A starting spot in Thursday's Cheerios Betty Crocker 200 was among the toughest "tickets" in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history.

How tough was it?

Consider: 2002-03 race winner and former NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion and current point leader Tony Stewart didn't make the cut. Neither did 2002 series champion Mike Bliss. Also among nine drivers shut out was 2004 USAC National Midget champion Bobby East, who'll have to wait awhile to make his NASCAR national touring series.

The last truck into the field on time was Ken Schrader - another former series winner.

The bad luck that stymied Mike Skinner and his Bill Davis Racing team earlier in the year has turned around and - while it's perhaps an outside chance at best - Skinner still has a legitimate shot at a second NASCAR Craftsman Truck title.

Especially with onetime runaway point leader Dennis Setzer in the throes of a late summer swoon.

Skinner was ranked 11th after Setzer's IRP victory and following two wins and a fourth-place finish has moved into the No. 4 position - 204 points behind Setzer.

He isn't the only former champion in the title mix. Ron Hornaday Jr., the 1996 and 1998 champion, picked up a spot, from fourth to third and trails Setzer by 193 with seven races remaining.

Of note, this is the first time since the final race of the 1996 season that Hornaday and Skinner together have held top-five championship positions. The 1995 champion finished fourth behind Hornaday in his second season, after which owner Richard Childress promoted Skinner to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series.

Skinner has led the most laps in each of the past three races - good for 30 bonus points.

Skinner's last back-to-back victories were recorded at Indianapolis Raceway Park and Flemington (N.J.) Speedway in August 1996. He's one of three drivers - Biffle and Hornaday are the others - to share the series mark of three consecutive wins.

The win was his 14th on a short track, one fewer than Hornaday's series-leading total.

Toyota seems to be hitting its stride as the 2005 season goes into the homestretch. The manufacturer has led all but 25 of the past three events' 551 laps. Toyota has won four of the past five races and five overall on the season. Chevrolet, however, continues to lead series manufacturer standings.

Setzer can become the second series driver to win $4 million by finishing first or second in next week's event at New Hampshire International Speedway. His career total of $3,972,249 is $27,751 shy of the plateau.

Jack Sprague remains the all-time series money leader with more than $5.6 million.

Mike Wallace became the 35th different driver to lead a race in 2005. That matches the single-season record set last year.

Wallace posted consecutive top 10 finishes at Bristol and Richmond - a first for the No. 12 Darrell Waltrip Motorsports-owned team this year. Wallace took over from Robert Huffman at IRP.

A truly veteran cast might describe the makeup of the current championship contenders. The first seven in the standings have celebrated their 40th birthdays. Matt Crafton, at age 29, is the only competitor under 30 among the top 10. David Reutimann is the next youngest at age 35.

Richmond International Raceway's 2006 schedule will not include a NASCAR Craftsman Truck race. The track announced the date is being shifted to Talladega Superspeedway, another International Speedway Corp.-owned facility. An estimated 40,000 saw Skinner become the track's ninth different winner. Richmond is one of six facilities on the current schedule hosting races during the series' inaugural season of 1995.