The 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was the eighteenth season of the

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

highest stock car racing in the United States. The season was contested over twenty-two races, beginning with the

NextEra Energy Resources 250 The NextEra Energy 250 is the first race of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season at Daytona International Speedway and as of 2004 has been held under the lights. It is the Truck Series event of Speedweeks – the series of races leading u ...

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASC ...

and ending with the

Ford EcoBoost 200 The Baptist Health 200 is an annual 200-mile (321.869 km) NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race held at the Homestead–Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The race began as a 250-mile race in 1996, but beginning with the 2002 season, the ...

at Homestead-Miami Speedway. NASCAR announced some changes, including the removal of

New Hampshire Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mil ...

Nashville Superspeedway Nashville Superspeedway is a motor racing complex located in Gladeville, Tennessee, United States (though the track has a Lebanon postal address), about southeast of Nashville. The track was built in 2001 and is currently hosting the Ally 400, ...

, and

Lucas Oil Raceway Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, and Lucas Oil Raceway) is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, about northwest of downtown Indianapolis. I ...

from the schedule, and moving the Phoenix race back to its traditional fall date. In addition,

Rockingham Speedway Rockingham Speedway, formerly North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway is a racetrack located near Rockingham, North Carolina. It is also known as The Rock and previously hosted NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Serie ...

was added to the schedule, the first time NASCAR has raced at Rockingham since 2004.

James Buescher James H. Buescher (born March 26, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the 2012 Truck Series champion. After parting ways with NTS Motorsports in 2015, Buescher became a real estate agent. He owns and operates his ow ...

of Turner Motorsports claimed his first championship with a 13th-place finish in the season finale. Chevrolet won the Manufacturer's Championship with 166 points and 12 wins.

Teams and drivers

Complete schedule

Limited schedule

Note: A driver designated with a (R) next to their name indicates that they are contenders for the 2012 Rookie of the Year award.

Team changes

;The Kevin Harvick, Inc.-Richard Childress Racing Merger and Related Spinoff * Richard Childress Racing, per agreement in the Kevin Harvick, Inc. merger agreement, acquired the 2011 Owners Champion No. 2 truck as part of the Harvick-Childress merger that also included the No. 2 and No. 33 Nationwide teams. The No. 8 and No. 33 trucks were spun off in a separate deal. *Harvick spun off the No. 8 and No. 33 Truck teams, which

Eddie Sharp Racing Sharp Gallaher Racing (formerly known as Eddie Sharp Racing) is a disbanded NASCAR team based in Mooresville, North Carolina that competed in the ARCA Racing Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team fielded the No. 6 Chevrolet ...

, acquired. The teams in the spinoff join the present No. 6 truck driven by

Justin Lofton Justin Lofton (born February 18, 1986) is an American professional off-road racing driver. He also competes in stock car racing, driving part-time in the ARCA Menards Series West in the No. 30 Ford for Rette Jones Racing. Lofton formerly competed ...

to form a three-truck team, which resulted in a September 2011 decision to switch manufacturers from Toyota to Chevrolet immediately, with support from Childress. The spinoff also included development driver

Cale Gale Cale Gale (born March 5, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and crew chief. Karting Gale's racing career began when his father placed him on a go-kart at age 4. In 1989 at the age of five years, he began racing competitive ...

, who drove the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet. ;Other Changes *

ThorSport Racing ThorSport Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team was founded in 1996 as SealMaster Racing and is based in Sandusky, Ohio. Owned by Duke Thorson and his wife ...

switched to Toyota Tundras for the 2012 season, with the three teams of

Matt Crafton Matthew Justin Crafton (born June 11, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is a three-time champion of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (2013, 2014, 2019), in which he competes full-time, driving the No. 88 Ford F-150 ...

(#88),

Johnny Sauter Jonathan Joseph "Johnny" Sauter (born May 1, 1978) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 47 Toyota Tundra for G2G Racing, the No. 13 Tundra for T ...

(#13), and Dakoda Armstrong (#98) running for the full season. ;Discontinued operations *

Germain Racing Germain Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. It was owned by Bob Germain, whose family owns many car dealerships across the United States as Germain Motor Company. The team last fie ...

had shut down the No. 9 and No. 30 trucks with employees asked to look for other employment, as the team's Sprint Cup team changed to

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

from

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Driver changes

;Changed teams *Neither of the Kevin Harvick, Inc. drivers were retained by

after the spinoff.

Ron Hornaday Jr. Ronald Lee Hornaday Jr. (born June 20, 1958) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He is the father of former NASCAR driver Ronnie Hornaday and son of the late Ron Hornaday Sr., a two-time Winston West Champion. Hornaday is ...

joined

Joe Denette Motorsports NTS Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team was owned by Californian Bob Newberry, coming into its current form after Joe Denette Motorsports merged with New ...

and drive their No. 9 Chevrolet. He was reunited with KHI crew chief

Jeff Hensley Jeffrey S. Hensley (born November 11, 1962) is an American professional stock car racing driver and crew chief. He works as the crew chief for GMS Racing on their No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driven by Grant ...

. Hornaday was not an exempt driver through the points standings during the first five races, but had an exemption through his status as a former Series Champion. (Series champions have an exemption available in certain circumstances.) *

Nelson Piquet Jr. Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born July 25, 1985), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 seaso ...

moved to Turner Motorsports to contest the full Truck series season as well as a limited Nationwide schedule. Piquet Jr. was teammates with fellow Brazilian Miguel Paludo, who leaves

Red Horse Racing Red Horse Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team was based in Mooresville, North Carolina. It was co-owned by former Mobil 1 marketing executive Tom DeLoa ...

. *After enduring a disappointing season at

, Brendan Gaughan moves to Richard Childress Racing to run 8 Truck races. Those races were in the No. 2 truck acquired in the Childress-Harvick merger. *After

shut down its Truck Series operations,

Todd Bodine Todd Martin Bodine (born February 27, 1964) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 62 Toyota Tundra for Halmar Friesen Racing, and current racing ...

moves to

to driving the No. 11 truck that was the No. 7 that Miguel Paludo drove. However, Bodine tweeted that he needed sponsorship to run the season. *After a disappointing 2011, David Starr took the number 81 with him to the newly formed Arrington Racing formed by engine builder

Joey Arrington Joey Arrington (born July 25, 1956) is an American former NASCAR driver, team owner, and crew chief from Rocky Mount, Virginia. He made nine Winston Cup Series starts with a best finish of 12th. He made his first start in 1974 as a 17-year-old a ...

. *After a one-year stint with

, Jason White formed his own team for 2012 and fielded Fords. ;Rookie entries The Rookie of the Year standout would be

Ty Dillon Tyler Reed Dillon (born February 27, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports. He has also competed in the NASCAR Camp ...

, the younger brother of 2011 Champion

Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver and reality TV show actor. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racin ...

. Ty scored a win at Atlanta and was in contention for the championship until a late crash at Homestead knocked him to 4th in the points but easily won him the RoTY title. Former Kevin Harvick, Inc. development driver

was runner-up to Dillon, taking a pole at Bristol and a win at Homestead.

Ross Chastain Ross Lee Chastain (born December 4, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing Team. He is the older brother of NASCAR Ca ...

finished 3rd in the rookie battle, while

John Wes Townley John Wesley Townley (December 31, 1989 – October 2, 2021) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He competed in NASCAR's Xfinity and Truck Series from 2008 to 2016, winning a race in the latter in 2015. Townley's father Tony is a ...

, despite missing Daytona, had two top-10s. Contenders

Jeb Burton John Edward "Jeb" Burton IV (born August 6, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 27 Chevrolet Camaro for Our Motorsports. He is the son of Ward Burton ...

, Dakoda Armstrong, and Daytona winner John King saw their runs for RoTY aborted due to sponsorship issues. K&N Pro Series East Champion

Max Gresham Max Gresham (born April 30, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He was the winner of the 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship. Personal life and early career Born in Stockbridge, Georgia in 1993, Gresham's racing ...

struggled with

and departed the team early on. Duke University graduate

Paulie Harraka Paul Peter "Paulie" Harraka (born September 15, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver and entrepreneur. He is a graduate of Duke University and a former representative of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program. Personal life ...

struggled most of the season with Wauters Motorsport and left before Atlanta. ;Returned to the series *

Tim George Jr. Tim George Jr. (born December 21, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. Personal life and early career George was born on Manhattan's Upper East Side in 1980 as the son of investment banker Timothy M. George. George Sr. is t ...

returned to the Truck Series for the first time since 2009. He ran 12 races driving Richard Childress Racing's No. 2 truck inherited from Kevin Harvick, Inc. *

David Reutimann Emil David Reutimann (born March 2, 1970) is an American professional stock car racing crew chief and former driver. A native of Zephyrhills, Florida, he has competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and Camping World ...

returns to the series for 4 races with RBR Enterprises. *

Ward Burton John Edward Burton III (born October 25, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He has five career wins in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, including the 2002 Daytona 500 and the 2001 Southern 500. He is the older brothe ...

returned to NASCAR for the first time after a five-year absence, driving the season-opening Daytona race for Hillman Racing. His son Jeb would drive the following 4 races before a lack of sponsorship ended his run. ;Exited the series *Truck Series champion and former Rookie of the Year

moved up to the NASCAR Nationwide Series full-time with crew chief Danny Stockman. *

Johanna Long Johanna Robbins (; born May 26, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. She is the winner of the 2010 Snowball Derby. Racing career Background Long's father raced late models and she wanted to start racing karts when she was ...

moved to the Nationwide Series for a limited schedule with

ML Motorsports ML Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. It was owned jointly by Mary Louise Miller and her daughter, Stephanie Mullen, making it the first confirmed NASCAR team to be ow ...

. *

Cole Whitt Cole Daniel Whitt (born June 22, 1991) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. After advancing his way through Kart racing, Whitt moved up to sprint cars and became a development driver for Team Red Bull. After running in the ...

moved up to the NASCAR Nationwide series full-time in the 88 Chevrolet with JR Motorsports.

2012 calendar

Calendar changes

The Las Vegas race, as a result of issues resulting from the 2011 race weekend, was moved back to late September as a stand-alone race. Originally, the Las Vegas race was set for 13 October at 12 noon PDT as part of the IndyCar weekend, but Indy Racing League LLC faces issues from the

2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship The 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship was the scheduled final race of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar series. It was to be run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada USA on October 16, 2011, and was scheduled for 200 laps around the facility ...

which the 2011 Truck race was the Saturday feature of the race meet, but that meet was removed as a result of legal issues following the death of

Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011, and was co-winner ...

on Lap 11 of the IZOD IndyCar Series feature. Speedway Motorsports also removed races from

, while keeping the second Kentucky truck date and having the NASCAR Nationwide Series replace INDYCAR on the fall weekend. Darlington was also removed from the schedule, both Nashville races, and Lucas Oil Motorsports Park. Chicagoland also moved to July. Kansas moved from June to April, along with the Cup series as their spring date was also moved to April to give more time for Kansas's new configuration project.

was added to the truck series schedule marking the first time since 2004 NASCAR has had a race at the track. The total of races on the schedule was also reduced from 25 to 22. Iowa Speedway also got a second date that was held in September.

Results and standings

Races

Drivers' standings

( key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings. * – Most laps led. *¹ – Post entry, driver and owner did not score points. *² – Ryan Blaney was originally registered for Nationwide points, but switched to the Trucks at Atlanta.

Manufacturer

References

{{NASCAR Truck Series Championship * NASCAR Truck Series seasons