Ty Dillon, the 2012 NASCAR truck series Rookie of the Year. 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 * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

highest

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

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

NextEra Energy Resources 250 The Fresh From Florida 250 is the first race of the NASCAR Craftsman 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 up ...

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

and ending with the

Ford EcoBoost 200 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 ...

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

New Hampshire Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway (formerly known as the New Hampshire International Speedway from 1989 to 2007, the Bryar Motorsports Park from 1965 to 1989, and as the 106 Midway Raceway from 1961 to 1964) is a oval track in Loudon, New Hampshir ...

Nashville Superspeedway Nashville Superspeedway is a tri-oval intermediate speedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. The track has held a variety of racing events since its opening in 2001, including NASCAR and the IndyCar Series. It is currently owned by Speedway Motorsport ...

, 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, about northwest of downtown Indianapolis. It includes a ...

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

Rockingham Speedway Rockingham Speedway and Entertainment Complex (formerly known as North Carolina Speedway from 1998 to 2007 and North Carolina Motor Speedway from 1965 to 1996) is a D-shaped oval track in Rockingham, North Carolina, United States. The track h ...

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

James Buescher James Howard Buescher (born March 26, 1990) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He is the 2012 NASCAR Truck Series champion. After parting ways with NTS Motorsports in 2015, Buescher became a real estate agent. He ...

of Turner Motorsports claimed his first championship with a 13th-place finish in the season finale.

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

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 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard C ...

, per agreement in the

Kevin Harvick, Inc. Kevin Harvick, Inc., colloquially referred to as KHI, is a racing team owned by former NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and his wife DeLana, who is the daughter of former Busch Series driver John Linville. The team owned cars in the NAS ...

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, Mooresville, North Carolina that competed in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, ARCA Racing Series and the NAS ...

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

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

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 Kelly Gale (born March 5, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and crew chief. He is named after other accomplished racer Cale Yarborough. Karting Gale's racing career began when his father placed him on a Kart racing, g ...

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

ThorSport Racing ThorSport Racing is an American professional stock car racing team competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Founded in 1996 as SealMaster Racing and based in Sandusky, Ohio, the team is owned by Duke Thorson and his wife, Rhonda. Currently ...

switched to

Toyota Tundra The Toyota Tundra is a full-size pickup truck manufactured in the United States by the Japanese manufacturer Toyota since May 1999. The Tundra was the second full-size pickup to be built by a Japanese manufacturer (the first was the Toyota T100 ...

s 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 competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 88 Ford F-Series (fourteenth generation), Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing ...

(#88),

Johnny Sauter Jonathan Joseph Sauter (born May 1, 1978) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 66 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing. He has also driven in the NASCAR Cup ...

(#13), and

Dakoda Armstrong Dakoda Armstrong (born July 16, 1991) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 28 Toyota Camry for JGL Racing. Early career Armstrong started his racing career ...

(#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 corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

Driver changes

;Changed teams *Neither of the

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 and businessman. He currently owns Team Hornaday Development, a driver development program, as well as Hornaday Race Cars, a Modified racing, D ...

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. 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. 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 Miguel Paludo (born July 26, 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competes full-time in the Porsche GT3 Cup Brasil, Porsche GT3 Carrera Cup Series. Paludo formerly competed in NASCAR full-time in the Camping World Truck Series, driv ...

, 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 DeLoach a ...

. *After enduring a disappointing season at

Brendan Gaughan William Brendan Gaughan (born July 10, 1975) is an American former professional racing driver who has competed in off-road racing, off-road and stock car racing, stock cars. He is the grandson of Las Vegas Valley, Vegas gaming pioneer Jackie Gaug ...

moves to

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 former 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 is curre ...

moves to

to driving the No. 11 truck that was the No. 7 that

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. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet ZL1 for Kaulig Racing. He has also competed in what is now the ARCA Mena ...

, the younger brother of 2011 Champion

Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet ZL1 and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet ...

. 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

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 (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing, part-tim ...

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 competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 27 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation), Chevrolet SS for Jordan Anderson Ra ...

, 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 former 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 ra ...

struggled with

and departed the team early on.

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

graduate

Paulie Harraka Paul Peter Harraka (born September 15, 1989) is an American former 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 Harr ...

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

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. A member of the Burton ...

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 last competed part-time in Asphalt Super Late Model competition in 2023 in the No. 10 Toyota Camry for Jett Motorsports. Racing career Background Lo ...

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 (NASCAR team), Team Red ...

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

JR Motorsports JR Motorsports (pronounced "Junior Motorsports") is an American professional stock car racing team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller, L. W. Miller, L.W. Miller, and Rick Hendrick. It c ...

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 Presented by Honda was the scheduled final race of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series. It was to be run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16, 2011, and was scheduled for 200 laps around the facility's 1.5 ...

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 Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 Indianapol ...

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