Manufacturers’ Battle Ends: Toyota Clinches Title In Texas
For the third consecutive season, Toyota has won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Manufacturers’ championship. Kyle Busch’s second-place finish last Friday at Texas Motor Speedway was enough to eliminate Chevrolet.
Toyota previously captured the NASCAR Nationwide Series title.
“When we entered the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2004, we knew that our success would be a product of the teams and people we aligned ourselves with to carry the Toyota banner,” said Lee White, president and general manager of TRD, U.S.A. “To win a third straight manufacturers’ championship in this highly-competitive series is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all our race teams and everyone at TRD and Triad.
Toyota has won 12 of the year’s 23 races.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 2008 Manufacturers’ Championship Standings Following Race 23 of 25 at Texas Motor Speedway:
Toyota 163
Chevrolet 151
Ford 108
Dodge 84
Top 10 Positions Up For Grabs In Season’s Deciding Events
Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) no doubt feels a bit lonesome as he occupies a reasonably safe third place in the championship standings.
Bodine is 223 points behind leader Benson and has a cushion of 130 over fourth-place driver Erik Darnell (No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford).
Not mathematically out of the championship hunt, realistically about all Bodine can do is watch and try to win the final two races.
That’s hardly the case for Darnell and his trio of pursuers. To say that the fourth position is in flux would be an understatement.
Just 23 points are the difference between Darnell and Rick Crawford (No. 14 Circle Bar/Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford).
Matt Crafton (No. 88 Menard’s Chevrolet) and Skinner are sandwiched in between. Crafton is three points out of fourth; Skinner is 10 behind Crafton.
The 10th position — last to be introduced on stage at the Nov. 17 Champions Awards — has been traded several times in recent races.
Chad McCumbee (No. 8 Malcolmson Construction Chevrolet) held the spot after last week’s Atlanta race. Early troubles at Texas, however, relegated him to a 23rd-place finish and opened the door for veteran Terry Cook (No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota).
Cook finished sixth, his best performance since May, to bump back into the top 10 where he leads McCumbee by 56 points.
Etc. & Quotable:
Sprague-Phoenix Go Hand In Glove … The numbers tell the tale: Jack Sprague (No. 60 Wyler.com Toyota) owns a very large piece of Phoenix International Raceway’s record book. Sprague tops all competitors in wins (three), poles (five), top fives (nine), top 10s (13), laps run (2,157) and laps led (739).
That said, the Lucas 150 represents a great opportunity for Sprague to finish off a largely forgettable 2008 with a flourish. Sprague is winless for only the second time in 11 full seasons.
“This has been a very difficult season for me and I am back with Wyler Racing where we earned top-10 finishes at Phoenix the last two years,” said Sprague. “So coming to my favorite race track this week is a recipe that we need right now.”
Sprague is ninth in the standings but 14 points out of eighth.
Harvick Adds Phoenix Expertise To Hornaday’s Title Bid … Kevin Harvick will be back in the No. 2 American Commercial Lines Chevrolet at Phoenix on a two-fold mission. He looks for a third series victory and to assist driver Hornaday’s championship bid.
“These guys don’t need a lot of advice,” he said of Hornaday and crew chief Rick Ren following the team’s Texas victory. “Every once in awhile, I put in my two cents of what I think about a situation. The advice level is low.”
Busch, Wallace, Keselowski In Lucas Oil 150 … Kyle Busch (No. 51 Miccosukee Resort/NOS Energy Drink Toyota) won the 2007 edition of the event and returns to defend. Kenny Wallace will partner Busch in Billy Ballew Motorsports’ No. 15 Ergon Hyprene Tundra. Brad Keselowski, meanwhile, brings his own No. 19 Chevrolet to Phoenix. The race marks Keselowski’s first series start since Memphis 2007.
Eight Phoenix Winners Compete … Eight winners of 13 races have entered the Lucas Oil 150. A Phoenix fall race — there have been 13 of them — has produced 11 different winners.
Texas Pole No Help For Crawford … Rick Crawford became the 12th different Keystone Light Pole winner at Texas Motor Speedway. Crawford won his last pole in October 2005 at Martinsville. The No. 1 starting position didn’t help Crawford end a 57-race winless streak. He failed to lead a lap and finished 11th.
Accident Ends Bell’s Top-10 Streak … T.J. Bell (No. 7 Home4theHolidays.org Chevrolet) was caught up in an accident on the second lap of the Chevy Silverado 350K, ending his personal best top-10 finishing streak at five.
Faces The Same In The Lone Star State … The season and the distance may have been different but the top three finishers of June’s Sam’s Town 400 — Hornaday, Busch and Bodine — wound up one-two-three in last week’s Chevy Silverado 350K.
Rookies Learn By Doing
This year’s class of Raybestos rookie candidates are doing just fine, thank you, as judged by their finishes in the Chevy Silverado 350K vs. June’s first race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Three freshmen, led by sixth-place Colin Braun (No. 6 Con-way Freight Ford), finished among the top 10. In the spring, the highest-finishing rookie was 12th.
Brian Scott (No. 16 Albertsons Toyota) moved into the No. 2 position behind Braun. Scott collected his third top 10 in four races.
NASCAR Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings after 23 races of the 2008 season:
1. Colin Braun 194
2. Brian Scott 158
3. Donny Lia 156
4. Scott Speed 139
5. Justin Marks 131
6. Marc Mitchell 108
7. Andy Lally 71
Up Next: The 2008 Season Finale
Homestead-Miami Speedway is set to host the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finale for the seventh consecutive season. The Nov. 14 Ford 200 kicks off a tripleheader weekend that closes out the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series as well. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck championship has been decided in South Florida in each of the seven seasons. The 1.5-mile speedway also claims the longest streak of different race winners: 12 and counting.
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