7/5/03……….. Toyota is close to making its presents known in the Craftsman Truck Series. Word in the garage area is, “The contracts are in the mail.” Surfing around the Web looking for info on Toyota, I found a link to an article on the Power Stroke Diesel truck series site that was written by Ray Dunlap and published on the SPEED site.

Dunlap was quick to point out that his words are merely speculation derived from rumblings picked up in the truck series garage area. It seems that the Toyota contracts are to be announced in August and that the Asian auto manufacturing giant hopes to have three two truck teams to start out its foray into NASCAR racing in the Craftsman Truck Series.

When you stop to think about it, it may not be so wise for the chosen teams to run their yaps about joining up with Toyota until the season is over. The teams who are now firmly entrenched within the Dodge, Ford, and Chevy camps will be out in the cold once the news of their defections are made known. Some of them may even be subject to lawsuits, which is something that we all know isn’t anything new in NASCAR racing these days.

Dunlap makes a lot of sense when he reflects that Toyota wants to contend for the championship right out of the box. He contends that drivers like Travis Kvapil, Dennis Setzer could possibly be involved. He also made reference to former three time truck series champion Jack Sprague, who’s Cup Series foray this season has been anything but successful, to say the least. Pairing three upcoming drivers with these three successful truck series drivers would certainly be a wise move for Toyota for a beginning effort in their inaugural 2004 season. We’ll certainly keep an eye on this in the coming weeks!

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 is in the books with the victory listed for Roush Racing star Jon Wood. It was Wood’s first career win in his third year with the truck series. Rookie Carl Edwards finished second, giving Roush the ol’ “one-two.” The victory also gave Roush Racing the most victories ever in the truck series with the magic number of 29, breaking a tie with Ultra Motorsports to claim the honor.

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Chad Chaffin -- No. 18 Dodge – finished 14th
2. Bill Lester -- No. 8 Dodge – finished 10th
3. Jon Wood -- No. 50 Ford – finished 1st
4. Ted Musgrave -- No. 1 Dodge -- finished 15th
5. Bobby Hamilton -- No. 4 Dodge – finished 16th
6. Jason Leffler -- No. 2 Dodge – finished 7th
7. Eric Jones -- No. 3 Chevy – finished 6th
8. Chris Horn -- No. 58 Chevy – finished 22nd
9. Travis Kvapil -- No. 16 Chevy – finished 4th
10. Matt Crafton -- No. 88 Chevy – finished 19th

Travis Kvapil’s fourth place finish moved him up three spots in the driver’s standings to take the lead with 1529 points and a six point spread over second place Brendan Gaughan who dropped down one spot to second. Bobby Hamilton is listed at third now, after having dropped down one spot with a -30. Rick Crawford also dropped a spot and is now listed at fourth with a -51. Ted Musgrave still rounds out the top five and is now listed with a -56 with Dennis Setzer still in sixth with a -57 followed by race winner Jon Wood who is still in seventh with a -98. Jason Leffler moved up one spot to eighth listed with a -172 followed by Terry Cook who dropped one spot to ninth with a -194. Rookie Carl Edwards still rounds out the top ten, and is now listed with a -242.

Next week the series moves to the Kentucky Speedway for race No. 11, the Ford Tough 225. The evening event is scheduled to be broadcast by the SPEED channel on Saturday, July 12th at 8 p.m. eastern.

Last season’s winner of the Kroger 225 Kentucky race was Mike Bliss. He was followed across the finish line by Dennis Setzer, Robert Pressley, Rick Crawford, Jason Leffler, Terry Cook, Coy Gibbs, David Starr, Ted Musgrave, and Steve Protenga.

Jason Leffler was on the Bud pole with a speed of 168.303 miles per hour. There were three caution periods for a total of 12 laps out of the 150 laps on the 105 mile oval.

7/13/03……….. The recent news concerning Roush Racing is rather disturbing. It has been speculated that the racing entity will make an announcement in a couple of days regarding their Truck Series program.

Most of the rumors are pointing in the direction of Roush Racing leaving the Truck Series. Both of Roush Racing’s Ford truck entries, the No. 50 piloted by Jon Wood and the No. 99 piloted by Carl Edwards, have been running without sponsorship for the majority of this season. Roush Racing president Geoff Smith made the statement recently that the increased spending of the Dodge program has put Ford and Chevy teams in dire straits to keep up with the technology, and with Toyota due to enter the series in 2004, the stakes are going to get much higher.

Other rumors are pointing to the direction of Roush Racing moving its drivers from the Truck Series to the Busch Series. I don’t understand this at all. The Busch Series has had financial problems for years; most of the teams that compete in the beleaguered series are losing huge sums of money. The only teams that are successful on the financial plane are those who are able to divide their Cup Series assets to help out with their Busch Series programs.

The problems at Roush Racing may not be entirely entrenched in the Truck Series. Roush had to drop the No. 9 Busch Series team early in this season that touted Cup Series driver Jeff Burton, and Burton was a big winner in the season. If Roush can’t get a sponsor for his main Busch Series entry, why then would he move his truck program to that series? Roush has some major problems in Roush Racing, and those major problems are costing him sponsors right and left. Jeff Burton’s Cup sponsor CITGO is leaving at the end of the 2003 season, leaving another hole in the embattled organization. It appears that the failing economy is taking its toll on Roush Racing. We may only see the organization competing in Cup, and on a smaller scale than it has previously enjoyed with a one time high of five teams.

Carl Edwards got the nod at Kentucky, winning his first NASCAR race. The young 23 year old rookie has certainly paid his dues this season, racing hard and scoring some great finishes. Edwards pilots Roush racing’s No. 99 Ford entry and has five top five/ten finishes out of the 11 races so far this season. Edwards was leading the rookie standings over Jody Lavender by 142 over 91 going into the Kentucky race. His win expanded his lead considerably. It’ll be a shame of Roush turns his back on Edwards in his quest for the Truck Series rookie of the year title by dropping out of the truck series before the season’s end.

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jon Wood -- No. 50 Ford – finished 4th
2. Bobby Hamilton -- No. 4 Dodge – finished 18th
3. Chad Chaffin -- No. 18 Dodge – finished 26th
4. Jason Leffler -- No. 2 Dodge -- finished 5th
5. Carl Edwards -- No. 99 Ford – finished 1st
6. Ted Musgrave -- No. 1 Dodge – finished 2nd
7. Brendan Gaughan -- No. 62 Dodge – finished 22nd
8. Matt Crafton -- No. 88 Chevy – finished 7th
9. Bill Lester -- No. 8 Dodge – finished 12th
10. Mike Skinner -- No. 15 Ford – finished 13th

Travis Kvapil still leads the driver’s point’s standings, and is now listed with a total of 1684 points after 11 starts. Ted Musgrave moved up three spots to second and is now listed with a -41. Right on Musgrave’s heels and also moving up three spots is Dennis Setzer who is now listed with a -47, just six points behind Musgrave. Sophomore driver Brendan Gaughan dropped down two spots to fourth and is now listed with a -54. He is followed by Bobby Hamilton who also dropped down two spots and is now listed in fifth with a -71. Also dropping two spots and now listed in the sixth position is Rick Crawford who is right on Hamilton’s heels with a -76. Jon Wood, Jason Leffler, Terry Cook, and Carl Edwards are still listed seventh thru tenth and now have a -93, -167, -207, and a -217 respectively.

Next week the Truck Series moves to Gateway International Raceway for the 2003 season’s race No. 12, the Dodge Ram Tough 200. The event is scheduled to be aired by the SPEED channel on Saturday, July 19th at 9 p.m. eastern.

Last season’s winner of the Gateway event in early May was Terry Cook. He was followed across the finish line by Jason Leffler, Mike Bliss, Rick Crawford, David Starr, Dennis Setzer, Jon Wood, Brian Rose, Lance Norick, and Matt Crafton.

Mike Bliss won the Bud pole award with a qualifying speed of 129.549 miles per hour. There were three caution periods for a total of 14 laps out of the 160 laps on the 1.25 mile oval.

7/20/03……….. It seems as though the insiders may have been correct in their assumption that Toyota may be going after some big names in the Truck Series. The speculators had alluded to the fact that Jack Sprague hadn’t done much during the first half of his initial season in Cup racing and may end up in a Toyota Tundra in 2004. Sprague was released just a few days ago, and may very well be a candidate to drive a new Tundra next season in the Truck Series.

Then there’s the deal with Mike Skinner getting canned from his driving job in the No. 4 Kodak Chevy at Morgan McClure Motorsports a couple of weeks ago. Skinner is presently driving the No. 15 Vokal/Fasscore Dodge, but can just as easy end up driving a Toyota Tundra in 2004. The announcement proclaiming will be fielding Toyotas next season is expected to hit media in August or September at the latest. Both Skinner and Sprague are former Truck Series Champions. Skinner was the first Truck Series Champion in its inaugural year of 1995. Sprague was a three-time Truck Series Champion, 1997, 1999, and 2001.

The Toyota people submitted their Tundra this past week for 2004 Craftsman Truck Series competition. The upcoming announcement of the slated teams that will be using the Tundra may depend on how soon NASCAR approves or rejects the Tundra submission.

It wasn’t a good weekend for the Cup drivers and former Cup drivers racing in other series. Brendan Gaughan, in his sophomore season, won for the third time this year in the Ram Tough 200 at Gateway by besting former Cup drivers Jason Leffler and Ted Musgrave.

Gaughan, last season’s Raybestos Rookie of the Year, took control of the race at lap fifty and led the rest of the event, clearly dominating on the Gateway track.

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Travis Kvapil -- No. 16 Chevy – finished 3rd
2. Ted Musgrave -- No. 1 Dodge – finished 7th
3. Dennis Setzer -- No. 14 Chevy – finished 8th
4. Brendan Gaughan -- No. 62 Dodge -- finished 1st
5. Bobby Hamilton -- No. 4 Dodge – finished 14th
6. Rick Crawford -- No. 14 Ford – finished 5th
7. Jon Wood -- No. 50 Ford – finished 11th
8. Jason Leffler -- No. 2 Dodge – finished 2nd
9. Terry Cook -- No. 29 Ford – finished 9th
10. David Starr -- No. 75 Chevy – finished 6th

You’ll note that most of the top ten starters were very consistent, finishing in or around the top ten positions. That in itself has a lot to say for the competitors in the truck series, as opposed to some of the flukes in NASCAR’s other two top series. Of course, we have to take into consideration that the starting lineup was set this seek by owner’s points as qualifying was rained out in all three of NASCAR’s top series.

Carl Edwards is running away with the Raybestos Rookie of the Year competition for the truck series. Coming into Gateway he was leading Jodi Lavender by more than 60 points, and his top five finish will definitely add to that number considerably. Randy Briggs was only one point down from Lavender, while Tina Gordon was thirteen points away Lavender and 77 points down from leader Edwards. Tina Gordon failed to start the race.

Travis Kvapil is still the point’s leader, although Brendan Gaughan’s third win boosted him up two spots to second place just 34 points out of the top spot. Ted Musgrave dropped down one spot to third with a -55, followed by Dennis Setzer who dropped down one spot and is now in fourth with a -70. Rick Crawford rounds out the top five with a -86.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. dropped down one spot to sixth and is now listed with a -115. Positions seven thru 13 remain the same. Jon Wood -128, Jason Leffler -162, Terry Cook -233, and rookie Carl Edwards with a -322 rounding out the top ten.

Next week the truck series travels to Michigan International Speedway for race No. 13. The Sears 200 will be televised on the SPEED channel at 1 p.m. eastern on Saturday, July 26th.

Last season’s winner of the July Michigan race was Robert Pressley. He was followed across the finish line by Jason Leffler, Travis Kvapil, Mike Bliss, David Starr, Terry Cook, Coy Gibbs, Lance Norick, Rick Crawford, and Jon Wood.

Qualifying was canceled last season at Michigan due to inclement weather. The race lineup was set by owner’s points which put Ted Musgrave in the top spot. There were two caution periods for a total of 12 laps out of the 100 laps on the two mile oval.

7/27/03……….. Jason Leffler smoked the field qualifying for the Sears 200 at Michigan International Speedway. Leffler turned a record speed of 178.037 miles per hour to capture his tenth pole position in the Truck Series.

Leffler, a former Cup driver, will be back in a Cup car for the Brickyard 400 along with Truck Series regular and former Cup driver Ted Musgrave. Jim Smith, owner of Ultra Motorsports, is putting the two in Cup cars for the Indianapolis event, joining his regular Cup driver Jimmy Spencer, who pilots the No. 7 Sirius sponsored Dodge.

As Saturday brought the truck race, it also brought good news that Michael Dokken was going to survive the crash he had Friday practicing on the really fast 2-mile Michigan track. The 32 year old Thomasville, North Carolina driver hit the wall in turn three and had to be cut out of the truck. Hopefully NASCAR’s new roof hatch development will also be available to the Craftsman Trucks so that the drivers can be extricated quicker than having to cut the roof off of the truck.

You can add another saved life to the list of lucky race drivers that are using the mandated head and neck safety devices. Dokken broke the bone connecting his neck to the base of his skull. Without the NASCAR mandated safety device, he would have been a statistic listed under the lost driver’s column.

Brendan Gaughan certainly isn’t in the old “sophomore slump” that a lot of drivers suffer in their second year of racing in a series after winning the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award. Gaughan has now won a series high four races this season, with the recent win at Michigan setting the stage for two in a row.

Not only did Gaughan win the race with more than an 11 second lead over second place Ted Musgrave, he set the race record for the Craftsman Truck Series, running the race at a faster speed and quicker time than any truck race has ever been run. Gaughan’s record race speed was an average of 154.044 miles per hour for the 100 laps on the two mile superspeedway.

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jason Leffler -- No. 2 Dodge – finished 4th
2. Chad Chaffin -- No. 18 Dodge – finished 3rd
3. Ted Musgrave -- No. 1 Dodge – finished 2nd
4. Carl Edwards* -- No. 99 Ford -- finished 5th
5. Bill Lester -- No. 8 Dodge – finished 11th
6. Brendan Gaughan -- No. 62 Dodge – finished 1st
7. Jon Wood -- No. 50 Ford – finished 6th
8. David Starr -- No. 75 Chevy – finished 13th
9. Terry Cook -- No. 29 Ford – finished 9th
10. Mike Skinner -- No. 15 Dodge – finished 15th

The driver’s point’s standings haven’t changed much except for the top spot. With Brendan Gaughan and Travis Kvapil both listed with an even 2000 points, Gaughan takes the point’s lead because of his four victories to Kvapil’s none. Third place thru fifth remain the same with Ted Musgrave listed at third with a -36 down from the leaders, Dennis Setzer in fourth with a -79, and Rick Crawford rounds out the top five with a -110.

Jon Wood moved up one spot to sixth place listed with a -124 followed by Bobby Hamilton who dropped down one spot to seventh with a -132. Positions eight thru ten are still the same with Jason Leffler holding the eighth spot with a -148. Terry Cook is in ninth with a -246 with rookie Carl Edwards rounding out the top ten with a -313.

Next week the Truck Series travels to Indianapolis Raceway Park for race No. 14, The Power Stroke Diesel 200. The event is scheduled to be broadcast live by the SPEED channel on Friday, August, 1st at 9 p.m. eastern.

Last season’s Truck Series winner at Indy Raceway park was Terry Cook. He was followed across the finish line by Jason Leffler, Travis Kvapil, Mike Wallace, Robert Pressley, Darrell Waltrip, Lance Norick, Jon Wood, Bobby Dotter, and Matt Crafton.