With the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series just around the corner, the 2010 season is shaping up as potentially the most intriguing in years.
One reason for that is the budding rivalry between four-time and defending Truck Series Champion Ron Hornaday Jr., and newly minted team owner Kyle Busch.
Hornaday, who drives Chevrolet Silverados for Kevin Harvick Inc., has been pretty clear in years past about his feelings towards Busch over the past two seasons. Hornaday, a Truck Series regular for many years, races for championships and race victories. Busch, who only runs a limited schedule, races for victories and thus is a bit more aggressive at times than Hornaday.
That's resulted in friction between the two. At Michigan in 2008, Busch wrecked Hornaday on the last lap, knocking him from ninth to 23rd in the final running order. That sparked a furious outburst from Hornaday after the race, and, in fact, was one of the key reasons he narrowly lost the championship that year to Johnny Benson.
This year, the plot thickens. Instead of driving for Billy Ballew, Busch's own Kyle Busch Motorsports team will field two full-time Toyota Tundras: One that Busch and Brian Ickler will share, the other driven by Tayler Malsam, who like Ickler is one of the rising young talents in the sport. If sponsorship can be found, Busch hopes to campaign a third truck for Benson.
And if that wasn't enough intrigue, Hornaday's crew chief since 2007, Rick Ren, left KHI to become competition director for KBM. Add in the Chevy-Toyota rivalry, and this has the makings of a world-class rivalry. And just like pro wrestling, rivalries are the lifeblood of NASCAR.
If Hornaday is able to win a fifth truck title this season with new crew chief Dave Fuge, it would be a series record and move him to within hailing distance of the seven Sprint Cup titles won by Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt.
Some other Truck Series stories to watch:
TRIPLE ONIONS? — Newlywed Todd Bodine, a/k/a "The Onion" will attempt to win his third consecutive Truck Series race at Daytona, something no other driver has done. In fact, Bodine is the only repeat Truck Series winner at the fabled 2.5-mile superspeedway.
If Bodine three-peats, he'll join a short list of NASCAR's national series drivers who have won at least three races in a row at Daytona: Cale Yarborough (Sprint Cup, three in a row, 1967-1968); Dale Earnhardt Jr. (NASCAR Nationwide Series, three in a row, 2003-2004); and Dale Earnhardt (Nationwide, five in a row, 1990-1994).
BACK IN BLACK — The black No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet will return to full-time NASCAR competition for the first time since Dale Earnhardt died at Daytona in 2001.
This time, though, it won't be in the Cup Series. Instead, 19-year-old Austin Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress, will run the No. 3 Chevrolet Silverado full time in the Truck Series. Dillon posted respectable finishes of 12th and 15th in two truck starts last year.
THE TITLE CONTENDERS — Who else will step to challenge for the championship this season? ThorSport Racing's Matt Crafton parlayed 11 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes into a runner-up points finish last year and should be tough again in his No. 88 Chevy.
Mike Skinner, a past series champion, will pilot the No. 5 Randy Moss Motorsports Toyota for a second season, and he should be capable of running up front on a regular basis, too.
Another driver to watch is Busch's replacement at Billy Ballew Motorsports, Aric Almirola, who in 16 Truck Series starts last year posted seven top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. Ballew could field a second truck in some races for Michael Waltrip.
