The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck -based stock cars . The series is one of three national divisions of NASCAR, ranking as the third tier behind the second-tier NASCAR Xfinity Series and the top level NASCAR Cup Series .
84-591: Future: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series UNOH 175 (1996–2011, 2014–2017, 2025) New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a 1.058 mi (1.703 km) oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire , which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into
168-472: A restrictor plate for the second New Hampshire Cup race that season . A race won by Jeff Burton leading almost every lap of the race resulting in the experiment being reverted (for Cup cars only) the following year. The second 2003 race, which saw several drivers nearly colliding with an immobilized Dale Jarrett attempting to race back to the caution , resulting in NASCAR banning the practice effective from
252-464: A 1.600 mi (2.575 km) road course, which includes much of the oval. The track was originally the site of Bryar Motorsports Park before being purchased and redeveloped by Bob Bahre. The track is currently one of eight major NASCAR tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports . The track opened as New Hampshire International Speedway in June 1990, after nine months of construction following
336-549: A 2002 rule change that mandated that any driver competing in a NASCAR national touring series (Truck, Busch, Cup) or any regional series race on the weekend of a national series race must be at least 18 in order to comply with the Master Settlement Agreement. After NASCAR phased out tobacco sponsorships, the minimum age for regional touring series was changed to 16, and the Truck Series' rule regulated
420-433: A caution flag. At the time, NASCAR's policy was for its drivers to race back to the start-finish line to begin the caution period. This policy allowed drivers who were one or more laps down to pass the leader and get back one lap, but during the 2003 season there were several incidents which involved drivers racing back to the caution nearly causing collisions. Jarrett's car had stalled on the front stretch— in fact, directly in
504-430: A constant basis. That's just how the system works." BKR ended up shutting down after the 2017 season. To cut costs, NASCAR required teams to use sealed engines, with teams not being allowed to run at most three races with a previously used engine. Additionally, 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
588-640: A full speed crash head-on in the middle of the third and fourth turns. When the NASCAR Cup Series made their first appearance of the season, a similar fate befell 1998 Rookie of the Year Kenny Irwin Jr. For safety reasons, track owners decided to run restrictor plates on the cars during their return trip to the speedway in September 2000. This resulted in an uneventful Dura Lube 300 won by Jeff Burton , which had no lead changes. It
672-732: A full-time return to NASCAR with a full factory-backed effort. While Dodge continued to race in the other series until 2012, the Ram Trucks division (spun off from Dodge after the Fiat Group took control of Chrysler) raced in the Camping World Truck Series in Dodge's place. In 2014, Ram pulled out, leaving the Nationwide Series as the last series with teams fielding Dodge. As of the 2021 season, no teams in
756-462: 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. During the 1997 season, trucks could only legally take fuel and make adjustments during pit stops during the race. Tire changes were still illegal except for emergency causes and at break times. For a short time in 1995, NASCAR adopted traditional short-track rules by inverting
840-567: A legal agreement with the town of Loudon and several neighbors when the track opened that nighttime races were prohibited. The agreement is binding on the current owners. In an October 2012 poll in Loudon, however, 58% of those who responded said they did not mind a night race. This poll also included plans to build a casino at the track, if approved by the New Hampshire Legislature. In 2018, the fall race weekend, consisting of
924-534: A meeting in a Burbank, California hotel on April 11, 1994; the meeting ultimately led to the creation of the "SuperTruck Series". Four demonstration races were held at Mesa Marin Raceway , Portland Speedway , Saugus Speedway and Tucson Raceway Park . Tucson held four events that winter, which were nationally televised during the Winter Heat Series coverage. Sears, Roebuck, & Co., through
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#17327876433031008-724: A minimal role in this " minor league " series, there is no controversy like the disputes over " Buschwhackers " in the Busch (later Nationwide, now Xfinity Series). No current Cup regulars drive a full Truck Series schedule, although Cup driver Kevin Harvick owned his own team in the series until 2011, Brad Keselowski owned his own team until he announced its cessation of operations in 2017. A current Truck Series field could be split into three groups: Cup drivers that compete as owner-drivers like Busch, or to receive additional money like David Gilliland ; Truck regulars who compete full-time in
1092-445: A minimum age of 16 for any oval circuit two kilometers (1.25 miles) or shorter or road courses, with a rule of 18 for ovals 1.33 miles or longer. In later years, though, the Truck Series has also become a place for Cup veterans without a ride to make their living which included Ricky Craven , Jimmy Spencer , Dennis Setzer , Brendan Gaughan (who started his career in a family-owned team, and after his Nextel Cup attempt, returned to
1176-507: A multi-year sponsorship agreement with the racetrack on May 31, 2018. In 2022, Ambetter , which was the title sponsor of the Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire in 2021 , became the title sponsor of the race, replacing Foxwoods. Before the 2022 Cup Series race at the track, it was announced that Crayon Software Experts, which replaced Ambetter as the title sponsor of the Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire in 2022 , would sponsor
1260-519: A near-fatal crash at Michigan International Speedway , where he was given less than a 10% chance of survival. After the 1996 season Bahre and Bruton Smith bought North Wilkesboro Speedway and moved one of its Cup dates to New Hampshire. The second race was held in September. From 2004 to 2010, it was the site of the first event of the Chase for the Championship . In 2011, the date was shifted to
1344-415: 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 entire races. A more popular rule that was effective until the middle of the 2004 season was the "overtime" rule. Unless interrupted by weather, Craftsman Truck Series races had to end under green flag conditions, and
1428-541: A pavement truck racing series. They visited NASCAR Western Operations Vice President Ken Clapp to promote the idea, who consulted Bill France Jr. with it, but the plans fell apart. Afterwards, Clapp told the four to build a truck before NASCAR considered it. Bakersfield fabricator Gary Collins built a prototype truck, which was first shown off during Speedweeks for the 1994 Daytona 500 and tested by truck owner Jim Smith around Daytona International Speedway . The truck proved to be popular among fans, and NASCAR arranged
1512-485: A race at Fontana replacing Mansfield) airing on Fox as NASCAR on Fox events. These broadcasts were discontinued in 2011. On August 13, 2013, Speed was converted into Fox Sports 1 (FS1), continuing with all Truck Series race broadcasts, whereas some practice and qualifying sessions were moved to sister channel Fox Sports 2 (FS2). For the 2014 season, the Fred's 250 at Talladega had its race broadcast moved from FS1 to
1596-533: A rule similar to those used in longer-distance Super Late Model events such as the Snowball Derby that limited how long a race can go before a competition caution for pit stops or adjustments in an effort to reduce green-flag pit stops, with which younger and more inexperienced drivers were unfamiliar. The limit was 20 minutes of green flag racing (in theory 75 laps at Bristol, or 60 laps at Martinsville), without beneficiaries being awarded. Upon each restart,
1680-492: A single pit stop in 2009. This requirement was abandoned for the 2010 season. Starting with the 2011 season, NASCAR implemented a new rule that allows drivers to compete for the drivers' championship in only one of the three national touring series (Cup, Xfinity, or Truck) in a given season. On January 19, 2016, NASCAR announced the introduction of a playoff format similar to the NASCAR Cup Series Chase for
1764-579: A spot on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 1993. Rusty Wallace won the inaugural Slick 50 300 in July of that year. That race was also Davey Allison 's final race: the next day, Allison was fatally injured in a helicopter crash. In 1996, Ernie Irvan captured the win in the Cup race, making it one of the more emotional victories in NASCAR history. The win came less than two years after Irvan suffered
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#17327876433031848-483: A stop. In 1996, some races went to two intermissions for full 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
1932-406: The 2009 season . In 2011, the series returned to the track. However, the race failed to meet attendance expectations and controversial decisions made by race officials at the end of the race caused the race to be left off the 2012 schedule. After the 2012 Sylvania 300, Bruton Smith stated he wants to install permanent lighting at the speedway, just like the other SMI ovals. However, Bob Bahre signed
2016-790: The Craftsman brand, served as the sponsor of the series on a three-year deal, and the series was renamed to the Craftsman Truck Series in 1996. In addition, the series' $ 580,000 purse is larger than the Busch Grand National Series ' fund. While a new series, it garnered immediate support from many prominent Winston Cup Series team owners and drivers. Prominent Cup owners Richard Childress , Rick Hendrick , and Jack Roush owned truck teams, and top drivers such as Dale Earnhardt and Ernie Irvan also fielded SuperTrucks for others. The series also attracted
2100-616: The Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series in 2020, and a return to the Camping World name in 2021 and 2022. Stanley Black & Decker, which acquired the Craftsman brand in 2017, took over starting in 2023. The idea for the Truck Series dates back to 1991. A group of SCORE off-road racers (Dick Landfield, Jimmy Smith , Jim Venable, and Frank "Scoop" Vessels ) had concerns about desert racing 's future, and decided to create
2184-477: The Indy Racing League from 1996–1998. One of the open wheel winners was Tony Stewart , who later won three NASCAR Cup Series races at the track as well. In 2000, the track was the site of a pair of fatal collisions which took the lives of two promising young drivers. In May, while practicing for a Busch Series race, Adam Petty perished when his throttle stuck exiting the second turn, resulting in
2268-783: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series , was moved to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway . It was replaced with what they called Full Throttle Weekend. With NASCAR local and International series stopping by, races included the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour with the Musket 250 , NASCAR K&N Pro Series East with the Apple Barrel 125 and NASCAR Pinty's Series Visit New Hampshire 100 . For
2352-604: The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series , Bandolero racing , and other local series races. Since 2011, the track has also hosted a race for the amateur 24 Hours of Lemons race series. The Loudon Annoying was a spring event held in 2011 and 2012, and the fall Halloween Hooptiefest has taken place since 2012. Since 2013, the New England Road Cycling League has hosted bicycle races for high school students at
2436-1053: The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway (November 8, 2024). 1995 M. Skinner 1996 R. Hornaday Jr. 1997 J. Sprague 1998 R. Hornaday Jr. 1999 J. Sprague 2000 G. Biffle 2001 J. Sprague 2002 M. Bliss 2003 T. Kvapil 2004 B. Hamilton 2005 T. Musgrave 2006 T. Bodine 2007 R. Hornaday Jr. 2008 J. Benson Jr. 2009 R. Hornaday Jr. 2010 T. Bodine 2011 A. Dillon 2012 J. Buescher 2013 M. Crafton 2014 M. Crafton 2015 E. Jones 2016 J. Sauter 2017 C. Bell 2018 B. Moffitt 2019 M. Crafton 2020 S. Creed 2021 B. Rhodes 2022 Z. Smith 2023 B. Rhodes 2024 T. Majeski New Hampshire 300 Stock car racing events in
2520-537: The NASCAR Cup Series has been held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway since 1993 . The race is currently held as a 301 lap (318.458-mile (512.508 km) race and under the USA Today 301 name for sponsorship reasons. A second race in September was also formerly held at the track from 1997 to 2017 until it was moved to Las Vegas Motor Speedway starting in 2018. Christopher Bell is
2604-540: The 2019 Musket 250 it was announced that Whelen Engineering Company will sponsor the Musket 250 now being called Musket 250 presented by Whelen. In 2009, the track introduced its first mascot, Milo the Moose . He wears a fire suit with the Speedway Motorsports logo and the track's name around it and is often seen wearing an open-faced helmet with a dark visor. He is seen on race weekends shaking hands with
New Hampshire Motor Speedway - Misplaced Pages Continue
2688-587: The Bahre family for $ 340 million cash. The name of the speedway changed to New Hampshire Motor Speedway . One of the assets included in the sale was a 50% interest in North Wilkesboro Speedway . The other 50% was still owned by Bruton Smith , the CEO of Speedway Motorsports. NHMS representatives made a heavy push to reintroduce open-wheel racing in the form of IndyCar Series to the track in
2772-543: The Bahre family's purchase of the Bryar Motorsports Park. The existing road circuit was redeveloped into a multi-purpose track, with NASCAR-sanctioned races added to the popular Loudon Classic motorcycle, WKA go-kart and SCCA races on the complex. Upon completion it became the largest speedway in New England , and later expansion has made it the largest sports and entertainment venue of any type in
2856-470: The Championship : the format consists of eight drivers across three rounds, with two drivers being eliminated after each round. Starting in 2020 season , the playoff was expanded to 10 drivers, with two being eliminated after the first round and four being eliminated after the second round. Camping World signed a seven-year extension in 2014 to remain the title sponsor of the Truck Series until at least 2022. On May 8, 2018, NASCAR and Camping World announced
2940-589: The Craftsman brand from Sears in 2017 —under which the series would return to being known as the Craftsman Truck Series beginning in 2023. As part of the deal, Stanley Black & Decker also became the official tool brand of NASCAR. Most of the first drivers in the series were veteran short track drivers who had not made it or struggled to thrive in the other NASCAR national series; for example, 1991 Featherlite Southwest Tour champion Rick Carelli had failed to qualify twelve times for Cup races across 1991–1994, with only nine career Cup starts, but he finished sixth in
3024-828: The Fox broadcast network. For the 2018 season, the UNOH 200 at Bristol aired in prime time on Fox. For the 2020 season, the Clean Harbors 200 aired on Fox. In 2022, the CRC Brakleen 150 was moved to Fox. In 2023, the Tyson 250 was moved. Motor Racing Network has exclusive radio broadcasting rights to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The series was notable in seeing the return of Chrysler Corporation factory-supported race vehicles to
3108-502: The Lenox Industrial Tools sponsorship, the race was 318.5 miles (512.6 km) in length while the fall race remained at 317.4 miles (510.8 km). After Lenox Industrial Tools left as title sponsor, Camping World picked up the sponsorship of the event through its RV Sales department for 2013 and 2014, and since the 301 moniker became popular with the fans, NHMS decided to keep their July event 301 laps long. In fact,
3192-899: The New England Motorsports Hall of Fame and the southern entrance to the Speedway. It was to be for the American Flat Track racing on Laconia Motorcycle Week 2019. It hosted the USAC Dirt Midget Granite State Legends Cars race on Friday of NASCAR weekend in July 2019, with NASCAR drivers Corey LaJoie and Daniel Hemric participating. In 2020 Snocross came to the track for an event in February. (As of 2/12/23) * from minimum 10 starts. New Hampshire Indy 225 Bryar Motorsports Park hosted Round 3 of
3276-590: The Truck Series began racing at Eldora Speedway , the first time NASCAR had raced at a dirt track since the 1970 NASCAR Grand National Series season. As of the 2023 season, the series races on 21 tracks: one dirt track ( Bristol ), two road courses ( Circuit of the Americas and Mid-Ohio ), five short tracks ( Bristol , Martinsville , Richmond , North Wilkesboro , and Indianapolis Raceway Park ), three superspeedways ( Daytona , Talladega , and Pocono ) and nine intermediate ovals. The second most recent addition to
3360-729: The Truck Series competed primarily on short tracks and tracks in the Western United States ; the series' inaugural schedule included races at tracks in Arizona , California , Colorado , Oregon and Washington , with only five races in the Southeastern U.S. , such as Louisville Motor Speedway , which was not run by the Cup Series. Additionally, the longest tracks run by the series, Phoenix International Raceway and Milwaukee Mile , were one mile long. By 1998, most of
3444-549: The Truck Series field Ram trucks. The Truck Series was the first major NASCAR series to feature Toyota , with the Toyota Tundra model making its debut in the series in 2004 ; Toyota had previously competed in the mostly regional level Goody's Dash Series . The Japanese automaker became the first foreign nameplate to race in NASCAR during the sport's modern era. Toyota would later join the Cup series and Xfinity series as well, doing so in 2007 . All figures correct as of
New Hampshire Motor Speedway - Misplaced Pages Continue
3528-582: The Truck Series' title sponsorship would be switched to its subsidiary Gander Outdoors starting in 2019, renaming it the Gander Outdoors Truck Series. The series was slightly renamed to the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series in 2020, but returned to the Camping World Truck Series branding the following season. On August 26, 2022, NASCAR announced a multi-year sponsorship deal with Stanley Black & Decker —which had acquired
3612-598: The attention of drivers like sprint car racing star Sammy Swindell , Walker Evans of off-road racing fame, open-wheel veteran Mike Bliss , and Atlanta Falcons head coach Jerry Glanville . The inaugural race, the Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway , was held on February 5; the race, featuring an event-record crowd of 38,000 spectators, concluded with eventual series champion Mike Skinner holding off Cup veteran Terry Labonte to win. Only one team from
3696-412: The break in a time without stress. However, starting in 1998, NASCAR introduced competition cautions, with each team being awarded four sets of tires; with this rule change, the halftime break was abolished starting with the race at Pikes Peak International Raceway . In 1999, full pit stops were added, with drivers being allowed to pit during races, but were not allowed to change more than two tires during
3780-461: The clock restarted from 20:00, and each caution for an incident reset the clock back to 20:00. As is the case in the short track rules, no competition caution would be used in the final 20 laps, except for tracks where lap times are 50 seconds or greater (Pocono or Mosport), where the limit was ten laps, or Eldora because of its format. In 2017, this was replaced with the stage system adopted by all other NASCAR national series that season. Initially,
3864-516: The defending winner, having won it in 2024. The race has been traditionally run in July, but from 2007 to 2010 it was run in late June or early July as the race preceding the Coke Zero 400 in order to allow that race to run as close to the 4th of July as possible. In 2011, the race returned to its traditional mid-July date. From its inaugural running in 1993 through 2007 the race was 300 laps, but after O. Bruton Smith and his company SMI bought
3948-404: The drivers during driver introductions and hanging out with fans. The track length is disputed by the two major series that run at New Hampshire. The NASCAR timing and scoring use a length of 1.058 miles (1.703 km). The IRL timing and scoring use a length of 1.025 miles (1.650 km). In 2018 New Hampshire Motor Speedway announced the construction of a quarter-mile dirt oval track behind
4032-450: The family operation), Rich Bickle , Andy Houston , Todd Bodine , Bobby Hamilton Jr. and previous champions Johnny Benson, Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday , Ted Musgrave , and Jack Sprague . Older drivers dominated the series, most with Xfinity and Cup Series experience: in 2007, all the top-10 drivers were over 30 years of age, and 7 of the 10 had Cup experience, as did every race winner except Erik Darnell . Even though novice drivers play
4116-471: The fastest lap counting. At tracks longer than 1.25 miles each truck only gets one timed lap. Road course events use a 2 part knockout qualifying format similar to Formula 1, with the top 12 qualifiers from Q1 advancing to Q2. At the event at Eldora, qualifying sets the lineups for a series of heat races which then determines the lineup. Initially, the series used a number of rules that differed from both Winston Cup and Busch Grand National Series racing. Most of
4200-649: The first lap of a green-white-checkered finish, the entire situation would be reset. This rule meant some races would be greatly extended. In 1998, a CBS -televised race in Pikes Peak scheduled for 186 laps ran 198 laps (12 extra laps) because of multiple attempts, and the last such race, in Gateway International Raceway in 2004, lasted 14 additional laps (16.25 miles). A July 24, 2004 rule change for NASCAR's three national series meant only one "green-white-checkered" finish can be attempted, and
4284-426: 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 – Saugus Speedway , Flemington Raceway , Tucson Raceway Park , Evergreen Speedway and Colorado National Speedway most notably—did not have a pit road safe enough for pit stops , or had pits outside
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#17327876433034368-446: The first season of the series, FDNY Racing , is still racing in the series today. At the end of the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule, Craftsman ended its sponsorship of the series. Subsequently, Camping World signed a seven-year contract with NASCAR, rebranding the series as the Camping World Truck Series. With decreasing money and increasing costs, the series has struggled financially with sponsorship and prize money,
4452-531: The first two races with the 301 lap distance did not go the whole distance. In 2017, the first race (along with the track's Xfinity Series race the day before) received sponsorship from water sports store Overton's (which is owned by Camping World ), branding it the Overton's 301. Starting in 2018, Foxwoods Resort Casino , located in Ledyard, Connecticut , became the title sponsor of the race after announcing
4536-447: The inaugural Trans-Am Series season in 1966 . The race was held over 250 mi and was won outright by Canadian-born Australian Allan Moffat in an under 2.0 liter Lotus Cortina . The speedway hosted a round of the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship , and it hosts the annual Northeast Classic which includes American Canadian Tour and Pro All Stars Series races. It has both mini oval and road course Legends car races, as well as
4620-435: The inaugural Truck Series championship. It is worth noting that most of the early champions have become NASCAR Cup Series regulars later in their careers, such as 1995 champion Skinner, who joined Richard Childress Racing 's Cup team in 1997, competing on a full-time basis until 2003. Professional football coach Jerry Glanville was among the series' first drivers. As the years went on, a number of younger drivers debuted in
4704-404: The incident occurred or how severe it was). Ironically, the first Truck Series race under the new rules ended with a yellow flag on the final lap. In 2014, NASCAR banned tandem drafting , a method of racing in which two vehicles would line up with each other to gain speed, from the Truck Series. Drivers who commit the act are black-flagged. In the 2016 season, the Truck Series experimented with
4788-409: The largest lobster in its tank, usually weighing in at 20 lbs or more. After the winning driver poses with the lobster on victory lane, Makris pressure cooks it and sends the meat to the winning pit crew while a taxidermist reassembles the shell and mounts it on a trophy for the driver. There were some exceptions to this tradition. After winning the race in 2008 , Kurt Busch donated his lobster to
4872-575: The latter often being low, while the former would prompt teams to shut down to reduce in size. Teams like Richard Childress Racing , a Cup team with 31 Truck wins, shut down their Truck operations; in RCR's case, after the 2013 season. After the 2014 season, Brad Keselowski stated his Brad Keselowski Racing team had lost $ 1 million despite recording a win that year, and told the Sporting News : "The truck series, you have to be able to lose money on
4956-406: The leader not on the lead lap would get their lap back during each caution period in all of NASCAR's national and regional series. In mid-May 2006, Loudon was one of many New England communities which experienced damaging floods after a week of near-record rainfall. Several roads and bridges were washed out near the speedway. The infield was flooded, as was the track itself (while a road racing event
5040-407: The next race at Dover; instead, NASCAR would freeze the field immediately at the caution and allowed the first car one lap down (or multiple laps down, if there were no cars one lap down) to rejoin the lead lap. This is officially called the "free pass" by NASCAR, but is widely known by fans and journalists as the "lucky dog" rule. Newell Rubbermaid , through its Lenox Industrial Tools subsidiary,
5124-419: The path of oncoming cars— and he was in danger of being hit by cars that were trying to get laps back. Although Jarrett avoided contact, the incident was enough for NASCAR to act and beginning with the next race, NASCAR outlawed racing back to the caution flag and instead froze the field after a caution, and a "free pass" rule (popularly referred to as "the lucky dog") was put in place in which the first car behind
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#17327876433035208-489: The practice for the July 2000 event, Kenny Irwin Jr. was killed after he lost control of his car, which slammed head on into the wall, causing it to flip onto its side. His cause of death, basilar skull fracture , was the same cause that killed Busch Series driver Adam Petty eight weeks prior at Busch 200 at the same track, leading NASCAR to make significant rule changes to maintain driver safety, including an experiment on using
5292-548: The race at Mesa Marin Speedway as part of its Wide World of Sports program. In 2001, NASCAR moved the series exclusively to cable, first with ESPN, and in 2003, switched to Speed , a network which provided supplemental coverage for Fox's coverage of NASCAR events . Network television returned to the series from 2007 to 2010 when two races per season (the Kroger 250 at Martinsville and the City of Mansfield 250 at Mansfield , with
5376-399: The race can end under yellow in one of four situations—inclement weather, darkness, the yellow flag waving because of an incident during the final lap of a race, or the yellow flag waving after the one attempt at green-white-checkered begins. This was later extended by NASCAR to three attempts. (Although reducing the Truck Series attempts at a green-white-checkered finish to one, the rule change
5460-539: The race weekend was being staged by CART and not NASCAR, its rules had to be followed. As a result, the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement was effective. Thus, any driver who participated in the race weekend had to be at least 18 years of age. The rule affected Roush Racing 's No. 99 truck driven by Kyle Busch , as he was underage at the time (16) and thus disqualified from the event despite having already qualified. The issue resulted in
5544-504: The region. Its construction was extremely unusual for a race track, in that it was designed and constructed without consulting engineers, and using just one surveyor (whose primary job was to plant stakes) to help. NASCAR made its debut at the track in July 1990, with a Busch Series race won by Tommy Ellis . For three years, the Busch Series hosted a pair of races at the track each year. The Busch races were successful. Loudon gained
5628-406: The rule mandated that all races must end with a minimum of two consecutive laps in green flag condition, often referred to as a "green-white-checkered" finish . Since racing to the yellow flag was prohibited until 1998 (and again in 2003 under the current free pass rule ), scoring reverted to the last completed lap, and until racing back to the line was legalized in 1998, if the yellow waved during
5712-584: The second race in the Chase, serving as one of three races in the Challenger Round, and remaining in the NASCAR Playoff rounds through 2017, after which the fall Cup date was eliminated. The speedway was the first for NASCAR to start the field in two groups under the warm-up laps to help set pit speed. The track also hosted open-wheel racing for seven years, hosting CART from 1992–1995, then
5796-463: The series schedule is Atlanta Motor Speedway , which returned to hosting Truck races in 2015 after a two-year absence. The most recent addition to the series schedule is North Wilkesboro Speedway which returned to hosting Truck races after a twenty-six–year absence. The 1995 season's races were nationally televised on ESPN , TNN , ABC and CBS . Of the 20-race schedule, TNN aired ten races, while ESPN aired seven races and CBS two, while ABC aired
5880-747: The series' naming rights . Previously, Sears, Roebuck & Co held title sponsorship from 1995 through 2008 with the Craftsman brand, during which the series was known as the NASCAR SuperTruck Series in 1995 and the Craftsman Truck Series from 1996 through 2008. Camping World took over the sponsorship to dub the Camping World Truck Series from 2009 through 2018, followed by the Gander Outdoors Truck Series in 2019,
5964-447: The series, using the series as a springboard for their racing careers. NASCAR stars Greg Biffle , Kevin Harvick , Jamie McMurray , Kurt Busch , Carl Edwards , and Kyle Busch each started in the series. A 2001 Truck Series race incident resulted in a significant NASCAR rule change. In early November of that year, the Truck Series was running as a support race for CART 's Marlboro 500 , that series' final event of its season; since
6048-522: The series; and young drivers who use the Truck Series to enter NASCAR. A Truck Series field currently consists of 36 trucks in races with qualifying. Previously, 32 trucks comprised a field, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the field was increased to 36 in races with qualifying and 40 without to accommodate as many trucks as possible. For most races, a single-truck qualifying format is used. For tracks 1.25 miles and shorter, each truck gets two laps with
6132-485: The short tracks were phased out in favor of speedways of 1 to 2 miles in length, and more of the races were held at tracks that hosted Cup and Busch events concurrently, but some races were held with CART and Indy Racing League events. Road courses were phased out by 2001, the last race being in 2000 at Watkins Glen International , but returned in 2013 with the Truck race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park . Also in 2013,
6216-453: The track's Cup Series race in 2023. It had been announced the previous week that Ambetter would move their title sponsorship to the spring Cup Series race at Atlanta in 2023. USA Today became the title sponsor for the 2024 race . Unlike other races, the trophy (for the July race only between 1997-2017) is in the form of an American lobster provided by Makris Lobster and Steak House of Concord, New Hampshire . The restaurant selects
6300-443: The track's corners were turned into a progressive banking system, as the apron was paved and became part of the track, and the track's banking was varied from 4 degrees in the lower two lanes to 12% grade (about seven degrees). The addition of SAFER barriers to the corner walls was made in 2003. During the September 2003 SYLVANIA 300, an incident occurred at this track involving Dale Jarrett where his wrecked race car brought out
6384-534: The track, starting with the second race of the series in Tucson, NASCAR adopted a five-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
6468-422: The track, their first date was given the moniker of the extra mile and was increased to 301 laps. In 2008, Kurt Busch won the race after it was called due to rain after 284 laps. One year later, Joey Logano became the youngest winner in NASCAR Cup Series history after the race was also shortened because of rain after 273 laps, at the age of 19 years, 1 month, and 4 days. From 1997 to 2017 (except in 2001, as it
6552-437: The track, using both the central oval and the adjoining "frontier course." The all-time outright track record is 0:21.466 seconds, set by Andre Ribeiro in a Reynard 95I , during qualifying for the 1995 New England 200 . As of June 2024, the fastest official lap records at New Hampshire Motor Speedway are listed as: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The 2023 season was the first with Stanley Black & Decker holding
6636-480: The tracks. Chrysler withdrew its factory support of its Dodge and Plymouth brands after the 1972 season to cut costs, though teams continued to campaign cars with Plymouth and Dodge sheetmetal and power plants until 1985. Chrysler funded a small R&D effort, with factory funding and support for Dodge to return to NASCAR for the Craftsman Truck Series with the Dodge Ram pickup truck in 1997. By 2001 Dodge made
6720-563: Was going on). The facility also experienced flooding in October 2005. In June 2009, the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 NASCAR Cup Series race was ended early by a storm which caused flooding at various locations around the track, including the infield tunnel: however in that case the post-race activities were not interrupted. Before the 2008 racing season, Speedway Motorsports purchased NHIS and other racing-related assets from
6804-407: Was part of NASCAR's implementation of the rule to the Cup and Busch Series due to complaints regarding NASCAR's policy at the time regarding late race cautions; the policy stated that a red flag would be thrown during a late race caution to attempt to ensure the race would finish under green but if a caution occurred after the window for the red flag, the race would end under caution regardless of where
6888-463: Was rescheduled as the season finale due to September 11 attacks on the week of the race's original schedule), a second race was held at the track every September, which came at the expense of the fall race at North Wilkesboro Speedway ; Jeff Gordon won the inaugural race. From 2004 to 2010, it was the playoff opener race before being moved to Chicagoland Speedway . Starting in 2018, the fall race would be moved to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. During
6972-688: Was the first wire-to-wire race since the 1970s. The 2001 New Hampshire 300 was originally scheduled for September 16, the Sunday after the September 11 terrorist attacks . NASCAR initially announced that the race would be held as scheduled, but the event was postponed until November 23 of that year, which was the Friday after Thanksgiving . There was much concern about the weather, but race day turned out to be unseasonably mild. Robby Gordon won that race. In 2002, in an effort to increase competitive racing,
7056-477: Was the title sponsor of the first race from 2006 to 2012. Starting in 2008, organizers added an extra lap to represent that Lenox Industrial Tools "is looking for users and suppliers of industrial tools that go the extra mile, whose jobs are physically demanding, day after day, and still find time to contribute to their communities in a meaningful way." The race was dubbed "The Extra Mile at the Magic Mile." Under
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