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Todd Bodine obviously had hoped to have a full-time ride by February, but the two-time Camping World Truck Series champion will take a one-race deal with Red Horse Racing because that gives him five weeks before he needs another deal to continue a run at the 2012 title. With five weeks between the season-opening Feb. 24 race at Daytona International Speedway and the season’s next race March 31 at Martinsville, Bodine has bought himself time to land sponsorship and a ride for the rest of the year. He will drive the No. 11 truck at Red Horse Racing at Daytona.
Paulie Harraka, the first driver of NASCAR’s diversity program to win a track championship, will compete for Camping World Truck Series rookie honors driving for former Billy Ballew Motorsports crew chief Richie Wauters. Scheduled to graduate from Duke University in May, the 22-year-old Harraka won the 2008 track championship at All-American Speedway in California and also has three victories in the K&N Pro Series West.
Former Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton will compete in the season-opening Camping World Truck Series race in a truck owned by former Germain Racing general manager Mike Hillman Sr. Hillman bought equipment from Germain and has started Hillman Racing, which will field the No. 27 Chevrolet in the truck series this year. Burton’s truck will have sponsorship from State Water Heaters.
Former Roush Fenway Racing development driver Colin Braun will return to his sports-car racing roots by driving for Core Autosport in the American Le Mans Series for 2012. The 23-year-old Braun spent three years in the Roush organization and showed potential when he finished fifth in the Camping World Truck Series during a 2009 season that included a win at Michigan. But Braun struggled in 2010 with five top-10 finishes in 24 Nationwide Series starts.
John Wes Townley, who has seven career starts in the Camping World Truck Series and 38 in the Nationwide Series, will compete in a RAB Racing-owned truck in 2012. The 22-year-old Townley has not competed in NASCAR since 2010, when he drove five events for Richard Childress Racing and four for RAB Racing.
Jason Leffler will drive in at least 14 Camping World Truck Series races for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2012. Leffler, who has one career truck win and two in the Nationwide Series, will have sponsorship from Dollar General.
David Reutimann will drive 13-15 races in the Camping World Truck Series for Ricky Benton Racing, the team announced Monday. Reutimann, who is scheduled to run in 26 Cup races for Tommy Baldwin Racing, could run more for the Benton organization if sponsorship is secured. He has four career NASCAR national touring series victories – two in Cup, one in Nationwide and one in the truck series.
Former Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series champion Johnny Benson had hoped to drive for Turn One Racing in 2012, but his sponsorship deal fell through. Benson had announced that he planned to have some sponsorship from the state of Michigan’s tourism office and had hoped to run the full truck schedule in 2012, but the deal never was finalized.
When he moved his organization from ARCA to the Camping World Truck Series in 2010, Eddie Sharp envisioned a three-truck operation. What he didn’t envision was perhaps a three-truck operation as soon as 2012. “This is a huge jump ...." Sharp said, "but all of the lessons I’ve learned over the eight or nine years has been preparing me for this opportunity.
Bass Pro Shops, which sponsored Austin Dillon in his run to the 2011 Camping World Truck Series title, will be the primary sponsor for the Richard Childress Racing driver in five Nationwide races in 2012 as well as the full season as the primary sponsor for his younger brother, Ty, in his rookie truck season. The Dillons are grandsons of team owner Richard Childress.
Joey Coulter finished all 25 races in his first full Camping World Truck Series season, and that helped him to seventh in the standings. That would be considered a successful rookie year. But he snagged one more honor: The top rookie in the series. Not only was he the highest-finishing rookie in the standings, he also won the series rookie of the year award, which doesn’t count all the races and is scored based on a driver’s finish in relation to other rookies.
Max Gresham, who won the 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East title, will compete in the Camping World Truck Series in 2012 for Joe Denette Motorsports. Gresham will drive the No. 24 truck as a teammate to Ron Hornaday.
Tim George Jr. will compete in 12 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events for Richard Childress Racing in 2012, according to a news release from the organization. George, who finished seventh in the ARCA Series while driving for RCR this past season, will compete in the No. 2 entry with funding from the Potomac Family Dining Group through the Applebee's brand.
ThorSport Racing, which fields entries in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for drivers Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton, will partner with Toyota for the 2012 season, according to team officials. ThorSport, which has competed in the series since 1996, previously raced Chevrolets.
Turner Motorsports will have a pair of Brazilian drivers in the Camping World Truck Series next season as Nelson Piquet Jr. and Miguel Paludo have joined the organization. Piquet, 26, was 10th in the standings last year driving for Kevin Harvick Inc. and Paludo, 28, was 17th driving for Red Horse Racing. It will be the second full season in the series for both drivers.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Jack C. Smith has been suspended under the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy. NASCAR announced the indefinite suspension Tuesday.
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Austin Dillon’s racing story often starts with his grandfather, team owner Richard Childress. Then it goes to his father, former racer and current Richard Childress Racing executive Mike Dillon. And then it goes to Austin and younger brother Ty. That family tree was on display Monday night at the Loews Miami Beach for the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series Awards Banquet.
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR will reduce the number of races in the Camping World Truck Series from 25 to 22 for 2012. The series will go to Rockingham Speedway for the first time and it added a second date at Iowa Speedway.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – In Friday night’s Ford 200 Camping World Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kevin Harvick may have found the racing equivalent to Seinfeld’s “serenity now,” a calming mantra designed to keep anger in check.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Austin Dillon didn’t say anything on his team radio as he slipped from second to 15th on a restart with 33 laps remaining in the Camping World Truck Series season finale Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Needing a finish of at least 16th to clinch the series title, Dillon didn’t need to say anything. He knew what he had to do after he had decided to play it conservative with a tight truck and getting three-wide on the restart. “When you get back there in that situation, your head tells you to be smart but at the same time you’re telling yourself to go because you’re close,” Dillon said. “I went as hard as I could. … There was no need [to say anything]. When you get down like that, you can’t do anything but drive back to the front.”
