[media-credit name=”Darlington Raceway” align=”alignright” width=”190″][/media-credit]After two eventful practice sessions, the Camping World Truck Series had qualifying for tonight’s Too Tough To Tame 200.

After stating earlier this week that he would be leaning on Kasey Kahne, Red Bull Racing driver Cole Whitt captured his first career pole with a lap of 173.93 mph. Whitt has only competed in four previous CWTS events. This season he’s competing for Rookie of the Year honors and is currently third in points.

Whitt also set a new track record.

Point leader Matt Crafton will start from the fourth position. Crafton holds a one-point lead over Clay Rogers.

Defending winner of this even, Todd Bodine, was pleased with his practice effort in the No. 30 Germanin.com Toyota, but will start 12th. According to Bodine, both Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler will be tough competition in tonight’s event.

Kahne will drive the No. 18 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports starting in the second position. Many have tabbed him as the favorite for the event. Sadler on the other hand is back behind the wheel of the No. 2 for Kevin Harvick Inc. and is coming off a second place in Daytona. Sadler will start in the eighth position.

Jeffrey Earnhardt qualified his No. 1 Fuel Doctor Chevrolet 35th and will be in a backup truck after wrecking in practice this morning. Those who did not qualify for the event were Chad McCumbee, Chris Fontaine and Chris Lafferty.

The Too Tough To Tame 200 can be seen on SPEED channel at 4:30 p.m. ET. The green flag falls at 5:19 p.m. ET.

RACE LINEUP
Too Tough to Tame 200, Darlington Raceway
March 12, 2011 – Race 3 of 25
====================================
Pos. No Driver Make Speed  Time Behind
====================================
1 60 Cole Whitt* Chevrolet 173.933 28.273 0
2 18 Kasey Kahne Toyota  173.613 28.325 -0.052
3 13 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 172.93 28.437 -0.164
4 88 Matt Crafton Chevrolet 172.863 28.448 -0.175
5 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 172.614 28.489 -0.216
6 33 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 172.499 28.508 -0.235
7 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 172.457 28.515 -0.242
8 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 172.348 28.533 -0.26
9 8 N. Piquet Jr.* Chevrolet 172.306 28.54 -0.267
10 23 Jason White Chevrolet 172.107 28.573 -0.3
11 17 Timothy Peters Toyota  171.974 28.595 -0.322
12 30 Todd Bodine Toyota  171.65 28.649 -0.376
13 81 David Starr Toyota  171.447 28.683 -0.41
14 7 Miguel Paludo* Toyota  171.028 28.753 -0.48
15 15 Dusty Davis* Toyota  170.869 28.78 -0.507
16 9 Max Papis Toyota  170.762 28.798 -0.525
17 77 Justin Lofton Toyota  170.543 28.835 -0.562
18 29 P. Kligerman* Dodge  170.537 28.836 -0.563
19 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 170.012 28.925 -0.652
20 51 Justin Johnson* Toyota  169.93 28.939 -0.666
21 32 Brad Sweet Chevrolet 169.836 28.955 -0.682
22 4 R. Carmichael Chevrolet 169.777 28.965 -0.692
23 62 Brendan Gaughan Toyota  169.908 28.994 -0.721
24 5 Travis Kvapil Toyota  169.491 29.014 -0.741
25 10 Chase Mattioli* Ford  169.467 29.018 -0.745
26 92 Clay Rogers Chevrolet 169.456 29.02 -0.747
27 46 Craig Goess* Toyota  169.432 29.024 -0.751
28 66 Justin Marks Chevrolet 169.31 29.045 -0.772
29 50 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 168.394 29.203 -0.93
30 22 Joey Coulter* Chevrolet 167.859 29.296 -1.023
31 93 Shane Sieg Chevrolet 166.636 29.511 -1.238
32 20 Johanna Long* Toyota  166.377 29.557 -1.284
33 7 Jamie Dick+ Chevrolet 163.451 30.086 -1.813
34 57 Norm Benning+ Chevrolet 153.469 32.043 -3.77
35 1 J. Earnhardt+* Chevrolet – – –
36 25 Tayler Malsam Toyota  168.192 29.238 -0.965

With two races in the books for the Camping World Truck Series and thanks to NASCAR’s new pick a series rule, there has yet to be a winner who’s running for the 2011 championship.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”283″][/media-credit]Michael Waltrip’s emotional yet controversial win took center stage in Daytona to kick off the season. He’s not running for points in the CWTS and neither was the second place finisher Elliott Sadler. A week later in Phoenix it was more of the same as Kyle Busch took the win and Clint Bowyer was the runner up.

The series rolls into the Darlington Raceway this Saturday where again two drivers not running for points are looking to crash the party. CWTS regulars such as the defending winner of the event, Todd Bodine, have other plans.

First on the agenda for ‘The Onion’ is to continue his climb through the point standings. After a wreck in the season opening event, his 14th place finish in Phoenix has him sitting 12th in points.

The early deficit puts him in unfamiliar territory in his title defense. Attempting to become the first driver in CWTS history to win back-to-back championships, another strong performance Saturday will help his effort.

This past August in Darlington Bodine, in his No. 30 truck led 47 of 147 laps on his way to the victory. He comes into this weekend as the favorite to do it again. In part, it’s because the egg shaped track is one that Bodine is very much familiar with, making him a contender each time NASCAR is in town.

After practice Saturday morning Bodine was confident he’d be up front again.

“We were pretty good, pretty happy with it,” he said. “Drives good and does everything I need it to.”

Something that pleased Bodine was how his truck maintained a consistent speed on older tires. The track is starting to get the feel of old Darlington back he said, one that is eats rubber. During practice he wore out ever set of tires he had.

“I think we’ve got something for them,” he said about the race though. “I think we’ll be just fine.”

His August victory goes with one from a Nationwide Series race in 2003. Bodine’s experience also extends to the Cup Series.

That’s where his toughest competition will come from. Two of the most competitive and winning teams in the CWTS have big guns in their trucks. Kasey Kahne has the wheel of the No. 18 Toyota from Kyle Busch Motorsports while Elliott Sadler will be behind the wheel of Kevin Harvick Inc.’s No. 2 truck.

Kahne is also a past Darlington winner in the truck series at Darlington. It came in the first time he competed at the track back in 2004. That race also happened to be the first CWTS race of Kahne’s career.

Saturday will be his first start of the 2011 season in the CWTS.  As of right now he does have any other truck races planned but says that could change. First comes Darlington.

“Darlington is an awesome race track and I’m sure that the Truck Series will put on a great show for the fans this weekend,” said Kahne. He’ll drive the same truck he finished second with at Pocono last year to Sadler.

Second at Darlington would ruin Kahne’s plan.

“I was looking around at all the victory banners on the wall when I took my seat over to KBM a few weeks ago,” Kahne said.

“Whether they came from trucks or late models, Kyle was the driver for pretty much every win. I told [him] I need to get a banner this year so he doesn’t control the wall.”

Both Kahne and Sadler will be up front on Saturday, many already putting money on the No. 18. Bodine knows that as well and doesn’t to see it become three for three in non-point winners.

“Well, that’s what we’re here for [to win], not to finish second,” said Bodine.

The Cup drivers winning the first two races of the year happened for a few reasons, Bodine said. What allowed Waltrip and Sadler to drive away for the win in Daytona was their understanding of the bump drafting from their experience in the Cup cars.

Waltrip’s win was then defended by Bodine.

“Everybody talked about Michael losing that spoiler and winning the race — that’s not what won him the race. He won the race because he was smart and I just want everyone to know that.”

In terms of Phoenix, the trucks that the Cup drivers were racing in are phenomenal and come from great teams. Adding a driver with of the caliber of a Kyle Busch or Kasey Kahne makes it hard to keep them from running up front.

“A guy like myself, we got caught up in a crash,” said Bodine.

“We weren’t probably going to win the race but we were going to be up front. [Ron] Hornaday didn’t have a perfect truck so there’s other factors involved than just those guys being that good.”

He then said, “they are that good — there’s no doubt about that. But there are other factors involved and you have to look at the whole picture to understand that.”

Bodine then said that when it comes to the race Saturday night the CWTS regulars will show that they can run with the Cup guys. Cup guys that will again be at the front of the field.

“There’s no doubt about it,” he said.

There’s a reason why the Darlington Raceway is most often referred to by her nicknames ‘Too Tough to Tame’ and ‘The Lady in Black.’

She’s not nice.

[media-credit id=12 align=”alignright” width=”291″][/media-credit]When the Camping World Truck Series takes the green flag Saturday night in the Too Tough to Tame 200, it’ll be more than their third race of the season. Drivers will be in an all out fight not only with each other but with the track. Most are going to lose and only one can say he was able to survive be the track tamer.

Then come the 11 rookies entered in the field.

If all goes according to plan they’ll have looked at the performance Austin Dillon put on here last August in hopes of repeating it. To them, all hope isn’t lost. Dillon was on top of the speed charts during each practice session and then came home with a solid fifth place finish.

Being a rookie is already a disadvantage. But racing at Darlington, a rookie has an even bigger task ahead. Every one of them in the field, all 11, have never raced at Darlington in a truck before, except on any racing simulators they’ve invested in.

Simulators and confidence are the only things they’ll have entering Saturday night.

“I think the learning curve is going to be a lot like it was in Phoenix,” said Kevin Harvick Inc. driver Nelson Piquet Jr. The Brazilian finished 13th at Phoenix two weeks ago and sits 16th in points.

“It’s going to be another weekend where I’m learning the track and trying to gain as much experience as I can. I hope that some of what I learned in Phoenix will apply when we get to Darlington, but obviously they’re different tracks with different characteristics and difference challenges.”

Piquet Jr. feels his Phoenix performance will end up helping him at Darlington. Being able to race so closely to other competitors while bumping and banging was a good opportunity he says and something that he knows will come into play at Darlington.

On the other hand, Miguel Paludo from Red Horse Racing says he knows almost nothing about Darlington.

“I saw last year’s race on television,” he revealed.

“One thing I noticed is it’s a narrow track. I think it would drive a bit like Homestead, and since I have experience at Homestead that should help a little bit.”

Paludo will rely on his teammate Timothy Peters. Peters sat on the pole for last years race and finished second. Any experience that might rub off on the rookie is more than he had before.

And while he doesn’t know much about the track, Paludo does know about the famed Darlington stripe.

His crew chief in fact said that if he doesn’t get one this weekend his crew chief going to be upset because “it’s something that when you’re really fast and you’re running well, it should happen because you’re close to the wall.”

The wall has the tendency to become a magnet to racecars and trucks. From Darlington stripes to hard wrecks, the track isn’t very forgiving. It’s up to the driver to be on their best behavior or wait until as some says, the lady jumps out and bites you.

In order to avoid that, Red Bull Racing driver Cole Whitt will be leaning on Sprint Cup Series star and past Darlington winner Kasey Kahne. He won’t be a in a RBR truck, but Kahne will be in Saturday’s field.

Other than that Whitt says, “there is not a whole lot you can do. Kind of just have to get in there and get some first laps and just shake it down and get the feel for it and wing it. I think it will be good though.”

Whitt is the current Rookie of the Year point leader. Paludo follows close behind with Jeffrey Earnhardt in third. Just four points separate the top three as Joey Coulter, Justin Johnson and Craig Goess follow behind.

As the day begins every driver and every rookie will have an air of positivity about their chances. Each calling their shot and confident in their freshly painted and finely prepared trucks.

It won’t stay that way for long. Darlington is looming.

As the saying goes for rookies, “what they don’t know they don’t know.” Nowhere is that more true than this Saturday night.