NASCAR Craftsman Series Standings Update

June 14, 2008

By: Rick Bradham

The tenth race of the season for the Craftsman Series took place today at the Michigan International Speedway. The Cool City Customs 200 was won by Ford driver Erik Darnell for Northern Tool + Equipment. This was Darnell’s first win of the season with ten starts.

The series had a major shake up in points with changes in all but one of the top ten positions. Johnny Benson moved up two positions to take over the series lead. Todd Bodine also moved up two positions to take over the second position. Ron Hornaday had been in the top spot but slipped to number three after only finishing 23rd. Jack Sprague had the biggest slip in points falling three positions to eight. Sprague finished a dismal 30th on Saturday.

Darnell’s win was good enough to move him up two positions to the tenth position in the series. The series is extremely tight with less than 50 points separating the top four drivers. With 15 more races to go this year, the point’s standings are still wide open. We always talk about consistency being important. A look at this year’s stats prove how accurate a consistent season is to the series. Series leader Benson has yet to win a race, but he does have the most top ten finishes with 7. Fifteen more races give plenty of opportunity for others to move up in the series points.

Two rookies seem to be proving that they can be successful

in this series. Colin Braun finished sixth and is sitting in 15th position in the series. With four top tens, Braun is starting to show some consistency. Scott Speed has only started eight races this season and also has four top tens. Speed is farther down in the points at 21st. Speed however came in third on Saturday after winning his first Craftsman race last weekend. Neither may be title contenders this year but both appear to be charging to the front and appear that they will be shaking things up. Keep an eye on both as the season progresses.