11/14/04… Kasey Kahne, driving in his first Truck Series event, won on the infamous Darlington Raceway in it's first night race under the lights. The Lady in Black, a name bestowed on the Darlington facility years ago, wasn't a problem for the young superstar Kahne, who masterfully guided the #2 ASE sponsored Dodge to victory with a set of worn tires while the trucks behind him were on new rubber.

Actually, it was a missed shift, or other possible mechanical problems, that caused Bobby Hamilton Sr. to run into his son Bobby Jr. and turn him around causing a big wreck on a green white checkers race ending restart. The two Hamilton's were running second and third behind Kahne. Without any more cautions or restarts, Kahne coasted his truck around the track two laps to victory under caution without having to worry about the Hamilton's pulling a fast one on him. What's done is done, and that one was done and over with.

Following Kahne across the finish line in the top ten were Hamilton Sr., Ted Musgrave, Steve Park, Carl Edwards, Johnny Benson, David Starr, Matt Crafton, Robert Huffman, and Terry Cook. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Carl Edwards -- #99 Ford -- finished 5th
2. Shame Hmiel -- #15 Chevy -- finished 33rd
3. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- #159 Dodge -- finished 27th
4. Kasey Kahne* -- #2 Dodge -- finished 1st
5. Bobby Hamilton -- #4 Dodge -- finished 2nd
6. Jason Leffler -- #47 Chevy -- finished 24th
7. Hank Parker Jr. -- #21 Toyota -- finished 35th
8. David Starr -- #75 Chevy -- finished 7th
9. Ted Musgrave -- #1 Dodge -- finished 3rd
10. Matt Crafton -- #6 Chevy -- finished 8th

The Truck Series championship will go down to the wire next week at the season finale in Homestead-Miami. Hamilton Sr. is still leading the standings with a 70 point spread over second place driver Dennis Setzer going into the final event. Ted Musgrave is in third, knocking on the door with just 60 points down from Setzer. Musgrave is sitting in the catbird seat if Hamilton and Setzer get into a scuffle on the track. Fourth place Carl Edwards isn't exactly out of contention either, with just 78 points down from Setzer and 148 down from Hamilton. It would be a long shot for Edwards, but long shots have won before in the Truck Series.

The rest of the drivers from fifth on back are considered to be mathematically out of the picture for this season's championship battle. Matt Crafton, will be taking his last ride in Kevin Harvick's #6 Chevy when the season ends next week, in lieu of new driver Ron Hornaday for the 2005 season. Crafton is in fifth this week with a -290. David Starr remains in sixth, now listed with a -376, followed by defending 2003 champion Travis Kvapil who is listed with a -463. Steve Park moved up two spots to eighth listed now with a -465. Park is followed by former champion Jack Sprague who dropped one spot and is listed now with a -488. Chad Chaffin also dropped a spot and rounds out the top ten this week with a -505.

Next week the truck series joins the other two top series at Homestead-Miami for the Ford Championship Weekend, capping off the 2004 season. The Ford 200 is scheduled to be aired by the SPEED channel on Friday, November 19th at 3:30 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the season finale was Bobby Hamilton. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by Rick Crawford, David Starr, Andy Houston, Jack Sprague, Travis Kvapil, Dennis Setzer, Jon Wood, P. J. Jones, and Chad Chaffin.

Bobby Hamilton won the Bud Pole Award in the #4 Square D sponsored Dodge truck with a track record speed of 169.252 miles per hour. There were five caution periods for a total of 24 laps out of the 134 lap event on the 1.5 mile oval.

11/9/04… David Starr was in the catbird seat when Ted Musgrave suffered a flat tire in the waning laps of the Phoenix event. As the story goes, Jack Sprague had the strongest truck on the track, but Starr's crew had finally dialed in his truck enough to hold off Sprague after working on it throughout the event.

If it hadn't been for the faulty tire, Musgrave may have had a chance to battle with Setzer and Hamilton for the 2004 Truck Series Championship, but as it stands now, he won't be much of a factor for the brass ring battle this season.

The victory was Starr's career third and the second for the driver of the #75 Spears Manufacturing sponsored Chevy this season. Following him across the finish line in the top ten were Jack Sprague, Matt Crafton, Johnny Benson, Steve Park, Bobby Hamilton, P J Jones, Dennis Setzer, and Carl Edwards. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jack Sprague -- #16 Chevy -- finished 2nd
2. Ken Schrader -- #52 Chevy -- finished 12th
3. Carl Edwards -- #99 Ford -- finished 10th
4. Steve Park -- #62 Dodge -- finished 6th
5. David Starr -- #75 Chevy -- finished 1st
6. Ron Hornaday -- #47 Chevy -- finished 13th
7. Ted Musgrave -- #08 Chevy -- finished 19th
8. Bobby Hamilton -- #4 Dodge -- finished 7th
9. Todd Bodine -- #130 Toyota -- finished 29th
10. Bill Lester -- #22 Toyota -- finished 18th

The Truck Series is looking at the closest points race in its short history. The next closest was in 1999, when Jack Sprague led Greg Biffle by 24 points with just two events remaining. We now have two events remaining and Bobby Hamilton leads Dennis Setzer by a mere SEVEN points! This is going to be a close one folks. Third place driver Ted Musgrave, out of the running due to his flat tire, is now down by -120 points.

According to NASCAR.com's figures, the first five drivers still have a mathematical chance to win, but we all know that's usually a bunch of nonsense. Fourth place driver Carl Edwards, and fifth place Matt Crafton with a -133 and a -257 don't really stand much of a chance unless the other three front runners get taken out early in both races, and that's not likely to happen. These experienced point's leaders tend to really protect their point's lead as the season wanes through November.

Next week the Truck Series joins the other two major series at Darlington Raceway. The Darlington 200 is scheduled to be aired by the SPEED channel on Friday, November 11th at 8 pm eastern.

Last season the Darlington Truck Series event was run in March, and the winner of the event was Bobby Hamilton. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by Ted Musgrave, Brendan Gaughan, Travis Kvapil, Chad Chaffin, Jason Leffler, Rick Crawford, Terry Cook, David Starr, and Robert Pressley.

No Bud Pole position was awarded due to inclement weather. There were two caution periods for a total of ten laps out of the 147 lap event on the 1.366 mile egg shaped oval.

11/20/04… Kasey Kahne is two for two in the Craftsman Truck Series, winning twice in a row in only his second truck event. Kahne took the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami as Bobby Hamilton Sr. won the 2004 Truck Series Championship.

In his usual fashion, Kahne drove a masterful race, leading a race high 54 laps out of the 134 lap event, finishing close to five truck lengths ahead of teammate Ted Musgrave. Following the two across the finish line in the top ten were David Starr, rookie David Reutimann, Matt Crafton, Mike Skinner, Jack Sprague, Greg Biffle, Reagan Smith, and Dennis Setzer. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. David Reutimann* -- #17 Toyota -- finished 4th
2. Matt Crafton -- #6 Chevy -- finished 5th
3. Carl Edwards -- #99 Ford -- finished 12th
4. Jack Sprague -- #16 Chevy -- finished 7th
5. Bobby Labonte -- #44 Chevy -- finished 29th
6. Mike Skinner -- #5 Toyota -- finished 6th
7. Steve Park -- #62 Dodge -- finished 23rd
8. Ted Musgrave -- #1 Dodge -- finished 2nd
9. Bobby Hamilton -- #4 Dodge -- finished 16th
10. Shane Hmiel -- #15 Chevy -- finished 27th

As Bobby Hamilton Sr. won the Craftsman Truck Series Championship, Dennis Setzer, driver of the #46 Chevy, came in second, 46 points down. Ted Musgrave, driver of the #1 Mopar Dodge finished in the third position, 70 points down from the leader, followed by Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Ford, who captured the fourth position with a 131 point deficit. Matt Crafton, in his last outing in the #6 Kevin Harvick Chevy, rounded out the top five finishers with a -245.

David Starr, driver of the #79 Spears racing Chevy, ended up in the sixth position. Former champion Jack Sprague, driver of the #16 Chevy, finished the standings in the seventh position, followed by 2003 Truck Series Champion Travis Kvapil, driver of the #24 Toyota, finishing the season in the eighth position. First year Truck Series driver Steve Park, driver of the #62 Orleans Dodge, finished up the season in the ninth position, followed by Chad Chaffin, driver of the #18 Dodge, rounding out the top ten finishers in the championship standings.

11/30/04… Kerry Earnhardt has landed another NASCAR another ride! Don't get too excited folks, unfortunately, Kerry lacks the driving skills that his dad and younger brother were blessed with. His driving record within the realm of NASCAR's different competitive levels hasn't been anything a person would want to boast about. Although the Busch Series veteran is winless in NASCAR competition, he has four ARCA\RE-MAX victories. His Busch Series efforts over the years have only garnered him two top five, and five top ten finishes.

At any rate, Earnhardt, at age 34, is the oldest offspring of the former seven time Cup Champion of the same surname, and is back in the driver's seat again. He'll be replacing Shane Hmiel in the #15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevy, and as part of the package, the team will use Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) engines for their entire 2005 racing campaign.

Regardless of what strings may have tied Kerry to the engine deal, and I'm certainly not saying that was the case; the deal gives Kerry another chance to become a successful race driver. I, as one of many thousands of Earnhardt fans, would like to see him succeed and make a name for himself.

Ballew Motorsports celebrated its first win this past season with Shane Hmiel taking the #15 to Victory Lane at Las Vegas. Although the team is without a sponsor at this time, they hope that the addition of the DEI engine program, with Kerry in the driver's seat, will give them the exposure that will make them a desirable marketing investment for a large corporate advertiser.

David Reutimann, Driver of the #17 NTN Bearings sponsored Darrell Waltrip Motorsports (DWM) Toyota, took the Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors in the Craftsman Truck Series. The 34 year-old Florida native and former Busch series driver, beat fellow competitor Tracy Hines by a whopping 67 points for the Truck Series honors.

Reutimann posted four top five finishes, 10 top ten finishes, and won two Bud Pole Awards on his way to finishing the season 14th in the driver's standings. The first year driver managed to start all 25 races in the season, which is a rookie accomplishment within itself! Qualifying is not an easy task, and having the points built up to get you in the race on Owners Points due to a rain out, is another notable accomplishment. While responding to accolades presented him in award ceremonies both in Florida and North Carolina, he was critical of himself for self destructing on the track a few times during the season. He attributed his success to the solid equipment that was put under him by DWM over the entire 2004 Truck Season campaign, which spanned from February to November.

Reutimann was also a standout in the 2003 season while driving the James Finch #1 Dodge and the Nemco Motorsports entries in the Busch Series. It was this outing that assured Darrell Waltrip that Reutimann was worthy of his Truck Series ride in the #17.