NASCAR NCTS (DAYTONA) - Truck Series News And Notes

• Hornaday Returns To Victory Lane

• FOX To Air Saturday’s Race

• Ren Wins With Fifth Different Driver

• Series Will Hold 300th Race At Dover

• Skinner Aims For Fifth Straight Pole

The timing couldn’t be better for Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet) to return to Mansfield Motorsports Park. Hornaday, the defending race winner at Mansfield, ended a 17-race winless streak when he grabbed the checkered flag at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last Friday night.

Hornaday had not won a race since Kentucky Speedway on July 8, 2006. The streak was the third-longest of Hornaday’s career – he went 28 races without a victory in 2005-2006.

The win moved Hornaday up to third in the standings. It is the first time Hornaday, the series champion in 1996 and 1998, has been third since Oct. 2005, following Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Hornaday now has 30 career victories in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – a series record. He has won at least one race in nine different seasons, including every season that he has started more than one race (he started one race in 2004 and finished sixth).

Saturday’s Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Park will be broadcast on FOX, the second series race the network will air this season.

Before the season, FOX announced that two races would air on the network – the March 31 race at Martinsville Speedway and a second event to be determined.

The Martinsville race earned a 1.6 national rating on FOX, according to Nielsen Media Research, making it the most watched series event in 10 years.

The last time a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race had been broadcast on network television before this season was in 2000.

The remainder of the 2007 races will be broadcast on SPEED.

Ren Ties Record For Wins With Different Drivers

Friday night’s win was a special one for crew chief Rick Ren, who tied a series record for wins with different drivers. Ron Hornaday Jr. was the fifth different driver Ren has led to victory, tying John Monsam for the most different drivers. Ren’s first win came with Rick Carelli at Bristol Motor Speedway in 1996. Carelli is now Hornaday’s spotter. Ironically, Hornaday and Carelli both won races with Monsam.

The win was the 12th of Ren’s career, tying him with Fred Graves for fourth all-time. All 12 of Graves’ wins were with Hornaday.

Ren has five wins with Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota), three with Andy Houston, two with Travis Kvapil (No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford) and one with Carelli.

NCTS Notebook: 300th Race Nears; Skinner On Pole Streak

Countdown to 300: Musgrave Wins 200th at Memphis … Jimmy Smith, appropriately as it turned out, was cited as the only owner to have competed in every NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race prior to the green flag dropping on the June 21, 2003 O'Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park. When the series' 200th race ended nearly two hours later, it was Ultra Motorsports' Smith and his driver Ted Musgrave accepting the accolades in Victory Lane.

Musgrave, who started his No. 1 Team Mopar Dodge on the inside of the third row, battled five other drivers in an extremely competitive race over the .75-mile oval. Musgrave ultimately led 102 of the 200 laps, taking the lead for good at lap 187 from Bud Pole winner Jon Wood, who earlier set at one-lap qualifying record of 86.097 mph. The final top three – Musgrave, Travis Kvapil and Dennis Setzer – will suit up for next week's 300th race at Dover International Speedway as will at least six other drivers who participated in race No. 200.

Skinner Looks For Fifth Straight Pole … Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) grabbed his fourth consecutive pole last Friday, but is still a ways from matching his own series record. In 1995, the series’ inaugural year, Skinner put together a streak of eight consecutive poles, a record that still stands.

Skinner’s first pole came at Tucson Raceway Park in the series’ second race. He went on to earn the pole in seven of the next eight events – qualifying was rained out at I-70 Speedway. The streak was broken by Ron Hornaday Jr., who grabbed the top spot at Colorado National Speedway in the 11th race.

Despite winning eight straight poles, Skinner did not always start first. A series rule inverted the field for several races. During the stretch, Skinner won four races.

Mansfield To Host Parade … The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series transporters will participate in a parade through the city of Mansfield before parking at Mansfield Motorsports Park.

The parade will begin at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday, May 24 at Sears at Richland Mall. The transporters will proceed to Park Avenue W in downtown Mansfield for the Mansfield Street Festival from 4-8 p.m. before heading to the track.

This Week’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leaders (Through 6 races of the 25-race season)

* Points leader – Mike Skinner (1,052) * Driver Rating – Mike Skinner (128.8) * Winnings – Mike Skinner ($242,950) * Laps led – Mike Skinner (444) * Victories – Mike Skinner (3) * Budweiser Poles – Mike Skinner (4) * Top-five finishes – Mike Skinner (5) * Top-10 finishes – 3 drivers with 6 * Raybestos Rookie Leader – Aaron Fike (19 over Tyler Walker) * Races led – Mike Skinner (6) * Weeks in Top 10 – 9 drivers tied with 5

Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings

Driver Points 1. Aaron Fike 70 2. Tyler Walker 51 3. Willie Allen 49 4. Blake Bjorklund 44 4. Tim Sauter 44 6. Joey Clanton 40 7. Kelly Bires 37 8. Jason White 13 9. Casey Kingsland 5 10. Brian Sockwell 1

In The Loop: Hornaday, Starr Top Loop Data Charts

Ron Hornaday Jr. grabbed his first win of the season last Friday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and cut his points deficit to 106 behind NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series leader Mike Skinner.

Don’t be surprised if he cuts the margin to double digits after this Saturday afternoon’s race at Mansfield Motorsports Park.

Hornaday, the defending champion of this event, has had tremendous success at the Ohio track. Along with last year’s win, Hornaday won the pole and led the most laps in the 2005 Mansfield race (he finished 11th).

He has a Driver Rating of 129.9 there, the best among drivers competing in Saturday’s race and best of any driver who has raced at Mansfield in each of the past two years. Hornaday also has the top Mansfield Average Running Position (7.080), the most Fastest Laps Run (47), the fastest Green Flag Speed and the most Laps in the Top 15 (434).

Another driver to look out for Saturday is David Starr (No. 10 MaxxForce Diesel Ford), who has struggled in 2007 – his best finish this season is 11th at Martinsville. Starr can improve on his 15th-place position with another solid run at Mansfield. Over the past two years, Starr has finishes of ninth and third, respectively, and has impressive stats there. He has the second-best Average Running Position (8.351) and the second-best Driver Rating (112.6) over the past two years at Mansfield. Additionally, his 24 Fastest Laps Run are third-most among drivers competing Saturday.

Surprisingly, Skinner has struggled at Mansfield. Over the past two years, he’s had finishes of 28th and 29th, a 25th-best Driver Rating (78.2) and an Average Running Position of just 15.905.

Manufacturers’ Standings: Chevrolet Earns First Win

Ron Hornaday Jr.’s win was the first of the year for Chevrolet, moving the manufacturer into a tie for second in the standings with Ford. Erik Darnell (No. 99 Northern Tool-Equipment Ford) earned the first victory for Ford at Kansas Speedway.

Toyota continues to lead all manufacturers in points (48) and wins (four). Mike Skinner has three victories and Jack Sprague has one.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Manufacturers' Championship

Toyota 48 Chevrolet 33 Ford 33 Dodge 18

FAST FACTS

Next Race: Ohio 250 The Place: Mansfield Motorsports Park The Date: May 26 The Time: 1 p.m. (ET) TV: FOX, 1 p.m. (ET) Track Layout: .5-mile paved oval Race Purse: $491,235 2006 Winner: Ron Hornaday Jr. 2006 Pole: Qualifying not held due to inclement weather

No. Driver Pts 1 Skinner 1,052 2 Bodine 967 3 Hornaday 946 4 Crawford 911 5 Musgrave 882 6 Crafton 829 7 Sprague 795 8 Kvapil 782 9 Fike 765 10 Benson 735

Schedule: Friday – Practice 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.; 1 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. (rookies) and 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Qualifying 6:30 p.m.