There have been seven different race winners in the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season: Kyle Busch (two), Todd Bodine (one), Dennis Setzer (one), Ron Hornaday Jr., Matt Crafton, Donny Lia and Scott Speed. Rick Crawford took the points lead following Dover.
2008 Season Highlights
• Todd Bodine’s victory at Daytona continued the streak of a different Daytona race winner for the ninth consecutive year.
• Todd Bodine, Kyle Busch and Johnny Benson all finished in the top three in the first two races of the season.
• Kyle Busch won at California to become the sixth different race winner in as many races at California.
• Kyle Busch won at Atlanta, becoming the first repeat winner in eight races at Atlanta.
• Dennis Setzer won at Martinsville, his third victory at the Virginia short track, making him the all-time win leader there.
• Ron Hornaday Jr. won at Kansas – his 34th series victory. Hornaday has won in 11 of his 12 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series seasons.
• Matt Crafton won at Lowe’s Motor Speedway – his career-first victory.
• Donny Lia won at Mansfield – his career-first victory in just eight series races.
• Scott Speed won at Mansfield – his career-first victory in just six series races.
Qualifying
• 66 different drivers have attempted to qualify for at least one race this season.
• There have been six different pole winners in 2008. Qualifying was canceled at Auto Club Speedway.
• Erik Darnell won the Keystone Light Pole Award at Daytona, posting his first pole at Daytona and just the second of his career.
• Ron Hornaday Jr. (two), Jack Sprague (one), Kyle Busch (one), Johnny Benson (one) and Mike Skinner (one) are the other pole winners this season.
• Jack Sprague set a new track record of 96.327 mph in qualifying at Martinsville – eclipsing the mark set by Mike Skinner one year earlier.
• 27 different drivers have posted top-10 starts this season, led by Colin Braun with eight.
The Races
• 65 different drivers have qualified for at least one race this season.
• Todd Bodine won at Daytona. Not only was it his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory there – it was his first ever at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Bodine was winless in nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and 11 NASCAR Nationwide Series Daytona races. He also competed in six Gatorade Duels and four Budweiser Shootouts – bringing his total number of Daytona races to 33 prior to his first victory there.
• Kyle Busch won the second and third races of the 2008 season, the first back-to-back victories since Johnny Benson won at Bristol and Gateway in 2007.
• 28 different drivers have posted top-10 finishes this season, led by Mike Skinner with six.
• There were eight lead changes and 34 cars running at the finish at Martinsville, both tying the track records.
Career Firsts
• Matt Crafton won at Lowe’s Motor Speedway – his career-first victory in his 178th race. He set the record for the most races before a career-first victory ever in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Ryan Reffner held the previous mark of 111 races before his first win (1996-2000).
• Donny Lia won the following week at Mansfield – the 11th time in series history that drivers posted career-first victories in back-to-back races, and first since 2004. Eight of the 11 instances came during the series’ first three years (1995-1998).
• Scott Speed posted his career-first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory with his win at Dover.
Triple First-time Winners
Matt Crafton (Lowe’s), Donny Lia (Mansfield) and Scott Speed (Dover) all scored their career-first victories this season. Speed became the third first-time winner in as many races – the third time in series history that there have been three consecutive first-time winners. Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Ken Schrader won the first three races of the series in 1995. Andy Houston (New Hampshire), Terry Cook (Flemington) and Jimmy Hensley (Nashville) posted their career-first victories in consecutive races in 1998.
The Pole Winner/Race Winner
• The pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying) finishing position:
First 1
2nd-5th 2
6th-10th 3
11th-30th 2
31st or beyond 0
• The lap-leader performance of the pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying):
Led First Lap 6
Led at All 7
Led Most Laps 3
Won Race 1
• The race winner’s starting positions:
Pole 1
2nd-5th 1
6th-10th 2
11th-30th 4
31st or beyond 0
• The lap-leader performance of the race winner:
Led First Lap 2
Led Most Laps 4
Led Mid-Race Lap 2
Led With 10 to Go 6
Led With One to Go 8
Note: Mid-Race lap is as scheduled regardless of shortened or extended race length.
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