The Craftsman Truck Series will be making it's appearance at Texas Motor Speedway on October 31st. (Steve Keller/TruckSeries.com Photo) » More Photos

Besides these upgrades, the off-season also has allowed the SPEED personalities time to mull over their predictions for the upcoming Truck Series season.

"I don't think we need to go any further than Ron Hornaday to select a champion because I don't see any letting up with his team," Parsons said. "If anything, they will be stronger with Jack Sprague coming in as a fulltime teammate."

Alexander concurs with that assessment.

"Ron and his team's competitiveness won the 2007 championship for them," Alexander said. "That organization is just going up and the addition of Sprague will make them better. Ron regained some confidence last year and he feels like he's capable of doing it again.

"Mike Skinner did everything right and just didn't win," Alexander continued. "What they did in 2007 was a nice improvement from 2006 and that organization is hungry and I expect them to be back in the hunt again."

Skinner's teammate could be a threat for the title, as well.

"Johnny Benson has a good chance of getting on a run and winning races and putting together points," Alexander stated. "They are a great race team but had some bad luck and issues that kept them from winning last year."

"Benson worked for the first time with crew chief Tripp Bruce last year and now that they've got a year under their belts, they might be a huge contender," Parsons said. "Benson may be the top truck in that Bill Davis Racing stable."

The level of competition and the number of teams contending for the championship in 2008 is another storyline SPEED will be following.

"I think the field is going to be brought back a little bit and I think you'll see more than two guys in the hunt for the championship," Alexander predicted. "When you look at the stats, the season that Ron and Mike put together last year is just unheard of and the fact two drivers had it in the same year is remarkable. It's unlikely someone is going to have that kind of season year-in and year-out. Can they put up those unbelievable numbers again? We'll have to wait and see."

Perhaps the most exciting potential plot to watch will be the age factor.

"The veterans owned the sport in 2007," Alexander said. "Can there be a young driver who can go out and compete with them? Will we have a young gun who surfaces as a player? Maybe it will be Colin Braun who takes over the role Carl Edwards had in the Truck Series a few years ago. I will be watching to see what young guy can make a name for himself and possibly compete for a championship. Last year was the year of the older drivers and maybe that will change this season."

Stay tuned to SPEED to find out.

SPEED, now in nearly 78 million homes in North America, is the exclusive home of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Gatorade Duel at Daytona, NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The only network delivering live, at-track programming all season long, SPEED offers the definitive pre- and post-race NASCAR Nextel Cup Series programs – NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane, as well as other popular NASCAR programs including Trackside Live, Tradin' Paint, NASCAR Performance, NASCAR Live!, Inside Nextel Cup, NCTS Setup, Go or Go Home and The Chase is On.

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