2005 schedule announced with 25 races

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Schedule of 25 Races Announced for 2005

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 29, 2004) -- The 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule announced today increases the number of races held in conjunction with the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series and closes existing "gaps" between late winter and spring events.

The 25-race schedule, which opens Feb. 18 at Daytona International Speedway and concludes Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, includes 16 same-week races in cities hosting NASCAR NEXTEL Cup events.

"The growth of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series coincides with the opportunity to bring more events to NASCAR fans across America," said Mike Helton, NASCAR's President. "Next year's realignment has created additional positive steps to enhance and expand visibility of the series to the benefit of our teams, tracks, sponsors and television viewers."

The reconfigured schedule also takes advantage of heightened fan and media interest in the "Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup," the season's final 10 races that provide a points framework awarding the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship. The final five events of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be in combination with those weekends -- at Martinsville Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

New combination events will be held Feb. 25 at California Speedway, June 18 at Michigan International Speedway, Oct. 29 at Atlanta and Nov. 4 at Texas. The first Texas Motor Speedway date, a stand-alone race, will be held June 10. Atlanta Motor Speedway receives a second combination race in 2005 while California Speedway moves its fall stand-alone race to combination status as the season's second race. Michigan International Speedway's previous races were stand alone events, as well.

Martinsville Speedway hosts a pair of combination events, on April 9 and Oct. 22 for the third consecutive year. Other continuing combination weekends will be held at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Raceway Park during the Brickyard 400 weekend, New Hampshire International Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Richmond International Raceway. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will continue to have stand alone events at Gateway International Raceway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Mansfield Motorsports Speedway, Memphis Motorsports Park, Nashville Superspeedway, and Las Vegas Motor Speedway. On the weekend of June 24--25, the Series will team up with the NASCAR Busch Series for a unique combination weekend at The Milwaukee Mile.

SPEED Channel, which in 2004 is enjoying a 31% increase in the number of households tuning in and a 16% increase in the total number of viewers for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, will broadcast all 25 races on the schedule along with MRN Radio and XM Satellite Radio. The 2005 season marks the beginning of the second decade of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Craftsman continues its entitlement sponsorship of the series in 2005 for the 10th consecutive season. Craftsman was the series' inaugural presenting sponsor in 1995.

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