Toyota teams look to end winless streak at Dover

After dominating the first part of the 2007 season by winning the first four races courtesy of Jack Sprague and Mike Skinner, it's been a tough go for the Toyota teams of late, and it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

Blame the schedule for its recent winless streak.

By the Numbers

The Craftsman Truck Series is celebrating its 300th birthday this weekend at Dover. Jack Sprague sits second on the all-time wins list and his three championships are most in Truck Series history.

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There are six tracks Toyota has yet to win a race at, and Dover marks the third track in a row the Craftsman Truck Series will visit where that's the case. But it's not like the Toyota teams haven't been close.

It all started at Lowe's, where in the fifth Truck Series race at the track, Ron Hornaday gave Chevrolet its fourth consecutive win in Charlotte. Ted Musgrave, ironically now in a Toyota, won the first race at Lowe's in 2003 in a Dodge. The highest finishing Toyota at Lowe's was Cup rookie and part-time Truck Series driver A.J. Allmendinger, who finished second.

Then the series went to Mansfield, where again it's been all Chevy and Dodge in the three previous races at the smallest track on the circuit. That streak continued when Dennis Setzer won for the first time this season in his Chevrolet. Once again, Toyota was a runner-up with Sprague finishing second.

Now the series shifts to Dover for the AAA Insurance 200 (8 p.m. ET tape delayed, SPEED), where once again Toyota has yet to win. Its best chance to end the cold streak at the Monster Mile may be Musgrave, who won at Dover in a Chevrolet in 2002.

Musgrave considers Dover one of his favorite tracks and can't wait to get back.

"Dover ranks right up there," Musgrave said. "That's a pretty hairy racetrack, we'll call it. You are really on edge at all times there but it's a pretty good racetrack.

"At Dover you're so fast that you are on the very edge of losing control at every point of the racetrack. You can never rest or let your mind rest at all at Dover because it will come up and bite you."

Current points leader Skinner knows all about Dover coming up to bite. In his first Dover Truck start, he led 85 laps but fell a lap down and had to battle back for a fourth-place finish. Since then he has consistently gotten worse with a 10th in 2005 and a 22nd-place finish last year. (Continued)