"Rowdy" - a/k/a Kyle Busch - will be back behind the wheel of Billy Ballew's No. 51 Miccosukee Resorts Toyota Tundra this weekend after skipping the Kansas race. In four starts so far this season with Ballew, Busch has two victories and a runner-up finish, and in NASCAR's top three series combined, he's won an astonishing eight races, including three each in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series.

Busch has an impressive record at Lowe's Motor Speedway, with two NCTS victories in three starts, and given that his two other NCTS wins this season were at fast intermediate tracks, he figures to come into this race as the favorite.

Without question, Busch has been the biggest story in NASCAR this season. "I wouldn't say that I'm not impressed with what I've done," said the 23-year-old phenom after winning last week's Sprint Cup race at Darlington, S.C. "And I'm very grateful and humble that I've been able to win six weeks in a row, yes, but I feel like there could have been more. And hopefully … I can either win a Truck race or All-Star Race or both, at that.  That would be awesome." Nothing like setting one's sights high.

The co-favorite at LMS along with Busch is defending series champion and current points leader Ron Hornaday Jr., who also is the defending winner of this race and should be his usual tough-to-beat self in the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet Silverado owned by Kevin Harvick Inc. Hornaday also has momentum on his side, coming off his victory at Kansas, where he crushed the field by leading 136 of 167 laps.

Hornaday and his team continue to have it going on in a big way, and if anyone can keep Rowdy from running away with another race, it will be the No. 33 squad, led by savvy crew chief Rick Ren.

Given the successes of Busch and Hornaday, both this season and historically at this track, those two are the clear-cut favorites to win Friday night at LMS. But the competition behind them should be very, very tough, as it most always is at an NCTS race.

Mike Skinner, who wheels the No. 5 Toyota Tundra out of the Bill Davis Racing Camp, has led a total of 99 laps in the last three NCTS races at Lowe's Motor Speedway, and although he hasn't always had the finishes that reflect the speed of his truck, he can be counted to be someone to contend with at a fast intermediate track.

Another driver who loves the 1.5-mile tracks is 2006 series champ Todd Bodine, pilot of the No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota Tundra, the winning truck in the season-opener at Daytona. Of the seven intermediate tracks on the NCTS circuit, Bodine and Hornaday each have won at five of them, though Hornaday has won at Lowe's, while "The Onion" hasn't.

While he's not enjoyed as much success this season as he'd like to in the No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota, Ted Musgrave has a strong track record at Lowe's, where in his last five NCTS starts, he has one victory and four top-five finishes, including a fifth-place run here a year ago.

Don't count out Dennis Setzer, either. Setzer has had a somewhat erratic season in the No. 18 Journey-Melling Dodge, scoring a tremendously emotional victory at Martinsville Speedway, the team's first win since the death of founder Bobby Hamilton. But he hasn't better than 10th anywhere else this season, although he is a past LMS winner and as such cannot be discounted.

Last but not least among the contenders are a trio of youngsters who've yet to win this season, but have shown tremendous speed at times: Colin Braun, Matt Crafton and Chad McCumbee. Though Braun is just a rookie, he drove the No. 6 Con-Way Freight Ford F-150 to a runner-up finish at Kansas last month, while McCumbee has two outside poles and three finishes of seventh or better in the Malcolmson Construction Ford. And Crafton is long overdue for a first NCTS victory in the No. 88 Menard's Chevrolet.
As far as other drivers in the top 10 in points, Rick Crawford has used consistency to get to second in points in the Power Stroke Diesel By International Ford, but he only has one finish better than fifth this season and hasn't had a top five here since 2003.

Johnny Benson has three top-five finishes this season in the Exide Toyota Tundra, but he's only led a total of six laps in five races this season, while for Jack Sprague, LMS has been a house of horrors: In four career NCTS races here, his average finish is 30.25, which doesn't bode well for the No. 2 American Commercial Lines Chevrolet.
The bottom line? Expect a hard, fast 200-miler on Friday night, and expect it to be the Rowdy & Ronnie show. It should be one of the best battles of the season as the titans of Trucks duke it out once again under the lights. See you there.

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com.  He is the author of "Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED," and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association.  The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to speedtvanswerman@gmail.com