2/16/04…….. Carl Edwards started off his 2004 Craftsman Truck Season with a win in the season opener at Daytona. Last season’s Raybestos Rookie of the Year for the Craftsman Truck Series (CTS) took the lead on the final re-start with just 12 laps remaining in the event. To no avail, Mike Wallace in the No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet and Travis Kvapil in the No. 24 Line-X Toyota tried to catch him, but it was Edward’s night to win. The win was the fourth for Edwards in the second full year of his career in the CTS. He won last season at Kentucky, Indianapolis, and Nashville in the No. 99 Roush Racing Ford without a solid sponsor. This season he has sponsorship fro Superchips, and after his season opening victory, I’m sure they’re glad they signed on.

Edwards win spoiled Toyota’s hopes of winning right out of the box in their first NASCAR CTS event. There were seven Toyota’s in the event with only four of them finishing in the top twenty and only two of them finishing in the top ten.

Crossing the finish line behind Edwards were Travis Kvapil, Mike Wallace, Rick Crawford, Terry Cook, Dennis Setzer, Jon Wood, Frank Kimmel, rookie David Reutimann, and Geoff Bodine. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Terry Cook -- No. 10 Ford – finished 10th
2. Chase Montgomery* -- No. 8 Dodge – finished 31st
3. Travis Kvapil -- No. 24 Toyota – finished 2nd
4. Dennis Setzer -- No. 46 Chevy -- finished 6th
5. Matt Crafton -- No. 6 Chevy – finished 19th
6. Carl Edwards -- No. 99 Ford – finished 1st
7. Andy Houston -- No. 2 Dodge – finished 30th
8. Robert Huffman* -- No. 12 Toyota – finished 36th
9. Randy LaJoie -- No. 59 Dodge – finished 34th
10. Bobby Hamilton -- No. 4 Dodge – finished 11th

The next event for the CTS is the Atlanta 200 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The event is scheduled to be televised live by the SPEED channel at 1 pm eastern on Saturday, March 13th.

There are no statistics to fall back on as the CTS has never held an event at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 will be the inaugural event at this facility. Be sure to watch the TV broadcast or attend the race and catch a part of NASCAR history as the trucks fly around this super fast track for the first time.

3/13/04…….. The inaugural truck race at Atlanta certainly wasn’t a disappointment. As most of you know, the layout configuration of Atlanta makes it one of the fastest tracks on the NASCAR circuit, if not the fastest. The trucks are known for their horsepower and speed and they certainly lived up to their reputation.

Another one of the idiosyncrasies of the truck series is their bumping and banging, regardless of whether they are on a short track or a superspeedway. The fact that Atlanta is a 1.5 mile fast track didn’t put any fear in the competitors as they bumped each other into the wall. Problem there was that most of those who found the wall or that was involved in major alterations ended up going to the hospital. Hank Parker Jr. was hurt seriously enough to be air lifted out of the facility, while three others were transported by ground transportation.

As with the Busch Series, the Cup drivers or former Cup drivers tended to dominate the race. As the event wound down to the final laps it was apparent that Bobby Hamilton had the fastest machine in the No. 4 Square D sponsored Dodge, although he was constantly hounded by another former Cup driver, Mike Skinner, who was driving Bang Racing’s No. 42 Toyota. The two fought tooth and nail with Hamilton banging Skinner out of control just before crossing the finish line. Skinner finished second to Hamilton, crossing the finish line sideways. Skinner was trying his hardest to be the first to win for Toyota. Also trying his hardest to win for Toyota in Darrell Waltrip Racing’s No. 17 Toyota was rookie David Reutimann, who crossed the finish line in the third position.

Following those three across the finish line were defending Truck Series Champion Travis Kvapil, Matt Crafton, Shane Hmiel, Daytona season opening winner Carl Edwards, former Cup driver Ted Musgrave, Chad Chaffin, and current Cup driver Ken Schrader rounding out the top ten. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. David Reutimann* -- No. 17 Toyota – finished 3rd
2. Robert Huffman*-- No. 12 Toyota – finished 29th
3. Carl Edwards -- No. 99 Ford – finished 7th
4. Mike Skinner-- No. 42 Toyota -- finished 2nd
5. Bill Lester -- No. 22 Toyota – finished 15th
6. Matt Crafton-- No. 6 Chevy – finished 5th
7. Hank Parker, Jr. -- No. 21 Toyota – finished 33rd
8. Dennis Setzer-- No. 46 Chevy – finished 11th
9. Travis Kvapil-- No. 24 Toyota – finished 4th
10. Ken Schrader-- No. 52 Chevy – finished 10th

Carl Edwards, last season’s Raybestos Rookie of the Year, is still atop of the point’s standings, but by a mere point. Second place driver Travis Kvapil, the defending series champion is nipping at Edwards heels with nothing but that mere one point between them. Race winner Bobby Hamilton moved up seven spots to third and is now listed with a -16. Rookie David Reutimann moved up five spots to fourth listed with a -23. Dennis Setzer moved up one spot to round out the top five with a -51. Shane Hmiel moved up eight spots to sixth place with a -65. Terry Cook dropped two spots to seventh listed now with a -67. Mike Skinner was the big mover, moving up 18 spots due to his second place finish to eighth place. Chad Chaffin moved up four spots to ninth listed with a -75 while Matt Crafton moved up eight spots to round out the top ten just one point behind Chaffin with a -75. Mike Skinner was the biggest mover to gain in driver’s points while Mike Wallace was the biggest loser in driver’s points dropping 24 points down to 27th.

The next truck series race is over a month away at Martinsville on Saturday, April 17th. The Kroger 250 will be televised by the SPEED channel at 1 pm eastern.

Last season’s winner of the Martinsville event was Dennis Setzer. He was followed across the finish line by Ted Musgrave, Kevin Harvick, rookie Carl Edwards, Bobby Hamilton, Rick Crawford, Darrell Waltrip, Rich Bickle, and Terry Cook.

Ted Musgrave won the Bud pole award with a speed of 91.297 miles per hour. There were 11 caution periods for 59 laps out of the 250 lap race on the 0.526 mile oval.

UPDATE on injuries..... Crawford suffered a fractured left foot, and Gordon fractured her right ankle. Crawford was treated and released. Joey Clanton, who hit the wall on Lap 88 in an unrelated incident, was given a CAT scan, which came back negative. He was released. Parker Jr. suffered a back injury and will be held overnight at the hospital. It is believed that Parker's injury will not require surgery, and Parker could be released as early as Sunday.(from Jayski.com )

4/18/04…….. Although the Toyota trucks seemed to be strong during the Martinsville event, they petered out miserably at the end of the hunt. Mike Skinner worked his way to the front in the No. 42 Bang Racing Toyota but it wasn't his day to win.

In professional wrestling fashion, Rick Crawford's No. 14 Ford blew the field away in the waning laps of the event. Crawford was racing with a broken foot from the bad wreck he has last month at Atlanta. NASCAR tends to favor the underdog as do the fans, its good for business. It appeared that it was his race to win and the other trucks were just there to follow him. It's really odd that all of these racing vehicles have the same sized engines, etc, then all of a sudden up comes this one truck and blows the entire field away with its amazing speed and handling. One of these days the Toyota's will get the nod from NASCAR and they'll win their first race…..

Dennis Setzer was given the nod for second as his No. 46 Chevy also blew the field away and rode right on Crawford's rear bumper. With a record tying eleven caution periods taking up 83 laps out of the 250 lap event, the race was lengthened four laps because the truck races aren't allowed to end under caution. Setzer clearly had the fastest truck on the final restart as he bumped Crawford a few times going into turn one, but settled in and followed him to the checkered flag like it was previously ordained.

The ending of the event looked like something out of a science fiction movie. Most of the drivers seemed to throw caution out of the window and raced hell bent for leather to the checkered flag, knocking anyone out of their way if they happened to have a slower truck. As the checkered flag waved, there was a wreck in front of the flag stand as someone ran over Bill Lester in his No. 22 Toyota. Lester whacked the infield wall hard and was visibly shaken along with being extremely irritated, making his way on foot to the infield care center, brushing off anyone who attempted to speak with him.

Following those two across the finish line were Jack Sprague, who led the most laps, Jon wood, Mike Skinner, Carl Edwards, Matt Crafton, rookie David Reutimann, David Starr, and Chad Chaffin. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jack Sprague -- No. 16 Chevy – finished 3rd
2. Chad Chaffin -- No. 18 Dodge – finished 10th
3. Rick Crawford -- No. 14 Ford – finished 1st
4. Carl Edwards-- No. 99 Ford -- finished 6th
5. Bobby Hamilton -- No. 4 Dodge – finished 31st
6. Travis Kvapil -- No. 24 Toyota – finished 13th
7. Shane Hmiel -- No. 15 Chevy – finished 35th
8. Mike Skinner -- No. 2 Toyota – finished 5th
9. Andy Petree -- No. 33 Chevy – finished 18th
10. Dennis Setzer -- No. 46 Chevy – finished 2nd

Carl Edwards moved up one spot to take the lead in the driver's point's standings with 486. Edwards started two positions ahead of the former leader Travis Kvapil and finished seven positions ahead of him, dropping Kvapil back one spot to a -22. Rookie David Reutimann moved up on spot to third with his eighth place finish and is now listed with a -31 along with Denis Setzer who moved up one spot listed at fourth. Questions have been asked as to why one driver is listed ahead of another when they both have the same amount of driver's points. This is determined by team owner's points. Reutimann's team owner, Darrell Waltrip is listed as 4th in owner's points while Setzer's team owner, David Dollar, is listed at sixth. Mike Skinner moved up three spots with his fifth place finish and is now listed with a -62. Matt Crafton moved up four spots to sixth listed with a -79 while Rick Crawford is right on his heels moving up eight spots listed in seventh with a -80. Chad Chaffin is listed in eighth place with a -80 with Bobby Hamilton dropping six spots to ninth with a -81. Jon Wood moved up four spots to round out the top ten with a -98.

The Truck Series will be taking another month long hiatus until May 16th when they compete at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway at Mansfield, Ohio. This will be the inaugural event at this facility, so all of the competitors will be on an even keel as far as track experience is concerned.

5/18/04…….. Mother Nature rained on the truck series parade this past weekend and washed out qualifying for the inaugural truck race at Mansfield, Ohio. With only three previous races in the books for the 2004 season, the lineup had to be based mostly on 2003 owner's points. After the fourth race in the season, the owners point's for that particular season will be used to decide the lineup if the regular qualifying session is cancelled.

For the first time in the history of the truck series, there were three female entries. They included truck series regular Tina Gordon, Canadian driver Teri McDonald, and Kelly Sutton. McDonald finished in the 25th position, six laps down and Sutton finished in the 20th position as the last driver to cross the line on the lead lap.

Gordon was involved in a bad wreck on lap 45 when she lost control of her truck. She sun out and stopped in the middle of the track and got T-boned by Rick Crawford who then knocked their trucks into hank parker Jr. All three drivers were taken to local hospitals for treatment. Parker suffered a back injury and was released the next day, while Crawford suffered a broken left foot and Gordon suffered a broken right fibula (leg). Three time truck series champion Jack Sprague won the inaugural UAW/GM Ohio 250 event, racking up his 24th win in the series. He was the fourth winner in 2004 in as many races. Following Sprague across the finish line were Dennis Setzer, Terry Cook, Bobby Hamilton, rookie Tracy Hines, rookie Mark McFarland, Rick Crawford, Jon Wood, David Starr, and Matt Crafton. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jack Sprague -- No. 16 Chevy – finished 1st
2. Dennis Setzer -- No. 46 Chevy – finished 2nd
3. Ted Musgrave -- No. 1 Dodge – finished 13th
4. Steve park -- No. 62 Dodge -- finished 27th
5. Jon Wood -- No. 50 Ford – finished 8th
6. Bobby Hamilton -- No. 4 Dodge – finished 4th
7. Rick Crawford -- No. 14 Ford – finished 7th
8. Andy Houston -- No. 2 Dodge – finished 15th
9. Carl Edwards -- No. 99 Ford – finished 17th
10. David Starr -- No. 75 Chevy – finished 9th

Dennis Setzer's second place finish moved him up two spots to lead the driver's point's standings with 630 points. Carl Edwards dropped down one spot to second listed with a -32 while rookie David Reutimann moved up one spot to take third listed with a -54. Bobby Hamilton moved up five spots to fourth listed with a -70 while Mike Skinner remained in fifth, now listed with a -76. Right on Skinner's heels listed with a -78 is Rick Crawford who moved up one spot to sixth. Race winner Jack Sprague moved up five spots to seventh listed with a -86, just ahead of Matt Crafton who dropped down two spots to eighth listed with a -89. Terry Cook moved up two spots to ninth listed with a -94 while Defending series champion Travis Kvapil dropped down eight spots to round out the top ten with a -99.

Next week the truck series moves to Charlotte for the Hardee's 200. The event will be televised live on the SPEED channel on Friday, May 21st at 8:30 pm eastern.

last season's winner of the event was Ted Musgrave. He was followed across the finish line by Brendan Gaughan, Rick Crawford, Travis Kvapil, Kevin Harvick, Jeremy Mayfield, Bobby Hamilton, Chad Chaffin, Matt Crafton, and Rich Bickle.

Bill Lester won the Bud Pole Award in the No. 8 Dodge Motorsports sponsored Dodge with a speed of 175.593 miles per hour. There were seven caution periods for a total of 33 laps out of the 136 lap event on the 1.5 mile oval.

5/24/04…….. Dennis Setzer was riding in the cat bird seat when race leader Carl Edwards somehow got confused with just four laps to go. Apparently, as the story seems to go, Edwards thought that a caution period had been called for a spin-out in the backfield and slowed down. Setzer powered by the slowed #99 Roush Racing Ford and went on to claim victory.

Setzer has passed Edwards shortly before, as Edwards got tangled up with Waltrip, only to have Edwards power past him when he regained his composure. It was a cutthroat race from beginning to end, with Waltrip hoping to gain the first victory for Toyota, but it wasn't in the books at Charlotte.

Following Setzer and Edwards across the finish line were David Starr, Cup driver and truck team owner Kevin Harvick, Cup driver Michael Waltrip, Shane Hmiel, Rick Crawford, defending champion Travis Kvapil, Matt Crafton, and Bobby Hamilton. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. David Starr -- #75 Chevy – finished 3rd
2. Carl Edwards -- #99 Ford—finished 2nd
3. Mike Skinner -- #42 Toyota – finished 15th
4. Matt Crafton -- #6 Chevy -- finished 9th
5. Bobby Hamilton -- #4 Dodge – finished 10th
6. Kevin Harvick -- #192 Chevy – finished 4th
7. Robert Huffman* -- #12 Toyota – finished 16th
8. Bill Lester -- #22 Toyota – finished 21st
9. Dennis Setzer -- #46 Chevy – finished 1st
10. Chad Chaffin -- #18 Dodge – finished 30th

Dennis Setzer is still leading the driver's point's standings by 37 points over second place driver Carl Edwards. Rick Crawford moved up three spots to third listed now with a-117 while Bobby Hamilton remains in fourth now listed with a -121. Matt Crafton moved up three spots to round out the top five with a -136, with Mike Skinner dropping down one spot to sixth listed with a -138. Travis Kvapil moved up three spots to seventh listed now with a -142, followed by Terry Cook who moved up one spot to eighth with a -158. Jon Wood moved up two spots to ninth listed with a -173 while rookie David Reutimann dropped a whopping seven spots to round out the top ten listed with a -184.

The truck series will be back in business on Friday, June 4th at Dover with the MBNA America 200. The event will be televised by the SPEED channel at 4 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the Dover event was Jason Leffler. He was followed across the finish line by Bobby Hamilton, David Starr, Jon Wood, Travis Kvapil, Ken Schrader, Chad Chaffin, Rick Crawford, Dennis Setzer, and Robert Pressley.

There was no Bud Pole Award due to inclement weather. The field was set via owners points with Ted Musgrave leading them off in the #1 Mopar sponsored Dodge. There were eight caution periods for a total of 42 laps out of the 200 laps on the one mile concrete oval.

5/28/04…….. Damage control or damaging control? Whichever….. At any rate, it was high time that NASCAR owned up to making a colossal mistake. Colossal? Well, the outcome of a competitive event was changed forever because of the NASCAR error.

Carl Edwards, the leader of the event at the time, followed the rules and slowed down for the caution when the light came on. The one who won the event didn't follow the rules, he charged on to get the victory at someone else's expense. Is this the way it was supposed to happen? Was this just a play out of NASCAR's professional wrestling style play book? Did NASCAR exert control over the outcome of the event by toying with the caution light to confuse the leader on purpose?

Some will most certainly say yes, but most will say no. Those who say no are the same ones who couldn't possibly believe that President Bush would lie to the American people about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. That's what keeps the government, professional wrestling, and NASCAR afloat, gullible people who believe anything they are told. Our people have gotten so lazy and complacent that they don't want to bother to think for themselves anymore.

At any rate, NASCAR graciously apologized for the error of briefly displaying a caution light. Chad Chaffin's damaged #18 Dodge was limping on the bottom of the track along the backstretch, and the flagman turned on the caution light, but was immediately told to turn it off by officials in the booth, and that there would be no caution that late in the race. Too many chiefs and no Indians? It sure sounds that way to me. Maybe they need a robot in the flag stand, one that can't think for himself and throw a caution flag when the powers that be don't want him to. Racing safety has taken a back seat to marketing, TV network desires, and overall cosmetics to bring about politically correct event to please fans and TV viewers. Rules and regulations be damned, they're changed on the fly these days to suit the needs of the moment.

Carl Edwards was relegated to second place and Dennis Setzer got his first win of the season. The race finish stands, far be it from NASCAR to make any changes to the finishing roster, regardless of who's at fault. When it comes time to tally up the championship points for the season to see who gets the nod for 2004, NASCAR will be lucky if its inept handling of the Charlotte event doesn't affect the outcome of the championship.

6/5/04…….. Chad Chaffin finally made it into the winners circle in the Craftsman truck Series. The 36 year old Smyrna, Tennessee native is in his second full year in the series driving the Dickies sponsored #18 Dodge for Bobby Hamilton Racing. Last year, in his first season, he scored two top five and nine top ten finishes out of the 25 truck series events.

Chaffin's victory was the sixth win in the first six races of the season, which is a series record. The truck series has never gone the first six races since it's inception in 1995 without a repeat winner. Of course, as we all know, that fact is largely due to the screw up over the caution light in the Charlotte race. It's a foregone conclusion that Carl Edwards would have won if the caution lights had not been flashed, but then again one never knows, Edwards could have easily blown a tire on his last lap. I've seen in happen, so we can't fault NASCAR too much on that one! NASCAR has since taken the caution light controls out of the flagman's booth and moved them upstairs to the main control tower, so that error won't happen again.

The Toyotas are still without a win in the series. Mike Skinner, driving the #42 Toyota Tundra for Bang Racing, led a race high 85 laps, but got caught up in a caution and lost his track position.

Following Chaffin across the finish line were Rick Crawford (#14 Ford), Hank Parker Jr. (#21 Toyota), Mike Skinner (#42 Toyota), Ken Schrader (#52 Chevy), Dave Blaney (#23 Toyota), Andy Houston (#2 Dodge), David Starr (#75 Chevy), Jack Sprague (#16 Chevy), and Jon Wood (#50 Ford). The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Carl Edwards -- #99 Ford -- finished 14th
2. Jack Sprague -- #16 Chevy – finished 9th
3. Steve Park -- #62 Chevy -- finished 13th
4. Rick Crawford -- #14 Ford -- finished 4th
5. Dave Blaney -- #23 Toyota – finished 6th
6. Mike Skinner -- #42 Toyota -- finished 4th
7. Bobby Hamilton -- #3 Dodge – finished 19th
8. David Reutimann* -- #17 Toyota – finished 17th
9. Chad Chaffin -- #18 Dodge -- finished 1st
10. Ted Musgrave -- #1 Dodge – finished 12th

Dennis Setzer remains at the top of the driver's point's standings, but by only a slim margin of 20 points over Carl Edwards. Rick Crawford remains in third with a -56, as the top three positions remain the same except for the addition of points. Mike Skinner moved up two spots to fourth with his top five finish, and is now listed with a -77. Bobby Hamilton dropped down one position to round out the top five with a -124. Defending Craftsman Truck Series Champion Travis Kvapil moved up one spot to sixth listed with a -136, while Jon Wood's top ten finish moved him up two spots to seventh listed with a -148. Jack Sprague moved up two spots to eighth listed with a -157 while David Starr moved up three spots to ninth just two points ahead of Sprague listed with a -159. Terry Cook dropped down two spots to round out the top ten listed with a -164.

The truck series is getting back on a weekly schedule now, with a trip to Texas Motor Speedway scheduled for next week. The O'Reilly 400k is slated to be run on Friday, June 11th and will be televised on the SPEED channel at 9 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the event was Brendan Gaughan. He was followed across the finish line by rookie Carl Edwards, Jon Wood, Travis Kvapil, Dennis Setzer, David Starr, Bobby Hamilton, Chad Chaffin, Terry Cook, and Matt Crafton.

There was no Bud Pole Award last season due to inclement weather. The field was set via owner's points with Bobby Hamilton leading them off. There were four caution periods for a total of 19 laps out of the 167 lap event on the 1.5 mile oval.

6/12/04…….. Dennis Setzer bested the Texans at the Texas Motor Speedway Friday night. The 44 year old Newton, North Carolina native won his second race of the season and the 12th of his career. He began driving full time in the Craftsman Truck Series in 1999 after making eight starts in 1995, one start in 1997 and 13 starts in 1998. Taking the second Texas victory in his career makes Setzer the first repeat winner of the 2004 season.

Setzer beat out second place driver Ted Musgrave by more than 11 seconds. Musgrave had built up a seven second lead but was plagued by a loose right front wheel and had to slack off the pace allowing Setzer to take the victory. Musgrave claimed to have gotten gypped out of the championship last season, and stated that he was going to drive with a vengeance in 2004. His second place finish at Texas is the better of only two top ten finishes this season.

Following Setzer and Musgrave across the finish line were rookie David Reutimann, Jack Sprague, Chad Chaffin, Carl Edwards, Bobby Hamilton, Matt Crafton, Andy Houston, and Steve Park. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Ted Musgrave -- #1 Dodge – finished 2nd
2. Robert Huffman* -- #12 Toyota – finished 28th
3. Bill Lester -- #22 Toyota – finished 12th
4. Dennis Setzer -- #46 Chevy -- finished 1st
5. Carl Edwards -- #99 Ford -- finished 6th
6. David Reutimann* -- #17 Toyota -- finished 3rd
7. David Starr -- #75 Chevy – finished 29th
8. Chad Chaffin -- #18 Dodge -- finished 5th
9. Mike Skinner -- #42 Toyota – finished 11th
10. Brandon Whitt* -- #138 Ford – finished 22nd

The top five positions in the driver's point's standings remain the same with Setzer now leading second place driver Carl Edwards by a spread of 50 points. Rick Crawford is listed in third with a deficit of -123 while Mike Skinner is right on his heels with a -127. Bobby Hamilton is back a little way in fifth listed with a -163. Jack Sprague moved up two spots to sixth listed now with a -182 while David Reutimann's top five finish moved him up five spots to seventh listed with a -201. Jon Wood dropped down one spot to eighth listed with a -209 while Matt Crafton moved up two spots to ninth listed with a -212. Chad Chaffin moved up three spots to round out the top ten with a -230. The truck series only has seven races in the books for 2004, which is why their points are still so close together as opposed to the Busch and Cup Series where a 400 or more point spread can be found in the top ten.

the truck series moves back across the Mississippi river to the Memphis Motorsports Park for the O'Reilly 200. The event is scheduled to be televised on the SPEED channel on Saturday, June 19th at 3 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the O'Reilly 200 was Ted Musgrave. He was followed across the finish line by Travis Kvapil, Dennis Setzer, Jon Wood, rookie Carl Edwards, Jason Leffler, Bobby Hamilton, Brenda Gaughan, Terry Cook, and Matt Crafton.

Jon Wood won the Bud Pole Award in the #50 Ford with a speed of 117.407 miles per hour. There were seven caution periods for a total of 37 laps out of the 200 lap event on the ¾ mile oval.

6/19/04…….. Bobby Hamilton won his second Truck Series race of the season at the Memphis Motorsports Park Saturday afternoon. There were several leaders during the caution laced event including Jack Sprague, Shane Hmiel, and Ted Musgrave, although Hmiel and Sprague led most of the race.

Some of you may remember Hmiel from the Busch Series. He used to drive the #47 Pontiac until he was ousted from competition by NASCAR due to a substance abuse infraction. He returned this season driving the #15 Chevy in the Truck Series after going through a lengthily rehabilitation program under the direction of the sanctioning body.

Following Hamilton across the finish line were Hmiel, Ted Musgrave, Dennis Setzer, Carl Edwards, Matt Crafton, Jack Sprague, Jon Wood, Chad Chaffin, and David Starr. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jack Sprague -- #16 Chevy – finished 7th
2. Ted Musgrave -- #1 Dodge – finished 3rd
3. Bobby Hamilton -- #4 Dodge – finished 1st
4. Carl Edwards -- #99 Ford -- finished 5th
5. Travis Kvapil-- #24 Toyota – finished 13th
6. Shane Hmiel -- #15 Chevy – finished 2nd
7. Jon Wood -- #50 Ford – finished 8th
8. Robert Huffman* -- #12 Toyota – finished 16th
9. Chad Chaffin -- #18 Dodge – finished 9th
10. Dennis Setzer -- #46 Chevy – finished 4th

Dennis Setzer remains in the driver's point's lead over second place driver Carl Edwards by 55 points. Bobby Hamilton moved up two spots into third listed with a -138 while Rick Crawford dropped down one spot to fourth listed with -177. Jack Sprague moved up one spot to round out the top five with a -186. Mike Skinner dropped two spots to sixth listed with a 202 while Matt Crafton moved up two spots to seventh listed with a -222. Jon Wood remains in eighth listed with a -227 while Ted Musgrave moved up three spots to ninth listed with a -243. David Reutimann dropped down three spots to round out the top ten with a -249.

Next week the Truck Series moves north to The Milwaukee Mile for the Black Cat Fireworks 200. The event will be televised by the SPEED channel on Friday, June 26th at 9 pm eastern.

Last season's Milwaukee Truck Series event was won by Terry Cook. He was followed across the finish line by Jason Leffler, Coy Gibbs, rookie Brendan Gaughan, Ted Musgrave, David Starr, Robert Pressley, Mike Bliss, Jon Wood, and Travis Kvapil.

Terry Cook won the Bud Pole Award with the #29 Ford with a speed of 119.784 miles per hour. There were three caution periods for a total of ten laps out of the 203 laps on the one mile oval.

6/26/04… It was time for the sun to shine down on Ted Musgrave, who hadn't won a truck race since September of 2003. Musgrave became the seventh different winner in the first nine races of the 204 season, dominating the Milwaukee event if fine fettle.

Musgrave was supposed to have started the season out with a vengeance this year due to his major disappointment of losing the championship last season by just a few points to Travis Kvapil due to a faulty restart. His season hasn't been what was expected and getting one in the win column will undoubtedly boost his esteem for both him and his team.

Musgrave, a native of Franklin, Wisconsin, had won at Milwaukee in his first full season with the truck series in 2001 and considers it to be one of his best tracks. The 49 year old former Cup Series star has now racked up 14 wins in the trucks. He took home a $53.8k purse along with an additional $18k for winning from the pole starting position.

Following Musgrave across the finish line were Chad Chaffin, Dennis Setzer, Steve Park, Travis Kvapil, Bobby Hamilton, Terry Cook, rookie Shane Sieg, Rick Crawford, and Matt Crafton. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Ted Musgrave -- #1 Dodge -- finished 1st
2. Chad Chaffin -- #18 Dodge -- finished 2nd
3. Bobby Hamilton -- #4 Dodge -- finished 6th
4. Jack Sprague -- #16 Chevy -- finished 35th
5. Shane Hmiel -- #15 Chevy – finished 12th
6. Rick Crawford -- #14 Ford -- finished 9th
7. Travis Kvapil -- #24 Toyota – finished 5th
8. Carl Edwards -- #99 Ford – finished 23rd
9. Jon Wood -- #50 Ford – finished 11th
10. Steve Park -- #62 Dodge – finished 4th

The top four drivers in the truck series point's standings remain the same with Dennis Setzer now listed with 1439 points. Carl Edwards is listed in second with a -131 followed by Bobby Hamilton who is listed with a -153. Rick Crawford in fourth place is now listed with a -209. Ted Musgrave's move into the win column raised him up four spots to round out the top five with a -218. Chad Chaffin's second place finish moved him up five spots to sixth now listed with a -252. Matt Crafton and Jon Wood are still in seventh and eighth listed with a -258 and a -267. Travis Kvapil moved up three spots to ninth listed with a 285 while Mike Skinner dropped four spots due to his 29th place finish 26 laps down, to round out the top ten with a -296.

Next week the truck series heads down into the Midwest to Kansas Speedway for the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250. The event is scheduled for Saturday, July 3rd at 3 pm eastern and will be broadcast on the SPEED channel.

The winner of last season's event on July 5th, 2003 was Jon Wood. He was followed by rookie Carl Edwards, Dennis Setzer, Travis Kvapil, Robert Pressley, Eric Jones, Jason Leffler, Paul Menard, Brendan Gaughan, and Bill Lester.