NASCAR Race Day Open Thread | The Too Tough To Tame 200

The Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series have the weekend off leaving the Camping World Truck Series in the main event at Darlington, S.C.

Darlington has a pretty colorful history and yet has only hosted five Truck Series races. 2001 saw the Late Bobby Hamilton win the first ever event, 2002 saw Ted Musgrave take home the win, in 2003 Hamilton scored another victory, and in 2004 young Kasey Kahne took home just his second ever Nascar victory. The event vanished from the schedule until last year, when Todd Bodine took home the trophy.

Darlington is a tough track, hence the phrase ‘Too Tough To Tame’. Races at Darlington usually contain a number of accidents, as well as a number of beat up race cars er ... Trucks. Darlington also has the “Darlington Stripe”, which is something almost every racer has earned in his career. There is just something about the way that Darlington is put together that seems to send drivers straight into the outside wall.

The track has a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design. The 1.366 Mile oval sports turns of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars’ handling in a way that will be effective at both ends. Many times during the race you will hear drivers radio that they are “Loose in one turn, tight in the other”.

So far this season neither of the races run has been won by a Truck Series Regular. Michael Waltrip took Daytona, and Kyle Busch won in Phoenix.

Use this thread to discuss Truck Series and qualifying tonight’s race.

See you on the other side!

#1-Jeffrey Earnhardt is making his third start of the year. So far he’s been doing pretty well, scoring a top 10 and he currently sits 7th in points. Earnhardt is running for Rookie Of The Year.

#2-Elliott Sadler is running a part time schedule for KHI in the Trucks. He’s one to watch for in this race.

#3-Austin Dillon has one top 5 and one pole so far, he’s trying to build on a very successful rookie season.

#4-Ricky Carmichael is still searching for the success that got him a ride in the Truck series. He’s currently Turner Motorsports’ best shot at a Drivers title after James Buescher missed the race last week.

#5-Travis Kvapil, who is the 2003 Champion and one of my personal heroes, is trying to bounce back after two terrible races. Randy Moss Motorsports is banking on Kvapil to help keep thier team running this year.

#07-Jamie Dick missed Daytona and put the future of Corrie Stott racing in doubt. Stott is not entered in this race, so Dick will drive for SS Greenlight Racing this week. He is locked in to the field.

#7-Miguel Paludo is building on a very impressive first few races. Paludo raced four races last year for Germain and Red Horse, scoring two top 10s. Miguel is the early favorite for Rookie of the Year. He followed up an impressive 4th place finish at Daytona with a 25th place finish at Phoenix.

#8-Nelson Piquet Jr, the Brazilian second generation driver, is another contender for the Rookie of the Year. He ran mid pack in both races and currently sits 15th in points.

#9-Max Papis will have to qualify for this event, but that hasn’t been a problem in the first two races of the year. Papis is 8th in points after two very strong runs just outside the top 10.

#10-Chase Mattioli is trying to start a successful Truck team. He has Jennifer Jo Cobb’s owner points, and number, and will look to bounce back after a dismal 33rd place finish at Phoenix.

#13-Johnny Sauter is 4th in points after scoring a top 5 at Phoenix.

#15-Dusty Davis will have to qualify on time. He made last weeks race in the team that won at Daytona, but finished 26th, 5 laps down. Davis is a Rookie of the Year contender.

#17- Timothy Peters is 5th in points and looking to challenging for a Truck Championship. Peters is a former Bobby Hamilton Racing Driver as well as a former Richard Childress Racing Developmental driver. Timothy is one of the shinning starts of this series.

#18-Former winner Kasey Kahne will take Kyle Busch’s truck for a spin this week. Kahne will be favorite not only being a past winner, but racing for the same team that won last week at Phoenix.

#20-Johanna Long is just 19 years old and already she is showing signs that she could be one of the best female drivers ever. Long is coming off a 20th place finish at Phoenix and is looking beat her best finish of 17th from last year. Long is a rookie contender.

#22-Joey Coulter is a RCR Developmental driver who is getting his shot at the bigs. Coulter is coming off a 9th place finish at Phoenix in just his second career start. Coulter is a Rookie Contender.

#23-Jason White is entering his 4th full Truck Series season, but he has yet to win. White is 16th in points after scoring a top 10 at Phoenix. He has a new owner, lottery winner Joe Denette, and a new deal with Chevy. Now all he needs is that elusive first win.

#25-Taylor Malsam, who’s name I keep typing as Malsom, has missed both races this year. Randy Moss Motorsports has suffered because of it. Malsam and Kvapil were supposed to breath life into a team that has begun to move backwards. Malsam will need to make the race this week or his season will be in trouble.

#29-Parker Kligerman, the Penske protege without a Penske ride, is trying to run the full year with Brad Keselowski Racing. Kligerman is still searching for sponsorship so he can win the Camping World Rookie of the Year award.

#30-Last years winner Todd Bodine will be looking for redemtion this week. Bodine was involved in almost every wreck that took place during Daytona Speedweeks and followed it up with a 14th place finish. Bodine sits 12th in points, but he won’t be down for long.

#31-James Buescher spent almost the entire 2010 season trying to qualify for races. He never missed a single one. Last week was his first DNF as a Truck Series driver. Buescher’s championship hopes took a huge hit, but this week will all be about bounching back. As long as he makes the race that is.

#32-Brad Sweet is running a part time schedule for Turner Motorsports, but that could change after Sweet posted two solid performances to sit him 11th in points. Sweet will have to qualify for the race.

#33-Ron Hornaday is locked into the event with a past champions provisional if he needs it, but don’t expect him to fall back on it. Hornaday finished 3rd last week after a dismal daytona race.

#39-Ryan Sieg has brought his brother with him to the two truck team. His crew chief for the event is Mike Garvey, the guy who drove the #93 truck for him last year. Sieg is coming off two pretty bad races.

#45-Mike Skinner will have to qualify on time, but he does have a past champions provisional to rely on if Hornaday qualifies on time. Skinner missed Daytona but followed it up with a 24th place finish at Phoenix.

#46-Rookie contender Craig Goess was the runner up for the ARCA Championship last year and it landed him a full time ride with Eddie Sharp Racing, who was his car owner in ARCA. Eddie Sharp bought Rick Ware Racing’s #6 Owner points to put them into the show.

#50-T.J. Bell did not enter last week, but faired pretty well at Daytona before getting caught up in a wreck. Bell is part time as is the #50 team.

#51-Justin Johnson made his Nascar debut last week and finished an amazing 8th place. Johnson made a statement. He let everyone know that Cole Whitt isn’t just going to run away with this Rookie Title. Between Whitt, Johnson, Davis, Long, Kligerman, Goess, Earnhardt, Paludo, Piquet, Marks and Coulter, the Rookie Title is for the taking. This may just be the biggest field of Rookies to ever run in Nascar.

#57-Norm Benning continues to show that old guys can still race. Just not with very good results. After a failed attempt at the Cup Series in 1989, Benning’s next attempt was in 93. Both years he failed to qualify more then he actually raced. In 1996 Benning formed his own ARCA team. In 14 years and 280 starts Benning never once won. He has 5 career top fives in ARCA. On the Nascar side of things, Benning has never recorded even a top 10. Norm has also never led a lap. He’s one of those guys who’s primed for a cinderella story one of these days, but it may be time for Benning to hang it up and put someone else in his Truck.

#60-Cole Whitt missed Daytona but Shane Sieg stepped aside and let Whitt race. He didn’t disappoint. Whitt finished 14th at Daytona. He followed that up with a 6th place finish at Phoenix. Cole is now 3rd in points. Many have the Red Bull driver peged as Kasey Kahne’s replacement in Cup next year, and a solid rookie campaign in the Trucks may help him make that leap. Whitt will have to qualify for this race.

#62-Brendan Gaughan joined Germain Racing in the Trucks just as he was replaced by Germain driver Michael Annett in the Nationwide series. Now Gaughan is looking to rebuild yet again. He had two mid pack runs so far, but his team is new. Gaughan should be a favorite to return to form this week.

#66-Justin Marks is another Rookie contender. Marks is a former Grand Am Rolex standout trying to make the leap to Nascar. Last year he scored a win in ARCA and has been pretty impressive so far. He’s trying to take a brand new team to paydirt this year.

#73-The driver is TBA because Rick Crawford failed to make both races. The team could withdraw from the event.

#77-Justin Lofton takes his family sponsorship to Germain Racing. Lofton is still looking for consistancy at this level, and hooking up with Germain may just prove benificial. Lofton will have to qualify for this event.

#81-David Starr returns to SS Greenlight Racing this season. The team has struggled in the first two weeks, but should bounce back this week.

#84-Chris Fontaine almost pulled off the upset at Daytona. He was being pushed to the front by Kyle Busch before being involved in the second big one of the race. Fontaine did not attempt Phoenix. He will have to qualify on time.

#88-Points Leader Matt Crafton will look to build on his two top 10s this year. Crafton has a narrow point lead over Clay Rogers.

#92-Speaking of Clay Rogers, the points leader after Daytona slipped last week after a 16th place finish. Rogers will have to qualify on time, but he is the feel good story of the Truck Series this year.

#93-Shane Sieg was allowed to run the full race last week, and he wound up 22nd. Sieg should be allowed to run again this week.

So, if you’re in the mood for some beating and banging Truck Style, join us Saturday March 12th at 5pm Eastern on SPEED Tv for the Too Tough to Tame 200 from Darlington, NC! Enjoy!