NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Season In Review – Week 10

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Season In Review – Week 10

Jun 12, 2008

CIA Stock Photo, Inc.

There have been seven different race winners in the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season: Kyle Busch (two), Ron Hornaday Jr. (two), Todd Bodine(one), Dennis Setzer (one), Matt Crafton (one), Donny Lia(one) and Scott Speed (one). Hornaday re-assumed the points lead following Texas – the third race overall that he has led the points.

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 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races.
• Scott Speed won at Mansfield – his career-first victory in just six NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races.
• Ron Hornaday Jr. won at Texas – becoming the second repeat winner of the season and ending a string of three straight first-time race winners.

Qualifying

• 71 different drivers have attempted to qualify for at least one race this season, including J.R. Norris who qualified for Kyle Busch at Texas.
• There have been seven different pole winners in 2008, led by Ron Hornaday Jr. with two. 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.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SEREIES - SEASON IN REVIEW

• 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.
• Justin Marks won the pole at Texas posting his career-first pole.
• 28 different drivers have posted top-10 starts this season, led by Colin Braun, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Jack Sprague, each with eight.

The Races

• 70 different drivers have qualified for/competed in at least one race this season. J.R. Norris qualified for Kyle Busch at Texas but did not compete in the race.
• 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-mle 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.
• Dennis Setzer won at Martinsville – his third victory in 17 races there.
• 29 different drivers have posted top-10 finishes this season, led by Mike Skinner with seven.
• There were eight lead changes and 34 cars running at the finish at Martinsville, both tying the track records.

Career First Wins

• 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 back-to-back 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 3
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 7
Led at All 8
Led Most Laps 3
Won Race 1
• The race winner’s starting positions:
Pole 1
2nd-5th 2
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 5
Led Mid-Race Lap 3
Led With 10 to Go 7
Led With One to Go 9
Note: Mid-Race lap is as scheduled regardless of shortened or extended race length.

Points

• Four drivers have led the point standings in 2008: Todd Bodine, Kyle Busch, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Rick Crawford. Hornaday is the only driver to lead on separate occasions.
• Kyle Busch led the points for three races – his first time ever to lead the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings.
• Rick Crawford took the point lead following Dover – his first time to lead the points since he led the series for one week following his win in the season-opening Daytona race in 2003.
• Three drivers have ranked in the top-10 in points all season: Johnny Benson, Todd Bodine and Rick Crawford.

Laps Led

• 25 different drivers have led at least one lap in 2008.
• Not only did Donny Lia (Mansfield) and Scott Speed (Dover) post their career-first victory this season – for both it was the first time they had led a lap.
• Ron Hornaday Jr. has led 414 laps – more than any other driver. He is also the only driver that has led in every race in 2008.
• Five different drivers have led the most laps in a race in 2008: Kyle Busch (three), Ron Hornaday Jr. (three), Todd Bodine (one), Dennis Setzer (one) and David Starr (one).