Another exciting season is underway

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series had this past weekend off after beginning the 2001 campaign Feb. 16 with the Florida Dodge Dealers 250. Teams will return to Florida this weekend, this time at Miami-Homestead, for the Florida Dodge Dealers 400. During qualifying in Daytona, Dodge seemed dominant with "old man" Joe Ruttman taking the pole in his Bobby Hamilton-owned Dodge. The next three starting positions were also claimed by Dodge drivers, one of them being his teammate, rookie Willy T. Ribbs, the fastest qualifier of the 10-member rookie class. Ruttman broke the qualifying record he set qualifying and winning the pole in the same event last season. Ruttman is the oldest man to start from the pole in the Craftsman Truck Series. "It's a ball racing those young guys," Ruttman said. "I think that's what keeps me young." Once the green flag dropped, however, Chevrolet seemed to take charge of the field, with the exception of Ruttman. "Last year we thought we had a championship team but we stumbled and couldn't recover," Ruttman said. The team showed no signs of stumbling in the 2001 opener. Ruttman won the race from the pole, but Chevrolet drivers claimed six of the top-10 finishing positions in a race boasting the biggest purse ever awarded in the truck series. One Chevy driver that didn't share in that success was two-time champion Jack Sprage. His bad luck from last season seems to still be with him. "We can't win for losing," a dejected Sprague said. After an accident in happy hour , the team had to replace the right side of the truck. It didn't get any bett as Sprague hit the wall during the race to flat side the truck coming out of turn four. Sprague had to settle for a 12th-place finish. Sprague's Hendrick Motorsports teammate Ricky Hendrick fared quite a bit better. The 20-year-old finished second, even if he was the youngest driver in the field. He was, however, slightly disappointed he didn't bring home the win. "I thought we had a chance to win today," Hendrick said. The season opener in Daytona included eight cautions, with an early one on lap three involving a large number of trucks, including Mark Petty's ride. "It looked like some of the veterans were trying to win the race on the second lap," Petty said. Finishing behind Ruttman and Hendrick to round out the top-10 were, Scott Riggs (third), Lance Norick (fourth), Randy Tolsma (fifth), Terry Cook (sixth), Coy Gibbs (seventh), Bryan Reffner (eighth), Lyndon Amick (ninth), and Ricky Crawford (tenth).

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