NextEra Energy Resources 250 - Camping World Truck Series

On February 21st, the Camping World Truck Series begins their 2014 campaign at the Daytona International Speedway. The trucks have new designs which look a lot like the trucks from the early to mid 2000s, and as with every new year, we have new drivers and new teams making their arrival. Everyone in the field is a potential winner here, and this race has provided many surprises in recent memory. Who will be the one to start their season on a high note?

TRUCKS ARE BACK. GET HYPE BOYS!

Daily reminder that Chevy has yet to win a Daytona Truck race.

Entry list is finally out

1 02 Tyler Young Rando/Young's Building Systems/AKL Insurance
Group/Liquid Nitro 13 Chevy Randy Young
2 5 John Wes Townley Zaxby's 14 Toyota Richard Wauters
3 7 Brian Ickler Bullet Liner 14 Toyota Tom Deloach
4 07 Michel Disdier Lafayette Racing 14 Chevy Ken Smith
5 08 Jimmy Weller III Geneva Liberty Steel-Engine Parts Plus 14 Chevy Ken Smith
6 8 Joe Nemechek (i) TBD 14 Toyota Sidney Mauldin
7 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Arlington Anniversary-Graimes Const. 14 Ford Jennifer Jo Cobb
8 13 Jeb Burton Carolina Nut Co. 14 Toyota Duke Thorson
9 17 Timothy Peters Valvoline 14 Toyota Tom Deloach
10 19 Tyler Reddick Reese Towpower 14 Ford Brad Keselowski
11 20 John King TBA 14 Chevy Bob Newberry
12 21 Joey Coulter Allegiant Travel 14 Chevy Maurice Gallagher
13 24 Brennan Newberry GunBroker.com 14 Chevy Bob Newberry
14 28 Ryan Ellis (i) FDNY Racing 14 Chevy Steve Turner
15 29 Ryan Blaney Cooper Standard 14 Ford Brad Keselowski
16 30 Ron Hornaday, Jr. Rheem 14 Chevy Steve Turner
17 31 Benjamin Kennedy Florida Lottery/Whelen Engineering 14 Chevy Steve Turner
18 32 Ryan Truex (i) Bass Pro Shops 14 Chevy Harry Scott
19 35 Mason Mingus MadVapes/811 Call Before You Dig 14 Toyota Kevin Cywinski
20 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing 14 Chevy Susan Bates
21 40 Todd Peck Arthritis.org 14 Chevy Michael Peck
22 50 Travis Kvapil TBA 14 Chevy Mark Beaver
23 51 Kyle Busch (i) ToyotaCare 14 Toyota Kyle Busch
24 54 Darrell Wallace Jr ToyotaCare 14 Toyota Kyle Busch
25 57 Norm Benning Watt's Mack Truck 14 Chevy Norm Benning
26 58 Parker Kligerman (i) Bandit Chippers/North American Power 14 Toyota George Bragg
27 63 Justin Jennings Mittler Brothers Machine & Tool 14 Chevy Michael Mittler
28 74 TBA Accu-Tech 13 Chevy Mike Harmon
29 75 Caleb Holman Food Country USA 14 Chevy Charles Henderson
30 77 German Quiroga NET 10 Wireless 14 Toyota Tom Deloach
31 82 Sean Corr Radon.com-Nesco 13 Ford John Corr
32 83 TBA Glenden Enterprises 14 Chevy Chris Fontaine
33 84 Chris Fontaine Glenden Enterprises 14 Chevy Chris Fontaine
34 88 Matt Crafton Menards 14 Toyota Rhonda Thorson
35 92 Ross Chastain BTS Tire Distributors 14 Chevy Ricky Benton
36 93 Jason White (i) RSS Racing 14 Chevy Pam Sieg
37 98 Johnny Sauter Nextant Aerospace / Curb Records 14 Toyota Mike Curb
38 99 Bryan Silas Bell Trucks America, Inc. 14 Chevy Chris Baluch

Darrell Wallace Jr is back in the 54 and Brian Ickler has returned:

Entry list updates:

Late entry: 60 - Charles Lewandoski
Chris Cockrum is now the listed driver of the #74.

Truck q cancelled due to rain. Ben Kennedy gets the pole off practice speeds

Todd Peck (MY DICE GAME) dq'd, Lewandoski apparently withdrew before hand.

I see Fox changed the scoring ticker again. It's back to the top of the screen...WHERE IT BELONGS!

Agh. I thought Peters had that. Was getting really excited because I wanted to see him back in victory lane.

Good win Kyle.



Wait how did that get there???

Ben Atkins wrote:

Just what I was looking for. It also didn't help the fact I had all sorts of issues with finding a live stream that actually worked. But yeah, I was really hoping to see Timothy Peters back in victory lane as well.

Outside the last 20 laps that was a pretty bleh race...Like it felt like i was simming a default Daytona race. The high line only actually got something done when Peters was leading it or with 2 to go.

Dull first half, got better in the second half. Not a fan at all of NASCAR mandating tandem drafting as it seemed to kill the entire high line unless Peters was in that line.

Great finish, but that doesn't change my opinion on Kyle.

EH, KB in trucks doesn't bug me like KB in NWS. That bein said from a pure racing stand point, KB's pass for the win was brilliant.

Also who the hell is Jimmy Weller?

Mother of Invention wrote:

Also who the hell is Jimmy Weller?

The newest unknown since Robert Richardson Jr.?

Good finish to the race, though what the hell happened with the 08 at the line?

Also, I don't see whats the big deal about cup drivers winning in the lower series anymore, people barely still watch the cup series as it is and from what I'm seeing with attendance, people aren't going to the races like they used to so what difference does it make if they still are winning in the lower divisions? Hell, I enjoy these races far more then the cup races as they are far shorter and there's much more passing and maybe its just me, but I get the feeling that Cup isn't nearly as fun for the drivers as it used to be.

Also, I find it funny that you guys have nothing to say about Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne beating the crap out of the Sprint car field (or Ryan Newman running the Modified race every year) even though they are technically doing the exact same thing.

What does Cup race attendance have to do with the lower tiers?

RACECAR wrote:Good finish to the race, though what the hell happened with the 08 at the line?

Also, I don't see whats the big deal about cup drivers winning in the lower series anymore, people barely still watch the cup series as it is and from what I'm seeing with attendance, people aren't going to the races like they used to so what difference does it make if they still are winning in the lower divisions? Hell, I enjoy these races far more then the cup races as they are far shorter and there's much more passing and maybe its just me, but I get the feeling that Cup isn't nearly as fun for the drivers as it used to be.

Also, I find it funny that you guys have nothing to say about Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne beating the crap out of the Sprint car field (or Ryan Newman running the Modified race every year) even though they are technically doing the exact same thing.

There's a difference between 2 cup drivers running a series they're not normals in and 15 cup drivers running a series they are "normals" in.

NeverNeutral wrote:What does Cup race attendance have to do with the lower tiers?

Point is Cup (in my opinion anyway) is overall worthless in its current state. Pathetic rules, terrible officiating, a refusal to change and awful gimmicks that just get worse every year and yet somehow, NASCAR still doesn't see the damage that it all is doing to its fanbase.

Alta wrote:
There's a difference between 2 cup drivers running a series they're not normals in and 15 cup drivers running a series they are "normals" in.

Aren't they still beating drivers in a lower series as Cup drivers though?

Also, I don't recall Ryan Newman being a regular in the modified races he does at Bristol and New Hampshire.

RACECAR wrote:

Alta wrote:
There's a difference between 2 cup drivers running a series they're not normals in and 15 cup drivers running a series they are "normals" in.

Aren't they still beating drivers in a lower series as Cup drivers though?

Also, I don't recall Ryan Newman being a regular in the modified races he does at Bristol and New Hampshire.

Yes, But i don't see how it matters to Outlaws since they aren't even in the same sport. A Little cross-promotion doesn't hurt for them, It hurts Nascar's lower series though.

Alta wrote:
Yes, But i don't see how it matters to Outlaws since they aren't even in the same sport. A Little cross-promotion doesn't hurt for them, It hurts Nascar's lower series though.

I honestly think what has hurt Nationwide is the Cup teams allowing the cup drivers to actually win championships in Nationwide (Notice four of the nationwide champions after Truex jr and prior to stenhouse are cup drivers with no cup titles) as well as their obsessive focus on the owners title (which is also worthless) and their refusal to take young talent (remember Ganassi and the terrible mistake they made with Dario Franchitti and Brian Clauson?). At that time, I actually can understand the frustraition. They've now stopped cup drivers from winning championships though so now they only have an owners title to try and win so I hardly see how thats hurting the series now. Sure the Nationwide only drivers don't win as many races, but there's now only two cup drivers that are making semi-regular appearances as oppose to the 8-10 that were around in 2007-2008

As for trucks, I hardly can see how that series has been hurt since it hasn't had nearly as much Cup driver appearances as Nationwide.

The NASCAR talent pool is kinda crap these days anyways. I mean all you need is some money and you can get a ride. I mean let's face it look at Brian Scott. He is a decent truck series racer and nothing more. Yet cause Childress needed someone to cover the bill for the Dillon boys rookie mistakes,he's qualifying 7th(?) for the Daytona 500.

As far as I can see it, there is a talent pool problem. There are drivers who are top-notch. Kyle Larson, Justin Allgaier, Ricky Stenhouse, Trevor Bayne, and the Dillon brothers (Austin more so than Ty) all have the potential to become superstars.
Brian Scott is a pay driver, pure and simple. Although he carried Dollar General logos while he was at Gibbs, his family subsidized that ride. Michael Annett is the same way. He has family connections to Pilot, and while he is a reasonably talented driver he wouldn't be where he is on talent alone.
The unfortunate thing is that many of the development drivers of a few years ago never got their chance to shine. I'm talking about the likes of Erik Darnell, Matthew DiBennendetto, and Cale Gale. JGR could've given DiBennendetto and Brad Coleman, for example, a shot at Nationwide, but instead filled their roster with Logano, Hamlin, and Busch with the occasional run from one of the development drivers. This season is great for rookies, but I have to say that I'm skeptical that it might be a one off deal.
I will say this: Darrell Wallace Jr. is the real deal. So is Ryan Blaney. I hope that both will get a real chance because they've shown outstanding talent in trucks and (in Blaney's case) in the Nationwide Series.