NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is NASCAR’s national pickup‑truck championship, featuring race vehicles with truck‑style bodies running primarily on ovals with a mix of short tracks, intermediates, superspeedways, and a handful of road courses. It sits alongside the Cup and Xfinity Series as one of NASCAR’s three national tours and serves as both a proving ground for young talent and a landing spot for veterans and team owners expanding their programs.

Early development and roots

The concept for a NASCAR truck tour emerged in the early 1990s, when off‑road racers and builders created prototype stock‑car‑style pickups and staged demonstration events to show their potential as a fan‑friendly series. Those exhibition races, coupled with strong reactions to truck‑shaped race vehicles displayed at high‑profile events like the Daytona 500, convinced NASCAR that there was room for a dedicated national truck championship.

The series officially launched in 1995 under the name SuperTruck Series by Craftsman, quickly becoming known simply as the Craftsman Truck Series. Early schedules leaned heavily on short tracks and smaller markets, which gave fans closer access to drivers and helped differentiate the series from the then‑Winston Cup tour. Over time the trucks expanded onto larger intermediate ovals and select superspeedways, but the discipline retained a reputation for close‑quarters racing and intense restarts.

Commercial boom and modern format

Sponsorship has played a major role in the identity of the truck tour, with Craftsman serving as the original title partner before the series cycled through other tool brands and eventually returned to the Craftsman name in the 2020s. As NASCAR’s overall commercial profile rose in the late 1990s and 2000s, the trucks gained a stable television presence and joined Cup and Xfinity as part of multi‑series broadcast packages. The series also embraced night racing and companion events on Cup weekends, which helped showcase developing drivers to top‑level team owners and sponsors.

The championship used a traditional season‑long points format for its first two decades but later adopted a playoff system similar in structure to what is used in the Cup Series. Initially, an eight‑driver postseason was introduced, with eliminations across three rounds to set up a small title‑eligible group for the finale. Beginning in 2020, the playoff field was expanded to 10 drivers, with eliminations after the opening rounds slimming the list of contenders before a winner‑take‑all championship race. Stage racing and stage points were also added, encouraging drivers to race aggressively throughout each event rather than only at the finish.

Machinery and technical evolution

Truck Series entries use tube‑frame stock‑car chassis fitted with pickup‑style bodies that mimic popular production trucks while remaining purpose‑built race vehicles. Power comes from naturally aspirated pushrod V8 engines similar in architecture to those used in other NASCAR national series but tuned for the truck rules package, with output in the several‑hundred‑horsepower range and torque tailored to suit shorter tracks and tighter corners. Fuel tanks typically hold around 18 gallons of Sunoco E15 race fuel, and teams run on Goodyear radial tires designed specifically for the series’ mix of track types.

Over the years the trucks have followed broader NASCAR safety and aero trends, adopting stronger rollcages, energy‑absorbing front and rear clips, and more refined body shapes to reduce lift and improve stability. While they do not share the full Next Gen platform used in the Cup Series, the trucks incorporate many of the same safety concepts and remain front‑engine, rear‑drive machines with four‑speed or similar racing gearboxes and traditional live‑axle rear ends. The combination of boxy aerodynamics and robust powerplants produces a distinct style of drafting and side‑by‑side racing that appeals to fans who enjoy more contact‑heavy competition.

Champions, key players, and manufacturers

Since the mid‑1990s the Truck Series has produced a long list of champions who either graduated to the Cup and Xfinity ranks or built careers as truck specialists. Early title winners helped establish the tour’s credibility, while later standouts such as Ron Hornaday Jr., Todd Bodine, and Matt Crafton turned repeated success in trucks into Hall‑of‑Fame‑caliber résumés. In the modern era, the series has become a launchpad for future Cup stars, with many of today’s top‑level drivers having first won races or championships in trucks before moving up.

Here is a concise list of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers’ champions up to the most recent completed season:

• 1995: Mike Skinner

• 1996: Ron Hornaday Jr.

• 1997: Jack Sprague

• 1998: Ron Hornaday Jr.

• 1999: Jack Sprague

• 2000: Greg Biffle

• 2001: Jack Sprague

• 2002: Mike Bliss

• 2003: Travis Kvapil

• 2004: Bobby Hamilton

• 2005: Ted Musgrave

• 2006: Todd Bodine

• 2007: Ron Hornaday Jr.

• 2008: Johnny Benson

• 2009: Ron Hornaday Jr.

• 2010: Todd Bodine

• 2011: Austin Dillon

• 2012: James Buescher

• 2013: Matt Crafton

• 2014: Matt Crafton

• 2015: Erik Jones

• 2016: Johnny Sauter

• 2017: Christopher Bell

• 2018: Brett Moffitt

• 2019: Matt Crafton

• 2020: Sheldon Creed

• 2021: Ben Rhodes

• 2022: Zane Smith

• 2023: Ben Rhodes

• 2024: Christian Eckes

• 2025: Corey Heim

Manufacturers such as Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota all field entries in the Truck Series, using it as a development platform for both young drivers and engineering approaches within NASCAR’s rulebook. Factory‑backed organizations and aligned satellite teams compete for drivers’, owners’, and manufacturers’ championships, mirroring the structure found in the higher divisions. The interplay between experienced veterans, up‑and‑coming prospects, and part‑time Cup regulars dropping in for select events creates a competitive mix that keeps the title fight unpredictable.

Venues, media, and reach

The Truck Series schedule typically runs from February into the autumn, visiting many of the same venues as the Cup and Xfinity tours while also keeping dates at tracks that have long been associated with the trucks. Races take place on high‑profile superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega, intermediate ovals such as Kansas and Charlotte, traditional short tracks including Martinsville and Bristol, and an increasing number of road courses as NASCAR diversifies its overall portfolio. The championship event is commonly held at a major venue such as Phoenix Raceway, where the playoff structure produces a four‑driver showdown similar to the other national series.

Television and streaming coverage is bundled within NASCAR’s broader media‑rights ecosystem, with fans able to watch Truck races on cable sports networks and digital platforms alongside Cup and Xfinity events. Radio broadcasts from major motorsports networks and satellite services provide nationwide audio coverage, ensuring that fans can follow the series even when they are away from a screen. Although the Truck Series does not match the Cup Series in raw viewership or international exposure, it plays a crucial role in NASCAR’s ladder system and maintains a loyal audience that values its hard‑racing, grassroots‑meets‑national feel.