12/30/04… The Craftsman Truck Series kicks off the 2005 racing season at Daytona in their night event on February 18th. There will be lots of new faces behind the windshields of the trucks, along with some old regulars who are returning to competition.

One of the biggest former stars to return to the series is Ron Hornaday, who captured the Truck Series Championship in 1996 for Dale Earnhardt Inc. Hornaday will be piloting the #6 Goodwrench Chevrolet entry for Kevin Harvick Inc., which was formerly driven during the 2004 season by Matt Crafton.

Hornaday, even though he hasn't been driving in the Truck Series for a few years, has the distinction of being the winningest driver in the series. His total of 26 victories is at the top of the list, only to be possibly encroached my Jack Sprague, who is listed now with 24 victories after his lone win during the 2004 Truck Series campaign of the inaugural race at Mansfield, Ohio. Hornaday will no doubt bring a lot of excitement back to the series by igniting old rivalries with drivers like inaugural Truck Series Champion Mike Skinner and three time Truck Series Champion Jack Sprague.

Ricky Craven, a former Cup Series veteran, is another new face in the Truck Series. He'll be piloting the #99 Superchips Ford for Roush Racing, which was formerly driven by new Cup Series star Carl Edwards. I don't have to tell you that Craven is ecstatic to be behind the wheel of the #99, he thought his racing career was down the tubes after losing his ride in the Cup Series.

Craven had an up and down career in the Cup Series, having to fight off the effects of a couple of serious head injuries, the latter having almost ending his career entirely. It takes drivers a long time to get back to form after one of those debilitating severe concussions. You may remember Steve Park, who is now a Truck Series regular in the #62 Orleans Dodge, also has had to overcome a devastating head injury in order to continue racing.

Roush Racing will also be fielding another new face in Truck Series competition for their #50 Ford entry, replacing Jon Wood with a new driver named Todd Kluever.

Todd Bodine, who won back to back Truck Series events for the new team of Germain/Arnold Motorsports in 2004, will not be back in their #30 entry for the 2005 season. Word is that Chad Chaffin, former driver of the #18 Dickies Dodge for Bobby Hamilton racing, will be filling the #30 seat. Bodine is reported to have left the #30 team after contractual disputes couldn’t be settled to his satisfaction.

Seeing that Bodine won those back to back events for Toyota, he's not the auto manufacturers driver of choice to carry the Toyota banner in the Truck Series. Bodine took the Toyota backing and sponsorship to the Fiddleback Motorsports team. The Mooresville, North Carolina team fielded Fords in 2004 for a up and coming driver named J. R. Patton. The team, with backing from Toyota will field two Truck Series teams in 2005 for both Bodine in the #66 and Patton in the #67.