By the Numbers: Trucks

A look at the Top 10 and more at Kansas Speedway

By Jarrod Breeze, NASCAR.COM
April 24, 2008
11:11 AM EDT

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The Craftsman Truck Series returns after a three-week layoff and will race for the only time in April on Saturday (5:30 p.m. ET, SPEED) at Kansas Speedway. The green flag is scheduled to wave at 6:23 p.m. ET.

The Truck Series has visited Kansas Speedway once every year since the venue opened in 2001. The first six races were held in early July, and this is the second year the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 will be held on the final weekend in April.

Kansas Speedway has produced seven different winners, and all from a top-10 starting position. Five drivers have competed in all seven races at Kansas: Terry Cook, Matt Crafton, Rick Crawford, Ted Musgrave and Dennis Setzer. Cook is the only one with a victory there (more on him later).

1Career NASCAR wins for Ricky Hendrick, which came in the inaugural race at Kansas Speedway. Hendrick made 30 Craftsman Truck Series starts in his career (2000-01). His lone full season was in 2001, when he finished sixth in points. Besides the victory at Kansas, Hendrick had eight top-fives and 19 top-10s with an average finish of 9.0 in 24 races. Hendrick's final year as a driver was in 2002, when he made 22 of his 38 career Busch Series starts.

2Female drivers entered in this week's race at Kansas, both making their series debut. Jennifer Jo Cobb, a Kansas City, Kan., native, has made two Busch Series starts in her career, most recently in 2006, finishing last (crashes) both times. Cobb also has competed in the ARCA Re/Max Series. Michelle Theriault has never made a start in any of NASCAR's top series. She finished 13th in NASCAR Camping World Series East points in 2007. Both will drive Dodges owned by Derrike Cope.

3Most top-fives at Kansas Speedway, accomplished by three drivers: Rick Crawford, Dennis Setzer and Mike Skinner. None of the three have won there, however. Skinner has finished fourth, fifth and fifth the past three years, the latter two after starting from the pole. He's the only driver to earn more than one pole in qualifying. Sezter finished third, second and third in his first three starts (2001-03) but hasn't finished better than 11th since. Crawford has finished second the past two years and was third in 2004.

4Victories at Kansas for Ford, most of any manufacturer. Three are Jack Roush trucks, the only owner with multiple wins there. Jon Wood won in the No. 50 truck in 2003, while Carl Edwards (2004) and Erik Darnell (2007) both drove the No. 99 truck to Victory Lane. Roush trucks also have the most top-fives (six) and top-10s (10). Chevrolet is the only other manufacturer with more than one victory at Kansas. Chevy drivers won the first two races at the track.

5Combined top-10s at Kansas for former series champions Ted Musgrave (two), Jack Sprague (two) and Ron Hornaday Jr. (one). Musgrave finished second and fifth in his first two starts, but his 12th-place finish in 2007 represents his best in five races since. Sprague has finished 23rd or worse three times, but had a track-best third-place result last year in his fifth career start. Hornaday has made but three starts at Kansas, with a sixth-place finish last year.

6Career wins for Terry Cook, the most recent to date coming at Kansas, in 2006. Cook's six lead-lap finishes at Kansas are the most of any driver, and his 9.3 average finish is his best at any active track. He has five top-10s, tied for most with Rick Crawford. Kansas will be the first race for Cook with John Quinn as crew chief. Quinn was Erik Darnell's crew chief when Darnell won at Kansas last year, the driver's only victory to date. He was also the crew chief for Ricky Craven in 2005 when Craven won his only series race, at Martinsville. They finished 13th at Kansas.

7Lead changes in the 2007 race, the only time there has been less than 10 lead changes at Kansas. Only five drivers led, which ties the 2002 race for fewest leaders. Winner Erik Darnell led 92 laps while runner-up Rick Crawford led only one lap. Third-place Jack Sprague led 10 laps, and pole-sitter Mike Skinner led 58 laps. Aaron Fike led six laps, the only laps the now suspended driver has led. Crawford also led a track-best 127 laps in 2002 but came away with a DNF (rear end) two laps from the finish.

8Career wins on 1.5-mile tracks for Todd Bodine, including one at Kansas. Bodine has never finished worse than 15th in four starts at Kansas. He has finished seventh the past two years. Bodine's victory at Kansas in 2005 was the first of a career-high five that year and came in just his second start since returning to the No. 30 Toyota of Germain Racing. Bodine made eight starts, with two victories, in the 30 truck in 2004, but began the next year driving the No. 66 Toyota for Fiddle Back Racing before that team disbanded after 10 races.

9Place of finish at Kansas in 2002 for Jon Wood, one of four top-10s in as many races at the track. Wood posted his first career top-10 the year before at Kansas when he finished fourth. He also scored his first career victory at that track, in 2003. Wood is the only driver attempting to race both at Kansas and Talladega this week. Brandon Whitt will practice and qualify the No. 21 truck for Wood. Whitt has a 16.3 average starting position in three races at Kansas, with an eighth-place start in 2005.

10Place of finish for Shane Sieg last year in Billy Ballew's No. 15 truck at New Hampshire, just his second career top-10. Sieg will replace Kyle Busch in Ballew's series-leading No. 51 truck this week. Sieg has one career start at Kansas, finishing 16th (two laps down) in 2004. Sieg has made two starts in 2008, in the No. 07 Chevy of SS-Green Light Racing, with two DNFs (engine). Sieg made three starts for Ballew in the 15 truck last year, also finishing 20th at Talladega and 17th at Atlanta in October.

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Kansas Speedway Winner

Year	Driver	Make	Start	Led	Pole

2001	R. Hendrick	Chevy	2	32	D. Setzer
2002	M. Bliss	Chevy	4	14	J. Leffler
2003	J. Wood	Ford	3	67	C. Chaffin
2004	C. Edwards	Ford	2	22	D. Setzer*
2005	T. Bodine	Toyota	10	81	B. Lester
2006	T. Cook	Ford	5	41	M. Skinner
2007	E. Darnell	Ford	10	92	M. Skinner