Kyle Busch took the checkered flag 1.116 seconds ahead of Ron Hornaday Jr. Friday night in Atlanta to win the American Commercial Lines 200. Busch restarted in the lead with just four laps remaining after a short rain delay and promptly ran away from the field, scoring his second consecutive win in the Truck Series. Mike Skinner, Matt Crafton and Chad McCumbee rounded out the top five finishers.
At Daytona, Joey Clanton took his No. 09 three-wide with Mike Bliss and Terry Cook. Bliss and Clanton got together and managed to take Cook and Clanton’s teammate, Colin Braun, with them. The wreck took all four drivers out of contention for the win and left four trucks mangled. As a result, Clanton was pulled out of the No. 09 and replaced by Travis Kvapil for the following week’s race at California in an attempt to “re-evaluate [their] plans for the rest of the season.”
A non-native species has become part of NASCAR’s culture over the past five years, threatening to eradicate all those competing against it — and that’s Toyota. Say what you will about Toyotas produced here in the United States, but they are still a foreign car company nonetheless. The fact some Toyotas are built in the U.S. doesn’t make them an American car company any more than the fact that I can get somewhat serviceable General Tsao’s Chicken here in the sleepy burg of Guthriesville, Pa. The food might be made in an American town… but that still doesn’t make it American cuisine.
Kyle “Rowdy” Busch took the checkered flag 1.415 seconds ahead of Todd Bodine to win the San Bernardino County 200 at the Auto Club Speedway Saturday afternoon. Busch took the lead for the final time when the field cycled through green-flag pit stops inside 20 laps to go. Johnny Benson, Terry Cook and 2007 champion Ron Hornaday Jr. rounded out the top five.
It was a very busy offseason for me. Along with reacquainting myself with my old team and all the testing we did for the 2008 season, I got married to my beautiful bride, Kim, and went on an amazing honeymoon. It was absolutely gorgeous! Considering that I don’t ever get a chance to slow down, it was good to finally do that. As much as we would have loved to stay, we had to come back home and head to Daytona.
After an exciting season opener at Daytona International Speedway, the series heads out west for the San Bernardino County 200 at California Speedway. In 2000, a young rookie by the name of Kurt Busch won the Motorola 200 at California to close out the Truck Series season. That win was his fourth of the season, and Busch remains the only Truck Series rookie to score a win at the 2-mile track. Since Kurt Busch’s win in 2000, no rookie has finished better than third, the result posted by Jon Wood in 2001 and Brendan Gaughan in 2002. The 2008 rookie class looks to change that on Saturday. Last week at Daytona, five rookies finished in the top 15 in the Chevy Silverado 250, and the only rookie to finish outside that top 15 was Colin Braun, who was caught up in the big accident on lap 24.
Todd Bodine took the checkered flag ahead of Kyle Busch to win the Craftsman Truck Series’ season opener at Daytona International Speedway Friday night. Bodine held off a late-race charge by Busch and Johnny Benson and crossed the finish line just 0.077 seconds ahead of Busch in the Chevy Silverado 250 to score his first win at the superspeedway. David Starr and Rick Crawford rounded out the top five.
We’re looking forward to starting out 2008 Friday night, live on Speed. I learned something today–I won the first Craftsman Truck Series race ever televised on Speed. That was the 2003 Daytona race and that was a great race. I was proud to hear that fact.
Last week we talked about Craftsman leaving the series, team mergers and splits, and the 2008 rookie class. This week, we examine which drivers find themselves with new teams during the offseason and what to expect from the series.
It’s hard to believe it’s that time again. The offseason is quickly coming to a close, and people are already making predictions and talking about offseason changes. Perhaps the biggest news during this offseason was the announcement in December that Craftsman will be ending their sponsorship of the Truck Series at the end of the 2008 season.
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