Hornaday, Skinner look to bounce back in home state

Last season's dominant drivers in the Craftsman Truck Series, champion Ron Hornaday and runner-up Mike Skinner, were preseason favorites to fight for the championship again in 2008.

But rather than continuing their dominance, the season opened at Daytona on a sour note for the Californians, and they enter Saturday's San Bernardino County 200 at California Speedway in unfamiliar territory -- well back in the point standings.

Skinner's day ended early at Daytona, when his Toyota Tundra was collected in a multi-truck crash. He finished 29th; he started 2007 with 13 consecutive top-10 finishes.

Fast facts

What	San Bernardino Co. 200
When	3:15 p.m. ET Saturday
TV	FOX, 3 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN Sirius Satellite Ch. 128

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Things were only marginally better for Hornaday. He missed the crashes, but an oil leak put him behind the wall for 46 laps, leaving him 25th at the end.

Skinner, born in nearby Ontario, and Hornaday, a Palmdale native, both look for their fortunes to improve Saturday in Fontana. The two were involved in an exciting finish in last year's race when Hornaday tapped leader Mark Martin from behind on a restart sending him into a spin into the infield grass. Just as the caution waved, Skinner blasted past Hornaday to take the lead and the win.

The two will have to stage comebacks of dramatic proportions if they intend to reprise their epic 2007 struggle. Hornaday trails Bodine by 77 points while Skinner is 89 back.

History shows it can be done. Mike Bliss left Daytona facing a 121-point deficit in 2002 and won the championship.

Hornaday is facing another issue, the elusive back-to-back championship. While he and Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Jack Sprague have won three titles apiece, neither they nor any other competitors have been able to fashion back-to-back championships.

Hornaday is in familiar territory. Only once has a champion gone to the second race of the season with a greater deficit. That would be Hornaday, 107 back in 1997. He wound up fifth.

In addition to getting his 2008 season back on track, Skinner has other reasons for wanting a second consecutive victory at California.

"I am definitely looking forward to it," Skinner said. "I have a ton of family and friends there. Toyota's headquarters are there as well, and we would love nothing more than to go to Victory Lane again this year."

Hornaday points to his success on similarly configured tracks as a reason to expect good results Saturday.

"California is mostly a flat track; it only has 14-degree banking in the turns," Hornaday said. "I have been really successful on the flat tracks in the past. I'm looking to have another good run in front of the home-state fans."

Ted Musgrave

By the Numbers: 3

Wins at California by Ted Musgrave, most of any driver.

• More Numbers, click here

Musgrave love at California

Nobody's been any better at California Speedway than Ted Musgrave.

Musgrave won the first three Truck Series races he ran at the speedway, from 2001 to 2003, and narrowly missed a victory the following year, finishing second to Jack Sprague.

Musgrave is perfect in one respect: He's seven-for-seven in top-five finishes in Fontana.

Last year's fifth-place performance -- pretty decent by most standards -- is the 51-year-old's "worst" finish.

"Winning at California isn't always about having a good truck," said Musgrave, who comes to the track with his third different team. "There is a lot of strategy with pitting and fuel mileage and a good amount of luck is involved.

"Hopefully heading into Saturday's race we will have a little on our side again."

Musgrave had no "luck" at Daytona where he was part of an 11-truck accident and finished 28th. Thus, the trip to Southern California couldn't come at a better time.

Musgrave is driving for H-T Motorsports, a team still seeking its first Truck Series victory. The Jim Harris-owned team, based in Virginia, collected back-to-back second-place finishes at Bristol and Richmond in 2003.

Then driver Robert Pressley was third in that year's three-wide Daytona finish with Rick Crawford and Travis Kvapil.

"I believe this team is now in a position with its personnel and equipment to win," said crew chief Danny Rollins, who headed Bobby Hamilton's drive to the 2004 Truck championship. "Of course with the addition of a driver the caliber of Ted Musgrave, that enhances our chances as well."

A victory would be a first for the team. It also would allow Musgrave to match a series record for victories at a single track.

The record is held jointly by Brendan Gaughan and Todd Bodine. Both have scored four victories at Texas Motor Speedway.

"We're looking for win No. 4 this time," Musgrave said. "We have a great truck that the guys have been working really hard on to get ready. We want to get out there and have a good performance and be in the position to challenge for the win at the end."

Bodine without streaking crew chief

Daytona winner Todd Bodine will be without his crew chief, Mike Hillman Jr., who was suspended for four races after NASCAR found an illegal lowering device on the bed of his truck after qualifying (read more).

Bodine, the 2006 series champion, has won 13 times since October 2004, the most by any competitor in the five-season span. The victory also was the 13th for Hillman, whose five-year winning streak matches Danny Gill as second-longest in series history. Only Dennis Connor has a longer streak -- six years between 1996 and 2001.

Running with less horses

New rules implemented before the season include using a tapered carburetor spacer plate in every race, resulting in a loss of approximately 75 horsepower. That should allow for the drivers to run virtually wide open all the way around the 2-mile track.

"Fontana will be the first real race of the season in a way," said Daytona pole winner Erik Darnell. "It's the first opportunity we'll have to see how the trucks perform under the new engine rules. I believe that we'll see Daytona-style racing with big packs running together."

Sporting News Wire Service contributed to this report.