Craftsman, the sponsor synonymous with the NASCAR Truck Series since its inception in 1995, will be out as the title sponsor of the series at the end of the upcoming 2008 season.

Officials aren't certain who will take Craftsman's place as title sponsor of the series, but don't seem too worried about it. They said Tuesday that they expect to begin negotiations with several viable candidates soon.

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Steve Phelps, NASCAR's chief marketing officer, said that because of the increasing popularity of the series in recent years and the close, competitive action on the track during its 25 annual events, he expects to find the right fit with little difficulty.

"The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series represents some of the world's best racing," Phelps said. "The season championship has been determined in the final race of the year in 12 of 13 seasons -- including 2007. The series continues to attract some of NASCAR's most avid fans because of its intense, side-by-side competition."

Ramsey Poston, managing director of corporate communications for NASCAR, added that the parting of the ways with Craftsman as the series title sponsor was not unexpected.

"They had the option at this stage. We talked to them the last several weeks, so it wasn't a surprise," Poston said.

Poston added the fact Craftsman will remain in place as the series sponsor for 2008 will make it easier to line up the right corporate partner to step in its place for 2009 and beyond. Another source said that while NASCAR expects several potential candidates to step forward, it likely will be a process that will take several months to be completed.

Already earlier this year, NASCAR's other two national series -- the Nextel Cup Series and the Busch Series -- announced they would be going with new title sponsors and changing their names beginning next season. Sprint Cup will become the name of the top series, and the Busch Series will become the Nationwide Series.

Nationwide Insurance acquired title sponsorship of the Busch Series only after NASCAR officials were unable to come to agreements with a number of other potential suitors -- including Subway, Wal-Mart and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Nationwide eventually signed a seven-year deal estimated to be worth between $10 million and $12 million annually -- far below NASCAR's original projected asking price of between $25 million and $30 million annually and about what Anheuser-Busch paid in the title sponsorship contract that expired at the end of the 2007 season.

Sprint Nextel Corp. pays an estimated $75 million per year to serve as title sponsor of the Cup Series.

"We'll go after it very aggressively," Poston said. "But kind of like what we did with Nationwide, we're going to take our time to make sure we get the right sponsor to fit the image of that series -- that we think best serves the fans and the competitors in that series. Which means maybe you don't take the first offer."

Poston said he wasn't certain as yet if any of the companies who initially showed interest in the Busch Series but backed off in the end would now be interested in becoming title sponsors for the Truck Series.

"We literally are starting that process [Tuesday]," Poston said. "So we'll know more in the coming weeks. I would expect some calls will be coming in from people that are interested, and we'll start making outward calls. We plan to cast a wide net. But we're literally just getting started today, so no conversations as yet with any of the other [previously] interested parties have taken place yet."

Ron Hornaday captured the Truck Series championship in the recently-concluded '07 season, narrowly edging Mike Skinner in the driver points standings.

Scott Howard, manager of marketing partnerships for Sears, has been involved in discussions with NASCAR about his company's involvement in the sport for the past several months. Those discussions included but were not limited to the decision to drop the Craftsman brand as the title sponsor of the series -- and Howard insisted that Sears will remain involved in NASCAR in other areas.

Howard noted that Craftsman has been there with the Truck Series from the very beginning in 1995.

"Since then we have developed strong relationships with millions of loyal NASCAR fans we value greatly," Howard added. "While we will be relinquishing title sponsorship of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at the end of 2008, we continue to explore new opportunities within NASCAR."

Unlike the Cup Series, which has seen drops in television ratings each of the last two years, TV ratings in terms of total viewership have grown for the Truck Series in each of its 13 years of existence. Twenty-three of the 25 races in 2008 will be televised by SPEED, with two events to be televised live on FOX.

Poston said that NASCAR appreciates all that Craftsman has done to help build the Truck Series brand over the years. But he added that he is confident a capable replacement sponsor will be found.

"You have a sponsor like Craftsman that has really helped define the identity of that series," Poston said. "I think with what they're going to do this year will help transition over to whoever the new sponsor is. Ultimately I think the fans are coming to see the competitors. They want to know that the series is in good hands and being taken care of, but ultimately they come to see the competitors. With the Truck Series, they're going to come back and see the same great competition that they have every year.

"You have a rock-solid fan base. They may be fans of the other series, too -- but when the series goes to stand-alone events at places like Nashville, or Memphis, or Las Vegas, you're going to have people going there because they love the Truck Series and they want to see it. It's really passionate, and it's really grown over the years. There is just so much loyalty and passion with the fans of this series, and you've got your great characters driving in it like Hornaday and your Jack Spragues and Mike Skinners, and some great, dedicated owners in Kevin and DeLana Harvick, and [Bill] Davis, and [Jack] Roush. So there is a lot of interest and a lot of good things happening in this series."