Experience may win Charlotte NCTS debut

A pretty good argument could be made that Friday night's inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Lowe's Motor Speedway would favor any one of the handful of drivers with a lot of laps there.

	Truck Series points leader Bobby Hamilton says winning at Lowe's Motor Speedway is very important to him. Credit: Autostock

The group that's favored in the Hardee's 200 (8:30 p.m. ET, SPEED Channel, MRN Radio) includes a tight band of Truck Series regulars including point leader Bobby Hamilton, Dennis Setzer, Ted Musgrave, Robert Pressley and Jason Leffler -- a group that has more than 60 Winston Cup starts at Lowe's.

At the top you've also got to throw in the sprinkling of "invaders" that visit the odd truck race, such as top Winston Cup drivers Kevin Harvick, Ken Schrader and Jeremy Mayfield.

Mayfield is in the unique position of planning to make his Truck Series debut at Lowe's, while Harvick scored his inaugural truck victory last fall at Phoenix, beating Musgrave in the process.

And just for good measure, you've got some potent wild cards, such as former Richard Petty Driving Experience instructor Brendan Gaughan, who has hundreds of laps on the high-speed, weather-sensitive 1.5-mile quad-oval.

"Quite frequently when we start out on some new tracks everyone is on equal footing," Gaughan said. "But this won't be true this time. It will be a mixed bag, with some racers knowing the track well, guys like me with some experience and others racing on the track for the first time."

Hamilton, who carries a 39-point lead in the series standings into the Lowe's race over Truck Series veteran Rick Crawford, has an interesting perspective on the event that serves as a prelim to the Winston Cup all-star race, The Winston.

Hamilton is the only driver on the circuit to have led a lap in each race, and is the only driver to have finished in the top five in all four races this year.

	Hamilton's No. 4 Dodge posted the fastes lap in testing for the Hardee's 200. Credit: Autostock

"I've told people that I want to finish in the top five all season, and I realistically think we can do it," Hamilton said. "I realize there are going to be times that something tears up or we miss a set-up and it will be hard for us to get a top-five.

"I'll really go out on a limb and say I think we are capable of winning a lot more this year. That is how much faith I have in Newt (Moore, crew chief) and this Square D Dodge."

As usual, the schedule throws the entire field a curveball. With 39 entries looking for spots in the 36-truck starting field, Bud Pole Qualifying is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. Thursday evening, while the race starts nearly three hours later the next night, under the lights.

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The track itself is unique, Leffler said, even though it looks like Texas Motor Speedway.

"It is similar but certainly not the same," Leffler said. "You can flat foot it around Turns 1 and 2 just like at Texas. Charlotte is not as smooth as Texas and Turns 3 and 4 can be tricky.

"This racetrack has a lot of history. It was the first of the 1.5-mile quad-ovals and it is unique. It is probably one of the most temperature-sensitive places we run."

Hamilton, who won his 10th victory as a truck owner at Darlington in the season's second race, logged the fastest unofficial speed, 171.958 mph, during last week's open test at the Lowe's, making him the pole favorite.

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Thankfully, the trucks' Happy Hour practice is under the lights at about the same time as the race, but as usual, Lowe's Motor Speedway will demand a large degree of educated guesswork in terms of set-ups.

Hamilton has a fourth-place finish in the fall Winston Cup race at Lowe's on his resume, but that's not all he wants to settle for.

"I just want to win at Lowe's Motor Speedway," Hamilton said. "That track just has something about it that makes it prestigious. To me, it's like how everyone wants to win Daytona (but) I want to win here."

Setzer, a veteran of Busch Series racing at Lowe's, might have something to say about that. He's bidding for his third straight Truck Series victory after winning on the short tracks at Bakersfield, Calif., and Martinsville, Va.

	Jeremy Mayfield will make his NCTS debut at Lowe's this weekend. Credit: Autostock

Leffler pointed out that the facility is located near a lot of the race shops of not only the Truck Series teams, but also their Winston Cup and Busch Series brethren.

"I think it is neat that the families and friends of the teams can come out and watch us race." Leffler said. "There is a lot of excitement surrounding this event. The entire month of May is exciting for me whether you are in Charlotte or Indy.

"It is just a great time to be racing and I am really looking forward to Friday night."

The Craftsman Truck Series has been in action since February, but it's reasonable to say the season begins in earnest with Friday's race -- the first in North Carolina since 1996 --- but the beginning of a run of 11 events over a 13-week span culminating in mid-August.

Three of the drivers racing Friday have previously won inaugural Truck Series events, including Hamilton (Darlington 2001), Musgrave (South Boston, Va. 2001) and Schrader (Saugus, Calif. 1995).