Let’s look at the 35-truck starting field for the Casino Arizona 150 at Phoenix International Raceway:

Johnny Benson – Benson won at the one-mile ovals at Milwaukee and New Hampshire earlier this season, and has started in the top five in three of his four victories in 2006. Benson has three straight top five finishes here, dating back to a second place finish in 1996, a fifth in 2004 and a third in 2005. Qualifying up front in Phoenix could be a harbinger of things to come.

Mike Skinner – Skinner won the first ever NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race here in 1995. Throw out a 17th-place run in 2004, Skinner has finished among the top-ten in every race he’s run here, and been in the top five in all but one of those. He has an average finish of 5.6, and should be a strong contender this evening.

Todd Bodine – The defending race winner has his best start since May, and it comes in a race that if all goes his way could see him clinch the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship. But all has not been smooth at Phoenix for Bodine; he finished 29th in 2004 with suspension problems.

Mike Bliss – A pole in 1997 and a win here in 1998 show Bliss can get around this track as well as anyone. The Xpress Motorsports team has been strong all season but has had problems keeping Lady Luck on its side. If the bad luck stays out of the equation, Bliss could be a factor this evening.

Matt Crafton – Crafton picked up a win in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division at PIR in January, and has always considered Phoenix to be one of his home tracks.  Crafton has always been a strong performer on the flat tracks, and this could be the race that sees him pick up his first career Truck Series win.  A strong performance on pit road is essential.

Bobby Hamilton, Jr. – The highest qualified Dodge driver, Hamilton has flexed his muscles on tracks that take aerodynamics out of the equation.  The BHR team has been of late, even racing strong at places like Atlanta and Texas.  A win here would ease the frustrations of one of the most difficult years personally and professionally for everyone at BHR, and with the emphasis on horsepower and handling it is a possibility.

Marcos Ambrose – Another venue new to the Aussie star, Ambrose has shown he can adapt to new tracks as well as anyone. He finished 23rd earlier in the year at Loudon, the track most commonly compared to Phoenix.

Kraig Kinser – Kinser’s last appearance in a Truck was at Las Vegas where he finished ninth.  He was strong all day in practice on Thursday and his team won at Texas last week with Clint Bowyer.

Mark Martin – Martin finished last in his last Truck Series start, but he’s never gone more than three races between wins in his Truck Series career.  His last win came at Talladega, and with two starts since then, Martin is primed for a win.

Terry Cook – Cook is a master of the flat mile tracks, with wins at Gateway and Loudon and a second-place at the now-defunct Nazareth mile. Crew chief Dennis Connor led Jack Sprague to three consecutive wins here in 1996 and 1997.

Rick Crawford – Crawford raced here for years in Tour-style late models before ever racing here in a Truck. Two third-place finishes are his best, but he averages a 9.3 finish. Crawford is always a factor and has a win at Loudon in 2005 under his belt.

Erik Darnell – Darnell has late model experience here too. He racked up a top ten at Loudon, but was a disappointing 27th in the other mile-track race at Milwaukee. Darnell has completed 95.5% of the laps in 2006.

Erin Crocker – Crocker was taken out early last year, but coming back to a track she’s had previous experience has given her added confidence. Crocker is a good qualifier, and her 13th-place start is her best since she started 12th at Las Vegas.

Bobby East – East narrowly missed a victory here in a USAC Midget car in 2005.  He made his series debut here last year but was taken out in a late race crash. East has qualified well all season long and has been close to a top-10 on several occasions.

Aric Almirola – The Spears team won here in 2004 with David Starr, and has had success here in the past with its West and Southwest Series efforts. Almirola is making his first start here.

Kyle Busch – Busch won the Cup race here last fall, and finished third here in the Truck race.  He’s deeper in the field than usual, but he should be a contender with 20 laps to go.

Chad Chaffin – Chaffin has three previous starts here with a best finish of 18th in 2003. His other two finishes were 30th and 35th. His 17th place qualifying effort is a career best at PIR.

David Reutimann – Reutimann’s chances took a major hit with an engine failure and spin in qualifying. He finished 7th here last fall, but was 21st here in 2004. He surely is hoping he’s had his bout with bad luck for the weekend already.

Brendan Gaughan – Gaughan has never finished higher than 12th in five previous starts, but he’s only missed 2 laps out of the 761 possible laps he could have completed at PIR.

David Ragan – Ragan is making his first start here at PIR. He is aggressive, and aggression pays of here. He could race into the top-ten here this evening.

Jack Sprague – Sprague earned his nickname “Mile Track Jack” with three consecutive wins here. Until today, Sprague had never started below 15th on the grid here, and that was the inaugural race here in 1995. Sprague has nine top-five starts here, and an equal number of top-five finishes here. His average finish here is 4.3.

Ron Hornaday – A two-time Truck winner at PIR, Hornaday averages a fifth-place finish here.  The KHI team won it’s first two races here with team owner Kevin Harvick at the wheel in 2002 and 2003. The only non top-ten finish Hornaday has here is a 13th-place finish here in 2004.

Kerry Earnhardt – His first ever Truck Series start at PIR was preceded by two Busch Series races here. He picked up a tenth place finish in the 2002 NBS race here.

David Starr – The 2004 winner here, Starr only has one other top ten finish at PIR. He’s coming from deep in the field for the second year in a row. He qualified 24th here last fall.

Shane Huffman – Huffman is doing double duty this weekend, also driving in the Busch Series for JR Motorsports.  The Key Motorsports team finished a strong 15th at Loudon in September with Ryan Moore at the wheel.

Chase Miller – Miller is a strong qualifier, but has had rotten luck in the races he’s been in since a tenth-place finish at Martinsville.

Dennis Setzer – An early draw is usually good, but Setzer was the first man out this morning and track conditions were not optimal. Setzer will have a long way to go to pick up his fourth career top five finish at PIR tonight.

Ted Musgrave – Like the other driver sharing the 14th row on the grid, Musgrave had an early draw and will start deep in the field. Musgrave has six top ten finishes in seven starts here, and has finished second twice. Look for Musgrave to make a charge towards the front early.

Damon Lusk – Another first timer at Phoenix, Lusk looks for another top-20 run.

Chad McCumbee – Even when he qualifies poorly, McCumbee usually comes alive during the race. Don’t expect him to stay outside the top-20 all night long.

Robert Richardson – One of the most improved drivers since the start of the season, Richardson has started to avoid trouble, log laps, and learn. He should be much better at the end of tonight’s race than he is when the green flag drops, and could race his way into contention for a top-20.

Bill Lester – An uncharacteristically poor qualifying effort for Lester at PIR, but the early draw didn’t help.  Lester started outside the front row here in 2002 and never qualifiedf worse than 17th in five previous tries. His best finish is 15th.

John Mickel – The UK rookie tested a truck here in 2002 so it’s not his first time around at PIR. His UK-based team is here working with him as a prelude to a rookie assault in 2007.

Cameron Dodson – The young sprint car phenom has steadily adjusted to the heavier and more cumbersome stock cars. Mike Mittler is known for being an excellent mentor to young drivers, and Dodson is on track to join the likes of Kenny Irwin, Jamie McMurray and Carl Edwards as Mittler protégés to make it big.

Casey Kingsland – Kingsland has made one previous start in the Truck Series, at Martinsville in 2005. He spun in practice, but he has long time crew chief Gary Showalter calling the shots.

Starting at pit out at the exit of turn two and ending at pit in at the entrance to the frontstretch:

Bodine
Reutimann
Sprague
Earnhardt
Huffman
Lusk
Lester
Musgrave
Kinser

Break in pit wall

Benson
Hamilton, Jr.
Cook
Crocker
East
Almirola
Busch
Ambrose

Break in pit wall

Skinner
Chaffin
Darnell
Ragan
Gaughan
McCumbee
Hornaday
Dodson
Starr
Kingsland
Setzer
Empty stall
Bliss
Empty stall

Break in pit wall

Crafton
Miller
Crawford
Richardson
Mickel
Martin

Chevrolet Dodge Ford Toyota

Pit road speed is 45 mph...pace truck speed is 50 mph...pit road speed starts 250 feet before the first pit stall and ends 105 feet past the last pit stall...the restart point is the double red line outside turn four...minimum speed is 31.59 seconds...teams are allotted four cans of fuel for tonight's race.

The stakes have been raised in the Case of the Missing Monkey. The Wyler Racing Team has produced a poster that has been distributed at all entry and exit points here at PIR with the following picture:

The flyer says the following:

Last Seen November 3 2006 @ Texas Motor Speedway

Name: Monkey

Description: 3 ft tall, brown hair and brown eyes

Last seen wearing a pink vest, blue hat, and bubble goggles.

Reward offered! One bunch of bananas.

Anyone with any information can contact us at TruckSeries.com and we will pass the information on to the Wyler team.