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Nascar Memories
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NASCAR Truck Series
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The chronicle of the NASCAR truck series is rather recent. It
began in the 1990s, when four off-road racing enthusiasts, Dick
Landfield, Jimmy Smith, Jim Venable and Frank Vessels, built a
prototype racing pickup truck in 1993. In February 1994, this
group sought the NASCAR sanction for truck racing. Things
moved swiftly from this point onward. NASCAR announced the
NASCAR Super Truck Series; and in July, the first of the four
demonstration races took place in Bakersfield, California. By late
1994, Sears, Roebuck and Company's Craftsman brand had
agreed to sponsor the series.
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The chronicle of the NASCAR truck series is rather recent. It began in the 1990s, when four off-road
racing enthusiasts, Dick Landfield, Jimmy Smith, Jim Venable and Frank Vessels, built a prototype
racing pickup truck in 1993. In February 1994, this group sought the NASCAR sanction for truck
racing. Things moved swiftly from this point onward. NASCAR announced the NASCAR Super
Truck Series; and in July, the first of the four demonstration races took place in Bakersfield,
California. By late 1994, Sears, Roebuck and Company's Craftsman brand had agreed to sponsor the
series.
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In 1996, the race series was renamed the "NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series". For the first time since 1978, a
factory-sponsored Dodge entered the NASCAR arena.
Ron Hornaday won this championship, with Mike
Skinner becoming the first series millionaire with the
series total purse reaching $4 million. Amid growing
popularity of the sport, four NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series racers reached the million-dollar mark in career
earnings, in 1997. Jack Sprague emerged as the new
champion this year. In 1998, an important rule change
was exercised. Instead of the mid race, 5-minute pit stop,
the series now conformed to the standard used by
NASCAR. On Sept. 19, 1998, Jack Sprague finished
fourth at Gateway International Raceway to become the
tour's first $2 million winner. Ron Hornaday claimed the
championship in 1998.
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The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series total purses and prizes now exceeded $10 million. In 1999,
Craftsman also awarded a $100,000 bonus to Ron Hornaday for winning the one-hundredth race.
This was also the year, when ESPN and ESPN2 signed a multi-year contract to broadcast the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events live. Jack Sprague won the championship for the second
time.
In the year 2000, Sears and Roebuck Company guaranteed to fund the event for the next five years.
Craftsman also posted a $10,000 bonus for any team that wins from the pole position. In a bid to
boost the sport, four new race tracks were opened to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Daytona
Beach, Florida; Florence, Kentucky; Chicago Motor Speedway in Chicago, and Dover, Delaware.
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