Truck Series Lineup for 2010

After wrapping up most of Who’s Where for 2010 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide series, let’s take a brief look at the NASCAR Camping World Truck team chart for this year.
_*2 -*_ Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler will share driving duties in this Chevy pick ‘em up. The Harvick trucks have done well over the past few years and I don’t see any change.
_*3 -*_ Richard Childress’ grandson Austin Dillon will drive this Chevy truck and yes, the truck will be black. The 19-year-old has Pro Bass Shops as backer. Despite a lack of experience, this combo may just notch a few top tens.
_*4 -*_ Ex-pro bike racer Ricky Carmichael returns to this Chevy ride among the KHI fleet. He has shown some signs of brilliance and may just hit his stride this year.
_*5 -*_ Ex-truck champion Mike Skinner is back in the saddle in this Toyota with final notes on sponsor still being penciled in. Skinner can win on any given day with the right circumstances.
_*7 -*_ Reigning ARCA champion Justin Lofton will pilot this Toyota full-time with Lofton Cattle as backer. I’d keep my eye on this talented young man. A win or a healthy amount of top ten runs would not surprise me.
_*10 -*_ Jennifer Jo Cobb will be among several women testing the waters in the truck set. She’ll be in a Ford, more than likely full-time, but there are numerous question marks remaining.
_*13 -*_ Johnny Sauter was tapped last year for this Toyota Fun Sand ride after his first truck win and many top ten runs last year. I’d look for more of the same this year.
_*15 – 17 – 18 – 24 – 30 -*_ Here’s a bunch of Toyotas ready to mix it up out front starting with Aric Almirola, Timothy Peters, Kyle Busch (in his own team truck), David Starr and Todd Bodine. Busch and Brian Ickler will share the No. 18.
_*33 -*_ Reigning Truck champion Ron Hornaday is back with KHI Racing with new crew chief Dave Fuge filling in for Rick Wren who moved over to Busch Racing. Hornaday is tough any day of the week and takes no prisoners on the way to victory lane.
_*60 -*_ Stacy Compton is set to return behind the wheel of this Toyota ride with Safe Auto Insurance picking up the tab.
_*88 -*_ Matt Crafton has improved over the past few years and I see this team staying on the same path. Menard’s will continue its sponsorship with the bright yellow truck.
*_95 -_* It’s good to see past champion Johnny Benson has a part-time ride that may develop into a full-time gig. It may be a Ford, maybe not and sponsor info is not yet available.
— This isn’t the complete lineup, but pretty close and illustrates the majority of real ‘players’.
_*Rolex 24 -*_ This weekend marks the first of many races at Daytona with the running of the Rolex 24 for sports cars. There are two classes, namely DP (Daytona Prototype) and GT (Grand Touring) where 42 cars will circle the high banks and roadcourse sections of the infield at Daytona in an effort to complete the most laps.
I’ve been to this twice-around-the-clock event before where there were over 80 cars running and less than half finished the grueling event. The smaller overall field has to be attributed to the current economy.
There are many, many hours of live coverage on Speed TV starting on Saturday afternoon. The wide array of drivers from around the globe include Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Dixon, Max Papis, Hurley Haywood and so on. We’ll compare notes next week.
_*From Rumorville -*_ Last week’s NASCAR press conference announced several important changes to the cars and ‘on track’ rules. Step A, the wing on the back of the car will now be changed to a rear spoiler or blade.
The cars will be allowed to run the biggest restrictor plate in many years at Daytona and Talladega in an effort to bring the racing back to the drivers. The yellow line rule will stay in effect, but the ‘no bumping’ zones have been eliminated. More exciting races? Perhaps, but I also see more wrecks.
That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will review the race results from this year’s Rolex 24, preview the upcoming NASCAR action along with more racing news from around the globe.
Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net