Chevy Silverado 250 News and Notes

The Inside Line by Tim Stephens

The Inside Line by Tim Stephens"The semis are parking today and the garage opens for inspection tomorrow morning…"

For a NASCAR racing fan, these words are as sweet as when a baseball fan hears about pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training. The sport that you love is just around the corner.

The latest incarnation of a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season rolls out this week in Daytona Beach, Fla. It's the 14th time that the circuit's teams and drivers have gathered for a season-opener. After a one-year run as part of the Copper World Classic in Phoenix, the Truck Series has opened the campaign in Florida for 13 consecutive years. After bouncing back-and-forth between the Homestead-Miami Speedway and the Walt Disney World Speedway for four years (1996-99), the truck opener moved to Daytona International Speedway in 2000.

It's been a wonderful marriage.

Daytona has provided the series with a high-profile opening event while giving Daytona's Speedweeks some of the best finishes in recent history. From the debut season in 2000, when Mike Wallace came out on top of a five-truck scrum at the checkered, to last year's three-wide, you-pick-'em battle won by Jack Sprague, the trucks at Daytona have been anything but boring.

This year's lid-lifter, the Chevy Silverado 250, has all the potential to be just as good as the previous Daytona events. Now, it's often said that you can learn by studying history. So, if we look at the previous 13 openers, especially those eight at Daytona, what do we see in the cards?

For one thing, the entitlement rights holders might not end up happy. A Chevrolet hasn't won a season-opening race since Ron Hornaday pulled the trick at Disney in 1998. Yep, that means Chevy is zero-for-Daytona in eight tries.

Ford owns bragging rights with four Daytona wins and seven season-openers overall. Dodge has three victories at Daytona and overall. Chevy owns a pair of season-openers. Toyota holds a single Daytona win, last year's Sprague triumph.

A second thing to know is that youngsters likely aren't going to leave Daytona too happy. Carl Edwards was 24-years-old when he pulled into the Daytona victory lane in 2004, but he was already a veteran. Edwards had 32 career truck starts prior to that win.

Otherwise, openers in general and Daytona especially have belonged to the experienced. The list of opening-event winners if a laundry-list of veteran drivers: Mike Skinner, Dave Rezendes, Joe Ruttman, Ron Hornaday, Jr., Mike Wallace, Robert Pressley, Rick Crawford, Bobby Hamilton, Mark Martin and Jack Sprague.

The semis are parked and the garage will be open soon. The season is just around the corner. Sometime late Friday, another driver will put a truck into victory lane at Daytona and join that list of winners.

Now that truly is a sweet thought.

truckseries.com

Roush Set for Landmark Start
Racingone.com

With each year of competition in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the driver's faces may change at Roush Fenway Racing, but one thing has remained the same: the organization is consistently lined up on the grid.

So consistently in fact, that Roush Fenway Racing is celebrating a record 300th consecutive Craftsman Truck Series start Friday night in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Roush Fenway Racing made its series start in the inaugural year of the series in 1995, entering the competition with two races remaining in that season. Todd Bodine drove that first truck, the No. 61, to an eighth-place finish in the organization's debut at the old Mesa Marin Raceway on Oct. 15, 1995.

With the help of this long-standing truck program, Roush Fenway Racing rose up from a single-car start-up in Cup Series competition in 1988 to be one of the largest, most successful teams in NASCAR racing.

Throughout the years, Jack Roush has banked on the Truck Series to help him discover and develop some of the best racing talent driving today.

Racing veteran Mark Martin brought the organization its first victory in 1996 in only his second series start. And Roush has brought NASCAR Champions Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards up through the series to become top-level Sprint Cup competitors.

With his stable of drivers over the years, Roush has won a series-high 48 truck victories, the 2000 championship with Biffle and five rookie-of-the-year awards.

"The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a great series to develop a driver and get him ready for the Nationwide Series or the Sprint Cup Series," Roush said about the series.

Because of this outlook, the drivers in Roush Fenway Racing's truck program change frequently. And with three fairly green drivers, Roush is looking to capture his third Daytona victory and possibly his sixth rookie-of-the-year award in 2008.

Chances look favorable that he may accomplish both with one driver - 19-year-old Colin Braun.

Braun is running for rookie honors with Roush's No. 6 team. He'll be piloting chassis RK-52 at Daytona, the same car that Travis Kvapil almost to took victory lane in last year's wild three-wide finish at Daytona. Kvapil was able to win four times with the team in 2007 and finished eighth in the final point standings. He's the newest Roush Truck Series graduate as he moves to the Sprint Cup Series full-time this year.

Although Braun will be making his first Daytona oval start Friday night, the young driver isn't really a stranger to the speedway. He has competed on the track's road course five times in the Grand Am Road Racing Series. He won the Grand Am Rolex Daytona Prototype Series race there in July 2006 at the age of 17.

Braun had a chance to familiarize himself with the oval during Craftsman Truck Series pre-season testing in January. He and his two Roush teammates, Erik Darnell and Joey Clanton, topped the first morning of testing at Daytona with Braun finishing second to the more seasoned Darnell in single car practice.

Trouble struck the team later that Friday in drafting practice, though, when Braun and Clanton getting caught up in an accident that knocked both out of the rest of testing.

"Although we had an accident in testing, the guys have worked hard to make the truck just as good, if not better than it was," Braun said. "All the Roush Fenway teams showed they were fast at the test since we were 1-2-3 on the first day. I just have to adjust to the aero of the truck. It is still something I have to consciously think about – how the trucks around me affect the aero of my truck.

"Running up front at Daytona is important, but our goal is to finish the race. I want to run all the laps, and gain all the experience I can. It's easy to lose sight of the big picture when you are fast and up front. You gotta be there at the end."

Braun will have the help of returning driver Darnell, the veteran of the group, and new face Clanton, who ran 16 races last season for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing.

Both Darnell, who won rookie honors in his first year with Roush in 2006, and Clanton finished within the top 15 at Daytona last year. Clanton posted his first career-best finish of sixth, while Darnell finished 12th in the No. 99 Ford.

If Braun can't capture the victory for Roush Fenway Racing in its 300th start, third-year driver Darnell may be able to.

Darnell's single-car speed of 178.547 mph was the fastest during testing in January and he is optimistic of his team's chances in this race.

"If the first two days are any indication, we've got a really good truck," Darnell continued. "I've been able to work my way from the back up to the front a few times and it feels really good out front. I can lead up there. I can get back in traffic and the truck handles very well. I've been really pleased with it so far.

"Roush Fenway has had a pretty strong truck program on the superspeedways. Mark Martin won both races in 2006 and Travis Kvapil and myself both had strong trucks in this race last year, and I definitely would like to get the season started off on the right foot, and hopefully pick up a victory."

The three Roush Fenway drivers will have their first chance to show what the veteran organization is made of Wednesday afternoon in the series' first practice session at 4:30 p.m. (ET).

A second practice is set for Thursday morning (11:15 a.m. ET) before qualifying for Friday night's Chevy Silverado 250 at 7:10 p.m. (ET).

Race action begins Friday at 7:30 p.m. (ET) and is being broadcast on SPEED

Darnell Daytona Pole Ace
RacingOne.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Erik Darnell ran a lap of 176.529 mph Thursday night to capture the pole for Friday night's ninth running of the Chevy Silverado 250, the opening race of the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.

The race takes the green flag at 8 p.m. (ET) Friday evening.

Qualifying saw four marques in the top five. Terry Cook was second in a Toyota, followed by the Toyota of Mike Skinner, the Dodge of Stacy Compton and the Chevrolet of Ron Hornaday.

"I knew through practice and testing that we had a pretty good truck," Darnell said after capturing his second career Keystone Light Pole Award."I was hoping it would hold up for the pole. If not, I wasn’t too worried, because we’ve got a really good truck in the draft. Hopefully, we can keep our Northern Tool+Equipment Ford up front and pick up the win Friday night."

Cook will be making his first start in the No. 60 Wyler.com Toyota.

"I think we’re going to see another great race," said Cook, whose six career Craftsman Truck Series victories include only one in the last five years. "The trucks are a handful out there. It’s back to the same old truck race, where we saw three wide for the checkered flag. I really think we’re going to see that again this year. I feel great. This is the most pumped up I’ve ever been at the start of a season. Toyota and everyone behind our program have given me all the resources it’s going to take to win the championship. So far, we’re getting it started pretty good.”

Skinner won five races last year - his most since 1996 - and is excited about his chances.

"The truck is really, really good in the draft," said Skinner, who won the inaugural truck title in 1995. "I’m pretty excited about tomorrow. I’ve got a good piece. Man, when the Craftsman Truck Series runs at Daytona, all you have to do is rewind the tape. It’s always awesome here. It seems to have a reputation for good finishes and a lot of excitement. I hope if we’re in the excitement, it’s right at the end of the race.”

Rounding out the top 10 starters are Jack Sprague, Matt Crafton, rookie Justin Marks, rookie Colin Braun and Chad McCumbee.

Rick Crawford (2003) and Jack Sprague (2007) are the only former winners in the event. However, six champions representing 10 of the 13 titles – three-time champs Ron Hornaday and Jack Sprague plus Mike Skinner, Mike Bliss, Red Musgrave and Todd Bodine - qualified for the field.

Odds to win Truck Series Chevy Silverado 250

Kyle Busch +450
Jack Sprague +550
Mike Skinner +550
Ron Hornaday +650
Todd Bodine +650
Erik Darnell +850
Johnny Benson +950
Rick Crawford +1250
Terry Cook +1250
Ted Musgrave +1450
Joh Wood +1650
Matt Crafton +1850
David Starr +2500
Brendan Gaughan +2500
Dennis Setzer +2500
Field +815

TheGreek

2008 Season Heats Up Friday Night
Truckseries.com

The only sure thing to bet on for the season-opening Chevy Silverado 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway is intensity. Everything else is pretty much an unknown until the trucks take to the high-banked 2.5-mile track.

In eight previous Daytona NCTS races, there have been two three-wide finishes at the wire and a wealth of last-lap passes and nail-biting excitement. Ironically, the one thing this race hasn't provided is an NCTS champion - no driver as ever won both this race and the series title in the same season.

That said, this year's Chevy Silverado 250 field features no less than five former NCTS champions: Todd Bodine, Ron Hornaday Jr., Ted Musgrave, Jack Sprague and Mike Skinner. Collectively, the five have earned eight championships, 114 victories and more than $24 million in winnings. Of the five, though, only Sprague has won at Daytona International Speedway.

Still, all five figure heavily into the mix this year. Hornaday, the defending series champion, and Sprague are teamed up this year at Kevin Harvick Inc., creating a dream team that will be awfully hard to beat, both at Daytona this week and in the series all year long. "I like the way they both are going to drive and so hopefully when it comes down to the end (of the race), they can race each other and keep it in the family," said team owner Kevin Harvick.

Skinner, last year's series runner-up and the first NCTS champion in 1995, returns to the No. 5 Bill Davis Racing Toyota in which he led an unprecedented 24 of 25 races in 2007. He will be fast once again, as will his teammate, Johnny Benson, who finished third in points with a strong finish to the 2007 season. "I think the race is going to be just as interesting as it was last year," said Skinner.

Bodine will begin his fourth full season with Germain Racing where he's won 12 races and finished third, first and fourth in series points.

Musgrave, seventh a year ago, moves to the No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota. The 2005 champion snapped a lengthy winless streak last fall at Texas Motor Speedway.

Also out of the Toyota squad is the always fast Kyle Busch, who will make his first Daytona NCTS start in the No. 51 Tundra out of the Billy Ballew stable. "I am not saying we will (win). I am not saying we won't," Busch said. "I am just saying we hope to. It would be a great honor to have that."

Another team to keep an eye out for this year at Daytona is Roush Fenway Racing, which will start its 300 consecutive NCTS race on Friday. In the truck series, Roush Fenway Racing drivers have earned one championship, 48 victories and five rookie of the year crowns.

"The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a great series to develop a driver and get him ready for the Nationwide Series or the Sprint Cup Series," said team co-owner Jack Roush, who is looking for his third Daytona winner. Roush will field three trucks this year, led by 19-year-old rookie Colin Braun and Erik Darnell. Braun will drive the No. 6 Roush Fenway Ford F-150 that won four races last year with Travis Kvapil behind the wheel. Darnell, meanwhile, topped the speed charts in Daytona pre-season testing.

Keep and eye out, too, for the Circle Bar Racing squad, which fields Ford F-150s for Rick Crawford and Brendan Gaughan.

Another team to watch is last year's winning squad, Wyler Racing. Although Sprague has left the team, the Wyler Toyota is now driven by Terry Cook, one of only four drivers to start all eight races at Daytona. Cook's ninth Daytona start will be his series leading 248th consecutive start, a streak that dates to Jan. 18, 1998 at Walt Disney World Speedway. "I have very high expectations for our team this year," said Cook, who has won six times for four different owners.

Although they come in as underdogs, the Dodge contingent is represented by Stacy Compton, Larry Foyt, Scott Lynch, Dennis Setzer and Jason White.

All told, the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series field is as deep as it's ever been, with a dozen or more legitimate candidates to win the season-opener at Daytona on Friday. And if history is any indicator, the fight will again go down to the wire, just as it has for the last eight seasons.

Bodine holds off Busch for truck win

Daytona Beach, FL (Sports Network) - Todd Bodine held to the bottom of the track and no one could get around him as he captured Friday night's Chevy Silverado 250 at the Daytona International Speedway. The No.30 Germain Toyota crossed the finish line 0.077 seconds ahead of Kyle Busch.

The victory was the 13th of Bodine's Craftsman Truck Series career and first at Daytona.

"I knew he wasn't going to turn me or anything like that and if he couldn't get to the outside and have Johnny (Benson) go with him, I knew I was ok," said Bodine from Victory Lane.

Erik Darnell brought the field to the green flag to start the 100-lap event and the 14th season of truck racing. They quickly lined up behind Darnell and the top-six cars put a gap between themselves and the field. He kept the lead until the first pit stop on lap 11 after a caution flag.

Jason White, Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday Jr. all took right-side tires only and beat the pole sitter off pit lane. White lasted less than one corner before the two champions teamed up together and flew past White.

It was lap 19 when all hell broke loose off of turn two. At least eight trucks, including a championship contender in Skinner, got caught in the melee. It appeared to start when Busch and Skinner got together. Skinner got turned up the track, hit the wall, and collected those behind who had no where to go.

The race was red-flagged to clean up the multi-car incident. When the dust had cleared and pit stops had been made, Bodine led Darnell into turn one. They lasted three quarters of a lap until Mike Bliss and Joey Clanton slammed each other and with drivers so close, collected more innocent drivers in the accident.

One of those caught up in the second incident was rookie Colin Braun who had run in the top-10 for most of the race.

It was another long delay and the race didn't restart until lap 34. Off of the green flag they quickly went into single file formation and settled into a rhythm. There were just 25 trucks left on the track, but there was still a lot of close racing.

On lap 44, Hornaday Jr. began to smoke and the defending champion slowed and pulled off the track.

Bodine led the race at the halfway point, but he was struggling with his handling and it was just a matter of time before a group got together to overtake Bodine. Darnell, with help from Justin Marks, did just that, taking the lead on lap 52.

Busch was sitting in third, but when he tried to pull out and make a pass, no one went with him and he faded all the way back to eighth before he could get back into line.

The lead trucks were staying single file and Darnell was still the leader with 30 laps remaining. Johnny Benson and Rick Crawford tried to start a charge on the outside, but could only get to fourth before being forced back into line.

Darnell continued to hug the bottom of the track and no one wanted to take a chance on the high side as the laps dwindled to 20.

The leaders all pitted on lap 85 and Bodine beat Darnell off pit lane for the lead of those who had made their final stop. One lap later Darnell, felt a vibration and was slowing down when he and Marks collided to bring out another caution flag.

The race would restart with nine laps to go and Bodine leading Benson and Busch to the green flag. The top-five trucks broke away from the rest. Then Benson went to the outside, but when Busch stayed low with Bodine, Benson faded all the back to eighth.

Seven laps to go and it was Bodine and Busch on the bottom and with David Starr and Stacy Compton on the outside making a run. By lap 95 Benson was back to third and moving up.

The white flag and it was still Bodine, Busch and Benson. Bodine got about three lengths ahead as they turned for home and he held off a late rush by Busch and Benson for the win. The No.30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota led a total of 49 laps.

"I let Todd get out a little too far," said Busch.

David Starr and Crawford completed the top-five.

The next race is scheduled for Saturday, February 23rd at the California Speedway.