Joey Miller (#12 Curb Records Toyota) has a couple of goals in mind for the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. One will follow the other. Miller hopes to join Darrell Waltrip Motorsports teammate David Reutimann (#17 Team Tundra Toyota) as the Raybestos Rookie of the Year, an award Reutimann won in 2004. That will fulfill goal No. 2 when Miller, 21, would become the series youngest competitor to be named the top rookie. That honor currently belongs to 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Kurt Busch, the series 2000 Raybestos Rookie of the Year at age 22 years three months; Miller wont celebrate his 22nd birthday until next January. Interestingly, Miller isnt even the youngest of this years rookie contenders. Kyle Krisiloff (#15 ditech.com/National Land Liquidators/Krud Kutter Chevrolet) turns 20 this Friday. This years Raybestos rookie class is the youngest in the 11-year history of the competition with a current average age of 23. Reutimann didnt exactly waltz to his rookie of the year title. Miller, after two races in which last weeks 13th-place finish at California Speedway follows a run of 33rd at Daytona, believes the competition may be the greatest challenge ever. Miller, who hails from Lakeville, MN, a few miles south of Minneapolis on Interstate 35, is just the second Minnesotan to compete in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Tommy Archer of Duluth started the series first event on Feb. 5, 1995 and finished 18th. He previously drove in the ARCA RE/MAX Series scoring five wins and 12 top-10 finishes along with six poles. Miller won his first ARCA start at Nashville Superspeedway in 2004.
NEWS AND NOTES, PART II
Martin opens season on record note No NASCAR Craftsman Truck driver had opened the year with back-to-back victories until last Friday when Mark Martin (# 6 Scotts Ford) followed up his Daytona triumph by winning the Racetickets.com 200 at California Speedway. Martin also became the second to win NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, NASCAR Busch and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races at the same track to join Bobby Labonte, who completed the triple last April at Martinsville Speedway. Martin kicked off a Roush Racing sweep of a weekend that saw Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth in Victory Lane as well. Roush recorded the last NASCAR national touring series triple-win weekend in 2001 at Phoenix International Raceway during which Biffle won NASCAR Craftsman Truck and NASCAR Busch Series races and Jeff Burton took the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series victory.
Point picture begins to clear…Ted Musgraves (#9 Team ASE/Germain Motor Company Toyota) pair of third-place finishes increased the defending series champions stay among the top 10 in points to 45 consecutive races. Musgrave, third in current standings behind Martin and teammate Todd Bodine (#30 Germain Motor Company Toyota), has held a top-10 spot since June 19, 2004 following a third-place performance at Memphis Motorsports Park. Three former champions; Musgrave, Jack Sprague (#60 Con-Way Toyota) and Mike Skinner (#5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) occupy top-10 spots with one Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender Erik Darnell (#99 Woolrich Ford) also ranked.
ETC.Martin is the 16th different series driver to win two or more green-white-checker finishes. Bodines shootout record is two wins and four losses2006 marks the first time that the first two races have gone past their scheduled distances…Thirteen different freshman drivers have scored Raybestos Rookie of the Year points. Darnell is the standings leader by a 27 to 15 point count over KrisiloffThe NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series takes a two weekend break before heading to Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 17 for the first of two scheduled stops at the 1.54-mile speedway. Ron Hornaday Jr.s (#33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet) .008-second victory over Labonte remains the closest superspeedway finish in series history.
IN THE LOOP
Martin is best on restartsNASCAR scoring Loop Data confirmed what Bodine and Musgrave likely suspected this past weekend: Martin had an edge when it came to restarts. The California Speedway winner turned in the top lap after a restart at 169.882 mph and was fastest on three of the top five lap speeds recorded after caution. Martins truck was the class of the field throughout the event posting the fastest lap speeds in turns two, three and four.(NASCAR PR)(2-28-2006)
