I’ve been a little teary today watching the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series from Rockingham Speedway.  I have missed this little track so much on the schedule.  The trucks make their debut at the Rock with the first NASCAR event at this track in 8 years.

Kasey Kahne almost won the last race at the Rock in 2004, losing to Matt Kenseth by a nose.  Kasey has had eight years to think about what he could have done differently to gain the 0.02 seconds he needed to win.

Regret no more, Kasey.

Kasey Kahne went from the back of the pack to win the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 200 at Rockingham Speedway.  This was truly a team effort, as Kasey was unable to practice or qualify this truck due to his Sprint Cup obligations in Texas.  Brad Sweet practiced and got the Turner Motorsports Rockwell #4 in the show.  Kasey Kahne was all that was needed to do the rest.

James Buescher, Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter, and Timothy Peters round out the top 5.

Nelson Piquet, Jr could run a class on how to give away races in two bonehead moves or less.  Piquet was the class of the field all day, leading 85 laps and setting a blistering pace.  A long pit stop dropped him back in the pack.  Piquet raced all the back to second when he received a penalty for too fast exiting pit road with only 26 to go.  This was his race to lose, and he did it all by himself.

I wish that a NCWTS driver would have won this race, but Kasey Kahne’s truck and his previous Rockingham experience were too strong.  Of course, Kasey was the only spoiler in the field.

The biggest win here is for Andy Hillenburg and the fans of The Rock.  We all complain (maybe me more than most) on how we cannot stand the cookie-cutter tracks, but yet we stopped filling the seats at the Rock.  The track is in need of updates, and I think that Hillenburg is willing to make these updates, but he needs the funds and the interest to do so.

It appeared that the stands were pretty well sold.  This has to be the biggest crowd that the Camping World Truck Series has seen in quite a while without having lots of big names in the lineup.  Kudos to everyone involved in promotion and those that purchased tickets.  Your efforts might just bring the Sprint Cup back to a race that we’ve all loved and missed.

We have a new leader in the NCWTS standings with Timothy Peters capitalizing on John King’s solo spin early in the race.  Peters leads Justin Lofton by 6 points, Ty Dillon by 7 points, and James Buescher by 10 points.  Parker Kligerman finishes the top 5 at 20 points out.

The Camping World Truck Series follows big brother Sprint Cup to Kansas on Saturday April 21.

John King? Isn't he on CNN? (photo courtesy NASCAR.com)

‘Cuz I really wanna know!

Nothing is better than the first few races of the year for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.  I have absolutely no clue who the drivers are and what trucks they are in.  I spent a great majority of the race thinking that the 5 Truck of Paulie Harraka was Todd Bodine.

In my defense, there was NOTHING in the bonehead driving style displayed by Harraka to suggest otherwise.

It only seems fitting that an unknown driver would take the checkers at a rather violent NCWTS race at Daytona.  John King (who?!?) managed to hang on through flat running over Johnny Sauter to take the lead and the third and final green/white/checker attempt to finish the race.  This was John King’s eighth NCWTS race.  EVER.  John does owe this win to his teammate Timothy Peters.  Peters came home second to King, but first in our hearts with the Top Gun “Never leave your wingman” post-race interview.

» Continue reading “Camping World Truck Series: Come On, Tell Me, Who Are You?”

Ron Hornaday captures the checkers for his 49th career win in Atlanta. (photo by Geoff Burke)

It’s no secret that there has been more than a little drama between Kyle Busch and anything remotely involving Kevin Harvick this season.  Kyle vs. Kevin Harvick.  Kyle vs. KHI racing.  Kyle vs. Elliot Sadler. And so on.

In Atlanta, the trucks of Kevin Harvick Incorporated were able to best Kyle Busch without giving him a chance to cry about anything.

» Continue reading “NCWTS Good Sam 200: And This Round Goes To…”

Timothy Peters recovers from a spin earlier in the race to take the 3rd checkers of his career.

I’m sure if you asked Timothy Peters about his chances of winning after a spin tonight, he would have felt it was slim to none.  The spin was probably the luckiest thing that happened to him tonight.  Well, besides winning, of course.  Peters came into the pits for new tires and the adjustments that would take him to Victory Lane.  It was truly fun to watch him tear through the field, knowing he had enough fuel to make it to the end, while everyone else was on fuel conservation mode.

The NCWTS drivers started the race with lots of adversity.  The field didn’t even cleanly make it through the first lap, when Johanna Long got loose and caused a 4 truck pileup.  Mother Nature was rearing her ugly head all night with an impressive storm cloud display.  We were under caution for rain for a few laps, but the trucks were never parked.  The trucks got back to green flag racing, and managed to go caution free at this short track for over half the race!

» Continue reading “NCWTS AAA Insurance 200: Spin to Win!”

Win #3 = Awesome! The celebration? Eh, not so much.

I have made it pretty clear to my readers in the past that I love the Camping World Truck Series.  These men and women drive their hearts out each and every race, and tonight was no exception.

The trucks to beat tonight were the #3 of Austin Dillon and the #17 of Timothy Peters.  The race winner was Austin Dillon, who started on the pole tonight.  He passed Johnny Sauter with 23 laps to go and never looked back.  This was Dillon’s third career win.  Timothy Peters ended up coming home third after losing a great battle with Sauter for second.

Austin Dillon tried out a new celebration move by getting out of the truck and sliding into the painted logo on the grass headfirst.  Needless to say, the paint stopped him cold.  After the race, Austin said, “I stuck it a little hard on my landing, but I’ll take it.”

» Continue reading “Lucas Deep Clean 200: Makin’ Noise in Nashville”