The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series didn't appear at Lowe's Motor Speedway
until 2003. The May 15 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 marks the seventh
time the series has visited the 1.5-mile facility.
North Carolina, however, was among 11 states hosting events during the series'
1995 inaugural schedule of 20 races.
The famed but now long-shuttered North Wilkesboro Speedway, a .625-mile short
track, held not one but two races before closing its gates for good in 1996. Of
note, the Sept. 28, 1996 Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse 250 was the
next-to-final race held at the historic track.
North Wilkesboro produced several series milestones. Mike Bliss (No. 40
Chevrolet), who would become the 2002 champion after a brief NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series stint with A.J. Foyt, scored his first series victory in 1995. His crew
chief — also a first-time winner — was Junior Johnson protégé Barry Dodson. The
victory was the first of 36 for 2005 owner champion Jim Smith, a member of the
off-road group which conceptualized the NCWTS.
The 1996 race was noteworthy on a couple of fronts. Johnny Benson, the 2008
NCWTS champion, captured his first pole, although it took nearly 18 hours to
make the lap official. Qualifying began on Friday and concluded on Saturday. Had
time trials been washed out, Benson would have lost the pole and a spot in the
race.
The North Wilkesboro race itself was a snapshot of series competition to come.
Mark Martin's victory was the first of 49 for Roush Fenway Racing, a team that's
participated in every NCWTS race since late 1995 and won the 2000 championship
with Greg Biffle.
