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Performance on the intermediate speedways – those measuring 1.5-miles in length – likely is the key to winning the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship.
Simply stated, four of the remaining seven races, beginning with Saturday’s Smith’s Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, will be contested on 1.5-mile ovals.
Who’s the favorite? Take your pick.
Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota), who trails Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet) by 29 points, is the defending winner at LVMS and blitzed the field at Kentucky Speedway in July – the most recent race on a 1.5-mile track.
Beginning with last year’s Las Vegas race, Skinner has three victories in the past nine 1.5-mile races. He also won in Atlanta in March.
Hornaday, who has yet to win at LVMS, won May’s race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The 49-year-old Californian counts four 1.5-mile victories – including wins at two remaining tracks – Atlanta Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota), despite being 298 points behind Hornaday, shouldn’t be overlooked.
Bodine is the series’ intermediate track leader with eight victories – seven on the remaining tracks. He won in Las Vegas in 2005; at Texas Motor Speedway in June and four times overall; and in 2005 in Atlanta and Miami.
