Twenty-nine points.

It seems so miniscule when you look at a 25-race season. But that's exactly what Friday's running of the Ford 200 (7:30 p.m. ET, SPEED) at Homestead-Miami Speedway has come down to. After 10 months of grueling, exciting racing, the championship battle between Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday comes down to the difference between finishing first and fourth.

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Mike Skinner

Numbers: Truck

Eleven of the 12 previous Truck Series seasons have come down to the final race and that's the case this year as 29 points separates Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday for the title.

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And the unfortunate thing is, both Skinner and Hornaday are deserving of this championship.

Skinner and his No. 5 Bill Davis Racing Toyota squad and Hornaday in Kevin Harvick Inc.'s No. 33 Chevy have been the class of the field all season, but only one will get to hoist the trophy after 134 laps in Miami, while the other can look back at the season and wonder, 'What if?'

Both drivers started out the season well at Daytona, with Skinner coming home fourth and Hornaday finishing seventh. Jack Sprague won the race, in one of the closest-finishes in Truck Series history as he, Johnny Benson and Travis Kvapil were in a drag race to the checkers.

It was the only time this season the name Skinner or Hornaday was not on top of the points standings.

Skinner tied Sprague for the points lead after the second race at California Speedway when he won his first of three races in a row which would include Fontana, Atlanta and Martinsville.

In all, Skinner would have five wins on the season -- adding two more at Kentucky and again at Martinsville, 17 top-five finishes and 20 top-10s. Skinner finished no worse than 13th twice this season.

But it wasn't the finishes that opened up the eyes of many in the Truck Series garage, it was the starts. Skinner started on the pole a Truck Series record 11 times this season, beating his old record of poles on a season of 10 set back in 1995, the year he won his one and only title.

There was a stretch of six consecutive races -- Atlanta, Martinsville, Kansas, Charlotte, Mansfield and Dover -- where he was on the pole, also a Truck Series record. Maybe even more amazing though, is even when not starting up front, Skinner found a way to get there.

Skinner led at least one lap in the first 15 races of the season, and in all has been up front 23 of the 24 races run this year, also a Truck Series record. The only race he didn't lead a lap, Bristol, where he started fifth and finished fourth.

Hornaday might not have stole headlines this season like his friend and nemesis Skinner, but consistency wins titles, and Hornaday was that.

After finishing seventh at Daytona, he was the runner-up to Skinner at Fontana, finished 11th at Atlanta and then went on a tear of 15 consecutive top-10 finishes. He had four wins in that stretch, three second-place finishes and finished no worse than six in just two races, 10ths at Michigan and Kentucky.

On the season, Hornaday has four wins, 13 top-fives and 21 top-10s. His average finish on the season is 5.6, which is actually better than Skinner's 6.1.

The amazing thing about both drivers, and this is what makes them champions, is they have gone 24 races without a DNF. That's right, every week they were running at the end of the race. Something only two other drivers can claim this season: Dennis Setzer and Rick Crawford.

One look at the season stats show why Skinner and Hornaday are the two left in this championship fight. Both names lead almost every statistical category: Wins (Skinner - 5, Hornaday -- 4); Top-fives (Skinner -- 17, Hornaday -- 13); Top-10s (Hornaday -- 21, Skinner -- 20); Laps led (Skinner -- 1,099, Hornaday -- 827); Lead lap finishes (Skinner -- 23, Hornaday -- 22); Average running position (Skinner -- 5.6, Hornaday - 7.0).

This has been their season, but there is still one race to go, 134 laps to decide a point differential of 29. And when it comes to Homestead success -- Hornaday has the advantage.

In seven races at the track, Hornaday has one win in 2002, three top-fives and six top-10s with a worst finish of 14th, coming in last year's race. More importantly though, Hornaday has completed all 1,075 laps run.

"I like Homestead, it is a good track," Hornaday said. "I won there back in 2002 and I have had some good finishes there in the past. We are bringing the same truck we ran in Texas. The guys went home and put some new horns on it and everything. It is a pretty good piece.

"I have a team that never says die and they work hard to figure out my favorite trucks and they have been bringing them back."

Ironically, Skinner is also bringing the truck he used at Texas to Homestead. Skinner finished third at TMS and will need some of that Lone Star State karma to follow him to South Beach.

In five races, Skinner has just one top-five at Homestead, a fourth coming way back in 1997 when the track was flat. Since the track added banking, he's finished sixth, 12th and 35th, crashing out of last year's race just 14 laps in.

"Well this is it," Skinner said. "Jeff [Hensley, crew chief] and my guys have done a heck of a job this year, and hopefully we can get it done this weekend for BDR and Toyota.

"Homestead is a great track, and even though we have not had that much luck on it in the past, we are going to give it all we've got to make it come out in our favor this weekend."

It all comes down to this -- one race to decide the 2007 championship between two guys who have battled each other since the Truck Series' inception back in 1995. This is the fourth-closest points race in series history with one race left, and both drivers are trying to stay calm, knowing how much is on the line.

"It is another race for us at Homestead," Hornaday said. "All we can do is keep doing what we are doing and racing hard."

"We've run awfully well this year -- we've won five races," Skinner added. "If they would have told me I'd win five races this year and run eighth in the points, I would have said 'OK, I'll take that.' Anything after that is a bonus."