9/1/02……… Believe it or not they are once again going to race the Craftsman trucks. It has been what seems like an eternity since the trucks have taken to the track. Actually it's been about four weeks. The Chicago race was cancelled which made a three week gap in the schedule where there should have been a week off, then a race, then another week off before the upcoming Richmond race.

Due to the Busch and Cup night racing at Richmond, the trucks will take the track on Thursday, September 5th at 9:30 P.M. for the Virginia is for Lovers 200. The event will be televised on ESPN2.

Last year's winner of the Richmond fall truck race (Kroger 200) was Jack Sprague. He was followed across the finish line by Kevin Harvick, Dennis Setzer, Ted Musgrave, Rick Crawford, Stacy Compton, Bobby Hamilton, rookie Ricky Hendrick, Joe Ruttman, and rookie Billy Bigsley.

There are four Winston Cup drivers entered in the truck race, two of them are on NASCAR probation for the remainder of the season. Ken Schrader and Bobby Hamilton will be joined by Kevin Harvick, and surprise entrant Tony Stewart. Schrader, Harvick, and Hamilton each own their own truck operations, while Stewart will be driving a truck fielded by Andy Petree. Stacy Compton, who has an ownership stake in the No. 17 Dodge, may also race in the event.

The Cup drivers are expected to put a serious crimp in the close CT Series point's battle. Mike Bliss leads the standings over second place Terry Cook by a mere 34 points. Ted Musgrave is in third place with a -61 while Rick Crawford sits in fourth with a -72. Robert Pressley is in fifth with a -100. Any one of these five can advance to the lead in any given race. Be sure to tune in for the race Thursday night!

9/6/02……… Tony Stewart has proven once again that he can race just about anything that has wheels. In only his second outing driving in the Craftsman Truck Series, Stewart hung on to beat a hard charging Kevin Harvick in the Virginia is for Lovers 200 at the Ύ mile Richmond International Raceway.

A five lap shootout after a late race wreck set the stage for Kevin Harvick's charge to the front on fresh tires. Stewart had over 100 laps on his tires, and had stayed out on the track during an earlier caution in order to take advantage of track position. The gamble, which many thought was an outside shot, just barely paid off handsomely for Stewart.

Harvick was disappointed with his second place finish, claiming that finishing second in the trucks is getting old. Although, he only finished second in one race last season where he was driving, and this is only his second place finish behind the wheel this season. At any rate, Harvick isn't as proficient with the trucks as is Stewart, he remains winless in truck series starts.

Mike Bliss finished third behind the two Winston Cup stars, followed by Rick Crawford and Bliss's championship point's nemesis Terry Cook, to round out the top five. Coy Gibbs, Ted Musgrave, Stacy Compton, Bobby Dotter, and Winston Cup driver Ken Schrader rounded out the top ten. Pole setter Jason Leffler finished 12th, one lap down.

The points battle didn't get shaken up much from all of the Cup driver's interference. Mike Bliss still remains in the points lead followed by Terry Cook. Bliss now has 2424 points, with a 44 point lead over Cook. Rick Crawford moved up one spot to third and is now a -72 while championship hopeful Ted Musgrave lost a position back to fourth with a -80. Before the Richmond race there was a 100 point deficit between the leader and the fifth place driver. Now the fifth place driver, Robert Pressley, has a -147 point deficit, and is falling out of the championship picture with only six truck races remaining.

Next Week the truck series heads to the fast track of Texas Motor Speedway for the Silverado 350. The race is scheduled to be televised by ESPN at 12 A.M. Eastern on September 13th.

Last years' winner of the Silverado 350 was rookie Travis Kvapil. He was followed across the finish line by Rick Crawford, Jack Sprague, David Starr, Lance Norick, Dennis Setzer, Coy Gibbs, rookie Ricky Hendrick, Joe Ruttman, and Ted Musgrave.

The Busch Series is off next weekend and the Winston Cup Series will be at a different venue, so the truck drivers will be able to fight among themselves for championship points in the Texas race. This is one of the longer, better paying truck races of the season, and both drivers and fans are looking forward to the fast competition on the big Texas track.

9/14/02……… Sometimes the best seat in the house is the proverbial "catbird" seat. When race leader Ted Musgrave spun out under caution, NASCAR forced him to relinquish the lead, which put rookie Brendan Gaughan in line to take his second checkered flag in the Craftsman Truck Series. Gaughan joins Ted Musgrave and Robert Pressley as two time winners in 2002. Both of Gaughan's wins came at the 1.5 mile Texas Motor Speedway. The other multiple winners in the truck series for 2002 are Terry Cook and Mike Bliss, who each have four wins.

The top ten starters in the Silverado 350 at Texas Motor Speedway, and how they finished:

1. Mike Bliss -- No. 16 Chevy – finished 9th
2. David Starr -- No. 75 Chevy – finished 3rd
3. Coy Gibbs -- No. 20 Chevy – finished 2nd
4. Rick Crawford -- No. 14 Ford-- finished 4th
5. *Brendan Gaughan -- No. 62 Dodge – finished 1st
6. *Bill Lester -- No. 8 Dodge – finished 28th
7. Ted Musgrave -- No. 1 Dodge – finished 6th
8. Jason Leffler -- No. 2 Dodge – finished 8th
9. Carl Edwards -- No. 63 Ford – finished 24th
10. Dennis Setzer -- No. 46 Chevy – finished 10th

* = Rookie

The controversial ruling by NASCAR to make Musgrave relinquish the lead caused quite a stir. Musgrave continued to race at the front of the pack while his crew was arguing with officials. NASCAR claimed that the spin-out caused Musgrave to drop back, therefore causing him to lose the lead. One must note here that positions can change under caution. The pit stop sequence can alter position, as can accidents and mechanical problems. This particular incident was labeled as an accident, and NASCAR relegated Musgrave back to the fourth position. After Musgrave was certain that his crew had lost the argument with the NASCAR officials, he made a pit stop, and was positioned back to 10th.

Mike Bliss still maintains the driver's point's lead with 2562 points. Bliss has had four wins, 10 top five, and 13 top ten finishes in 17 starts. Rick Crawford moved up one position to take second place in the point's race with a -40 point deficit from the leader. Crawford has no wins, 9 top five, and 12 top ten finishes in 17 starts. Ted Musgrave also moved up one position and is now in third with a -63 point deficit. Musgrave has two wins, 9 top five, and 12 top ten finishes in 17 starts. Terry Cook blew an engine and lost two point's positions, he is now in fourth with a -85. Cook has four wins, 8 top five, and 14 top ten finishes in 17 starts. Robert Pressley remains in fifth place with a -139. Pressley has two wins, 6 top five, and 12 top finishes in 17 starts.

The Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year battle is rather clear cut. There are 10 rookies in the series for 2002, and Brendan Gaughan has the battle won. In 17 starts Gaughan has two wins, 4 top fives, and 7 top ten finishes. His closest competitors in the rookie battle are Bill Lester and Jason Small. Both Lester and Small each have 17 starts. Lester has no wins, no top five or ten finishes. Small has no wins, no top five, and 1 top ten finish. Lester is 17th in driver's points, and Small is 21st, while Brendan Gaughan is 11th. With just five races remaining on the 2002 schedule, Gaughan is the clear winner.

Next week the truck series heads to Virginia's South Boston Speedway for race No. 19 on its 23 race 2002 schedule. The Hardee's 250 will be televised live by ESPN on Saturday, September 21st at 3:30 P.M. Eastern.

Last year's winner at South Boston was Ted Musgrave. He was followed across the finish line by Dennis Setzer, Scott Riggs, Jack Sprague, Joe Ruttman, rookie Ricky Hendrick, Terry Cook, rookie Travis Kvapil, Mike Bliss, and rookie Matt Crafton.

9/22/02 ……… NASCAR changed the playing field for the Craftsman Truck Series with new rules that went into effect on Thursday, September 19th. The Dodge trucks got their minimum front air dam ground clearance lowered by Ό of an inch. The Dodges were set at 4 Ό inches, and the new ruling will allow a minimum clearance of 4 inches. Fords and Chevrolets have a minimum clearance of 3 Ύ inches.

In a second ruling, all teams are now allowed to use electronic oil and fuel pressure gauges as long as they are wired separately, and wired independent of the trucks ignition system.

The third new rule has to do with the minimum number of active coils for the trucks front springs. Each spring must have 4 ½ coils and must be evenly spaced after the first coil on the closed end of the spring. All spring coils must have the same inside and outside diameter.

The spring and electronic ignition rules are exactly the same as those mandated in both the Busch and Winston Cup Series.

Hardee's 257………… The Hardee's 250 was extended an additional seven laps due to wrecks causing caution periods. The Craftsman Truck Series has a rule in place that disallows a race to end under a caution period. Additional laps must me run is the yellow flag is thrown during the closing laps. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Ted Musgrave -- No. 1 Dodge – finished 14th
2. Mike Bliss -- No. 16 Chevy – finished 1st
3. Dennis Setzer -- No. 46 Chevy -- finished 2nd
4. Rick Crawford -- No. 14 Ford -- finished 3rd
5. Terry Cook -- No. 29 Ford – finished 25th
6. *Brendan Gaughan -- No. 62 Dodge – finished 11th
7. Jason Leffler -- No. 2 Dodge – finished 11th
8. Robert Pressley -- No. 18 Dodge – finished 24th
9. Coy Gibbs -- No. 20 Chevy – finished 4th
10. Jamey Caudill -- No. 84 Ford – finished 34th

Mike Bliss won his fifth race of the season by outrunning Dennis Setzer in a two-lap shootout that resulted after the tenth and final caution of the race. The .4 mile South Boston facility has always been known for its high attrition in wrecked racers. That's short track racing!

Following Bliss and Setzer across the finish line were Rick Crawford, Coy Gibbs, Travis Kvapil, Jon Wood, David Starr, Bobby Dotter, Jason Leffler, and Ryan Hamphill. Rookie Brendan Gaughan, winner of the last truck race finished 11th, and was the last entry to finish on the lead lap.

The top three positions in the driver's point's standings remain the same with leader Mike Bliss extending his lead from 40 to 55 points over second place driver Rick Crawford. Ted Musgrave is still mired in third and now has a deficit of -107 points. David Starr moved up two positions to fourth with a -174 with Terry Cook right on his heels with a -174. Cook dropped down one spot to fifth.

Third place driver Ted Musgrave really had high hopes of reeling in the championship this season, but with only four Craftsman Truck Series races remaining in the 2002 season, he may have a tough row to hoe. Musgrave does however stand a pretty good chance for another couple of races if he can hold his own. The fourth and fifth positions held by David Starr and Terry Cook only have one or two more races to remain viable candidates for the brass ring. You have to be in the 150 point deficit area to stand a chance of taking over the top spot, so one race won't be enough to do it for either of them.

The Craftsman Truck Series will have two weeks off. Race No. 20 in the series will be the Las Vegas 350 on Sunday, October 13th. The event will be televised live by ESPN at 5 P.M. Eastern.