A half-season’s worth of races usually winnows the field down to two or three championship contenders at best. Not this year.
After 14 races, less than a single race worth of points – 37 – spans first and sixth places. With a potential net gain of 39 points, sixth-place Matt Crafton could be the leader after the August 20 VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway.
Austin Dillon took over the No. 1 spot for the first time in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career after a six-point penalty was levied on Johnny Sauter Tuesday for failing post-race inspection. Dillon, 21, is the fifth different leader this season, and now leads Sauter by a single point.
James Buescher, Timothy Peters and Cole Whitt, ranked third through fifth, also could grab the No. 1 position in Michigan. Sauter, Dillon and Peters each have a victory, as do Crafton and four-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr., ranked ninth.
A look back at 16 years of series competition finds just two instances in which so many drivers were this closely bunched at this point of the season. Under the previous points system in which a driver could gain or lose 140 points per race, the top five contenders were separated by 73 in 2001. Two years later the margin between first and fifth was 137.
Jack Sprague ultimately separated himself from his rivals in 2001, winning his third title by 73 points over Ted Musgrave.
The 2003 finish, however, became the gold standard among multiple title contenders entering the season’s final race. Four contenders – Travis Kvapil, Dennis Setzer, Musgrave and Brendan Gaughan - literally had their hands on the trophy during the Homestead-Miami finale before Kvapil prevailed.
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