While NASCAR has yet to line up a company to replace Craftsman as title sponsor of its truck-racing series, officials say they think companies will soon be lining up for a shot at acquiring naming rights.

NASCAR officials believe the Trucks series is that hot.

“We obviously anticipate a great deal of interest,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR’s chief marketing officer. “It delivers solid ratings, we’ve got a core fan base that has been watching the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series for 13 years, and it always seems to have great racing, right down to the last race.”

Replacing Craftsman became an issue when the company, which manufactures and sells tools and power equipment under the Sears banner, decided that it would not renew its sponsorship with NASCAR after its contract expires following the 2008 season.

Scott Howard, manager of marketing partnerships and activation for Sears, told The Star on Monday, “We have come to the decision that we’re going to be giving up our title sponsorship to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series at the end of 2008.”

Howard said his company had been negotiating with NASCAR for several months but in the end, Sears opted to go in a different direction.

“As a company, we continue to evaluate our market initiatives,” Howard said. “We’ve had several changes in the past couple of years in the company and like any big company, we make changes.”

Howard said while Sears will end Craftsman’s title sponsorship in the trucks series, his company is looking to continue its presence in NASCAR.

“We’ve had a great relationship with NASCAR and we are going to look into staying in the sport in some form or fashion,” Howard said.

The truck series started in 1995, and Craftsman is the only title sponsor the series has ever had. Originally, the races were contested at short tracks like I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo., and featured no pit stops and different rules than those in place today.

Over the years, the series caught on with fans, and races are now held at the top speedways — including Kansas Speedway, which has been hosting a trucks event since the facility opened in 2001.

Overall television viewership has increased every year as all races are now nationally broadcast by the Speed Channel and Fox.

Rumors have surfaced over the past couple of years that NASCAR has been thinking about dropping the series.

Phelps strongly denied that Monday.

“The series is incredibly important to us,” Phelps said. “It’s one of our three national series. It’s got an incredibly strong fan base, great competition on the track with some real veteran drivers. We’ve got a good group of young folks coming. We’ve got a great core group of folks involved, plus the manufacturers who are involved. It’s obviously important to NASCAR, and if you ask any of the ownership group, the manufacturers, the sponsors associated with the series, it’s incredibly important to them as well.”

Phelps said that NASCAR officials began telling team owners and sponsors of Craftsman’s decision on Monday. He said a search for a new title sponsor will begin soon. Phelps said no timetable has been set for finding a new sponsor.

He did indicate the type of sponsor in which NASCAR would be interested.

“I hate to limit us, but there’s a good fit with ‘tough’ obviously, and things that are more on the masculine side,” Phelps said. “But, again, if it makes sense to have a sponsor who is more crossover that still maintains the integrity of what we believe the series represents, then we will obviously look at that, too.”

The truck series will join NASCAR’s two other premier series in the name-change game.

NASCAR announced this year that beginning in 2008, the Nextel Cup series will become the Sprint Cup series and that the Busch series will become the Nationwide series.

Phelps said that he does not believe the rapid succession of name changes will be confusing or cause a backlash among fans.

“I think the fan base understands there are changing objectives,” he said.

Howard said that Craftsman will remain committed to the series through the 2008 series.