NCWTS Veterans Look To Steal The Spotlight In 2012
Written By: Ashley McCubbin
While it was University student Austin Dillon earning the spotlight in 2011 winning the championship, there are many veterans who are looking to capture it in 2012.
The obvious first one being Four-Time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion Ron Hornaday, who has won a series-leading 51 wins. Last year, he drove for Kevin Harvick Incorporated, though at the end of 2011, they shut their doors. Hornaday landed his feet with Joe Denette Motorsports, who took over the old KHI equipment. With the same crew and equipment, Hornaday shouldn’t miss a beat and should come out strong. The driver from California is hoping this is the case as he hasn’t ever won a truck race at Daytona.
Another championship favourite comes from ThorSport Racing in the form of Johnny Sauter. Sauter came within six points of being the champion last season after winning the season-finale. Sauter has been named the early pre-season favourite based that success. Sauter also has stability on his side as ThorSport Racing has been competiting in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series the longest. However, they have yet to pick up their first championship.
If Sauter can’t pull it together, they have Matt Crafton lined up as another possibility. Crafton has many years of truck experience and is hoping that he can build that into big success for 2012. Last year, he finished eighth in points with one win, five top fives and 13 top 10s.
Two-time Series Champion Todd Bodine is set to compete at Daytona with Red Horse Racing.
“You want to go to Daytona because it is our Super Bowl,” Bodine said. “I want to go to Daytona because I’ve had some success there and know that we can run well. You want to go there so you can put yourself in position to able to run for the points [title] if sponsorship comes through.
“We knew we had to go there to make the rest of the season happen.”
The past Daytona winner would like to run the full schedule, but it is only possible if they land more sponsorship. A win at Daytona would definitely help and considering Bodine’s success there as of late, it is definitely not out of the question.
2002 Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton is also coming out of retirement to run the Daytona truck series race. His son, Jeb, is set to run 20 races for Mike Hillman, but isn’t NASCAR certified for the Speedways. Ward has never ran a truck race, though is certified via his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series experience.
"I'm going to try to give a little boost to the team by starting at Daytona," Burton said. "Hopefully, we'll survive the melee of the race and give some added value to the sponsor."
1997 Daytona 500 pole winner and former Camping World Truck Series Champion Mike Skinner will also be competing in the opening race of the season for Eddie Sharp Racing.
Well there is always the battle between old school and experience versus new school and youth, it’s no question that the experience lined up in just the drivers listed looks towards promising results for 2012 for the veterans party. Their success, though, will depend how they deal with youth drivers like James Buescher and 2011 ARCA Racing Series Champion Ty Dillon.
