The Truck Series at Atlanta

Did you know that Billy Ballew, the owner of the No. 15 and No. 51 Toyota trucks, has a condominium at Atlanta Motor Speedway? He's had it since 1994 and it has been the party house after his victories over the last two years with driver Kyle Busch.

That would be a blast to own a condo at a track! Few neighbors, great views and a few times a year, your condo association treats you to NASCAR races as part of the association dues! Can you imagine pulling your chair up to your window and watching it all, while you have the TV or the radio on in the background? Too cool.

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Did you know that Rick Crawford will be making his 300th career start in the Truck Series on Saturday night. This will make him the series' start leader.

Crawford has also spent all of his 13 seasons with Mitchell and Circle Bar Racing. Now that's like a flashback to the days before musical chairs with the contracts kicked in! Crawford has five wins, 72 top fives, 150 top 10s, and five poles.

“As I look back, I think I’m proudest of the fact that I’ve reached 300 with one owner and one manufacturer,” Crawford said. “Mr. Mitchell and I have one of the longest driver-owner relationships in the sport. He’s much more than an owner to me, he’s made me part of his family and I could not be here without him.”

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Todd Bodine (No. 30 Germain Toyota) and Kyle Busch are off to identical starts compared to last year. They're one-two in point standings, respectively.

Matt Crafton (No. 88 Menards Chevrolet) is third while Timothy Peters (No. 17 Toyota) makes his debut in the top 10 in the standings. Peters and his Premier Racing team have collected top-10 finishes in the season’s first two races.

Also new to the top 10 are T.J. Bell (No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota) and rookie-of-the-year contender J.R. Fitzpatrick (No. 7 Mammoet Chevrolet). After an 11th-place finish at Daytona and a fifth at Auto Club Speedway, Bell sits sixth in the standings.

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This is Matt Crafton's favorite track because of the ability to run 2 and three wide. He realizes handling is pretty important here because the tires wear out quickly.. so keep your eyes on Matt and see if he takes advantage of this unique comfort zone of enjoying the venue he's racing on!

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Wonding how the rookies are doing? Check out the NASCAR Raybestos Rookie Contender standings after two races of the 2009 season:

1. J.R. Fitzpatrick 26
2. Ricky Carmichael 22
3. Tayler Malsam 17
4. James Buescher 17
5. Chase Austin 16
6. Johnny Sauter 15

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Kyle Busch at Atlanta in the Truck Series:
In the last four races, Kyle Busch owns series-high statistics in
Driver Rating (131.2),
Average Running Position (3.4) and
Laps in the Top 15 percentage (97.9%).

He's also posted 84 Fastest Laps Run.

Busch’s prime competition this weekend is expected to be Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr. – both past winners at Atlanta.

~Bruce