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 July
2008
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
General News
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New England Patriots star wide receiver Randy Moss will try to make a go of it where so many former National Football Leagues stars have been unable to: as a NASCAR team owner. Moss will partner with NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team owner David Dollar, having purchased a 50 percent ownership in the former Morgan Dollar Motorsports, which has now been renamed Randy Moss Motorsports. The team will field the No. 81 Chevrolet Silverado in the NCTS, starting with the July 19 race at Kentucky Speedway. The newly christened outfit, for now at least, remains unsponsored. Moss and Dollar said the team will continue to field young development drivers during the remainder of 2008 and will look to sign a veteran driver and race for the series championship in 2009, presumably with a sponsor on board. So far this season, seven different drivers have campaigned the team's trucks in the first 12 races of the 2008 NCTS season. Willie Allen will become the team's eighth driver when he competes at Kentucky in two weeks. (Tom Jensen Photo)
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With 12 races in the books in 2008 and heading into a stand-alone weekend in Kentucky, an interesting trend continues to develop in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Showcasing “old school” beating-and-banging and boasting seven former series champions in the weekly lineup, the television audience for the NCTS is increasingly younger this year. At the beginning of the season, NASCAR executives shared their goal of reaching out to the core NASCAR fans and, to many, “core” implied older, more traditional race fans. However, in the 10 Truck Series races broadcast on SPEED (FOX carried two races), the network has enjoyed a 13-percent ratings increase in men ages 18-49 (.63 vs. .53) over 2007 and a six percent increase (.35 vs. 33) in men ages 18-34. Additionally, ratings for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races on SPEED are up 22 percent overall this season compared to last (.93 vs. .76), and ratings have increased in eight consecutive races year to year. “I think the Truck Series appeals to the younger, male audience because they mirror the competitors, or at the very least, mirror the competitive nature of the series,” said Krista Voda, host of NCTS Setup on SPEED. “They are the guys out in everyday America making a living doing honest work. While our drivers race trucks on the weekends, these are the viewers who drive that same pickup Monday through Friday. They also relate to the drivers because they have the same work ethic. The Truck Series drivers don't receive the perks the Cup drivers do. The Truck Series is blue collar. There's something very everyday American about that!”
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Even though Johnny Benson's victory Friday night at O'Reilly Raceway Park was his third in the past four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, the Michigan native's points lead is anything but secure. With 14 of 25 NCTS races now in the books, Benson now leads three-time and defending NCTS champion Ron Hornaday Jr. by a mere 15 points, as the two are slowly separating themselves from the pack. In Friday nights Ford Power Stroke Diesel 200 at ORP, Benson's Vemma Toyota Tundra and Hornaday's VFW Chevrolet Silverado were by far the class of the field, combining to lead 196 of 200 laps. Finishing fourth in the race in his Menards Chevy was third-place points man Matt Crafton, who is just 31 points behind Benson. From there, the field spreads out a little, as Rick Crawford is 155 points in arrears of Benson. Although Benson is red-hot, he knows that this season has seen a lot of ups and downs, with more likely to come. "We're hoping we're one of the guys to beat but we no way have our hands around this thing," admitted Benson. "We've been 50 points ahead and fell to fourth in one race. It's going to be a tough battle all the way to the end."
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SPEED coverage of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from Indianapolis scored a Nielsen Rating of .81 (590,000 households), a 72-percent increase over the numbers from the same event in 2007 (.47; 335,000). It marks the 10th consecutive NCTS event on SPEED that has seen significant ratings increases from a year ago. “The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers are kicking ass this year and the audience is responding,” said SPEED President Hunter Nickell. “These races can be absolute brawls, with points battles that consistently go down to the very last race of the season … it’s still early, but I think the NASCAR fans sense another battle brewing in the Truck Series.”
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