Economy starting to hit NASCAR truck series?

Monday’s announcement that the team of defending NASCAR Truck Series champion Johnny Benson was going under follows hard on the heels of Friday’s less-than-dramatic race at Texas.

When I watch races, I usually have a notepad next to me to jot down ideas for my “What We Learned” blog post (and for the three of you who care, yes, I realize it’s Monday and I haven’t written it yet — in all fairness I still have the IndyCar and Nationwide races to watch)

The second thing on my notepad for the Texas truck race is: “lap 40 — 10 trucks in garage????” The first thing on the notepad? That just 33 out of a possible 36 trucks started the race. So that means one-third of a shortened field was made up of start-and-park teams, there to collect the money and maybe get what few sponsors they have some TV time.

Here’s another take on the truck situation and the Texas race, by John Close at Closefinishes.com I especially like his take on how the back-loaded schedule may have masked the situation.

Finally, for another view, over at the Daly Planet blog they think SPEED tried to pull the wool over our eyes by downplaying the issue while broadcasting the Texas race.

As you know, I’m a big fan of the truck series. Generally speaking the racing is more compelling than Cup or Nationwide, and the drivers are a nice mix of cagey vets and kids trying to break into the upper ranks of the sport. As a fan, I’ll be watching closely to see how this plays out.