Top Of The Box With Mike Beam
Veteran crew chief Mike Beam will be calling the shots once again this season for Roush Fenway Racing driver Colin Braun and the No. 6 Con-way Freight Ford team.
Under Beam’s leadership the 20-year-old notched three top-five and eight top-10 finishes and grabbed the Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors. With that freshman season out of the way, the crew chief looks ahead to see how he can build on what was started and how he can get his driver in Victory Lane.
Raybestos Rookie Of The Year Lineup Looks Strong
As teams gear up to start the season, a new class of rookies is preparing to duke it out for the top honors.
Johnny Sauter (No. 13 Chevrolet) enters into his first full season competing in the series with ThorSport Racing. Sauter already has a couple rookie titles to his credit. He was the 2001 ASA Rookie of the Year and the runner-up in 2002 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series battle. The driver, who comes from a racing family, has 11 starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with one top-five and two top-10 finishes.
James Buescher would like to join fellow Texas native Colin Braun in the record books as Raybestos Rookie of the Year. The 18-year-old will pilot the No. 10 International MAXX Force Diesel Ford for Circle Bar Racing. Buescher is off to a pretty decent start. He won Saturday’s ARCA RE/MAX Series race.
Ricky Carmichael, a household name for motocross fans, moves up to the series this year and eyes adding another title to his resume. The 29-year-old won an unprecedented 15 American Motorcycle Association (AMA) championships and a record five AMA “Rider of the Year” awards. He will be behind the wheel of the No. 4 Monster Energy Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc.
Tayler Malsam will look to give the others a run for their money as he joins Randy Moss Motorsports this season in the No. 81 Toyota. Malsam finished ninth in points in the ARCA RE/MAX Series last season.
In The Loop
No Camping World Truck Series driver has entered Daytona’s Victory Lane more than once.
The statistics suggest that’ll change this year.
Count on Todd Bodine making a major bid for back-to-back wins in the series’ 10th trip to historic Daytona International Speedway.
Bodine is strong on the 2.5-mile high-banked superspeedway. Over the last four Daytona races, Bodine has a Driver Rating of 132.2, the highest of any driver with more than one race there. Since the inception of Loop Data in 2005, Bodine has an Average Running Position of 4.7, a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 94.8 (a series-high total of 381 laps), 300 Green Flag Passes, 10 Fastest Laps Run and a series-high 79 laps led.
Bodine’s top competition likely will come in the form of last year’s runner-up at Daytona, Kyle Busch.
In his lone Daytona start, Busch had a Driver Rating of 99.7, an Average Running Position of 7.1, 60 Green Flag Passes, five Fastest Laps Run and spent 99 of the 100 laps in the top 15.
Also watch for Mike Skinner, who needed 19 races to pick up his first win last season. Skinner, with new team Randy Moss Motorsports, has a strong record at Daytona – despite going winless in five starts. Since 2005, he has a Driver Rating of 95.6, an Average Running Position of 13.3, 310 Green Flag Passes and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 65.9%.
Director’s Take: Wayne’s Words
“Get ready race fans, because here we come. We’ve got a new look for the series this season but you can guarantee we’ll bring you the same great competition you watched in 2008.
Last year we had a championship battle that went down to the very last lap. Johnny Benson beat Ron Hornaday Jr. by only seven points. Both are eyeing making series history—a back-to-back-championship for Benson and a fourth championship for Hornaday.
It will all kick off this Friday night under the lights. The trucks are known to put on quite a show on the high banks of Daytona. You’ll see multiple lead changes, and a three-wide finish is almost standard for this race.
The new rules adjusting over-the-wall crew members and pit stops will force crew chiefs to come up with some different strategies, which should add to the excitement of the season.”
- Wayne Auton, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Director
Daytona International Speedway hosts the series opener on Friday, Feb. 13. The 2.5-mile tri-oval produces multiple lead changes and typically three-wide racing. The high banking and long straightaways provide plenty of room for drivers to maneuver.
Up Next
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rolls out west to California next week for the San Bernardino County 200 at Auto Club Speedway. The series is home to several California natives including previous race winner Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota), Ron Hornaday Jr. and Matt Crafton (No. 88 Menards Chevrolet). Hornaday and Skinner still are chasing their first victory at the two-mile track.
Kyle Busch (No. 51 Miccosukee Resorts/NOS Energy Drink Toyota) grabbed the checkered flag in 2008.
Fast Facts
The Race: NextEra Energy Resources 250
The Place: Daytona International Speedway
The Date: Fri., Feb. 13, 2009
The Time: 8 p.m. ET
Track Layout: 2.5-mile tri-oval
2008 Winner: Todd Bodine
2008 Pole: Erik Darnell
Final 2008 Driver Standings
Rk Driver Points
1 Johnny Benson 3,725
2 Ron Hornaday Jr. 3,718
3 Todd Bodine 3,621
4 Erik Darnell 3,412
5 Matt Crafton 3,392
6 Mike Skinner 3,363
7 Rick Crawford 3,315
8 Dennis Setzer 3,197
9 Jack Sprague 3,125
10 Terry Cook 3,072
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