The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series used to look much like the series racing veterans made the move to in the twilight of their careers to get away from the demands of the day-to-day rigors of competing in the Sprint Cup Series. A few drivers like Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray and Greg Biffle did make stops in the Truck Series on their ways to careers in the Cup Series.
But those aforementioned drivers were more the exception than the rule. Aside from a handful of drivers, the series has long seemed to be the series for drivers to gradually make their ways toward retirement. But that was then and this is now. Over the last few season, several “young guns” have invaded the truck series, and they’ve done so with a bang. That’s obvious with a quick glance of the series championship points standings. Heading into the next race on the schedule -- the July 7 event at Kentucky Speedway -- only one former champion has a spot in the top-10 in points, and that’s Ron Hornaday in the third position. There are several other series veterans in the top-10, like Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton and Brendan Gaughan. But in 2011, more than in years past, younger drivers -- as in drivers age 21 and under -- are making their names known from behind the wheel of a race truck. Half of the spots in the top-10 in points are occupied by drivers either 20 or 21 years of age. One of them -- Cole Whitt, 20 -- even became the first rookie in series history to occupy the points lead a few weeks ago. He has lost that lead to veteran Johnny Sauter recently, but Whitt is still second in the standings, 20 points out and still in the position to be a serious championship contender. As for the other four, Dillon (age 21) is fourth in points, Buescher (21) is seventh, Kligerman (20) is eighth and Coulter (20) is ninth. Just like Whitt, both Kligerman and Coulter are series rookies. Dillon is in the midst of his sophomore campaign, and Buescher, despite only being 21, is in his third year of truck competition. None of the five have made trips to victory lane yet this season, and Dillon’s the only one who has any career-Truck Series wins on his racing resume (he visited victory lane twice in 2010), but these “young guns” are turning in impressive stats nonetheless. Here is how these guys are doing, nine races into the season: On the strength of two top-fives and five top-10 finishes through nine races, Whitt is second in points, 20 markers out of the lead. He also has a pole start to his credit. Dillon’s stats for this year are close to those of Whitt. He has two top-fives and four top-10 finishes so far this season. He also has a couple of poles. Buescher finds himself seventh in points, despite missing a race. After failing to make the second race of the year, Buescher has been able to make his way into the top-10, so far up to the seventh spot, by posting top-10 finishes in all but one of the eight races he has competed in. Kligerman has taken advantage of the opportunity to compete in the Truck Series full-time this year after a part-time Nationwide gig last season by posting a top-five and three top-10 finishes. He came close to a win at Texas Motor Speedway recently, finishing second. Coulter has driven his Richard Childress Racing entry to four top-10 finishes this year, despite never racing at all in the series prior to the season-opener at Daytona. Those top-10s include a couple of back-to-back top-fives -- Kansas Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway earlier this month. These five drivers just go to show, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series -- it’s not the “Senior Tour” anymore. Amanda Vincent is a feature writer for SpeedWeekly magazine and SpeedWeekly.net
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