STATS & LOOP DATA: 2011 TRUCK SERIES SEASON ONE OF MOST COMPETITIVE EVER
Hornaday: “Damn them kids.”
Houston: “It reminds me of the year Greg Biffle and I battled for rookie-of-the-year.”
Not only have they settled in and made themselves at home in the top 10 in point standings, they’ve done so during one of the most competitive seasons the series has seen in years.
The numbers don’t lie. Five of the drivers in the top 10 in points, including points leader Austin Dillon and runner-up James Buescher, are 21 years old and younger. With two wins, seven pole positions, 33 top-five and 69 top-10 finishes combined this season among seven freshman and rookie drivers, this year’s fledgling drivers give past classes a serious run for their money.
Heading into Saturday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET live on SPEED™; NCWTS Setup with Krista Voda at 3 p.m. ET), sophomore driver Austin Dillon looks to be the favorite. Dillon, the current points leader, took his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet to Victory Lane last year in Sin City. But first he has to beat veteran Ron Hornaday, Jr., the most recent to visit Victory Lane last weekend at Kentucky Speedway in his 50th win. Only Hornaday has more wins (three) and more top-five finishes (10) in 2011 than any of those young enough to be his grandchildren. But Buescher, three points behind Dillon in the championship hunt, has three more top 10s (at 17) than “Grandpa.”
“Damn them kids,” four-time champion Hornaday joked. “I look back at Mike (Skinner), Jack (Sprague), Joe (Ruttman) – I knew how to race them guys. We raced on different styles of tracks and we all came from a short-track racing background. These kids, with the talent they’ve got now, are going to the mile-and-a-half tracks and speedways and they’re actually really impressive. I’m trying to learn how to race these kids. They’ve got no fear. With the soft walls, they’ve never rung their bells hard enough to know these walls do hurt, and they’re sticking their noses in there three-wide and don’t have respect for the old guys or the guy who has won four championships. I’m learning each week how to race them. My hat’s off to them. These kids have no fear and that’s pretty cool.”
The 2001 Truck Series season is the only one to-date in which two rookies finished inside the top 10 in points (Travis Kvapil and the late Ricky Hendrick). With five races remaining in the 2011 season, three rookies remain in the top 10 (Joey Coulter, Cole Whitt and Parker Kligerman), while sophomore drivers Dillon and Buescher hold down first and second. Fellow rookies Nelson Piquet, Jr., and Miguel Paludo sit 11th and 15th, respectively.
“When you look at Cole Whitt, what the 22 kid (Joey Coulter) is doing, their whole class is good,” said Rick Carelli, former driver and current Director of Competition at Kevin Harvick Inc. “(James) Buescher … there’s a lot of them out there that have great potential. The one that always stands out in my mind is Cole Whitt. To watch him handle a truck, the kid is very good at what he does. I respect him for getting out on the track on tracks he’s never seen – he’s the first one who gets on the track every weekend and he’s wide-open the first time he gets into the corner. He attacks the track.”
“It’s the strongest rookie class I’ve seen in a long time,” said former driver Andy Houston, currently Dillon’s spotter and driver coach. “It reminds me of the year Greg Biffle and I battled for rookie-of-the-year. You’ve got two or three now that can win and are very close to winning at any point. … Their accomplishments are even more impressive when you consider that the series is very competitive this year. You’ve got a lot of strong teams; you’ve got some Cup-affiliated teams and the rookies are right there in the hunt mixing it up with the veterans.”
“… There are definitely some good candidates racing out there that will move forward with their careers,” said Kevin Harvick Inc. co-owner and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. “I think the great thing about the way the Truck Series looks this year, from the outside looking in, is that there are some promising young talents out there racing along with the veterans, which is what makes the Truck Series what it is.”
Not only do the rookies represent one of the best first-year classes in years, they’re part of one of the toughest Truck Series fields in quite some time. The 2011 Truck Series has seen 10 different winners in 20 races; 14 different pole winners, the most through 20 races since 1998; nine races with a margin of victory of less than one second and an overall average margin of victory of 1.421 seconds; 35 different drivers who have led at least one lap; an average of 1,223 green-flag passes per race, the most through 20 races since the inception of Loop Data in 2005; and an average of 14 green-flag passes for the lead all around the track per race, also the most through 20 races since the inception of Loop Data.
“The quality of our top-15 truck teams is the best it’s been in 10 years or so,” SPEED reporter Ray Dunlap stated. “You don’t have to just beat Kyle Busch and Harvick anymore – the Thorsport team is so much better; you’ve got to beat seven or eight solid contenders each week. You’re trying to beat Johnny Sauter, Todd Bodine, Austin Dillon, Ron Hornaday, Timothy Peters, Matt Crafton – those regulars you have to knock off to get a shot at the win. And by the way, you’ve got to jump over Kyle Busch, Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick. Good luck. That’s what you’re saying to those young kids. ‘There are 10 great teams out there you’ve got to beat, so go get them!’”
“More than anything, it seems like this year has been a big step up overall for the Truck Series as far as competition goes,” said Whitt, driver of the No. 60 Turn One Racing Toyota. “Not only are there a lot of great rookies, but there are a lot of good veteran drivers and good teams too.”
“Every year it seems the competition gets a little tougher,” said Krista Voda, host of NCWTS Setup. “It’s not Todd Bodine running away with it this year – he’s trying to make the top 10. It’s not Ron Hornaday running away with five consecutive wins like a few summers ago. We’re seeing our top guys struggling to win.”
… Because they’ve met their match with the new kids on the block …
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- SPEED, Press Release
