After his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win at Kansas Speedway in April, Erik Darnell failed to achieve the momentum he hoped for – until last week.
Darnell finished sixth at Milwaukee, his best finish since the Kansas win. In between, his best finish was 15th at Mansfield.
Now, Darnell returns to a track at which he had great success last season – Memphis Motorsports Park.
Darnell finished second at Memphis last season and racked up impressive stats in his first race at the. 75-mile track.
Darnell had a Driver Rating of 118.0, an Average Running Position of 3.881, 13 Fastest Laps Run and ran all 202 laps in the top 15.
Jack Sprague won the Memphis race last year and earned an impressive 144.2 Driver Rating in the process. Sprague has two wins at Memphis, and over the past two years has amassed solid statistics at the Tennessee track.
Sprague has an average Driver Rating of 116.4, an Average Running Position of 7.465, 32 Fastest Laps Run and 329 Laps in the Top 15.
Another driver to watch this weekend could be Dennis Setzer. Setzer won at Memphis in 2001 and has two top-10 finishes in the past two years. He has a Memphis Driver Rating of 117.6, which is best of any driver who has run each of the past two Memphis races. He also has an Average Running Position of 4.918, 36 Fastest Laps Run and, of the 404 laps run at Memphis over the past two years, Setzer has run 402 of them in the top 15.
This Week’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leaders
(Through 11 races of the 25-race season)
Points leader – Mike Skinner (1,878)
Driver Rating – Mike Skinner (123.5)
Winnings – Mike Skinner ($370,775)
Laps led – Mike Skinner (638)
Victories – Mike Skinner (3)
Bud Poles – Mike Skinner (7)
Top-five finishes – Mike Skinner (9)
Top-10 finishes – Mike Skinner (11)
Raybestos Rookie Leader – Aaron Fike (32 over Tim Sauter)
Races led – Mike Skinner (11)
Weeks in Top 10 – 9 drivers tied with 11
Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings
The Milwaukee Mile again proved a difficult track for rookies to excel, however, an untimely green flag stop may have cost Tim Sauter (No. 07 Lester Buildings Chevrolet) his first top-10 finish of the campaign. Sauter claimed highest-finishing freshman honors with a 16th-place performance.
Driver Points
1. Aaron Fike 112
2. Tim Sauter 79
3. Willie Allen 79
4. Blake Bjorklund 75
5. Joey Clanton 59
6. Tyler Walker 51
7. Kelly Bires 44
8. Jason White 40
9. Kevin Hamlin 18
10. Casey Kingsland 5
11. Brian Sockwell 1
Up Next: Kentucky Speedway
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series reaches the mid-point of the 2007 season on Saturday, July 14 with the eighth edition of the Built Ford Tough 225 presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers.
Two-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. won last year’s race – the first winner to qualify outside the top 20. Hornaday’s Kevin Harvick Inc. -owned Chevrolet came from a start of 22nd. That was 15 positions deeper in the field than the next-worst qualifying winner, Dennis Setzer in 2005.
This year’s race carries a Kentucky Speedway record purse of $767,050 with a winner’s share of approximately $83,000 – second highest of the 2007 season.
FAST FACTS
Next Race: O’Reilly 200
The Place: Memphis Motorsports Park
The Date: June 30
The Time: 99 p. m. (ET)
TV: SPEED, 8:30 p. m. (ET)
Track Layout:. 75-mile oval
Race Purse: $568,734
2006 Winner: Jack Sprague
2006 Pole: Jack Sprague
No. Driver Pts
1 Skinner 1,878
2 Hornaday Jr. 1,770
3 Bodine 1,673
4 Kvapil 1,585
5 Crawford 1,579
6 Musgrave 1,481
7 Benson 1,454
8 Sprague 1,335
9 Fike 1,332
10 Crafton 1,322
Schedule: Friday – Practice 5 p. m. – 6 p. m.; 6 p. m. – 6:30 p. m. (rookies) and 7:45 p. m. – 8:45 p. m. Saturday - Qualifying 5 p. m.
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