Trucks: Piquet to warm-up in South America and South Africa

Nelson Piquet Jr. will get a little stock car experience in the next few days before heading to the United States to debut in the Craftsman Truck Series, according to ESPN.com.

Our View Piquet will run at Brazil's Interlagos in a 1,000 endurance race and then head to South Africa to compete in the American Speed Association's Transcontinental Series Free State 500 on the paved Phakisa Freeway Circuit oval. Several top short track racers will be in attendance, so he will have some strong competition.

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Cope forms new team

Derrike Cope has announced the formation of a new team for 2010 in partnership with Dale Clemons. The new venture will be called Stratus Racing Group, according to the Cope Web site, and intends to run full time in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series with Cope as the principal driver.

Our View In addition, his twin nieces Amber and Angela Cope will run in the ARCA series and selected Truck races. It has long been a goal of the Northwestern driver to bring these ladies into the sport, but now it appears he has the sponsorship in place to make it happen.

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Two out of three ain't bad: Busch wins Texas Nationwide

Kyle Busch hopes to be the first driver to win in all three of NASCAR's top divisions this week at Texas Motor Speedway. So far, so good; he won both the Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series races handily.

Our View Of course the Cup race is going to be much more difficult, but tune in on Sunday because history could be in the making.

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Official tweets from the track

Trucks: Piquet, Meira test went well

Monday's Craftsman Truck Series test for Nelson Piquet Jr. and Vitor Meira was delayed until Tuesday, but once on track both drivers performed well, according to team owner Tom DeLoach (at the Official Fan Club Nelson Piquet Web site).

Our View "I was really impressed with both drivers," DeLoach said. I anticipated that it would take a lot longer for them to get accustomed to the trucks once they started."

"We made some changes to the trucks in hopes to give each driver certain feelings in the truck, and they both explained exactly what feedback we were expecting. Both drivers have very impressive skill sets, and they really exceeded my expectations for the first time in a Camping World Truck Series Tundra."

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Piquet Jr. coming to NASCAR?

With the success that Juan Montoya has finally achieved this year, another former F1 driver is eyeing a career in NASCAR. Nelson Piquet Jr. is scheduled to test a Red Horse Racing truck at Rockingham (N.C. that is – not England, y'all) on October 12th, according to SPEEDTv.com.

Our View Earlier in the week, it was announced Mika Salo would test a MWR Toyota this winter.

Diversity is great for the sport, so long as NASCAR doesn't also lose its connection to their roots. Piquet is young enough to be able to make the transition to the heavier stock cars—if he is actually talented enough to control it.

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Trucks: Hornaday wins record 4th in a row

For the first time in Camping World Truck Series history a driver has won four consecutive races by holding off a determined Mike Skinner.

Our View O'Reilly Raceway Park can be difficult with very little passing, but Hornaday and Skinner ran side by side for the final seven laps. He also extended his series winning record to 44.

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Trucks: Braun on pole at ORP

Colin Braun backed up his fast speed in practice by winning the pole for Friday night's AAA Insurance 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park. His pole speed was 109.965 mph.

Our View The top five hold no surprises with Mike Skinner, Stacy Compton, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Matt Crafton rounding out the list. It is incredibly hard to pass on this track, so these are your favorites.

Complete Results

Trucks: Caitlin Shaw to race at ORP

Caitlin Shaw will become the latest female driver to run in a major NASCAR race at O'Reilly Raceway Park. She practiced 25th best in the No. 1 Toyota Tundra with a speed of 103.804—approximately five miles per hour slower than Colin Braun at 108.966.

Our View Here is look at her tire test earlier this year at Richmond:

Trucks: MemphisTravel.com 200 results, with avg. finish

It appears that Ron Hornaday Jr.'s troubles are behind him after he dominated and won the MemphisTravel.com 200 to record his second consecutive victory. He led three times during the race for a total of 175 laps and the victory was never in question—not even when a late caution for a two-car incident set up a green-white-checkered finish. More importantly, he stopped the bleeding after back-to-back finishes outside the top 15 gave the owner points' lead over to No. 51 of Billy Ballew.

Brian Scott turned in another gutsy performance. Driving with a cast on his hand, he's posted back-to-back top-fives following the accident at Michigan that left him injured. He was third at the Milwaukee Mile and second this week at Memphis. Scott led 20 laps during the event and was the only other driver to lead more than a couple of circuits.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Ron Hornaday Jr	201	175	Running	5.29
2	8	Brian Scott	201	20	Running	7.50
3	14	David Starr	201		Running	12.10
4	4	Aric Almirola	201	1	Running	17.25
5	11	Matt Crafton	201		Running	8.33
6	3	Mike Skinner	201		Running	13.50
7	9	Timothy Peters	201		Running	12.33
8	15	Johnny Sauter	201		Running	8.00
9	5	Colin Braun	201		Running	19.00
10	12	Todd Bodine	201		Running	14.00
11	13	Rick Crawford	201		Running	12.92
12	10	Brian Ickler	201		Running	12.00
13	2	Terry Cook	201		Running	16.42
14	16	Ricky Carmichael	201		Running	14.00
15	7	Dennis Setzer	201		Running	7.36
16	17	Tayler Malsam	201		Running	16.00
17	6	Stacy Compton	200	1	Running	14.20
18	24	T J Bell	200	4	Running	18.00
19	22	Mario Gosselin	200		Running	19.00
20	18	James Buescher	197		Running	20.00
21	34	Norm Benning	196		Running	21.00
22	23	Brent Sherman	162		Rear Gear	22.00
23	29	Jason White	144		Valve	26.33
24	19	Jason Young	140		Running	24.00
25	20	J J Yeley	139		Rear Gear	25.00
26	26	Hal Martin	119		Overheating	26.00
27	21	Chris Fontaine	115		Suspension	23.50
28	25	Chris Jones	111		Running	30.00
29	31	Wes Burton	94		Vibration	29.00
30	35	Brandon Knupp	28		Engine	30.00
31	32	Trevor Boys	24		Engine	26.50
32	33	Nick Tucker	23		Overheating	33.00
33	36	Mike Harmon	20		Overheating	33.00
34	30	Michelle Theriault	17		Vibration	34.00
35	28	Butch Miller	16		Drive Shaft	19.00
36	27	Brent Raymer	11		Handling	36.00
37		Andy Ponstein	0		Did Not Qualify
38		Paul Bamburak	0		Did Not Qualify

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Trucks: Hornaday dominates and wins Memphis

Last month's troubles are a distant memory. Ron Hornaday Jr. has won back-to-back races at the Milwaukee Mile and Memphis Motorsports Park.

Our View: He made this one look easy and best of all, he gets to savor it for two weeks before the series returns to Kentucky Speedway on July 18.

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Trucks: Hornaday on Memphis pole

Ron Hornaday Jr. has won the pole for the MemphisTravel.com 200 and will lead the field to the green Saturday night.

Our View: After three tough weeks in which he earned only one top-10, Hornaday was back on track last week with a victory at the Milwaukee Mile. That makes him one of the favorites for this week's race as well.

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Trucks: Hornaday wins 41st Truck race

Ron Hornaday held off Dennis Setzer and Brian Scott at the Milwaukee Mile following a caution with less than 10 laps remaining.

Our View: This was a birthday present for Hornaday and he has a chance to get an even bigger win. He will be running in the Nationwide Series race later on Saturday in equally strong Kevin Harvick, Inc. equipment.

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Trucks: Lineup set by points

Qualification for the Camping World Truck Series in Milwaukee has been canceled and the lineup will be set by owner points.

Our View: This puts Brian Ickler on the pole in the No. 51 Billy Ballew truck. Kyle Busch has this truck running strong and Ickler could earn his first win in it.

The leader in the driver's points standings is Matt Crafton; he'll roll off the grid second.

Complete Lineup

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Benson released from hospital

Johnny Benson Jr. has been released from the hospital, according to NASCAR.com.

Our View: Let's hope that he's resting comfortably at home. Benson had to feel like Job last week after losing his Camping World Truck Series and then getting seriously injured in the ISMA modified race on his home track.

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Trucks: Former Milwaukee winners

Milwaukee was accustomed to unique winners before Johnny Benson Jr. came along.

Prior to 2006, only Ted Musgrave had won more than a single event on this track, which made it all the more incredible that Benson rattled off three straight victories there from 2006 through 2008. It was beginning to look like he would have the horsepower to make it four in a row since Kyle Busch was ready to place him in the No. 15 Billy Ballew Toyota. Unfortunately, Benson has bigger things on his mind at the moment as he recuperates from a heavy crash in an ISMA Supermodified race at Berlin Raceway.

Former Winners

Season	Race	Winner
2008	Camping World RV Sales 200	Johnny Benson Jr
2007	Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200	Johnny Benson Jr
2006	Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200	Johnny Benson Jr
2005	Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200	Dennis Setzer
2004	Black Cat Fireworks 200	Ted Musgrave
2003	GNC Live Well 200	Brendan Gaughan
2002	GNC Live Well 200	Terry Cook
2001	GNC Live Well 200	Ted Musgrave
2000	Sears Diehard 200	Kurt Busch
1999	Diehard 200	Greg Biffle
1998	Diehard 200	Mike Bliss
1997	Sears Diehard 200	Ron Hornaday Jr
1996	Sears Auto Center 200	Jack Sprague
1995	Sears Auto Center 125	Mike Skinner

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Benson injured in fiery crash at Berlin

Recently out of his Camping World Truck Series ride, Johnny Benson Jr. too the opportunity to run in an ISMA Supermodified race on his home track Berlin Raceway, according to MichiganLive.com. What should have been a fun outing turned catastrophic when he crashed in turn three and his car burst into flames. Benson was transported to a local hospital, where he is serious, but stable condition.

Our View: According to his Web site, Benson has a broken rib, but should recover. Keep him in your prayers throughout the week.

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Trucks: Michigan results, with avg. finish

It doesn't matter what series is on the track; if Jack Roush is fielding a car or truck, its driver is a favorite to win. Roushketeer Colin Braun dogged Kyle Busch during the final green flag segment and forced him into a mistake. With 25 laps remaining, the No. 51 tried to go low beneath a lapped car and Braun pounced on the outside. Once in the lead, the victory was never in question.

After pacing the field for 62 laps, Busch was forced to settle for second, but his protégé made him proud. Brian Ickler sat on the pole and we predicted he would fall back through the pack. He had plenty of opportunities to prove us correct when he nearly crashed early and often. As the race settled down, Ickler maintained and finished third.

Matt Crafton finished fourth and padded his point lead. This was his sixth consecutive top-10 finish in the Camping World Truck Series, which has made him a place-and-hold driver.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg Fin
1	12	Colin Braun	100	26	Running	3.50
2	4	Kyle Busch	100	62	Running	3.25
3	1	Brian Ickler	100		Running	3.00
4	2	Matt Crafton	100		Running	16.63
5	7	Mike Skinner	100		Running	7.29
6	14	Tayler Malsam	100		Running	6.00
7	5	Ron Hornaday Jr	100	1	Running	14.33
8	18	Timothy Peters	100		Running	22.67
9	11	Dennis Setzer	100		Running	10.30
10	21	Terry Cook	100		Running	9.70
11	20	David Starr	100		Running	16.70
12	10	Rick Crawford	100		Running	13.00
13	3	Todd Bodine	100	6	Running	7.40
14	13	Jason White	99		Running	23.00
15	30	Chris Fontaine	99		Running	15.00
16	6	Johnny Sauter	98		Running	16.00
17	32	Norm Benning	95		Running	17.00
18	19	T J Bell	83		Running	19.33
19	16	Stacy Compton	70		Running	14.50
20	24	J J Yeley	68		Overheating	16.50
21	8	J R Fitzpatrick	63		Accident	21.00
22	25	Ryan Hackett	51	3	Accident	22.00
23	25	Wayne Edwards	32		Fuel Pump	28.00
24	15	Chad McCumbee	27		Accident	17.50
25	26	Chris Jones	21		Quit	29.50
26	23	Ryan Matthews	19		Quit	21.00
27	36	Trevor Boys	18		Quit	27.00
28	31	Andy Ponstein	17		Quit	28.00
29	33	Brandon Knupp	15		Quit	29.00
30	28	Brent Raymer	13		Quit	30.00
31	22	Mario Gosselin	12	1	Quit	30.00
32	27	Nick Tucker	9		Quit	31.50
33	9	James Buescher	8		Accident	33.00
34	17	Brian Scott	8		Accident	29.50
35	34	Sean Murphy	6		Quit	26.50
36	29	John Jackson	4		Quit	36.00

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Braun's first, Roush's 50th Truck win

Colin Braun made a dramatic pass on Kyle Busch as the two drivers negotiated traffic with 25 laps to go and it was clear sailing after that. With 10 to go, Busch admitted defeat as the No. 6 continued to extend its advantage. This was Braun's first Truck victory and Jack Roush's 50th in the series.

Our View: Roush continues to absolutely dominate Michigan International Speedway, which is a good prediction of how his drivers will run in Sunday's Cup race.

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Trucks: Ickler on Michigan pole

Rookie Brian Ickler will lead point leader Matt Crafton and the remainder of the green for the Michigan 200, according to a tweet from @NASCAR_Trucks.

Our View: If he can hang onto a top-10 finish, he will be a good value, but don't expect miracles. Ickler has only four previous Camping World Truck Series starts and one top-10. Notably, that was a fifth in his first Truck start at Kansas this April.

His teammate Kyle Busch starts one row back in fourth, and he remains a better value.

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ARCA: Buescher finishes fourth at Michigan

One of the two drivers doing double duty with the ARCA and Camping World Truck Series, James Buescher finished fourth in the Racing for Wildlife 200.

Our View: This is a good warm-up for the truck driver; seat time in any vehicle is valuable.

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