7/4/04… Carl Edwards beat the odds and won the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at the Kansas Speedway. Pole sitter Dennis Setzer put Edwards and himself into the wall at the beginning of the event, but Setzer ended up getting the worst of it. Edward's chassis man re-aligned the front end of the truck on pit road and it handled well enough to win the event.

The win was the second of the season for Edwards, who took the checkers in the season opener at Daytona. Edwards joins Setzer and Bobby Hamilton in being two time winners early in the season after the tenth race. Edwards, driver of the #99 Roush Racing Ford, now has five victories in the second full year of his Craftsman Truck Series career.

To add a damper to Edward's night, his truck failed post race inspection. NASCAR officials stated that the #99 failed to meet the minimum height requirement after the event. NASCAR confiscated some parts from the #99 and planned to assess them at its research and development center in North Carolina. There was some speculation that the #99's foray into the wall at the beginning of the event may have had something to do with the overall height problem. It's doubtful that a decision concerning a penalty will be forthcoming until all of the investigative work is done on the parts at the research and development center.

The Kansas race fans were treated to the usual Carl Edwards' victory back-flip off of the #99 truck bed. Actually, he did it twice, in front of the flag stand for the fans. Some time ago, NASCAR tried to put a squash on Edwards' trademark back-flip off of the truck, but apparently they didn't have much luck in quelling his victory antics.

Following Edwards across the finish line were Bobby Hamilton, Rick Crawford, Steve Park, Matt Crafton, Jon Wood, Travis Kvapil, Jack Sprague, Chad Chaffin, and Terry Cook. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Dennis Setzer -- #46 Chevy – finished 25th
2. Carl Edwards -- #99 Chevy – finished 1st
3. Bobby Hamilton -- #4 Chevy – finished 2nd
4. Rick Crawford -- #14 Ford -- finished 3rd
5. Ted Musgrave -- #1 Dodge – finished 30th
6. Chad Chaffin -- #18 Dodge – finished 9th
7. Matt Crafton -- #6 Chevy – finished 5th
8. Jon Wood -- #50 Ford – finished 6th
9. Travis Kvapil-- #24 Toyota – finished 7th
10. Mike Skinner -- #42 Toyota – finished 12th

Dennis Setzer may have retained the point's lead but Carl Edwards gained 97 points on him. Setzer may have forced Edwards into the wall at the beginning of the event but the move backfired on him. Edwards now trails Setzer by a mere 34 points, followed by Bobby Hamilton who remains in third listed with a -61. Rick Crawford is still in fourth listed now with a -132, followed by Matt Crafton who moved up two spots to round out the top five with a -186. Chad Chaffin remains in sixth listed now with a -197 with Jon Wood moving up one spot to seventh listed with a -200. Travis Kvapil moved up one spot to eighth listed with a -227 followed by Ted Musgrave who dropped four spots to ninth listed with a -228. Jack Sprague moved up one spot to round out the top ten with a -239.

Next week the truck series moves to the Kentucky Speedway for the Ford 225. The event is scheduled to be aired by the SPEED Channel on Saturday, July 10th at 8 pm.

Last season's winner of the Kentucky event was rookie Carl Edwards. He was followed across the finish line by Ted Musgrave, Dennis Setzer, Jon Wood, Jason Leffler, Travis Kvapil, Matt Crafton, Robert Pressley, Terry Cook, and Hank Parker Jr.

Jon Wood won the Bud Pole Award with the #50 Roush Racing Ford with a speed of 169.641 miles per hour. There were seven caution periods for a total of 29 laps out of the 150 lap event on the 1.5 mile oval.

7/11/04… Bobby Hamilton was the class of the field with the #4 Square D Dodge in the Ford 225 on the Kentucky Speedway Saturday night.

The victory was the third of the season for Hamilton and the seventh of his Craftsman Truck Series career. Hamilton became the first three time winner out of the 11 events this season and is closing in on the championship. The former Winston Cup veteran driver has been a force to be reckoned with since losing his Cup ride a couple of years ago and getting relegated down to the truck series. The series has acted as a catch-all for other former Cup Series drivers as well, including Ted Musgrave, Jason Leffler, and Mike Skinner, just to name a few.

Following Hamilton across the finish line were Jack Sprague, David Starr, Matt Crafton, Chad Chaffin, Steve Park, Ted Musgrave, Andy Houston, rookie David Reutimann, and rookie Robert Huffman. Due to inclement weather, the starting lineup was set according to owner's points. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Dennis Setzer -- #46 Chevy – finished 11th
2. Carl Edwards -- #99 Ford – finished 33rd
3. Bobby Hamilton -- #4 Dodge – finished 1st
4. Rick Crawford -- #14 Ford -- finished 16th
5. Matt Crafton -- #6 Chevy -- finished 4th
6. Chad Chaffin -- #18 Dodge – finished 5th
7. Jon Wood -- #50 Ford – finished 12th
8. Travis Kvapil -- #24 Toyota – finished 15th
9. Ted Musgrave -- #1 Dodge – finished 7th
10. Jack Sprague -- #16 Chevy – finished 2nd

I find it quite amusing that a Dodge won the Ford Tough 225. There were no Fords among the top ten finishers! The highest finishing Ford was the #50 Roush racing entry driven by Jon Wood, which came across the line in the 12th position. Actually, there were only eight Fords in the race out of the 36 competitors. Ford doesn't have a strong presence in the Craftsman Truck Series. Be that as it may, the Ford Motor Co. recently announced that it's extending sponsorship of the Kentucky race through the 2007 season. Ford also sponsors the "Ford Championship Weekend" season finale at the Homestead-Miami facility in Florida for all three of NASCAR's top series.

Giving the female fans something to talk about, Tina Gordon wasn't in the truck race at Kentucky, she ran the Busch Series race at Chicagoland, finishing 30th. Deborah Renshaw made an appearance in the Kentucky event driving the #29 Ford, finishing 25th, seven laps down. Series regular rookie Kelly Sutton also drove in the event piloting the #102 Chevy to a 23rd place finish.

Dennis Setzer hangs onto the driver's point's standings by a mere six points over Bobby Hamilton who moved up one spot to second with his win. Carl Edwards dropped down one spot to third listed with a -105, followed by Rick Crawford and Matt Crafton who are still in the fourth and fifth positions listed now with a -152 and -161. Chad Chaffin remains in the sixth position listed now with a -177. Jack Sprague's second place finish moved him up three spots to seventh listed with a -199, followed by Jon Wood who dropped down one spot to eighth listed with a -208. Ted Musgrave remains in the ninth position listed now with a -217, followed by Travis Kvapil who dropped down one spot to round out the top ten listed with a -244.

Next week the Craftsman Truck Series moves over to Madison, Illinois on the Gateway International Raceway for the Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200. The event will be televised live by the SPEED channel on Saturday, July 17th at 8 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the Gateway event was Brendan Gaughan, followed by Jason Leffler, Travis Kvapil, rookie Carl Edwards, Rick Crawford, David Starr, Ted Musgrave, Dennis Setzer, Terry Cook, and Matt Crafton.

There was no Bud Pole Award, qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather. The field started via owner's points with Ted Musgrave assuming the pole position. There were five caution periods for a total of 27 laps out of the 160 lap event on the 1.25 mile oval.

7/18/04… David Starr finally made it into the win column as the wild and wooly Ram Tough 200 came to a close at the Madison, Illinois Gateway International Raceway. The race was likened to a demolition derby more so than a clean event. Starr won by beating and banging his way past Chad Chaffin and Dennis Setzer to the finish line, being only the second time in the history of the series to have the winning driver only lead on the last lap.

The victory was Starr's first since the fall of 2002, and he didn't get it by racing clean. You may remember that Starr did a brief stint early this season in the #50 Busch Series Enzyte entry for a Dallas, Texas based team, but left to concentrate on his truck series career as the series got under way full time in early summer. This Enzyte team was supposed to be the center of a virtual racing television series that was supposed to cover ever aspect of the race team from the shop to the track, but it failed to be successful, along with the #50 team.

I find it really hard to believe that there isn't one iota written about Bobby Hamilton's blatant assault on Shane Hmiel. Hmiel got loose and his right rear slid up and connected with the left front of Hamilton's truck up next to the wall. Hamilton smoked his tires and ran into the side of Hmiel, then pushed him, driver's door first half way around the track then down into the infield. Apparently Hamilton is the 'golden boy" of the truck series and is in a position where he can do no wrong. If Kevin Harvick had pulled a stupid stunt like that, he'd have been parked for more than one race. Hamilton had a sour attitude when he raced in the Cup Series; I was glad to see him forced out and demoted down to the truck series, as were a lot of his competitors. If he keeps it up his bad attitude, someone will be demoting him our of NASCAR altogether.

The Gateway race was extended an extra 14 laps due to cautions. The truck series has a rule that won't let a race end under caution, similar to the one that NASCAR has adopted for the Cup and Busch Series competition, but those two series are only going to adapt to the green white, checkers rule for one time, which could only extend an event by two laps. If there is a wreck that brings out the caution period during the green, white, checkers, then the event will end under caution in the Cup and Busch Series events. A fact which makes me and a lot of others wonder why NASCAR is messing with it to begin with, if only to appease a few boisterous beer drinking fans or some powerful corporate sponsors.

Following Starr across the finish line were Dennis Setzer, Ted Musgrave, Chad Chaffin, Hank Parker Jr., Matt Crafton, Travis Kvapil, Randy LaJoie, rookie David Reutimann, and Bill Lester. It's good to see Lester get a top ten finish! The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jack Sprague -- #16 Chevy – finished 29th
2. Bobby Hamilton -- #4 Dodge – finished 17th
3. Rick Crawford -- #14 Ford – finished 25th
4. Steve Park -- #62 Dodge -- finished 31st
5. Travis Kvapil -- #24 Toyota -- finished 7th
6. Chad Chaffin -- #18 Dodge – finished 4th
7. Shane Hmiel -- #15 Chevy – finished 16th
8. Bill Lester -- #22 Toyota – finished 10th
9. Carl Edwards -- #99 Ford – finished 18th
10. Andy Houston -- #2 Dodge – finished 13th

Dennis Setzer's second place finish helped him extend his driver's point's lead over second place Bobby Hamilton by 64 points. Carl Edwards remains in third place, now listed with a -166. Matt Crafton moved up one spot to fourth listed with a -186, followed by Chad Chaffin who moved up one spot to round out the top five right on Crafton's heels with a -187. Ted Musgrave moved up three spots to sixth listed with a -227, followed by Rick Crawford who dropped down three spots to seventh listed now with a -239. Travis Kvapil moved up three spots to eighth listed with a -273, followed by Jack Sprague who dropped down two spots to ninth listed with a -293. Jon Wood dropped down two spots to round out the top ten listed with a -310.

Next week the truck series has a week off. They will continue with the series on Saturday, July 31st at Michigan International Raceway with race #13. The event will be televised by the SPEED channel at 1 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the Michigan event was Brendan Gaughan, followed by Ted Musgrave, Chad Chaffin, Jason Leffler, rookie Carl Edwards, Jon Wood, Travis Kvapil, Dennis Setzer, Terry Cook, and Bobby Hamilton.

Jason Leffler won the Bud Pole Award in the #2 ASE Dodge. There was only one caution period for a total of six laps out of the 100 lap event on the two mile oval.

7/31/04… Travis Kvapil won his first race of the season on the wide fast two mile track at Michigan, and the first race for Toyota in the Craftsman Truck Series. The victory was the fourth in the fourth year of Kvapil's truck racing career. One thing that made their first victory sweet for the Bang Racing team was the fact that they had to change Kvapil's engine before the event and started from the back of the field. There were three Toyota's and two Dodges finishing in the top five, with four Toyota's, and two of each Dodge, Chevy, and Ford models among the top ten.

Following the defending 2003 Craftsman Truck Series Champion Kvapil across the finish line were Ted Musgrave, Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson, Bobby Hamilton, Carl Edwards, Terry Cook, Shane Hmiel, rookie Robert Huffman, and Dennis Setzer. In case no one noticed, four out of the top five finishers were former Cup Series drivers. It was good to see Kvapil get the best of them! The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Dennis Setzer -- #46 Chevy – finished 10th
2. Bobby Hamilton -- #4 Dodge – finished 5th
3. Carl Edwards -- #99 Ford – finished 6th
4. Matt Crafton -- #6 Chevy -- finished 12th
5. Chad Chaffin -- #18 Dodge -- finished 11th
6. Ted Musgrave -- #1 Dodge – finished 2nd
7. Rick Crawford -- #14 Ford – finished 32nd
8. Travis Kvapil -- #24 Toyota – finished 1st
9. Jack Sprague -- #16 Chevy – finished 27th
10. Jon Wood -- #50 Ford – finished 30th

The field was set via owners points for the third time in the last four races due to inclement weather. Dennis Setzer had another start from the pole, his third this season, and his third in the month of July, but it didn't do him any good. All in all, Setzer isn't having what one could call a stellar season. In his last three starts from the pole set via owner's points in the month of July, Setzer has finished 25th at Kansas on July third, 11th at Kentucky July 10th, and 10th at Michigan on July 31st. Setzer might have to win the pole by speed to get a race win or a top five finish, inclement weather hasn't done him much good.

Next week the truck series drops down to the Midwest for the Power Stroke Diesel 200 at the Indianapolis Raceway Park. The event will be aired live by the SPEED channel on Friday, August 6th at 8 pm eastern.

Last season's winner at Indy Raceway Park was rookie Carl Edwards, followed by Travis Kvapil, Bobby Hamilton, Brendan Gaughan, Jon Wood, Ted Musgrave, Ken Schrader, Dennis Setzer, Terry Cook, and Matt Crafton.