Camping World Truck Series

"NCTS" redirects here. For the Canadian Tire Series, see NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.

Camping World Truck Series

Category	Stock cars
Country	United States · Canada
Inaugural season	1995
Constructors	Chevrolet · Ford · Toyota
Tire suppliers	Goodyear
Drivers' champion	Matt Crafton
Teams' champion	Kyle Busch Motorsports
Makes' champion	Toyota
Official website	Camping World Truck Series
Current season

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (formerly the NASCAR SuperTruck Series presented by Craftsman and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series) is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in all of NASCAR to race modified production pickup trucks. The series is one of three national divisions of NASCAR, ranking as the third-tier behind the second-tier Xfinity Series and the top level Sprint Cup Series.^[1] Camping World has served as the title sponsor since 2008; it replaced Craftsman, who served in that role from 1996 through 2007.^[2]

History

The idea for the Truck Series dates back to 1993. A group of SCORE off-road racers (Dick Landfield, Jimmy Smith, Jim Venable, and Frank "Scoop" Vessels) wanted a bigger audience for truck racing.^[3] They made a prototype for a NASCAR-style pickup truck.^[4] These were first shown off during the 1994 Daytona 500, and four demonstration races were held during the season. The first event at Mesa Marin Raceway had six trucks.^[3] The other three events were held at Portland Speedway, Saugus Speedway, and Tucson Raceway Park.^[3] Tucson Raceway Park held four events that winter, which were nationally televised during the Winter Heat Series coverage.^[3] These trucks proved to be extremely popular, and it led to NASCAR creating the series, originally known as the "SuperTruck Series", in 1995. Tools line Craftsman served as the sponsor of the series on a three-year deal, though the series was renamed to the "Craftsman Truck Series" in 1996. In addition, the series' $580,000 purse is larger than the Busch Grand National Series' fund.^[5]

While a new series, it garnered immediate support from many prominent Winston Cup Series team owners and drivers. Prominent Cup owners Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, and Jack Roush owned truck teams, and top drivers such as Dale Earnhardt and Ernie Irvan also fielded SuperTrucks for others.^[5]

Initially, the series used a number of rules that differed from both Winston Cup and Busch Grand National Series racing. Most of the first races were no longer than 125 miles in length, with many being 150 lap races on short tracks. To save teams money by not requiring teams to hire pit specialists and buy extra tires, and because some tracks – Saugus Speedway, Flemington Raceway, Tucson Raceway Park, Evergreen Speedway and Colorado National Speedway most notably—did not have a pit road safe enough for pit stops, or had pits outside the track, starting with the second race of the series in Tucson, AZ, NASCAR adopted a ten-minute "halftime" break, in place of pit stops, where teams could make any changes they would want to the truck. The only time tire changes were possible were for the interest of safety, such as a tire failure, or a danger to the tire. The rule was popular with television and fans, and was spread for the entire schedule afterwards as pit reporters could interview drivers and crew chiefs for the break in a time without stress.

A typical NASCAR-specific truck, in this case Mike Skinner's 2006 Toyota Tundra

For a short time in 1995, NASCAR adopted traditional short-track rules by inverting a number of cars at the front of the grid after complaints about some races where drivers led the entire event. That was dropped quickly after some races ended as walkovers for drivers, leading entire races.

In 1996, some races went to two intermissions for full tire and fuel stops, while longer races were stopped at three times—a limited break near the one-quarter and three-quarter marks for fuel stops, and at the halfway point for fuel and tire stops. If tire wear was a concern, NASCAR also permitted two tire changes if necessary in the first and third period breaks.

These rules were influential in driver development. Drivers had to learn to conserve tire wear for up to a half race, which allowed them to learn conserving the truck. Some drivers used the rules to learn tire conservation for other series.

In 1997, NASCAR started phasing pit stops. During the 1997 season, trucks could only legally take fuel and make adjustments during pit stops during the race. Tire changes were still illegal except for emergency causes and at break times.

By 1998, most of the short tracks were phased out in favor of speedways of 1 to 2 miles in length, and more of the races were held at tracks that hosted Cup and Busch events concurrently, but some races were held with Champ Car and Indy Racing League events. In mid-1998, at Fountain, CO, NASCAR switched to limited pit stops resembling other series where only two tires could be changed during caution periods. The rule was later removed and teams could change four tires, although there is a limit of how many sets a team could have during the entire race weekend, usually four sets per weekend. The traditional breaks were re-implemented in 2013 for Eldora Speedway. (In 2005, NASCAR adopted a similar rule in the Busch Series, with six sets per weekend.) Road courses were phased out by 2001, but returned in 2013 with the truck race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

A more popular rule that was effective until the middle of the 2004 season was the "overtime" rule. Unless interrupted by weather, Craftsman Truck Series races had to end under green flag conditions, and the rule mandated that all races must end with a minimum of two consecutive laps in green flag condition, often referred to as a "green-white-checkered" finish. Since racing to the yellow flag was prohibited until 1998 (and again in 2003 under the current free pass rule), scoring reverted to the last completed lap, and until racing back to the line was legalized in 1998, if the yellow waved during the first lap of a green-white-checkered finish, the entire situation would be reset.

This rule meant some races would be greatly extended. In 1998, a CBS-televised race in Fountain, CO scheduled for 186 laps ran 198 laps (12 extra laps) because of multiple attempts, and the last such race, in Madison, IL, in 2004, lasted 14 additional laps (16.25 miles). A July 24, 2004 rule change for NASCAR's three national series meant only one "green-white-checkered" finish can be attempted, and the race can end under yellow in one of four situations—inclement weather, darkness, the yellow flag waving because of an incident during the final lap of a race, or the yellow flag waving after the one attempt at "green-white-checkered" begins. This was later extended by NASCAR to three attempts. (It should be noted that, while reducing the Truck Series attempts at a green-white-checkered finish to one, the rule change was part of NASCAR's implementation of the rule to the NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series due to complaints regarding NASCAR's policy at the time regarding late race cautions; the policy stated that a red flag would be thrown during a late race caution to attempt to ensure the race would finish under green but if a caution occurred after the window for the red flag, the race would end under caution regardless of where the incident occurred or how severe it was.)

Ironically, the first Truck Series race under the new rules ended with a yellow flag on the final lap.

Most of the first drivers in the series were veteran short track drivers who hadn't made it into the other NASCAR national series. It is worth noting that most of the early champions have become Sprint Cup Series regulars later in their careers. As the years went on, a number of younger drivers debuted in the series, using the series as a springboard for their racing careers. Current NASCAR stars Scott Riggs, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, and Kyle Busch each started in the series. Kyle Busch was 16 when he was ejected from a 2001 Craftsman Truck Series race in Fontana, CA by CART (which sanctioned the Marlboro 500 that weekend) because of violations in the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, the tobacco agreement prohibited competitors under 18 in any race during the meet. The issue resulted in a 2002 rule change that mandated that any driver competing in a NASCAR national touring series (Truck, Nationwide, Cup) or any regional series race on the weekend of a national series race must be at least 18 in order to comply with the Master Settlement Agreement.

After NASCAR phased out tobacco sponsorships, the minimum age for regional touring series was changed to 16, and the Truck Series will have a minimum age of 16 for any circuit one mile or shorter (Rockingham Speedway included, despite it being 1.017 miles), and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

In later years, though, the Truck Series has also become a place for Cup veterans without a ride to make their living which included Ricky Craven, Jimmy Spencer, Dennis Setzer, Brendan Gaughan (who started his career in a family-owned team, and after his Nextel Cup attempt, returned to the family operation), Rich Bickle, Andy Houston, Todd Bodine, Bobby Hamilton, Jr. and previous champions Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday, Ted Musgrave, and Jack Sprague. The series is currently dominated by older drivers, most with Xfinity Series and Sprint Cup Series experience: in 2007, all ten Top 10 drivers were over 30 years of age, and 7 of the 10 had Cup experience, as did every race winner with the exception of Erik Darnell. Even though novice drivers play a minimal role in this "minor league" series, there is no controversy like the disputes over "Buschwhackers" in the Nationwide Series (now Xfinity Series). No current Cup regulars drive a full Truck series schedule, although Cup driver Kevin Harvick owned his own team in the series until 2011, and Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski field their own teams, driving part-time for them.

Starting with the 2011 season, NASCAR implemented a new rule that allows drivers to compete for the drivers' championship in only one of the three national touring series (Cup, Xfinity, or Truck) in a given season.

Most races today will last around 250 miles at larger tracks, 150 to 200 miles at most others, and 200–250 laps around the shortest tracks.

At the end of the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule, Craftsman stopped sponsoring the series and Camping World replaced them, rebranding the series as the "Camping World Truck Series". To cut costs, NASCAR reduced the maximum number of pit crew members allowed over the wall for a pit stop from seven to five, and required teams to only take either fuel or tires on a single pit stop in 2009. This requirement was abandoned for the 2010 season.

The Series was also notable in seeing the return of Chrysler Corporation factory supported race vehicles to the tracks. Chrysler withdrew its factory support of its Dodge and Plymouth brands after the 1972 year to cut costs, though teams continued to campaign cars with Plymouth and Dodge sheetmetal and power plants until 1985. Chrysler funded a small R&D effort and factory funding and support for Dodge to return to NASCAR for the Craftsman Truck Series with the Dodge Ram pickup truck in 1997. By 2001 Dodge made a full-time return to NASCAR with a full factory backed effort. While Dodge continued to race in the other series until 2012, the Ram Trucks division (spun off from Dodge after the Fiat Group took control of Chrysler) raced in the Camping World Truck Series in Dodge's place. In 2014, Ram pulled out, leaving the Nationwide Series as the last series with teams fielding Dodge.

Television

Most of the first races were nationally televised on ESPN, TNN, WTBS, ABC, and CBS. A number of races were held at tracks that hosted only NASCAR regional events.

In 2001, NASCAR moved the series exclusively to cable, first with ESPN, and in 2003, switched to Speed, a network which has provided supplemental coverage for Fox's coverage of NASCAR events. Network television returned to the series from 2007 to 2010 when two races per season (the Kroger 250 at Martinsville, and the City of Mansfield 250 at Mansfield, with a race at Fontana replacing Mansfield) airing on Fox as NASCAR on Fox events. These broadcasts were discontinued in 2010. On August 13, 2013 Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 picked up all Truck Series coverage. Eventually, it was announced that the fall Talladega Superspeedway Truck race would be moved from Fox Sports 1 to Fox.

Specifications

Chassis: Steel tube frame with safety roll cage, must be NASCAR standards.
Engine Displacement: 358in³ (5.8L) Pushrod V8.
Transmission: 4-speed manual.
Weight: 3,400 lb (1,542 kg) minimum without driver, with fuel.
Power Output: 650–700 hp (485–522kw) unrestricted, ≈450 hp (335 kW) restricted.
Torque: 700 N·m (520 ft·lb).
Fuel: 98 octane E15 unleaded gasoline standardized by Sunoco.
Fuel Capacity: 18 US gal (68 L).
Fuel Delivery: Carburetion.
Compression Ratio: 12:1.
Aspiration: Naturally aspirated.
Carburetor size: 390 cubic feet per minute (184 liters per second) 4 barrel.
Wheelbase: 112 in (2,845 mm).
Steering: Power, recirculating ball.
Tires: Goodyear slick tires.
Length: 206.5 in (5,245 mm).
Height: 60 in (1,524 mm).
Width: 80 in (2,032 mm).
Safety equipment: HANS device, Seat belt 6-point supplied by Willans.

Manufacturer representation

Chrysler LLC

Dodge Ram: 1995–2009
Ram: 2010–2013, some 2014 races Ram Trucks division split from Dodge (all privateer 2009–present)

Ford

Ford F-150: 1995–present (Brad Keselowski Racing as works team)

Chevrolet C/K: 1995–1997
Chevrolet Silverado: 1998–present (Turner Scott Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing as works teams)

Toyota

Toyota Tundra: 2004–present

Past champions

1995 – Mike Skinner
1996 – Ron Hornaday
1997 – Jack Sprague
1998 – Ron Hornaday (2)
1999 – Jack Sprague (2)
2000 – Greg Biffle
2001 – Jack Sprague (3)
2002 – Mike Bliss
2003 – Travis Kvapil
2004 – Bobby Hamilton
2005 – Ted Musgrave
2006 – Todd Bodine
2007 – Ron Hornaday (3)
2008 – Johnny Benson
2009 – Ron Hornaday (4)
2010 – Todd Bodine (2)
2011 – Austin Dillon
2012 – James Buescher
2013 – Matt Crafton
2014 – Matt Crafton (2)

Seasons

NASCAR SuperTruck Series presented by Craftsman: 1995
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014