Nashville: Series off-week notes 2010-04-19

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series News And Notes - Open Week
April 19, 2010

Young Guns Making Strong Statement Early In Season

In 2010, it is good to be 30 and under with just four races complete on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule. Six of the top 10 in the point standings are under the age of 30 and changing the face of this series.

Series standings leader Timothy Peters (No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota) was born Aug. 29, 1980 (29) and he leads the young contingent of drivers this season posting a win at Daytona, three top fives and four top 10s in the first four races of the season.

Second in the standings, Aric Almirola (No. 51 Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota) is 82 points behind Peters. Almirola was born March 14, 1984 (26) and the young driver is carrying the Billy Ballew Motorsports banner this year, posting one top five and three top 10s this season.

Seventh and eighth in the standings are two 30-year-olds, Ricky Carmichael (No. 4 Monster Energy Chevrolet) and Jason White (No. 23 GunBroker.com Dodge). Carmichael, born Nov. 27, 1979, has posted two top 10s in the first four races of the season, and White, born July 5, 1979, has been hot out of the gate, sitting on the pole at Daytona and going on to finish in the top five at the famed 2.5 mile superspeedway.

Rounding out the six young drivers in the top 10 are the two youngest, Tayler Malsam (No. 56 Toyota Tundra Toyota) was born Feb. 15, 1989 (21), and the only owner-driver of the group, Kyle Busch (No. 18 Dollar General Toyota) born May 2, 1985 (24). Busch is coming off a win at Nashville Superspeedway, giving his new organization, Kyle Busch Motorsports, its first victory. Busch has posted one win, two top fives and a pole in the three starts he has made this season.

Skinner Can Rebound With This Next Stretch Of The Season

Last season, Randy Moss Motorsports signed Mike Skinner (No. 5 International Trucks/Monaco RV Toyota) and in just five races, he gave team owner Randy Moss his first win in the series. Skinner captured the checkered flag in the weather-shortened event at Kansas Speedway. He went on to finish the 2009 season third in the points. He posted three wins (Kansas, Iowa and Gateway), eight top fives and 17 top 10s.

Following his win at Kansas, Skinner rallied off three top fives and six top 10s in the next eight races, making this next stretch of the season pivotal in his climb back into championship contention in 2010.

Skinner's last season win at Kansas was no fluke. Skinner has made six starts at the 1.5-mile speedway and has one win, five top fives and two poles.

Skinner has started 2010 off slow, with a DNF at Daytona, followed up by a 14th-place finish at Atlanta and 27th-place finish at Martinsville. But Skinner rebounded at Nashville, posting his first top 10 of the season.

The 2010 NASCAR Season-to-Date Loop Data shows Skinner is ranked fifth in the Average Running Position category (9.908) and is ranked fifth in Laps In The Top 15 with 82.7% of his laps completed in the top 15.

In The Loop: Hornaday Picking Up Speed After Slow Start

A sixth-place points position after four races is no reason to panic.

But that's where Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Longhorn Chevrolet) currently resides, and it's the second-worst standings spot of his career after four races.

Hornaday has normally gotten off to strong starts. Only this season and 2006, when he was 19th, has Hornaday been outside the top five in points after four events.

But, again, there's no need to fret. Hornaday's standings position has everything to do with poor finishes in the first two races. At Daytona, he finished 27th; at Atlanta he was 34th.

His last two finishes -- a second at Martinsville and a third at Nashville -- were more befitting a four-time series champion.

Hornaday's season is a tale of two halves.

In the first two, Hornaday had an average finish of 30.5, a Driver Rating of 85.9, an Average Running Position of 24.2, a Pass Differential (passes minus times passed) of minus-3, a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 24% and three Fastest Laps Run.

In the last two, Hornaday had an average finish of 2.5, a Driver Rating of 112.2, an Average Running Position of 5.9, a Pass Differential of plus-28, a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 88% and 32 Fastest Laps Run.

Now Hornaday heads to a track at which he has had great success -- Kansas Speedway. In the previous five Kansas races, Hornaday has a Driver Rating of 118.9, an Average Running Position of 5.9, 217 Laps Led and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 90.3%. In his 2008 Kansas win, Hornaday scored a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0.

NCWTS Etc.