S.M.'s Craftsman Truck Series Update, Issue No. 5

Rumors

Kobalt Tools, part of Lowes, has withdrawn from the bidding to be the title sponsor of the NASCAR Truck Series. No word on either Stanley Tools or NAPA becoming the front runner for the title sponsorship.

This also leaves the door open for Craftsman to return as title sponsor for just 2009 or renew for longer. They do still want to continue as the Official Tool of NASCAR.

It appears Atlanta Motor Speedway will be dropping its Fall truck race in 2009 but will retain the Spring truck race.

While it's not official yet, it's believed Iowa Speedway would pick up the Fall truck race in 2009. NASCAR has announced that the 2009 schedule would be 25 races and should be announcing this change any day.

Nashville Super Speedway is also working with NASCAR to move its race date to earlier in the season so the track's ticket sales are not affected by the NFL preseason.

Camping World has turned into a great sponsor for NASCAR. They have come to a multi-year agreement with Gateway International Raceway to become the title sponsor of the Sept. 6 truck race. It's going to be called "The Camping World 200" presented by Honda Power Equipment.

Camping World sponsors at several levels in NASCAR including the Camping World East and West Series and several races at different tracks across the country as title sponsor. Camping World also sponsors both Clint Bowyer and Robby Gordon part-time, along with a few others.

They are also a full-time sponsor for Kevin Harvick, Inc. on the Harvick/Gales No. 33 Nationwide car, for four races on Sprague's CTS No. 2 truck, and the defending Champion of the CTS Hornaday's No. 33 truck.

Looks like Chad McCumbee will be racing in Sprint Cup. An announcement from Petty Enterprises will be made shortly. Not sure if it's a full or part-time ride in the No. 45 or in a third team car.

2009 Team Updates

Tony Furr will be starting a truck team in 2009 for his nephew Ross Furr. While no number or manufacture have been announced yet, they have secured a sponsor.

Red Horse Racing will be expanding to two teams in 2009. They announced they have hired Rich Gay in preparation for the planned second truck.

Joe Gibbs Racing may be planning to field a truck team in 2009 for Marc Davis but it's not official as of yet. He's an African American development driver in the Camping World East Series. He has a lot of talent and in eight starts has compiled two top fives and five top 10s.

This Week's Driver Profile

This week I'm going to give mention to the talented Rookie Colin Braun who drives for Roush-Fenway in CTS in the No. 6 Con-Way sponsored truck.

Braun, at 19 years of age, is already a very talented and experienced driver. Braun is one of motorsports' rising stars and has already won a couple of Championships in Formula Car. He has been racing for 13 years.

In his rookie season in CTS Braun has shown he belongs in the Series and we can see he has a lot of talent. Obviously, he's still learning and so he's paired up with veteran crew chief Mike Beam.

In 15 starts in CTS he's still waiting for his first win and pole, has one top five, five top 10s, and two DNFs. He currently also leads the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.

With any rookie you have your great races and bad races. You are learning how to stay out of trouble and how to avoid it.

From watching him race in the CTS races I think that when Braun is patient he runs his best races and ends up finishing well. He just needs to learn when passing to let the other driver make the mistake and then pass, rather than forcing the issue and ending up wrecking.

Braun has been running in the Nationwide Series for Roush-Fenway in the No. 16 car in a limited schedule. He also fills in for Biffle doing testing and practices whenever the Biff has a scheduling conflict while racing in Sprint Cup.

In five races in Nationwide he's compiled two poles, one top five, one top 10, and one DNF.

I think Roush-Fenway has a great driver in Braun. He's going to be racing the No. 6 Con-Way truck again in 2009 and more than likely will race some Nationwide races as well.

With the four-car team limit, it will be interesting to see the changes the team will make to accommodate Braun as he moves up the ladder to Sprint Cup in the coming years. I just can't see them letting Braun move onto another team.

Shrub Sighting

The Shrub will be racing in the 3M Performance 400 presented by Bondo at Michigan International Speedway. It doesn't look like he's in the Nationwide races as Stewart's in the No. 20 car and Logano is in the No. 18 car.

Let me add here that Mike Skinner will be driving for Michael Waltrip Racing in the No. 00 car at Michigan. He will also drive the car at Bristol and California.

Hornaday's Corner

Hornaday's nicknames are "King of the Restarts" and "The Professor." The first goes back to his legend racing days at Saugus Speedway, Mesa Marin, and the Orange Show (ronhornaday.com).

I also think his favorite quote makes for words to live by: "Live every day like it's Saturday" (ronhornaday.com).

He's been winning on tracks that he hasn't won on before. He dominated at Kansas in April for his first win at that track. Hornaday even let Sprague lead a lap for bonus points. He also got his first win at Texas in June and set a new TMS track record leading 140 of the 172 lap race.

Hornaday has been to victory lane seven times in the last 40 truck series races and has 20 top five finishes.

One of his proudest moments was winning the 2007 Craftsman Truck Series Championship for Kevin and Delana last year, giving them their first title. He also gave Dale Earnhardt his first Championship at DEI in 1996.

He's poised to become the first back-to-back title winner in CTS. You can't count him out—45 points is nothing for him to make up, and it would make KHI a premier CTS team.  

Upcoming Races

Wednesday, Aug. 20—The O'Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Speed at 7:30 PM (Yep, Wednesday, it's not a typo and time's running out to take the night off from work. I already have.)

Saturday, Sept. 6—The Camping World 200, presented by Honda Power Equipment at Gateway International Raceway on Speed at 2:00 PM

Saturday, Sept. 13—The New Hampshire 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Speed at 2:30 PM

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Points Standings

1. Johnny Benson           2261

2. Ron Hornaday             -45

3. Matt Crafton               -91

4. Todd Bodine               -219

5. Mike Skinner              -235

6. Erik Darnell                -240

7. Rick Crawford             -251

8. Jack Sprague              -309

9. Terry Cook                 -309

10. David Starr              -374