10

Pos | Car # | Driver | Sponsor/ Truck Make

1) 2 Kevin Harvick    E-Z-GO Chevrolet
2) 18 Kyle Busch       Toyota Tundra Toyota
3) 51 Aric Almirola     Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota 
4) 15 Steve Wallace    Red Top Collector Car Auction Toyota
5) 30 Todd Bodine      The Night Train Toyota
6) 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet
7) 17 Timothy Peters    K&N Toyota
8) 13 Johnny Sauter    etc./Curb Records Chevrolet
9) 14 Rick Crawford    Circle Bar Ford
10) 3 Austin Dillon    Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Daytona Rained Out; To Run on Saturday

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images


As projected by weather forecasters on Thursday, a large disturbance of rain clouds flew over top of Daytona Beach. Dampening all of Friday's activities connected to Hersheys Speedways at Daytona International Speedway, the soaked 2.5 mile oval halted NASCAR's Nationwide Series qualifying for the Drive4COPD 300 and later the Friday night Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250 race.

Though mostly clear skies are predicted for the rest of NASCAR's big opening weekend (including the rescheduled Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250) the daily temperatures (according to www.weather.com) will certainly be cool. With the daily-high temperature running as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit lower than average for this period, Saturday will be in the lower 50s at the peak of the day. Sunday is reported to be a mild improvement but race fans will still require a heavy, long sleeve shirt or jacket to enjoy stock car racing's most popular 500 mile race.

Major Events During 2010 Speedweeks at Daytona

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

Last week, it was the tires of Grand Am sports cars warming up the Daytona International Speedway for 2010 through the 3.56 mile road course. This week, Daytona's more recognized 2.5 superspeedway oval becomes the focus for Hershey's Milk & Milkshakes Speedweeks, a medley of stock car races which will start with ARCA's Lucas Oil Stick Mist 200 and end with the Daytona 500.

The following list is the TV stations as well as the scheduled time starts of major events during the Hershey's Milk and Milkshakes Speedweeks:

February 6th

NASCAR Sprint Cup: Daytona 500 Qualifying Day (Resolving top 2 starting spots and Duel 150 fields)- Fox/ 1:05PM

ARCA Racing Series Presented by REMAX and Menards: Lucas Oil Stick Mist 200- Speed/4:30PM

NASCAR Sprint Cup: Budweiser Shootout- FOX(TSN2 in Canada)/8PM



February 11th

NASCAR Sprint Cup: Gatorade Duel 150 Races- Speed(TSN in Canada)/2PM

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Qualifying- Speed/6:10PM


February 12th

NASCAR Nationwide Series: Qualifying- ESPN/3:10PM

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Nextera Energy Resources 250- Speed/8PM (Pre-race show starts at 7:30PM)


February 13th

NASCAR Nationwide Series: Drive4COPD 300- ESPN2(TSN2 in Canada)/1:15PM (Pre-race show starts at noon)


February 14th

NASCAR Sprint Cup: Daytona 500- Fox(TSN in Canada)/1PM (Pre-race show starts at noon)

All times are Eastern

Naughty and Nice: 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images


With fields consisting of an eclectic pairing of seasoned veterans as well as aspiring rookies, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has a long association with rough and tumble race action. The 2009 season was no exception as circuit regulars Ron Hornaday, Mike Skinner, and Todd Bodine defended their turf against younger Sprint Cup series prospects. A difficult year off the track for the truck series, the tour was affected both a drop in corporate sponsorship and manufacturer support as well some poorly-placed rumours on the demise of the Camping World Truck Series after this year. Under an ominous cloud of economic ruins, the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series assures the future is vibrant for the stock truck circuit.

Looking back at the 2009 calender, XSL Speed Reporter wants to cast light on the memorable season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Nice: Matt Crafton Finds His Groove- Matt Crafton career in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series had been a model of perseverance. Since joining the truck series circuit full-time in 2001, Crafton established himself as a consistent competitor by finishing in a top-10 points position in 4 of the 5 previous seasons. However, having run 197 races between 2000 to 2008, Crafton took victory only one time (Charlotte of 2008). In 2009, Matt Crafton, partnered with ThorSport Racing in driving their #88 Chevrolet, was able to gain some sustained attention on his week-to-week performance. Through the truck series' first 9 events, the #88 Chevrolet Silverado finished no worse than 11^th place. Despite being winless in 2009, Crafton's consistency allowed to driver to be the perfect championship adversary to Ron Hornaday Jr and the #33 Chevrolet. With 5 total 2^nd place finishes on the year, Matt Crafton was unable to catch Hornaday but did secure a career best rounder-up position in the truck series points as well as an very honourable mention to the 2009 season.

Photo Credit: Getty Images for NASCAR

Naughty: Mad Matt- In the September running of the Copart 200 at Gateway International Raceway, Matt Crafton, who had quietly been capturing championship-contending finishes all season long, made an extreme ruckus in the final stages of the truck series race. With 10 laps to go in 3^rd place, the #88 Chevrolet Silverado of Matt Crafton was tempted heavily by a chance at victory. Instead of using precision passing to pass the two trucks, Crafton decided it was 'Hammer Time' for his Menards-sponsored truck taking out Todd Bodine as well as the championship points leader Ron Hornaday in the course of two restarts to take the races lead. Removing Bodine's Toyota and Hornaday's Chevy from contention, the resulting two incidents made casualties of three other race trucks. Inferring “I'm not scared!” after the first incident, NASCAR officials penalized Crafton for has brazenly aggressive driving. Finishing 6^th, Matt Crafton lost the chance for a 2^nd truck series victory but seemingly skated with a slap on the wrist compared to the damage done at Gateway.

Nice: Randy Moss Motorsports Goes All the Way- In only his second full season as a NASCAR Truck Series team owner, football wide receiver Randy Moss has evidently been a fast-learner to building a competitive NASCAR race team. As Bill Davis Racing was sold off and shut down, Randy Moss Motorsports, who had just begun a manufacturer switch from Chevrolet to Toyota, made homes for rookie driver Tayler Malsam as well as 1995 series champion Mike Skinner (Skinner also got to keep his truck #5). While Malsam fought a good fight with Johnny Sauter for the 2009 rookie of the year award, Mike Skinner scored 3 victories and a 3^rd place overall in the overall points standings. Although endlessly praising the efforts of the entire Randy Moss Motorsports #5 team, Skinner had indicated the lack of resources and sponsorship dollars have kept the team from challenging the KHI Chevrolet of Ron Hornaday.

Naughty: Manufacturer Support being pulled by Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge- Just by looking at the full grid of a 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race will tell which auto manufacturer is still committing support. Toyota Tundras outnumbers the combined contingent of American badged vehicles. With Ford and Dodge drawing down their support for truck series operations before the 2009 season, General Motor's bankruptcy affected the Chevrolet Silverados campaigned by Kevin Harvick Inc (KHI) and ThorSport Racing. In the case with KHI, while Ron Hornaday Jr's #33 truck remained strong, those cuts seemingly impacted the team's junior drivers Rick Carmichael and JR Fitzpatrick. For the final races, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman took over driving duties in a move to please victory-seeking truck sponsors but left 2 NASCAR prospects out the door of KHI.

Nice: Hornaday Streaks to the Championship- Winning his 4^th NASCAR truck series championship title this year, Ron Hornaday Jr is a long-time competitor in the tour. Between driving trucks for Dale Earnhardt Inc and the Richard Childress Racing team which eventually began KHI, Hornaday holds records in many of the series' categories including most wins, expended to 45 this year. Hornaday's 2009 season run was highlighted by a 5-race winning streak (a record for a NASCAR driver in the top three touring series since 1972 or the establishment of NASCAR's so-called modern era). Winless after his streak-ending race at Nashville Superspeedway on August 1^st, Ron Hornaday finished well-enough to maintain a comfortable lead over Matt Crafton clinching the top spot in points after the 2^nd to last round in Phoenix.

Naughty: Treatment Shown to Former Series Champions- Ron Hornaday Jr won his 4^th championship in 2009 proving that the veterans are still a force to be reckon with in the truck series. However, other past champions were hit hard in 2009 as economics and promotion of younger drivers made the veteran champions' off-track fight more challenging than the fender-beating action of the NASCAR truck series. Starting with three-time truck series champion Jack Sprague. Sprague sat out the entire 2009 schedule after being dropped from the Wyler Racing Toyota after the Homestead finale in 2008. I have yet to determine if Jack Sprague has retired or has been racing elsewhere in this past year.

Entering the 2009 season, Mike Skinner was hustled out of his race team since 2004 when Bill Davis Racing sold his operations to a buyer interested only in supporting race team in NASCAR. Fortunately, Randy Moss Motorsports picked up the veteran and just three weeks before the Daytona International Speedway truck series race. Winning 3 races, Skinner's on-track results proves that the inaugural truck series champion deserves to be respected.

Johnny Benson was also a victim of the Bill Davis Racing team shut down after winning his 2008 NASCAR truck series championship. Enjoying a racing career renaissance which once had Benson driving in the Cup series, 2009 would be a most unkind year. Starting the season inside another Toyota Tundra, the #1 campaigned by Red Horse Racing, Johnny Benson lost his place in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series when his team was forced to suspend operations due to lack of sponsorship. With his truck ride lost on June 8^th, 5 days later Benson was seriously injured in a IMSA Supermodified race held at his home track of Berlin Raceway. He returned later in the year as a commentator for the Speed channel truck series coverage. For 2010, Kyle Busch Motorsports is considering fielding a truck for Benson, pending sponsorship.

Photo Credit: Getty Images for NASCAR

Nice: Kyle Busch's Commitment to the Camping World Truck Series- Being the first division that Kyle Busch was able to display has eventual prowess as a NASCAR superstar, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series seems to hold a special place in the heart of the young racer. Only 16 years old at the time he debuted in the series with a Roush Racing Ford F-150, Busch's presence actually led to a NASCAR rule change when a truck race weekend was co-sponsored by a tobacco company. Because tobacco advertising laws, a rule mandating a minimum competitor age of 18 disqualified Kyle Busch's participation in the race. The next season, NASCAR declared a minimum age of 18 throughout the top three touring series.

Despite Busch's early set-backs in the NASCAR Truck Series, he returned to the series in when Billy Ballew Motorsports wanted a driver for their DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc)-supported #51 Chevrolet. Earning the fitting nickname 'Rowdy Busch' on similarities of his truck to the car seen in the movie Days of Thunder, Busch has intensified his raid on the truck series in recent years driving a #51 Toyota. Closing the 2009 NASCAR season with only 69 starts in the truck series, Kyle Busch holds a magnificent 16 victories in the tailgate competition. In 2010, Kyle Busch will become even deeper embedded into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series when he takes on the role of owner through his purchase of Xpress Motorsports in December forming Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Photo Credit: Kyle Busch Motorsports

Naughty: Kyle Busch's Commitment to the Camping World Truck Series- While Kyle Busch's involvement in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is viewed as positive by some, the age-old argument of Cup drivers competing so prolifically in the Truck and Nationwide series has grown in recent years. With corporate sponsors demanding top value even in the lower levels of NASCAR, Cup drivers running on the lower series are often preferred over the entry-level drivers. While Kyle Busch has an intense thirst for racing in his young career, he attracts top sponsorship money and resources to dominate the shorter truck races. While some fans might continue to grumble about the presence of Cup drivers in the ladder series of NASCAR, Kyle Busch's involvement in 2010 will actually aid the younger drivers breaking into NASCAR. Through Kyle Busch Motorsports, Tayler Malsam will run the full season in the Camping World Truck Series will Brian Ickler will share Kyle Busch's truck through 2010.

Nice: A Trio of First Time Truck Winners- Colin Braun, Brian Scott and Timothy Peters have all broken through the established Camping World Truck Series ranks for their first victories on the tour. For Colin Braun and Brian Scott, their 2009 wins may shape up to be their only victories on the schedule in the foreseeable future as both drivers transition to the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2010.