NASCARTruck Series Intro
The idea for the Truck Series dates was initiated by a group of off-road racers, who wanted a bigger audience for truck racing. They made a prototype for a NASCAR-style pickup truck, which was first shown off during the 1994 Daytona 500, and several promotional racing events were held during the season. The first truck racing was arranged at Mesa Marin Raceway and included six trucks. These trucks proved to be extremely popular, and it allowed NASCAR to start the series, originally known as the "SuperTruck Series". From the very begining, it has earned an immediate support from many prominent Winston Cup Series team owners and drivers.
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 did not have a pit road safe enough for pit stops, or had pits outside the track, 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.
Interesting Details About Truck Series
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 the entire races. Later some races contained two intermissions for complete 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.
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. The series is currently dominated by older drivers, most with Nationwide 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 ongoing disputes over "Buschwhackers" in the Nationwide Series. There are no current Cup regulars who drive a full Truck series schedule, although Kevin Harvick is an active truck owner and frequently drives one of his own trucks, and Kyle Busch often competes in the series.
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. 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.