A LOOK AT THE 2008 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES SEASON

Source: nascar
Date: 09/17/2008

Season In Review – Week 19:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 17, 2008) – There have been nine different race winners in the 18 races

run thus far in the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, led by Ron Hornaday Jr. with five and

Johnny Benson with four wins. Benson currently leads Hornaday by 74 points in the standings.

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 Auto Club Speedway 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 Dover – 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.

• Erik Darnell continued truck owner Jack Roush’s prominence at Michigan, notching the 49th series

victory for the organization.

• Johnny Benson won at Milwaukee, his first victory since the season finale at Homestead in 2007.

• Ron Hornaday Jr. won at Memphis and became the first three-time winner of 2008. The victory,

coupled with Johnny Benson’s 33rd-place finish, gave Hornaday the points lead.

• Johnny Benson won at Kentucky and moved back into the points lead.

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NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SEREIES - SEASON IN REVIEW

• Johnny Benson won at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, posting back-to-back victories for the

second time in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career. Benson also won consecutive races with

his first and second career victories (Michigan and Milwaukee 2006).

• Johnny Benson notched three consecutive wins with his victory at Nashville Superspeedway. It was

the fifth time in series history that a driver had won three in a row.

• Kyle Busch posted a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0 in posting his win at Bristol.

• Ron Hornaday Jr. scored a perfect Driver Rating in his victory at New Hampshire.

Triple First-time Winners

Matt Crafton (Lowe’s Motor Speedway), 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. Andy Houston (New

Hampshire), Terry Cook (Flemington) and Jimmy Hensley (Nashville) posted their career-first victories

in back-to-back races in 1998.

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.

Bryan 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).

Qualifying

• 92 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 10 different pole winners in 2008. (Qualifying was canceled at Auto Club Speedway

and New Hampshire):

Johnny Benson (three)

Mike Skinner (three)

Ron Hornaday (two)

Erik Darnell (one)

Jack Sprague (one)

Justin Marks (one)

Kyle Busch (one)

Bobby East (one)

Todd Bodine (one)

Scott Speed (one)

Dennis Setzer (one)

• Jack Sprague set a new Martinsville qualifying record of 96.327 mph, eclipsing the mark set by Mike

Skinner one year earlier.

• Justin Marks (Texas), Bobby East (ORP) and Scott Speed (Bristol-2) posted their career-first poles

this season.

• 34 different drivers have posted top-10 starts this season, led by Ron Hornaday Jr. and Jack

Sprague with 16.

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NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SEREIES - SEASON IN REVIEW

The Races

• 91 different drivers have qualified for and competed in at least one race this season. J.R. Norris

qualified for Kyle Busch at Texas but did not compete in the race.

• There have been nine different race winners in 2008:

Ron Hornaday Jr. (five)

Johnny Benson (four)

Kyle Busch (three)

Todd Bodine (one)

Dennis Setzer (one)

Matt Crafton (one)

Donny Lia (one)

Scott Speed (one)

Erik Darnell (one)

• 34 different drivers have posted top-10 finishes this season, led by Johnny Benson and Mike

Skinner, each with 14.

The Pole Winner/Race Winner

• The pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying) finishing position:

First 2

2nd-5th 6

6th-10th 5

11th-30th 4

31st or beyond 1

• The lap-leader performance of the pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying):

Led First Lap 11

Led at All 16

Led Most Laps 5

Won Race 2

• The race winner’s starting positions:

Pole 3

2nd-5th 7

6th-10th 2

11th-30th 6

31st or beyond 0

• The lap-leader performance of the race winner:

Led First Lap 5

Led Most Laps 11

Led Mid-Race Lap 8

Led With 10 to Go 15

Led With One to Go 18

Note: Mid-Race lap is as scheduled regardless of shortened or extended race length.

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NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SEREIES - SEASON IN REVIEW

Points

• Five drivers have led the points standings in 2008: Todd Bodine, Kyle Busch, Ron Hornaday Jr.,

Rick Crawford and Johnny Benson.

• Kyle Busch led the points for three races – his first time ever to lead the NASCAR Craftsman Truck

Series standings.

• Rick Crawford took the points lead following Dover – his first time to lead the points since he headed

the series for one week following his win in the season-opening Daytona race in 2003.

• Johnny Benson assumed the points lead at Michigan – his first time to lead the NASCAR Craftsman

Truck Series standings. Benson had been second in the points standings 13 times in his career.

• Ron Hornaday Jr., retook the points lead following race No. 12 (Memphis). It is his third stint as the

points leader this season.

• Johnny Benson reassumed the points lead following Kentucky.

• Three drivers have ranked in the top 10 in points all season: Johnny Benson, Todd Bodine and

Rick Crawford.

Laps Led

• 31 different drivers have led at least one lap in 2008.

• Ron Hornaday Jr. has led 979 laps, more than any other driver.

• Six different drivers have led the most laps in a race in 2008:

Ron Hornaday Jr. (seven)

Kyle Busch (four)

Todd Bodine (three)

Johnny Benson (two)

Dennis Setzer (one)

David Starr (one).

Rookie Performance

• Six different rookies have been the highest-finishing rookie this season:

Colin Braun (five)

Marc Mitchell (three)

Donny Lia (three)

Scott Speed (three)

Justin Marks (two)

Brian Scott (two)

• Six different rookies have posted top-10 finishes this season, led by Colin Braun with six.

• Donny Lia won at Mansfield and became the first Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender to win in

the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series since Carl Edwards at Nashville in August 2003.

Rookie Excellence

Donny Lia and Scott Speed recorded the first back-to-back victories by different rookies in the series

history. It was the third time that back-to-back rookie victories had occurred but the other times were by

the same driver: Kurt Busch in 2000 (Milwaukee and Loudon) and Carl Edwards in 2003 (ORP and

Nashville).

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NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SEREIES - SEASON IN REVIEW

Penalties

• There have been 235 on-track penalties issued this season.

• Penalty Recap:

Pitting Before Pit Road is Open 115

Too Fast Entering Pit Road 19

Too Fast Exiting Pit Road 33

Others 68

Manufacturer

• Toyota leads the manufacturers’ points standings with 124 points to 120 for Chevrolet, 86 for Ford

and 66 for Dodge.

• Toyota has nine victories in 2008 while Chevrolet has seven. Dodge and Ford each have one.

• Dodge posted its first victory since Mansfield in 2005 when Dennis Setzer won at Martinsville.

Notebook

• Erik Darnell won the Keystone Light Pole Award at Daytona, posting his first pole at Daytona and

just the second of his career.

• 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-mile 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.

• There were eight lead changes and 34 cars running at the finish at Martinsville, both tying the track

records.

• Kyle Busch won the pole at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and posted Toyota’s 50th pole in 106 NASCAR

Craftsman Truck Series races.

• 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.

• Bobby East won the pole and led four laps at ORP. It was his first career pole and the first time he

has led a lap in his career.

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NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SEREIES - SEASON IN REVIEW

Behind the Numbers

Speed MOV Leaders Changes Cautions Laps

Lead

Lap DNFs

Daytona 127.551 0.077 6 8 6 25 16 10

California 146.341 1.415 8 10 3 9 17 3

Atlanta 127.561 1.116 7 18 5 28 9 2

Martinsville # 61.311 UC 5 8 16 83 26 2

Kansas 105.820 0.149 7 12 12 45 19 13

Lowe’s # 111.490 0.184 11 14 7 33 16 6

Mansfield 62.517 0.241 7 6 15 80 29 2

Dover 100.279 3.379 5 5 8 40 16 9

Texas # 109.988 0.283 7 14 8 44 22 10

Michigan 140.433 0.005 8 15 4 14 23 4

Milwaukee 89.686 2.530 6 10 6 27 14 6

Memphis # 86.617 0.269 3 3 9 37 22 6

Kentucky 114.592 0.474 4 7 8 36 18 9

ORP 74.859 0.484 3 4 11 48 22 7

Nashville 115.300 0.889 6 5 7 29 24 8

Bristol 65.388 0.386 3 4 12 69 17 10

Gateway 93.860 0.646 5 8 8 38 21 10

New Hampshire 98.279 0.960 8 14 9 37 19 6

Average 101.771 0.793 6.056 9.167 8.556 40.111 19.444 6.889

# - Extended Race * - Shortened Race

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