Trucks quietly take lead as landscape gets interesting

It's no secret the Craftsman Truck Series has some of the best racing in NASCAR, so it's not surprising that year after year, NASCAR's youngest national series has the best championship battle.

You can't write it off to the length of the schedule, because the last few years in Cup, different people have dominated through August, and of course with the Chase for the Cup format, that creates a whole different scenario. And the point system doesn't make the difference, because that's the same as we've always had in the other two series.

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Even in the face of the onslaught of young talent hitting all three national tours, it's in the trucks where the veterans' skill and guile projects them to the top year after year, despite the best the youngsters can throw at 'em.

If that's just the way it is, oh well -- but it's great to see guys the caliber of Todd Bodine, Ted Musgrave and the late, great Bobby Hamilton achieve the ultimate in trucks -- after laboring long and hard for relatively little reward in other series.

That's part of the reason why this year's championship landscape, actually across all three series, is so fascinating -- particularly heading to Phoenix this weekend.

This year's Truck battle is no different than it's ever been, as the prototype wily veteran, defending and three-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday sits just six points behind another veteran, Johnny Benson, with two races remaining.

You've got to think Hornaday's the favorite, just because he's been there and done that more often than Benson. And crew chief Rick Ren is a pretty potent ace up the ol' sleeve.

But there's just no way you can short sell Benson, who's been a distinct force in the Truck Series since getting together with owners Bill and Gail Davis and crew chief Trip Bruce.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better than the wondrous display of emotion from Hornaday and his team owner, Kevin Harvick, last year, after Mike Skinner's Bill Davis Racing team wilted at Homestead and Hornaday's KHI bunch prevailed, it looks like a repeat of the table setting, with Phoenix being a track where Hornaday has thousands of laps, but where Benson's also excelled. And given how both men performed last weekend at Texas, Homestead could be anybody's ballpark.

It may come down to the supporting casts, and it's there where the fascination and intrigue only magnifies. Team owner Harvick is set to drive one of his Chevy Silverado pickups both this weekend -- a track where he's had a lot of success -- and at Homestead, where KHI will further complicate matters by entering Atlanta winner Ryan Newman, who won in his Truck Series debut.

Maybe the most interesting aspect of the Truck races will be what happens near the end if Hornaday's almost winning and one of his teammates is. That scenario has already cost Hornaday 15 points, when he led the most laps but couldn't beat Newman at Atlanta and finished second.

My bet is those scenarios will be settled behind closed doors well before the green flag. But it'll be interesting at the end of the season if those Atlanta points mean the difference between a championship and second place, and if Harvick still feels the honor of racing to win counts for more than the championship.

And for the bottom line on Phoenix, vis-a-vis the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series championship races -- well, it'll be a darned sight clearer after this weekend than it is right now. How's that for not going out on a limb?

A few weeks ago, that someone would have to step up and take control of the Sprint Cup race from Jimmie Johnson was obvious, and despite not having Johnson's title-winning history, Clint Bowyer was in a similar position in the Nationwide Series.

A week or two ago, those two title races seemed a lot more clear-cut than they do now.

But Carl Edwards, who right now is the archetype short-track racer made good at the pinnacle of the big leagues, has managed to set both series on their collectives ears by winning three of the last four races and finishing second in the other, Kyle Busch's record-tying 10th Nationwide Series score this season.

And that leaves the door open for a prediction that has to be made.

Edwards will win one of the two championships, or something stunning will prevent it.

And in the end, that's what's going to keep a lot of people coming back for more, from all three series, in the months to come.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.