After Long Layoff Trucks Are Back – Who’s the Favorites at Martinsville? Fan’s Analysis

Maybe you thought you'd never see another Truck race or worse, you forgot all about them. Don't fear, the NASCAR Camping World Truck series is back in action at Martinsville. Short track racing personified.

The Trucks opened the 2012 NASCAR season back in February at Daytona and we had a surprise winner, John King. Yes, quite a surprise indeed. Timothy Peters was second and Justin Lofton came in third. Not exactly a list of big names but then that's Truck racing at its finest with a blend of young and old … and unknowns mixed in. This particular race is the first of two the Trucks will run at Martinsville with the other event scheduled for the fall.

So with such a crazy start and now going from the superspeedway of Daytona to a half-mile Martinsville short track, can we really have a real favorite? We're going to give it a try with the top five listed below.

5. Ty Dillon - He has the same equipment his older brother Austin used to finish seventh and third last season. I expect the same type of success so don't be surprised if this 20 year old is in the top five ready to battle for the win at the end.

4. Ron Hornaday - At the other extreme in age, the most successful racer in Trucks is Hornaday who always is a threat. Though his team is relatively new, the 53 year old should be near the front at Martinsville where he has a win and no finish worse than fourth over the past six years.

3. Timothy Peters - He too has a recent win and four Top 10s in his last five races at the track. He will be driving one of the Trucks that should be in the running for most if not all the races this season so anticipate another good run again this time around with a shot at a win.

2. Johnny Sauter - He came close last year to a championship and looks every bit as ready to do it again in 2012. Sauter won this same race a year ago so he should be up front battling for the win.

1. Kevin Harvick - He won this race twice and has five top sixes over the last six races; so he's the favorite to win. In 10 Truck races last year, Harvick won four of them. Of course, that was when he drove his own Truck but this year is driving for Richard Childress Racing to whom he sold his team.

Several drivers who may also be up front at one time or another are: John King, Jason Leffler, James Buescher, Cale Gale and Matt Crafton. The season is too young to know who the real players are but this should be close. The race is March 31 at 1:00 PM Eastern and can be seen live on Speed TV.

Source - NASCAR, USA Today, ESPN

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Daryle has been involved in motorsports most of his life and has three decades of experience inside racemarketing, plus blogged about every type of racing for several years.

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