Truck Series viewers jump, mostly among young men

The Craftsman Truck Series was seen by more total viewers in 2007 than in any other season since moving to SPEED in 2003, according to Nielsen Media Research. With an average total viewer count of 686,000, the Truck Series also saw impressive growth in younger demos, posting its best numbers in Men 18-34, Men 18-49 and Men 25-54.

"The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series continues to be one of the true cornerstones of the SPEED motor sports lineup," network president Hunter Nickell said. "The series always delivers great racing, cool storylines and great championship battles.

"To have champions like [Mike] Skinner and [Ron] Hornaday taking it down to the last race of the season in such dramatic fashion was what we've come to expect from this series and we're committed to its continued growth on SPEED."

To increase exposure of the Craftsman Truck Series and its participants, SPEED made two races from 2007 available to FOX (Martinsville and Mansfield) and developed a pre-race program, NCTS Setup, hosted by Krista Voda.

The Mansfield race was rained out and aired tape-delayed later on SPEED.

In 2008, the effort will continue as the plans are to again air two Truck races on FOX, with the remainder live and exclusive to SPEED.

SPEED will wrap up the 2007 NCTS season at 9 p.m. ET on Dec. 7 with coverage of the Truck Series awards ceremony from Florida, as well as re-airs of Trucks '07: A Rivalry Renewed (8 p.m. ET) and Bobby Hamilton: Live to Race, Race to Live (10 p.m. ET).