The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has had many close finishes since its inception in 1995. The first points-paying race, won by Mike Skinner, had a margin of victory of nine hundredths of a second. The closest recorded finish in series history came six months later, as Skinner lost to Butch Miller by just one thousandth of a second, or 1.25in.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock cars. The series is one of three national divisions of NASCAR, ranking as the third tier behind the second-tier NASCAR Xfinity Series and the top level NASCAR Cup Series.
Michael Curtis Skinner is an American former stock car racing driver. He has competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and he was the first ever champion of the latter in 1995. He has most recently driven the No. 98 Ford Fusion for Phil Parsons Racing in the Cup Series. He is the father of former NASCAR drivers Jamie Skinner and Dustin Skinner. He was born in Susanville, California.
Jonathan Thomas Benson Jr. is an American retired stock car racing driver and the son of former Michigan modified driver John Benson Sr. Benson has raced across NASCAR's three national series, and his career highlights include the 1993 American Speed Association AC-Delco Challenge series championship, the 1995 NASCAR Busch Series championship, the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year Award, and the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship.
Henry "Butch" Miller is an American retired stock car racing driver. He is a multi-time champion in the American Speed Association stock car series.
The Fresh From Florida 250 is the first race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season at Daytona International Speedway and as of 2004 has been held under the lights. It is the Truck Series event of Speedweeks – the series of races leading up to the Daytona 500.
The Daytona 300, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the United Rentals 300, is the first race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, 300-mile-long (483 km) held at Daytona International Speedway. It is held the day before the Daytona 500, and is considered the most prestigious event of the Xfinity Series. Until 2002, it was the only event of the Xfinity Series to be annually held at Daytona International Speedway. Austin Hill won the three most recent races, in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Bill Davis Racing was a racing team that participated in all three of NASCAR's top divisions until 2009.
A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the finish line may be used for a more accurate check. Photo finishes make it less likely that officials will declare a race a dead heat.
The 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series presented by Craftsman was the inaugural season of the NASCAR SuperTruck Series. The season began on February 5, 1995, and ended on October 28. Mike Skinner of Richard Childress Racing won the championship.
The Love's RV Stop 225 is a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race that takes place at Talladega Superspeedway. The race has been in the playoffs ever since the addition of it to the Truck Series schedule and every year since then, the race has been won by a non-playoff driver. The winner has only led the last lap of the race in several recent years it has been run.
The 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season was the thirteenth season of the third highest stock car racing series in North America. Sanctioned by NASCAR, the season began on February 16, 2007, at Daytona International Speedway with the Chevy Silverado HD 250, and ended on November 16, 2007, with the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ron Hornaday Jr. of Kevin Harvick, Inc. was crowned champion, tying Jack Sprague for most Truck Series championships at three.
The 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was the fourteenth season of the Craftsman Truck Series, the third highest stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. It was contested over twenty-five races, beginning with the Chevy Silverado HD 250 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Johnny Benson of Bill Davis Racing was crowned champion. The season was also the last under the Craftsman sponsorship banner until the 2023 season. Sears Holdings Corporation, the owners of the Craftsman brand name of tools, withdrew sponsorship at the end of the season. On October 23, NASCAR officials confirmed that Camping World would become the title sponsor beginning with the 2009 season.
The 1995 Total Petroleum 200 took place on July 15 at Colorado National Speedway in Dacono, Colorado.
Colorado National Speedway is a paved oval in Dacono, Colorado, spanning 0.375 miles (0.604 km). The track is currently a member of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series and hosts the ARCA Menards Series West, the King of the Wing Sprint Car Series, and the North American Big Rig Racing Series annually.
The Colorado 250 was a race held at Colorado National Speedway between 1995 and 1997 as part of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The first race, held as part of the series' inaugural season, was sponsored by Total Petroleum as the Total Petroleum 200, and saw the closest margin of victory in the history of the series as Butch Miller defeated Mike Skinner by 0.001 second.
In 1994 and early 1995, seven non-championship demonstration races for the newly-born NASCAR SuperTruck Series were held. The races were broadcast during coverage of the Winter Heat Series and were held on tracks primarily based on the West Coast of the United States, featuring four to five trucks each. The series helped begin the careers of future NASCAR drivers like Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Matt Crafton, and Ron Hornaday Jr.
Zane Michael Smith is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports in an alliance with Trackhouse Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 91 Chevrolet Silverado for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. He won the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship driving for Front Row Motorsports.
The 2020 NextEra Energy 250 was a NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race held on February 14, 2020. Contested over 106 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) asphalt superspeedway. It was the first race of the 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season. This race is known for being the closest Daytona finish in the truck series, as Grant Enfinger beat Jordan Anderson by 0.010 of a second.