Texas II: Series round 23 preview

Bodine vs. Busch: Most Wins Record Up For Grabs At Texas
Close Series Finishes Happen Faster Than You Can Blink
In The Loop: Skinner Looking For First Win Of The Season

Bodine And Busch Set To Duke It Out For Most Wins At Texas

Bragging rights are on the line at Texas Motor Speedway as series standings leader Todd Bodine (No. 30 Valvoline Toyota) and Kyle Busch (No. 18 Iamsecond.com Toyota) will duke it out yet again for another rendition of -- who wants the cowboy hat the most?

The first battle at bay will be Friday night's WinStar World Casino 350k.

The Toyota Tundra-backed duo have separated themselves as the most successful racers in NASCAR history at the speedway to date -- with six wins each.

Surprisingly with their historic success to date, neither one of them have a victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the speedway.

Busch, who is the defending champion of the WinStar World Casino 350k, has five NASCAR Nationwide Series victories and one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win at the 1.5-mile tri-oval.

Bodine, who has sixth victories at the speedway in truck series competition, is the most recent winner at the Texas track. He led 106 laps on his way to scoring his 18th career win at the track earlier this season in June.

"It's an honor anywhere to say you've won the most races at a track," said Bodine, following his victory at Texas earlier this season. "We're proud of the fact we can come to Texas and run this well every time. It's someplace we enjoy and being the only six-time (truck series) winner - it was a goal when Kyle won five to come back and win another one."

But something larger than bragging rights and a cowboy hat will be at the center of the Busch and Bodine battle Friday night -- the series owners point lead.

Following a late-race accident at Talladega, Bodine relinquished his 39-point lead. Now, Busch has a 42-point lead over Bodine's team owner, Steve Germain, with three races left.

If Busch can hold off to win the owner's championship title, it will be the first time in series history that one team will not win both the drivers' and owners' championship trophy.

Busch, Almirola And Sauter Quicker Than You Can Blink

It takes you longer to blink your eye -- 0.033 seconds, according to answers.com -- than it did for Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola (No. 51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota) and Johnny Sauter (No. 13 FarmPaint.com Chevrolet) to cross the finish line three-wide at Talladega Superspeedway this past weekend.

After review of the finish, Busch was declared the winner over Almirola by just 0.002 seconds. The margin between first and third was 0.029.

The spectacular finish was the closest margin of victory for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in history since the inception of electronic timing and scoring.

The impressive win by Butch Miller (No. 07 Chevrolet) in 1995 over Mike Skinner (No. 5 Exide Toyota) at Colorado National Speedway still holds the record for the closest finish, but was before timing and scoring was introduced. Miller's win was determined by the review of the CBS race video.

Keselowski: Determined To Be Successful Like His Father

Brad Keselowski has been a staple in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series since 1995, but not always as a driver. The younger Keselowski spent many years following in the footsteps of his father, Bob Keselowski, around the series' garage, helping out his family-owned race team.

Flash forward 15 years and Keselowski is a NASCAR Sprint Cup winner, on the verge of winning his first NASCAR championship in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team owner.

Not too shabby for a 26-year-old.

Keselowski reflects on his childhood in the garage, his goals for his own race team and the one thing still left on his to-do list.

Q. You grew up in the truck series garage? What do you remember most about those days?

"I just remember how much fun I had in the garage area and that at a young age, I knew that I wanted to be a racecar driver. It's a great series. Honestly, the biggest memory I have of my dad's truck career was of his win at Richmond in 1997. I wasn't there. I didn't miss very many of his races, but I missed that one and I was so upset about that."

Q. Is it rewarding to have a team competing in the truck series?

"It is very rewarding to have a team competing in the truck series. Our goal is to compete full time and we are working hard to put that together. NASCAR has been very good to me and my family. I want to do my part to re-invest in the sport, so to speak. Plus, I have a blast getting to drive my own equipment and compete against guys like Ron Hornaday, Kevin Harvick and Todd Bodine. I learned a lot from those guys when I was making my way into the series and it's fun to run with them now."

Q. In Texas you are running Parker Kligerman (No. 29 BKR Dodge). Do you have a passion for developing young drivers like yourself?

"Absolutely. There are so many young guys that come into this sport with a lot of talent that never have a chance to make it because no one really takes the time to educate them on the sport. I'm not saying that I'm the best guy out there to learn from, but I will do my best to educate them on my experiences. I had Dale Earnhardt Jr., Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske to help me, not just by building my racecars, but with how to carry yourself in this sport. I think Parker has a lot of talent and I think he has a future in the sport."

Q. What are your future plans for Brad Keselowski Racing?

"We're like everyone else in that money will dictate what we can and can't do. I'll run a handful of races again next year. I really want to get that truck series win so that I could join my dad as a series winner. We'd be the only father-son duo to do that and that would mean a lot to me. I would love to grow Brad Keselowski Racing into a full-time operation and we are working hard to do that.

Skinner Hoping To End Winless Streak At Texas

Mike Skinner (No. 5 Exide Toyota), a veteran and a champion, has won at least one race in each of the last five previous NASCAR Camping World Truck Series seasons.

This year, he is winless and has just three more races to continue the impressive streak. This weekend's event at Texas might be his best shot.

Though he has yet to win at Texas, Skinner has done just about everything but. He has three runner-ups, seven top fives and 11 top 10s in 13 races.

Over the last 11 -- all top-10 finishes -- Skinner has a Driver Rating of 117.2, an Average Running Position of 5.3, 172 Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 97.3%.

One angle Skinner can't rely on: momentum. After starting the season strong (seven top 10s in the first 11 races), Skinner has scored a top 10 just once in the last six races. Over that span, he has an average finish of 15.7, a Driver Rating of 83.8 and an Average Running Position of 12.2.

Likewise, Austin Dillon (No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet) owns fond memories of Texas. After starting his rookie season in rocky fashion (five finishes outside the top 10 in the first seven races), Dillon scored his first career top-five finish at Texas. That sparked a streak of eight consecutive top-10 finishes, including his first series win, at Iowa.

In that Texas event, Dillon finished third with a Driver Rating of 118.0.

NASCAR Nationwide Series/NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Awards Banquet 2010

The 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series/ NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Awards Banquet is set for Monday, Nov. 22 at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.

This is the second year the series have been combined and will celebrate the driver and owner champions together. Drivers in both series who finish in positions second-fifth in the standings also will be featured on stage, while those drivers in positions sixth-10th also will be recognized for their accomplishments.

SPEED personalities Rick Allen and Krista Voda will host the banquet for the second consecutive year. Additionally, comedian Tom Papa who was personally chosen by Jerry Seinfeld to host the popular NBC show "The Marriage Ref" and has toured with Seinfeld for nearly a decade, will entertain the crowd. The banquet will air on SPEED on Friday, Dec. 3 from 7-9 p.m. ET as a lead-in to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Banquet broadcast, also on SPEED.

NCWTS, Etc.

* Aric Almirola (No. 51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota) is on a roll heading into Texas this weekend. Almirola has finished in the top 10 in 10 consecutive races, dating back to July. That is a record for his Billy Ballew Motorsports team. Almirola is currently 216 points behind standings leader Todd Bodine.

* Toyota is on the verge of capturing their fifth consecutive manufacturer title this weekend at Texas. Toyota must finish one position ahead of the best finishing Chevrolet to capture the title once again. Toyota Tundra drivers have won 13 races so far in 2010

* Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender Austin Dillon (No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet) won his first career pole at Texas Motor Speedway in June and scored his first career top-five finish as well. Two Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidates have won the WinStar World Casino 350k: Travis Kvapil (2000) and Brendan Gaughan (2001). Rookie of the Year Kenny Irwin Jr. captured the inaugural TMS race in 1997.

* Texas Two-Step: David Starr (No. 81 Zachry Toyota) and James Buescher (No. 31 Wolfpack Rentals Chevrolet) both call the Lone Star State home. The Houston-area natives currently sit ninth (Starr) and 12th (Buescher) in the series standings with three races remaining.

* More than 44,000 votes have been cast for the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series most popular balloting. Fans can visit www.nascar.com and vote for their favorite driver on the NCWTS page.Fans also may write-in their favorite driver who is not among the nominees by sending an e-mail to fanfeedback@nascar.com to submit their write-in vote. Voting ends on Nov. 12. The winner will be announced at the NCWTS postseason banquet. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series awards will again take place in South Florida at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel on Monday, Nov. 22.

* Girl Scouts with the help of Johanna Long (No. 20 Panhandle Motorsports Toyota) will invade Texas Motor Speedway this Thursday, Nov. 4. Long will host approximately 150 scouts from the Girl Scouts Texas Oklahoma Plains Inc., one of the largest chapters in the country in the Victory Theater of infield media center. The girls will hear Long speak about her career in motorsports, following a dream, and getting involved in math & sciences/engineering.

* NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team Turner Motorsports (TMS) will hold a press conference this Friday at Texas Motor Speedway to announce their plans for 2011. TMS currently fields race trucks for James Buescher (No. 31 Chevrolet) and Ricky Carmichael (No. 4 Monster Energy Chevrolet).

Up Next: Phoenix

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to the track where it all began in 1995 for the next-to-final race of the season. The Lucas Oil 150 marks the 20th time the series has visited Phoenix International Raceway.

Mike Skinner (No. 5 RMM Toyota) and Ron Hornaday Jr (No 33 KHI Chevrolet) both competed in the inaugural race of the series and will once again battle for the victory on Friday, Nov. 12.

Kevin Harvick (No. 2 KHI Chevrolet) is the defending winner of the Lucas Oil 150, but is not slated to compete in the event for the first time since 2007.

Five drivers (Hornaday, Skinner, Harvick, Joe Ruttman, Jack Sprague) have posted multiple wins at Phoenix.

Fast Facts

The Race: WinStar World Casino 350k
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

The Date: Friday, Nov. 5
The Time: 9 p.m. ET

Race Distance: 147 laps/350 kilometers

TV: SPEED, 8:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Channel 128

2009 Polesitter: Matt Crafton
2009 Winner: Kyle Busch

Pre-Race Day Local Schedule (All times CT):
Thursday: Practice, 12:30-1:45 p.m. and 2:15-3:30 p.m.; Qualifying, 3:40 p.m.

-source: nascar