Only a couple of weeks removed from the kickoff to the 2010 NASCAR season at Daytona, it's time to break out the crystal ball and wager some predictions for the upcoming NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.
If there ever was a question regarding Ron Hornaday's place in NASCAR history, the driver of the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. truck belted out a resounding answer in 2009. After posting five consecutive wins in the middle of the summer, the Longhorn Chevy driver captured his fourth championship in dominant fashion. Keep in mind he lost the 2008 title to Johnny Benson by one on-track position and a total of seven points. With 45 career wins, Ron Hornaday is truly the best NCWTS driver of all time. Now the focus turns to whether or not he can become the first driver in the division's 16-year history to win back-to-back championships.
With Daytona just around the corner, our SPEED broadcast team once again is fired up to cover the very best racing in all of NASCAR. So, in keeping with tradition, I called up our team and asked them to predict the 2010 champ. (Because he may be a Truck Series competitor this season, I have excluded Michael Waltrip).
In step with last season, four of five announcers think Hornaday will finish first or second in the run for the Camping World trophy. Rick Allen and Phil Parsons have "Horn-blower" winning championship number five. Krista Voda and Adam Alexander predict Matt Crafton and the Thorsport team will be at the top in November and I expect Mike Skinner and Gene Nead to make a formidable combination that will pull off an upset for Randy Moss Motorsports.
This year's Raybestos Rookie of the Year title should be fun to watch. The black No. 3 returns to fulltime competition with young Austin Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress, behind the wheel. Joining him with a yellow stripe on the bumper will be 2009 ARCA Re/Max Series champion Justin Lofton. Another rookie to keep an eye on is Parker Kligerman, who will be filling in part-time for Brad Keselowski.
However, a couple of wrinkles could be tossed into our predictions: a number of drivers are not yet certain of their plans - Nelson Piquet Jr, Johnny Benson and Mikey Waltrip. If any of these three secure sufficient funding, they could be a threat to dethrone one of our picks. Aric Almirola was the most consistent driver in the second half of 2009. Will his plans to race a full Sprint Cup Series schedule help or hinder his performance in the truck?
Additionally, truck owners Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick will campaign trucks with multiple drivers. How many wins will they pilfer from the regulars? Will Brian Ickler or Tayler Malsam snag their first victories driving for Busch's new team? Will the revised pit road rules make for better racing? Will the "Track too Tough to Tame," just given an August date, have a significant impact on the championship? Will anyone be able to understand Jeff Hensley and Timothy Peters talking "Southern Virginia slang" on the radio? Will Rick Ren need less Tums as a general manger than he did as a crew chief?
I won't pretend to have those answers but following are our predictions for the points finishing order:
Following are the thoughts of the three of us bucking conventional wisdom by not picking Hornaday to repeat:
Voda: "The Thorsport organization is coming off tons of momentum in 2009. They also seem to be the organization with the least amount of off-season moves. That stability just might become their trump card. My head says stick with Hornaday to repeat, but my heart says to go out on a limb. Plus, if Ray can pick Sauter to win the title in '09, I can pick his teammate in '10."
Alexander: "Crafton did not show us that he was better than the KHI bunch last year, but if they run as well as they did in 2009, one must think that eventually Hornaday's team will falter."
And finally, I believe Skinner will eliminate the 29th-place finishes that have killed his average finish total the past few seasons to give him that extra edge. I know the odds are against me to not pick Hornaday to grab another title, but if I did the same thing everybody else was doing, I would have to eat right and exercise. And we all know I'm not doing that.
