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."

Bodine Parties in Bluegrass State; Wins NASCAR Truck Race

Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/ Getty Images for NASCAR

By Lee Montgomery


Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(September 3, 2010)
SPARTA, Ky.—Todd Bodine is rolling toward his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, but he didn’t drive like it Friday night in winning the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway. And his team didn’t act like it, either.
Bodine spun while battling Kyle Busch for the lead on Lap 81, but that trouble helped set up a fuel-mileage gamble for the No. 30 Germain Racing team.
“Our misfortune turned into our fortune because that’s what gave us a little extra fuel that we needed to get to the end,” Bodine said.
Johnny Sauter finished a distant second, with Aric Almirola third, Jason White fourth and Ricky Carmichael fifth. Timothy Peters, Busch, Ryan Sieg, polesitter Austin Dillon and Matt Crafton completed the top 10.
After a restart on Lap 80 of the 150-lap race, Busch and Bodine raced side by side for the lead in Turn 3 when Busch charged around on the outside lane. Bodine’s Toyota snapped sideways and spun in front of the field, though he didn’t hit anything.
A panel in the truck’s bed flew off, and Bodine made a couple of extra stops under that caution for his team to repair the damage. He restarted 25th.
The yellow flag waved again on Lap 91, and crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. brought Bodine to pit road again to top off the fuel tank as nine drivers stayed on the track.
Busch was one of them, and he pulled away to a 3-second lead before pitting on Lap 127. After rookies Austin Dillon and Justin Lofton also pitted under green, Bodine assumed the lead.
Conserving fuel, Bodine raced the final 55 laps under green on one tank of fuel.
“I pedaled pretty hard with about 20 laps to go,” Bodine said of saving fuel. “About the last 10 laps, I went around here about half-throttle.”

After taking the checkered flag, Bodine chastised Busch for “dirty driving,” claiming Busch intentionally pushed Bodine low on the track to cause him to spin. Busch also came to victory lane to have words with Bodine.
“It was the weather, how good the track is,” Bodine said jokingly of their conversation. “It’s two drivers who didn’t care what the other said or the other did, and we had words about it. That’s good, hard racing. I’ve always had a lot of respect for Kyle. Slowly but surely I’m, losing it. That’s a shame.”

Bodine led twice for 18 laps, far short of Busch’s race-high 73 laps. Bodine, though, extended his points lead to 261 over Almirola.
“We were two laps short (on fuel),” Hillman said. “That proves that we’re not points racing. If we were points racing, being two laps short we would’ve come in and splashed a couple gallons of gas and finished seventh or eighth.”

Darlington Truck Race Tamed by Todd Bodine

Mary Ann Chastain/Getty Images for NASCAR

Running a standalone event, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned to Darlington Raceway after a 6-year absence. Assembling for the Too Tough to Tame 200, the visit to the so-called "Lady in Black" was the first time many of the younger truck series regulars to experience the 1.366 mile South Carolina race track. One of those drivers making the initial laps at Darlington was Timothy Peters piloting the #17 Red Horse Racing-owned Toyota Tundra. Fortunate for Peters, those early laps were fast enough to earn the #17 truck the pole position for the Saturday night event.  

Relishing the reputation for being the track too tough to tame, this race kept the track's slogan intact. In the first 10 laps of 147, the yellow flag flew on two occasions for spins involving the #92 of Dennis Setzer and Jason While in the #23 Dodge. White's truck would be the reason for caution again on lap 58 when the Mopar's engine suffered a terminal failure on-track. With 9 cautions 37 laps overall, a remarkably high number competitors within the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series had their will broken by the infamous oval. Topping the list of 16 vehicles that failed to finish the Too Tough to Tame 200 was Brian Ickler, Ricky Carmichael and Mike Skinner.

Timothy Peters led the first 47 laps, reigning Camping World Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday would be the next driver to lead at Darlington. Five leaders would pace the Too Tough to Tame 200 with four of them leading more than 23 laps signifying how important gaining the lead was through the course of the event. The Richard Childress Racing #3 truck handled by Austin Dillon proceeded to lead after Hornaday up until lap 101 once the flag was brought under caution for an incident involving Mario Gosselin and Ricky Carmichael. Through the orchestra of pit road activity, the #30 truck of Todd Bodine was rushed into the lead by his crew. A deciding move for the event, Bodine and his Germain Racing #30 Toyota led the final 46 laps to win the Too Tough to Tame 200 at Darlington Raceway. Starting without intent to run a full Camping World Truck Series schedule, the #30 Germain Racing team were only even originally planning to run the race. However, by their lead positioning in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver's standings the team arrived having to miss other previously-planned engagements including a wedding.

After taking pole, Timothy Peters kept his #17 Toyota at the front for the entire event to score a 2nd place for a 1-2 finish for Toyota. Leading a charge of Chevrolet Silverado race trucks, Ron Hornaday finished 3rd ahead of Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon rounding out the top five.

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

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.