PHOTO: Rhonda Greer, NASCAR
SEASON IN REVIEW
New Castle, Indiana driver Tracy Hines scored his first LASTCAR Truck Series Championship in 2005, scoring two last-place finishes in twenty-three starts during a twenty-five race season. Hines was the only repeat last-place finisher that year in the most competitive LASTCAR championship battle in Truck Series history.
The 2000 USAC Silver Crown Series Champion and 2002 USAC Sprint Car Series Champion, Hines was competing in his third Truck Series season. He made his Truck Series debut at Indianapolis Raceway Park on August 1, 2003, finishing 32nd in the #27 Mopar Performance Dodge owned by Eddie Thrap. Following three more races for Jim Smith, Hines became the full-time driver for ThorSport Racing, driving Duke Thorson’s #88 Menards Chevrolet for the 2004 season. He scored his first Top Five at Mansfield on May 16, 2004 and finished 18th in points, and scored three respectable finishes in the Busch Series driving for Tommy Baldwin Racing.
In 2005, Hines lost his ride to an incoming Matt Crafton, who departed Kevin Harvick’s team after the 2004 season. Hines remained with the team, however, to take over in Thorson’s second truck, an unsponsored #13 ThorSport Racing / Zoriki Motorsports Chevrolet. Hines scored another 5th-place finish that year, this time at Richmond on September 8, but failed to finish eight of his races, including a pair of last-place finishes.
Hines’ first last-place run of the year came at Michigan on June 18, when he lost the engine after 17 laps of the Paramount Health Insurance 200. He did not score the second finish for another ten races - the September 24 running of the Las Vegas 350 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That day, Hines’ #13 crashed with two other trucks after 2 laps of the race.
Hines finished 25th in points in what was his most recent Truck Series season, which to date consisted of 52 series starts. He made the most recent 11 of his 17 Busch Series starts the following year driving for Armando Fitz, finishing a career-best 13th at Bristol on March 25, 2006, but finishing last for the first time in that series at Phoenix on April 21 when his #14 Fitz-Bradshaw Racing Dodge had a vibration after 24 laps of the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200.
Hines returned to the Truck Series on July 24, 2013 for the inaugural dirt track event on the Eldora Speedway, once again driving for ThorSport. He finished 13th in a field of 30.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
Due to the lack of repeat last-place finishers in 2005, several familiar faces scored their first Truck Series last-place finishes that year. First among them was NASCAR Cup and Busch Series veteran Todd Bodine, who was competing in his first full season on the tour following his 2004 LASTCAR Cup Series Championship win over Joe Ruttman. Bodine scored his first last-place finish at Fontana on February 25 when his #66 BowTech Archery / Sportcoins.com Toyota was involved in a two-truck crash 3 laps into the American Racing Wheels 200. Bodine moved to Germain Racing at mid-season and won five races that year on his way to a 3rd-place finish in points. Bodine went on to win NASCAR Truck Series titles in 2006and 2010.
Following a brief Cup Series career marred by a pair of significant injuries, Steve Park returned to the Truck Series in 2004 an won his lone Truck Series victory the day Bodine finished last at Fontana in 2005. He scored his first last-place finish six races later at Dover on June 4 when his #62 Orleans Hotel & Casino Dodge was involved in a five-truck accident after the opening lap of the MBNA RacePoints 200. Park raced in the Truck Series through 2010 and has continued to run short track races in the years since, most recently in the Whelen Modified Tour, scoring the win in the inaugural UNOH Battle at the Beach at Daytona on February 19, 2013.
A 19-year-old Justin Allgaier joined the Truck Series in 2005, racing four times for prolific Truck Series owner Mike Mittler in the #63 Dave Porter Truck Sales Ford. Allgaier finished last in his only DNF that season at Kansas when he crashed after 68 laps of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250. To date, Allgaier has not raced in the Truck Series since 2008, the year he stormed to six wins and the year’s ARCA Racing Series Championship. A full-time Nationwide Series ride followed in 2009, setting him toward his inaugural NASCAR win at Bristol in 2010.
Open-wheel and stock car veteran John Andretti made the first four of his six career Truck Series starts in 2005 driving for Billy Ballew in his #15 Chevrolets. Like Allgaier, Andretti scored his first last-place finish in his only DNF of the year, when his #15 Stoops Freightliner / Pedigo / ABC Chevrolet started 4th, but crashed 23 laps into the Power Stroke Diesel 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Andretti ran his first full Busch Series season the following year and briefly ran in both Cup and the IZOD IndyCar Series after that.
Brendan Gaughan was an established Truck Series winner by 2005, having scored eight series wins and a 4th-place finish in the 2003 standings following a controversial finish to the season finale at Homestead. Gaughan campaigned for Rookie of the Year in the Cup Series in 2004, driving the #77 Kodak Easy Share Dodge for Doug Bawel, but following a 28th-place finish in points, returned to the Truck Series in 2005. There, he scored his first last-place finish at Bristol on August 24 when his #77 Jasper Engines & Transmissions Dodge crashed with two other trucks after 18 laps of the O’Reilly 200.
Johnny Sauter made the sixth, seventh, and eighth starts of his Truck Series career in 2005 for three different teams, including the same #13 ThorSport Racing entry driven for much of the year by LASTCAR Truck Series Champion Tracy Hines. His first last-place finish, however, came driving for Mike Curb at Richmond on September 8 when his #43 Menards / Energizer Chevrolet fell out with crash damage after 100 laps of the Cheerios Betty Crocker 200. Sauter won his third Busch Series race that same year, and after a full season in Cup in 2007, returned to the Truck Series full-time in 2009.
Mike Bliss scored seven victories in the first five Truck Series seasons, but never finished last in the series until 2005. Following a short-lived rookie season in Cup replacing three-time LASTCAR Busch Series Champion Jeff Fuller in the #27 Viagra Pontiac in 2000, Bliss moved between the Busch Series and the Truck Series for the next six years. In 2005, Bliss ran his first five Truck Series races since his 2002 NASCAR Truck Series Championship when he scored five of his thirteen career victories driving for Steve Coulter. Bliss’ first lat-place finish came in the second of those starts at Atlanta on October 29, when his #16 Chevy Trucks Chevrolet was taken out in a three-truck crash after the opening lap of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200. Bliss returned to run full-time in the Nationwide Series in 2008.
24-year-old Erin Crocker finished last in her first-ever Truck Series start at Phoenix on November 11 when her #4 Cheerios / Betty Crocker / Dodge Ram Dodge crashed after 39 laps of the Chevy Silverado 150. The same fate befell 20-year-old Casey Kingsland at Martinsville on April 9 when his #24 Speed Zone Energy Drink Dodge was parked after 104 laps of the Kroger 250, allegedly for spinning in three of the race’s first six cautions.
2005 also had an international flair to it with the first Japanese and Mexican drivers to finish last in a Truck Series race. Jose Luis Ramirez made a pair of starts in the Busch Series event in his hometown of Mexico City and finished last in his Truck Series debut at Loudon on September 17 when his #08 Pro30.com Chevrolet crashed after 77 laps of the Sylvania 200. Okayama, Japan’s Shigeaki Hattori made ten starts in 2005 driving the #9 AISIN / AISIN AW Toyota, and finished last in his fifth series start at Mansfield on May 15 when he crashed with Tracy Hines after 18 laps of the UAW-GM Ohio 250. Hattori would go on to win the 2018 NASCAR Truck Series title as an owner with Brett Moffitt driving.
The most spectacular last-place finish of 2005 belonged to Rick Crawford at Daytona, whose #14 Circle Bar Motel & RV Park Ford caught air and flipped coming off turn four after 10 laps of the February 18 running of the Florida Dodge Dealers 250. Miraculously, Crawford was not only uninjured, but when the truck landed on its wheels, Crawford managed to drive the car to the garage.
NASCAR veteran Ted Musgrave, driver of the #1 Mopar Dodge, won his first NASCAR Truck Series Championship in 2005, securing owner Jim Smith’s only championship in his eleventh and final season in the series. Musgrave would go on to compete in 192 Truck Series races through 2010, never once finishing last in any of them.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) Tracy Hines (2)
2nd) Justin Allgaier, John Andretti, Jack Bailey, Rich Bickle, Mike Bliss, Todd Bodine, Johnny Chapman, Erin Crocker, Rick Crawford, Brendan Gaughan, Shigeaki Hattori, Roland Isaacs, Casey Kingsland, Todd Kluever, Steve Park, Jose Luis Ramirez, David Reutimann, Johnny Sauter, Ken Schrader, Jack Sprague, Kelly Sutton, Tam Topham, Alex Yontz (1)
