November 20, 2008
By Brian Watkins
Brian Watkins
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I am a race fan. I like to watch cars go fast in a circle, or an oval or occasionally on a road course. I’ve never paid that much attention to the truck races until this season.
I have no excuses for ignoring them, other than I had better things to do on Friday nights than watch the (or so I thought) lesser of the three series. The trucks just didn’t get me going, though I admittedly never gave them a chance. Even after getting to interview Todd Bodine after his championship win in 2006 I paid little attention. Shame on me. Another issue with the truck series was the fact that it airs on Speed.
I like Speed, but it wasn’t included in my mid-range satellite TV package.
As the season drew to a close I paid closer attention to the standings. By Friday night the point spread between Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday was a whopping 3 points. Given the fact that it might be Benson’s last ride for Bill Davis Racing, the closeness of the championship run and the fact that it was the last race of the season, I made it a point to catch the race. To do so, I had to upgrade the TV package.
A few minutes on the phone and Speed was soon airing in my living room. While I waited for the race to start, the kids watched the space shuttle launch. Somehow, they had never seen one. I felt like a bad parent. Now they have seen it, so I can check that parental deficiency off my list.
As the truck race kicked off, being the pessimistic willy nilly I am, expected either Benson or Hornaday to wreck-out early and take all the excitement out of the night. Oh me of little faith…
I’m not sure how many of you reading this got the chance to see the race. Those that did know that it was one of the most exciting races (car, truck or otherwise) in years. It was even better if you are a Benson or Bill Davis or Tundra fan and slightly less exciting if you are a Hornaday fan. But regardless of your affiliation, the race went just about as down to the wire as it possibly could short of Hornaday and Benson banging fenders across the line.
After trading leads and then falling back, Benson’s crew pulled off a two-tire stop that bumped him up 8 places into the lead. It was pretty much all over after that, but of course you didn’t know that until it was over. Finishing 7th and 8th respectively after a green-white-checker finish, the battle between Benson and Hornday on Friday night is second in my opinion only to the battle between Harvick and Martin for the win at Daytona in ’07 for sheer recent history excitement.
The tight race for the championship, even without a chase format amazingly enough, not only got me to up my monthly satellite bill by adding Speed, it also has me planning on expanding my race watching habits next season.
The race also brought to a close the Craftsman Truck Series. Next season, Camping World takes over as title sponsor. It’s sad to see the end of the Craftsman era, but it’s great that with the economy the way it is and even with Dodge pulling support from the series that NASCAR was able to get someone who would not only take on the financial investment of sponsoring the series, but also a company that has been committed to the sport already.
It will be weird to hear it called something other than the Craftsman Truck Series, but it was weird to hear Cup called something other than Winston and Busch to be something other than, well, Busch. I’m sure we’ll get used to it.
I just wish that when referring to past races and past champions that they would be referred to as what they were then, not what they are now. For instance, Cale Yarborough won three consecutive Winston Cup championships, not Sprint Cup championships, yet that’s what they call it. Next season, Johnny Benson will be referred to as the defending Camping World Series champion, but he’s not. He’s the Craftsman Truck Series champion.
Nevertheless, that is the way the tire rolls me supposes. Maybe someday NASCAR will find a way to stop diluting history with the present. Sure, and maybe the big three will turn a profit in the next quarter…
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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