The Truck Series Never Disappoints

Last night's Camping World Truck Series American Ethanol 225 was one of the best Truck Series races I've ever seen; I actually feel bad for the people who missed it. 

Justin Lofton was an early one to watch; he was fast in both practices and qualified on the pole; but, in the end, it was James Buescher's race, after all, he was driving chassis 314, a truck he has won with twice during this season. 

Photo Credit: NASCAR 

After having an issue with the carburetor where they kept losing power, James Buescher and his team decided to change the carburetor; he had to endure an extensive pit stop to change it.  Unfortunately, the replacement took a while and James was two laps down.  After several lucky breaks, good driving, and a great truck, Buescher was back in contention for the win.  During the course of the race, Buescher had only led for a total of six laps, passing Timothy Peters and Brendan Gaughan who were in a heated battle for the lead.  Crossing the Start/Finish line first, James was the winner of the American Ethanol 225; his third win, being the only repeat winner this year. 

Now why do I think this race was one of the best I've ever watched?  The answer is quite simple.  How many times during a Cup race do you see the cars go four or five-wide?  I'll let you think about that for a second.  Time's up.  Could you think of any?  Probably only under a few circumstances have we ever seen the Cup cars go four-wide; most of the time, it results in the infamous Yellow Flag waving in the air.  Last night, approximately half-way through the race, the trucks went five-wide and you know what happened?  They kept going like it was nothing.  Granted, I held my breath and watched with my eyes bugging out of my head…but that's another story. 

For me, the Truck Series is my favorite; not many people agree with me, but that's what makes my opinion stand out.  I've noticed over the course of the past two years that my Truck Series articles aren't nearly as popular as the Cup Series articles, which I completely understand, but I also completely disagree with.  Don't get me wrong, I love the Cup Series - heck, I love everything about NASCAR - but I play favorites when it comes to the Truck Series.  Maybe it's because I really like the way the trucks look on the high banks of Daytona or the concrete of Dover, but I just genuinely like the Series more. 

You know you hate debris cautions.  I'm a mind reader, I know.  The Truck Series doesn't have many debris cautions.  If there is a debris caution, it's because one of the trucks smacked the wall in Turn Two or a tire was cut on the No. 00 truck (I know there's not a No. 00 truck, I don't want to offend anyone by using their driver).  The large majority of the cautions are due to spins or wrecks, not a WalMart plastic bag that a fan brought into the track to hold their beverage of choice. 

A good majority of the drivers in the Truck Series are younger drivers who are hoping to make their way up to the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series one day.  They're trying to provide you with good racing action to help get their names out there.  If they do something memorable in the Truck Series, it'll carry with them throughout their career. 

Personally, I think Parker Kligerman said it best about the Cup Series:

What I'm saying is, the Truck Series has some of the best racing in all of NASCAR and very few people watch it.  So next time you're home on a Friday night and have nothing to do and nothing to watch, tune into SPEED for the Camping World Truck Series race.