NASCAR NCTS (DAYTONA) - SERIES NOTES

• Dennis Setzer Explains Success At ORP

• Skinner Made NASCAR History In 1995-96

• Odds Good Experience Will Prevail In Indy

• Five From First Race Point Contenders In 2007

Position, Handling Keys At ORP

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 23, 2007) – Although Dennis Setzer (No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet) is only No. 4 in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series short track victories, the Newton, N.C., veteran is acknowledged by his peers as one of the best drivers on small ovals like .686-mile O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

Setzer won Friday’s Power Stroke Diesel 200 in 2003 and in 10 starts at ORP boasts an average finish of 7.6.

Among entered drivers in this week’s race, only Travis Kvapil (No. 6 K&N Engineering Ford) has a better average – 3.5 in four appearances.

According to Setzer, two things – a good qualifying effort and a superlatively handling truck – are keys to a solid finish at ORP.

“Where you qualify makes a difference because track position is so important,” said Setzer, runnerup to Rick Crawford (No. 14 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford) in last year’s race.

No ORP winner has started outside the top five. Setzer won from the Bud Pole – the fifth driver to do so in the track’s first 12 races.

“You have to be hooked up through and off both ends of the track,” he said. “If you don’t have a truck that will do what you need in the center of the corner, you can’t set up to pass as you exit – which is where you have to make your moves.

“My favorite place to pass at ORP is through the center and off (Turn) four.”

Skinner Joined Legendary Figures With 1995-96 ORP Victories

No NASCAR Craftsman Truck competitor has dominated a single track like Mike Skinner.

The inaugural series champion won the Power Stroke Diesel 200 back-to-back in 1995-96 and in the process led all 350 laps around the .686-mile oval.

Skinner became only the fourth driver in NASCAR national series history to lead every lap in consecutive races at the same track – a feat that hadn’t been achieved since 1969.

NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champions Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett were the first to do the “double” in 1963 and 1964, respectively.

Hard-charger Bobby Isaac had been the most recent at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway in 1969.

Ironically, O’Reilly Raceway Park didn’t see a lead change until the 201st lap of the 1997 race. Race-long leader Jimmy Hensley cut a tire under caution, giving Ron Hornaday Jr. the victory in a green-white-checker finish.

Drivers Leading All Laps In Consecutive Races At Same Track

Driver Track Years Junior Johnson Bowman-Gray (N.C.) Stadium 1963-64 Ned Jarrett Birmingham (Ala.) Int’l Raceway 1964-65 Bobby Isaac Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway 1969-70 Mike Skinner O’Reilly Raceway Park 1995-96

Veterans, Champions Score Big At O’Reilly Raceway Park

The 2007 season has been top-heavy when it comes to veteran drivers and past champions visiting Victory Lane.

Odds are excellent that will continue this week at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

There are six former winners entered in Friday’s Power Stroke Diesel 200. Three of them – Jack Sprague (No. 60 Con-way Freight) Toyota, Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet) and Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) have won a combined six titles.

Both Sprague and Skinner are double winners at ORP. Hornaday has won once as has defending winner Rick Crawford, 2005 winner Dennis Setzer and 2003 winner Terry Cook (No. 59 Harris Trucking Toyota).

The Power Stroke Diesel 200 is the year’s fourth of six short tracks. Skinner already has one short track victory at Martinsville Speedway. Setzer won at Mansfield Motorsports Park.

Travis Kvapil – who has finished second, third, fourth and fifth at ORP – captured the most recent short track race at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Having previous success at ORP is important, according to Hornaday’s crew chief Rick Ren.

“It’s almost all about the driver at this track,” he said. “It’s also about setting up the truck so your driver can be aggressive.

“The drivers that are aggressive are able to make their way to the front at Indianapolis but you have to have something underneath them to get them there.”

Hornaday is the series’ all-time short track winner with 16 victories – the most recent at Mansfield in 2006. Skinner ranks No. 2 with 15 followed by Sprague’s 13.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Short Track Winners Since ORP 2006 (Six Races)

Driver Wins Track Rick Crawford 1 ORP Mark Martin 1 Bristol Jack Sprague 1 Martinsville Mike Skinner 1 Martinsville Dennis Setzer 1 Mansfield Travis Kvapil 1 Memphis

NCTS Etc.

* Three of the current top five in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship standings have victories at ORP. Travis Kvapil’s best is a second while Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) has only been able to muster a seventh. * The Power Stroke Diesel 200 winner has gone on to claim the season championship just twice: Mike Skinner in 1995 and Jack Sprague in 2001. * The oldest winner of the Power Stroke Diesel 200 is Joe Rutttman at age 55 years eight months in 2000. Carl Edwards is the youngest at 23 years 10 months in 2003. * The Sauter family – Jay, Johnny and current Raybestos Rookie of the Year leader Tim – has entered the most siblings in series races at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Johnny Sauter has the best finish among “brother/sister” acts at ORP. He finished second in 2004. Eight sets of siblings have competed at the track. * David Green (No. 1 RFMS/Red Horse Racing Toyota) has competed in 12 NASCAR Busch Series races at ORP with a best finish of second in 1993. Green has been consistent, finishing on the lead lap in nine of the 10 races in which he was running at the finish. * Competitors at ORP have racked up a combined 50,469.02 miles in 12 seasons of racing at O’Reilly Raceway Park. * Last year’s race produced the most lead lap finishers (22) and matched the track’s greatest number of trucks running at the finish (32).

Skinner’s Lead Large, But Not Largest

Mike Skinner added significantly to his championship lead when he won at Kentucky Speedway on July 14. His 164-point cushion over Ron Hornaday Jr. is the largest of the season. That lead is comfortable but hardly the largest – or even the largest a year ago. Here are the five largest leads by season:

Driver Lead Season Gregg Biffle 290 2000 Jack Sprague 232 1997 Dennis Setzer 227 2005 Todd Bodine 172 2006 Mike Skinner 164 2007

Manufacturer Leader Toyota Hasn’t Won At ORP

Toyota has failed to win on five currently scheduled tracks. One of them is O’Reilly Raceway Park where the Tundra counts only two top-five finishes in three seasons.

Last year’s Power Stroke Diesel 200 found David Starr (No. 10 International/MAXXForce Diesel Ford) finishing fourth.

Chevrolet is the top manufacturer at ORP with six wins but only one in the past five races.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Manufacturers' Championship

Toyota 95 Ford 76 Chevrolet 75 Dodge 40

Still Tickin’ 12 Years Later

Seven drivers who competed in the first Power Stroke Diesel 200 (then 150 laps) have entered this week’s race. Five are ranked among the top 10 in current point standings.

1995 2007 Driver Finish Points Mike Skinner 1 1 Johnny Benson 2 6 Dennis Setzer 10 10 Ron Hornaday Jr. 19 2 Jack Sprague 28 7

In The Loop: Setzer Loves Indy; No Love Lost Lately For Skinner

You’ve heard of the Tale of Two Cities? Well, in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Indianapolis is the City of Two Tales.

The first involves Dennis Setzer. Setzer loves the annual trip to Indy and O’Reilly Raceway Park. He won there in 2005, finished second last year and has never finished outside the top 15. In 10 career starts at the .686-mile track, Setzer has finished outside the top 10 only twice – his worst finish there was 13th in 2002.

Since 2005, he’s been by far the most consistent driver at ORP. He has the top pre-race average Driver Rating at 137.0, the best Average Running Position of 2.5, the most Fastest Laps Run at 77 and has run all but one of the 400 Laps in the Top 15.

More impressively, in his 2005 victory, Setzer earned the maximum Driver Rating of 150.0 – only two other truck drivers have accomplished the feat (Mike Skinner has done it four times and Ron Hornaday Jr. once).

Then there’s the tale of the usually dominant Skinner. In recent years, his ORP performances have been uncharacteristically poor. Since back-to-back wins there in 1995 and 1996, Skinner’s best finish was 13th in 2004. In the five ORP races since the two victories, Skinner has an average finish of 20.8.

Over the last two years – which were finishes of 19th and 18th – he has a Driver Rating of 81.6 (21st-best), an Average Running Position of 14.5 (20th-best) and has run just 66% of his Laps in the Top 15 (264 total). Skinner’s Driver Rating at ORP is his worst of any track on the circuit.

Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings

Short tracks traditionally have been the property of veteran drivers, but Carl Edwards introduced himself as a future NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series star when he captured the 2003 Power Stroke Diesel 200 on his way to Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors. Last season’s highest-finishing freshman was Erik Darnell, who placed 10th.

This week’s race will be the 14th for three drivers – Tim Sauter, Willie Allen and Blake Bjorklund – who will discard “worst finishes” for the remainder of the season beginning at Nashville.

Driver Points 1. Tim Sauter 108 2. Willie Allen 103 3. Blake Bjorklund 95 4. Joey Clanton 79 5. Jason White 62 6. Kelly Bires 44 7. Kevin Hamlin 26 8. Peter Shepherd 22 9. Casey Kingsland 5 10. Brian Sockwell 1

This Week’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leaders (Through 13 races of the 25-race season)

* Points leader – Mike Skinner (2,238) * Driver Rating – Mike Skinner (125.0) * Winnings – Mike Skinner ($479,300) * Laps led – Mike Skinner (789) * Victories – Mike Skinner (4) * Bud Poles – Mike Skinner (7) * Top-five finishes – Mike Skinner (11) * Top-10 finishes – Mike Skinner (13) * Raybestos Rookie Leader – Tim Sauter (5 points over Willie Allen) * Races led – Mike Skinner (13) * Weeks in Top 10 – 10 drivers tied with 13

Up Next: Nashville Superspeedway

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series spends the month of August in Tennessee, first at Nashville Superspeedway and 11 days later at the resurfaced Bristol Motor Speedway.

Tennessee is the only state to host three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events this season and has done so for the past four years since Bristol rejoined the schedule to accompany Nashville and Memphis Motorsports Park.

Johnny Benson is the defending winner of the Toyota Tundra 200, giving the truck maker consecutive victories in the two seasons it has sponsored the season’s 15th of 25 races. David Reutimann and owner Darrell Waltrip won the coveted Gibson guitar trophy in 2004.

Music City has been on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck schedule for 12 years. Teams raced at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds from 1996-2000 before moving east to Gladeville’s 1.333-mile layout.

FAST FACTS

Next Race: Power Stroke Diesel 200 presented by Ford and International The Place: O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis The Date: July 27 The Time: 98 p.m. (ET) TV: SPEED, 7:30 p.m. (ET) Track Layout: .686 mile oval Race Purse: $539,930 2006 Winner: Rick Crawford 2006 Pole: David Ragan

2007 Standings

No. Driver Points 1 Skinner 2,238 2 Hornaday Jr. 2,074 3 Kvapil 1,950 4 Bodine 1,950 5 Crawford 1,731 6 Benson 1,721 7 Sprague 1,629 8 Musgrave 1,601 9 Crafton 1,571 10 Setzer 1,487

Schedule: Friday – Practice 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.; 11:30 a.m. – 12 noon (rookies) and 12 noon - 1 p.m. Qualifying 4:30 p.m.