TRUCKS: Series Returns to Track That Put it on the Map
What a great ride the last decade-and-a-half has been for the NASCAR division that has graduated to the biggest stage in all of stock car racing – Daytona...
Megan Englehart
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Posted February 02, 2009
Charlotte, NC
The NASCAR Truck Series action at Daytona International Speedway has always been fast and furious. (LAT Photographic)
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES RETURNS TO SITE OF TRACK THAT PUT IT ON THE MAP
TRUCK SERIES DRIVERS REFLECT ON ONLY MID-RACE AUTOGRAPH SESSION IN NASCAR HISTORY AT INAUGURAL DAYTONA RACE
SPEED™ LOOKS TO BUILD ON HIGHEST-RATEST AND MOST COMPETITIVE NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES SEASON EVER
Think fast... Who was the first and only driver in NASCAR history to start a mass, on-track autograph session in the middle of a race?
Here’s a clue... it happened in the 2000 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway, the inaugural Daytona race for the series celebrating its 15th anniversary this season.
And what a great ride that decade-and-a-half has been for the NASCAR division that has graduated from an almost entirely short-track only schedule to the biggest stage in all of stock car racing – Daytona.
When the trucks take the green flag for the Feb. 13 NextEra Energy Resources 250 (8 p.m. ET on SPEED, NCWTS Setup hosted by Krista Voda at 7:30 p.m. ET) to embark on the new season, they have big shoes to fill, following up a 2008 season that saw the tightest championship battle in Truck Series history, in addition to holding the distinction as the most-watched season since the series moved to SPEED in 2003. Last year’s season on SPEED was the highest-rated ever, averaging a .80 Nielsen Rating and 585,000 households.
Many credit the addition of Daytona to the Truck schedule with elevating the series to the prominence and popularity it currently enjoys.
“When the Truck Series was a fledgling series, it was always the Tucsons, the Bakersfields, the short tracks, and then we got to the bigger places,” driver Brendan Gaughan said. “But you knew it had gained national legitimacy on the national touring scale when we were allowed to go to Daytona. That, in NASCAR terms, tells you that you are the ‘real deal.’”
“After we raced at Daytona, it took the Truck Series not to the next level but up about six levels,” said driver David Starr. “Being able to go to Daytona and race there has done everything for this series. We haven’t seen the end of it -- the climb is about halfway. The series is just growing and growing and Daytona is a big part of it.”
