NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock cars. The series is one of three national divisions of NASCAR, ranking as the third tier behind the second-tier NASCAR Xfinity Series and the top level NASCAR Cup Series.
Category
United States
The 2023 season was the first with Stanley Black & Decker holding the series' naming rights. Previously, Sears, Roebuck & Co held title sponsorship from 1995 through 2008 with the Craftsman brand, during which the series was known as the NASCAR SuperTruck Series in 1995 and the Craftsman Truck Series from 1996 through 2008. Camping World took over the sponsorship to dub the Camping World Truck Series from 2009 through 2018, followed by the Gander Outdoors Truck Series in 2019, the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series in 2020, and a return to the Camping World name in 2021 and 2022. Stanley Black & Decker, which acquired the Craftsman brand in 2017, took over starting in 2023.
Drivers[edit]
Most of the first drivers in the series were veteran short track drivers who had not made it or struggled to thrive in the other NASCAR national series;[9] for example, 1991 Featherlite Southwest Tour champion Rick Carelli[23] had failed to qualify twelve times for Cup races across 1991–1994, with only nine career Cup starts, but he finished sixth in the inaugural Truck Series championship.[24] It is worth noting that most of the early champions have become NASCAR Cup Series regulars later in their careers, such as 1995 champion Skinner, who joined Richard Childress Racing's Cup team in 1997,[25] competing on a full-time basis until 2003.[26] Professional football coach Jerry Glanville was among the series' first drivers.[27] As the years went on, a number of younger drivers debuted in the series, using the series as a springboard for their racing careers. NASCAR stars Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, and Kyle Busch each started in the series.[9]
A 2001 Truck Series race incident resulted in a significant NASCAR rule change. In early November of that year, the Truck Series was running as a support race for CART's Marlboro 500, that series' final event of its season; since the race weekend was being staged by CART and not NASCAR, its rules had to be followed. As a result, the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement was effective. Thus, any driver who participated in the race weekend had to be at least 18 years of age. The rule affected Roush Racing's No. 99 truck driven by Kyle Busch, as he was underage at the time (16) and thus disqualified from the event despite having already qualified. The issue resulted in a 2002 rule change that mandated that any driver competing in a NASCAR national touring series (Truck, Busch, Cup) or any regional series race on the weekend of a national series race must be at least 18 in order to comply with the Master Settlement Agreement.[28] After NASCAR phased out tobacco sponsorships, the minimum age for regional touring series was changed to 16, and the Truck Series' rule regulated a minimum age of 16 for any circuit one mile or shorter (Rockingham Speedway included, despite it being 1.017 miles), and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.[29]
In later years, though, the Truck Series has also become a place for Cup veterans without a ride to make their living[9] which included Ricky Craven, Jimmy Spencer, Dennis Setzer, Brendan Gaughan (who started his career in a family-owned team, and after his Nextel Cup attempt, returned to the family operation), Rich Bickle, Andy Houston, Todd Bodine, Bobby Hamilton Jr. and previous champions Johnny Benson, Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday, Ted Musgrave, and Jack Sprague. Older drivers dominated the series, most with Xfinity and Cup Series experience: in 2007, all the top-10 drivers were over 30 years of age,[30] and 7 of the 10 had Cup experience, as did every race winner except Erik Darnell. Even though novice drivers play a minimal role in this "minor league" series, there is no controversy like the disputes over "Buschwhackers" in the Busch (later Nationwide, now Xfinity Series). No current Cup regulars drive a full Truck Series schedule, although Cup driver Kevin Harvick owned his own team in the series until 2011,[31] Brad Keselowski owned his own team until he announced its cessation of operations in 2017[32] and Kyle Busch currently fields his own team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, respectively, driving part-time for his team. A current Truck Series field could be split into three groups: Cup drivers that compete as owner-drivers like Busch, or to receive additional money like David Gilliland; Truck regulars who compete full-time in the series; and young drivers who use the Truck Series to enter NASCAR.[9]
Racing and strategy[edit]
Qualifying[edit]
A Truck Series field currently consists of 36 trucks in races with qualifying. Previously, 32 trucks comprised a field, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the field was increased to 36 in races with qualifying and 40 without to accommodate as many trucks as possible.
For most races, a single-truck qualifying format is used. For tracks 1.25 miles and shorter, each truck gets two laps with the fastest lap counting. At tracks longer than 1.25 miles each truck only gets one timed lap. Road course events use a 2 part knockout qualifying format similar to Formula 1, with the top 12 qualifiers from Q1 advancing to Q2. At the event at Eldora, qualifying sets the lineups for a series of heat races which then determines the lineup.
Television and radio[edit]
The 1995 season's races were nationally televised on ESPN, TNN, ABC and CBS.[43] Of the 20-race schedule, TNN aired ten races, while ESPN aired seven races and CBS two, while ABC aired the race at Mesa Marin Speedway as part of its Wide World of Sports program.[1]
In 2001, NASCAR moved the series exclusively to cable, first with ESPN, and in 2003, switched to Speed, a network which provided supplemental coverage for Fox's coverage of NASCAR events. Network television returned to the series from 2007 to 2010 when two races per season (the Kroger 250 at Martinsville and the City of Mansfield 250 at Mansfield, with a race at Fontana replacing Mansfield) airing on Fox as NASCAR on Fox events. These broadcasts were discontinued in 2011.
On August 13, 2013, Speed was converted into Fox Sports 1 (FS1), continuing with all Truck Series race broadcasts, whereas some practice and qualifying sessions were moved to sister channel Fox Sports 2 (FS2). For the 2014 season, the Fred's 250 at Talladega had its race broadcast moved from FS1 to the Fox broadcast network.[42] For the 2018 season, the UNOH 200 at Bristol aired in prime time on Fox.[44] For the 2020 season, the Clean Harbors 200 aired on Fox.[45] In 2022, the CRC Brakleen 150 was moved to Fox.[46] In 2023, the Tyson 250 was moved.[47]
Motor Racing Network has exclusive radio broadcasting rights to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.