Ex-Cup drivers make home in Truck Series

CONCORD, N.C. -- Less is better.

At least that is one explanation for the large contingent of Winston Cup drivers who compete in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Less pressure. Less attention. Less congestion. Less nonsense.

Just look at the entry list for this weekend's Advance Auto Parts 250 at Martinsville Speedway.

	Kevin Harvick

There's Bobby Hamilton. Jason Leffler. Ted Musgrave. Andy Houston. Robert Pressley. All were full-time Winston Cup drivers -- and all recently -- yet they've settled in the trucks.

There are just as many ex-Cup drivers running the NCTS as there are in the Busch Series.

And don't forget about Kevin Harvick, Darrell Waltrip and Ken Schrader. They're all entered in the truck race at Martinsville, too.

And while they're doing it for a variety of reasons, all would agree that in the Craftsman Truck Series, a good time is had by all.

"It's fun," Houston said.

"It's more fun, to be quite honest," Harvick said.

It's more fun because there's less ... of everything.

Driver Pages  •  Bobby Hamilton  •  Andy Houston  •  Jason Leffler  •  Ted Musgrave  •  Robert Pressley

"There's a lot less attention on the Truck Series," Harvick said. "There's just a lot less of everything, to tell you the truth. Whether it's people or sponsorship or whatever, there's just a lot less of it in the Truck Series. That makes it a lot less stressful.

"It kind of gets back to just racing."

And to a lot of drivers, that's what it should be about. It shouldn't be about sponsors or television or attention. It's about getting behind the wheel and driving the heck out of your race truck.

It's about fun.

"It's the most fun I've ever had racing," said Houston, who is back in the NCTS after an aborted year in Winston Cup in 2001. "The most fun I've had racing in my career has been in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series."

The atmosphere at a NCTS race is quite a bit different than in Winston Cup or even the Busch Series. Sure, everyone there is there to win, but if you don't win, there won't be the repercussions there are in Winston Cup.

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Brad Parrott won a race as Dale Jarrett's Winston Cup crew chief this season, but six races later, he got fired.

"There's no comparison, especially the fan attention, the media attention," Leffler said. "The pressure to win is there because every car owner, no matter what the series, they want to win. But you don't have the pressure, the media, the fans flocking you in the garage area."

That's good and bad, Harvick said, because attention usually brings in money and therefore more stability. But without the attention, it's more relaxing than Cup or Busch. That's part of his joy, Harvick said, and the reason why he and wife DeLana started a truck team.

"I can go to the race track, sit on the back of my truck, shoot the breeze with my guys, hang out and drive the truck," Harvick said. "That's really all that there is to it."

Harvick wouldn't "trade everything that I've got" to do the NCTS all the time, "But it's fun to do it every once in a while," Harvick said. "The trucks are just fun to race."

"I think the racing's as good, if not better, because you can knock the hell of them," Harvick said. "The fenders still matter, but they aren't near as important. Everything's flat in the front and the back and the side. You can still race if you fender's fallen off or knocked in or the nose is caved in."

	Andy Houston

Houston agrees. Once considered a rising star in Winston Cup when he joined Cal Wells' team, Houston struggled in 2001. A couple Busch Series rides later, Houston is back in the Truck Series.

But he's loving every minute of it. Driving for Bill Ballew Motorsports, Houston even gets to spend time at the team's shop working on the trucks.

"I just wanted to get back to having fun again," Houston said. "I'm having as much fun as I had in 2000. In between there, I had a lot of times that just were not fun at all. You don't know where to turn, and you worry about every moment. I don't want to do that any more."

Yes, you do have to make a living, and Houston said there are some drivers in Winston Cup with the sole ambition of making money -- even without being competitive. Houston doesn't blame them, but he won't do it.

"Given the opportunity of being with a top-ranked truck team or to go ride around in Winston Cup, I would take the truck team in a heartbeat," Houston said.

Leffler wants to return to Winston Cup, too, saying he has "unfinished business" there after only one year with Chip Ganassi Racing. He's younger than Houston, so his priorities are a bit different.

"But the Truck Series is a great series," Leffler said. "If I end up running here the rest of my career, it won't be bad. I look around at a lot of friends I raced USAC with, and they're still racing USAC. I can make a pretty good living here.

	Jason Leffler

"But when you feel like you've got unfinished business, you really want to get back."

He's not in a big hurry, but Leffler said if a good Busch ride came open, he'd take it.

"It would definitely be a step up," Leffler said. "Just because you race more, and you're under the spotlight more with all the Winston Cup teams. And because you race more, you make more money."

Hamilton made good money in Winston Cup, winning four times in a career that started in 1991. But the ride shuffling for 2003 left him on the outside looking in. Instead of taking any old Winston Cup seat, Hamilton turned to the trucks.

"I built three truck teams so when I decided to quit driving, I'd always have something to do in NASCAR racing," Hamilton said. "The intent was, with the progress Bobby Jr. is making, to throw this thing into a Cup deal one day."

Contracts and his job status last year helped pushed Hamilton into deciding to drive on the NCTS this year. Hamilton doesn't miss the politics or the finger-pointing of Winston Cup, but he'd go back, too, given the right situation.

"I don't miss running bad," Hamilton said. "I miss it because I know I'm still very competitive and can still run up front and win races. Everybody I've been with, I've won a race. I miss that part of it.

	Bobby Hamilton

"For what was left out there, no I don't miss it. I enjoy doing what I do."

But Hamilton admitted that if a good ride opened up in Winston Cup, he'd take a look at it. But not for 2003.

"I'm definitely at an age, even if I did get an opportunity to drive a Cup car again, time's limited anyhow," Hamilton said. "I don't really think about it because I'm so wound up with what I'm doing.

"Kenny Schrader said it best one time, 'Boy, it's really rough. I've been doing this 13, 14 years. I've won a couple of races and made a great career and a good living and met a lot of great people. Duh, I don't get to do it next year.' I've had a pretty good ride."

And there's no reason to get frustrated at running the trucks, Harvick said.

"They've been through the grind for 20 years, plus or minus," said Harvick, pointing to Musgrave and Hamilton. "To go back and still make a great living and get to enjoy yourself 100 percent - not that I don't enjoy myself 100 percent in Winston Cup, but there are still times when you get frustrated or aggravated because it's so competitive or there's so much attention from all the different directions, it wears you out.

"It's not like that in the Truck Series. It's about going to the race track, having a good time, winning races."