NASCAR NCTS (DAYTONA) - One Way Or The Other, Talladega Won't Lack Excitement
 |
Variables Make Mountain Dew 250 Exciting Race Highest Finishing Title Contender May Have Edge Schrader Attempts To Match Martin’s Talladega Triple Toyota Has 2007 Manufacturers’ Crown In Sight The most unpredictable weekend of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is on tap Saturday as competitors head to Talladega Superspeedway for the second running of the Mountain Dew 250.
The race could be a rerun of Daytona International Speedway’s three-truck photo finish in February.
Or it could mirror last year’s inaugural Talladega race in which a multiple truck incident in Turn 3 of the final lap allowed Mark Martin to win under caution.
Two things are certain: Martin won’t be defending his victory and Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) owns the slimmest of championship leads – three points – entering the 20th of 25 scheduled races.
“I like Talladega; it is a track where you have to be on your toes at all times,” said Skinner, whose best NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series finish of second came at Talladega in the spring of 2000. Skinner finished second to Martin a year ago.
“The key to this race is just try and stay out of trouble.”
Skinner will have help in Bill Davis Racing teammate Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota).
“Skinner is doing a great job and we’ll do whatever it takes to help him out,” said Benson, who finished second at Daytona.
Rick Ren, crew chief for championship runnerup Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet), is understandably wary.
“There are too many variables and things that are out of your control that can cause you to have a bad day,” said Ren.
Hornaday, like Skinner a four-time winner this season, finished 10th in last year’s race.
“Our current program is completely different from last year and we should be even faster this year,” he said.
Third-place Travis Kvapil (No. 6 K&N Filters Ford) didn’t compete in last year’s race but has momentum coming off his fourth victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kvapil has competed in three NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Talladega with a best finish of 16th in the fall of 2005.
Mountain Dew 250’s Finish Could Predict The ’07 Champion
Daytona and Talladega are unlike any other tracks on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck schedule.
The speeds are higher, packs of trucks are larger and the rules governing aerodynamics and engine performance are different.
And statistically, the two tracks have become predictors of the season’s champion.
In four of the past five races at the two tracks, the higher-finishing driver among the top two in the championship standings won the title.
A year ago, champion Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) finished fourth to Benson’s ninth at Talladega.
He also beat Benson at Daytona.
There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. Mike Bliss (No. 4 Open Joist Dodge) overcame a 33rd-place Daytona finish to win the championship in 2002.
And in 2000 – the first season Daytona appeared on the schedule – Greg Biffle was 11th to Roush Fenway Racing teammate Kurt Busch’s second. Biffle and Busch finished one-two in final points.
Since 2003, only Bobby Hamilton has overcome a poorer Daytona finish than his closest championship rival.
Here’s how the current top three finished at Daytona in February: Kvapil, third; Skinner fourth and Hornaday seventh.
Setzer’s Las Vegas Finish Earns Second Drive For BHR
Fresh off Saturday’s victory in Martinsville Speedway’s Bailey’s 300 late model stock car race – his fourth in the prestigious race – Dennis Setzer has been tabbed to drive Bobby Hamilton Racing’s No. 18 Fastenal Dodge at Talladega Superspeedway.
Setzer, who won May’s event at Mansfield Motorsports Park in the No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Co. Chevrolet, drove the BHR entry at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where the Newton, N.C., native finished a solid seventh.
Setzer, a free agent of sorts, is attempting to hold or improve on his 12th-place ranking in NASCAR Craftsman Truck point standings.
The 47-year-old Setzer, three times a runnerup in series championship standings, drove for Green Light Racing at New Hampshire International Speedway in mid-September.
He’ll team with Mike Bliss (No. 4 Open Joist Dodge), whose fifth-place finish at NHIS was the 2002 champion’s fifth top 10 for BHR.
“It’s an exciting opportunity. It gives you a chance to see what different teams do. You see new ideas and even some things you wish you would have done differently in the past,” said Setzer. “I am looking to make the most of this weekend for BHR and Dennis Setzer.”
NCTS, Etc:
* Wallace Fills Out Germain Threesome … Inaugural Daytona 250 winner Mike Wallace will drive Germain Racing’s No. 03 Toyota at Talladega, giving the series’ 2006 championship team a one-two-three punch of Wallace, Todd Bodine and Ted Musgrave (No. 9 Team ASE Toyota). * Busch Thinks Trucks Good Warmup For Sunday. … Kyle Busch (No. 51 Flanders Beef Patties Chevrolet) believes the Mountain Dew 250 will be a great tuneup for the debut of NASCAR’s new NEXTEL Cup car at Talladega Superspeedway. “The trucks, just like the COT, have more drag and they both have more power so drafting is different, but similar to the truck,” said Busch. “The way both the COT and the trucks are built, the bumpers line up so I expect you’ll see a lot of bump drafting in both races.” * Bud Pole Can Be Important … Seven of the season’s 19 winners started from the Bud Pole, giving added importance to Friday’s qualifying session. Mark Martin won the Mountain Dew 250 from the No. 1 starting position a year ago; Jack Sprague won the race from the Bud Pole in January. Mike Skinner continues to pursue his tenth Bud Pole of the 2007 season, which would match his series record set in 1995. * Villeneuve Will Be Busy. … Jacques Villeneuve (No. 27 Toyota) will compete in all three events at Talladega Superspeedway beginning with Friday’s ARCA RE/MAX Series race. Villeneuve finished 21st in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. * Two Alabama Natives In Field. … Rick Crawford (No. 14 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford) and Cale Gale (No. 2 Camping World Chevrolet) will represent Alabama in the Mountain Dew 250. Both hail from Mobile. Crawford finished 15th in 2006; Gale, teammate to Ron Hornaday Jr., did not compete here a year ago. * Gaughan’s Best NEXTEL Cup Finish Came At Talladega. … Brendan Gaughan (No. 77 South Point Hotel Chevrolet) finished fourth in Talladega’s 2004 fall race and 12th in last year’s Mountain Dew 250. He’s completed all 470 possible laps in three trips to the speedway.
Key Motorsports Seeks TSS ‘Payback’
Curtis Key felt his driver was on the verge of giving his team its first victory in Key Motorsports’ initial season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series a year ago.
Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope (No. 16 Xpress Motorsports Ford), was teamed up with Mike Wallace and moving forward as the lead draft entered Turn 3 of the final lap of Talladega’s Mountain Dew 250.
Unfortunately for Key, it was not to be.
Both Wallace and Cope were caught up in a multi-truck incident that wrecked both trucks and relegated the pair to finishes of 26th and 27th.
Key hopes to repeat his team’s performance this week – and make it all the way back to the start-finish stripe on Lap 94.
“We are after a performance this year that will help erase the memories of what might have been last season,” said Key, whose No. 40 Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet will be driven by veteran Chad Chaffin.
“The numbers we saw in the wind tunnel on this new truck were just great and we expect to have a new motor package that should give us 20 more horsepower than this team had (at Daytona) in February.”
Chaffin finished 16th at Las Vegas after a pair of DNFs.
“We have every reason to believe we’ll have something for them,” said Chaffin.
Manufacturers’ Standings: Toyota Nears ’07 Title
Toyota carries a 19-point lead over Chevrolet into this week’s Mountain Dew 250 but more importantly last year’s Manufacturers’ champion is closing in on a second consecutive crown. Two victories are all the truck maker needs to clinch the 2007 championship. Toyota has won nine of the season’s first 19 races.
Manufacturers' Championship 2007 Point Standings Toyota 133 Chevrolet 114 Ford 112 Dodge 59
In The Loop:
Going on a one-race sampling, look forward to continued gridlock at the top of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings.
Mike Skinner leads the points by a mere three markers over Ron Hornaday Jr. going into tricky Talladega, a track at which the Craftsman Truck Series has run only once.
In that race last year, Skinner was not his dominant self, yet finished with a flair. Skinner closed nine positions in the final 10 laps to earn a second-place finish behind winner Mark Martin. Otherwise, Skinner had a relatively quiet day. He earned a Driver Rating of 84.2 and an Average Running Position of 18.6.
Despite finishing well behind Skinner in 10th, Hornaday had much better statistics. Hornaday notched a Driver Rating of 101.6, an Average Running Position of 10.9 and a race-high 170 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green) in last year’s race. He also ran 77 of the 94 laps in the top 15 – Skinner had just 43 Laps in the Top 15.
Also watch for Travis Kvapil, who will pilot the No. 6 Ford that won this race last year. Kvapil is quietly creeping up the standings and, with his win in Las Vegas two weeks ago, is 181 points out of first. He did not race at Talladega last season with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
The driver with the top Talladega statistics last season finished ninth – Johnny Benson. Benson, who sits in fifth place in the series standings, had a Driver Rating of 112.8, an Average Running Position of 4.9 and 91 Laps in the Top 15.
It’s also interesting to note that the top 10 in season-to-date Driver Rating almost exactly mirrors the top 10 in the points standings. The top seven are identical. Jack Sprague, with an eighth-best Driver Rating of 84.3, is 10th in the point standings. Erik Darnell and Matt Crafton are ninth and 10th in Driver Rating, but eighth and ninth in the series standings.
Quotable:
“We had the dominant truck at Daytona in February and came up just shy of pulling off the win. I think we have the truck that can finish the job here this week.” – Travis Kvapil, who was first off Turn 4 but third at the finish stripe in February at Daytona International Speedway.
This Week’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leaders (Through 19 races of the 25-race season)
* Points leader – Mike Skinner (3,064) * Driver Rating – Mike Skinner (118.7) * Winnings – Mike Skinner ($597,095) * Laps led – Mike Skinner (961) * Victories – Ron Hornaday Jr., Travis Kvapil, Mike Skinner (4) * Bud Poles – Mike Skinner (9) * Top-five finishes – Mike Skinner (14) * Top-10 finishes – Ron Hornaday Jr. (17) * Raybestos Rookie Leader – Tim Sauter (4 points over Willie Allen) * Races led – Mike Skinner (18) * Weeks in Top 10 – Nine drivers tied with 19
Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings
Joey Clanton (No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford) returns to competition after a month’s absence and hopes to close the gap on the Raybestos Rookie of the Year leaders. Clanton can make up ground in a hurry since he’s started only 11 races and will post full Raybestos points three more times while his rivals discard “worst” finishes.
Driver Points 1. Tim Sauter 138 2. Willie Allen 134 3. Jason White 111 4. Blake Bjorklund 110 5. Joey Clanton 109
On Deck: Martinsville Speedway
The series returns to historic Martinsville Speedway for the Oct. 20 Kroger 200. Martinsville is the second of three tracks to host two races in 2007 and is one of just four tracks to stage races in all 13 seasons of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Jack Sprague (No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota) won last year’s Kroger 200 in his “lucky” 13th trip to the .526-mile paper clip-shaped track. In March, Mike Skinner won his third consecutive race of the 2007 season and first at Martinsville since 1996. Skinner was just the second series competitor to post multiple wins at Martinsville joining Dennis Setzer, whose victories came in 2002-03. Up to a half dozen former winners are expected to complete in the Kroger 200.
FAST FACTS
Next Race: Mountain Dew 250 The Place: Talladega Superspeedway The Date: Oct. 61 The Time: 4:00 p.m. (ET) TV: SPEED 3:30 p.m. (ET) Track Layout: 2.66-mile speedway Race Purse: $780,490 2006 Winner: Mark Martin 2006 Pole: Mark Martin
2007 Standings: No. Driver Points 1 Skinner 3,064 2 Hornaday 3,061 3 Kvapil 2,883 4 Bodine 2,750 5 Benson 2,666 6 Crawford 2,619 7 Musgrave 2,386 8 Darnell 2,351 9 Crafton 2,302 10 Sprague 2,252
Schedule: Thursday: Practice 12:10-1:10 p.m.; Rookie practice 1:50-2:20 p.m.; Final practice 2:20-3:20 p.m. Friday: Qualifying 12:10 p.m.