NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series
  • Peg It on GarageMonkey
TRUCKS: 2012 Series Predictions
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series opens its 2012 season Friday night in the Next Era Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway...
Ray Dunlap  |  Posted February 22, 2012   Daytona Beach, FL
Ray Dunlap, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Reporter. (Photo: SPEED)
This is the time of year when I roll out my predictions for the new season, but Daytona always poses a challenge in in this department because the race lead often changes two or times on the final lap, and we often are treated to a three-wide sprint to the checkered flag.

Predicting this year’s champion, though, is shaping up to be just as difficult as calling the Daytona winner because I think we’ll have so many different winners in 2012. The record for most winners in one season is 14, but there is a strong chance that record will fall this season. Our rookie class is stacked with extremely talented, young drivers, and the fact Kyle Busch won’t be a regular player certainly opens the door for some others to take a shot at Victory Lane.

I went around and polled my SPEED on-air broadcast team and was quite surprised by what I found:

Hermie Sadler and Michael Waltrip each picked Joey Coulter to win the title. Phil Parsons and Krista Voda rang in with Johnny Sauter in the top spot, while and Rick Allen and I hung our hats on James Buescher.

However, there are quite a few drivers missing-in-action from my informal poll and whose absences surprise me. Nobody took former champions Ron Hornaday, Todd Bodine or Mike Skinner. This trio collectively owns seven NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championships, but favored over them by our illustrious panel are Buescher and Coulter, who have yet to win their first Truck Series race, and Sauter, who has only four wins. Interesting, huh? But it goes back to my point that predicting this year’s champion is nearly impossible at this point in the year.

Rookie Ty Dillon takes over for older brother, Austin Dillon, in the same equipment Austin drove to the 2011 NCWTS championship for Richard Childress Racing. Ty’s 2011 championship season in the ARCA Racing Series, in which he won seven races, lend him credibility and should prop up his chances to be a true championship contender in the Truck Series. He has a great team with the No. 3, great trucks and awesome horsepower. Oh, yeah, and many are saying he’s a better driver than Austin. Look for Ty to win at least one or two races this year. The real question, though, will be if he can avoid the typical rookie mistakes and establish himself as a legitimate championship threat throughout the year.

Ron Hornaday joins forces this season with Joe Denette Motorsports in the No. 9 truck. I would never say the 51-time winner is not a threat for a fifth championship crown. However, when Hornaday teamed up with crew chief Jeff Hensley at Kevin Harvick Inc. last year, I thought the duo would be magic. But the crew chief vibe never seemed to work for Hornaday. It will be interesting to see how these two improve their communication and if having rookie Max Gresham on the team will be an asset or a hindrance.

My biggest questions leading into Daytona and the rest of this season are:

1. Will ThorSport Racing be better or worse after switching manufacturers from Chevy to Toyota?
2. Can winless Turner Motorsports contend now with three drivers, each with their own driving styles?
3. Will Todd Bodine or Mike Skinner secure sponsorship to run the entire season?
4. Will Eddie Sharp’s teams win races after purchasing KHI’s top-notch trucks?
5. Can the single truck teams (Nos. 5, 23, 27, 29 and 81) compete with Turner, RCR or Red Horse Racing?

Most on the SPEED crew have predicted wins are soon coming for Parker Kligerman, Coulter, Nelson Piquet and Buescher. I think we add Ty Dillon, Jason White and Justin Lofton to this list in 2012. It certainly is possible that Paulie Harraka, Max Gresham, Miguel Paludo and JR Fitzpatrick deserve an honorable mention here, as well.

Marcus Richmond takes over as crew chief on RCR’s No. 2 team. With Brendan Gaughan, Tim George Jr. and Harvick at the wheel, this team could post wins with all three. Never rule out the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 18 team either. Jason Leffler will not run every event, but his truck should be capable of winning every time it is entered, and David Reutimann should be a factor in the No. 92 despite the fact that is a part-time program.

Red Horse racing will have Peters back in the No. 17, rookie John King in the No. 7 and Todd Bodine in the No. 11. Adequate funding has to be factored into the equation for each of these teams, though. Will they all be good? Yes. Will any of them be great? They must prove that. Race wins are possible for this group, but title contention is doubtful.

Could this be a break out year for ThorSport’s Matt Crafton, who has a new wife, new crew chief and new trucks? He always has been a top- five runner, but has never put all the pieces together to be a race-winning or championship contender. My poll participants and I all may have overlooked Crafton and the No. 88, though. We’ll have to wait and see.

If James Buescher can compete with the consistency he did last season, his team will be impossible to beat. My prediction is Turner Motorsports puts both the No. 31 and the No. 30 team in the title fight. We all placed Sauter and Ty Dillon in the top five in points, and most of us think Hornaday and Buescher will join them. Ty Dillon was our unanimous choice for Sunoco rookie-of-the-year.
Here is a glimpse into the SPEED on-air team’s crystal ball for 2012.

Hermie Sadler: 1.Coulter, 2.Hornaday,3.Sauter,4.Dillon, 5.Crafton
Rick Allen: 1.Buescher,2.Kligerman,3.Sauter, 4.Hornaday,5.Dillon
Phil Parsons: 1.Sauter, 2.Hornaday, 3.Peters, 4.Crafton, 5.Dillon
Ray Dunlap: 1.Buescher, 2.Sauter, 3.Piquet, 4.Dillon, 5.Kligerman
Michael Waltrip: 1.Coulter, 2.Sauter, 3.Buescher, 4.Dillon, 5.Hornaday
Krista Voda: 1.Sauter, 2.Crafton, 3.Buescher, 4.Dillon, 5. Hornaday

So, which one of us do you think got it right?
ray_dunlap's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ray Dunlap

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2013

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.