Finding Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr. among the top 10 of the NASCAR Camping World Truck standings is a virtual given. Bodine (eighth) has held a top-10 position after four races in each of the seven seasons he’s competed in the series fulltime. Hornaday (sixth) is 11-for-12 seasons.
That, however, is where comparisons between 2011 and 2010 end. Six of those ranked among the top 10 as the series heads to Nashville Superspeedway weren’t there a year ago. In fact, four of those six weren’t even fulltime series competitors in 2010.
Here’s the tale of the tape:
• Matt Crafton and Timothy Peters rank in the top five for the second consecutive season. Crafton is second vs. fifth a year ago; Peters, last year’s points leader after race No. 4, is third.
• Current leader Johnny Sauter didn’t make the 2010 top 10 until his victory in race No. 5 at Kansas Speedway.
• Last year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year Austin Dillon also needed a win to reach elite ranking. He jumped to seventh, where he currently resides, after a victory in race No. 10 at Iowa Speedway.
• The remaining top-10 drivers – Cole Whitt, Clay Rogers, Max Papis and Miguel Paludo – were doing the majority of their racing elsewhere in 2010. Whitt and Paludo are rookies. Last season’s comparable top 10 was 100% veteran drivers.
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