The track at Louden is just over a mile long and the trucks will make 175 laps around the circuit in this years TheRaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175, shortened from the previous 200 laps. For today's Saturday afternoon CWTS Race Kyle Busch will start from the pole in New Hampshire. Kyle also won the 2009 fall race at Louden and has the Trucks race record, also from 2009. Busch has had a stellar season in the Camping World Truck Series, winning four of his ten starts, and finishing in the top ten in eight of his CWTS starts in 2010.
Todd Bodine still leads the points in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with a 261 point lead. With just seven races to go in the CWTS Season time is running out for anyone to catch up with Todd. For Aric Almirola to have any hopes of taking over the top spot in the standings Bodine will have to make several large mistakes; Todd Bodine usually doesn't do that.
Kevin Harvick's #2 Chevrolet will start in the second spot with teammate Ron Hornaday starting the #33 Truck in third. Harvick has some pretty impressive stats of his own in the 2010 CWTS Season; with four starts, Kevin has posted three wins. In the one race Harvick did not end the day in Victory Lane he came home with the runner-up spot. Watch for another atrong Harvick run today and a finish in the top three.
Hornaday is another driver to watch today; he has starts in all 18 races so far this season and 11 top ten finishes. Ron has won twice before at this fall race in New Hampshire, in 2007 and 2008. With just one win in the 2010 Season thus far Hornaday may not be a favorite to win today but is definitely a driver who is likely to end up in the top five at the end of the 175 laps.
Johnny Sauter owns the third place in CWTS Standings, 318 points back from leader Bodine. Sauter starts seventh in today's race and will need to run strong to remain in the hunt for the Championship. Although highly unlikely that Sauter can catch Bodine over the next seven races a strong performance today by Sauter and a less than excellent day by Almirola, Sauter could take over the second place slot in the standings.
Aric Almirola starts in the sixth spot for the TheRaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175 today. Aric has two wins this season, and 14 top ten finishes in his 18 starts. Almirola has been consistent for the most part of the season, finishing outside of the top 15 in just two races. Almirola should be a strong competitor today and I would not be surprised to see him come out of today's race with a top five finish.
James Buescher should be a contender today, as well. Buescher is the highest ranked driver in the NCWTS Points Standings who has not started all 18 races. With 15 starts James is in 13th place coming into this weekend. With no wins this season and six top ten finishes in his 15 races, James has put together a good season for a driver who has been unable to start all races. Missing the first three races of the season has taken Buescher out of contention for the Championship for sure, but it has been a season to be proud of. Watch for James Buescher to be a name we hear a lot of in today's race at Louden.
With all of these strong competitors along with others like Matt Crafton, Austin Dillon, and Mike Skinner it is a tough race to pick a winner. On this short track the action is liable to get turned up a notch as the drivers feel the season winding down. After the beating and banging is complete through 175 laps watch for a win by Kevin Harvick, a runner-up finish by Kyle Busch, and a third place finish by points leader Todd Bodine. The CWTS Race is on SPEED Channel this afternoon from Louden, New Hampshire starting at 2:30 p.m. EST. The race will also be aired on MRN Radio Networks.
Photo Credits
Photo 1:
http://www.nascar.com/races/truck/
Photo 2:
http://www.foxnews.com/sports
Photo 3: AP Photo/
http://blog.al.com/
Photo 4:
http://www.examiner.com/
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