Close title races seem to be the norm in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. For the second year in a row, the championship wasn’t decided until the last race of the season — the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Last year it was Travis Kvapil taking the honors. At 27, he was the youngest driver ever to win a Craftsman Truck championship. This year it was Bobby Hamilton clinching the title in the season finale. With the victory Hamilton took the championship to the other age extreme — at 47, he became the oldest driver ever to win the honor.

Hamilton took the title by a narrow 46-point margin over Dennis Setzer — the second consecutive year Setzer has been the runner-up. Hamilton, the first owner/driver in 12 years to win the championship and the fifth different champ in the past five seasons, had an impressive run over the 25-race schedule that stretched from February to November and took the series to 23 tracks across 18 states. He had a series-leading four wins and 12 top-five finishes. He also completed all his races and had 16 top-10 finishes. In the end he wound up with 3,624 points. In addition, Hamilton won $567,315 — highest of any driver — along with a bumper crop of special bonuses to raise his total winnings to $973,428.

Setzer accumulated 3,578 points through two wins, three poles, eight top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. He challenged for the championship all season long and, though his effort fell short, still collected a total of $707,011.

Ted Musgrave finished third in the standings (3,554 points) for the second straight year. Musgrave ended up with two wins, two poles, 11 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes and a healthy $728,883. Musgrave led 706.21 miles (the equivalent of 757 laps), the most of any series driver. He was also was the top driver over the last six races of the year, picking up 951 of his points with four top-five and five top-10 finishes. His performance was better than Hamilton’s and Setzer’s for that period (they were fifth and seventh respectively), but he couldn’t leap over their points for the championship.

Fourth place went to Carl Edwards, who trailed the champion by 131 points (3,493). Edwards was consoled, however, by winnings of $638,905 picked up by three wins, two poles, nine top-fives and 17 top-tens.

Matt Crafton, sponsored by GM Goodwrench Service and driving a Chevy truck owned by Kevin Harvick, came in fifth in the overall standings with 3,379 points. Although he did not win any races, Crafton tied Edwards for the most top-10 finishes with 17. He was in the top 10 in the standings 23 weeks of the season, 19 consecutively, and finished with $444,307. This was Crafton’s second year of Craftsman Truck Series racing. He competed in 2002 and came in 15th in the standings.

Harvick, a regular in the Nextel Cup Series where he is also sponsored by GM Goodwrench Service, started two truck races. He wound up in the top five both times with his best performance being a fourth-place finish at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May.

Ron Hornaday, sponsored by ACDelco in the Busch Series and a two-time Craftsman Truck champion, drove one race this season, the Chevy Silverado 150 at Phoenix, and finished 13th.

The 2004 Rookie of the Year title was awarded to David Reutimann. The young driver earned the honor by taking four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes as well as two poles and winnings of $304,524. He came in 14th overall in the standings.

Defending series champ Kvapil won two races and ended up eighth in the standings while three-time champion Jack Sprague won once, had the most poles (6) and finished seventh overall. He has the most career poles of any truck driver — 26. David Starr and Chad Chaffin were the only other drivers to win two races.

The 2004 season marked a notable milestone for the series: For the first time in 10 years of NASCAR truck competition, a woman, Deborah Renshaw, led a race when she moved in front during a caution lap. Renshaw finished the season 30th in the standings. She failed to finish in the top 10 in her 14 starts, however she won $114,697.

Craftsman Truck racing started in 1995. The series will begin its 11th season on February 18, 2005, at Daytona International Speedway with the first of 25 races. We’ll be there after every event with ACDelco racing reports covering all the action. Make sure to stay with us throughout the 2005 season.

You can also check our 2004 Craftsman Truck Series race reports or our archived 2003 Craftsman Truck Series race reports.