200 races and Ultra's still going strong

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Saturday's O'Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park marks another milestone in the eight-plus season history of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

The series, which opened on Feb. 5, 1995, visits the .75-mile paved oval to stage its 200th race.

There have been several constants throughout the series' first 199 events:

Sponsor Craftsman has been there from the beginning -- first as presenter and, in 1996, in a full entitlement role;

Ultra Motorsports, owned by Jim and Marlene Smith, has fielded a truck in every race, winning at least once in each of the nine seasons and 27 times overall and

Chris Showalter, currently the crew chief of the No. 16 IWX Motor Freight Chevrolet driven by Travis Kvapil, has worked each event as a crewmember.

From humble beginnings -- the four off-road owners who brought the series to NASCAR figured the endeavor would consist of low-pressure, social weekends -- the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has matured into one of the nation's premier motorsports attractions.

While the first season of 20 events was contested mainly on short tracks, the 2003 campaign visits America's fastest and most famous venues, which include Daytona International Speedway, California Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

"The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has accomplished exactly what it was designed to do," said Mike Helton, President of NASCAR. "That is, create an exciting brand of competition for NASCAR's tracks, fans and sponsor family, including Craftsman, which has been a partner with the series since its very first race."

"Craftsman is proud to have been the founding title sponsor," said Touré S. Claiborne, Partnership Manager, Sears, Roebuck and Co. "In our opinion, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is the most impressive form of racing NASCAR has to offer."

Helton also acknowledges a second benefit -- also likely not considered at the series' inception.

"The series has been an important proving ground for our future stars such as Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and others now competing on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series."

Every past champion has competed on one of NASCAR's two top national series in 2003: Biffle, Jack Sprague and Mike Skinner in NASCAR Winston Cup and Mike Bliss and Ron Hornaday Jr. on the NASCAR Busch Series.

Smith, the only one of the four originators still active on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, has fashioned a solid factory relationship with DaimlerChrysler that includes the NASCAR Winston Cup No. 7 Sirius Dodge driven by Jimmy Spencer.

The Southern California businessman sometimes shakes his head in disbelief that -- in less than a decade -- he's gone from the deserts of Baja to sharing a pit road with the likes of Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush.

Could he have done it without the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series? "Absolutely not," said Smith.

"We may have started out thinking this would be a hobby but it's become a very serious business. You have to have confidence that you can do it."

Smith feels the series enabled drivers outside the competitive mainstream -- the West Coast's Hornaday, open-wheel competitor Bliss and late model stock car champion Scott Riggs, now a NASCAR Busch Series star -- to successfully showcase their talents.

"Not one of those guys would be where they are today if we hadn't created this," Smith said.

Neither would Showalter, a second-generation crew chief whose father, Gary, holds the same job with the No. 15 Vokal Clothing Dodge driven by Rich Bickle. "If it wasn't for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, I'd probably be running a landscaping business," said Showalter. "Obviously, I'd much rather be racing."

And what about the next 200 races?

Helton sees the opportunity for continued growth and greater exposure for the series.

"The future, we believe, is extremely bright," he said. "Viewership among NASCAR's most passionate fans is up this season, the first under our broadcast partnership with SPEED Channel."

SPEED Channel President Jim Liberatore said, "I get a lot of comments from viewers about how this takes them back to the roots of NASCAR when it was guys out there banging around trying to get from point A to point B faster than anyone else."

Helton also points to the arrival of Toyota as the series' fourth manufacturer in 2004 "as a significant milestone, attesting to the marketing strength of the series."

Smith agrees.

"Toyota is going to take the bar to another level, just as Dodge did several years ago," he said.