Results tagged “Craftsman Truck Series” from Haddock in the Paddock

It might be an off weekend of racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but Kyle Busch will be on the race track Saturday night.
The leader in the Cup standings will be in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway. He has missed the past two Truck Series races and has the No. 51 truck for Billy Ballew Motorsports in fifth place in the owners standings.
"It's been great to be able to have the success that we've had this year," said Busch. "In the Truck Series, we ran second at Daytona, we won at California and Atlanta back-to-back, and haven't really had much since. We've had fast trucks just haven't had the opportunities to win races in them."
In addition to leading the Cup standings, Busch is the series leader in wins with seven. He also has five Nationwide Series this year, but hasn't won a Truck Series race since March in Atlanta.
"We have to try and get back on task," Busch said. "Try to get back on what we were doing earlier this year and get our trucks back going again. We tried some different things and they weren't working to well for us, so we feel like we are back on track here this weekend in Kentucky. We had a good truck in practice there and made some gains on it. Hopefully, we can go back out here in the second practice -- a little bit closer to night time -- and have a good solid run."

Kevin Harvick has NASCAR teams in the Craftsman Truck Series and the Nationwide Series. Every once in while, he races one of his own trucks, but never the cars on his Nationwide Series team, and formerly the Busch Series.
Until now.
When Harvick did race in the Busch Series, it was usually one of the Richard Childress Racing cars, the No. 21 more often than not.
But he will be in his own No. 33 Chevrolet for today's Nationwide Series race at the newly named Auto Club Speedway.
He was asked about why he decided to race his own car after racing for Childress all these years.
"I will be honest with you, I just got bored," Harvick said. "I know it is all about winning races, but Saturday is something that I don't have to do, but I was bored. I know that sounds funny but I really wanted the challenge of driving my own car."
His Truck Series team won the championship last year with Ron Hornaday Jr. as driver. It is a two-truck operation with Hornaday and Jack Sprague who have a combined six Truck Series championships.
"If we can succeed, I know how rewarding it was with the truck program to get it to the point with Ron," said Harvick, who drives the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. "To me that was as rewarding as anything I have ever done. So that is what I wanted to do with the car. The ultimate goal is to win the Cup championship. The Saturday is something that I enjoy, well I thought I did, well; I think I do."
Juggling driving for one NASCAR owner and running two NASCAR teams can be challenging. Harvick said he embraces the challenge, even though it can be overwhelming at times.
"It is something I enjoy to put all of those pieces together and the people together with the challenges of getting a sponsor," Harvick said. "Participating in the sport. I like being around the cars, I like being around the people and I like what I do. I enjoyed winning races and championships with Richard; he is probably the greatest boss in this sport that you could drive for. Saturday wasn't something that I necessarily had to do and just needed to do something different."

Ron Hornaday Jr. will start today’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race from the pole after rain washed out qualifying Friday at the newly named Auto Club Speedway.
The starting order for the Truck Series race was determined by 2007’s owners standings. Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc., won the Truck Series championship last year, the third of his career.
The Truck Series drivers were able practice at the track on Thursday. Hornaday said that he had a truck that could have won the pole on speed, which was much different than the way he felt about his truck before qualifying for this race last year.
"I thought I did," Hornaday said. "Last year, no I didn't. We qualified decent I think, sixth or eighth or whatever."
Mike Skinner, driver of the No. 5 Toyota Tundra for Bill Davis Racing, will start on the front row with Hornaday.
Johnny Benson, Skinner’s teammate at Bill Davis Racing and driver of the No. 23 Toyota Tundra, will start third.
Todd Bodine, winner of the Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway and driver of the No. 30 Toyota Tundra for Germain Racing, will start fourth.
Bodine, Benson and Kyle Busch are tied atop the Truck Series standings after one race. They each have 170 points.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports and Toyota have been winning pretty much everything at Daytona International Speedway over the past couple weeks. Ford finally has something it can hang its headers on: the pole for tonight's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
Erik Darnell, driver of the No. 99 Ford F-150 for Roush Fenway Racing won the pole for the Truck Series race. Roush is no stranger to winning races at Daytona, especially in the Truck Series. Mark Martin and Carl Edwards have won a truck races at the track for Roush. Travis Kvapil finished third in last year's truck race at Daytona driving for Roush.
"If you look at Roush's success over the years at the superspeedway tracks, they've run really well, whether it's here or at Talladega," Darnell said. "And Carl won this race and Mark won this race, even when we didn't win, we've been running up front. Travis Kvapil almost won this race last year. I know that our team puts some real good trucks underneath me and they've given me the equipment to go out there and win and do my job. It's just kind of up to me to do my job and keep it up front. I think we've really got a shot at the
victory."
Last year's Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. will start fifth.
“I don’t know what to say. These guys have done an awesome job on this Camping World Silverado," said Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc. "I’m a little disappointed because we lost a tenth (of a second) somewhere. I tried to go around the bumps the first time, and through them the second time, but maybe we just scrubbed a little too much speed."
Jack Sprague, who won last year's Truck Series race at Daytona and a new teammate of Hornaday's at KHI, will start sixth.
"It was a lot better than I expected," said Sprague, driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado for KHI. "Sitting there on pit road waiting to go out, the truck kept getting colder and wetter with dew and the times kept slowing down, I kept thinking 'Man, I am going to run a 52 flat. But the guys did a great job. We were about two-tenths off Ron in single truck runs earlier, but we ended up within eight hundredths of him. That is pretty good."

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers and teams completed their third day of testing at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.
Justin Marks, driving a Toyota for Germain Racing, was the top driver in only session of the day. He was followed by Ron Hornaday Jr., the 2007 Truck Series champion and driver for Kevin Harvick Inc., and Chad McCumbee, driving a Chevrolet for MRD Motorsports.
Erin Crocker will drive the No. 46 Chevrolet Silverado for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports for the first two races of the Truck Series schedule, at Daytona and California Speedway.
David Dollar, owner of the team, made the announcement Saturday at Daytona.
"To drive for David and his team is a tremendous opportunity for me," said Crocker, who has raced in the World of Outlaws series, ARCA ReMax Series and what is now the Nationwide Series. "Morgan-Dollar has
proven consistently through the years they field exceptional trucks and are contenders for wins and championships every time they unload at a track."
Morgan-Dollar Motorspors has fielded entries in the Truck Series since 1997 and has won 13 races.
"With three days of testing at Daytona, we will have the ability to develop a good level of communication," Crocker said. "That is so critical to be successful in the NCTS because it is so competitive. This gives us the ability to hit the ground running when we get here for Speedweeks."

Here's a look at the times and speeds from Sunday:

1. 9B, Justin Marks, Toyota, 48.457 185.732
2. 33A, Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet 48.540, 185.414
3. 8A, Chad McCumbee, Chevrolet, 48.563, 185.326
4. 60A, Terry Cook Toyota, 48.606, 185.162
5. 30A, Todd Bodine Toyota, 48.608, 185.155
6. 59A, Ted Musgrave, Toyota, 48.704, 184.790
7. 5A, Mike Skinner, Toyota, 48.742, 184.646
8. 21A, Jon Wood Ford, 48.749, 184.619
9. 22A, Phillip McGilton, Toyota, 48.802, 184.419
10. 88A, Matt Crafton, Chevrolet, 48.892, 184.079
11. 13A, Shelby Howard, Chevrolet, 48.931, 183.932
12. 2A, Jack Sprague, Chevrolet, 48.958, 183.831
13. 29A, Scott Lynch, Dodge, 49.231, 182.812
14. 7A, Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 49.251, 182.737
15. 18A, Dennis Setzer, Dodge, 49.277, 182.641
16. 20A, Scott Lagasse, Jr., Ford, 49.377, 182.271
17. 99A, Erik Darnell, Ford, 49.380, 182.260
18. 2B, Jack Sprague, Chevrolet, 49.585, 181.507
19. 11B, David Starr, Toyota, 49.730, 180.977
20. 46B, Erin Crocker, Chevrolet, 49.799, 180.727
21. 4A, Stacy Compton, Dodge, 49.914, 180.310
22. 23B, Johnny Benson, Toyota, 49.992, 180.029
23. 14B, Rick Crawford, Ford, 51.232, 175.671
24. 53, Justin Hobgood, Chevrolet, 51.745, 173.930
25. 10B, Brendan Gaughan, Ford, 52.005, 173.060

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers Colin Braun and Joey Clanton were involved in a multicar crash with Kyle Busch during testing at Daytona International Speedway on Friday.
Braun and Clanton had to leave Daytona early and head back to their shops in North Carolina to make repairs to their trucks.
Neither driver was happy with the way things transpired.
“It’s a veteran out there taking advantage of a rookie," Braun said about Busch.
Clanton didn't exactly point fingers, but it was clear he wasn't happy either.
“Right up until then everything was going great, right to plan," Clanton said. "We were working away at the things we wanted to get done and I was getting a lot of experience drafting. It’s unfortunate it had to end short like that.”
Erik Darnell, a driver for Roush Fenway Racing, had the fast truck in the morning session. Braun, his teammate, actually had the second fastest lap of the session before he wrecked with Busch.
Brendan Gaughan was the fastest in the draft during the afternoon session.
Here's a look at the times:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Friday morning testing speeds from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series testing in preparation for the ninth annual Chevy Silverado 250:

1. 99A, Erik Darnell, Ford, 50.727 177.420
2. 6A, Colin Braun, Ford, 50.908, 176.790
3. 09A, Joey Clanton, Ford, 50.989, 176.509
4. 7A, Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 50.989, 176.509
5. 18A, Stacy Compton, Dodge, 50.990, 176.505
6. 4A, Stacy Compton, Dodge, 51.076, 176.208
7. 29A, Scott Lynch, Dodge, 51.178, 175.857
8. 33B, Ron Hornaday, Chevrolet, 51.343, 175.292
9. 13A, Shelby Howard, Chevrolet, 51.353, 175.258
10. 5A, Mike Skinner, Toyota, 51.381, 175.162
11. 88A, Matt Crafton, Chevrolet, 51.427, 175.005
12. 22A, Phillip McGilton, Toyota, 51.440, 174.961
13. 14A, Rick Crawford, Ford, 51.479, 174.829
14. 21A, Jon Wood, Ford, 51.570, 174.520
15. 5B, Mike Skinner, Toyota, 51.589, 174.456
16. 23B, Johnny Benson, Toyota, 51.621, 174.348
17. 08A, Jason White, Dodge, 51.623, 174.341
18. 07A, Shane Sieg, Chevrolet, 51.653, 174.240
19. 46B, Erin Crocker, Chevrolet, 51.682, 174.142
20. 2B, Jack Sprague, Chevrolet, 51.708, 174.054
21. 8A, Chad McCumbee, Chevrolet, 51.809, 173.715
22. 16A, Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 51.884, 173.464
23. 33A, Ron Hornaday, Chevrolet, 51.943, 173.267
24. 2A, Jack Sprague, Chevrolet, 52.000, 173.077
25. 19A, Derrike Cope, Ford, 52.022, 173.004
26. 14B, Rick Crawford, Ford, 52.097, 172.755
27. 59A, Ted Musgrave, Toyota, 52.109, 172.715
28. 10A, Brendan Gaughan, Ford, 52.129, 172.649
29. 11A, David Starr, Toyota, 52.176, 172.493
30. 20B, Scott Lagasse, Jr., Ford, 52.221, 172.344
31. 51B, Kyle Busch, Toyota, 52.243, 172.272
32. 20A, Scott Lagasse, Jr., Ford, 52.302, 172.078
33. 28A, Wayne Edwards, Chevrolet, 52.328, 171.992
34. 51A, Kyle Busch, Toyota, 54.649, 164.687

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Friday afternoon testing speeds from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series testing in preparation for the ninth annual Chevy Silverado 250:

1. 10A, Brendan Gaughan, Ford, 48.744, 184.638 mph
2. 7A, Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 48.753, 184.604
3. 09A, Joey Clanton, Ford, 48.804, 184.411
4. 11A, David Starr, Toyota, 48.809, 184.392
5. 30A, Todd Bodine, Toyota, 48.910, 184.011
6. 21A, Jon Wood, Ford, 48.946, 183.876
7. 51B, Kyle Busch, Toyota, 49.093, 183.826
8. 19A, Derrike Cope, Ford, 49.105, 183.281
9. 99A, Erik Darnell, Ford, 49.118, 183.232
10. 59A, Ted Musgrave, Toyota, 49.272, 182.660
11. 5A, Mike Skinner, Toyota, 49.288, 182.600
12. 6A, Colin Braun, Ford, 49.385, 182.242
13. 10B, Brendan Gaughan, Ford, 49.484, 181.877
14. 88A, Matt Crafton, Chevrolet, 49.557, 181.609
15. 13A, Shelby Howard, Chevrolet, 49.565, 181.580
16. 5B, Mike Skinner, Toyota, 49.568, 181.569
17. 14A, Rick Crawford, Ford, 49.748, 180.912
18. 23B, Johnny Benson, Toyota, 49.770, 180.832
19. 07A, Shane Sieg, Chevrolet, 49.777, 180.806
20. 18A, Stacy Compton, Dodge, 49.785, 180.777
21. 29A, Scott Lynch, Dodge, 49.942, 180.209
22. 28A, Wayne Edwards, Chevyrolet, 50.003, 179.989
23. 4A, Stacy Compton, Dodge, 50.012, 179.957
24. 9A, Justin Marks, Toyota, 50.321, 178.852
25. 08A, Jason White, Dodge, 50.577, 177.946
26. 08A, Jason White, Dodge, 50.951, 176.640
27. 60B, Terry Cook, Toyota, 51.076, 176.208
28. 46A, Erin Crocker, Chevrolet, 51.197, 175.792
29. 22A, Phillip McGilton, Toyota, 51.275, 175.524
30. 8A, Chad McCumbee, Chevrolet, 51.284, 175.493
31. 33A, Ron Hornaday, Chevrolet, 51.321, 175.033
32. 60A, Terry Cook, Toyota, 51.419, 175.033
33. 2A, Jack Sprague, Chevrolet, 51.500, 174.757
34. 20B, Scott Lagassee Jr., Ford, 51.621, 174.348
35. 16A, Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 51.649, 174.253
36. 14B, Rick Crawford, Ford, 51.652, 174.243
37. 51B, Kyle Busch, Toyota, 51.695, 174.098
38. 46B, Erin Crocker, Chevrolet, 51.771, 173.842
39. 53, Justin Hobgood, Chevrolet, 53.016, 169.760

A replica of the truck Ron Hornaday drove to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship will be part of the Daytona 500 Experience at Daytona International Speedway.
Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc., won his third career Truck Series championship. It was his first for KHI. His previous two came when he was driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc.
“We are extremely pleased to have been asked by Daytona International Speedway to display the No. 33 Camping World Silverado in their attraction,” said Camping World President and CEO Marcus Lemonis. “Our NASCAR truck program with KHI is very important to our company and we are eager to share it with the hundreds of thousands of fans who tour Daytona USA each year.”
Fans can see Hornaday's truck at the attraction beginning Dec. 14. The Daytona 500 Experience is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.