Ken Butler III will make his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCTS) this weekend behind the wheel of the No. 00 Aaron's Lucky Dog Tundra for Darrell Waltrip Motorsports. Butler will head to Mansfield Motorsports Park following his first career ARCA Re/Max Series win this past weekend at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway. Butler drove a Camry in ARCA competition two weeks ago at the Kentucky Speedway (May 12) where he started on the outside of the front row for Eddie Sharp Racing. His first victory came in just his fourth ARCA start.
Terry Cook, driver of the No. 59 Harris Trucking Tundra, will head home to Ohio for this weekend's NCTS event at Mansfield. Cook's hometown of Sandusky, Ohio is about an hour north of Mansfield and many of his family, friends, and fans will be in attendance. Cook earned the 1995 Super late model championship at Sandusky (Ohio) Speedway and the 1992 Super late model championship at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway.
"It's kind of funny that I raced around the region for a lot of years, but never at Mansfield until the Craftsman Truck Series went there in 2004," says Cook. "So, Mansfield isn't exactly a 'home track' for me, but there are a lot of fans that supported me back in my late model days in the 1980s and 1990s that are still around. It's always great going back there knowing that they will be there, still cheering for me and my team. That's pretty cool."
AJ Allmendinger led seven laps during the NCTS race at Lowe's Motor Speedway Friday night and finished second -- his career-best finish. Allmendinger has led three NCTS races for a total of 17 laps, including one lap at Atlanta (2007) and nine last season (Talladega and Atlanta).
The NCTS has made three starts at Mansfield and Jack Sprague, driver of the No. 60 Con-Way Freight Tundra, has never finished worse than second. Sprague has one win (2004), followed by two consecutive second-place finishes at the track.
"Mansfield is just a little bull ring," said Sprague. "You drive the higher side of the race track versus the lower side because it has progressive banking. It's just a rooting and gouging type of track. It's a lot of fun. If your truck is set up good, you can really race at Mansfield. I'm really looking forward to getting back to Mansfield. I have a win and two second-place finishes there, so I'm pretty confident going into the race. On top of that, Mansfield is a home state track for my team owners Jeff and David Wyler, so there's definitely some added pressure there. I want to win really bad for them in their own backyard. We've had some great runs this season, and I think Mansfield could be the place where we get our second win of the season!"
With three finishes in the top-five during Friday night's NCTS race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Tundras have now recorded a total of 150 top-five finishes since joining the series at the beginning of the 2004 season. Tundras have earned 29 wins, 37 poles, one driver's championship (2006) and one manufacturer's championship (2006) in 81 NCTS races.
Heading into this weekend's NCTS race at Mansfield, Tundra drivers occupy six of the top- 10 positions in the point standings. On the strength of three victories in six races, Mike Skinner is the current point's leader; 85 points ahead of defending series champion Todd Bodine. Other Tundra drivers in the top-10 are Ted Musgrave (fifth), Jack Sprague (seventh), Aaron Fike (ninth) and Johnny Benson (10th). Fike also leads the 'Rookie of the Year' standings.