NCTS veterans look to step up at Dover

DOVER, Del. -- Kurt Busch and Scott Riggs, the two previous winners of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series MBNA America 200 at Dover International Speedway, have moved on to other divisions leaving a group of veteran drivers to battle with latest batch of newcomers in Friday's third annual Truck Series race from Dover.

So far this season, NASCAR veterans have won all five Craftsman Truck Series races. Former Winston Cup drivers Robert Pressley and Ted Musgrave swapped wins, and the point lead, earlier this season. Dennis Setzer and Terry Cook also scored victories.

Even the series point standings mark the balance between veterans and talented newcomers.

As Thursday's opening practice at 11:30 a.m. ET signals the start of a chance to decipher the riddle of Dover's high-speed "White Lightning" surface, Mike Bliss will be trying to determine the best way to win his second straight NCTS event.

Bliss won the most recent event on May 19 at Pikes Peak International Raceway in the No. 16 IWX/Knights Inn Chevrolet.

That allowed him to open a single point margin over David Starr, who so far has made the most of his first full season in the Truck Series, driving the No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet.

After a second practice at 1:15 p.m., 40 trucks will compete in a two-lap Bud Pole Qualifying session at 3:15 p.m. to set the 36-truck field. Busch, who won the 2000 inaugural Dover truck race by out-running Mike Wallace's dominant Kohuth-tuned Ford, is the track qualifying record holder with his 23.721-second, 151.764 mph lap.

The trucks' final Happy Hour practice begins at 4:30 p.m. The race itself will be run Friday (ESPN live TV, 3:30 p.m. ET; live radio on the affiliate network of MRN Radio).

Riggs set the race lap record average speed of 99.256 mph one year ago. Jason Leffler, who was driving in the Winston Cup Series at that time, got a good look at Kohuth's No. 2 Team ASE Dodge.

"I watched the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race at Dover in person last year, so I know how good the truck ran," said Leffler, winner of 2002 Truck Series Bud Poles at Darlington Raceway and Pikes Peak. "I like Dover because it's fast and you're really hauling the mail down into those big, banked corners."

Leffler's wide range of experience in lightweight, high-powered USAC open wheel cars prepares him well for Dover.

"Dover is definitely one of my favorite race tracks," he said. "It's almost like a roller coaster the way you drop down in the corners. You run on the ragged edge all day, so it gets to be pretty exciting."

Musgrave also has a pair of Bud Poles this season in the No. 1 Mopar Dodge and has won eight races in less than two seasons in the trucks. But after three rough outings in a row, he has sunk from a tie for the lead to fifth in points.

Dover could be a Godsend or a curse, Musgrave said.

"Dover is one of the more unique tracks we race on," he said. "The laps we run are unbelievably fast. The race track can be extremely nerve-wracking and it almost dares you to drive harder and harder into the corner until you lose control.

"The key to being successful at Dover is having a good handling truck, then you can have a lot of fun. A good shock package and spring balance is very, very important at that race track. You can run the inside or outside groove to make some passes as the race progresses.

"It's not a place where you want to have any contact because you're pretty much on the edge for 200 laps. It's physically and mentally demanding and you've got to have a lot of nerve to run there."

"It's an extremely fast track and hard to find the perfect setup," said Setzer, who won at Martinsville in the No. 46 Axciom/Computer Associates Chevrolet. "You are usually tight out of the corners here, but there is a very fine line between tight and loose. Just when you think you've got it freed-up out of the corner, the next lap you run too loose."