Three Questions for the Truck Series in 2013
Dirt, right turns and new faces are on the horizon for the Truck series in 2013. The Trucks will be slingin’ some dirt at Eldora and making right and left turns at MoSport in Canada. Young and new faces will also be featured in the Truck Series this season as part of a youth movement striking in NASCAR. These are just some of the interesting things that are raising questions about what’s to come in the Truck Series this season. Picking three questions I have regarding the trucks this season was hard but these three questions are biggest swirling around the Truck Series heading into the upcoming season.
What will Eldora bring?
The most anticipated race in Truck Series history will be on dirt at Eldora this July but many people are wondering what will this race bring and how will this race go down. The first ever truck race on dirt will surely be exciting but what can we expect to happen and who could be competing up front for the win? With possible dirt track stars entering this race, they could be the favorites to win but they may not be able to handle the truck. Many drivers may seem like the favorites in the race but until the last lap of the race, we won’t know who is able to succeed on the dirt.
NASCAR hasn’t released the format of the race yet but it will feature heat races, which are signature to dirt racing, and there will be a main feature with about thirty trucks competing in it. The format could answer some questions on how this race will go down but it won’t give any details on what to expect in the race. The format could give some clarity on what to look for in the race but it will still leave some big questions behind.
NASCAR has never done this before. Trucks on dirt would have sounded like a crazy idea ten years ago but in 2013, it will become reality. This is quite possibly the biggest unknown heading into the 2013 season mainly because we are so excited for it but have no clue on what will happen in the race. There could be huge fireworks occurring on and off the track which creates even more anticipation for the event. Questions will be lingering until the race concludes but seeing this race occur, will surely be exciting as well as historic.
Will some new drivers be up front and competing for the win in each race?
Lots of new faces will be coming into the Truck Series this season as well as some drivers will be in better equipment this season with a better chance at success. This creates the question of who will be up front and competing for wins each weekend. New faces in the series this year that weren’t running for the championship last year include Jeb Burton, Ryan Blaney and Brendan Gaughan. All three are in great rides and each have an equal shot at success but will they be competing for the win each week? That is the question.
Blaney had immediate success last season in BKR’s truck when he came in mid-way through the year and he even got to victory lane once but will the success carry over to this season? Blaney definitely has potential but only time will tell if he can live up to the hype. Jeb Burton will be driving his first full-time truck season in 2013 and whether he fits in with the rest of the pack is the question. We could have a new star on our hands or just another driver. Brendan Gaughan has been floating around in NASCAR for the past few seasons and in 2013, he’ll be a little more stationary in the truck series while he competes for the championship. Gaughan has talent but if he can bring back the success he had before, he will be running up front. Lots of new faces will have the opportunity to run up front this season but the part we don’t yet know is who will have success this season.
Can anyone beat James Buescher?
When the past champion returns to the series the following year, they’re always the driver everyone wants to beat. James Buescher will be the driver with the target on his back this season as he tries to win his second consecutive championship. Buescher is likely the best driver in the Truck Series garage and the most likely to succeed driver this season. Buescher will be hunted down this season but by who is the real question.
The list of drivers that could beat Buescher this year is small but a few names stick out on the list. Ty Dillon is probably the best driver with a shot at beating Buescher. 2013 will be Dillon’s second year in the trucks and he’ll take what he learned last year to try and take down Buescher this season. The other driver that could beat Buescher is Timothy Peters. Peters was atop the points standings until around the end of the summer last season and in 2013, Peters could stay on top of the standings long enough to take home the championship. James Buescher will be extremely hard to beat this year but a few drivers could possibly get it done. Buescher will be searching for repeated success this year while having a target on his back and well, that could create some excitement for the trucks this season.
The worst and most exciting part of an upcoming season for fans, teams and drivers alike is the unknowns. Who will be running up front or what will happen are the questions we want answers to but we just don’t have those answers yet. The expectation for each driver and their team is sky high heading into the season and they all are looking for success but some teams hopes will die down before the season ends but which teams they will be is a question we will have to wait and find the answer to. The smell of a new season is in the air and expectations are at an all-time high but pretty soon we will get the answers to our questions, what they will be is the unknown and we look forward to finding the unknown out.
Reflections on the 2013 Sprint Media Tour
I was a rookie. It seemed strange after covering more than 200 races live and knowing many of the people at the Sprint Media Tour, I had never attended the pre-season event. I didn’t get hazed because most of the people there either knew me or had heard of me, but I learned it was at once exhilarating and fatiguing at the same time. As I look back on it, it was worth every 15-hour day. These are my reflections on what happened behind the news and a little commentary.
First, NASCAR does not take a back seat to any professional sports organization. It’s so much different when I started covering event in 1996. It’s first class all the way and a lot of that credit goes to Scott Cooper of Charlotte Motor Speedway. We were treated to luxuriously appointed meeting rooms and a schedule that would kill a horse. More on that later. The access to drivers and teams was second to none and there was always someone there to answer questions. Most days started at 8:00 AM and ended near midnight. Yeah, my advancing years were evident with that schedule.
The tour started out with the information on the Sprint Unlimited, something you started calling the Busch Clash years ago, and ended with a trip to Joe Gibbs Racing Shop in Huntersville, NC after four days. The tour brought teams to the guest hotel or the media was bussed to shops around the area. We saw Stewart-Haas, Michael Waltrip Racing, Furniture Row Racing, and had a dinner with Chevrolet and breakfast with Ford Racing. The Ford breakfast gave us access to Richard Petty Motorsports, Wood Brothers Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Germain Racing, and all their drivers. The Chevrolet dinner featured no drivers. In addition, we made trips to Richard Childress Racing, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Penske Racing, and Joe Gibbs Racing at their racing shops. We met with Roush-Fenway Racing at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Meeting with the 25 top teams in Sprint Cup and many others in the Nationwide Series, was hectic but rewarding. Attempting to grade the visits will be harder, but here goes.
Best Shop Visit – Penske Racing. No matter what anyone says, Roger Penske is the class of the circuit. All his NASCAR racers were on site and presented for everyone to see. It was even more interesting to see Ford’s racing boss, Jamie Allison there along with Edsel Ford II. It was obvious that Ford is banking a lot on Penske’s switch to Ford. Second place went to Richard Childress Racing. Even though two accidents on I-85 delayed us nearly two hours, and the program Childress had planned for us had to be abbreviated, every driver was present from Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Paul Menard to his Nationwide drivers (grandson Austin Dillon and Brian Scott) and truck campaigners Brendan Gaughan and grandson Ty Dillon).
Best Non-Shop Visit – Earnhardt-Ganassi. It was held at a hangar at Concord Regional Airport, which was confusing to some, but it became apparent once inside the hangar. Ganassi had not only his NASCAR people there, but his IndyCar and sports car racing drivers. On display were not only the No. 1 Chevrolet for Jamie McMurray and the No. 42 of Juan Pablo Montoya, but show cars and drivers for his IndyCar and sports car teams. It was an opportunity to talk with Dario Franchitti, Scott Pruett, and others. Also present was Cessna’s fantastic Citation airplane, since the company has joined EGR as a sponsor for 2013. Honorable mention was the Stewart-Haas presentation that presented the media with Danica Patrick. Amid rumors of a relationship with another driver, Patrick refused to comment and looked marvelous in her $2,000 high heels.
Best Eye-Opening Team Function – Roush-Fenway’s presentation at the Hall of Fame. After a buttoned-downed presentations featuring Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Trevor Bayne, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Travis Pastrana, in the Hall’s theatre. Later, the drivers moved to their stations overlooking the Hall exhibits for interviews. Soon, we were told to move to the outside plaza for the Ford event. The event was each Ford team would be driving their 2013 cars through the streets of Charlotte. One by one, the new Fusions came out of the garage under the Hall—Biffle was first followed by Keselowski, Logano, Edwards, Stenhouse, Bayne, David Ragan, David Gilliland, and Casey Mears. An F-150 truck of photographers and a production Fusion led the parade with drivers doing burnouts and generally having fun. Crowds lined the streets of Charlotte and gathered at the plaza where fans could get autographs and take pictures of each team with driver and car owner present. It was something to see and created a lot of attention. Edsel Ford II and Jamie Allison also appeared to put the exclamation point on the exercise. I’ve never seen anything like it. No honorable mention. Nothing compared to that.
It was a glorious week that included two stops at Charlotte Motor Speedway and wonderful food. Would I do it again? You bet. I’m now ready for the season to start. To a team, everyone was optimistic about 2013, but baseball Spring Training brings out the same attitudes. It’s just time to get racing going again. The Rolex race this weekend got me going. With 19 days until the Sprint Unlimited and only 27 until the Great American Race, it’s time to be looking forward to a new season of racing. I’m fired up. Are you?
