Next year, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be sponsored by Kobalt Tools.  But first, Craftsman is going out with a bang!  All 3 of NASCAR's top series have 2 races to go, but the Truck Series points battle is the closest of them all.  Todd Bodine needs a miracle to catch up at this point, as he's 223 points behind the leader Johnny Benson, the latest NASCAR Sprint Cup has-been to find success in the Truck Series.  Benson is trying to join the late Bobby Hamilton as the second NASCAR has-been to win a Truck Series championship.  Then there's the former Cup Series drivers who amounted to a "never was," like Ted Musgrave, Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday, and Jack Sprague, all of whom are former Truck Series champions.

Speaking of Ron Hornaday, he's second in points behind Johnny Benson.  I mentioned the points battle was close.  How close is it?  Hornady is only six points behind Benson as the series heads to Phoenix!  That's a whole two positions on the track.  These two are flirting with the record for the closest margin of victory in the short history of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and that margin is closer than any finish in the history of NASCAR's top 3 divisions.  The record was set back in 1998 when Ron Hornaday beat Jack Sprague by only three points!  Jack Sprague also had a close finish the very next year, beating Greg Biffle by just 8 points.  2003 saw another single-digit margin in the final standings, when Travis Kvapil won the championship over Dennis Setzer by only 9 points.

So what's at stake here?  Well for Benson and Hornaday, everything is at stake!  Neither of these two drivers can afford a mistake.  I'd love to see them stay within 10 points of each other and set the stage for an epic battle in Homestead.  I'm thinking that's exactly what's going to happen.  Both of these two will finish in the top 10 at Phoenix, and quite possibly in the top 5.  So who's winning this race?

My Pick: Johnny Benson - Benson want's his second NASCAR championship.  Yes, I said second.  He's a former Busch (now Nationwide) Series champion.  Benson will win, but don't count out the man right behind him in points, and speak of the devil, that's my pick for a dark horse.

Dark Horse: Ron Hornaday - The king of the restarts is right on Benson's bumper in the standings, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see he and Benson finish 1-2 in this race.  If neither of them win, look for top 5s from both drivers.

The excitement starts at 7:30 PM ET Friday on SPEED.  Until next time, I'm your NASCAR VP wishing I got SPEED Channel!

BK over and out